On the Riverside Walk, near the 79th Street Boat Basin, there is a washed-out sign on the asphalt, of two sticks with circles drawn on top. Next to it is written “Trail Marker for Errant Balloons.” Since then I’ve been in deep thoughts, trying to imagine the rules of this game. Will balloons be released … Continue reading
I’ve been obsessed with the story of Goethe’s mother, who announced on Sep 11, 1808 that she was going to die two days hence. It so happened that a Patrician family in Frankfurt close to the Goethes, the Manskopfs, is closely related to a branch that settled in Siegen, to which I belong. So Frau … Continue reading
I had this idea of making a fountain in my garden, and bought hardware and connecting hoses and a bag of cement. I would put the hardware in place with a scaffold and then make a mold around it and pour the concrete in the mold. After I bought these things I put them into … Continue reading
On February 23 I joined the Cowbird community, and it’s been on my mind since. The idea of having people around the world sharing stories outside of commerce, outside of Hollywood aesthetics is refreshing. It’s the equivalent of the Moth oral experience with its own peculiar format in which one picture is matched with a … Continue reading
It’s this time again, of enjoying spring exuberance, and at the same time the feeling of powerlessness, of the inability to put the feeling into words. Instead, wanting to express it all, we are reduced to making a sweeping gesture with our hand, saying, “look at this! Isn’t this magnificent?” And secretly we are searching … Continue reading
Few people I see nowadays chew chewing gum, but the damage has already been done. I mean the 25,000 quarter-sized black patches that grace the platforms of subway stations, but particularly the one on 168th Street. In terms of the theory that links urban crime with tolerance for dilapidation, I would expect the 168th Street … Continue reading
The Metropolitan Museum: Little did I know Gertrude Stein had siblings (like Leo Stein) who also made a mark on their time. The exhibit is overwhelming in its scope — the pictures by Picasso alone make the trip worth. But it is the realization that Gertrude’s Salon has forever changed the history of art that … Continue reading
A few weeks ago I received a book in the mail, entitled The New Theory of Consciousness, by an author named Delanin Fedahunsy. The accompanying marketing letter by his assistant gave me two choices, either to keep the book and send a $10 check to a specified address, or to send the book back. There … Continue reading
Once in a while I used to go to the blog GET VISUAL, run by David Brickman. David is a gifted photographer whom I know from Albany. The blog is always a great pleasure to read; it covers arts exhibits along the Hudson Valley, centered in Albany, but also often ventures all the way into … Continue reading
Today, on the elevator of the 168th Street Subway stop, a man decided to recite Our Father in Heaven. “Padre nuestro que estás en el Cielo,” he said, “santificado sea tu nombre, venga a nosotros tu Reino . . . “. There are no laws against this since the elevator is not a classroom. Still, … Continue reading
I have often been in a position to decide if it’s worth to get a broom, or even a vacuum cleaner to pick up detritus from the floor, detritus being defined, in Wiki, as particulate matter of either organic or inorganic origin. In its appearance among others accumulated on the floor, each particle has lost … Continue reading
There is a term in statistics, confidence interval, the sound of which should make me very comfortable since it invokes fuzzy feelings – it sounds as though it is a span of time where we can approach things in a positive way, without fear. But then, upon further reflection, the feeling of comfort dissipates, since … Continue reading
I have an unidentified utterly exotic almost extraterrestrial plant in my place; it does not seem to exist in botanical databases, except since I don’t know the name I can’t check this conclusively. If I had the name then I might find it. I would like to be able to type into a search site, … Continue reading
The tattooed man in the subway had with him an entire bag of implants, if implants is the correct word. He made it quite clear that he had a septal perforation in his nose, and demonstrated it with wires of all sorts of shapes. Some of these were straight, and others looked like a paperclip … Continue reading
I never understood the idea of the phrase You’re more than welcome, often uttered in response to a request, since welcome always seems the most accommodating invitation under any circumstances. Certainly, between welcome and not welcome there exists a continuous gradation, though it is one that goes unmentioned in civil discourse. For instance, “You’re less … Continue reading
Along with the shutdown of the Wikipedia, and Google wearing a burka, today’s blizzard of tweets was a response to the proposed SOPA legislation. These tweets came with hashtag FactsWithoutWikipedia – what the world’s knowledge will become when Wikipedia will be extinct. Here are some examples: •All babies come from a stork. That stork is … Continue reading
The interesting thing about dogs is that they exist in so many different varieties. Some are so tiny they could be mere morsels in the food bowls of their large counterparts. The fact that they recognize each other as dogs even from the distance, out of reach for their noses, is a miracle. That brings … Continue reading
The lack of snow, I suppose, is a blessing. On the cement of the sidewalk of my street, leaves that are long gone have left a mark. The mark is light-brown, like the tint of an old photograph, and only recognizable by its contour — gingko, maple, oak. It’s like a chemical exposure, the whole … Continue reading
At the bus station marked “Ft. Washington-West 170th Street” there is a yellow newspaper box, and on the box lies the 26th volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica, opening with an article on “Precolumbian Society” and closing with “Secret Offices and Orders.” The volume is in perfect condition, and it makes me wonder where in the … Continue reading
