things i think about while powerwashing 170

Shortcut to anonymous subscriber submission link: https://forms.gle/2MABf8jNr2V8kEY87

A busy weekend! Finally with spring here I'm starting to feel more alive. Allergies are starting to hit, but at least when I walk around I can bask in the glory of warm-ish sun and see the tiny green buds on the trees struggle towards a hopefully beautiful May.

Life is slowly getting back on track — work returns to a somewhat predictable pace, my workouts are getting consistent again (except for the biking, need a few more degrees of warmth on the weekends!). It's been hard to get back into it. I was chatting with esteemed subscriber Harish Bhaskar this weekend and he suggested that we're all just shaking the rust off when it comes to the warm weather lifestyle.

As for me? I've been trying to appreciate the little things. I've been doing my best to consistently hit 10,000 steps a day — and in doing so I find myself just enjoying the sea of green in parks and by the waterfront.

Coming back to my walks, I've really been trying to go along the river to get a bit of that salty sea vibe (it smells kind of salt water in some parts). But I think I'm missing out on a lot. I think I need to walk east for the vibes. What is there in Sunnyside??? I've lived here for over a year and have literally never been over there. It is time to find out.

museum of the week

I think the first time I heard of this exhibit, it was still in jeopardy. Not the show, just the general state of existence — local trucker Joe Macken's complete replica of the New York City area (including parts of Jersey) was in trouble. If he didn't find a more permanent home for the model that he had been painstakingly working on since 2004 it would all go into the landfill.

At the time I remember seeing a few comments rallying for support, but didn't really think I would ever get to see it. But a few weeks later it was announced the Museum of the City of New York picked it up and almost a year later I found myself gazing upon the sea of balsa board jutting out above the sea-blue plywood.

Most subscribers will be a little confused to see three World Trade Centers. Apparently Macken kept a few of his favorite buildings in as he had watched the Twin Towers get built in the far distance as a young kid living in Middle Village and had grown pretty fond of them over time. I did notice some parts of the diorama were more updated: for example some of the fancier buildings on LIC's waterfront were there, but THE Pepsi-Cola sign is somehow absent. Guess he wasn't a fan of Madame Web?

For me as someone who has been biking a lot it was really fun trying to mentally map out my bike routes around Manhattan and even into Jersey and all the way into the Rockaways and really made me appreciate the distance I had gone. It also gave me some more ideas — maybe I should be trying to bike more east deeper into Long Island!!!

anonymous subscriber news

Yes this museum was insane, was awesome to see such depth on this subject! Also got to see nine conspiracy theories somewhat debunked in an official museum.

Submit here: https://forms.gle/2MABf8jNr2V8kEY87

• anon likes the museum: hell yeah that kennedy museum looks so cool

animal of the week

While in Dallas esteemed subscriber Serena Chang and I saw some turtles. And now I show them to you. Please submit some animals!

Send me your animal photos at ryan@torrtle.co OR at this form https://forms.gle/NT3nSkKVbpkjCr1u8!