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Walnut nose!
Originally uploaded by Tavie

Every month, my parents' old friend Tom Byro hosts a gathering of assorted science fiction fans at his apartment up in Inwood. This ongoing event is the highlight of my father's existence, his chance to hold forth on any variety of nerdtastic subjects in the company of his fellow geeks. Uncle Tom usually cooks up something odd but flavorful and some DVD or other is usually shown, as well.

This month's fell a couple days after my dad's birthday, so he begged Kirsten and me to attend. Normally, we stay away from these gatherings - the crowd is too far removed from our generation, the trip to Inwood too lengthy. But for Dad's birthday we made an exception. It helped that our brotherinallbutblood Andrew was there, as well as our other brotherinallbutblood Adam and his charming fiance. The five of us hid in Andrew's dark cave of a room, watching old cartoons projected on his wall like a movie screen. We performed feats of strength, such as cracking walnuts with our bare hands, and "made popcorn", too. I think it's the first time the four of us had been together in many years.

K and I ended up crashing on Andrew's futon and then wandering around the city today, reluctant to head back to Hoboken and inside from the gorgeous late-summer-early-fall weather. I brought my camera to amuse myself.

The walnut-crushing was particularly fascinating to me. Because of the "popcorn", I was far too lazy to go search for a proper nutcracker, and, impressed by Andrew's brute strength, was determined to learn the trick for myself. I also found that a walnut shell fits perfectly at the end of my nose, and I think I'll paint one black, put my hair up in Mrs Lovett-style buns and go as a koala bear for Halloween this year.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 7:17 PM | shower me with attention