As a reporter, I don’t always enjoy writing what’s known as the follow-up story — the story you write updating readers on the big news event that happened the day before, or earlier in the month, or whenever. Similarly, I don't really like to dwell on the same topic over and over again in this blog, although certain topics, such as sports, lend themselves to follow-up posts. But I’ve given it some thought, and I think it’s time to follow up on some earlier entries.
BIKING
During the summer I wrote about my plan to get a bicycle and maybe even ride it every once in a while (you can read about that
here), and a couple weeks ago I did finally buy a Trek comfort bike from Plaine and Son in Schenectady.
I hadn’t ridden a bicycle in about nine years, and so I was a little bit leery of taking my first ride on the pothole-and-traffic filled streets of Albany. Instead, I loaded the bike into my Subaru and brought it down to the Corning Preserve in Albany, where I picked up the bike path that runs along the Hudson River and biked to Watervliet. I felt a bit wimpy, but I think it was the right thing to do. The bike path is relatively flat, and although it's well-trafficked by bikers and pedestrians, it was a good place to get used to being on a bicycle again. Better than, say, Central Avenue. And except for some soreness in my back and knees, riding a bike again felt great. I took it out last night and it felt even better the second time around. I plan to take it back to Plaine and Son to get a rack installed, and I’m also thinking I’d like to get a little bell that I can ding whenever I pass someone, because someone dinged a little bell the other night when he passed me, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
COOKING
Someone who read my cooking column (which you can find
here), where I wrote about how I actually cooked dinner for about the third time in my adult life, asked me whether I was still cooking. For some reason, I felt ridiculous, and said, “Oh, not really,” which was a total lie, as that very night I had a couple friends over for eggplant Parmesan, sauteed vegetables and corn on the cob. These little dinners are a lot of fun, especially when your friends bring wine and there’s ice cream for dessert and the Red Sox are playing on TV. I may keep having them.
“WAR AND PEACE
After I wrote about my plan to read “War and Peace,” my friend Adam sent me an e-mail asking, “Are you really reading ‘War and Peace?’” His disbelief made me question my sanity, but I decided to forge ahead with this allegedly great piece of literature anyway. I say allegedly great because I’m only 250 pages into “War and Peace,” and I plan to reserve all judgments about its greatness until I’m at least 800 pages in. At this rate, I have no idea how long it will take me to reach that magic number, but Tolstoy is fairly easy to read, and so maybe it won’t take as long as I think. The trick, of course, is finding time to read.
CHEAP ART
I haven’t purchased any more cheap art (you can read about cheap art
here), but there’s a big art auction this Friday at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church at 64 Grand St. in Albany.
A group called Grand Street Community Arts acquired the long-vacant church several years ago, and is in the process of turning the building into a community arts center. They’ve hosted a number of interesting musical and arts events there, and the auction, which starts at 6 p.m., marks the conclusion of BoardedUP, a six-month, street-level exhibition of art by 40 local artists. I drive and walk by the church regularly, and I’ve enjoyed looking at the art displayed in panels on the outside of the building. Now that work will be auctioned off. I don’t know how cheap it will be — it’s an auction, after all — but I’m betting there will be some good deals and opportunities.
