very simple

I took a boatload of pictures when I was up in the Berkshires for the last week of August, and I am slowly (very slowly) working my way through the various subjects.

Unlike Great Barrington, which seems to have been designed to maximize useful quaintness, Pittsfield was a true company town. There was a massive GE plant here for years, and it employed pretty much everyone. Pittsfield was the city that developed to accommodate it. And then it slid into despair, living up to its unfortunate name.

In the past few years though, it’s seen a bit of revitalization – a real push to make it a place people will want to visit. I’m not sure it’s there yet, but it’s certainly in a better place than it was ten to fifteen years ago.

as always, click through for the full image.

Last night of my week in the Berkshires, we’re spending the evening on Lake Buell with a friend who has a house right on the lake. Here, belle is bidding adieu to the summer.

I start my next work engagement next week, so I thought I’d take a full week up in the Berkshires, something I rarely get to do for that amount of time. Of course, I got up here on Sunday and my entire family had to head back to NYC on Monday for a few days, so I’ve been on my own. This is even more rare than my spending an entire week up here.

Last night I took myself to dinner in Great Barrington, where i promptly ran into one of my oldest friends up here, so he and I ended up eating together. I love when that happens. On my way out, this guy was playing some lovely music. Shot in extremely low light at a high ISO, so the quality’s not great, but still wanted to share.

I’m winding down my off-time in the city, with my new engagement starting after labor day and next week being spent with various iterations of the family unit in the country, so I decided to go visit the high line yesterday. I’ve been a few times before (2009, 2011), but I think this is the first time I’ve been at the height of summer. They’ve also opened up an entirely new section, from about 21st street to 30th street, so this is the first time I’ve been up this far.

click on the thumbnails for the full images and descriptions

I start a new engagement for my company with a different client in a few weeks, and they’re a little less business casual (as in, not business casual at all) than the last engagement. Or any job that I’ve had in about 12 years. I’ve got plenty of black pants and cute jackets and can certainly make do, but I thought it would be nice to get a few new items to just freshen everything up a bit, so I hit bloomie’s.

It’s much nicer to shop there now that they’ve finally moved the “women’s” department (the fancy name for plus-sizes) out of the basement/subway station where it had languished for years. I mentioned this to the sales ladies and they were in vehement agreement. That lower-level part of the store is now part of the men’s department – maybe men don’t mind shopping (and working?) so close to quite so much…vermin?

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Wow. just…wow.

Not wanting to spoil anything, so there’s not much I can say except that this was just brilliant. Given how many people online and in reviews had obliquely mentioned a twist while attempting to not give away any detail, I can’t say I was as blindsided by the twist as I might have otherwise been, but the sheer anticipation of reaching it was also exciting (and given how many twists and turns there actually were, even wondering whether one of the smaller, earlier twists was what they were referring to). This book is an intricate puzzle where every piece fits together perfectly. And horrifically.

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I sometimes think I could wander around the city taking pictures of nothing but signs for the rest of my days, and I would never run out of subjects. Random building in midtown.

The true test is actually traveling, but I recently bought Sadie a new carrier, as my old, backpack-style one was getting a little cramped for her – she was still able to curl up and go to sleep when it was flat, but when held upright (necessary whenever I actually needed to carry her anywhere), she looked like a poor hunchback and was clearly uncomfortable. In any event, the new carrier came the other day, and she now uses it as her bed half the time. And even when I’ve had to nudge her in there, she certainly doesn’t require a cat catcher!

This bust of Washington Irving sits in front of Washington Irving High School, which is at the corner of 17th street and Irving Place, across the street from the Washington Irving House and one block north of concert-venue Irving Plaza.

The irony, of course, being that Washington Irving never actually lived here (despite the plaque to the contrary). He apparently had a nephew that lived nearby that he visited a few times, and that was close enough for some civic-minded folks to lay claim to the entire neighborhood on his behalf.

My friend Darcy lives in one of the tiniest apartments that I’ve seen (at least of the one-bedroom variety), but to make up for the size of the apartment, she has exclusive access to the roof right outside. I love the old east village roofline of mismatched buildings. Plus, hanging out all afternoon at our own private oasis in the middle of the city is pretty nice as well (you can’t see the hammock because I am sitting on it!).