Filling the days

What have we been doing, you might ask? Before the InterWeb came to our apartment, and even after (when we want to sit on a chair), we spend time in the lovely Pratt Library. Air conditioned, quiet, many chairs. Erin has been finishing a work project for Augsburg College that was due this past Friday, and Jeremy has been reading the four books he is supposed to have read before he can start school on Tuesday the 2nd. Currently, he's on "The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths." And, we walk around a lot. And sit on our stoop.

Still life with futon

So, I've been avoiding mentioning that all of our worldly possessions in our two Pods did not arrive this past Thursday as expected, and won't arrive until Tuesday after Labor Day. Sigh. This means we'll have spent nine days in an empty apartment with nothing but the clothes we brought with us, the cat, and the futon we bought the second day we were here. Friends, do you value the chairs you have to sit on? Probably not, but let me tell you, you should. This is what things look like a lot of the time around here...

Friends of mine

The only really sad sad thing about leaving Minneapolis has been leaving so many friends and family. We feel lucky that we have a few built-in friends here in New York, and seeing some of them in our first few days has made the transition a bit easier. Our good friend Mike Slagle (Jeremy's old college friend) and his girlfriend Arianne are in Williamsburg and treated us to homemade pizza and hangout time on their fire escape the first night we arrived. Another CVA friend, Heidi, just moved here from St. Paul a few weeks ago and also lives in our neighborhood. Mikey Bales, old UHQ fiddler, wanted to "show us Queens," but ended up just eating sushi with us in Greenpoint due to an unexpected closure of the G-train. And when we first arrived, the only actual social engagement on our calendar was going to see another old music friend, Susan Enan, play a show in Brooklyn. We have missed hearing Susan play live, and the show was fantastic. It was at a great bar in Williamsburg (Pete's Candy Store) that was packed with people watching the last night of the DNC on the TVs. We caught Al Gore before the music, and most of Obama after. It was sweet to be in a packed space full of people cheering along to his speech.

Waterfalls

My mom sent us a nice card that arrived the day or two after we did (thanks for the mail!) In it, she included an article from the Green Bay paper about what to do in New York. We are not too cool for stuff like that (yet!) We were reminded that there are these crazy free-standing waterfalls installed in a massive public art show by Olafur Eliasson here in town, and spontaneously bought tickets and headed out on our first touristy adventure -- Circle Line harbor cruise at night to see the Waterfalls. It was amazing to cruise under the Brooklyn Bridge and around the East River at night.

More Neighborhood

On our first morning, we explored the neighborhood a bit on foot, walking south toward Prospect Park. We are between Williamsburg (trendy artsy hipster neighborhood) to the north and Prospect Park (designed by the same folks who created Central Park) to the south. On the way south, we stopped for breakfast at Tom's Diner. I found out later it is actually the Tom's Diner from Suzanne Vega's song ("I am sitting in the window at the diner on the corner...") The neighborhood is an interesting mix of getting-more-expensive homes and statements about what gentrification can mean...

Neighborhood

There is so much within just a few blocks of our new apartment -- restaurants (we've had Indian, Carribean, Japanese, Middle Eastern, French-American and more...), two train lines (the A-C and the G, for those who care), laundry, pharmacy, salon-spa, coffee shops, and an awesome community hardware place called Sister's Hardware. Our actual block is quiet (mostly) and residential, and just a block away things are bustling, grubby, and interesting. There is a tremendous amount of support for Obama in the neighborhood, with a lot of official campaign signs in apartment and business windows. There is also the more grassroots form of support for the campaign...

Pratt Institute

Jeremy is starting an MFA program in painting at Pratt Institute, a 10 minute walk from our new apartment. The campus is lovely -- reminds me of Macalester a bit. There are sculptures, brick buildings, and squirrels a-plenty on the grounds. He has a nice studio space in an old dorm building, sharing a two-bedroom converted to two-studios with a second year MFA student named Allen whom we have yet to meet. Allen's work seems pretty cool, hopefully the artist is, too.

The good, bad, and ugly

Regarding the very small kitchen... on the plus side, it has a lovely view of some green space out the window. On the negative side, it is really dirty and small. We can fix the dirty, and get used to the small.

Photos around the new place

We are on the third floor of a three story walk-up. No elevator, but nice views, fresh air, trees out the window.

First Day: Arrival in Brooklyn

Welcome to our new blog about the life and times of Erin and Jeremy ("Eremy") in New York City! Brooklyn, to be specific. After many days of packing and cleaning (successful only because of the amazing help of countless friends and family), we left Minneapolis on Sunday, August 24, on an early morning flight. We sat on the runway for an hour, with Mabel the Cat meowing pitifully under the seat in front of us. She would have been louder, but was under the influence of Cat Drugs, thankfully. We took a harrowing cab ride from JFK to our new neighborhood -- Clinton Hill -- in Brooklyn. Clinton Hill is an historically black neighborhood, with street after street of gorgeous brownstones. This is a photo of our new home at 115 Gates Ave. We are really happy with the apartment in most ways... the light, wood floors, fireplaces...