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cobra

Took my new road bike out on Saturday and did 30 miles. Totally saw half of a cobra on the road. So crazy. Wish I had a picture to prove it.

you say tomato...

Me: so what are some of your interests?
Friend: I like to go the range
Me: oh yea? Me too, I've been there a few times
Friend: no way! How far do you shoot?
Me: um..not sure..what's the closest flag?
Friend: o wait? I'm talking about the shooting range.
Me: O. I was talking about the driving range...

Baxter's Unusual Taste Buds

List of non cat food products Baxter has eaten:

King Mushroom
Pumpkin
Sweet potatoes
Strawberries
Apples
Bok-choy
Peppers
Corn

(expanding soon)

He also loves going into garbage cans.

Giving Back

It had been awhile since I gave back to the community, so when a friend told me about this volunteer opportunity for a celebrity benefit event, I jumped at the chance. After sending out my resume and cover letter I heard back some time after and got the position. It was for a Concert for a Healthy Birth to support Choices in Childbirth. The organization informs and educates women on how, with whom and where to birth. The event was hosted by Ricki Lake and honoring Christy Turlington Burns. I volunteered prior to the event and also on the day of. I would have loved to help out at the night of but I had an interview the next day and wouldn't be back in Jersey until 3am.

Some of things I got to do were to pack up gift bags (awesome swag!), load and unload trucks, assist in hanging up portraits (strenuous!), make ribbons, pick up some last minute vibrators for the gift bags (!), decorate tables and assemble the seating arrangements. It was a great experience and I met some wonderful people while helping out.

Here is one of the 175 bags from Salmon Cove they generously donated.

I didn't take a picture of all the swag that was inside but some of it included chocolate syrup, organic cookies, lip balm, hand sanitizer, the aforementioned vibrator, lotion and tons more. Here you can find a list of sponsors.

Here is the inside of Canal Room where the event was being held.

Here are some informational pamphlets on the organization.

Table where chocolates or cheesecakes would be served:

Some portraits that were around the room. The following are by two different artists.

Although, I wasn't able to see Christy Turlington, I walked past the Today Show in the morning.

-T

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Despite only living an hour away, it's sad to say that I've only been to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens once. I went for the first time on the weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival where there were masses of people all enjoying the festivities whether it was dressing up as anime characters, watching bands play or just enjoying each other's company. The garden is huge with many different sections such as a rock garden, herb garden, the tulip section, the rose garden and so much more. The roses won't be blooming until June so I'll definitely be making a trip back.
Here is a photo my friend captured beautifully of a lady dressed up in costume.

Here I am with one of the oldest tree in the garden. Photo credit: Audrey

An assortment of tulips:

Looking down at the festival:

Afterwards, we went to this delicious Greek restaurant that was right down the road called Teddy's. I ordered a burger that hit just the spot!

I look forward to visiting both places in the near future!

Cheers! 

News Anchor for a Minute

I finally used my Living Social deal for a NBC studio tour at 30 rock. The package came with a free cup of fro-yo and any SNL t-shirt. I tried the white peach which was refreshing and not overly sweet.

The selection of SNL t-shirt were limited so I chose the "More Cowbell" with Will Ferrell to give to a friend.

While waiting for the tour to start, I snapped a couple pictures of the hallway where we were waiting.

For 30 Rock fans, here is a Kenneth the Page jacket. 

Here we have the Coneheads.

The tour went by surprisingly fast. I saw the Dr. Oz studios, SNL set and a green screen room where I got my picture taken. 

Also, before entering into the green screen room, the pages asked for volunteers. I was one of them and I was able to do a simulated news report. It was a lot of fun reading from the teleprompter and I decided afterwards that I could do it for a living. Overall, it was a fun experience.

Case Closed

A few months back in January, I received a ticket for a parking violation. I had parked my car at an intersection (see picture below) but since there was snow on the ground, I couldn't see the yellow lines on the curb. Also, it was in a residential area and where I grew up, we were allowed to park at "intersections" without it being illegal. I had also just moved into the neighborhood, therefore, wasn't familiar with the area.

I thought I had a good chance of getting my ticket reduced/dismissed so I appealed it, missed my first court date (got the date and time mixed up-whoops), had to post bail for myself (the women at the court just waived it since I didn't seem like "that type of person"), and finally went to my rescheduled court date. It just so happened that it was also the day of a pretty big final so I brought along my textbook to study in courtroom. It was my first time in court and didn't know what to expect. Little did I know, I was also in a room full of other people waiting for their cases to be heard. It wasn't until two hours later did I get to speak to the prosecutor. The police officer who wrote me the ticket wasn't there yet and could take another 3 hours to arrive. I could either wait for him to see if he would dismiss it or take an offer: drop the $66 ticket down to $25 plus a $6 court fee. Some of you might think I'm crazy but I decided to wait for the officer. I didn't have class until later that night and didn't have to be anywhere else.

Although the waiting was grueling, I heard some interesting cases whilst trying to study. The judge was also pretty funny with his sarcasm and dry sense of humor. He reminded me of a mellow version of Judge Judy. One person had received a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt over 8 years ago(!) and hadn't gotten his ticket paid. It built up to a whole bunch of other cases because of it.

There was another case with a single working mother who was also going to school and while I'm not sure what had happened, she had a public defender. At the end, the judge asked when she could pay the public defender and she replied something like a couple weeks. Although the judge empathized with her, he went into this heartfelt speech about how this man (public defender) drove an hour for her so that he could be there at 9am to defend her case (for 4 hours) and was pretty much getting paid nothing. Also, it would personally mean a lot to the judge if she could pay him the next day. He added that the $55 wouldn't even be going to the public defender but to the town and that even a lawyer who gets paid $200+ an hour wouldn't do that. It was pretty moving and I think the defendant was tearing up (either from his speech or having to pay the next day-I joke.)

After waiting for four hours, I spoke with the prosecutor again. He got a hold of the police officer and was informed that he wouldn't be there for another 3 hours! Fortunately, he spoke with the officer and he remembered ticketing my car but didn't recall there being any snow covering the yellow lines. Coming prepared, I showed him the picture from my camera and my case ended up being dismissed with no charges. I guess that waiting did pay off. The exam ended up being one of the most difficult ones I've taken but I ended up doing well in the course. :)

Until next time.

Baxter's New Bowl

First off, welcome to my blog! I had created an account awhile ago but didn't get around to start writing it until now. The title is pretty cheesy but that'll do for now.

I went to Color Me Mine last week and picked out a new bowl for my new kitty to paint. It takes about a week for it to be ready so I finally picked it up today. Here are some pictures before it was fired up.

My friend painted a dunk mug. I think it's adorable and especially
love the monkey's mouth. I can't wait to see how it turns out. 

Now here are pictures after it was put in the kiln.

Voila!

Still new to this so I haven't figured out how to rotate the pictures yet. 

Here is Baxter checking out the goods.

Not sure how he feels about it. 

Yawn. This is boring (actually, this is him munching
on a Greenie as I knew he would sit).

You're only making strange noises so I'll look up at you. 

He found much more enjoyment out of the bag then his bowl.

Cheers!
T