by sam on 01/22/2017
It may come as a surprise to some of you, but I am a bit of an introvert. I get pretty severe anxiety at the thought of being in giant crowds, and even when I go out with friends, it’s pretty rare that I don’t have some sort of exit plan. I’ve been known to have “shut down” moments, where I just…hit a wall and need to leave immediately – it has nothing to do with the company I’m with but with my own capacity.
This post/link I read a few months back explains the feeling really well (and also why I woke up this morning with what felt like a massive hangover, despite having less than one beer after everything yesterday).
All that is to explain why there was no way I was going to Washington. But I did force myself, even against my natural inclinations, to get out to the march for women’s rights in NY. Because it was just too important.
So, yes, the introverts showed up. Attempts to meet up with most of my friends (except one) failed, but it was a blast, and more importantly, it was deeply powerful to feel so much less alone.
I said the following on Facebook yesterday, but it bears repeating here: …the real reason I’m going to sleep better than I have in months tonight is just the incredible feeling I had today being among SO MANY people who turned out to support each other at this time, not just in our coastal enclaves, but on all seven continents, and all over this country, in blue states and deep red states like West Virginia.
THIS is what democracy looks like.
All this is a precursor to my photos from yesterday. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge. (The pics are pretty self explanatory, so I didn’t individually caption most of them in the interests of not taking three years to get through writing this post)
by sam on 01/20/2017
I posted a version of this photo four years ago, on the occasion of Obama’s second inauguration. Four years later, my opinion hasn’t changed, except that I would be even more enthusiastic about him if we could have him for another four years, particularly in light of the cold hard narcissistic, sociopathic reality with which we have been presented.
Obama has simply been the best president of my lifetime. And even if they manage to destroy all the things he worked so hard for, I think he will be remembered as one of the best presidents ever. Not just for the tangible things he did in the face of unprecedented opposition and outright racism from his first day in office, but for the calm grace with which he did them. He was not perfect – I could also list out things that I did not agree with – but he was, and is, one of the best of us, and I will truly miss him – both as a person and as a leader.
by sam on 01/18/2017
I’m taking a short, three week street photography class just for kicks, and also because it’s a good way to force myself out of the house during this dark, depressing, apocalyptic January.
So of course, the first class was during a bit of a snowstorm, which drove us into the nearest subway station for shelter.
Side view of one of the many mysterious locked call boxes on the platform for fire department and police use. Put in place before anyone could do something like make a cellphone call from several stories below ground (a feat that can be accomplished in every station in NYC as of…nine days ago).
by sam on 01/16/2017
Over the holidays, I found a new hole-in-the-wall coffee spot in my neighborhood. It has only five seats, because it’s so small. But they make really good coffee. It’s also quite photogenic, which is obviously just as important.
by sam on 01/5/2017
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice!
But after that, you still need to find this door.
by sam on 01/4/2017
According to Manhattan Block-by-Block by John Tauranac (a great map and guide for anyone living or visiting NYC), while all blocks are of “roughly” equal size, the distance between sixth and seventh avenues is by far the longest distance between avenues. Anyone who has worked in a particular section of midtown west on the 50s has always known about the “secret” passageway through a series of buildings halfway between the two, because it was just too much of a pain in the *** to go all the way to the corner if you had to go from, say, midblock on 53rd to midblock on 56th. So the thoroughfare, cutting through public and semi public spaces including a pedestrian passageway behind the Hilton, City Center, the Parker Meridian hotel (among others), led to a constant stream of people playing frogger with midtown traffic.
A few years ago, the city decided enough was enough. No, they didn’t try to force people to cross at the corners – that would have been asking too much. They turned the entire “secret passageway” into an official street.
by sam on 01/3/2017
By the police, no less. These guys were doing some very mild crowd control, but mostly just letting tourists pet their horses, on the plaza near the Rockefeller center tree. But one of them clearly noticed me trying to take a picture. Oops!
by sam on 01/2/2017
rockefeller center.
As noted before, I didn’t walk up fifth avenue as much this holiday season for…reasons. I did try to brave it once or twice to grab shots of the tree, but didn’t get any post-worthy ones due to the size of the crowds and the traffic that kept getting in the way in unfortunate ways. But I did grab this nice angle of rockefeller center one evening despite the jostling.
by sam on 01/1/2017
Our friends who hosted thanksgiving dinner have a great collection of art and other collected objects. These were a few of my oddball favorites (of a particular theme)
