Pecha Kucha New York
February 18, 2010
Pecha Kucha – 20 images to be accompanied by storytelling lasting up to 20 seconds per image. It’s a presentation theory I learned about while living in Santa Barbara, saw for the first time in Atlanta and have been waiting to attend in New York. At last (and for a good reason), Pecha Kucha night is here in the lower East side this Saturday. With a $20 donation going straight to rebuilding in Haiti, it’s a good cause and surely a good evening.
Santa Barbara
February 10, 2010
Six days of friends, music, Mexican food, central coast wines.
Home in New York now with 18 inches of snow expected over the next 24 hours. Happy to be here.
Daily Commute
February 2, 2010
Every work day starts with a brisk walk to my subway stop in Harlem followed by a long trip underground to Union Square.
This morning an old man on a bicycle accompanied me down the sidewalk at the start of my commute. Taped to his handlebars, was a boom box playing an orchestral arrangement of Somewhere Over the Rainbow at top volume. Life has a soundtrack indeed.
Night Court
January 9, 2010
I grew up watching a half hour sitcom called Night Court (remember Bull)? Last night, in a cold medicine haze we had to get out of the house and so we went. Imagine late night court proceedings with the People, the Defense and the accused…at 11pm. It looked like an episode of Jersey Shore for the most part with the first court room we visited addressing driving under the influence charges. One kid’s dad was in the audience. I said a little thank you to myself for having chosen the path I did when I was kid.
In the second court room across the hall (room 130) there were more serious offenses like a man accused of stabbing a woman while she was running away from him. The defense lawyer for the accused used his current girlfriend who was in the audience with her two children as a character reference to try and get the guy excused from the proceedings for the night. It looked like it might fly until the People read off the restraining order his girlfriend currently had out on him. He was escorted to whatever goes on behind the door near the judge.
We agreed that it felt voyeuristic and we experienced some guilt for watching these proceedings that were affecting real lives. But part of me wanted to see where my tax dollars are going and the other part of me walked out feeling like the problems I have are not so big and at least cannot be held against me in a court of law or are recorded in some roster of ‘how well have you been living life?’.
In closing, a recent photo of Owen. I check in with Adi daily. I bet you can’t stop yourself from smiling looking at him.
Beetz in the City
January 3, 2010
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| Christmas in Colorado |
After spending Christmas in Colorado with Nate’s family, snow shoeing, eating, eating and eating we came home to New York to find sub-zero temperatures and my friend Sarah who I hadn’t seen for three years. She and her man Jassim arrived in New York for a visit over New Year’s Eve. Seeing her, it was like no time at all had passed.
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| New Year’s Eve NYC 2009 – Click for all pics |
Dinner at Almond then dancing to Los Lobos at City Winery. Can’t wait to see what 2010 brings. Whatever comes, I know it’s going to be good. And never, ever boring.
Hello Winter
December 6, 2009
After Saturday brunch at Schiller’s with a lovely new friend Ashleigh, I was trying to find a subway stop that would lead me to the 1, 2, 3 line. I think I was in the Flatiron District (could have been in Chelsea, or the upper Village…sigh) when it started to snow for the first time this year. Getting lost is in my DNA. I’ve made peace with it. If I say go right, do yourself a favor and go left.
Fat flakes coming down, ear buds in, listening to the Black Keys – it was a sweet moment I had by myself in the city.
Wind Warning 2009
November 29, 2009
On the windiest day of the year so far, we thought it would be a good time to go walk the elevated park in the West Village – The High Line.
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| From atop the elevated High Line Park, New York |
After freezing our…well, we stopped for coffee and pushed our way through the wind in Chelsea to check out some galleries. This is an excellent way to spend an afternoon for free in Manhattan. I’ve only seen a handful of the show spaces and will be back.
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| From Chelsea galleries |
Autumn In New York
November 17, 2009
I was joking with Adi the other day that I was going to write a story about how New York holds no romance. All the Meg Ryan roles, Woody Allen conversations, Empire State Building rendezvous – it was all a trick and you fell for it. Once here, you have to commute along with all the other sheep. You run errands on your lunch break to avoid the insanity that is pushed into every store in the city after work. You deal with the mean crazies on the street who claim to be prophets but will only tell you that you are going to die (seriously, one day I’m going to yell back at that guy, “OK I get it!”).
Sunday, the city and I made up. She only took $100 from me that fueled a lovely warm Autumn day of breakfast for two, a long walk through the leaves in Central Park, a stop at FAO Schwartz for presents for my nieces, a refreshment stop at a hidden pub (will remain nameless lest we won’t find an open stool someday) and a new shirt for me from BR. Didn’t get home until after dark and went to sleep tired and happy to have had the sort of day I’d been wanting.
The Long Count at Brooklyn Academy of Music
October 31, 2009
After some wine (good), cheeses (good) and pork belly (meh) last night at Stonehome Wine Bar & Restaurant, Nate treated me to a show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (aka BAM).
It’s a known fact that I <heart> The National. I have eagerly been waiting and half dreading the release of their next album after the always current, amazing, gut wrenching, get-stuck-in-your-head-for-weeks 2007 album Boxer. My hopes are high and my fingers are crossed that the follow up will be as good if not better. Last night we saw Bryce & Aaron Dressner of The National, coordinate a collaboration of rock & roll, imagery (by Matthew Ritchie) and vocals set to their original collection of compositions titled The Long Count.
After Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) slowly glided onto stage and opened the show between the twins with the voice of an angel, the sound quality crashed and burned on the second piece and sisters Kim and Kelley Deal (The Breeders, The Pixies) somehow made it through. I felt for those girls and their faulty microphones.
I didn’t read the program before seeing this show. On the 2 train heading home afterwards we scratched our heads at the show’s analogy of the world starting in 1976 after the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, the significance of twins and the Mayan calendar that depicts the end of the world in 2012. I don’t know – I didn’t get all that and I’m sort of glad I didn’t have the background before seeing the show. Frankly, getting to hear Matt Berninger, lead vocalist for The National sing just one song in a relatively intimate venue – well that was delicious.
The Loudest Show I’ve Ever Seen
October 10, 2009
Music aficionado Kevin offered Nate and I two tickets to see the Psychedelic Furs last night. Having grown up listening to them, it was a real treat. Our group consisted of Kevin & Leo who live in Brooklyn and Torrey who was visiting from San Francisco. Get this – they all lived in Santa Barbara at one time. I’m starting to think it’s a prerequisite to hanging out with Nate. Anyhoo, we did our best Molly Ringwald dance impersonation throughout the show. It was so much fun. More photos.
Beforehand we met up with Torrey at her swanky hotel Grace near Times Square. From the bar we watched people swimming in the pool that sits in the lobby, which was kind of weird because well we were all wearing clothes and they…were not.
Ended the night with ears ringing atop the hotel Dream at the Ava lounge that looks over Times Square.
And at 1am on the 2 train heading uptown, everyone is sleepy. Everyone.
