The Luddite

I'm a complete klutz when it comes to any kind of technology.
Computers. TV's. DVD players. iPhones. I use them all but just barely know the basics. And if something goes on the fritz, forget it. I'm lost.
So a few years ago when I got rid of my cable subscription because I never watched television (just DVDs), I lost the ability to watch TV in my bedroom. Then the other day it dawned on me: I had an old DVD player in the basement just collecting dust. Why not connect it up to the little TV in my bedroom and I could watch DVDs once in a while in bed. Now, both of these pieces of equipment are ancient. I've had the TV for at least 25 years. Would this idea even work? I found a bunch of cables in the basement and tried to connect it to the DVD player, which itself was at least 15 years old. I tried all these different cables that I had, all with different end pieces, and nothing would work.
My next idea was to bring everything to a Radio Shack in the city and throw myself at the mercy of one of the store clerks. I went to the store on 6th Avenue and 23rd St. He was very friendly, a young guy (of course). I explained my dilemma. He said "Oh yeah, this happened to my Grandmother once...we were over at her house and wanted to hook up our video game player to her TV and it was really old...you need this converter box." Chagrined I told him I loved being compared to his grandmother...we both laughed. The box was about $30 dollars, but I thought if it worked it'd be worth it.
So I got it to Sag Harbor and tried hooking it up. The instructions were way too hard to follow. I decided to keep plugging different wires into different holes until--God help me--it worked. After several failed attempts, SUCCESS! I can't tell you I knew what I was doing, but I was just overjoyed the damn thing was playing correctly.
So that weekend I had my morning coffee in bed watching episodes of my Jonny Quest Boxed set.
I was in technology heaven.
Here's the set-up in the bedroom...

Houston, we don't have a problem

Not a creature was stirring, not even a...

Last year I heard some scratching upstairs behind the wall at night, up under the roofline.
It turned out to be a mouse...or two. I had access to that space because of a little door my contractor Tim had put in years ago. It created a crawlspace he called a "cold storage" where I could store things. I put a couple of old fashioned mousetraps in there with a little peanut butter and--snap!--I caught the little buggers. They were small, only field mice. It was kinda sad, they're almost like Stuart Little. But still, I wasn't going to have them partying in my house.

Stuart Little, you're not welcome here.

When I put in the home office with the built-in shelves up in that bedroom, it necessitated getting rid of the little door. I no longer had access to that space...and guess who returned? Yep, my little friends.
So last week I had Tim create another little door to that space in the other bedroom across the hall.
I think it came out nice, although I'm thinking I'll paint the stripes on the door to match the walls so it blends in more to the surroundings.

The new 'mouse door' to the crawlspace under the roofline upstairs

Christmas Eve Eve I put two snap traps in there plus a glue trap. On Boxing Day I went to check on things...I got Stuart Little! But here's the weird thing: the other snap trap had NO peanut butter on it and had not snapped shut! Somehow it had been licked clean. And to add to the mystery, the glue trap was gone! I can just picture another little guy stuck to that thing somewhere in the space and I can't get to him, and he starts to, ahem, ripen. Gross. I should aim a flashlight in there next week to see if I can spot anything. In any event, at least the 'mouse door' was worth it. I put more peanut butter on the remaining trap and let's see if I catch Stuart's friend..stay tuned.

You can't improve on the classic snap trap, gets 'em every time

Gingerbread...men?

I always try to make Christmas cookies at least once a year.
I was way behind and didn't get to it til yesterday. I thought gingerbread men sounded good.
I usually make the Paula Dean recipe from her holiday cookbook but I wasn't really feeling her this year what with all her racist shenanigans lately. So I went to my standby whenever I'm in a pinch and need a recipe, Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything". It was given to me several years ago and I find it to be indispensable. No matter what cooking challenge I run across he's got the answer. Do check it out.

The cooking lifesaver

So his gingerbread men recipe turned out to be really good, just the right amount of spice and a nice chewy/crispy consistency. It's a tricky dough to work with though, you can only use it when it's very, very cold. And don't forget to Pam the cookie sheet, the cookies tend to stick.
My only hesitation with the batch I made is that they look like aliens from outer space. I didn't have time to decorate with royal icing, so I took the easy way out by just giving them raisins for eyes...but the result is a little scary. Oh well, I guess Christmas can be celebrated in other galaxies too :)

Gingerbread men...or aliens??

The Christmas cardinals

The Christmas cardinals

I slept late this morning (I was up late watching Christmas movies), and the first thing I saw as I looked out the bedroom French doors were these two beautiful cardinals having a high ol' time in the deck birdbath. Well, it was more like the male was having all the fun while the female just stood on the side. In any event it was a nice thing to see Christmas morning and I'm hoping a good omen for the coming year (God knows I need my fortunes to turn around).
I hope everyone is having a happy & safe holiday. Merry Christmas :)

A full moon for Christmas

There hasn't been a full moon on Christmas day since 1977...and there won't be another one til 2034, but we have one tonight.
This is the last full moon of 2015 and it's called a "Full Cold Moon" because it marks the start of Winter, even though it's unseasonably warm right now in Sag Harbor.
I had to capture a shot of this lunar occurrence on this foggy night, this is it from my backyard with the house in the foreground. A lovely moment for the season of our Savior's birthday don't you think?

A Christmas moon over Sag Harbor

War and peace

Waiting for the baby Jesus to arrive

Every Christmas for as long as I've lived in Sag Harbor, the Knights of Columbus erect a nativity right in the middle of Main Street. This is quite common, but what makes this town's version a little odd is that they place it at the bottom of a Civil War monument that depicts a Union soldier. So standing, looming even, over this lovely image of the Christ child in the manger is this stalwart soldier. I've always thought it an odd juxtaposition. To heighten the irony there's even a Civil War cannon in front of the creche! But for years now they've taken to covering the big gun with burlap and twine so it's not obtrusive on the silent night image. You just gotta love this crazy town.

Whales of Sag Harbor #5

This one is on a window box on house on Division Street. I pass by it every time I walk into town.

Current obsession

I'm an absolute FREAK for Oreos.
They're like a drug to me, I can't get enough, so ADDICTED.
But now they've come out with Oreo THINS...they're great. And I've conned myself into thinking that they're 'healthier' for you since you're not eating as much of the lard 'n sugar creme filling, LOL.
Isn't rationalization a great thing?

New. Delicious. Addictive!

A new wardrobe

I've recently moved into a new apartment in the city, a much smaller studio than my previous two bedroom/two bath sprawling UWS place.
It's necessitated me downsizing, a lot of furniture that I had will not fit. So I had to bring the spillover out to the house with the plan of selling it off on Craigslist. There was one piece that I did want to keep though, a large old wardrobe. It's got lots of deep drawers and the hanging clothes half will hold a lot of stuff too (I separately need the closet space).
But here's the problem: I can't decide if I need to paint it. See, it's a dark wood stain and I want to put it in the bedroom, the only place I have room for it. But everything in that bedroom is either black or white. It replaced that white china cabinet that I turned into a desk. I gave it back to the friend who first gave it to me 17 years ago!
But back to the color: What to do?
My first inclination was to paint it white. A friend is telling me to go with a deep dark black stain. I like that idea but I'm worried that it might look like a big hulking monolith in that bright, light room. To some degree it's already that, but would black make it worse.
I think I need to cogitate on it a bit more.
Watch this space...

The new old wardrobe

Another view

PS: that top left door is missing the mirror that goes there. It's still in the city, I'll bring it out next time I'm back.

That famous Hamptons light

As I continue to play around with Instagram and my amateur photography I've gotten new appreciation for that phenomenon known as "that Hamptons light". As an art director for years, working with some famous photographers and cinematographers, I'd always heard about how the light out here is different, special, unique. The lore is that because you have the light bouncing off the Atlantic AND Long Island Sound, it mixes in the ether and lands perfectly on the South Fork in all its magical quality splendor. But don't take my word for it. Many celebrated artists have sung it's praises. There was an article about it last year in the NYTimes, you can read it here.
This all came to mind when I snapped this shot on my kitchen island this morning...the light was clean, pure, so very Hamptons.

"Seaglass"

Whales of Sag Harbor #4

This one is in front of a shop on Main Street; I guess you have to take their word for it!

Oh! Tannenbaum!

I'm on a bit of a budget this year so instead of getting a real tree as I usually do, I thought I'd make use of the 'trinket tree' (see post from 9.20.15). I think it came out pretty good...I goes you could say it's a contemporary/mod take on the traditional Christmas tree shape.

In addition to various ornaments that I've collected over the years I festoon each year's tree with homemade ornaments made from old Christmas cards I receive. I feel it's a way to bring all those past Christmases into the present.
One of my favorites though is not made from Christmas cards. I call it 'The Hollywood Nun Ornament.' It features the faces of 20 actresses who've played nuns in movies over the years...Audrey Hepburn ("The Nun's Story"), Deborah Kerr ("Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison"), Meryl Streep ("Doubt"), Rosalind Russell ("The Trouble With Angels"), and on and on. I love it. Here's a closeup of several angles...can you identify the actresses shown and their nun role?

Instagramming

Okay, I know I'm fairly late to the Instagram party. Call me a Luddite.
But a friend suggested it to me last week saying it was the fastest growing social medium.
I tried it out and got hooked. I especially love the square format and the different lighting settings you can choose from. (I'm sure this is all passé news to most of you but, hey, better late than never, right?)
So take a look at my page. Even follow me if you want. Some shots have already been posted here, some are new. I'm just getting started. Wish me luck in the 21st Century, LOL.
Find me on Instagram here.

Some of my recent shots.