This is just the coolest video!

Enjoy!

I know you will!

; )

But wait there is more…..

Woman in Film

thank you eggman913 for your great work!

Ode to Dean Johnson

Icon, Legend, Musician, Promoter, Force of Nature…

Dean & the Weenies, The Velvet Mafia, Mondo New York…

We adore you; we will miss you, like so many Icons, taken from us far too soon.

Scandalous in life, scandalous in death, you have touched so many in this short life.

We are all the better for knowing you.

Selfishly we wanted more.

Many memories flood thru my mind, I have them forever.

Yes darlin’, you are a Celluloid Hero forever

Young & Beautiful!!

Miss you; Love you, thinking of you!

Air Kisses to the masses….. Muah!

http://www.myspace.com/deanandtheweeniesfansite

http://www.velvetmafiatheband.com/

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2007/09/promoter_and_queer_icon_dean_j.html

This is one of the many perks of NYC to me! Wall art is everywhere, sometimes where you least expect it. That is part of the fun, seeing it just appear! Today was one of those lucky days for me. This Giant To Do list is made out of Post Its.

If you are in town and have a pen, add your toughs! It is on the corner of 1^st Ave & 6th Street.

Whew! Those triple H’s can really kick your butt!

This is the time of summer when I just want to bury my head into a good book with a glass of homemade lemonade, the ice tinkling ever so as it melts. Peeking up from the pages to look off the porch or out the window every now and again to see the butterflies & Bees dancing in the air around the flowers….ah

It is a little different than that dream here in the city, but we can still see all kinds of views when we gaze out our window.

Or if we choose the shade of a park or garden we can still catch the views of butterflies and the like.

One landed on my shoulder today!!

This Saturday I had the extreme pleasure of going on the Green Thumb Koi Extravaganza!  

It was a walking tour of some of the Community Gardens on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that have Koi Ponds. They were beautiful!

We started our tour at the 6BC garden. I just Love this Garden!

It is such a jewel tucked away on 6^th street between Aves B & C.

You really forget you are in the city when you step into this garden.

The 2 floor freestanding building is such a charmer, with vines reaching for the roof, which has solar collector panels on it that power the waterfall in the Koi Pond.

A big thank you goes out to Cary who spoke for his garden, you guys do amazing work!

Our next stop was 6^th and Ave B Garden, this garden was made famous with its large towering sculpture.

This was on the opening shots of NYPD Blues TV series.

This garden also boasts a large performance stage.

William gave us the lowdown on their Koi pond, thank you for all the great info.

Our last garden was on 8^th St between Aves C & D.

This garden had the largest of all the Koi ponds we saw that day as well as the oldest it is 20yrs old!

They also have some lovely structures’.

 Thank you to Jan, Jim & Asami for their wealth of info on Koi & pond care.

I had such a great morning, hope you enjoy the photos!

Well I don’t know what the weather has been like where you are, but here in NYC it has been brutal! So HOT and so HUMID that the heat index is around 105*!!!! YIKES!!! The kind of weather that makes you sweat while you stand still.

Due to this present climate change, I have been saving my garden chores till later in the day.

My grape tomato plant is out of control! Small clusters of baby tomatoes are erupting all over this plant. They needed to be staked better with some support for all this bounty.

Here are some photos of the garden in twilight

In the summer it is a real challenge to think of what to eat, at least for me. One day I had an idea to make a new salad for a party I was going to. It was sooo hot out and I wanted something fresh and tasty. I came up with this….

Try it, I know you will love it!

Carol’s Couscous Salad 

2 cups of couscous or 2 boxes near east couscous (I like to use the mushroom and the pine nut herb). Make as directed, if using plain couscous add mushroom boulion. After cooking spread it out on a cookie sheet to cool off.

That was the easy part now for the rest.

1 granny smith apple, peeled & diced small

1 cucumber peeled, seeded and diced small

¼ to ½ cup each pecans & golden raisins chopped, I like to chop them together.

1 med red onion diced small

1 large or 2 med carrots grated and chopped

½ – 1 cup frozen peas thawed

1/3 cup each; finely chopped flat leaf parsley, finely chopped mint, basil chiffinade.

Salt & Pepper to taste

Toss & serve

Sliced cherry tomatoes are a nice garnish around the rim of the serving bowl.

This is a real crowd pleaser, and will make even the person who hates couscous change their mind.

This is what it is all about, growing your own food!You know what this baby has seen it’s whole life. All the good things I have put in its life, the food, water, sunlight, and TLC. I am thrilled at the lack of bad things like pesticides, and any other chemicals that were not in its life. Now to start getting my tomato recipes in order…..as well as some new things this year, Any ideas?

My good friend Claudia thought that I needed some time away from the gardens and decided to take me to the Flea Market. Sadly these have been downsized greatly.

The 6^th Avenue Flea Market was world famous.

Now there are new high-rise luxury apartments where the main 3 spots were.

New Yorkers never say die though…a few have sprouted in the shadows of the skyscrapers, and seem here to stay, for now.

There is such a cornucopia of goods, and not so good, to be had for all.

After all the running around it was time for a break!

Hope that you will enjoy the sample of views….