today walking through the park. a guy was playing bass and singing “stand by me”. otherwise unaccompanied. beautiful strong clear sound. lots of people stopped to listen. it was haunting. nostalgic. I gave him a buck and told him it was really nice. he thanked me for listening. I was melancholy for hours after.
My friend Carolyn had her short video “The Centered Polenta” featured in a Matthew Barney ‘parody’ show in Brooklyn last week. That’s her piece of the exhibit, and in the second photo that’s Carolyn on the right. (I’m not responsible for the photos folks.)
Quite possibly the most beautiful time of year. At least in the Tidal Basin of Washington DC. I was lucky enough to be there at peak time for the cherry blossoms. This and other pink and white photos available on my Flickr site.
Barry and Colette have matching mirror cats. One day I’m going to get them in the same photo, yin-yang style.
The fun of living in NYC is that it doesn’t take a lot to keep you entertained. Just walking around and staring at the sights (sites) can be interesting. You turn a corner, an edge of concrete or steel drops away, and there it is: a View. Day or nite, you never know what to expect.
Christmas time is here, and since I don’t have any Christmas decorations I’ll make my own!
For anyone who’s wondering, there’s a Flickr site for how to do this: brilliantdays.com/archives/2005/10/how_to_create_a.php
and a group to put them in when you’re done. Click on the photo and check out the comments for details.
I’ve been in the process of moving for the past five months. Does it ever end? I’m beginning to think maybe not. But at least once all my sea freight shows up I’ll be able to finish rearranging my living space.
I’m going to go back now and fill in some of the gaps since July.
Filmmaker Mustapha Akkad died in the Amman bombings of this past week. His credits included The Lion and the Desert, and The Message, and he produced the Halloween horror film series. His daughter also died in the same tragedy. They were attending a wedding party. (photo lifted from the islamonline.net website)
Having just left Amman, I have a sense of what a terrible tragedy these bombings were. Jordanians think of themselves as a peaceful people, and of their country as a safe place to be. Incidents like this are a horrendous shock, even beyond the grief and destruction and loss of life. Thoughts and prayers to everyone in Amman.
Central Park in the rain. Rain was what we endured most of October. The wettest on record, so they say. Still, the park is beautiful in any weather.
I was up at the cottage in the Smoky Mountains, and was lucky enough to receive all sorts of visitors to the bird feeder. A pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks showed up one day and stayed around for quite some time. This is the female of the pair.
A lazy Saturday afternoon, the first I’ve had in a long time, and it feels great. Moka thought so too, so she was a bit annoyed when I asked her to open her eyes for this photo.
Saddened, distressed by the news from London. Be safe, everyone. We’re thinking of you.
Never meant to be away so long, but things just kept happening.
Time for a quick update?
In March my friends from Battery Dance came to town and made us happy with their performances. 
In April I went to the Smoky Mountains where we had snow in April (icicles with blossoms)
and where we hung around on the porch of the new cottage (after furnishing it and cleaning it up a bit).
In May after returning I worked very very hard but also took lots of flower photos, since they were blooming everywhere.
In June two good friends came to visit, Lydia and Joan, so I spent two weekends touring with each of them. We went to Petra
and to Jerash, and we made friends with a few camels.
Now it’s July and I still have lots of catching up to do. So more tomorrow.
Okay, I’m slow, but now I know. The Jim Henson Company, of Muppet fame, is currently making a movie called “Mirrormask” , with story by Neil Gaiman and art (and direction!) by Dave McKean.
I first discovered Dave McKean’s amazing artwork while browsing through “Sandman” issues in a comics store with H in London or Paris, I think. We were both just blown away. Had never heard of either him or Neil Gaiman before that, but not too long after I was browsing my own bookshelf and realized I’d bought a Gaiman book without ever putting it all together. Love his writing, love Dave’s artwork, hope the movie lives up to the billing that my hopes are giving it right now.
And speaking of shadows…..
This is the coolest site. The World Sunlight Map shows you just who’s in the light and who’s in the dark at any time, any where.
I really get a kick out of the lights that show on the night side, too.
IF we had groundhogs here….
and IF they wake up early, or really late….
He or she would definitely not have seen a shadow.
(cartoons from BabyGrl9122 on Flickr.)
Still working on the new look.
Slow, but we’re getting there.
Now that the blog is up and working, I have to change it all. It looks to me like new template creation is more difficult here than with some sites, but I found some good references and let’s see how long it takes to do something. If I ever have time again. ‘Cause tomorrow it’s back to work.
(sigh).
Happy 2005 to all.
Please remember those who lost their lives, friends, family members in Asia this past week.
May the New Year bring peace, prosperity and joy to all.