very simple

Last night I arrived in London, on what amounts to my first real vacation since 2009. I’ve said it elsewhere, but it really took having a job again to appreciate having time off. As much as I tried to ‘enjoy’ my period of unemployment, there was a constant undercurrent of worry, and I certainly wasn’t going to travel anywhere extravagant, if for no other reason than the thought that the minute I stepped away from New York would be the exact minute a headhunter with the perfect job would come looking for me.

So anyway, I’m in London, ostensibly to visit my brother, and to see a few other folks, including meeting some people I actually work with but have never met in person, and catching up with a few former colleagues on this side of the pond.

Today, since my brother had a conference to go to, I took myself to the British museum. A full set of photos will get uploaded once I can edit them properly on my computer, but I thought I’d start off by testing my camera to iPad adapter by showing photographic proof that I’m actually here.

So, I finally decided to download my photos from Labor Day weekend, given that it’s almost November and I haven’t even put up a post since September. I’ll blame that part on the whole ‘having a job’ thing, even though, truth be told, I do have my weekends free. I’m just lazy.

But that started me down a wonderful journey of discovering that there was some sort of script error in my blog installation, which forced me to spend the last three hours venturing further down the rabbit hole of wordpress reinstallations, backups, “emergency” password fixes after wordpress decided to no longer recognize me…fun stuff.

it all appears to be (hopefully) working again, at least insofar as I can actually log in and write a post, but I had to delete a lot of plugin customizations particularly around stats. Not that anyone reads this thing anyway, so I guess that’s no great loss!

Anyway…on to the original point of this post. Labor Day weekend, as usual, was spent in the Berkshires. This year it was very rainy, so we ventured up to The Clark in Williamstown to check out some of the art. The coolest thing was an exhibit by El Anatsui, a Ghanaian artist who refashions the multitude of liquor bottles foisted upon the local population into beautiful wall hangings. So this is mostly that. As always, click on the thumbnail to get the full image.

I didn’t think it was going to hit me the way it did today. And today isn’t even the day. Tomorrow is the day. But this morning, I woke up and NPR was playing a variety of follow-ups and StoryCorps pieces from relatives and survivors, and I just completely broke down, by myself in my apartment, in wracking sobs.

But that was early in the morning. I pulled myself together for my day of running errands downtown, from getting my hair cut to buying shoes and doing all sorts of things that I end up doing when I have any reason to go visit my old neighborhood between Union Square and the Flatiron…

And as I was walking through the greenmarket, making my way up towards that same Flatiron building, I looked up and saw a giant billow of smoke going up to the sky. Only a few people seemed to notice it, but the screaming fire engines and cop cars and…smell…of burning air just about caused me to lose it again. Particularly when I realized that I was standing almost exactly in the same spot…on 20th and Broadway, that I was standing when the first plane hit the first tower 10 years ago tomorrow (back then I was walking down 20th from Broadway to Fifth, and saw the first tower on fire, not on TV but with my own naked eyes when I reached Fifth Avenue). I had such a sense of deja vu, and I realized almost an hour later, even though I had managed to get on with my day, that I was still visibly shaking.

And I say this as a person who, on that day, was safely several miles uptown from ground zero and didn’t lose a single person that I knew.

Tomorrow is going to be rough for a lot of people in this city, and I just hope that everyone gives people the space they need to get through the day.

I’ve seen a lot of people doing “where were you” pieces, but I wrote mine 5 years ago. I can’t say it better now than I did back then, so I’ll just link.

(oh, and the fire today? apparently just a transformer on the roof of a building)

I think this is the 3rd or 4th year that the city is running summer streets, which consists of shutting down Park Ave. from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge until 1pm for 3 Saturdays in August. Truth be told, at this point I kind of which they’d vary it up a bit and pick a different street to go down, but I understand why they like Park, given that it’s the only true two way Avenue in the city, and has natural barriers between the north and south-bound lanes. All that being said, I did make it out there yesterday, with my camera and everything, and biked down to Soho. I was attempting to meet up with some folks at the Bicycle Habitat booth, but we missed each other. I did manage to find them later at the lunch meeting spot, so it all ended up fun. Thankfully, yesterday was a brilliantly gorgeous day to boot, given that today the current weather consists of massive thunderstorms that are predicted to go on all day.

Some pics from the ride (as always, click on the thumbnail to see the whole image):

Last weekend, I joined my friend/co-worker Willie for a walking tour that he gives periodically through central park. We started at columbus circle and walked (windingly) up to Belvedere Castle. And I took some pictures (obviously). As always, click on the thumbnail to see the whole thing.

I haven’t done this in a few years, having moved this blog towards less political stuff and towards more pictures of cats and farm animals, but I was thinking about Washington’s letter recently, in light of all of the recent (and not so recent) claims as to the idea that our Founding Fathers (who were not a monolithic group by any means) were somehow founding the US as a ‘Christian Nation’. The idea is completely ridiculous on its face, what with the plain text of the First Amendment, but sometimes a refresher with actual evidence is nice. So here is a letter that George Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport Rhode Island:

To the Hebrew Congregation in Newport Rhode Island.

Gentlemen,

While I receive with much satisfaction, your Address replete with expressions of affection and esteem; I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you, that I shall always retain a grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced in my visit to Newport, from all classes of Citizens.

The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet, from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good Government, to become a great and happy people.

The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent national gifts. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

it would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my Administration, and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.

G. Washington

Sure, there are a load of inherent contradictions, not the least of which involving the fact that there were plenty of people (slaves, women) who were not citizens at all, and obviously were not thought of as equal. But again, the ideals of the founders, even if not always lived up to, were a road map toward a more perfect and equal society, and we still struggle and strive to reach that ideal today.

I particularly like his dis of “tolerance” – that to tolerate something’s existence necessarily implies the majority group giving permission for the minority group to exist, when the minority group doesn’t ‘need’ to be tolerated because it has the inherent right to exist in the first place.

Happy Independence Day everyone.

I’ve been hunting for a new morning coffee spot, due to the fact that the cafe I pretty much lived at during my unemployment has gone drastically downhill in the past few weeks. Things ranging from price increases to the fact that they didn’t have any sugar one morning, not to mention the bathroom being out of service for several weeks, have made me long for a change of pace. And then my dad reminded me that there’s a Le Pain Quotidien right in the center of Central Park. Now, I can generally take or leave LPQ as an establishment, but this particular setting was perfect. I spent about an hour over there this morning (during leash-free park hours, so the place was somewhat overrun by very adorable free-ranging dogs), and I can safely say that I’ve found my new spot. At least while it’s nice out, since it’s all outdoor seating.

As a bonus, this is my view walking to and from the cafe/my apartment.

I don’t recall if the Tony Awards have ever been at the Beacon Theater before, but they are there this year, and I plan on not leaving my apartment for the rest of the day (I’m about 3 blocks away). These tents have actually been up for a week, and they’ve got barricades everywhere, and some (crazy) people have already camped out with folding chairs to watch the festivities. I sure hope no one was planning to go grocery shopping at Fairway this evening!

I’m pretty sure I’ve given up the ghost on the 365 project (again), but I’m still taking pictures when the mood strikes. I’m going to blame it on the fact that I’ve got a new job (finally) and that’s taking up a lot of my brain-space now, which I view as a good thing. Getting paid doesn’t hurt either. But, in any event, I headed up to the family compound in the Berkshires for memorial day weekend, and took some pics of the burgeoning spring/summer flora and fauna. As always, click on the thumbnail to see the full photos.

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous – a perfect way to end my life of leisure as I start a new job tomorrow. To celebrate the weather, I decided to take a walk, which ended up turning into a five mile jaunt down to union square. On the way down, I noticed this film set at the Hearst Building, which had been relabeled “Oscorp”. I can only assume this is for the new Spiderman film.