GREENPOINT VEGGIE BURGER DIARIES: BROOKLYN LABEL

Last week was a rough for me. 911 always brings me down plus I got doored with a capital – slam me into the middle of the street – D! It was one of the scariest and alienating experiences of my life. After I got up and picked up my bicycle, the first thing the driver said was not, “are you okay?” but “you were going to fast.” After the rage subsided I started shaking and crying uncontrollably, which is a little awkward on Graham Ave with all the staring passersby. Thankfully, I’m totally fine, bruised up but alive. The mental trauma and my general disenchantment with NY set in for a few days afterwards – it’s such a rough and unforgiving place sometimes. 

That and I have been feeling completely overwhelmed! My transition to self-employment hasn’t been that difficult – I mean I can do whatever I want – but what I do is a lot more sitting at the computer and a lot less interacting with other humans in real life than I want to. Social media and email are not a substitution for flesh and blood. And this neighborhood has so much going on and the blog is a beast. There just isn’t enough time and I don’t have enough fingers for typing.

So like all well-adjusted New Yorkers, I had a breakdown and literally came to the conclusion that I need to take a year long break from the internet – an entire year – no email, facebook, blogging, etc. in order to “find myself” and connect in a deeper way with family and friends. Not extreme, right? Letters, mail, a landline telephone… I was clearly on the verge of a trip to the mental institution.

Instead of taking the path to crazy outback woods lady, I began reading a book I found in the house called, “Peace Is Every Step” by Thich Nhat Hanh. It’s really helping me to understand a few important things, like just breathing and remembering to be in each moment and not worry about the 10 mile long to-do list. Plus, when I do get down I must accept and understand the feeling rather than what I do – just get mad that I’m down – which makes me have two negative emotions to deal with rather than one. The book truly has brought peace to my life – for now at least.

I also took some time out to have lunch with a real human being at Brooklyn Label and continue the Veggie Burger diaries. It’s the first time in a long time that I just sat in front of someone (aside from Jon) and had a real heart to heart, focusing on being a person and not just a workaholic robot crazy blogger.

And the burger was awesome, too! My only experience with the burger previously was ordering our markets set-ups, which is not a fair judgement since it’s delivery and when you’re that exhausted and starving everything tastes amazing.

It delivered and was much better than I remembered.

For $11 the Veggie Burger came with cheddar, guacamole and a salad. I know – I ordered fries instead plus unlimited refills of their chipotle mayo. It seemed like a homemade patty with barley, black beans, veggies and a nice hint of cumin. It was a little hard on the outside, but the inside was moist and not gooey and the chipotle sauce and guacamole helped smooth out the crunch. The fries were fantastic. I polished off the whole thing and was very satisfied.

Until next week…