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He'd have my vote.

I chatted with him for a minute once, he seemed like a nice guy.

I'll jump in in support of Sushi Tango, I think their sushi is excellent and I've never had a meal there that was anything less than great.

(It doesn't hurt that I only live a block away so I can have a few cocktails without worrying about how I'm going to get home.)

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I think it's better to have more variety (i.e. 4 quarts each of 2 different soups), but either way, I'll look forward to seeing you at the Soup Swap!

As for labels & ingredients, you can print up a card to go with the soup or write it on a label if you'd like. I always bring extra labels in case people forget to label their soups before the swap, but I will say that it's easier to get the labels to stick to the plastic containers before they're frozen.

See you Sunday!

As far as knowing where the soups came from and what is in them, in the "telling of the soup" we each introduce ourselves, and tell a little bit about our soup including what is is in it.

This can help you avoid choosing a soup that may contain ingredients you are allergic to, don't eat, or simply don't like. But, yes, there is an element of trusting your neighbors involved.

Just a reminder, one week until Soup Swap. Rainy day, now is a great time to get cooking.

I've gotten some good responses, I expect we'll have a nice turnout next Sunday.

If you have any questions, please let me know, or let me know what you're cooking up!

Winter is here, so it's time to fill your freezer with delicious homemade ready-to-heat soups. Yes, it's that time again...

The Great Jersey City SOUP SWAP 2010

Bring 4 Quarts of Your FROZEN Homemade Soup
(divided into single quart containers)
*PLUS*
One or More non-perishable items to donate to the St. Matthew's Food Pantry (canned soup, one-can meals, cereals, peanut butter, tuna, canned tomatoes or sauces, canned fruits or vegetables, and non-perishable milk are all appreciated)

Sunday, January 24, 2010
3:30 p.m. to meet and mingle (BYOB - please feel free to bring wine, snacks available for purchase from Made with Love)
4:00 p.m. SHARP - SOUP SWAP begins

WHERE: Made with Love Artisan Bakery & Caf?
530 Jersey Avenue (between Columbus & Newark)
Jersey City, NJ 07302

What exactly is a SOUP SWAP?
You bring FOUR single-quart containers of your homemade frozen soup. (Plus your donation to the food pantry.) We will then draw numbers and take turns picking out different soup. You will leave with FOUR 1 quart containers of a wonderful mix of homemade soups. Bring whatever soup you cook best. This can include chili, stews, chowders, and gumbos. Can't be here? You can always assign a proxy to do your soup swapping for you!

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! We can never have too many soups to choose from!
Please pass this email on to anyone who might be interested. If you'd like me to send you a PDF flier to display in a public area, please email me.

The St. Matthew's food pantry serves persons in our community living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses through the Hyacinth Foundation.

I'm waiting for FedEx right this minute. They're supposed to deliver by 3 pm, so I've basically been just waiting around all day.

If I go downstairs and find one of those "we missed you..." tags, I'm going to scream.

Guess I'd better go check.

It's plenty cold out, I think it's time to start talking about Soup Swap 2010.

The "official" national Soup Swap date is Saturday, January 23, 2010. We've always had the J.C. Soup Swap on a Sunday in the past. We could break from tradition and do it on a Saturday, we could do Sunday the 24th, or we could try something completely different... I'm open to suggestions.

I only want to do it if people are interested and we'll get a decent turnout.

So, speak up if you're interested, let me know what day works for you.

As for locations, far the past 3 years we've always had it at Barrow Mansion. I've been paying to rent the room there, but if we could find somewhere that would let us have a little space for free, I'd donate that money to the food pantry too. It takes about a half-hour to an hour total, we don't take up a lot of space, and if we had it at a restaurant, bar, coffee shop or something, maybe we'd all order drinks or food.

Talk it out, let's hear your great ideas...

Wow, if I hadn't seen the video, I wouldn't have believed it.

It's not a law, some buildings or landlords put it in their rental contract, some don't. We last looked for apartments maybe 2002-03, some apartments had that as a clause, some didn't.

So, legally, you probably have no leg to stand on there.

Socially, you might as well try approaching your neighbor in a friendly way, maybe put it in terms of blaming the building for not being well sound-proofed, not blaming him. (After all, it's not his fault, is it?) Maybe when he realizes how loud it is, he'll take off his shoes. Or not. One ex-neighbor of ours said "Yeah, that's why I got the top floor, so I don't have to listen to other people." He was a jerk, but since then we've had good neighbors.

Good luck.

I'm probably going to join Brick Haus this weekend. They're having a special: $0 initiation, $69 per month. I figured I'll get in before the New Year's Resolution rush.

I was wondering if this was their best rate or if they might have better specials around New Year's, but based on what I'm seeing here, this seems like a good rate.

Just wanted to see if anyone has any updated/more recent opinions about Brick Haus before I commit.

I visited The Saffron pre-auction. I thought, as someone else may have mentioned, that the layouts were odd and the bedrooms were tiny. I like to imagine a guest room with room for a daybed and a small desk, in these you'd probably have to choose between the two. Even some of the main bedrooms seemed very small - you'd likely be limited to just a bed and not much else. There was one unit with a strange alcove thing to one side. The layouts were weird, and, to me at least, not very appealing.

Not Children of Deaf Adults? Maybe next time.

A few weeks ago, I was walking home from the PATH at night, and there was this guy on the corner of Columbus & Grove yelling at two guys holding hands... something about God and burn in hell...

I walked by not really realizing what he was saying or what was going on.

Then I got about half-way down the block and realized that he was shouting at them for being gay. Seriously, I have never even seen that kind of behavior (maybe in a movie? maybe?) that it didn't even occur to me, I just assumed they had had some kind of argument about something.

I turned around to go back and say something to the shouter, but when I got back there, he was gone. I hadn't really worked out yet what I was going to say to the lunatic, but I was really thrown off by the whole encounter. A. You're wrong & B. You're in the wrong city/part of the country.

Great Job, DCofJC... can you move to my block?

I tried the Louisiana Spice Truck tonight. My boyfriend got the pulled pork sandwich, I got the brisket sandwich.

They were both good, but we liked each other's sandwiches better.

I'm looking forward to trying the other trucks soon!

We've been going to Rutgers games this year, and I'm thinking this Friday night I'm looking forward to detouring to the Grease Trucks to spend some money in New Brunswick. I don't see why some good trucks in JC couldn't become the same kind of "destination" (but nicer!)

Was going from Grove St. to 9th St. I read the PATH Alert to mean there would be one extra stop at Exchange Place.

Nope. The train went from Grove to Exchange to WORLD TRADE back to Exchange to Pavonia to Hoboken to Christopher to 9th.

Yes, I could've, should've gotten off at WTC and gotten MTA or, seriously, just walked at that point I still would've gotten there sooner.

Between that and the guy on my left who kept spitting and the guy on my right who reeked of booze... it was not a great adventure.

Just with PATH would've been a little more forthcoming with what "via exchange place" meant.

Two weekends ago, my boyfriend and I saw a few two kids at the plaza near the Grove St. PATH that seemed to be collecting money or selling something for a football team. (They had a table, a big water jug for money, and a bunch of football jerseys.)

I asked if they were just collecting donations, or selling the jerseys or what. The young man told me that they were selling these discount cards for $10 each.

The card has the St. Anthony mascot on the front and the football schedule, and the back has a list of local JC and Hoboken businesses and their discounts, such as "Helen's Pizza... 10% off any purchase (183 Newark St.)" There were actually quite a few businesses on there that we go to, such as Star Cleaners and The Lamp Post Bar & Grill, so it seemed worth it.

My boyfriend asked how I knew if it was legit. I figured the cards look pretty professional, the boys had a stack of jerseys.

I saw them out there again last weekend, and I joked to my boyfriend, "Well, they're still out here, the cards must be legit... they haven't been run out of town yet."

But of course... the cards don't actually work. Well, at least in the 2 places we tried them. Village Tropical Fish and Pet Supplies and Helen's Pizza both said that they must have put their name on the cards without asking permission first.

I don't know if it will actually be accepted anywhere. I don't know if this was sanctioned by the school, or if these kids just had them drawn up themselves.

Just a warning. Donate a few dollars if you'd like, and honestly, we probably would have donated a few dollars even without the card, but be forewarned that the discount seems to be a scam.

In the spirit of What Should I Do Tomorrow?...

My birthday is mid-September. I have an excess of vacation days (poor me, I know) so I was thinking about taking a 4 day weekend.

Anyone have any good ideas for trips within the long weekend range? I'd rather not spend the bulk of the weekend in the car or on a train, and even though it's my birthday I'm thinking more "affordable" than "splurge."

I've been to Boston, I've done the Jersey Shore... I was thinking about maybe heading west but I don't know if Chicago is too far to be worth it for a long weekend.

Let's hear the ideas...

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At the Grove St. PATH stop at that little "plaza." Near Dunkin Donuts, Duane Reade, et al.

Forget taqueria.

We had two tortas last night. I had the Aztec Steak, it was delicious. My boyfriend had the El California. (I think I have these names right, maybe.) They were both great. My only complaint is that they were so big, we probably could have cut one in half and split it.

I love the convenient location at the PATH station, I definitely look forward to trying the rest of the sandwiches.

I noticed it today when I went to Torico's for some ice cream. The sign outside indicated two daily specials - a soup (I think it was chicken noodle?) for $1 and a roast beef sandwich for $5. I didn't get anything there, but it definitely looks clean and nice inside.

What is your exact address and where do you hide your valuables?

No, seriously, I don't have any suggestions on how to get the mail carrier to lock the door. Our door just automatically locks when it is shut. Our challenge is to get the mail carrier to stop SLAMMING our door so hard. Maybe you could look for that type of lock?

Good luck.

My bad - legally it's 50 ft from the stop sign. (Doesn't that seem so far?)

Anyway, measure from the sign, not from the line, unless someone knows how far the lines are from the signs.

If memory serves, I think you have to be 10 or 15 feet from the stop sign - I think that's the standard, not where the line is.

Plenty of police activity: Anyone know what is going on?

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Pole humpers. They'll never get it. Just like people who stand in front of the door when the car is entirely empty.

Or yesterday morning, at Grove St., the train came, there were a bunch of people waiting, and one woman pushed to the front to get on first. Then she stood right in front of the door so no one else could get on (despite there being plenty of room inside the car). Her "strategy" was to get that spot so she could lean against the door - but in the meantime, not let anyone else on.

Someone do an archive search - I could've sworn this came up once before, and it was a for rent sign for one of the apartments above. (Or check the realtor website?)

That said, if they aren't closing, all those who would be sad if they did close should get in there and buy something. Our neighborhood's great local businesses won't stay in business just because people like them, they need people to spend some money there.

Yum, yum! I hadn't tried any of my soups yet, but I had a delicious bowl of chicken chili today for lunch - it was great, and I had a spoonful of sour cream on top, it was perfect.

I've also wanted to mention that we had a very small turnout this year. My plan is to give it one more try next year, maybe with a little more advertising, and hopefully there will be a larger turnout.

Enjoy your soup everyone, thanks to those who came, and I hope to see EVERYONE there in 2010!

Today's the Day! Looking forward to seeing you all (and your soup!) later!