kriserts's Profile

Yes, I usually make beans from scratch. BUT I realized a couple months ago, I wasn't making them as much as a vegetarian like me should, because of the time issue. Now I saute some garlic and an onion, throw in come canned tomatoes, add a bunch of cumin and other spices, toss in canned black beans, and I've got a chili in half an hour. Same recipe with garbanzo beans, with a squeezed lemon and some spinach at the end. If you haven't done the advance planning, you can still enjoy your beans.

I did this in my bedroom once, with two shades of yellow. My living room was a great dark Frenchy-yellow, then you walked into the bedroom, and it was the same yellow, with a slightly lighter color as the other stripe. It was beautiful and made a small bedroom expand in size.

you guys are really stretching for material here...

Do you know you can paint those electric registers to match the walls? Just use a roller brush and go right over them, it works great. I rent and have the same colored walls and the same annoying electric registers. Painted, they blend right into the wall.

I'm both a freelance art director and a novelist. For the former I have to work at home, but when I write, I've started using the reading room at the NY Public Library downtown. (The one with the lions, but I guess any one would do.) The tables are at an uncomfortable height for typing, but otherwise, I can plug in, it's super quiet and I'm surrounded by people working--lots of company, no cell phones allowed. And no internet. It's great.

I have an updated list of flea markets in NYC on my site Here Be Old Things. You can find the exact page here. There are profiles of most of the markets, too.

This is fantastic, and I can't wait for it to open. FYI, for people who like to shop fleas, there's a lot of outdated info on the internet, but I have an up-to-date list of the fleas in NYC on my site Here Be Old Things.

I took the 4 week class at The Furniture Joint and it was the best $400 I ever spent, because it convinced me never, ever to attempt reupholstering by myself. The class doesn't really teach you in a meaningful way to do a job, just because there's so you'd need to master and 4 sessions isn't enough to really acquire the skills, but it did impress on me 1. how highly skilled you need to be to do this work and 2. how poorly home tools preform against the expensive professional equipment. (For instance, a hand-held staple gun would never be adequate compared to the high-pressure equipment FJ has.) This chair is just cushions so there's no ripping and tearing and re-webbing etc., but ... I'm just saying. The pros know what they're doing.