Off The Leash

A Pickle of A Day

On Sunday, Honey and I ventured on a journey across the Williamsburg Bridge to the International Pickle Festival on the Lower East Side.  We had a fun time walking 3 miles to taste pickled cucumbers, beets, scallions, green beans, and cabbage.  The only kind Honey liked (the only kind at which she wouldn't turn her nose) was the new pickles.  They are more like cucumbers than the sours and half-sours.  I didn't dare let her try the spicy sours, since they even made me pucker.
Here is Honey.  She loves the Williamsburg Bridge.  Well, she really loves all the attention she received from the construction workers on the bridge.  They loves the Brittanys!  Can you tell that Honey was tired after we had to walk the whole way home since no cabs would pick us up ?  I know that I didn't expect to walk the full 6 miles that day!
Here is an image of the new sign on the Williamsburg Bridge, put up by the oh-so-enthusiastic borough president, Marty Markowitz. The rest of my Pickle Day Pictures can be found here.

Highs and Lows for today

The highs and lows for today:
high-I had a really nice talk with Marcie from Animal General Hospital on the upper west side.  I might be offered a job with them and that would be very cool.  I liked the vibe and everyone seemed really nice.  Marcie was a wealth of information about the NYC shelter/rescue scene and I appreciated her inside view as a total newbie with no real comrades yet.  BTW, I was asked some crazy questions in a previous interview, such as "What would you do if one of your co-workers really wasn't doing his/her job or was slacking off?"  I didn't have to deal with that crappy question today thank goodness!  It really made the conversation much more pleasant and made me much more interested in the job.
high-Scott had a job interview today also, with Manhattan Neighborhood Network-a public tv organization, and it also went well. 
low-Honey had her second seizure since the beginning of September.  She had been (so we thought) seizure free since she started phenobarbital (drug for epilepsy) last September/October.  It wouldn't be a big deal to just up her medication if it didn't cause liver problems....
high-lunch with Scott at Grey Dog's Coffee.  I had a Grey's Golden Ale and Scott had an iced coffee, his new favorite beverage.
low-still hunting for apartments.  It takes wastes a lot of time and energy to look at a lot of misses before you find "the one".
high-getting our first netflix movies.  The Warriors should be excellent, or at least fun to laugh at!

Brooklyn Heights

Yesterday I decided to go to Cody's Ale House on Court Street for a beer and burger platter.  I haven't been eating meat on this since I arrived in NYC, so I really wanted a burger!  Don't ask about the not eating meat thing, sometimes I just go for long periods of time without it.
Cody's is a chill bar where they know everyone's name and Bob the bartender sees CNN on their tv all day long so he's on the up-and-up with the talking heads.  Good fries and burgers, good beer selection too.  I went with a Brooklyn Lager because I want to try their signature brew (the recipe was handed down to the current brewers from the original owners of the brewery so it is a tried and true brew). 
I will be attending one of the Saturday tastings very soon at Brooklyn Brewery, since it is a nice walk to my place from there!  I was told that there is no happy hour on Fridays at a few places in Ann Arbor.  Well, eat your heart out because Brooklyn Brewery has happy hour on Friday! 
The BB will also be hosting the New York beer tasting on September 10th.  I'm tasting Michigan beers in July and New York beers in September!  I love it.
After Cody's, I took a nighttime stroll on the Brooklyn Bridge.  I really enjoy that walk for the view and the breeze.
As I was nearing the Manhattan side of the bridge, a line of people passed by while holding hands and keeping their eyes shut.  There were at least 20 people in this group and I thought that it was probably one of those trust exercises (like a low-ropes course) for a group of employees.  Otherwise, they were experiencing what it is like to be blind.  Either way, it looked strange.

Still on a mission...

Today I am going to check out the Mayor's Alliance for the Animals adoption event in Prospect Park.  I tried to get the volunteer paperwork completed earlier this week so that I could assist the Brooklyn Shelter with the animals at the event, however, they have not approved my application (yes, you have to be approved so that they don't think you'll run out of the place with one of the animals...).
I will just be a spectator today.  Hopefully, I'll meet some good people that represent the places at which I applied to work. 
I'm also going to stop in at one of my favorite restaurants, Clark's at 112 Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights (I stop in for breakfast every time I am here).

Yesterday, I spent the day looking at a few more apartments in Greenpoint, going to the movies, and checking out a street fair near NYU.
For those unfamiliar with the area, Greenpoint is due east of Manhattan, just over in Brooklyn.  South of it is Williamsburg (hipster mecca) and north is Queens.  Greenpoint is the Polish 'hood and great food is in ample supply.  It is a nice area, from what I have seen, and plans are coming soon to revamp the riverside area (once industrial, now coveted by those who want a nice view of Manhattan).  I am going to attend an architectural walk next Sunday to learn more about the riverside.  It sounds like a good time, probably with a bunch of urban planning/art/architecture geeks, so I'll feel right at home.

I saw Wedding Crashers at a theater near Union Square.  A ticket is $10.75!  At least the chairs make the most comfortable theater seats ever.  The movie was funny, go check it out.

I always seem to stumble into a street fair while in the City.  I'm not sure how, but I enjoy the cheap eats and always find something cool.  This time I found a metal sign that will go very well in our new place.  You'll have to come see it sometime!

Michigan Beers are good to me!

Scott and I went to the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival again this year (number 4 for us, I believe).
For info, go here.  Kate from WFM was there, she's the beer buyer.  Her husband, Steve, was there-his band was playing (Loud Love).  As soon as we walked in the gate I thought, "Hey!  I've heard this song before, so I must have seen this band..."
The hits for my palate included:
Arcadia's Imperial Stout
Dark Horse's Sapient Triple (their Raspberry Ale was just okay)
Dragonmead's Lancelot's Cream Ale
Fort Street Brewery's Festivus
Founder's Oatmeal Stout
New Holland's Pilgrims Dole
Schmohz Brewing's Amber Tease Ale
Short's The Village Reserve

and the one and only miss: Bo's Brewery & Bistro's Belgian-Style Grand Cru 2003.  And I mean it.  No good.

To be honest, I forgot what other samples I tried.  Yeah, I know what you are thinking.  I was too drunk to remember, right?!  Nope.  I forgot because the beer tasting took place on July 23rd and I have been so busy since that I just can't remember these little details.
With that said...I left the tasting with a few tokens-since we arrived 1.5 hours late after getting free, grilled food at WFM and stopping to pick up sunglasses and sunscreen.  I hope I can use those tokens some day (like next year at the 2006 Summer Beer Festival on Saturday, July 22nd (1 - 6 PM).  You best set the date upon your calendar now!  (Especially Joe, Rachel, & John Wyatt)

Peculier Pub

I recommend a visit to the Peculier Pub if you are ever on Bleecker in Greenwich Village.
While in NYC last week, a total stranger bought my excellent Dogfish Head draft after she was tired of waiting for the chatty bartender to notice her.  She was with a group of friends and they were celebrating a birthday.  It was another nice gesture that someone sent my way in the City and I hope I continue to meet nice people there.
(Background to that comment: In December a couple bought my breakfast after I was denied seating at a diner because I was only one person and they wouldn't give me a booth for two.  They told me good luck and Merry Christmas, then I cried when I told Scott how nice it was.)
Nice people!
 

Honey has day of up's and down's

Today Honey visited Scott's office.  We've stopped in enough times that the elevator is no longer a scary moving room.  There was a new situation today, however. Lisa's awesome lab mix, being an office mascot, stopped in to say hello and Honey backed herself into a corner and started barking like a mad dog.  I feel bad because I could tell that the situation was about to get bad as Honey moved into the corner, but I didn't act fast enough to get Stella out of the room. 
As the doggy-style yelling ensued, I had to apologize for Honey's poor conversation skills.  I don't think we'll be visiting the office again.
On an up note, Honey finally made visible progress on the Hand command.  She currently gives her left paw when asked "Paw?".  I am trying to get her to hand me the right hand only on the "Hand" command.  Eventually, as this becomes a solid trick, we'll do some patticake and some high-fives.  We might as well become constructive with the tricks if we can check the aggression, right?

On the Fourth of July, we did what everyone should do on a holiday: take a hike in the woods!  Scott, Amy, Josh, Honey, and I took a stroll in the woods near Arrowwood Co-op and had a nice time.  Honey imitated a train engine with her tongue sweating.  The bipeds had a good workout too.  We then ate food that did not require cooking (Grapes, gold kiwi, provolone, sandwiches, hummus) and had some wine and excellent Honker's Ale and Raison D'Etre.  Nice, relaxing holiday.  I was glad to have the day off from work since everyone else was able to share the day.