lost and found

Found in the corner of the living room after who knows how long. Does this belong to you?

whirl of activity

A lot was packed into three days. There were the mus- eums, the zoo, the Indian food, the friends and relations. And then there was the delighted recognition of home —the toys, the new bed, refrigerator and high chair in their accustomed places. Oh wonder! Oh joy!

visitor

underground

 Kathleen Mock documents her life in the subway with her new fave ToonCamera app. The canary in the coal mine says that the underground economy is looking up. People in New York are spending again.

city and country

Connect the dots: an appropriate app for Lichtenstein

So last night I had dinner with the woman who is responsible for my introduction to New York. She was a New Yorker born and bred who was living in Oakland, Calif., when I got to know her; I, en route back from growing cabbages and selling muumuus in Hawaii, fancied myself a country girl. Together, we moved into our first apartment on Central Park West and 103rd Street. Back in 1974, that was Zeroland, with projects all around.
    We did not go out after dark as a rule. But one night, we ran out of cigarettes and dared to round a corner to the bodega a block away. There we purchased smokes and were accosted by a large, black man carrying a two-foot carved wooden spoon like a scepter. He bowed.
     "May I escort you ladies through the jungle?" he asked.
     "Why certainly," we replied.
     And he walked us home.

speaking of photography

This is Bill Dugan's portrait of his camera. One of his cameras; I believe he has many. Or maybe that's enlargers. Whatever. Photo equipment. Those photo groupies among you may want to mark your calendars for Look3 at the beginning of June in Charlottesville, Va. i think Donna Ferrato will be there. Chien-Chi Chang just had two well attended openings in Taipei, and the North Korea show is traveling to Tel Aviv in May. Lynn Johnson is conducting a National Geographic photo workshop in Haiti. And that's the roundup from here.

Happy Catholic Abstinence Month! No meat, no contraception, no sex without procreation! What fun we'll have! Vote Santorum!

mardi gras

In honor of Carnival, here's a picture sent by Lina of her granddaughter LouLou at the beach in Rio de Janeiro. She writes: "My grandbaby  just star going to baby school for halp day (13:00 -17:00) but she don't happy, now I go with her stay one hour every day until she fill good, the teacher say this normal take time. . .but my time almost is busy to Loulou.she make me laught and tie."

Giving up anything for Lent? 

ozark marketplace

I know all of y'all have lots of cool Facebook friends, but somehow or another I got on FB's marketplace as having friends in Branson, Mo. Following are the first classifieds on the most recent list:
Pest Control / Termites
Done Right Heat & Air
Christian Childcare
Free FREE Junk Car Removal

And now for my personal fave:
 Feng Shui Housekeeping
Would you hire this guy?

 Well, if you live in the Ozarks, you can. Check out his ad here.

sights

One of the fun things about visiting many medical professionals is that I get to sightsee in  parts of town that I don't often get to. The allergist was on the East Side, for instance, where I haven't been since Wolfen graduated from high school in 2000. Then there was the dermatologist near Wall Street and the World Trade Center which was a smoking ruin the last time I saw it and now anchors a long, long line of tourists with tickets waiting to visit the memorial. And if this ankle doesn't heal pretty quick I'll seek an orthopedist in Queens or some other fun place.

living mindfully

You've heard of eating mindfully? That's the thing where you eat v-e-r-y   s--l--o--w--l--y and savor each mouthful until you attain nirvana! as opposed to snarfing everything down asquicklyaspossiblesinceit'sbasicallyfuelandyouneeditnow.
   Well, sadly, there are a lot of other things you can do mindfully, and I am having to do them.
    I'm walking mindfully, for instance, since I sprained my ankle on my way to the dentist yesterday morning. So now I have to hobble mindfully, careful to put as little weight as possible on my foot and try not to twist it (which means I have to sleep mindfully, too, which I try to do anyway because of dreams like the one the other night that I was on the campaign trail with Mitt Romney and he tried to write my lede, which is enough to make anyone thrash around).
     Then once I got to the dentist he told me I needed a root canal and another crown next to the wisdom tooth he pulled, so I am now chewing mindfully also.
    Are we almost at nirvana yet?

mo news

Two beautiful pix of winter's bone in Missouri, perhaps going partway to explaining why I am considering Mexico in the forthcoming month!

valentines

Bill Dugan's Ozark valentine display

Somebody's Woonsocket bucket of love

Happy Valentine's Day to all, large and small! Oops, sorry Bill—just by comparison.

invitation

If you're going to be in Taipei in the next couple weeks, check it out!

without magazines

. . .what will doctor's offices do?

photojournalism, death of

On the day the World Press Photo Awards were announced, this seems appropriate. A couple of years ago, photojournalism was declared dead (viz: the lens blog in the New York Times). It certainly seems that way—no more magazines, no more assignments, no more money to pay for people to travel around their neighborhoods and the world and risk their lives and hearts.
    At Life, I used to work with some of the best documentary photographers in the world. These days they either work for National Geographic, try to transition into "art" photography or teach workshops that create more photographers who can't find work. Everyone's a photographer now—or a writer, as I was. Twitter and post, blog and Facebook and Instagram.
Yet I remain hopeful that someday there will be a new model to pay journalists. I can tell the difference between someone with a Flickr account and a real photographer; I can tell the difference between a real writer and a blowhard; I can tell the difference between a real actor and Snookie. (I can also tell the difference between me and a real photographer.) And I'm pretty sure that the average reader/viewer can as well. And sooner or later, they'll be willing to pay again. Maybe not for photographs or books on paper, except in private collections, but for the eye, the voice, the heart. People can tell.

breakfast

Not sure what this substance is, but it sure is all over the place. . .

Word: This is the view from my window (well, one of them), for those of you (few, I'm sure) who don't know. Those of you who do know the view may be interested to learn that my time at the gym and eating lettuce and lemonade have been repaid. I am allowed to try going off that blood pressure med. Now all I have to do is keep it up and off. Mayhap I should begin taking the stairs?

truck farm

These Brooklyn guys have the right idea: mobile vegetable gardens!  It started when one of them had no garden space and a junk truck. So he drilled holes in the bed for drainage and put in a growing system developed for rooftop gardens. Apparently they now have a fleet of 25 for school demos. Thanks to Dianne for sending this in.

best coffee ever

Are you coming to visit? If you are (or if you are visiting my sister or my daughter), you will need to know how to make coffee in the morning if you get up before I do, which is likelier than not. Here are some handy directions to use of the Chemex coffee pot (and filters) which makes the best coffee in the universe, in case you didn't know. Personally, I prefer to use dark espresso from Zabar's in it.

twinkle toes

Kathleen submits this pic of my feet in the shoes she gave me.

Guess I won't get run over at my desk. Safety first!

spring

I know, it's February. But already I am dreaming about spring. The shad blooms in Block Island. The peonies in Missouri I never get to see because I am in Block Island painting floors. Apparently, this unseasonable February has made others dream of spring as well. They call wanting to book Block Island in May. Now I fully anticipate being there myself then, but an unheated house by the ocean in the spring can be for the hardy. Or not—you just never know.
        But doesn't this painting make your heart sing? It's a Van Gogh I've never seen called “Garden in Auvers,”now on loan to the Philadelphia art museum.

breakfast of losers

 About that fast. Yes, I know the so-called "Beyonce" lemonade fast is terrible for you. Nonetheless, in the hopes of dropping some weight and my blood pressure, I went on a modified version of it (if any one cares, I'll share) for a week and lost about 8 pounds. I am now trying to drop two more. By Tuesday. When I try to convince my doctor to take me off this damn medication.
Who can explain what these items are and why I have chosen them to start my day?

?

Does anyone have anything they'd like to share?