downtown signs

6

playing tourist

i think that one of my favorite things about living close to nyc, is that you inevitably get to play tourist a few times a year when friends come to visit.

today was one of those days. we had a small window of time to get to the city and back home so my guest could journey home, but the 5 hours that we spent were packed full of touristing.

grand central
ground zero
century 21 (greatest discount department store ever)
battery park to take pictures of the statue of liberty and buy knock off purses
the bull in wall street area (fighting off the horde of tourists to have you chance at a group picture)
detour because of broken subway
times square
lunch at a diner
times square for shopping (sephora! and a gospel concert that had closed down part of the street)
and then finally back on the train.

much seeing, much shopping, much picture taking and having fun. all in all, a pretty eventful sunday.

circleville, here i come

exciting news on the job front....

for those of you who are new to the blog, i am a production designer.

I can happily announce that i will be designing a short film/commercial that is slated to play in movie houses as part of those lovely preshows/ previews which usually allow you time to finish your popcorn before the movie starts or be 15 minutes late.

the project will take me to the middle of ohio for about a week. i am making a road trip (all 10 hours of it) of it and will be driving across new york, pennsylvania and ohio to get there. lots of farm country. lots of pictures. i can't wait!

the crew is small, that thankfully consists of the majority of the people that i worked with on the last film, including the director of photography that i love working with.

the whole thing happens in about two weeks and with any luck and an internet connection in my hotel room, i will be able to bring you tales of the great midwest adventure. and then maybe you might all get to actually see something that i have done on a big screen near you.

stars and parks and bats, oh my!

the sky here was beautiful tonight. the clearest i have seen in a long time. almost as clear as the arizona night skies, which are the most star filled i have seen to date.

as i gazed up to see what i could see....i saw it...what i hoped was a bird, but birds don't fly at night. damn, its a bat.

then i saw another one, and another, and another....i watched in hopes that it was just the same bat flying back and forth, but no...it was indeed mulitple bats. and god help me, all i could think of was a slightly tramatic, slightly funny moment in childhood.

we used to live in california and my mom was big on making sure that all us kids got to go to all the great amusement parks (darn lucky kids- if you ask me). this particular evening we were at knox berry farm. after the end of very long, busy, fun filled day- the family was heading to the exit gates when out of nowhere my mom let out a scream that could have shook the san andreas fault line loose.

she starts flailing around with her hands on her head and there we saw the menace that was the cause of her frantic motion. a bat had swooped down from the sky, probably aiming to catch whatever california bug that happened to be buzzing over my mom's head. but,the bat missed the bug and got my mom.

her seizure like antics brought laughs and knee slaps from us all, inlcuding her, after she was over the intial shock. as they say on those horrible sports clips gone wrong- and no one was hurt. the bat flew away, my mom ran away, there was no earthquake from her sizemic scream and i was left with this memory that will be forever relived when i see a bat cross the night sky.

a pick up technique that i'd never seen before

so there are theories out there on how to meet people when out in public-however i think that the nyc equestrian police have got the market cornered on the next big babe magnet.

today, i was sitting in a coffee shop, minding my own business, sitting at a bar that faced the street, and ironically reading a script about a horse farm...when i see a horse on the sidewalk in front of me. now i know that the coffee craze had permeated the country but i did not know that the barn crowd was in on the trend too!

no, actually, it was a mounted nyc police man who was thristy and had hitched is horse to a no standing sign (another ironic moment?). and what happened next is the basis for my theory on meeting people in public.

that horse hitched to a post was as effective at attracting people as flypaper is to attracting flies. they literally swarmed to this animal. the cordial police officer was kind enough to talk to most everyone that stopped, including a few kids, a few men and a lot of pretty women. i bet that he could have gotten any of their phone numbers if he had only asked.

it got to the point where the people in the coffee shop next to me were chuckling at the scene and also commenting on all the ladies that were there and they would be sure to bring a horse with them the next time they went out.

so, you can add to the list of babies, dogs and now horses that are guaranteed to attract some attention, help you start a conversation, or maybe even get a phone number or two. however, it didn't seem to work as well with the guys, so i guess i will hold off on buying a thoroughbred to help remedy my dating woos.

long lost quote #3

and my final installment of random quotes for the evening.

after losing my dad ken (step father), my mom and sisters adopted the idea and the explanation that my niece and nephew could always see their grandfather and know that he was watching over them when they looked to the moon. this seemed to be something that settled the kids need to have something to focus their thoughts on and it helped all of us continue to believe that someone we had lost too early in life could still be with us in one way or another.

the final piece of paper that i came across today was from my mom. she sent me a card after my dad mel passed away (2 years ago next week).

"those we have loved and cherished,
those who have changed our lives in some small or profound way
are closer than we know,
because it is their light that shines on our world.
it is the brilliance of their souls that makes our night sky glow."

my mom wrote in "the moon"

having lost 2 fathers in a matter of years, i find it comforting to keep this thought in mind. and as it brought tears to my eyes to read this card again today, it also made me think that the moon is almost always there to light the way down a dark evening path.

long lost quote #2

this quote was sent to me on a birthday several years ago by a dear friend who might need to be reminded of it himself at this point in his life.

the quote was something that i really needed to hear at the time and i remember printing it out and taping it to my bathroom mirror for years. the paper is a little watermarked from the sweat that would form on the mirror when i showered and the tape is still folded over to the back.

"at times like this in my life i'm reminded of what the desert for once said. (that would be erwin rommel, who was a tank general during the second world war). he said:

that in life, when confronted with two choices, choose the BOLDEST. it is quite easy to resist the temptation for glory. we never fall so low as when we aspire so high. but occasionally we win. we summit. we climax. we do achieve what we have set out to achieve.

life is painful. it is rejection. however, it is also triumph. and the victories belong always to the bold."

included at the end was my friend's own deep thought - " when it burns so intensely inside, that's when we should act. i believe, personally, that we should allow like to break us, because it always will, but we should never break or hinder ourselves."

long lost quote #1

today, as i started going through various junk drawers and boxes of paperwork, trying to sort out the pile of paper that clutter my life and get rid of the ones that i don't need in my life, i came across a few pieces of inspiring words that have come into my life at various times and seem to have a new found meaning to me as i start on a new adventure.

a photocopies letter that was given to each of the students that i graduated grad school. one of our professors, an amazingly brilliant man that truly helped form the way that i think about art wrote this to each of us and sandwiched it in the front pages of a william carlos williams poetry book:

"it is difficult to
get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there."

written by william carlos williams, at the end of his life and partially paralyzed by a stroke.
that excerpt was followed by john's own advice that is should settle into the minds of all artists and actually i think all people:

"in your work, be true to your vision, your feelings, your beliefs and bring that "news" back to us all"

a simple, yet charged statement that can't help but serve as inspiration. thanks to a man that might never know the profound impact that he has had on some many minds. he changed my life in ways that i did not discover until years later.

2 lane highway at sunset

as i drove home from Ithaca today, i drove down my new favorite road, ny route 52. it is a winding, hilly road that spans a few counties in upstate new york including ulster and sullivan.

it crosses over the mountains, runs near several short streams, many small towns, the Susquehanna river, railroad tracks and a multitude of little mountain resorts, log cabins and various country houses that are an eclectic collection of americana architecture.

today, as i drove up and over the mountains and into liberty, ny area- i was witness to what i can only guess is a summer ritual in a most bizarre setting.

route 52 cuts through the town and toward the outskirts there is a glint on the hillside. a silhouette of a water tower, something that looks like a massive complex of buildings....a prison. as i passed, the image became complete with red brick, barbed wire fences and guard towers. a inmate tended farm that includes an abundance of corn stalks, cows and a variety of other garden vegetables.

and then in a whiplash of cultures, there in the local park dedicated to a local judge, i caught a glimpse of a sea of girls dressed in light green shirts and black skirts. the swarm all had on the same clothes, dark hair, dark stockings and dark shoes and filed out of the 5 yellow school busses from local all girls' hassaidic camp to meet their patiently waiting parents. everyone seemed happy to see each and i am sure there was chatter of the week that had passed, the fun that they had, and the new friends that they met.

a clash of two worlds separated by a little 2 lane highway in the middle of sunset on an average summer monday.

rubber bumper

do you ever really listen to yourself talk?

today i was having a quite harmless conversation with my friend that i am visiting and we started talking about relationships. and the more i talked about my lack there of, the more i realized that i have talked myself out of looking for relationships.

there are several reasons why, i guess, but i guess the real question is not why have i talked myself out of relationships, but HOW do i talk myself back into being available to be in one. i can always find a reason not to date someone, that is the easy thing to do.

i guess i am just not really ready to release the control that i have over my life when i am just dealing with myself. by adding one more person into the equations, it inevitable makes a situation for compromise.

the promising comment that finished the discussion with my friend was, "at some point, there is that mystical thing called love and you realize that you will do anything, even compromise!"

well here's to the future and the hopes that the mystical thing called love makes it way into my life and my "compromising" skills can be honed.

in pursuit of happier times

i am coming to you from a distant location, nothing too out of the way, but beautiful. i spontaneously decided that a trip to way upstate new york was in order. i am in ithaca, actually trumansburg, ny and yes it is gorges- for all of you that have seen that slogan!

my friend and husband recently purchased their first house and i thought that i would race up to be their first official house guest. cute house, nice floors and a homey atmosphere that will only improve as they really start to unpack and live in this space.

i was honored to help in the installation of some bathroom fixtures and enjoy a delicious dinner, catch a quick movie (bad news bears- funny, but not a great movie) and will be hunkering down in the enclosed porch with the peaceful sound of crickets, the cool cayuga lake air, and my dog by my side.

another day of escape and a few more to come... i just love taking advantage of having a summer where i have learned the boundaries of overworking myself and can balance that with the joys in life of being with friends.

perfect day part 2

as if my afternoon engagment wasn't enough to fill my day- i had made plans to meet up with the last director that i worked with to exchange receipts and money, but also just to sit down and have a drink and talk about things other than work.

after my brooklyn afternoon, i had a nyc evening. i meet the director and went straight to a bar at 6pm at night----yeah, happy hour, 2 for one! we sat there for literally hours, 6 to be exact. at the end of a long bar in a quaint southern style bar covered with orange paint, rusting steel panels, a pool table, a country juke box and black and white photographs of the fine southern folks.

i can't recall the last time that i sat in a bar long enough to finish happy hour, watch the sun go down, watch the bar crowd shift from the after work crowd to the night crawlers. actually i don't think there was ever a time that i did that in my life.

so we talk for a few hours, then were joined by the producer of the film and the director of photography of the film (the subject of my "inspired eye" entry in june)...a nice team all back together again-finally not talking about which wallpaper or carpet should be on the set.

it was incredibly comfortable to be with these people again and just have a few drinks and talk, sometimes not talk and just sit there being who we are.

the only regrettable part of this incredible day was the drive home. as i walked to my car (no fear, i sobered up and smartly drank water the last 2 hours at the bar) through through the streets of the lower east side, i thought to myself- i can't wait till i can really call new york home. to have enough success in my california film making stint, that i can come back to this place with the money to enjoy days and nights like this on a regular basis and with the hope that these same great people will still be kicking around this city to enjoy it with.

perfect day

yesterday was one of those days in life that can be classified as a perfect day.

i got up a little later than expected but wasn't stressed about it, as my plans for the day were to meet a great friend and spend some much needed quality time. i knew that me being an hour late would not end in me being fired as a friend. so i got dressed and was ready for fun and well deserved relaxation!

i made my way to brooklyn in my eggplant mobile and enjoyed the sun and fresh air of the drive. no traffic-YES!

once arriving, we both decided to see a potentially mindless movie and go to lunch. lunch at a little french cafe and an air conditioned 2hours of surprisingly astonishing entertainment. we went to see mr. and mrs. smith and both agreed that it was better than we had hoped it would be and being that we are both production designers, there were truly moments of great joy and laughter as we caught the small details that make a design what it is. a smelly cowboy blanket was a particular high point....watch for it if you see the movie.

i have to say that it was awe-inspiring to see a movie in which every set was completely decorated and so committed to what this movie was about. the world was so believeable that it made the movie that much more sexy and something that you could not easily dismiss as a stupid action movie. that is what production design is about...but i digress....

the afternoon with my friend was short but well worth every moment. taking the time to actually reconnect with people face to face and not just via email and phones is a great pleasure in life.

looking for a good read?

i have recently started reading "love in the time of cholera" by gabriel garcia marquez....amazing writing. i have read 100 years of solitude and loved every minute of it. this one is a close second and might take over the first place spot of best book that i have read....but i am only 50 pages in, so i won't jump to conclusions yet.

also have been reading more of paublo neruda poems..another great read.

so if you are finished with the 6th harry potter book and really want to read a love story like no other......check it out and let me know what you think

chores the devil created

i think that everyone has one or two house chores that they hate. it just so happens, that i have been having to play catch up on my house cleaning duties after having such a busy few weeks and am reminded how much i HATE doing the dishes (i have no dishwasher!) and doing the laundry (apartment living means going to the laundry facilities in another building).

i think i could do any other chore without complaining- i like dusting, i love, yes LOVE vaccumming, and i realy don't mind taking out the garbage or cleaning the toilet bowl.

maybe someone should make up a housework exchange club. if i could find someone in my apartment building that hates vaccuuming and loves doing the dishes, we could just swap chores. the likelyhood of that happening is little to none as i think there are actually only 3 other occupants in my 6 unit apartment building, so that narrows my chances right there. i also think that the person that lives across the hall from me is only here on the weekends, so another unlikely candidate. one of my neighbors has a kid- check her off the list and i am not even sure if there is a 3 occupant....damn, so much for brilliant ideas.

i could alway open that handy dandy phone book and see if there is someone that i could pay to do my dishes atleast!

i have however learned another valuable lesson about apartment living- my next apartment will have a dishwasher and laundry facilities in the apartment. i would pay for that luxury!

the biggest bird house ever

my traveling adventures took me to my local home depot the other day and sent me searching in the cleaning supply area for buckets. as i turned down the aisle to seek out the elusive bucket (i had been to 2 other stores) i thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. there at the end of the aisle was a little sparrow, actually there were 2, no 3, no a whole family of sparrows.

now i have seen a random bird in a store, but never have i seen such a congregation of birds. i could not figure out why they were all gathered together at this particular location in the store and why where they not out in the sunshine, in the fresh air?

after finding the bucket, i felt the need to seek out what was at the end of the aisle and why that corner was of particular interest to my fine feathered friends. as i turned the end cap of the cleaning supply aisle, i saw what could only be described as a bird mecca....yes, there it was! shelves upon shelves of fresh bird seed! meals for weeks, months, quite possibly years!

at first i feared that these poor little birds were trapped in this mega store with no clue as to how to return to their outside habitat. then it crossed my mind, that maybe these birds were perfectly happy to be where they were and who was i to judge?

these brilliant bird brains maybe chose to live in a place where it never rains, where the temperature is a constant 75 degrees and there meals are simply waiting for them at the end of the cleaning aisle. there is plenty to see, lots of people watching to pass the day, no natural predators in sight and i am sure the indoor house plant section serves as a great jungle escape. (doesn't sound too bad!)

content or not content? whose to say....i am sure that birds that are smart enough to find their way into the biggest bird house ever could find their way out if they really wanted to.

garden seat

a bridge crossing like no other.....

this morning as i was driving across the george washington bridge, i had an eventful series of moments happen that i think no one will really believe, but i know what i saw.

on the radio, a new song called "beautiful" or something like that by a man from "across the pond" james blunt. a slight drizzle filled the overcast morning sky and i was on my way to work.

as i turned from the palisades parkway on to the bridge there was a crane that literally reached the top spans of the bridge. there were men being carefully loaded or unloaded on to the tension wires that hold up the bridge, for what i can only assume was an inspection. (glad to know that someone is checking on this giant thing that people just drive across with faith that it WILL hold them up- more on that later)

as i passed this amazing collection of machinery and man power i caught a glimpse of the car getting ready to pass me on my left side. there in my side view mirror i saw a man, in a blue old style chevy something or other (not good with car types). as he whizzed by and i got a good long look, i couldn't help to think how out of this time period this man seemed. there he sat in his little blue car, in his light grey felt fedora complete with black band, his spectacles that bore a strong resemblance to something that teddy roosevelt would have worn, his left hand on the steering wheel and his right hand properly perched in the air with a long, freshly light cigar nestled between his stubby pointer finger and middle finger.

the only thing that i imagine could complete the look of this misplaced man is that i will guess that he was wearing a dapper 3 piece suit, starched shirt and bow tie. mind you i am using artistic license here, as i can only really say that i saw that he had on a sport coat of some kind, shirt with a collar and dear god, i can only hope that he did actually have pants on.

he seemed content as he cruised by getting ready to take another long puff from his burning cigar. a slight smile sat pleasantly on his face. his car passed mine and a flurry of what i can only explain as a whirlwind of glimmering confetti followed. there behind this pretty nondescript car carrying a slightly odd character was quite possibly the most magically site that i have yet to see in my driving adventures.

the rectangular cut pieces of metallic gold, blue, white and yellow floated off the bridge span into the air and cartwheeled down the road after the blue chevy as if they were devote followers of the man with the cigar. this little breadcrumb trail of sparkles seemed to track completely across the bridge and continued to catch any available light in the dark tunnel that burrows under the apartment building on the new york side of the bridge. then as quickly as the car and confetti trail appeared, they seemed to disappear. no sign of confetti as i merged on to fdr drive, no hint of the man with the cigar who i can only assume headed off across the cross bronx expressway, bring the glitz of the extraordinary to some other unsuspecting motorists.

now, i can't say for sure where this confetti came from....

i know that in all of the great advances there are in car manufacturing there has yet to be a confetti spitting model to hit the sales floor.

there could have been a parade on the bridge? (not before 9am when i was crossing and it wasn't there last night when i was coming home)

could the crane men have something to do with it?

if the confetti was already there, why didn't it stay stuck to the wet pavement after the morning rains?

and why was there no evidence of confetti when i crossed the bridge on my return home this afternoon? (and believe me i looked desperately for a sign of the sparkle and shine- not a glint)

so some unexplained moment of cinematic worth that i can only hope was shared with the other drivers that flanked the right and left of me as i made my journey into the grand city of ny. i can only think to myself that this is a moment in life that is mine. it does not need explained it just needs to be wondered at and packed away in the catalog of my mind as the grandest crossing of a beautiful bridge on a rain soaked sunday morning that i might ever have hoped to have.

fortune teller?

i would like to enlist the services of a fortune teller, psychic, or any other person that could give me unproven, random, unlikely information about my future.

why i think that talking to a stranger about my future might help me answer some questions that run through my mind at various times is beyond me...but this is what i have been seriously concidering for the past month or so.


will i ever get married or even met someone that i would like to marry?
will moving to california really help me move into the next point in my career?
will i regret spending my savings to make this move to california?
should i really concentrate my talents toward film making or theatre? (i think i can answer that myself)

i know there is no real answer to these questions...that i just have to wait and see...but this waiting thing sucks!

i guess the more you come closer to a crossroads in your life, you want some reassurance that what ever road you take will give you sometime that you want out of life. i know this is not always the case, life is sort of what you make it...but some unsubstantiated hope at this point might be helpful......

so if you know any good fortune tellers...let me know

comments?

so i know there are readers out there, atleast i hope there are readers out there....
speak up, let me know who 'ya are and what your thinking.....

the way i feel today

a little worn, a little weathered, a little patched together- but still standing.

eNFj

this is apparently my type...eNFj

expressed extrovert
moderately intuitive
moderately feeling
expressed judging

i am rational, an idealist, an artisan, and a guardian

a teacher idealist according the this online test that i happened upon. i am in good company with gorbachev...ha ha ha and apparently only 2-3% of the population...(or atleast the other searching souls who have taken this test)

you can take it too at www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

you can also read more about my personality type and others at www.typelogic.com

just another interesting way to see how you answer a list of questions can define who you are. it is always amazing to me to see what things these little tests turn up.

what type are you?

plus two

another day of shopping for shows and more vintage stores than i care to count...although there were some really great shops and finds and my first trip into the cute stores of rosendale, ny. i truly understand the sentiment "rosendale rocks"...great town

anyway, in my adventures the florida trinket addiction had to be feed. yes we can now add 2 more items...

item #1
a wooden napkin holder in the shape of orange slices stating "good bread, good meat, good gosh, let's eat"- florida (i ask, who could pass that up)

and

item #2
a green plastic 1940's souvenir cup with a flamingo painted in it and ft. lauderdale, florida stamped on it.

the cool thing is that the style of the painting and flamingo matches my recent "clearwater, fl" salt and pepper shakers. this means that they might be 1940s too! that would be cool.

i also found out that the vintage dealer that i bought them from has a similar purchasing disease but her's centers around all things adirondack, as she was raised in that area.

i wonder if being raised in vacation towns is the root of this souvenir purchasing addiction? again, i am just reassured that it is not just me!

strange and wonderful web

in doing a little google search, i randomly came across a very interesting website

www.lookingforsam.com

the story of a man who has found a kindred spirit in a long lost relative. the "about us" page gives the back ground and then you are free to read on from there.

just another interesting person that i would have never stumbled upon if it hadn't been for the strange and wonderful web.

enjoy

lights on

do you leave a light on?

this is something that would make my dad ken nuts...but there are two lights in my house that stay on whether i am home or not.

the bathroom light and the closet light

so the closet light is on because of the nature of the light. i broke the pull chain about 6 months ago and have yet to replace it. it has a nice 40 watt bulb, so it is not taking up too much energy and it assures me that there is no boogey man in there when i go to sleep at night.

with the bathroom light, the truth is that i just can't find it in my power to turn it off. there have been a number of times where i have made the attempt. turned off the light and walked almost out the bathroom door and then this little thought pops in my head...turn it back on....and like a fine tuned clock my arm swings back at just the precise angle to hit that switch into the on position as i completely get myself out the door.

i am not sure why this is so in grained in me as my dad ken (step father) made it a point that we should always shut the light out when leaving a room. but for some reason i can't or maybe i won't.

i guess it is comforting to have a little light on when you come home or wake up in the middle of the night. or maybe i just watched too many horror movies and know that all the creepy crawly scary people like to hide in dark closets and dark bathrooms....i think that's it!

for whatever reason...i can only guess that atleast the electric company is getting the last laugh in this aspect of my crazy habits.

do you leave a light on?

is a picture worth 1000 words?

So with the addition of my digital camera to my life i have decided to expand my blogging empire to include a photo journal.

if you are interested in what this wandering wonderer sees in a day, take a little side trip to my photo blog....

www.wanderingwonderingmoments.blogspot.com

let me know what you think
i will also have a few of my favorite pictures appear on these pages, but to see a more extensive album....take a look

only the lonely

1st image from my new digital camera...more to come as i figure this whole thing out!

i thought......

so i have talked before about how much time i spend in my car......
but someone asked me the other day what i did during those long commutes and besides answering the obvious...drive! (i actually sometimes have something to eat-bad fast food or make phone calls-with hands free safety ear piece)

i quickly told them that the drive(sometimes 2 hours) gives me time to think. an answer that seemed amuse them and a statement to the effect that "i must have the clearest mind ever" slipped out and the conversation was done between us...but i was not done thinking to myself about all the things that i do think about when i drive.

i tend to write a lot of them down in this little not so private journal, but reserve my more personal thoughts for myself (yes, you can thank me for that). but i thought to keep track today of all the things that crossed my mind as i made the long commute once again.

in no particular order of occurance or importance:

i thought about the last boy that i kissed (far too long ago)
i thought about my move to california and tried to decided if it was better to leave my stuff in storage here or in florida (still undecided)
i thought about my bills that i have to pay (still not paid as i write this)
i thought about my move to this town about 2 years ago and how i have great friends here that came to my former apartment in jersey city and helped move me out
i thought how hard it will be to ever find two ladies as great as my adopted family here (aletta and karla...i am talking about you!)
i thought about how my mom was always confused as to why, as a child, i would prefer to take pictures of things, not people (and now i am in a job that explains that all)
i thought about a boy that i would like to kiss
i thought about whether or not i want to have kids some day
i thought about the fittings that i have to do this week
i thought about my two dads that passed away
i thought about going to brazil and alaska in the near future
i thought about my juneau journal pal and wished that i could hear her voice and see how she is

i thought and i thought and i thought.....somehow i don't really see how this is bringing me to a state of "clear mindedness".....i think it is just giving me the alone time with myself to be able to process all that is going on in my life. my wish is that everyone could have this time to themselves. it doesn't give you any answers, it just lets you ponder the questions while the scenery passes you by.

these days

after days like yesterday, i just wish that i could gather all my friends and family in one giant hug and just hold on to them for a little while.

shoes, shoes, shoes

target is the down fall of my bank account.
i could equally argue that my job is the down fall of my bank account.

so i can completely understand why the combination of shoe shopping at target for a show that i am working on was a deadly combination. COME ON....SHOE SHOPPING for actors and pass up the chance to purchase something for myself...fat chance!

no worries, since i was at target, the dent was only around $20. not too bad.....

but what is better is when my shoe shopping escapades is enough to make the cashier drool! that's right by the end of my little shopping evening...the total was four pair of shoes for the actors on the theatre's bill and one pair of shoes for me on my bill (my credit card :()

luckily the cashier understood and shared in my joy of find a good part of shoes and relayed to me that "shoe love" was a generation thing in her family....her mother loves shoes, she loves shoes and her daughter loves shoes...aaaahhh the sound of a fabulous tradition that was rightfully passed on.

i shared that i my "shoe love" was not a generational thing......in fact, i think i have bought more shoes for my mom than she has bought for herself. she has always thought it amazing and funny and a little out of her grasp as to why i felt the need to search out great shoes when she herself is the basic pump shoe in black and the basic sandal in black and the high heel in a strappy black type of woman. it took me a while to convince her that there needs to be a brown somewhere in there too.

and sneakers...forget about it...never has this woman owned a pair of sneakers. not a pair of keds, not a pair of running shoes, not a pair of anything that resembled sporting footwear and she is a fairly active woman-sandals are the answer.....so i can only blame my "adidas love" on living in the city and realizing that a good pair of sneakers is the secret.

so where as my mom has taught me many things in my life, how to spot the perfect shoe was not one of them. never fear, all is not lost, as I am now teaching her the theory of "shoe love" and i think that she is catching on!

ny style 4th of july

who could ask for a better 4th of july...

as i started the day i thought to myself, that if all plans go as they should, this should be the last time i am in the new york area for the 4th of july for a little while. knowing this i figured how stupid it would be for me to turn down a golden opportunity to see the nyc macy's firework display, so i jumped on the train and made my way to a friend's dumbo studio...for those of you not from the area...dumbo stands for down under manhattan bridge overpass.

after a great train ride with time to read more into "love in the time of cholera", some deep thoughts, and a little nap-i made my way through the less than crowded subway (surprise) and over to what could be one of the greatest places to watch the fireworks from.

the party was small, a nice group of friends ranging in age from 69 to in the womb (due in 2 months). there was good food, a grill rigged up so that we could cook inside (i am sure a fire marshal would have a fit) and a picture perfect window (literally 6'wide by 5' tall) view of the ny skyline, complete with the red, white and blue of the empire state building.

with the sun down and the blimps hovering in anticipation we turned on the radio, turned off the lights and this giant window became our own personal big screen tv on which to watch this event unfold. no bugs, no humidity, air conditioning and front row seats!

the fireworks started promptly at 9:20 ish complete with musical accompaniment on the am radio. the firework display was reportedly the 2nd largest in the history of the macy's firework display. there was the traditional patriotic songs timed with the fireworks, a great version of gershwin's rhapsody in blues ( a personal favorite) and the appropriate rainbow colored fireworks that went with "somewhere over the rainbow". altogether i think there was about 35-40 minutes of twinkles, blasts, glitters, ohhhhsss and aahhhhss and then the applause.

a nyc 4th that i will not soon forget!

sun burn baby!

there are a few down falls to being single and sadly i discovered a new one after my day of sun bathing....

i thought that i throughly covered my self with sunscreen, but i have to admit that my back was hard to reach since i have not mastered the art of body contortion.....and since there isn't someone else hear to help, i accepted the fact that i covered my back as much as i could...

late into the evening last night, i realized this was not the case. where there is little evidence of sunburn on the front of my body, there is definitely a few spoltchy patches on my back.

so my future options are:

to only lay out and tan the front of my body...i could be two different colors coming and going

invest in some of that spray on sunscreen

introduce my self to the neighbors with a very unsually request

or maybe find a way to break out of the single life (novel idea!)

all good options, we'll have to see what presents itself in the near future.

florida trinkets anyone?

so after mentioning my florida childhood, i quickly have to make this other confession about how my time in florida creeps into my life every now and again....this is a terrible, uncontrollable, laughable problem that i have.

i am sure there is a help group for it out in the world...but here it is...no matter how hard i try or how much i try to resist the urge..whenever i am in a vintage store, a thrift shop, a goodwill, an antique store, or the salvation army....god help me if i find some cheesy florida souvenirs, i have to buy it. i mean i actually keep an active eye out for these things.....

to date i have

2 florida silk scarves with the state printed on them and all the cities labeled

1 set of clearwater, florida (hometown) salt and pepper shakers (bought at a yard sale in pine bush, ny)

3 china plates with florida scenes on them, all from different thrift stores ranging from pittsburgh to bordentown, nj

several florida magnets

a florida pot holder, change purse, vintage powder compact, gravy dish.......

anyway, you get the picture. For a long time i thought that this was a sickness that was all my own until i discovered that one of my best friends (also from florida) had this uncontrollable habit too. thank god it is not just me! maybe there are others out there.....

regardless, i guess there are worse habits to have and i know that when i look at these objects it is with a fond memory of a great childhood and a reminder of all the people that are there that still love me.

sun baby

as i woke up this morning and took my dog out for a walk i realized how beautiful the weather was going to be today...crisp blue sky, a few whispy clouds and a slight breeze that has seemed to whisk away the horrible humidity that has been hovering over the hudson valley.

and in a typical florida/california response....i thought, what a great day to start my summer tan. as unhealthy as the prospects maybe after a lifetime of tanning, i can not help the urge that comes over me when the days are this great. a beach chair, my mexican blanket, my new precription sunglasses and the next script that i am working on seem to jump into my hand and my feet quickly carry me out the door.

i did take the precaution of sunscreen (spf 15) and it worked great...a few hours in the sun, a finished script with notes and a nice tan with no signs of sun burn....the perfect afternoon after working like a dog for the past few weeks.

i also have to say that my new sunglasses rock...they are prescription and have this polarized lens....it is hard to explain, but the world looks better through my sunglasses than it does through my regular glasses.

so it is nice to know that even though i am no where near a beach, the beach life style has not left me...that florida/california childhood still fights its way to the surface on these bright sunny days

happy tanning