East Village, August 2006

Finally, Blogger fixed its photo-uploading bug. I hope I never have to go through this again. It was an interesting exercise in attachment - I found that I am VERY attached to my blog, and get quite upset when I can't get it to publish correctly! Something to work with, there...

Anyway, this is a very appropriate photo - a detail from a hand-painted advertisement for an exterminator.

Bugs

Well, everyone, I think I've made a terrible mistake.

Last night, trying to be technologically forward-thinking, I switched to Blogger Beta. I did this because I'd heard that some people were having trouble posting comments to my blog with the old program, and I thought it would be nice to modernize.

Unfortunately, Blogger Beta and I are not starting our relationship well. When I made the switch, many of the comments on older postings were suddenly rendered "anonymous" - so if you made a comment under a user name but now see it under "anonymous," that's why.

To make matters worse, this morning I can't post pictures.

Aaaaaargh!!

E. 29th Street, November 2006

Fallen leaves sometimes create a ghostly stain on sidewalks. These were particularly nice stains - so detailed, yet beautifully smudged when the leaves were swept away. They seemed to represent this period of autumn moving into winter.

I've decided to go on retreat this year for New Year's Eve, along with the folks at the Zen center I attend. I've never done this before, but every year they go up to a lodge in Connecticut and spend a week in silent meditation. I can't go for the entire week because of work, but I'm going to go up for the weekend just before the holiday. They hold a special ceremony to bring in the New Year, and it sounds like a nice, mindful way to deepen our bonds as a community. (I'd like to do something different this year anyway - between you and me, I hate champagne!)

Fifth Avenue, December 2006

We had a beautiful weekend after our cold front blew through on Friday night. I took this on Saturday morning from the corner of 38th Street and Fifth Avenue, looking south. That's the Empire State Building four blocks away. As you can see, lots of sun and wild blue sky.

The Empire State Building has never been my favorite, but it did play a crucial role in my decision to live where I do. When I was apartment hunting in 2002, I looked at maybe two dozen places, and for various reasons couldn't find anything that worked for me. Then I was shown an unremarkable studio on E. 29th Street. I looked around the room, which was functional, and then out the window - and there was the Empire State Building, lit up like a colored beacon. Angels sang, and I made an offer instantly. I love being able to look out my window and see New York's most famous building!

Despite the sunshine you see in this picture, photography was difficult this weekend. We're getting close to the winter solstice, so the sun now comes up around 7 a.m. and sets at 4:30, and even in midday it's just not very bright down at street level. I wandered around Tribeca yesterday and I got some pictures, but everything was so shady - tough for a guy who likes shadows!

Lexington Avenue, Midtown, Sept. 2006

Outside Bloom's Deli, someone put up two rows of those little triangular car-dealer flags. I like this photo of their shadows because it incorporates round, rectangular and triangular shapes. A good exercise for pre-schoolers, eh?

I know everyone is curious about my adventures at speed-dating last night. (If you're not, you're excused...you may leave the room now.) I'll see if I can concisely explain what happened.

About 55 guys showed up, and everyone was assigned a name tag with a unique number. We sat in two rows, with one row stationary and the other moving every three minutes. We'd have a three-minute conversation with some random guy, a signal would be given, and the moving row would stand up and shift down one position so we'd be talking to the NEXT random guy. At the end of an hour (and 20 "speed dates") we had a brief mingling period to meet anyone else in the room, and then we filled out little computer cards with the numbers of the people we'd like to go out with. Those cards were scanned for matches.

It was weirdly exhausting. Each conversation was a little different, and there were some laughs, but I essentially found myself repeating the same information over and over: job, hometown, hobbies. After a while I got a little hoarse (the room was surprisingly loud) and the faces began to blur. By the mingling period, I wanted out of there!

Good news, though: Of seven numbers on my card, three matched. So I exchanged phone numbers with Dave, Nathan and Robert, my future dates.

Stay tuned!

Upper West Side, Sept. 2006

I was walking on W. 91st Street to meet a friend one night when I passed a dark playground full of these little concrete horses. It was a bizarre sight, with the photos made even more bizarre by the ghostly flash. My AIA Guide to New York says the horses, created by sculptor Constantino Nivola, were installed to enliven otherwise bland public housing. They've "seen some heavy use, but alas, there is no ASPCA to protect concrete horses," the book adds.

We did get our cold snap yesterday. I sweltered all day in my stuffy office (where the air conditioner has been turned off because it's, well, DECEMBER) and then went to a movie with a friend. When we emerged around 10 p.m., a fresh wind was blowing and the temperature had dropped considerably. It's in the low 40s this morning.

Saw an interesting trio of movies this week: "Shortbus," "The Last King of Scotland" and "Volver." Of the three, "Shortbus" was definitely the most enjoyable. (LOVE that animated model of NYC...oh, and Jay Brannan, too!) But all three were good in different ways. Penelope Cruz is great in "Volver," and about as beautiful as a human being can get; "Scotland" ultimately left me depressed about the cycles of viciousness and hopelessness in Africa. Next, maybe I need to see something really shallow...

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Sept. 2006

This is probably the single most famous piece of street art in New York. It's part of a work by Banksy, whose art has become roaringly popular: Angelina Jolie is said to have paid big bucks for a Banksy piece, and recently some thieves in England tried to pry one off a building. (Ours is painted on concrete, so they wouldn't get very far.) I like this girl; she seems so happy and free. (To see the whole work, click here.)

I'm trying to decide whether to send holiday cards this year. (I'm just barely of the generation that still feels obligated to do that!) In some ways I like them - they are a great way to touch base with friends and distant relatives. But I don't like all the paper and the waste, and they seem kind of silly when electronic communication is so much easier.

It's been eerily warm in New York. I went out this morning in shorts and a t-shirt. People say this is a good thing, but I'm not so sure. Global warming, anyone? (We're supposed to get a cold snap today.)