East Village, Sept. 2007

Take a look at this Web site. You probably won’t be able to read it, because it’s in Japanese. But you can look at the photos -- including the ones of me!

This is the result of a project by a Japanese acquaintance of mine, Asao Teshirogi. I met her when she came to the Zendo one night to report an article for a Japanese publication about Zen in America. Later, she asked me to be part of a book project called “Breakfast in New York,” in which she writes about New Yorkers and their lives, starting with what they eat for breakfast.

She insisted that she wanted to see my normal morning routine. So she and a photographer came to my place one morning about 6:30 a.m., and took photos of me meditating and having breakfast with Armenia. I can’t read her text, but I ran it through a Babel Fish translator and it’s basically just a description of my mornings, my Zen practice and my life and work in New York.

It was really fun to be part of this project! It hasn’t become a book yet -- Asao’s publisher went bankrupt so she’s looking for a replacement. But the Web site is kind of fun!

E. 31st Street, August 2007

Saw another great old movie the other night: "Lost Horizon," Frank Capra's 1937 film version of James Hilton's novel about the legendary Shangri-La. Really beautifully filmed, and starring a young Jane Wyatt of "Father Knows Best" fame. She always spoke with the most marvelous accent -- very East Coast blue-blood.

I have not been sitting lately. I keep telling myself I'm too busy and then I spend hours on the computer and watch old movies...so clearly I'm not THAT busy. Why all the resistance to something I love? I think it's partly just inertia...when you spend all day racing through life, it's hard to make yourself stop. But of course that's all the more reason to stop!

So now, I'm going to go sit!

SoHo, August 2007

Did you hear about the lifeguard who rescued the shark? Here’s the beginning of the story, from the Associated Press:

NEW YORK (Sept. 4) - When a Coney Island lifeguard spied a shark near an upset group of swimmers, he did what he thought was right: He rescued the fish.

Marisu Mironescu, 39, said he was prompted to action Monday after seeing about 75 to 100 people circling the 2-foot sand shark off the beach and "bugging out."

"They were holding onto it and some people were actually hitting him, smacking his face," said Mironescu. "Well, I wasn't going to let them hurt the poor thing."

He grabbed the largely harmless shark in his arms and carried it, backstroking out to sea, where he let it go. "He was making believe like he's dead, then he wriggled his whole body and tried to bite me," Mironescu said.

I loved this story! People often kill creatures that they perceive to be even slightly threatening -- a spider, a non-poisonous snake, a mouse. Sharks are certainly a favorite whipping boy. But it takes a special person to look at that shark and see, not a threat, but a suffering fellow creature! Dude deserves a medal!

Bowery, August 2007

Remember the opening credits of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”? Mary, in the supermarket, throws some bacon into her cart with a resigned roll of her eyes. It was the ‘70s, after all, and inflation was the word of the day.

Well, that could have been me yesterday at Gristede’s, my local supermarket. Groceries in Manhattan have never been cheap, but geez, these days they just seem out of hand. I spent $40 on 11 items.

My Kellogg’s Raisin Bran is the main offender, at $6.29 for a 25-ounce box. (I eat raisin bran every morning, rain or shine, so I bought two. I definitely need to find an underworld supplier for my cereal habit.)

But everything else was crazy, too. My coffee, Yuban, one of the cheapest brands on the shelf, was $4.99. A can of Progresso soup was $2.79. Two pears were $2.05. The cheapest thing I bought was a bag of carrots, for $1.49.

People who don’t live in New York always think it’s crazy that we eat out so much. But you really can get a decent meal out and about for not much more than it costs to cook at home!

East Village, August 2007

Yesterday I went out to the wilds of Bushwick, Brooklyn, where all the hipster artists are said to be moving now that nearby Williamsburg is infested with condos. I discovered two very different neighborhoods.

One, on the west side of Flushing Avenue, was mostly warehouses and factories. The streets were empty and windblown, with aluminum cans tumbling along noisily and lots of graffiti. I spent literally hours taking photos, stopping only to visit a great little coffee house called the Archive in one of the few populated areas, along Bogart Street. I’m told this area is technically East Williamsburg, and not Bushwick at all.

Maybe Flushing Avenue is the dividing line, because the east side of Flushing was totally different -- very residential. The predominant language was Spanish, and every time I passed a church I could hear boisterous services coming from within. Drivers had the salsa music cranked up LOUD. It reminded me so much of Miami.

Given the beautiful sunny weather and all the graffiti and street scenery, it’s not surprising that I wound up with about 95 pictures! Keep an eye on Flickr -- though it will take me a while to get to them. I’m still working through lots of Manhattan shots!

East Village, August 2007

As expected, I had a great day yesterday - spectacular clear weather, perfect for wandering around and taking photos. I popped into a great little restaurant in the East Village for brunch (omelette with goat cheese, watercress and sweet peppers) and explored some areas near Avenue D that I don’t think I’ve ever visited before. That used to be a sketchy neighborhood, but like most of New York, it’s now pretty tame.

On the spur of the moment, I went to see “Xanadu” last night on Broadway. Yes, it really is an adaptation of Olivia Newton-John’s famously bad movie (which, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen). The show is a hoot, basically because it laughs at itself the entire time, and never pretends to be anything more than silly. (One character described it as "a kids' play for 40-year-old gay people.") You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Medusa, with her head full of snakes, singing “Have You Never Been Mellow.” Surreal!

Greenwich Village, August 2007

Yesterday was a very quiet day at work. Most of my coworkers cut out in the mid-afternoon, so by 3 p.m. or so I was about the only person left on my floor. I stayed primarily in case one of our editors called and needed something - and they didn’t.

The quiet time gave me a chance to catch up on some work stuff, and when that was done I finally had a chance to update my blog links, which had become sorely outdated. I went to Technorati and discovered several blogs linked to mine - how exciting! - so I added those to the list. Cheers, bloggers!

I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I’ll get out and shoot some photos, but otherwise I have no plans at all, which brings an immense feeling of freedom!