Photo Journal – Friday 20 May 2016

I did not have my smoothie this morning. Didn’t feel like it. I decided that I would go to a coffee shop and work instead of going to my office. I have to get writing done and everyday this week there has been something or another that distract me, and/ or takes me away from my work. Until I finish this paper, I will work elsewhere for the first half of my day. The skies are all blue again today.

Look at it, blue!

They are building two large condominiums in the area. This is one of them.

Trees, sunlight, and shade are wonderful.

This is the coffee shop that I came to work in. It’s a pretty nice spot to work, read, and be entertained.

They are serious about their mugs. You can purchase your own, put your name on it, and leave it there.

Hot chocolate

I got a wrap with spinach, eggs, olive stuff, and some other stuff. I don’t like the texture of wraps, so I just eat what’s inside.

The innards of the wrap. It tasted great.

When I left, the pub next door had this sign outside.

No words…

Old Main

Isn’t this beautiful?

Again…

more…

I got to the office and jumped on troubleshooting stuff again. Test code worked, so that’s a good start.

References.

Scanned this book chapter which is very interesting.

When I left, these flowers caught my eyes.

Beauty blowing in the wind.

 Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Photo Journal – Thursday 19 May 2016

I was up late last night, later than my usual late. I wanted a bit more sleep this morning but had to head out for another meeting. I made my smoothie as usual this morning.

Today was absolutely beautiful! Blue skies, green trees!

Blue skies!

More blue skies!

Today was another day of fixing computer issues. I really got very little done. I started initial tests with the Lillypad Arduino.

Testing.. Not finished as yet. Today, another slight bummer for me. I went to judo to clear my mind and energize my body.

Post-workout judogi. Training was great tonight!

Happy Friday!!!!

Photo Journal – Wednesday 18 May 2016

The smoothie start. Today I put papaya in my smoothie too, no kiwi.

Today is a cold, grey, and cloudy one.

My friend Shiva defended his Masters thesis today. He did such an awesome job! Here is some of the work that he did. Check out anonchitect.com. Keep up the great work and I look forward to more from you Shiva!

Another shot of his presentation

My other friend Dhaval also defended his Masters thesis. He looked into designing for earthquake resistant buildings and the use of recycled plastics in the process. Keep up the great work Dhaval! I am looking forward to seeing a lot more from you.

I spent a lot of time again today dealing with computer stuff. All the issues are still not finished and resolved, tomorrow will be another day.

These are just two of the programs I will be using this summer, Arduino and Processing.

When I got home I had dinner and relaxed a bit. After resting I made sure to watch The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. It’s my 11pm thing. Jason Sudeikis was on tonight. He’s great!

Writing, editing, thinking, writing, thinking, and editing.

I got work done tonight so I feel very good! Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Photo Journal – Tuesday 17 May 2016

My morning started with my fruit smoothie. This smoothie was made with banana, apple, carrots, frozen strawberries, kale, frozen kiwi, flax and chia seeds, and white grape juice as my liquid.

Colorful fruits and veggies = Healthy food!

Loaded

Flax and chia seeds seen at the bottom. I haven’t as yet put in the juice, this was some water.

I was running late, so I had to put my smoothie to-go in my mason jar. It doesn’t look good, but it tastes delish!

Today was another unproductive one. You know those days where you are busy, trying to get things fixed and in the end you have nothing to show for it? Yup! That was today. Windows 10 is not working properly with my Kinect &*$%*@!!. I went to IT to get help, and of course, they were unable to help me. I may have to drop it off so someone can have a look at it, OR, I will reformat my computer and install Windows 8. Such b-s. If you guys have any advice on this, I welcome it.

After getting little done today, I left. Working out de-clutters my mind and keeps me focused, it also helps me release. So I packed my judo gi and headed off to training. Having some time to think of everything BUT work, and all the minutiae that comes along with it, is always a good thing. Tomorrow is another day. Side point, I took up judo again. I started in September of last year I believe. I am a martial artist, and taekwondo is my thing! I absolutely love it! I received my black belt in 2006. In 2014, I noticed something. In my mind I was moving extremely fast, but in reality my legs were not. Also, high impact strikes were affecting my knees more. I decided to do judo.

Leaving judo, look at those ominous clouds, but still beautiful.

Today wasn’t very productive, and I feel it will be the same tomorrow because of meetings and presentations I have to attend… So maybe next Monday? LOL

Photo Journal – Monday 16 May 2016

Today started with my fruit smoothie. Flax seeds, chia seeds, bananas, apples, lychee, kiwi, and white grape juice. I think that was it.

Bulleted and ready to drink. Today is my first day putting flax seeds and chia seeds in my smoothie. It added a gelatin texture to the mix.

I had a meeting first thing this morning for a new research project that I will be working on. Good meeting.

My first item will be reading these two papers.

I took a photo of this staircase because I was running up and down it way too much today. Administrative matters took up too much of my time today, but that’s Mondays for ya. Hopefully I actually get work done tomorrow.

My desk. I organized my desk, my to-do list, and my mind so that I can hit the ground running tomorrow. Side note, Bing, has some of the most beautiful desktops.

I collected books I reserved from the library too. This is not even 10% of the stuff I have to read.

After preparing for tomorrow, I left. It was an absolutely beautiful day today. Just beautiful! Look at those trees! Look at the sky!

Green trees, blue skies, white clouds, red buildings. Beautiful!

I had to look up and take this one. Just amazing!

Schwab Building

I love the entry

I bought notebooks. I will use these to write my jottings and thoughts from and for my readings, projects, and papers that I have to work on this summer.

When I got home I opened one of my jars of kaya butter.

Look at that beauty.. Will you marry me? So good.. sooo good..

Photo Journal – Sunday 15 May 2016

Today I relaxed at home before heading into the city to get my bus back to PA for work on Monday. I was walking quickly to the bus stop so I didn’t get the chance to take too many photos. There is A LOT of construction happening in NY. A LOT! Everywhere it seems something is going up. Next time I will try to get photos of the West 57th Project by BIG.

It was cold today, and the clouds were spectacular. Look at those City Bikes!

You see that building in the backdrop? The white residential building on the left…

For all high-rises with Penthouses, I always wonder, “Who lives there?” I would love to see what it looks like and experience the views. Mmmm..

Reflections, clouds, glass and skies.

The past in the forefront, the modern in the back.

I love the DHL Building, that bright yellow building. I look forward to seeing it. Again, look at the skies.

Construction everywhere!

My view leaving NY. Gotta love that city!

When I came home I unpacked, then decided to make some eggs in muffin tins. I loosely followed this recipe. I used sweet peppers, tomatoes, spinach, sharp cheddar cheese, and cilantro instead. I used 4 eggs.

Ingredients

I also put cilantro on the top before putting them in the oven.

The eggs when they have finished. Mmmmmm…

I decided to rate my wines from the Tasting Room too. There was an order to the tasting. I had to taste the whites first (they had to be chilled), then the reds. In the photo above, I am going to taste and rate the whites.

Here I am tasting and rating the reds. It was pretty cool.

All in all a cool day. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Photo Journal – Saturday 14 May 2016

My day started with some uncertainty. I wanted to be outside and I wanted to go see a movie. I went online and bought tickets for Captain America: Civil War 3D. My friend (Arlene) also messaged me and we met downtown. You know I love the subways, look at the lines, the perspective…so powerful!

More of those sweet, black lines of the structure

I would be meeting Arlene and Chris on Fulton Street.

After getting some things and walking around some, we went to this place, Yaso Tangbao. It was my first time there. When I met my friends they told me about this delicious dumpling spot that they went to earlier, so I wanted to check it out.

This was N1 on the menu, I think it was a braised beef soup. It was delicious. The noodles were perfectly al dente, and the soup tasty. I was more concerned with our conversation than the meal, but the meal was still great. The service was good too.

Chris had these pork baos with black sesame seeds on top of them. They too were good.

One of the walls in the restaurant. I liked the brick and wood juxtaposition. A clean, and modern interior. After our meals, snacks, and great conversations, we were on our way.

On our walk along Fulton, my friend stopped this guy to tell him how much she loved his apron. He was happy to hear it, and even told them they can take a photo with him. A lovely guy with a lovely apron. He just might be the best belt man in Brooklyn. We walked around some more then went over to Arlene’s to chill, until I would leave for my movie.

I love to see scaffolding, especially, well installed scaffolding. I feel like I am in a forest of steel. I almost always take photos of narrow scaffolded spaces.

We saw this cool helluva car along the street too. Quite a beauty!

I got to my friends’ place and we relaxed. We watched Empire. I know about the TV show, but I have never watched it. My friend loves it so I was happy to watch an episode. It was great! I think I might need to Netflix it. Great acting, great music, great style, beautiful people!! I might have to put that on my to-do list for the summer. I didn’t want to be late for my movie, so I had to leave during the second episode we were watching.

34th Street

I was running late and had to put wheels on my heels so that I would not miss too much.

While rushing ahead, I looked back and saw this beautiful sunset reflecting on the buildings…  No matter how fast you rush ahead, it is always good to look behind every now and again. 🙂

Lovely!

More sunset…

The opening of Captain America: Civil War. The movie was fantastic, and I can’t wait for Black Panther!

Today was a good day. I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow, since I am heading back to work on Monday. Ughhh!!!

 

Photo Journal – Friday 13 May 2016

Today was a rainy one. I spend most of my time indoors. :(. I love the photo that I took above.

Look at the sky.

I spent some time watching a marathon session of “The People’s Couch.” This show cracks me up!

I could not stand being at home any longer, so I went by my cousins. Again we would be inside, but at least it was a change of space.

I love the griminess, the life, the geometry, the color, and people in the NY subway. Taking photos of them are always fulfilling to me. The young lady walking toward me, look at her style! Such swag!

At my cousins we ordered food. I can’t remember the name of this place, but that sauce in that container on the upper right is pure heaven. It’s a ginger, mustard, and other stuff I can’t figure out just yet beauty.

Today, was a good one, but I need to get out tomorrow.

Photo Journal – Thursday 12 May 2016

Today I worked away from home again, journeying to Arlene’s office, on Broad St.

The weather was an absolute beauty today. Blue skies!

I had to take a photo of the Trump Building. I was watching the news on his meeting with Paul Ryan before leaving the house.

New York Stock Exchange building

I like to look up in New York.

I took this photo as I sat down to work.

Leaving the office walking to the train station

National Museum at the Bowling Green Metro Stop

When I got home I saw this. A couple nights ago I read an article on online wine. I thought I would check it out. The website was the Tasting Room, and there was a $6.95 deal for a box of wines. (UPDATE: DO not purchase wines and this deal from this company. If you do, read every single fine print and word on anything you agree too.) DO NOT sign up for this.

Here are my 6 little bottles of wines. As I write this post, I have not as yet opened any of the bottles. I will be sure to share the experience when I open them. My roommate is away, so I may not be able to share these with her unfortunately :(.

I forgot to mention, my friend went to Singapore a week or two ago, and I asked him to bring me back some kaya butter. I LOOOOOOVE kaya butter!!! It is one of my favorite Singaporean treats. Arlene brought it to the office for me, so soon, I will be in heaven with kaya butter on toast. I thought the package was quite lovely too.

Brown Kaya, and Green Kaya. The brown kaya has caramel in it, while the green kaya has pandan leaves.

Today was another good one. Got work done, spent time outside getting some fresh air and sights. On the way back I went to my cousins and hung out a bit. I was talking with them about my desire to blog again, since I enjoy it so much. Blogging either relaxes me or distracts me. I am not sure which, but they encouraged me to do my Document my Day blogging again since I enjoyed it so much. So I dedicate this blog post and the one before to them.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow. It is supposed to rain. 😥

Photo Journal – Wednesday 11 May 2016

Today I wanted to get out the house to work. I messaged my friend Arlene and she suggested Williamsburg. She would be going there to work, so I decided to meet her there. This was my first time in Williamsburg I believe. I met her at a spot and we worked, then we went to get something to eat. We went to “Pies and Thighs” nearby, and the food was great! I didn’t take any photos, next time. Arlene had to leave for a meeting, so I got the food and met her at East River Bar, where the meeting would be. The photo above was taken in front of East River Bar.

Beautiful Sunset

Arlene is my friend and former colleague from MIT. She is the fantastic “mind” behind MindRider. “MindRider is a helmet that tracks, in real time, how your rides, movement, and location engage your mind. The MindRider app maps your engagement, giving you new insight into your riding experience, and providing a unique resource for riding communities and street advocacy.” We ate then her colleagues started showing up for the meeting. Today, Dave, who takes great photos for the project would be taking some photos and I was lucky to be their muse. He took photos of me, Arlene, and another colleague riding bicycles with MindRider helmets on. It was fun!

After my shots I took these beautiful shots of the sunset and the Williamsburg Bridge. Isn’t it lovely? After the meeting, it was time for me to go home. On my walk along Broadway, the restaurant at the corner of Broadway and Driggs St. was beautifully lit. Check the photos below.

View from Broadway

Look at the detailing and articulation visible with this lighting. Very dramatic!

Today was a great day. I got outside, got work done, spent time with my friend, had a great meal, and got some lovely photos.

Here are some additional links for MindRider. I encourage you to check it out.

http://mindriderhelmet.com/

http://mindriderdata.com/

https://www.wired.com/2015/01/mindrider-manhattan-bike-map/