E. 29th Street, December 2006

I've always liked this large wall on the side of a building about a block from my apartment. It looks like someone tried to clean it with bleach, but didn't do a very thorough job - and it makes a great canvas for shadows.

It's definitely that time of year again. Times Square is filling up with wandering tourists. Each night when I leave work I wind up walking behind phalanxes of baby strollers in order to reach the subway. It wasn't too many years ago that Times Square, particularly 42nd Street, was kind of a dicey area - and now people take armies of toddlers there. Anyway, preparations are being made for the big New Year's celebration, with utility trucks and crowd control barriers in evidence.

My response is to get out of town. I will be away from my blog until Tuesday. So happy New Year, and I'll see you in 2007!

Lafayette Street, Sept. 2006

This curious sticker was slapped over a poster advertising a bad horror movie. If I'm not mistaken, that pig has wings. I guess the artist is having some fun with his own last name, Hamm?

I'm getting questions about the status of my recent speed dating adventure - so here's an update. One of the three guys I met that night, Nathan, never called me back, thus violating a sacred rule of the speed dating ritual...but whatever. The other two, Robert and Dave, I've seen - Robert once and Dave twice. I think I'll see them again. But while they're nice guys, they might not take kindly to being blog subjects, so for now, that's all you're going to get out of me!

I finally got around to reading Buzz Bissinger's article in Vanity Fair about the family depicted (rather crazily) in Augusten Burroughs' memoir "Running With Scissors." They allege that Burroughs made up many of the incidents in his book. I'm not sure why this is such a big deal, frankly. I understand why they're hurt, but their allegations seem less serious than those facing James Frey, of "A Million Little Pieces" - more like elaborate embroidery than wholesale invention. I mean, did anyone believe that "Running With Scissors" was journalism? (For the record, I think Burroughs' subsequent book, "Dry," was much better - more substantial, more compelling and seemingly more inherently truthful.)

Greenwich Village, Sept. 2006

This lion keeps watch from a wall on Mercer Street, near the Angelika cinema. The Angelika is a very popular movie theater on Houston Street for indie and foreign films. It's always crowded, which unfortunately means you've got to line up like cattle in the chaotic lobby cafe.

I learned some interesting things about photo quality during my holiday trip to Florida. For one thing, my blog photos looked terrible on my Mom's computer. I think it has something to do with the resolution of her monitor, but it was troubling to think that some poeple look at my blog and see THAT! Also, when I post from somewhere other than home, I usually e-mail the photos to myself, and in this case, that seemed to degrade the quality a bit too. (I've since reposted them from home.)

I'm enjoying my Christmas gifts. My most surprising gift came from my friend Sue: It's a CD of Maria Muldaur singing the love songs of Bob Dylan. It's really good! (In college I was known, and mocked, for liking Muldaur's song "Midnight at the Oasis," already an oldie by that time. But Sue and I agree that she did a great job on this recent CD, called "Heart of Mine.")

Hell's Kitchen, December 2006

A rather peculiar bit of graffiti from Tovid, on or near W. 52nd Street. More Tovid here.

I'm back in New York this morning, having dragged myself out of bed at 3:45 a.m. to catch an early flight from Tampa. And now I have to go to work! I hope no one relies on me for anything important today!

Yesterday was great, a blur of family visits and gift exchanges. My photos seemed to go over well, fortunately, and I got some fun stuff too. (Including another Starbucks gift card and a bag of Starbucks coffee. My family knows me too well!)

Harlem, December 2006

This is from the front of a small church on 126th Street. I couldn't tell whether the church is still functioning, but I liked the little green and gold tiles.

We didn't make it to church this year. I grew up a Presbyterian, and normally my family goes to a midnight service on Christmas Eve. But this year, with the baby along, it seemed a little too complicated. So instead we went out driving last night to look at Christmas lights, and the baby slept the whole time.

Looking at Christmas lights is kind of funny. Our culture definitely rewards "maximalism," if there is such a word, with the most riotous displays getting the attention and awards. Of course, I tend to go for the minimalist ones: We saw one house with three palm trees in the front yard, their trunks circled with little white lights. That's my idea of a nice Christmas display: very simple.

It might seem odd that a Buddhist would want to go to church on Christmas. But I do like the social traditions of the holidays, and as we've discussed at my Zen center, religions are really more similar than different. What Buddhists seek through our ideas of oneness and emptiness is really not all that different from what Christians seek in God. So for me, there's no conflict.

Merry Christmas!

Mt. Eden Avenue, Bronx, December 2006

This is the back wall of a church in the Bronx, near the Grand Concourse. Seems appropriate for Christmas Eve!

Life here in Florida, where I'm visiting the family home, could not be more different from my life in the city. I grew up in an area with lots of wilderness, grass and palmettos and even the occasional alligator and armadillo. Our house is on a lake surrounded by tall cypresses, there are cattle ranches and orange groves nearby. The darkness at night seems thick and dense.

But this is all changing, as more and more people move to Florida. Last night, as we were walking, we passed a grove where a builder will soon put 10 houses. The large ranch behind our neighborhood is slated to turn into a big subdivision. And the darkness, though still dark, is not like it was when I was a kid, and could look up and see the wide pale band of the Milky Way crossing the night sky.

Of course, change is inevitable everywhere, but it may be even more inevitable here, with hundreds of people moving to the Sunshine State every day. I try not to be too cynical about it, but I do worry - about the Great Horned Owl we saw last evening in the top of a tree, for example, hunting in that grove where those houses will soon go.

The good news is, my family is fine and we're all getting along. My baby niece, Jane, who is only four months old, is entertaining us all with her big smiles and wide open blue eyes.

Kips Bay, December 2006

This was at Second Avenue and E. 33rd Street, just north of my neighborhood movie theater, the Loewe's Kips Bay.

I'm in Florida now, practicing patience with my Mom's dialup Internet connection. The last 24 hours have been an exercise in patience, in fact: Making my way to the airport, waiting there, and waiting, and waiting - my flight was delayed a bit - and then spending three hours in the air. I did a lot of sitting around yesterday. I got lots of reading done, though, so that's the upside.

I've tried to meditate in airports, but I'm a little self-conscious about it. I always think someone might wonder what's wrong with me, why I'm unmoving and staring at the floor, and call the authorities. (In this day and age, the authorities will appear at the slightest provocation!)