Visiting Green-Wood Cemetery: More Than One Tree Grows in Brooklyn!

Roar! Friday morning I went over to Green-Wood Cemetery to go on a walk with a fellow blogger and explore all the different trees and plant life that thrive in a place where humans eternally rest! Now that's what I call poetic! Roar!

Here I am outside the main gates of Green-Wood Cemetery where I met Katie who writes Green-Wood Cemetery Trees. Those sure are some fancy looking gates! Even though the cemetery was established in 1838 those sweet, Gothic gates weren't built until 1861. They were designed by Richard Upjohn who also designed the current Trinity Church!

As soon as entered the cemetery Katie started showing me all sorts of cool things I would never have noticed on my own! Here she's showing me a flowering katsura tree. You can even see the stamen and anthers! Roar!

Here I am checking out a type of shrubbery commonly called Andromeda. Woah! Get a look at those crazy looking flowers! They're totally out of this world! Possibly even galactic! Roar!

Next we passed by this crab apple tree whose base was completely hollowed out! It reminds me of a story I read one about a human boy that went to live in the woods and made a home inside of a tree! What a crazy story! Still, this tree is pretty comfortable... Roar!

Next Katie and I passed this beautiful budding beech tree. Try saying that five times fast! Roar!

There are a ton of famous people buried in Green-Wood Cemetery. Here I am hanging out on the grave of Bill the Butcher! He was a member of the Bowery Boys who was made famous in the movie Gangs of New York. That movie was about the rivalry between gangs of "native" New Yorkers and arriving immigrants. It's was a lot like what's happening in Collect Pond Park right now!

"Boss" William Tweed is also buried here. He is probably New York City's most infamous politician! Tweed  stole up to 200 million dollars from tax payers and died in jail. Since this was before the consolidation of the city in 1898 I'm guessing no one wanted Tweed to be buried in Manhattan! So instead he was interred here in Brooklyn! Now that's justice! Roar!

One of the trees Katie wanted to find was this hardy orange! The hardy orange is a seriously thorny shrub whose fruit smell strongly of citrus. Unfortunately it's the wrong time of year for fruit otherwise I would be able to give them a try. I guess I'll have to come back in the future and plunder the Green-Wood C. Roar!

Here are some crocuses that were coming up in a planter in front of a headstone. The crocus is a sure sign of Spring! They are always the first flowers that I see come up once the seasons start changing!

There are a lot of beautifully crafted tombstones at Green-Wood Cemetery. This chair marks the grave of a child. Look at the detail of their coat draped over the arm of the chair. Not to mention the tassel from the coat. I can only imagine how beautiful it must have looked a hundred years ago when it was new.

Here I am in front of a Dawn Redwood or, as Katie called it, Metasequoia. The Dawn Redwood is actually a living fossil! I used to hang out in the shade of these trees back during the late Cretaceous! It was so awesome to see one of these guys again! Roar!

Next we headed down to one of the many pretty ponds located in the cemetery. Just check out this lovely spot under one of the willow trees! Katie told me that willow trees can actually be an invasive species in some places! I never knew that! I guess I've just always been in love with the iconic beauty of the weeping willow and never thought about how they might fit into the local ecosystem.

We passed this budding cherry tree on the other side of the pond. Since it didn't have its famous blossoms I didn't even realize it was a cherry tree until Katie pointed it out to me!

Not to far from the Cherry tree was this headstone. I hear this guy just loved cherries when he was alive! Roar!

Here I am under a sweet maple tree! Get a look at those bright red blossoms! I wonder if I can come back here and get some syrup? Roar!

This is a baby maple tree that had sprouted from a seed. Katie says the maple is pretty resilient. There were maple sprouts all over the cemetery. None of them will grow into full trees though, these guys won't make it past the first mowing of the grounds! Roar!

I love the way plants have grown all over the old Mausoleums! Above you can see one that has been over taken by ivy! I guess ivy is pretty common in cemeteries but I don't expect to see any lizards around here! Roar!

Next Katie and I headed over to the pretty pond! It was really beautiful! It reminds me of how before public parks, cemeteries were used by the public as green spaces. I could easily spend an afternoon lounging in the shade around this pond! Roar!

On the hill above the pond was this gorgeous Blue Atlas Cedar! With a big strong tree like this around I won't need to beware of the darkness! Though I definitely don't want to be standing underneath it if it decides to shrug and drop all its cones! Roar!

Next Katie and I passed by this neat ring of graves! There are so many interesting sites to see in the cemetery but I'm glad I'm here during the day. I don't want to run into any ghosts after all! I'm still afraid that Charles BOOs might get me! Roar!

Here are some sweet looking Sweetgum balls! Wait a second! These don't look chewy at all! And... Blargh! They're not sweet either! I should have asked Katie about them first before I decided to try them! Roar!

Next we came across another living fossil! There was this ring of Gingko trees that had fused together. I guess there must have been one large tree in the center and it fell down. Then the new trees sprang up from the roots and formed a ring! Talk about neat! Now if only I could find someway to toast the nuts without having to handle the fruit. Roar!

Towards the end of our walk we passed by the monument to Charlotte Canda. Katie said Charlotte is a real Green-Wood celebrity! She was only 17 when she was thrown from a carriage and tragically killed. Her family spared no expense erecting this beautiful monument to her. People would come from far and wide just to see it. To the right of the monument is the grave of Charlotte's fiance who sadly committed suicide after loosing Charlotte. roar...

Katie and I had come to the end of our walk. It was really awesome of her to let me explore the cemetery with her. She is going to be leading a walk through the cemetery in May. Definitely come check it out if you can! On the way out of Green-Wood cemetery I noticed a group of parrots that have made a home in the spire of the main gate. There are a lot of urban legends about how they got there. Regardless of how it happened it was neat to see that there were more than just plants thriving in Green-Wood Cemetery! Roar!

SUPERMOON MAGIC!

Roar! This past weekend there was an event called the SUPERMOON! A supermoon is when there is a full moon while the moon is at its perigee, or point closest to Earth. It's proper name is perigee-syzygy but SUPERMOON just sounds so much cooler! Roar!

Here I am up on my roof taking a look at the supermoon! Wow! What a moon! It's making me remember the trip I took there back in the fall...


Oh my Ms. Rabbit! What are you doing here! She told me that since the Moon is so close this is one of the few times she can take a trip down to Earth! Talk about a pleasant surprise! Roar!

Ms. Rabbit had never been to NYC before. When she saw the view from my roof she immediately wanted to go out and see all the sights! I guess it's time to be... TOUR GUIDE- REX! Roar!

We headed over to Times Square so Ms. Rabbit could see what all the bright lights were about. I don't come here to often but I guess it's fun to do touristy things once in awhile! Here we are in front of the big Coke Zero sign. It sure is making me thirsty! Roar!

Ms. Rabbit and I were thinking about getting a bite to eat so I asked her if she wanted to get some lite Martian fare over at Mars 2112. She told me she likes Martian food but for some reason its always so much heavier here on Earth. That and everyone she'd ever met from Mars was a real jerk who was clearly in need of a mom! We decided to pass on the Martian food and headed over to the Carnegie Deli instead!

Later in the night we passed by the big Toy R' Us! Ms. Rabbit said she wanted to go inside and check it out. I was reluctant and told that for some reason the idea of stepping inside there just makes me uncomfortable... She didn't ask questions and we continued on our way. Roar!

After that we headed back to my apartment in Bushwick. Ms. Rabbit thanked me for showing here around the Times Square and told me she had a lovely time! Unfortunately she needed to head back to the Moon while it was still at its perigee. I told her she should come visit as often as she can and that I would try to find a way to come visit her on the Moon sometime soon. And at the very least, I'd call. Roar!

Calypsos at "ROAR"FRONT in Bushwick!

Roar! Last night I went over to the STOREFRONT gallery on Wilson Ave in my neighborhood of Bushwick to check out Literary Thursdays where they host readings by local writers and poets. Last night's program featured an audio play by author Paul Rome with music by Roarke Menzies. It was pretty awesome! The audio play was called Calypsos and even though there wasn't any rum and coca-cola it stilled played to a packed house! Roar!

Here is Paul Rome reading his part in Calypsos. The audio play was divided into two parts the first being the sad love story of two Columbia students and the second being a retelling of The Odyssey from Penelope's perspective. The two stories were intercut together and both were backed by Roarke Menzies haunting music! I particularly liked the retelling of the Odyssey, it reminded me of my own ancestor, T-Rexxeus, and all the trouble he had getting home from the Cretaceous Wars! I never really thought about what his wife, Lagos, must have been going through! Roar!

Here I am with Roarke Menzies. I really like saying his name! ROARke! It has such a nice ring to it! His music is pretty sweet too! Before the reading started he performed a short piece where he recorded his own vocals live then layered them to produce a chilling effect! It's definitely something that needs to be seen live! Roar!

Here I am with Paul Rome. His last name also sounds pretty cool! ROOOOOOOOOme... Darn, so close! Well despite having only a somewhat cool last name, Paul is a really talented writer! He's had several readings in the neighborhood and recently a piece of his was chosen to open the newest issue of Bushwick's own literary journal, the Bushwick Review. That's pretty impressive! Roar!

It's great to know that I live in a neighborhood with such talented people like Paul and Roarke! Next time either of them has a performance definitely check it out! Also be sure to stop by STOREFRONT and check out the Literary Thursdays reading series not to mention all the great art! Roar!

Roaring in the Tibetan New Year!

Roar! This past new moon was the Tibetan New Year! I went over to the Armenian church on the corner of 34th St and 2nd Ave to check out the celebrations! I asked Bao Bao if he wanted to come with me but he didn't seem to think that would be such a good idea.

Here I am outside the church! Every year the Tibetan community rents out the basement of the church for their New Years celebration! I guess they have a pretty good relationship with the church! Roar!

 

There was a huge party in the basement of the church! Up on the stage there were some really neat thangka paintings along with a portrait of the Dali Lama. There were also prayer flags hanging from the ceiling. In front of the stage there was a ton of dancing and singing and overall partying! It was so awesome! I had fun stomping around on the dance floor with everyone! The Tibetans sure know how to ring in the new year! Roar!

Here are some traditional Tibetan food products, buckwheat, wheat and yak butter, which were shared with visitors as part of the New Year ceremonies. Auspicious and delicious! Roar!

One other great thing about going to the new years celebration was all the free chai! I sure do love tea! Roar! 

Going to the Tibetan New Y ear Celebration sure was fun! It's great to know that there are so any different communities thriving in New York City! Roar!

On the job hunt! Roar!

Roar! Being a dinosaur in New York City is no easy task! Plus try being an artist on top of that, it's almost impossible to make a living! Needless to say I've been looking for a new line of work for sometime and today was the day I finally sat down to apply for a new job!

Roar! While surfing the internet earlier this afternoon I came across this ad on Gothamist.com. Let's see what it says!

The ad said they were looking for a new junior-level editor to write about NYC! Since I already do this in my spare time it would be awesome to get paid for it! They also said they were looking for someone with 3-5 years blogging experience. Even though I've only been keeping this blog for one and half years I've been exploring and writing about New York for much longer than that! Roar!

Below is a transcript of my cover letter! I wonder if Gothamist will like it? Roar! 

Roar!

Dear Gothamist,

I am applying for the new position of Junior Editor! There are several reasons I feel I would be a great fit for the Gothamist Staff and have outlined them below:

-I’ve been living in and writing about New York City since it was known as New Amsterdam!

-I love this city and about a year and a half ago I started a blog about my exploits throughout NYC which has met with moderate success!  You can see I'm not afraid to get my claws dirty!

-I  ride a bicycle as my primary means of transportation and feel my views are in line with Gothamist's stance on cycling in New York City!

-I live in the neighborhood of Bushwick, a neighborhood Gothamist seems to be infatuated with!

-Though I don't normally end my blog posts with questions designed to incite comments, I feel I can evolve my style to match that of Gothamist's! What do you think?

Those are the main reasons I feel I would make an excellent addition to the Gothamist Staff! As a dinosaur living in NYC I would also offer a unique perspective on things that would coexist nicely with the other viewpoints on Gothaminst!  I hope you'll take this into consideration when choosing someone to fill the position. Plus wouldn't it be cool to work with a T-Rex? Roar!

Sincerely,

T-Rex

trexnewyorkcity@gmail.com

http://trexnyc.blogspot.com

I wonder If I'll get the job? I hope Gothamist is an equal opportunity employer! I don't want to be the victim of Dino-Profiling! You'd be surprised how many people are reluctant to hire a dinosaur! Roar!