Category: Daily Life

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Grant Street Adventure: Chuchifrito Hut

We live on Grant and Lafayette above Sweet_ness 7 Cafe on Buffalo’s West side.  We moved here from the Elmwood Village almost two years ago and even though it’s only a 15 minute walk between the two vastly different Neighborhoods, we still feel like we’re braving a new frontier.  Unlike the Elmwood Village, Sweetness 7 Cafewhich is for the most part thriving as we speak, the West Side is just getting its legs back after years of spiraling decline.  One surprising source for the slow but undeniable revitalization is a burgeoning immigrant population which has contributed to new business growth in countless ways.  Once known as a thriving Italian neighborhood, the West Side has become enriched by the arrival of newcomers from Puerto Rico, Somalia, Sudan, Burma, and many other places in the world.

Recently we enjoyed a very different kind of lunch for us from the Cuchifrito Hut, a Puerto Rican food stand right across from our apartment.  Smoked pork with fried plantains and rice with pigeon peas.  We had enough meat left over to fashion pulled pork sandwiches for dinner later on.  We sautéed some onions, added the pork all chopped up,  BBQ sauce, served it on buns dressed with coleslaw from Wegmans deli and pickles.  We served Island Beans on the side, also from Wegmans deli.  A perfect solution for two meals on a day that was too hot to cook – inside that is.  Take a look at that pig!!

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Omaha Sprouts

I sent my niece, Aydan in Omaha this not so typical postcard from Uncommon Goods.  It’s a postgarden. – “You just pop open your card, water the base, and sprinkle its packet over the diorama. In just a few days, you’ll have unruly sprouts of “Lepidium sativum” (that’s watercress) furling through the paper arches of your mini botanical garden.”

Below are some pictures of the postgarden from UncommonGoods.com and some that Aydan sent me to show me how her postgarden is is coming along.  Her mother sent the last image when Aydan was away.  It’s growing very fast.

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Dying is pointless. You have to know how to disappear.

“Dying is pointless. You have to know how to disappear.” – Jean Baudrillard


Above in order of disappearance:
Jean Baudrillard 1929 – 2007, died March 6.
R. Hugh Dickinson 1918 – 2007, died March 17.
Kurt Vonnegut 1922 – 2007, died April 11.

The first man is Jean Baudrillard, the third, Kurt Vonnegut. If you know me, there is a good chance you know, or can guess who the man in the middle is. There is often much sorrow around death, and in this case, for me, there is some regret. I’d planned a trip that I didn’t take in time. But R. Hugh Dickinson lead a wonderful, full life. I am glad I was able to celebrate it with family in Seattle recently. I am proud to be his granddaughter.


Me with some of my Family in Seattle for Grandpa’s funeral.

“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Sirens of Titan

There’s been a lot in the news about Baudrillard and Vonnegut, whose deaths occurred around the same time as my grandfather’s. The writing of the two more famous men has influenced me in some ways in my life, so news of their passing touched my awareness more than news of this kind normally does. The grim topic of death and dying has been on my mind a lot lately.

Forever a skeptic, I will of course refuse to acknowledge synchronicity in the timing of these events. I will insist that it is all random yet I will search for meaning in random things – like a friend lending me the DVD, A Good Year. I found myself relating to the main character who’s life is changed when his beloved but estranged uncle passes away and he revisits the chateau and vineyard in Provence where he spent much of his childhood. My friend suggested the flick for several reasons, including my grandfather. So much for random. 🙂


From A Good Year

My mind is filled with things my grandfather used to say. My eyes are a little wider and my heart more open. Every little thing makes me think of him. Grandpa Hugh may be gone, but he will never truly disappear.