The Little Make-Out Room

Originally uploaded by jpeterstein.

Last night I went out on the deck as it was raining and yet the sun was heavy as it set in the sky. Took some images of a duck family with two baby ducks who had fur! The sky was crazy, dark and grey in parts and bright orange in others. It was so relaxing after a stressful week to just be outside in the quiet, on the deck and the beach below it, walking around in the drizzle. I took this shot of my neighbor’s “make out room”. It’s a little room they built for their teenage kids to hang out in. And when the kids have a party, they hire their friends as bouncers to stand outside their little “VIP” room.

Tonight City Island has it’s own fireworks and we will sit out on the deck and watch them with our neighbors. I was just reading the wikipedia on City Island, brilliant read if you’re not familiar with the place. Oh and I’m totally overusing flicker’s blog this photo function, but i heart it.

adelleandpaul.jpg

Originally uploaded by jpeterstein.

DD and I were recently in Ireland, where we attended our good friends’ wedding. It was a really fun week, even the week leading up to the wedding. In Ireland, you get visitors every night of the week before the wedding. The bride and groom have to entertain them with drinks and food.

The night before the wedding, I went next door to where DD and his friends were celebrating with the groom. Lots of laughter and songs, and a guy playing guitar. I started singing all the Irish songs I knew, and in a room full of Irish folks, I was the only one who knew the lyrics to these songs! Thank God for the Pogues, that’s all I have to say.

The wedding day was really spectacular, I got to ride in the limo with the bridesmaids and take these lovely shots with my plastic camera. They had irish dancers at the wedding and it was brilliant. Then the next day, I was totally dazed and feeling rough, and I walk out of our hotel room and DD and his friend are drinking already at 12 o’clock. The bride and groom came down and then a bunch of DD’s friends were drinking…I had to go home early. I couldn’t keep up with the Irish!

Caring for your Introvert is a funny, partly tongue-in-cheek and partly serious commentary on introverts in our very extroverted society. I always had a feeling I was slightly different than a lot of people around me, and it’s because I’m in the minority of personality types. Most people are extroverts and our society is kind of set up more for that type.

I’m the kind of person who needs a lot of time alone to think and to recharge my batteries. I like a good party and I’m perfectly sociable, but after a night out with a group of people I’m definitely exhausted. And I really prefer a deep one-on-one conversation with a good friend about something I feel really passionate about. I actually get along famously with extroverts, most of my close friends are extroverts, and there’s nothing I like better than to listen to them talk on and on.

So are there any other introvert readers out there? What did you think of the article?

And if you’re not sure of your own type, check out my post about personality tests here.

I just love Red Chard. And I have urban organics to thank. Urban Organics is this organic vegetable delivery service. They send fresh veggies in a box once a week. You can’t really choose what they send, it’s just what’s in season. I had never tried red chard before. Well let me tell ya, it’s not only a healthy green leafy veggie, but it’s also delicious. Just sautee it with a little garlic and extra virgin olive oil, or if you prefer, cook it in a pan with bacon. Mmm bacon. Actually bacon makes everything better. But red chard doesn’t need to be better. It’s good just as it is. Some people also cook the stalks of the Red Chard, but I just throw them out. Anyway it’s really yummy.

Had a really fun time (or as the irish say, good craic) last night at Mickey John’s in Queens. My friend Joey had a surprise party for her mom who had just arrived from Ireland to visit. Joey hired an accordian player who sang and played some old irish tunes. There were a bunch of us, and all of a sudden one of the guys says, maybe I’ll play my Uilleann pipes! It was so cool, and definitely not something you see everyday. I guess they are sort of similar to bagpipes except that you pump air into them instead of blowing. The sound is rich and haunting.

We all danced irish jigs and “jived” (swing danced). It was a blast. Then his brother sang some irish tunes a capella about the hardships of moving away from Ireland to live in a new country and they almost made me cry!

In the cab back home DD and I talked about how unique and wonderful the night had been. DD said that the songs were so much more poignant when sang by an Irishman who had emigrated over to America.