April: Time is passin' like a solar eclipse (Alternate title: Death and Taxes)


  • Random: Total solar eclipse in Central New York 

Close to total!


I’d been anticipating this once-in-a-lifetime-event for YEARS. The next total eclipse to visit the state of NY (and travel through NYC)  will not be until May of 2079, at which time I (hopefully) will have made it to the ripe old age of 95 years. I’ll hope to see the NYC eclipse in my golden years, but this was the only one I’ll ever see in my own home. 


So, this is the existential rabbit hole my mind went down: I was thinking about the people who had observed the last total eclipses, and what the world was like then. Go back two total eclipses in NYS, and it’s hundreds of years before the founding of the United States. In some ways the world is drastically different, and yet there we all were, staring up at the sky in wonder in much the same way (probably?) as the witnesses way back when. 


I was at my family home in Sylvan Beach for the eclipse, and I was wondering if our house will even remain when the next total eclipse passes through - probably not. What will be there instead? Likely, something beyond my ability to imagine, just as today’s landscape was inconceivable for past CNY total eclipse-viewers (members of the Oneida tribe?). 

Whoever future eclipse-viewers standing on this land are, they won’t know me or have access to all my memories at Sylvan Beach (where our family has a long history). But maybe, like me, they will also stop to wonder who the previous eclipse-watchers were all those years before.


The eclipse was awe-inspiring, haunting, both magical and scientifically interesting, and I felt a profound sense of my place in time. 




Darkness during totality


Sunlight returning over the lake post-totality, it hadn't reached us yet.


  • Trip: NYC weekend

I happily returned to NYC for a meeting. While there, I was glad to spend time with lovely friends, as well as enjoy time alone (NYC is a wonderful place to be alone). Here are a couple highlights:

  • Beloved NYC diner culture and NYC nostalgia

In less than 2 full days in NYC, I managed to visit not one, but TWO of my favorite NYC diners. Diners are generally a favored restaurant category of mine, and the two particular diners I visited each have a special place in my heart. The first one, just off of Washington Square Park in the West Village, I’ve long referred to as “Date Diner” because I brought so many people I dated there circa 2009-2010. 


While I was reminiscing there on this visit, I felt surprised to realize I couldn’t even remember who I’d brought, except for the one date who is now my husband M <3. I also fondly remembered that a bunch of my friends had met M for the very first time at that very restaurant (a night I recall ended with a bunch of us drunkenly belting out “Don’t Stop Believin’” in a random bar). 


Memories aside, it’s simply a perfect diner experience, and I love that their turkey clubs have real turkey meat instead of deli turkey. 


The other diner I visited is La Bonbonniere, another beloved (it’s not just me!) spot in the Village. I have a Google Photo album from 2011 titled “Perfect Weekend with my Love”, which features M and I on a gorgeous fall weekend morning enjoying brunch at one of the outdoor tables. I also once saw Ellie Kemper eating there, and also the chocolate chip pancakes are chef’s kiss delicious. 


  • I went to the Tenement Museum for the first time EVER, and did a tour. It was lovely and unique for a museum experience to be focused on the lives of “regular” people as opposed to famous artists or powerful people or narratives. Definitely recommend.


  • Big Bud Press is a clothing store, and I’ve liked their website for years.  I stumbled onto a physical location on the Lower East Side right down the block from the Tenement Museum. I bought a colorful bag, a green shirt, and a cool yellow jacket. 

Washington Square Park evening mood with a tiny moon above

  • Music, Movies, Books, & TV...or not so much

This was an unusual month for me in that all of these categories were meager. Looking back, it makes sense. Fund$ are low at the moment, and, on three of the four April weekends, I was either hosting family and friends or traveling myself.


HOWEVER, I did have time to engage in some comfort watching and filled my Paul Rudd quota by doing a rewatch of Clueless and a first watch of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which was fun/fine/mid. I started Dune 2, but I’ll review it next time after I finish.


On the book front, I finished one book this month, Chain Gang All Stars, and it was fantastic. An almost perfectly-written story, it was imaginative, heart-rending, passionate, and darkly humorous.


No concerts at all this month, which feels weird, but the summer months are approaching with ALL the free music and festivals in Syracuse.  


  • Random: Friends visit

Our other weekend guests (besides for the eclipse) were our dear friends from PA.. They introduced us to geocaching, which led us to pleasant places like a wooded area next to a creek, and completely disgusting ones like a decaying, decrepit metal fence behind a gas station. 


The highlight of the gas station experience was that I kept bursting into laughter as I imagined what anyone noticing us might be thinking of four middle aged adults staring attentively and searchingly at a rusty fence. Then it turned into a vicious laughter cycle, because then I was thinking about gas station customers observing us doing the quiet staring AND one of us keeps bursting out into laughter for no apparent reason, and the more I laughed, the more bizarre the scene..


Also, it was 4.20, so we visited Syracuse’s own FlynnStoned, purveyors of fine cannabis products. The place was a madhouse that day, unsurprisingly. Also unsurprisingly, there were a LOT of baked goods and desserts available for sale. 


Finally, we visited Beak and Skiff, an apple orchard on the top of a hill in Onondaga. It boasts wide-open views of the city of Syracuse amidst the rolling hills of Central NY.  We sampled their drinks with a flight of hard ciders (except for M, who drove, and drank their regular cider). Speaking of driving, there is a beautiful stretch of Cedarvale Rd, commonly referred to as “Thirteen Curves” on the way to Beak and Skiff. Local legend tells us that the spirits of those killed on the dangerous curvy road still glide along it at night, particularly the apparition of a bride in her gown who died on her wedding night and still searches for her lost groom. <3


  • Random: Balance/reality check:

And just in case any of you are getting the impression from these posts that my life uniformly consists of joy, fun, and leisure, I will also mention that in the past month I’ve been feeling sick from an unidentified cause, leading to multiple inconclusive doctor’s appointments, failed to deliver on time a bunch of work, got into a pretty bad argument with my spouse about money, felt left out of my family because they’re all in CO right now and I’m here, didn’t practice piano very much, am mourning the upcoming 1-year anniversary of my aunt’s death, despaired over the state of the world and our country (seriously, wtf), spilled food on a new shirt I was wearing for the first time. Also, I love paying taxes (because I prefer living in a society), but I HATE doing them. And I don’t even do them myself anymore! All I have to do is collect the info! And there you have it. That’s life, right?


Our magnolia in bloom.


https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-message-from-the-chancellor-on-the-recent-student-protest

  • Can I lick it?: Periodic table version. Frankly, I’m surprised at how many of these you CAN lick:

https://kottke.org/24/04/can-i-lick-it-yes-you-can

  • RIP Dickey Betts:

https://www.guitarworld.com/features/dickey-betts-andy-aledort-personal-tribute 

  • Love this article about Japanese breakfasts (gift link). The food itself is interesting, and you can feel the warm family connections the food evokes for this author. Also, the band Japanese Breakfast is great too!:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/magazine/japanese-breakfast-miso-salmon-recipe.html?unlocked_article_code=1.nE0.Mhjl.zzCBft5iOagr&smid=url-share 


My sweet niece in flight <3

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