The butterfly alights upon
A boulder formed when Earth was new
I chase my tail around the lawn
And fall face first into the dew
My thoughts aswirl, my mind astray
I realize, my eyes see clear
My Mum is having a birthday
Let's eat some cake! Let's give a cheer!
A sweeping bit of pith and rot
This final couplet: It is not.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Monday, July 30, 2012
New York: Days 7, 8, and 9
Saturday.
We reserved our rainy Saturday to check out galleries in Chelsea, of which there are about 300. I am earnestly hoping that my art-loving pals for the day are not interested in visiting all of them. David knows the galleries well, so we decided to let him lead. This was an excellent move. From sublime to weird to downright silly, Chelsea has pretty well everything. And considering the crap weather, it was a perfect way to spend a Saturday in New York.A gal with large unidentified pink plushie stayed in step with us for a while, carrying her oversized friend from gallery to gallery. She let me take her photo. Here she is.
The evening portion of our Saturday started at a place called Groove. What was at first an excuse to just sit down a bit and enjoy the suspiciously cheap drink specials and peculiar atmosphere turned into a totally hilarious evening of good old touristy fun. The band did energetic and rude funk/r&b covers of a whole bunch of everything, including Pink Floyd. Plenty of extended solos, swearing and heckling the audience. If this place existed in Montreal I'd probably avoid it on principle (tourist-ridden, mandatory minimum purchases, overcrowded, etc. etc.), but we had a great time and I'm no longer too cool to admit these kind of things.
Sunday. Sunday was a stay-away-from-Manhattan day.
 |
| Brooklyn Flea |
Monday. Last day. It's been a blast, but we're ready to go home. Since our flight isn't until evening, I propose that we head to the beach before departing. You would think that at my age I would already know this: sitting under the blazing sun without any shade for several hours without having applied lots of sunscreen all over is asking for trouble. Yep. Burn baby burn. But it was lovely to swim in the ocean, which I hadn't done for quite a while.
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| Rockaway Beach |
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday and Friday
Day Five. Thursday, July 26
Finally bicycle day! I could tell that Patrice is anxious to get back in the saddle after all the walking.
Of course we got off to a late start again. I didn't mind. We went for brunch at Egg. Seeing a pattern? I have this thing about going to the same places over and over. It was yummy. Vanessa Bayer from Saturday Night Live was there. I stared a bit.
We rented a couple of single speeds and head off towards Prospect Park, which was lovely. We didn't spend much time there but it was nice and calm. Heading back we ended up in a high traffic zone with drivers that made me anxious. (Of course it really doesn't take much to get me anxious when I ride in traffic, no matter where I am.) I quickly turned into Eva the NotMuchFun Stress Monster. We had to stop for a snack or something. Right away. So we stopped at this place that looked promising and turned out to be a huge overpriced disappointment. Oops. As we rode away, Pat spotted one of the places that had been recommended to us, just one block away. Rrrrrrrr.
So yeah, probably you know that Brooklyn is across the river from Manhattan. There are a lot of bridges. For years and years people have been telling me I should really walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, such a nice view bla bla bla. So Mr. Keener suggested that we ride across one bridge, cross lower Manhattan and go back over the other bridge. I was not so sure about this. And as the sky darkened I lost whatever little bit of nerve I had. Go on, I said, don't get hit by lightning. I'll see you at the apartment. So we were off in two different directions, to reconvene shortly. And then boom, the storm hit. When I got back to the apartment I was completely sodden.
We changed into dry clothing and leapt into action. The very most amazing David had gotten us tickets to hear Pablo Ziegler (at Birdland, no less). Whoa. I'm sorry, I'm no music writer. It was fabulous. Whoa.
Day Six. Friday, July 27
More biking! We biked to Greenpoint, which I really liked. The more I see of Brooklyn, the more I like it. Especially the parts near the water. We ended up close to a bridge, which of course Patrice wants to ride over. The problem about bridges, you see, is that they usually have pretty long inclines. We were riding single-speed bikes, and it was a bazillion degrees out there. I was not interested in inclines. Call me weak. Call me chicken. I don't care.
Along the river in Greenpoint are a number of interesting spots, including a neato furniture warehouse filled with lovely items we were relieved to not be able to drag home.
Now had come the moment I had been planning for months! Fuerza Bruta! I didn't mind seeing it twice. I would see it again and again. It's such a visually striking show, with non-stop surprises. You shouldn't find out too much before going. Just go. Oh yeah, and the music is amazing.
Finally bicycle day! I could tell that Patrice is anxious to get back in the saddle after all the walking.
Of course we got off to a late start again. I didn't mind. We went for brunch at Egg. Seeing a pattern? I have this thing about going to the same places over and over. It was yummy. Vanessa Bayer from Saturday Night Live was there. I stared a bit.
We rented a couple of single speeds and head off towards Prospect Park, which was lovely. We didn't spend much time there but it was nice and calm. Heading back we ended up in a high traffic zone with drivers that made me anxious. (Of course it really doesn't take much to get me anxious when I ride in traffic, no matter where I am.) I quickly turned into Eva the NotMuchFun Stress Monster. We had to stop for a snack or something. Right away. So we stopped at this place that looked promising and turned out to be a huge overpriced disappointment. Oops. As we rode away, Pat spotted one of the places that had been recommended to us, just one block away. Rrrrrrrr.
 |
| Duck family at Prospect Park |
So yeah, probably you know that Brooklyn is across the river from Manhattan. There are a lot of bridges. For years and years people have been telling me I should really walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, such a nice view bla bla bla. So Mr. Keener suggested that we ride across one bridge, cross lower Manhattan and go back over the other bridge. I was not so sure about this. And as the sky darkened I lost whatever little bit of nerve I had. Go on, I said, don't get hit by lightning. I'll see you at the apartment. So we were off in two different directions, to reconvene shortly. And then boom, the storm hit. When I got back to the apartment I was completely sodden.
We changed into dry clothing and leapt into action. The very most amazing David had gotten us tickets to hear Pablo Ziegler (at Birdland, no less). Whoa. I'm sorry, I'm no music writer. It was fabulous. Whoa.
Day Six. Friday, July 27
More biking! We biked to Greenpoint, which I really liked. The more I see of Brooklyn, the more I like it. Especially the parts near the water. We ended up close to a bridge, which of course Patrice wants to ride over. The problem about bridges, you see, is that they usually have pretty long inclines. We were riding single-speed bikes, and it was a bazillion degrees out there. I was not interested in inclines. Call me weak. Call me chicken. I don't care.
Along the river in Greenpoint are a number of interesting spots, including a neato furniture warehouse filled with lovely items we were relieved to not be able to drag home.
Now had come the moment I had been planning for months! Fuerza Bruta! I didn't mind seeing it twice. I would see it again and again. It's such a visually striking show, with non-stop surprises. You shouldn't find out too much before going. Just go. Oh yeah, and the music is amazing.
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