Author Archives: Alan Ilagan

Caught in Mid-Metamorphosis

One day I may try to make better sense of this 50th summer I’ve spent here on earth, suss out all the feelings and inertia, analyze and over-analyze each rain drop and flower bloom, and every whimsical mood. And maybe I won’t – some summers prefer to remain a mystery, and for their sake it’s usually best not to pry. When you go digging for dirt, sometimes all you get is dirty.

Instead, I’ll simply pause for a mere moment of contemplation. You’ve caught me mid-metamorphosis – on the verge of forging an autumn identity while erecting the necessary armor to see myself through another birthday and another end of summer. When so much feels so wrong, I find it best to slow down, ground myself in meditation, and go easy on all the self-criticism that swirls inside my head.

With a mixture of shame and regret, I confess that I am ready to close the chapter on this summer – a bit early perhaps and I’m sure there will be a few more summer posts to come (we haven’t even arrived at the ‘Last Dance’ moment of Solid Gold Disco Drama) but my head has had to move on from the heaviness that certain summers hang around the heart.

You have to lose yourself before you find yourself – and some summers simply don’t want to be found.

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Musings Over Matcha

Postings may be lighter of late as I work on the upcoming fall theme of this website and a possible new project to go along with it. Unfathomably re-energized at this sleepy point of a waning summer, I find myself burning the candle at both ends, and gratefully exhausted by it. A busy full day doesn’t leave time for deep and darker ruminations, and the matcha moment musing that is pictured here was accompanied by the quick scrawling of this very blog post in my notebook. Idle hands most definitely bedevil me – better to occupy both hand and mind, staying busily distracted to keep other thoughts at bay.

So much of human life is about such distractions – we occasionally call it purpose, but it’s just distracting filler. I wanted it to mean so much more – life, I mean – but there’s no point in forcing it to be anything other than what it is. There is disappointment in that, but I shrug it all off and sip my matcha.

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A Cali Cantina in My Own Hometown

While stopping by my brother’s home last weekend, I took some time in Amsterdam to peruse the old downtown area – a section somewhat split by the Amsterdam Mall many decades ago, but a Main Street stretch remains, and it is here where the new Cali Cantina recently opened up. A Mexican restaurant deliciously influenced by California vibes, they are best known for their incredible 14-inch burritos. I’ll be going back to try one of those, but on this late-morning/early-afternoon lunch, my friendly server suggested the Carne Asada tacos – and it was an excellent choice.

They arrived with a serving of fresh tortilla chips and a cup of their salsa verde – the meat seasoned perfectly and accented with fresh cilantro and onions. That such a place existed in my hometown’s downtown area gave me a little hope for Amsterdam, which hasn’t always had the greatest rep. I still have some Ram Pride in me, and a visit to Cali Cantina re-enforced my love for the city. (I’ll definitely be back to see if I can finish one of those burritos – my stomach has always risen to such a challenge.)

{Check out the FaceBook page for Cali Cantina here for their hours and menu.}

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Happy Hibiscus Season

While this hibiscus plant may be dwarfed by two stands of cup plants on either side of it, the blooms are on fire, creating their own masterpiece in the garden right now. Larger than an adult hand outspread, these flowers are impressive taken on their own – when grouped they are simply stunning.

Backed by pool of aqua or sky of blue, the ruby-throated blooms are a spectacular reflection of summer’s sun.

Summer sometimes calls for fewer words, and more looking.

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The Tomato Thief

Fictional accounts to the side, we have a few regular tomato thieves who boldly climb into our patio plants and pluck the ripest, juiciest tomato fruit from the vine, then set up a dining scene right in front of us. Thus far it hasn’t been enough to make a dent in this plentiful harvest, and while I’d rather not foster such behavior in the backyard chipmunks, the perpetrator looks so cute I can’t be entirely mad.

Amusement is sometimes worth the price of a cherry tomato.

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Kinda Chic?

The rest of you can be kinda chic.

I only ever operate on being 100% completely, totally and absolutely chic.

No kinda about it.

Kinda infuriating is more my style.

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Cafe Culture Addition

The new Cafe 66 in downtown Albany is a lovely addition to my cafe culture excursions, with a bunch of freshly-baked pastries available, along with some lunch selections and coffee offerings. More welcome is the collection of fun orange lounge chairs and seating available for those of us who still work downtown and need a place to decompress on lunch. I’m all for the current boon of downtown cafes – two locations of Stacks, Alias, and now Cafe 66 (along with the same Dunkin’ Donuts that’s stood on Pearl since my very first job with the state of New York back in 2001).

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Dazzler of the Day: Joey Graceffa

With almost ten million subscribers on YouTube and over six million followers on Instagram, Joey Graceffa is a powerhouse in the social media world, easily earning this Dazzler of the Day crowning for a fabulously intrepid mix of vlogs, lifestyle tips, animal adoration, all with a supportive LGBTQ+ angle. It’s been a while since we’ve had such an impressive Dazzler, and Graceffa is a grand way of returning to this feature. Check out all his social media adventures here.

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Summer Still Bursting

When summer bursts with cheerful color – yellow suns against a blue sky – the heart beats with palpable joy, no matter what might be going on inside. Well, that’s not always true – some summers do inherently suck, and all the beauty and color in the world can’t change that. This summer wasn’t entirely sucky, so I’m offering gratitude for the days of sun and prettiness, remembering that savoring and appreciating things is an integral part of realizing happiness. When you let the heart lean into that, it can be a reserve to help see you through winter.

Despite a horrendous attack by aphids that covered the growing stalks of the cup plant earlier in the season, these blooms still managed to appear, and at the time of this writing they sail gloriously high above the garden, lighting it up, especially when the sun hits them. The bees and hummingbirds and goldfinches have been having a proper field day with the blooms, though I sadly haven’t spied any butterflies at all this year. The world feels in danger, so I embrace the birds and the bees that remain.

This is summer living, and it is grand.

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2nd Verse, Smaller Than the 1st

Certain perennials will sometimes offer a second showing of blooms after their first bodacious presentation. This usually happens after they’ve had some time to rest and recover, or after you’ve pruned them hard and allowed them to come back. The second show is never quite as impressive or floriferous as the first – the blooms are often smaller and more scant, more of an echo than a proper second act, but somehow more tender and precious for that.

Such is the case with these electric pink Monarda blooms. I’d sheared the plant back heavily after its first flowering spell, and it began putting out new foliage quickly thereafter, followed by the appearance of a few smaller blooms. I love these follow-up performances – they bring a freshness reminiscent of early summer back to the garden just when it’s really starting to wind down. It’s like summer insisting on staying just a bit longer, and after a few rocky weeks I’m grateful for the chance to do it again with a lighter heart.

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Summer Adoration

After a non-stop Sunday of breakfast-making, driving from Albany to Ballston Spa to Amsterdam and back, working out, shopping, location-scouting, and reading by the pool to be present on a summer’s day, I found myself facing a blog bereft of an evening post and I just didn’t have the energy to make one happen. As serious work continues on the fall theme and possible project, blog posts may feel lighter and less substantial. The older I get, the more scant my energy and resources when it comes to creative output, so bear with me because the fall season here is going to be something. I promise.

In the meantime, I’m going to try to dial back the work days and enjoy the summer while it is here. Fall will bring more than enough time to focus on new web themes and projects, and I remind myself to take time in the garden, to jump in the pool, to embrace and adore the summer.

For a morning summer moment, I made myself a breakfast of eggs and brought it out to the patio, where I picked a few ripe tomatoes from the vine, popping them directly into my mouth as one can do when the harvest is heavy. Rain in the night had started to split the ripest ones, so I threw a few into the lawn for the chipmunks. Andy has seen them snacking on them by the pool and on this day my heart wasn’t into scaring them away.

As I sat there winding to the end of ‘The Summer Book’ by Tove Jansson, I heard a squirrel jump into a nearby tree. Watching its silhouette against a blue sky, I followed its quick journey down to the fence and across the yard. It disappeared into the neighbor’s yard. The only sound left was the buzzing of the bees in the hydrangea blooms, the perfume of which was slightly reminiscent of privet in Provincetown, and summer memories mingled with summer present – the happiest sort of mental collision. All felt right with the world on this Sunday morning, and I’d take this moment with me as I drove along the dusty backroads that brought me back to my childhood town.

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A Fiery Floral Recap

The first week of August already done, summer hurtles into its second half, and by the end of this upcoming week August will be halfway done. That’s a bittersweet realization, the way my birth month often rolls, and no sense in waiting on this weekly blog recap... here we go.

Guilty as charged, and not one bit sorry about it. If you’re lucky enough to get texted by me, just say thank you.

The August Show is a double-edged sword.

A single branch can change the entire room, but it won’t change the heart.

Ben Platt stuffs his hirsute body into a pair of tighty-whities in this insane photo shoot.

August means Echinacea and bursts of beauty.

A bouquet of a single bloom courtesy of this plate-size Hibiscus.

A grandly-gratuitous Nicholas Galitzine post celebrates He-Man’s thighs and then some.

This golden love break… ooh I love it!

Sometimes I can’t believe what comes out of my mouth.

Once you had gold.

Feeling my naked ass again with a golden summer revamp.

How dare they call this wretched thing a ‘gown’?

A Friday night floral follow-up, because when I make a promise it will always be kept.

Who doesn’t love a good Boney with a Heart of Gold?

Pretty, pink and prickly – three of my favorite things.

How are so many Americans still this stupid?

Another glorious morning of summer.

August sweetness enticing the birds and the bees.

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August Sweetness

The sweet scent of the climbing hydrangea opened the summer a couple of months ago – now we have the August blooming tree variety to lend perfume to this section of the season. The bees have taken particular pleasure in visiting this shrub lately, buzzing around the patio and getting intoxicated on all the pollen and fragrance. I don’t blame them – a bit of fresh sweetness cuts through the soupy humidity and stultifying heat this week has wrought.

The bees know where it’s at, and their gentle background humming lends comfort to the backyard, reminding that summer is still in full, glorious effect. Get out there and make the most of it.

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Another Glorious Morning

Every year around this time, the morning glories that managed to escape my early-season ruthlessness begin blooming and showing me where they are with these colorful blooms. I don’t pull them, happy for this vibrance at the time of the year when the ferns that previously hid them are starting to brown and fall apart. That’s my general feeling on the gardens right now – it’s the downhill slide, and no amount of watering or feeding will turn it around. Sometimes you have to give in to the inevitable end. You may mourn, and that helps some, but it won’t slow or stop or change anything.

There are a few more moments of fresh blooms to come – the Japanese wax bells (Kirengeshoma palmata) and the Japanese anemone (Eriocapitella x hybrida) to name a couple of favorites – and our Hibiscus just started its own show, but the overall sense is one of resignation to the coming end. That means making the most of this time, and this morning – like so many mornings that have come before – coupled with the realization that some of us have fewer mornings ahead of us than behind us.

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Fill ‘Er Up

This isn’t hard math, except for certain dumb Americans who still support the loser Trump.

#FAFO

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