Posted by me on Tuesday, the 20th day of November, anno domini 2007 at 3:21 PM, local time.
So, those of you in Rochester during November might be interested to know that Hanny’s clothing store downtown is having a huge sale this month, mostly because the construction on 1st Ave and 1st St is making it very difficult to see Hanny’s at all, or even get to it. I imagine its being quite cruel to their holiday earnings. At any rate, almost everything is on sale, in the 25% to 30% range.
For those of you not familiar with Hanny’s, they are a pretty good “nice-clothes” clothing store. Their men’s-ware section has lots of suits, suit coats, over coats, leather jackets, hats, canes, sweaters, socks, ties, dress pants, dress shirts, dress shoes, etc., etc. I’ll probably be going back after Thanksgiving to get a new leather jacket, and maybe a new hat. My old leather jacket is at least 8 or 9 years old now, and getting a little rough around the edges. The people inside are friendly and helpful, but not annoying, like at some places I-could-mention-and-might-eventually-mention-but-won’t-right-now. In the subway level, they have women’s clothes, too, but that’s about the extent of my knowledge there. It could all suck.
Anyway, there is my plug for Hanny’s and their November sale.
Tags: hanny's, hats, leather jacket, nice clothes, november, rochester, sales
From "That which must be said, That which should be praised"
Posted by me on Tuesday, the 31st day of July, anno domini 2007 at 11:48 PM, local time.
So I was downtown this past weekend, at the bookstore (as usual), and noticed a few things.
Downtown Rochester was actually pretty busy! It was in the early evening on a Saturday, so probably lots of people going to restaurants or whatever. But there were tons of people walking around downtown, eating on the sidewalks, siting on the benches talking, looking at books in Barnes and Nobles. It was nice.
I also went by the old Extraordinary Bookseller shop to see if they had changed their hours or whatnot. Nope, still like 11am-6pm weekdays only or something like that. A couple months ago, we all noticed that they had downsized drastically, and a nail salon or something took up most of their space on 1st Avenue. I think they still have a little nook there yet, but I haven’t been in there since they shrunk. However! I saw a sign that said what actually happened was that they were moving! So, my main worry of what had happened to all the great old books they had that could not possibly have fit into what was left of the store is now laid to rest! I tracked down where they said they moved to, and walked 3 blocks to get there. Apparently they are now located in the lower floor (we’re talking basement level here) of the old Barrister Hall on 1st St N. They were closed when I was there (it was Saturday evening after all), but there was a rudimentary sign on the window that indicated they really were there now. I’ll have to go check them out sometime in their new location. Maybe they have the whole basement of that place and they can fit even more bookshelves and books! Wouldn’t that be exciting! Probably the rent is a lot cheaper as well. It can’t have been cheap on what has pretty much become the new main street of downtown Rochester (1st Ave W). So that is good news I think.
Also, Kristen’s Knits is now open again. They relocated further down 2nd St S from their old location, but now they are in a huge old Victorian house, with ample parking (always a problem at the old place). I think their hours are longer now, also. Weekdays 10am-6pm, Thursdays open till 8pm, and Saturday 10am to 3pm. Apparently they are in the old Restless Leg Syndrome House. Where will I go if I get Restless Leg Syndrome? No where, apparently. One nice thing is that its closer to downtown proper now, actually walkable, I think. Also, its right across from Just Rite Foods, so that’s kinda cool, too.
One other thing I noticed around Rochester lately: all the strip malls are getting renovated. They all did look pretty bad, so I guess they needed it. I think some of them will look pretty nice once it’s all done. I wonder if it will help them get more businesses to flesh out the vacant premises. I hope so, I guess. More little shops is always good, I think.
That’s pretty much it. Though I must say the 1st St promenade demolition looks pretty much finished and now they are repaving things for walkways and planters and benches and whatnot. It might actually be usable by winter! That would be kind of amazing actually. We shall see. Also, since it will connect Peace Plaza with Annenberg Plaza, there should be quite a nice area there that is walking only with hopefully lots of nice art and nice stuff to do.
Tags: downtown, extraordinary booksellers, kristen's knits, rochester
From "That which should be praised, Tripe. Utter tripe."
Posted by me on Saturday, the 16th day of June, anno domini 2007 at 12:50 AM, local time.
So, I gotta say, Cheesecake and Books is a great combination. I love bookstores; this is a well known fact. Also well known is my enjoyment of a good cheesecake. In Rochester, these two hobbies are combined in both Barnes and Nobles that we have here, where they have the lovely Cheesecake Factory/Starbucks combo cafe thingies in the stores. Every time I got to these places, whether I intend to or not, I usually end up buying a book or some music or something, and maybe a piece of cheesecake, possibly with a mocha or a cappuccino. They really have my number, apparently.
They like to change up the cheesecake selection, and some recent excellent pieces of culinary art include this month's Wild Strawberries and Cream, which is very delicious, and last month's Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (Need I say more?), and also a double chocolate creation that is also very very good. What will they tempt me with next?
So anyway, next time you are near a Barnes & Noble's bookstore, go inside! They have lots of great books! And chances are good that they will have lots of great cheesecake as well!
Tags: books, cheesecake, rochester, strawberries, vanilla
From "That which should be praised"
Posted by me on Tuesday, the 12th day of June, anno domini 2007 at 12:07 AM, local time.
… that I don't almost forget until the very end of the day to blog. But, the fact that I am still here writing something up shows my present dedication!
Not a whole lot exciting new today, since I had to work through most of it. It does sound as though my air conditioning will be fixed tomorrow (or at least diagnosed), so that is good, if it happens. Its still hot here in Rochester. I try not to complain, but there is just so much heat to complain about!
In other news from several months ago, here is a great Dinosaur Comic that I had wanted to blog about. Its just so awesome! I don't really know why for sure, but somewhere around panel 5 I just start cracking up. I mean, come on: "It's a holiday for people who are GOOD ENOUGH, just not transcendental!" Its good stuff! And don't forget to read the mouse over text, and the Comments mailto: link subject text. And the title (its a pain, but you may have to read the source for that one).
There, 1 down, only about 70 to go on my unannotated list of things I was supposed to blog about but never quite got around to.
Tags: air conditioners, dinosaur comics, pi day, procrastination, rochester, summer, transcendental
From "Tripe. Utter tripe."
Posted by me on Sunday, the 10th day of June, anno domini 2007 at 2:30 AM, local time.
Do you like…. Malted milk shakes? Yes…
Do you like…. Cheese? Yes…
Do you like them… together? Ewww!!!!
Anyway, my daily post today (ignore the time, this is still saturday in my book), is a bit late, but it was much busier day today then I anticipated it being. Anyway, this morning I went to the farmer's market again, to see if they had some pepper plants, and they had some that I got, even though they weren't exactly what I wanted. I also go some local home made mozzerella cheese. Looks really good, I may try to make a pizza with it. I also tried to find fresh basil there, but no one had anything. Apparently it is not quite the time for basil. I had to buy that at the store instead. How embarrassing!
On the way home from that, I got a strange craving for a malted milk shake, and thus went to Target and got some Malted Milk, some all natural vanilla bean ice cream, (and some basil), and went home and mixed it all (not the basil) up with some milk with my immersion blender and had one of the best malted milk shakes I've had in a long while. And I can make them whenever I want! It's like, perfect!
But yes, a busy day. Early in the afternoon, there was a free concert from the Rochester Community Band in central park, so a bunch of us went there to support our friends in that band (yay Jim and Pam, and Zane if you would just go and practice everyonce in a while…). It was a really great day to be outside in the park (with the shade and all). I could have really just sat there for a while. It was very relaxing. While listening to the music, I took the opportunity to knit in public. Just trying to test out some sock yarn and needles I just got and check out my gauge. I've not dealt with such small needles (or such small wool yarn) before, but it went pretty well.
After they made me leave the park, I went to the book store to get the book club book, and ended up getting some Prokofiev CDs and some wild strawberry cheesecake. Man that was pretty good tasting stuff! Also went to a neat little downtown corner grocery store and meat shop, and found that they have a pretty nice selection of meats behind their meat counter, and a quite awesome selection of cheeses. Next time there is a cheese party, I know where I am going. That's right, I'm talking about Just Rite Foodstore on 2nd street and 6th avenue. Very cool. Never knew that was there before.
Later in the day, some of us went to Red Lobster for some dinner, and it was ok. The clam chowder (New England, of course) was quite good, and the lobster tasted really good, too. The steak, while properly medium rare inside, was somehow pretty not cool on the outside, tough and crunchy, and it just didn't make me as happy as it could have. After that, I learned that I am still as horrible at mini-golf as I am at regular golf, but I enjoy them both quite a bit. Mini-golf does have the nice distinction of being cheaper to play though.
Finally, a few of us sat down and talked about how we will certainly all be rich once we retire, and won't it be awesome when we buy castles overlooking our own villages when we do retire, because that's likely what will happen, right? Also, how to make Rochester a thriving and growing city, and how its not going to happen, but wouldn't it be cool if it did? And then it was 1:30am. That's how these conversations go sometimes. It can get tiring.
Tags: cheese, farmer's market, food, knitting, knitting in public, malted milk shake, mini-golf, new england clam chowder, red lobster, rochester, rochester community band
From "Tripe. Utter tripe."
Posted by me on Thursday, the 7th day of June, anno domini 2007 at 11:33 PM, local time.
In the interest of keeping momentum, I am trying to write to my blog now every day, at least once. I have a huge backlist of topics I want to write about, but most of them are currently just on my iGoogle homepage quick notes list as a simple phrase or two that I know what I mean to talk about, but would be meaningless to anyone else… some of them go back 6 or 7 months even, when I was still blogging more or less regularly, but didn't want to take the time to expand on those topics yet. So, they may sit there a bit longer as I try to figure out what to say.
Anyway, its getting pretty hot in Rochester this summer. Others may complain that I am complaining too much already about this, but I know that the sudden change in a single day from comfortable and rainy to that hot hot wind of summer that is so unbearable is really just an indication that this summer will surely get even worse. It always seems to. It’s at this point that I really start wishing for the late fall or early winter, when its not yet 30 below, but there is nice fluffy snow every once in a while… sigh.
Well thats probably enough for now. Expect posts soonish about my acquisition of yet another set of hobbies (knitting and crocheting), the wonder and awesomeness that is Opera, ways to keep my books in order (LibraryThing!), ways to keep my music in order, and my patio-container vegetable garden (and associated patio-container fruit orchard).
PS: I've started "tagging" blog posts, since its so darn easy on WriteToMyBlog.com to do so, and it might help with google searching for my page. Maybe.
Tags: blogging, rochester, summer heat, tagging
From "That which need not be read, Tripe. Utter tripe."
Posted by me on Monday, the 25th day of December, anno domini 2006 at 12:31 AM, local time.
So, a quick note from my parents’ house to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and everything. Happy holidays for those who don’t celebrate Christmas. Happy New Year for everybody, coming up here.
I had a nice break at home. Got to see my family and some friends I haven’t seen in a long while, so that was nice. Tomorrow my family and I are heading down to my grandparents’ home for Christmas there with my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and First-cousins-once-removed, so that will be nice, and it’s right on the way back to Rochester, so I will be back in Rochester the evening of the 26th, I believe. Then I get to finish up the week doing nothing (since we all know I won’t be packing to move, as I should be doing) in Rochester before heading back to work on the 2nd.
I hope everyone’s vacations/breaks/extended weekends have been going well and continue to do so. Once again, merry Christmas!
Tags: christmas, family, home for the holidays, rochester, vacation
From "That which must be said"