Unraveling

NY, NY

What a blast! Really. And seeing my old pals was sublime.

Thanks to Jim Moore for posting his photos on Facebook That's John on the left, and Fred at the center (Michael, who I don't know at the right). I had a pocket full of bumper stickers, which I handed out:

Talk went late into the night.  The only photograph of me that I've seen shows me in the background and turned away from the camera, listening intently.

That was Saturday night.

Sunday, brother Tim and I went to Governors Island.

The ferry was free, it was a beautiful day, and there was lots of free entertainment and art.  After narrowly avoiding one "art piece" posing as an archaeological dig (which they were charging $5 to enter!!), we wandered from exhibit to exhibit with no real agenda.  It's nice to have the time to do just that. Sunday evening we went to see a clown show with my old pals. Unfortunately, it was a mess and we didn't like it very much.

By Monday morning I was exhausted and lingered in bed. We'd planned to visit The High Line, but  postponed that to Tuesday, as we had a date to meet our cousin Mary at 2 p.m. By the time Timothy and I got to the Upper East Side, it was 12:30, and we headed toward the Metropolitan Museum for a little cultcha. Good thing we stumbled upon the Neue Galerie because the Met is closed Monday.   Neue Galerie is a little jewel, just around the corner from the Met. We saw the Kokoschka exhibit, but were really wowed by the Shiele and Klimt. After meeting Mary, we three strolled through the Conservatory Garden.

It's another jewel I'd never seen. Our visit with Mary was brief, but packed with mutual familial downloading. It surely is a pleasure to get to know her better.

We bid Mary farewell so she could catch a train. Then we walked from 105th Street to Times Square to meet Tim's friend Carol. You'll notice there's a theme to this NY, NY trip. Walking, strolling, wandering. There was a lot of that. There usually is.

Tim and Carol had theater tickets. I had a date for sushi on the Upper West Side with one of the Girlie's friends. My feet were tired. I wasn't about to walk to 107th and Amsterdam. Thank goodness for the subway. I LOVE the subway.

Tuesday morning, we were determined to make it to The High Line. What a unique view of the city! And another opportunity to stroll. Totally recommended. I know I'll go back.  Then we hoofed it over to Whole Foods to pick up lunch, ate our sandwiches at Union Square, and headed up to the Met to see the Milkmaid exhibition. I have a very nice print of The Milkmaid hanging in my dining room. I love Vermeer. Love, love, love. And I got to see six on Tuesday, along with a very well put together exhibition. Wandering through the galleries of the Met is like visiting old friends. So many great paintings and photos!

So that's it. Exactly three days in New York. Three days is more than enough. I know I've been telling you about all the cool things I had the opportunity to do, but the real reason I go to New York is to see people.  There were plenty of hugs and great conversations. I got to catch up with people I haven't seen for decades and I got to spend time with family and friends that I see more often. So, I'll take any opportunity and use any excuse I can afford to visit New York, no matter how brief. The people are priceless, all the other stuff is a bonus.

Testing

Holy crap! There's an iPhone app for TypePad so I can update the blog from the phone? Will wonders never cease? Now, let's see if I can add a photo.

That's Mom & Dad's new dog.

Off Again

The Boyo has left the house. I'm sure he's made it all the way to Heidelberg by now. He took down the flag and packed it up, shipped out foodstuffs only available in America, kissed us goodbye, and flew out yesterday afternoon.

The house is eerily quiet.

I'm happy to report I finished these on the plane to NYC.

I wove in the ends yesterday morning and the socks were dutifully packed in his luggage. You'll recognize the color motif. The yarn is Sock Candy from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. They're knit from Amy Singer's "recipe" (from her Socks-Without-Wool Sock Summit class), which includes Judy's Magic Cast-on and Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bindoff. I am moving a little slow on knitting these days, as I'm undergoing some rather painful acupuncture treatment for an inflamed left thumb. I'm supposed to use the thumb, to strengthen the ligaments, so I'll keep plugging along even though I'm going at a snail's pace. There's also work sturm und drang getting in the way of both knitting and blogging, but that's a subject of a future post (in about a month).

Finally, the Girlie has opened an Etsy shop for Japanese craft materials (and hankies!). I encourage you to pay it a visit and to contact her if there's something in particular you're looking for.

I'll post more about my NY trip this weekend. Promise.

One more thing...

I forgot to tell you. Sile asked if this trip was knitting related. I almost replied, "Not at all." Good thing I didn't. Turns out Fred lives in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and is friends with...

wait for it...

Cat Bordhi.

How many degrees of separation is that?

Clown Reunion

Holy smokes, guys! I am having SO MUCH FUN this weekend!

Yesterday morning, I hopped on a plane in Oakland at 8 a.m. By 5:15 p.m. New York time, I was in a cab on my way to my friend John Towsen's Manhattan apartment for a reunion with clown colleagues from thirty-six years ago.  Whoah! Talk about a hop in the wayback machine!

This was a stealth mission, complete with a code name ("Dolores") and lots of behind-the-scenes emailing. The reason for all the sneaking around was to surprise John's former clown partner and my former sweetheart, Fred Yockers, who flew in for the reunion from Washington State.

Well, the surprise worked and we had a very fond reunion. The party lasted eight (!) hours. At its height, there must have been 65 clowns - amazingly cool people - in attendance, many of whom I'd never met. But four of us were from my earliest clown days and, people, it was great to see you!

My brother Timothy, with whom I am staying here, came to pick me up around 11 p.m. but we ended up staying until 2 a.m. because it was such a lively, engaging crowd. First to arrive and last to leave, I talked myself hoarse, and tonight I am SO tired. It was wonderful to connect up with old friends who are, remarkably, just as I remember them.  I didn't take any photos (left the camera battery plugged in the charger at home) but, oh boy, do I have some nice new memories.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!

It's very quiet here today.

 

The men in this family have gone camping, on a trip where women are not allowed. Nobody here but me and the girls...

 

...and it's raining. Perfect knitting weather!