amsterdam.

Some notes about the trip.
part one.

Amsterdam: Always associated with debauchery such as hashish and the red light district, but those are merely two tiny aspects of this beautiful city. Streets shared almost equally by cars, bicycles, trams and peds; beautiful arched bridges over the canals every few blocks, the arches lit by rows of little white lights at night; mossy brick pavements; hand-lettered script on doors and mailboxes of private and public spaces; wires strung with streetlights which are suspended over the center of the streets; the buildings, of course! ornament windows and arms for pulleys to raise large boxes or furniture too unweildy for the steep narrow staircases built hundreds of years ago; sepia; greenery and parks everywhere- landscaped and not at all angular; cranes walking stiff-legged around ponds or landing in tall tall trees with massive nests; house boats with little roof decks and gardens at the gangplanks... The windows of many of the canal-side houses are wide and un-curtained, giving the impression that the rooms blend seamlessly with the sidewalks. What a city for wandering! Feast for the eyes.

I forgot about it!

Basically, that's what happened. This blog, I mean-- I just forgot. Not entirely, but it lost priority. There was a move, followed by time up in Rochester with family over Xmas, followed by a 2-week jaunt in Northern Europe. Amsterdam: the Netherlands, and Berlin and Munster: Germany. A brilliant trip! Nothing negative to report, despite it being a winter trip, and Ben & I both having started the trip out with head colds!

Michele, the hard work below was as per your request; thank you! I've been meaning to upload these for months, and your email set a fire under my ass. Ha! LINKS TO PHOTOS:

See some photos from the trip!

See some photos of the new apartment!

afternoons of dark

It's December already, and one-third gone to boot! The fishes and I have moved house again since last I made an entry here-- with more space for all! They've gained about 7 gallons in their flash new tank, and I have gained what will be a dedicated analogue-style art room, free of all things digital! Once the renovations are complete and the New Year has begun, the creation of new artworks shall commence.

VOTE TODAY!!!

in November

Here I am again; it's November, and time to find a new place to live! And, on a deadline of course, so I've not had a chance to go see any apartments this week so far.

In more disturbing news, however: A few months ago, I received one of these printed mailers informing me of my polling location for voting day. Then, about a month later, I received anothoer one- this one had an entirely different locations cited. Both of these mailers had my Name and accurate addresss on them, but with polling places at opposite ends of the neighborhood. To clarify, I went online to nyc.gov to look up the accurate location, which corresponded to NEITHER of the mailers I received (and was the closest one to where I live). Call me a consiracy theorist, but I just don't believe this was a clerical error. There are many tactics which could be useful to limit the number of voters on the upcoming extremely important November 7th. I'd say that one could be very effective if perpetrated on a large scale. Oof.

autumn.

Sad to rport, but not only did my pumpkin vine yield no female flowers (and there for no fruit-- nothing to pollinate), but during the heavy rains of late, it seems to have acquired some sort of leaf-mold. That's what it looks like anyway. It's dying. It put up a good fight, but something like a vine which bears large orange heads for carving simply cannot sustain life in a 15" square container on a balcony five stories up in Brooklyn.

Once they start having them at the delis, I figure I'll get a couple of those small evergreen bushes that are meant to pass as xmas trees for the yard-less and small-of-apartment-- the kind that are still alive, in dirt. I'll put them in a couple of large planters and put string lights. For the winow boxes: plastic flowers, perhaps. Or branches fallen from trees, with little glittering things hanging off.

The basil did well, but as I haven't a food processor, I'll not be making any pesto!
Ha!

"uniter"

In the introduction to his book "How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime", Sidney Blumenthal recalls one of Bush's absurd recurring statements made during election campaigning: "I'm a uniter, not a divider". Sadly, that promise has been kept-- by way of his ability to UNITE the rest of the world in its feelings of ill-will toward the United States.

Ugh.

One Solution...

This article by Garrison Keillor on Salon.com is brilliant. I know he's one of those people you tend to love or hate, but this article is brilliant either way. (Article "America Eats Its Young")

Autumn has been making a seak preview recently in these boroughs of brownstones. Oh, and i may have lied about the calendar. I'm pretty certain there will still be one, but it may instead by a series fo only 4 (but larger and more interesting...?), containing 3 small month-Grids at bottom.

[edit:] Or... Something, at any rate.

We'll see.

teeth

Well, it appears that Snapfish requires a login to view photo albums. Apologies.
This afternoon I shall return to a dentist for the second time in a month to try to get m'damn choppers clean and some cavities filled. Not looking forward to it.

This summer has been been speeding past; it's been interesting and, on the whole, a good one. Done a bit of traveling, had some beach time; had a good amount of freelance work; but haven't been doing as much drawing or artwork in general. As seems to be the way of life in general, it's been a season after the style of the sparkling sidewalk: mostly made up of concrete, but with glittering moments mixed in at varying intervals, and of course the occasional wad of gum. I'm happy to say it's been much more glitter than gum, so that's a thing to be thankful for.

I become aware more and more of my need for travel. I am an addict. Non-linear though the postmodern world (and the postmodern mind) may be, I find a great solace and excitement in the linear-ness of travel-- the way it makes each day feel purposeful in some unexpected way, and full of forward momentum. Discovery. The awareness of how little "stuff' one really needs, at least on a day-to-day basis. I'd like to find a way (or ways) to incorporate much more travel time into my life.

photos

Here is a link to several photo albums, including some selects from the drive across country, and my time in Rochester, including a day at Niagara Falls...

highways

Thursay August third I flew out to New Mexico to meet up with Beth in anticipation of driving across the country to Rochester, New York, where both our families reside. Below is where I found Beth and Chris, at their desert compound south of Santa Fe.


The barn that is Beth & Chris's cozy house in New Mexico


Beth and Chris with Pork Chop and Olive Loaf

We Drove a southernly route, cutting across the Texas panhandle, a very flat land and less picturesque than the New Mexican desert. We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch for photo ops.


Beth and I at the Cadillac Ranch in Texas


Our delightful tiny traveling mascot, Lupita

The trip across the country was great fun, as was my week in Rochester which inclided a day trip to Niagara Falls (Canandian side). I'll upload many more photos at some point in the next week, so check back here later for the link.


The Northernernmost point of my trip: Nagara

two days : 100

It's air conditioner season, full stop.

heat

A little drawing from my sketchbook.

Today is day two of our little "heat wave" here in NYC. Yesterday the heat index was over a hundred. Luckily for me, I was kidnapped in the late afternoon by friends, and whisked off to Jacob Riis park, where there is a lovely beach.
Upon returning home, my little fifth floor apartment was resembling toaster oven. I'm very happy to finally count myself among the air-conditioned, if only in one room. Genius invention!

The pumpkin vines, on the other hand, are not so lucky. They wither in this heat.

A Shetland in Brooklyn

Independence Day, a hot and sunny wander to the other end of Prospect Park; finally seeing the Kensington Satbles, and surprised. I admit, I did expect there to be some green space (at least some dirt!), only to find a shockingly urban home for these horses, with the usual sidewalks and streets surrounding. Not surprising that they are utterly unperturbed by traffic and other city things the likes of which would terrify the horses with whom I grew up. The stable was a run-of-the-mill city building, converted for this unexpected use- the lack of windows and places for air to get in was disheartening. Having grown up on a farm where the animals had so much space, it is hard for me to see the way that some city animals live, but I suppose a lot of people think the same about the ways we city people live.