After the storm

Spent Saturday working indoors pretty much however i did venture out in the evening to meet up with my scrapbooking buddies.
This lovely snowman was on 19th Street.

The water tanks covered in snow

The new venue for us is a dance studio- just trying to set up a process for using the place is interesting.

Neighbours in a hotel room used their window sill as a freezer- that's ice cream on the window ledge.

West 48th Street at 8:30am

Just love the juxtaposition of the fiery screen and the snow topped statue of George M Cohan.

Trying to control the cubicle in my pocket by...LIVING!

Control the Cubicle in Your Pocket

Managing time is a pervasive, widespread struggle. Many of us walk around with a cubicle in our pocket, and we always have the feeling that we should be working, or could be working—or we actually are working! At home, this constant pull toward work can distract us from the people to whom we want to give our time and attention.


The real problem isn’t the switch on our computers, but the switch in our minds.


You have to make your own rules to control the cubicle in your pocket, because your work, family situation, and technology challenge is different from everyone else’s. But to get you started consider these suggestions:


Create time periods each day when you don’t check email or connect to the internet.


In particular, don’t check email at bedtime.


If possible, do your most demanding mental work in the morning, before the day’s distractions kick in.


Give yourself a “quitting time” each day, after which you do no more work .That way, you give yourself a sense of true leisure.


Resolve to “Control the cubicle in your pocket.” Remember, technology is a good servant, but a bad master.

Doing things I love

 We met in the lobby of the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons on 23rd Street to ....take a 40-minute free tour of the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons, an ancient fraternal/spiritual organization. An online reviewer described the lodge, located on W. 23rd St., as "one of the most spectacular buildings I have ever seen!" After the tour we'll have lunch, possibly walk the Highline (weather and time permitting), and visit some of the most interesting art galleries in Chelsea.

 Unfortunately for me in terms of the rest of the walk the tour took so long that it wasn't feasible for me to go onto the galleries or the Highline.

Instead I left the group on 23rd Street and headed home and then off to Paris cinema on 58th Street to see Quartet. What a treat of a movie. We settled into the theatre trying to warm up after waiting out in the chilling wind on 58th street. The movie soon warmed us and made us laugh and cry.

The "G" stand for geometry- nothing can be built without geometry

It was snowing when we came out of the theatre and so scuttled across to the Plaza Hotel in an effort to find warmth and dinner.
It was not to be after a brief review of the food hall under the hotel we nabed two cabs (five don't fit in one cab) and we headed to Ktchn a restaurant on 42nd Street. Yet another treat.

 Fabulous food, service, company and a lovely meal.

But wait there was more. We went on to sing at Marie's Crisis

So four things i love in one day...

1. Getting to know New York City

2. Movies

3. Dinner with friends

4. Singing 

A day with Seth Apter...

the highly textured background

 A day spent at Little Bird Creations studio, the class was Folded Foto Folio. The description for the day...

In this workshop, you will learn a variety of techniques from the worlds of mixed media, painting, book making, photography, and collage. We will start with creating highly layered and textured backgrounds using acrylics, gesso and paper. These in turn will become the pages of a one-of-a-kind accordion book, to which you will add your own handmade covers. Next comes your own photography, to be added as the focal image of each page. And finally, you will create your own personal touches throughout the book using your choice of collage and mixed media materials. Everybody will have the opportunity to make several books and in the end, you will leave with both a unique photo journal and a host of techniques that you can apply over and over to any number of future projects

The use of acrylics

The use of gesso

Further use of acrylics

One folded foto folio

The second folded foto folio peeking at the edge of the photo

Enjoying the journey

At Christmas they had an interactive display

Walking to the Upper East side along Broadway

One could almost feel Parisienne

This live cat is in the window of a dog grooming store. It is of course a very sunny spot.

 The class I was going to was ...
Work on a large canvas 16"x20" and create a mixed media painting, quilt style, representing what is in your heart and dreams.  How can you represent yourself and your family through an exploratory painting ….including small snippets of your life? We will work on a loose grid to create our painting.
We will explore many mixed media techniques, including painting on unprimed canvas, vintage fabric and crinoline.
Our home is where our art is….

This one is mine

I have never painted or worked on canvas before so in the "Live" year i am embracing all things as best i can and this is my production.... not sure where it's going to go in the new apartment:)

It is a statement about me.

Chi's work. she is amazing.

Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass

The architecture!

We  headed off on a meetup walk described as....

The flea market

We'll start by eating lunch at Brooklyn Flea, a huge indoor market in a beautiful, historic building in downtown. The market offers the same top food vendors, serving many interesting cuisines, that we sampled last summer at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg. After lunch we'll walk to DUMBO, where we'll visit the up-and-coming art galleries and walk through Brooklyn Bridge Park, the city's newest, featuring spectacular views of lower Manhattan, lovely promenades and paths along the water, and Jane's Carousel, a full-size, meticulously restored 1922 merry-go-round with exquisitely carved and painted horses, housed in a shimmering glass pavillion.

Here are some of the shots of our tour.

One Hanson Place is the place for the Flea Market

 We caught the subway to Court Street... my local knowledge of the R train came in handy as Ron (the organizer) was telling the 40 of us to get the N or R to Court Street. The N doesn't go to Court St so some people ahead of him may have jumped on an N but luckily he was able to let them all know before we got to the platform. we did all start to pile out at Jay St as he said it was two stops...I don't think anyone got stuck off the train at the wrong stop.



We walked along Montague Street and down to the waterfront and the views of Manhattan- obviously many had not been there as they were quite gobsmacked by the views!
This is the place I take people on "my tours".

 It was a beautiful day.










Jane's Carousel is a completely restored historic Carousel made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC #61) in 1922. It is a classic 3-row machine with 48 exquisitely carved horses, and 2 superb chariots. The wood carvings, often attributed to John Zalar and Frank Carretta, are among the finest of their kind. In addition, the scenery panels, rounding boards, crests, center pole and platform are all original to the Carousel. It was the first Carousel to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jane's Carousel is now open in Brooklyn Bridge Park, in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, where it is magically set on the East River, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The Carousel is housed in a spectacular Pavilion designed by Pritzker Prize winning French architect Jean Nouvel. The Carousel and the Nouvel commissioned Pavilion are a gift from the Walentas family to the people of the City of New York.

After the ride on the carousel (others not me) we walked through the streets of DUMBO.

The next few days they are going to be filming "Elementary" there. I really like that show!

 All the walking around always requires "loo stops" and some with local knowledge suggested Gleason's Gym. My research tells us...
Gleason's is a boxing gym located on the Brooklyn waterfront. Since 1937, when the gym was founded in the Bronx, boxers with their eyes on Olympic glory or a shot at the title have been training at Gleason's. Fighters who trained at the gym include Jake LaMotta, Roberto Durán, Benny "Kid" Paret, Gerry Cooney, and Mike Tyson. Before his first title fight against Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, also trained at Gleason's. (Only three of those names are familiar to me!)
The gym was founded by Peter Gagliardi, a former welterweight, who changed his name to Bobby Gleason. (Why?!)
It moved to Manhattan and then to Brooklyn. Gleason's is now owned by Bruce Silverglade.
Gleason's is reminiscent of the time when New York was the center of the boxing universe, when there were dozens of serious gyms in the city and when big fights were often held in Madison Square Garden. Now Gleason's is among the last of a breed. It manages to stay open by permitting average joes—men and women—to train side by side with professional boxers, and stages "White Collar Boxing" events that cater to this clientele.

What we saw when we were there was....
There is also a wrestling school called the World of Unpredictable Wrestling run by WWE Hall of Fame member Johnny Rodz.There is a sign on the wall at Gleason's, posting an invitation from the poet Virgil: "Now whoever has courage, and a strong and collected spirit in his breast, let him come forth, lace up his gloves, and put up his hands."

The first and only wrestling event I am going to methinks! Gosh it was noisy and reminiscent of yard duty! All those little boys who don't know how to get along or testing their acting skills and strength. Even the guys watching starting to act out the wrestling moves... they never grow up!

Out in the fresh air and  walking along the streets glimpses of Manhattan skyline across industrial Brooklyn.

The cobbled streets had us wibble wobbling along.

The beautiful Chrysler Building soaring above the power station.

The rail lines, used to bring products to the factories, are still embedded in the roads. 

One of the many art exhibits that were closed.
A disappointing number of galleries no longer exist but some really interesting looking shops... must go back!