Out and About in New York City: September 2011

fun on friday - the aroma of celebrity

three on thursday

What goes up must come down Spinning wheel got to go 'round Talking 'bout your troubles it's a crying sin Ride a painted pony let the Spinning wheel spin Someone is waiting just for you Spinning wheel, Spinning true Drop all your troubles by the riverside Catch a painted pony on the spinning wheel ride

props to David Clayton Thomas

water tower wednesday

a foggy day

New York town

flags flying

the Empire State Building

standing tall

satellite dishes

stairs

roof tops

and

water tower!!!

toonsday - when ... and where ...

Apologies!

I posted the wrong toon

THIS

is the new one

oy,

see what happens

when I don't wake up on time/over sleep

(is it really possible to oversleep?)

hurry rush make mistakes

sorry

monday monologue - a penny for your thoughts

I spent

most of weekend

schlepping an umbrella

which

thankfully

I never needed

Nevertheless

the
Green Flea

was under populated

as the predicted rain

kept many vendors away

We didnt walk
again

Toonman walked by himself

when I was off

beautifying™

Saturday

Sunday

I read
he watched football

We lead such an exciting life

Anyway

the point

always

made

long-windedly

I was thinking
what can I post about

into my head
popped
the expression

'a penny for your thoughts'

I give mine away for free

Are you still with me?

Immediately this came to mind:
Tom Otterness

who may be my favorite sculptor evah

populated

a small park

along the river

waaaay downtown

with some greedy bankers

and

lowly but hard workers

Officially

I believe its called

Nelson Rockefeller Park

after the billionaire and late Governor of New York

but the

'locals'

call it

Penny Park

See
it all goes back
to
paying for thoughts
and
a topic/photo to share!

Thanks for visiting its always appreciated!

waiting patiently

I was sure

we were going to get up

and

but

she's got

that thing

in her hands

again

I guess

we're just gonna

hang here

might

as well lay

down

overcast

the skies

and

my heart

are

heavy

this day

silly

maybe

but

today

at 1 p.m. EDT

the last network televised episode of

All My Children

will air.

41 years

new episodes daily

except

for major holidays

when they re-ran some episode that maybe sort of or not tied into what the current storyline was

a show

that was once great

dealt with social issues

as well as the

soapy absurd

but

suffered in recent years

due to the arrogance

of the not so brilliant head of something or other

ABCDisney

a man, Brian Frons, who

decided

perhaps as soon as he got the job

that no one wanted to watch soaps.

Whatever.

I am sad

I wont come home

after a long day dealing with reality

to an escape

albeit for only 45 minutes

(without commercials, that's what the Fast Forward button is for)

it was something

I counted

on to let me

forget

whatever

upset

bugged me.

Pine Valley with all its wacky citizens:

"The Great and the Least,

The Rich and The Poor,

The Weak and The Strong,

In Sickness and in Health,

In Joy and Sorrow

In Tragedy and Triumph

You are

ALL MY CHILDREN"

thank you

Agnes Nixon

for some of the

best

silliest

out there

soapy

characters and story lines

evah.

three on thursday

I thought

maybe

this guy

needed

to exhibit a bit more energy

he was

going

to get

business away from his two competitors

... wait ...

upon

further

investigation

I discovered

they're all

hawking

for the same

rental/tour group

talk about

cornering

the

market

water tower wednesday

This

could

have worked

for

Three on Thursday

looking

east

West 32nd Street

toonsday - but who asked me ... ?

monday monologue

Weekend walks

(and accompanying photo ops)

pre-empted

major restorative post Los Angeles weekend beautification™

Saturday

By football

Sunday

(and Saturday to be fair honest and a be-ach)

thus

goes

the weekdend

days of our lives

until

whenever

the 'season' ends

I dont really care when it is

Yes

I really

dont

care

about

football

So here's what I did

since as we all know

its always about

When I got off the bus on the Eastside early Saturday morning

there were police, police cars,
and
lots of these
wooden barracades

I hoped when my

massage at exhale
on 77th and Madison

was
done
I could get back across town

Traffic

intense

bumper to bumper

traffic

(due to a parade down Fifth Avenue)

Madison

crawled uptown

I had missed the crosstown bus by seconds

when this normal looking woman

suggested

we share the cost of a cab 'crosstown

I said sure

As the cab crept up Madison it was turned away from every major crosstown street

until we got to 96th St

where we were forced to go right to Park

and

back

around

to come across 97th St!

If you drive in this city you know this was just insane

Meanwhile

my companion

is in pain

her back is out

she was on the way to her doctor

on the Westside

when

she

missed the bus

every bounce, every bump
every stop, every start

made her cry out

In between

she heckled the cab driver's lack of aggressiveness

and

filled me in on her overall deteriorating health

I was just as relieved as she

when we got to

Columbus and 80th St

and

she got out

sort of crab-walking

I was going

to say no to her

when she handed me half the fare

but

decided to save the random act of kindness for another day

The rest of the weekend pales

in comparison

I leave you

with this photo

Its the peeling wrought iron window guard outside our front window

often

when I've indulged in adult substances

I take out the macro lens

this

was actually taken

with

my fairly new

28-300mm 1:3:5-5.6 lens

(I have no idea what those numbers mean after the mm and dont care)

camera was set on Program

because

I like that setting

flea market finds

a little dust off

some

clever

electricianing™

(I just made that word up: copyright!)

you've got

a lamp for the den

maybe

the bedroom

I'll let you think about it

covet

this box

its fabulous

alas

no where to keep it

its not tall

enough

for an end table

too tall

for a foot stool

Chipso,

I never heard of this,

which

in itself

is amazing

once

for a long time

worked

on Mad Ave

and

I am old

waiting patiently

this is Sadie,

she turned six this past week.

she keeps

my friends F and S

from missing

their

two

semi adult children

one of which is graduating law school this May

the

other

is a talented musician and film/video editor.

finally! los angeles recappage

After the long weekend away and return to a busy office

I've gotten my photos together to share.

I know you cant contain your excitement.

Go ahead, hit the loo, get some coffee, tea.

A comfy chair

and

away we go!

Security at jetBlue at JFK was insane.

I flew out later than I usually like to travel

but

had upgraded to

Even More Room on jetBlue

which comes with the perk of

Even More Speed

supposedly

this gets you on a shorter faster security check in.

However,

someone

forgot

to tell the TSA

- wait, is it the TSA?-

Whoever runs the airport security clearly didnt get the memo

There were perhaps

two dozen people

waiting for body

scans

Every suitcase,

every one of those silly little bins

was put in and out of the scanners at least 3 times,

there were several

'please step over here'

requests

and

then its my turn

I said:

'I'd like two 8x10 and 6 wallet sized prints, please'

No reaction.

After the body scan a female TSA

(I've decided it is the TSA)

agent asked

'Ma'am, may I see your arm?"

I gracefully extend my left arm,

she looks at my watch and says thank you.

I think if she had just asked for the time

Once through security I had about 90 minutes before boarding.

I grabbed a sandwich and a bagel,

one cannot have too many carbs is my theory,

and went to wait for the boarding call.

It was an uneventful flight.

The flight attendant up front was called Amber and she was indeed a gem.

Having someone pleasant and funny

- when she announced we had to put away our electronic toys

she started listing the brands

paused

and made this sort of inclusive arm gesture

saying

'anything the glows' -

made the 4 hours and 45 minutes fly by.

Landing in L.A.

I was met by my friend 'F',

the mother of my god-daughter,

someone I hadnt seen in a

really really long time

of course

we spent the entire ride to lunch,

all of lunch

and then the rest of the afternoon

catching up.

She and her husband 'S' have a fabulous house in 'the Valley' with a patio and pool

If I ever in another life live in L.A.

that is how I want to live.

Friday we decided to go to

The Getty.

I am not a museum person.

Its not

that

I am uncultured

its that it takes me back to my school days

and

mandatory art museum visits

however

The Getty

is like

Versailles

the
gardens

and

fountains

out shine
the
sculptures

although
some
really
were
fun

I was in awe
amazing blocks of travertine
riddled
with fossils
Meier's design
made me imagine
Yul Brenner's commanding the Jews to schlep stones for the pyramids.

There was a
Walker Evans photo exhibit on Cuba.
it made me miss
The Aunt
who as a pre-teen had traveled there with her parents
and saw
Cugat at a nightclub
a story she told many times.

I was told not to take photos of art

I dont think Art noticed

But back to The Getty ..

we opted
not to have lunch there
tho many do
they picnic,
they nap,

they dine in
charming patio/terrace
cafes.

We headed to Little Tokyo

having a fabulous lunch of curry

followed by

some shopping
at
Black Market
on Sawtelle

That evening we had dinner on the patio,
dining a fresco was a delight after all the rain back in NYC
a balmy late summer evening
with
good friends and good food
cant be beat.

Saturday we decided to take it easy.
S went running
and
we were to meet him for breakfast.

On the way
the skies were bright blue
with little puffs of white clouds
so
it was very odd to hear
thunder
really really
loud
thunder.

As we pulled into the parking lot
the skies opened up.
It poured for the hour we were there

when it let up
we were entertained
by a meter maid tagging cars across the street

no one can say Angelinos dont have a sense of humor

S's family was in show business

when his mother was no longer able to live alone

she moved into the

Motion Picture and Television Fund's

care center which has several levels of living facilities.

Photos are not permitted indoors

but

I was allowed to take photos of the property

its an amazing place.

F is very involved as a volunteer,

she knows everyone,

everyone loves her.

I can totally understand why.

a statue of musican/actor
Buddy Rogers
greets visitors

a very youthful
Roddy McDowell
tends a pool

this herd of topiary cattle
makes everyone smile

I welled up a bit at
Anthony Hopkins'
memorial to his
mother

When we got home
S and I spent some time floating in the pool
relaxing

That evening F and S hosted a dinner party for me.
Friends I hadnt seen in over 20 years,
I dont understand how they've aged while I have not
- are you laughing? -
we dined indoors
the rain made the already cool
- its the desert you know -
evening even cooler.

We ate
we drank
we talked
and
after the company left
amid a lot of laughter
we cleaned up before retiring for the night.

Sunday I was heading home,
since it was Sept 11
there was bound to be heightened security
even longer waits to get through scanners
F took me to the airport extra early.

There was no additional security
or
long lines
I got to spend 2+ hrs waiting to board my 5.5 hr flight home.
I hoped to watch NetFlix on my iPad
using LAX's
'free public WiFi'
except
it wasnt working.
Flight home was uneventful.
I slept most of the way thanks to my pal Xanax.
The End.

I think this might be the longest post ever ... stretch a bit you'll be fine!