Ecuador Story Published!

Ta-da. My story on my Ecuador travels was published in Scholars and Rogues online. I think I need to work on expanding on my experience there, beyond these phantom images that haunt me, to describe my host family and their landscape a bit more. Stay tuned...

Art Published!

I have two tree-themed artworks published in The Common Voice.

With all these recent acceptances, I have to get cracking... Time to write and make more art!

Grind, Vindication and Wanderlust

I just got a poem published in Burning Word! Entitled "Approaching My Own Version Of Adulthood," it pretty much speaks for itself.

How amazing (and gratifying) it was to receive three publication acceptance emails the same day while traveling abroad. Such is my summer. More works already accepted for publication are on their way. It feels good to be vindicated/appreciated sometimes.

In other words, returning to NYC after having been away for awhile is both surreal and bittersweet. I've missed it, and my friends and home, but I already miss being elsewhere. I find myself relating to Elisabeth Eaves's Wanderlust, the book I am currently reading.

And life and time continue to move forward. I saw this odd contraption today in Williamsburg, reminding me of how strange, unexpected and creatively saturated NYC life is.

Apparently Red Bull is hosting some kind of inventors' contest (dubbed "The Ordinary Becomes the Extraordinary") this Sunday in McCarren Park.

I might have to check it out. (Free to the public from 3-7 pm). And then I have my own individual projects to pursue, like getting more work published...

Coney Island Mermaid Parade

The mermaid parade was a terrifically crowded celebration of everything nautical, and then some, in true Coney Island fashion.

Expanded Highline!

Yesterday I explored the newly opened extension of the Highline. The newest addition includes art installations that double as bird feeders, more seating areas, and additional spectacular views and railroad-based gardens.

It's worth checking out!

Lower Manhattan Splendor

While I typically don't hang around in the Financial District or Battery Park during my leisure time, this Sunday was an exception. And an absolutely lovely, mellow and fulfilling exception it was. So much so that it merits being called a staycation.

Some highlights of the day:

Lock Bikes to Street Fixtures At Your Own Risk

Huh. Apparently a few years ago NYC decided to apply an administrative code, 16-122-B, to not only cars but to bicycles. The website, Bicycletter suggests that NYC decided to institute this code to bikes in order to protest events such as Critical Mass. According to their website,


"Previous City administrations deliberately did not apply 16-122(b) to bicycles so as not to discourage bicycle use. This new interpretation appears to be related to recent police actions against cyclists participating in Critical Mass, where NYPD has removed bicycles locked up by Mass participants. Outside of these actions, NYPD has removed locked bikes from the street in only a handful of isolated incidents: from areas in Midtown during the RNC, and from the Bedford Ave (L) and Second Ave (F/V) subway station entrances.


The 5BBC has not heard of any other use of this policy against everyday cyclists. But we suggest that cyclists avoid locking to subway entrances, or in any way that might block pedestrian traffic."


I apparently parked my bike this afternoon to a pole in front of some (self-)important building in Greenpoint this afternoon and returned to it a few hours later with this sign affixed:

Would NYPD actually have removed my bike if I hadn't returned back to it in such a timely manner? I don't know, but the threat effectively scared me.... so be warned!