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Eco Friendly Eternal Housing

March 24, 2009 RH 5 Comments

Therapeutic Landscapes did a lovely, thoughtful post about Landscapes of Remembrance last week and asked for some input. Well, since I spent my Sunday at a cemetery, I can do just that.

Let me start by talking about me, because that’s my favorite subject. I’m terrified of pain and suffering, but once I’m dead, I don’t care what you do with me. I won’t feel it. I don’t want my decomposing body to take up good space on this earth. So, I’ve signed up to recycle my organs and the rest of me can be cremated and flushed down the toilet for all I care.

With the green movement well under way, are there more options for eco friendly burials these days?

Absolutely! But let’s backtrack by talking a bit about religion. Ok, I don’t know anything about religion, being the heathen that I am, but I did find out one thing over the weekend. Jews don’t embalm. They also don’t cremate (or tattoo, but that’s off topic). It has something to do with leaving the body as it came into this world. I’m sure Judaism isn’t the only religion to opt out on the hazardous embalming fluids, but I’ll let you fill me in if you know of others.

A green burial simply means no embalming fluids and a bio-degradable casket. There are green burial grounds popping up all over.

Going back to my cremation, I’ve learned that the use of fossil fuel during the process doesn’t make it the most sustainable alternative.

The Great Burial Reef offers a burial of ashes at sea. Sounds like a fantastic idea! But the cheap bitch in me says “Why can’t my friends and family just take my ashes and throw them overboard themselves?”

A sky burial seems like the best option to me, but alas, it is SO NOT legal in the states! This is the Tibetan funerary practice of cutting up the body and letting the birds eat it. Talk about recycling! There is a sky burial cemetery in Texas, but the bird eating thing is only allowed for pets. Pets that may be buried with you. Now, I like THAT option! But dead or not, I’m not spending my eternity in Texas.

So Maybe I’m Taking Monday Off?

March 20, 2009 RH 5 Comments

Yeah, I don’t feel like pre writing a post for Monday. I’ll be down in Florida visiting the mother. Going down for my father’s unveiling even though it hasn’t been a full year and even though he’s in a wall 4 stories up. Don’t ask. Yes, I took a picture at the funeral. Right after my mother made a scene about not wanting to throw Israeli soil on the coffin because she’s American, not Israeli. Right after she made my husband find some Florida dirt and cousin Linda started gossiping about it.

I’m going to bring my Flip video with me. I bought the new toy months ago and never used it. Some family members might have conniptions if I start taping the unveiling, but I’ll try to get some good footage of the crazy Florida Jews somehow. I’ve gotta start using that camera.

Anyway, Happy Monday. I’ll be schvitzing down south with my goyishe mensche and my meshugine mispokhe.

* Yiddish

NYC Subway Stuff

March 20, 2009 RH 6 Comments

I’ve been playing on NYC Subway lately. The site is too extensive to sum up in a few paragraphs. Let’s just say you have to check it out for yourselves. There are exterior and interior shots of historic subway cars, abandoned stations, old tokens, you name it. If you ever wanted to know everything there is to know about the NYC Subway system, here it is. And if that’s not enough, there are several links to other sites.

My memories only date back to the early 70’s (maybe a little late 60’s). I remember the large tokens with a cut out Y, colorful graffiti covered trains, absolutely NO air conditioning(!) and even a few wicker seat cars leftover from earlier days. And a ride was 35 cents.

Oh yes, my father worked for the Transit Authority and to this day my mother holds a grudge against Ed Koch for the transit strike. I didn’t pay much attention. I was too interested in Starsky and Hutch at the time.

What are your earliest subway memories? Bet you’re not as old as I am!

Coney Island Circa 1905

March 19, 2009 RH 2 Comments

I just swiped this video from Kinetic Carnival. It was too good to pass up for my own blog.

My Grandma Clara was a young girl living in Brooklyn around the turn of that century. I inherited her scrapbooks and have loads of images of the family spending time at their summer home in Cape May. This footage reminded me that I have to start scanning those photos!

Enjoy.

Architectural Digest Home Show

March 19, 2009 RH

You know those goofy home shows that take place in school auditorium or civic centers? Yeah, well, the Architectural Digest Home Show is probably slightly better than those.

This year’s show takes place at Pier 94 starting on March 26th. Apart from the exhibitors, there are design and culinary seminars and a sustainability conference.

Dude, you should go.

Thursday Linkorama

March 19, 2009 RH

Add Drywall to the List of Bad Chinese Imports. Charles and Hudson

Reopening a Brooklyn Jail? City Rooms

Brooklyn is now Groovalicious. Creative Times

Springtime Table Settings (something I’ll never actually do). Hooked on Houses

Guest Bedrooms. Door 16

The Rescue Ink Pet Mobile

March 18, 2009 RH 2 Comments

Those burly tattooed angels over at Rescue Ink are up to some good again. They’ve acquired an ambulance from an anonymous donor and want to pimp it out (or just make it run) so they can use it as an emergency pet mobile. This will be a hospital on wheels, not merely an ambulance.

The PETT-mobile will also be used to provide veterinary service to the pets of the elderly and home bound, as well as being on call for their Trap Neuter Release program.

This of course, takes money. Warning: The donation page has some disturbing photos. I hope these dogs had happy new beginnings.

And speaking of happy new beginnings, check out their adoption page once you’ve finished digging in your pockets.

New Bed Stuy Blog

March 17, 2009 RH

A big Bed Stuy welcome for Save Bedford Stuyvesant, the new kid on the block! The blogger writes about the history and architecture of the southern tip of the neighborhood, an area folks are trying to get landmarked. Why this blog exists? “To show why it is important to safeguard and preserve the aesthetic, and cultural heritage of Bedford Stuyvesant Historic Districts.”

SBS focuses on Bedford Corners, which has actually been around for centuries and is not the figment of a realtor’s imagination. It’s my neck of the woods, so I had a good time reading about my neighbor’s homes around the corner.

I’m all for getting the landmarking….absolutely! Hypocritically, I must say that I have work to be done on the exterior of my house and I plan on doing that before there’s a huge hassle with landmarks.

Save Bed Stuy joins Bed Stuy Blog and Bed Stuy Banana as the third “strictly neighborhoody” blog.

High End Contractor Giving Recession Discounts

March 17, 2009 RH

Our buddy Andrew is a high end contractor who charges sick prices we couldn’t even dream of affording. He gets gazillions of dollars to work on opulent palaces. That was before the collapse of the world economy.

I was chatting with Andrew the other day and he needs work. He hasn’t had a contract in awhile, yeah, because of the economic situation, but mainly because he took time off to sell his house and buy another. And renovate the new home before moving in.

I don’t really know what Andrew’s company, Anglo Inscape normally charges for jobs. He and his employees are highly skilled, meticulous craftspeople. They do specialized, quality work. But Andrew is ready to set his ego aside and charge less because he just wants to get to work again.

Now, I’m not saying he’ll be as cheap as grabbing a day laborer off the street, but it’s possible that this high end contractor might be charging mid range prices now. It can’t hurt to ask. You heard it here that you don’t have to be intimidated by him.

Big Gay Hudson Valley

March 16, 2009 RH

Sometimes it pays to stick around Beacon on weekends. We did very well at the tag sale, thanks for asking. On top of that, I met a few cool people that I didn’t know existed.

Two of those people were Stephen and Patrick, the guys behind Big Gay Hudson Valley. If you haven’t heard of them yet, that’s because the site is brand spankin’ new. And they seem to have quite the following already!

BGHV blogs about local events and resources including my favorite….food and drink. You don’t gotta be gay to enjoy a good meal!

I found out from reading their blog that it’s been five years since the gay New Paltz marriages. I lived near Kingston at the time and sneaked in to the roped off family section to photograph the event. Had it up on my photography website all these years. (Mainly because I haven’t updated that website.) It turns out one of the couples married that day were good friends of Stephen and Patrick.

Small gay world, huh?

The Free Store

March 16, 2009 RH

There’s only a week and a day left to “shop” at the Free Store on Nassau Street. The project, which opened last month, is the brainchild of artists Athena Robles and Anna Stein. It’s funded in part by The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) and The September 11th Fund.

Although you may walk in and take something without putting in, you’re encouraged to drop off. Obviously, if nobody worked on the barter system, the store would’ve been empty the first day. Word is there is still plenty of merchandise.

More info at Free NYC or Artlog. If you want to read something really funny, check out the comments on the NY Post article. People getting all up in arms about the project. “Hippies!” “Commies!” “It’s Obama’s fault!” Good stuff.

Wanna Buy a Vintage Diner?

March 13, 2009 RH 5 Comments

I spent much of my youth in diners, but they were all kind of glitzy, new ones. Not saying they’re not cool in their own way. But there’s nothing like a retro diner complete with a Kiss My Grits Flo waitress. BTW, my favorite movie ever? Diner.

If you dream of owning a vintage diner, be it for business or housing, the prices are actually not that outrageous. Here’s what’s available. Be sure to check out the interior shots when you follow the links. They are spectacular!

*More diners at Buy a Diner.

“Mom’s Diner” in Avenal, NJ. $25k. Must be moved from site.

This one in Avoca, NY also has to be moved. Avoca is way up there, if you haven’t guessed. $63k.

Cookstown Diner in Southern NJ. $27k.

Weekender: Beacon’s Second Saturday

March 12, 2009 RH

Louise Bourgeois’ Crouching Spider at DIA via Grufnik @ Flickr.

Ok, I have your whole Saturday agenda planned out for you. Here’s what you’re gonna do. You drive up here or take Metro North early in the morning. Hit my tag sale first (obviously). Then you’ll probably need some brunch. Stop by Home Spun Foods for some refueling. Or try Marlena’s for the best pierogies this side of the Ukraine.

The Beacon Pub Crawl takes place on Saturday, the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve never been, but I just saw some YouTube footage. I guess there’s no avoiding the assholes if you’re on Main Street. I think there’s also a goofy small town St. Pat’s parade too. Woo-hoo! The fun never ends in exciting Beacon!

Are you still with me? Then you’ll hit DIA, because you can’t come to Beacon without visiting DIA. It’s going to be a nice day, so after that, stroll by the river. You can do the rail trail or Long Dock or hang out by the riverside park.

And then, it’s what Second Saturday is all about….the art openings. Some start as early as 4pm, but it pretty much gets going between 6-9pm. Here’s a partial list:

Van Brunt has a group show going on, featuring his own work and works by Chris Albert, Kathy Feighery and others.

There’s an interesting looking show at 400 Square. Four women using “Alternative Processes in a Contemporary World”.

Floor One is exhibiting Photography by Georgi over on the east side of Main Street.

Fovea presents Expanding Visions, a multimedia slide show projection.

Go North Gallery remembers Audrey Chibbaro with their exhibit “The Sacred Balance of the Irreverent”. The retrospective celebrates the artist, who succumbed to cancer at age 45 last December.

Beacon Artist Union (BAU) has an exhibition of new work by Catherine Welshman.

Open Space presents Cut Out, a group show curated by Mike Perry.

More info @ Maykr, Beacon Citizen and Beacon Artists Community Association

This Saturday, Beacon, Tag Sale. Failte!

March 11, 2009 RH 4 Comments

Here we go again! So, now that we pretty much have all of our tag sale inventory in place, I can tell you what we’ve got.

Garage full of inexpensive furniture and smalls. Let’s put it this way….I buy from Mario (guy whose garage it is) to sell at The Brooklyn Flea. I consider my flea prices to be pretty fair and I still have quite the mark up. So, here you are cutting out the middle gal (Hey wait, that’s me!) and getting it directly from “the guy”. The garage is 2 floors packed with stuff.

Inside the house are the finer quality items, if you will. Some incredibly cool things:

* Antique marble bust with stand

* Naked guy mannequin complete with exposed penis (see photo above)

* Chock full o’ light fixtures and lamps

* Cool iron gate or partition

* Real adult furniture in good condition (Wow!), like sideboards, dressers, a desk, bookcase, primitive dry sink and china cabinet.

All of the items in the house are priced about half of what they would be in an antique shop.

FLICKR, FLICKR, FLICKR!

Sale is this Saturday, March 14th at 69 Verplanck Avenue in Beacon, NY. 8:30am-4:30pm

CASH ONLY! There are ATMs on Main Street only a couple of blocks away. Metro North goes to Beacon and if you spend a friggin fortune, you might be able to talk us into delivery.

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening in Beacon for Second Saturday.

View Larger Map

Intro to Antiques

March 11, 2009 RH 2 Comments

I was e-chatting with Kristi of Here Be Old Things over the weekend and she sent me a link to her Mother’s Day post on how became interested in antiques.

It made me think about my own history with old junk.

My parents always liked modern design. Well, can you call it design if it’s just contemporary crap? Fuzzy couches and mirrored mantels? It looked like I was growing up in a pimp’s crib! Anyway, my mother hates antiques. No use for them. She did, however, work as a bookkeeper for an antiques dealer. A dealer who happened to be her best friend also. I spent more time over at her antique filled home next door than in my own. That was probably the start of it.

During my teens and early twenties in the 80’s I was the Vintage Clothing Queen (Ok, I still am). If I wasn’t shopping at Reminiscence, Canal Jeans, Zoot or Unique, I’d be scavenging stoop sales and flea markets. Now a favorite pastime.

Our first home project wasn’t a proper restoration. The house was 1905, but all of the detail was long gone, so it was just a new renovation. The second home wasn’t old at all. It wasn’t until our third and fourth homes that we started looking into salvage and period furnishings. We’ve been going a little overboard keeping it real. More work, but more fun and less money….as long as we DIY.

And that, my friends, is how I really got involved with all of this old crap. I can’t believe how much we used to spend on antiques before researching this properly. Hello, $3500 dining room table? $2000 armoire? I swear I can find these things for less than $500 now, easy!

So that’s my story. What’s yours?

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