Holiday balls.

Everything is amplified here.  Sometimes it's just silly, but it is beautiful in this light.

How many ways can you use a NYC Police Barricade?

Rubbers are critical

Blizzard in NYC!

I barely could open my front door this morning. 

I had to climb through 1 foot and 3 inches of snow accumulation. 

Tis the beauty of having a garden apartment....

you are in very touch with mother nature.    

Four days from now many screams, kisses, hugs, I love you's

and drunken expressions will take place right here on this desolate snowy street. 

Hmmmm.....traditions are a funny thing.

Look it....from all sides

A look from all angles, sometimes, is what foots the bill.

The boots are "GRAFFITI " by Henry Ferrera.

I like this distortion.

This is my favourite shot.

This last one reminds me of colonoscopies. 

(Not that I've ever had one)

There will always be at least one "side" you've missed to anything you look at.

I am going to continue to shoot this pair of boots until I grow bored with them.

Might not happen; ever.  They are just a great design. 

Linear Lunacy

Lines.

Light makes lines.

Lines make form.

I spent most of Sunday in the apartment.  Decided to paint another wall in the bedroom, painted the closet doors a stark white and thought about the main wall in the living room.  I think I might take a leap and do something in an ORaNGe! I’ve never done anything orange before. Who knows? I am all talk at this point.  I’ve been from a green, to maybe a lilac, and now orange.  Maybe.  I’ll probably be safe and go with green.  But something close to lime and light.  I do well in that colour room.

I suddenly crave clean lines in my living space.  Very very clean lines.  This is my new goal.  There will be a sprinkle and a splash of softness and fluffiness but sharp and linear will rule the design.

Lines I don’t want to talk about are the lines on my face….hints of lines are more like it.  I will ignore those for now and go on the look-out for a fabulous hydrating-age-defying creamy cream to gift myself this holiday!

Fa la la la lines in the air. 

A mixed media project I finally unwrapped.  I used these brushes at my first volunteer gig with New York Cares.  The first mural that I worked on with a group of volunteers painting a school uptown. I can't remember how many brushes there are but I think there are about 3 or 4 more rows.  This hung in my old kitchen for many years, it is now in my bedroom.  I liked the way this lamp made a shadow on the work.  It's what captured my sight. 

I love how old things in new placements can suddenly catch my eye and inspire me to stop whatever I am doing and grab the cam to freeze the moment. 

Cheers.

Knick-knack, paTTy whack, Give her dog a bone !

Perhaps if the noise volume in the world were at a constant so would the dullness be.  This week was hectic, I’ve been here and there, squirreling thru foreigners and shoppers in the bitter temperatures of the ho ho holiday season, but hanging in.

The other day, I had my first very quiet evening at home, just the pooch and I.  And said pooch, was lounging on my lap.  I don’t believe that has ever happened in the five years that I’ve had him.

 Really? Has it been five years? 

He just lay there quietly, as I sat there quietly, my legs propped up on the Moroccan ottoman over a wide sliver of Beaver fur that I lay across it.  (chuckles)

And during this time, I was incredibly happy to enjoy however many minutes it was that it would be quiet!  And that it was actually more than ONE minute!  How delicious.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

The little things aren’t so little are they? 

So here is my update on the clompity-clomp clomp sitch:

When I paid my rent for the month of December, my landlord and I caught up.  We chatted for an hour at her dining table.  (OMG, her apartment might be SMALLER than mine!!!!)  Talked about holidays and how I was settling in.  It was an entire 45 minutes before I said well there is one thing.  And I told her about the waking up at 6am to hard shoes overhead and the dog training/playtime that followed shortly thereafter.  She asked if I wanted to have her have a talk with the tenant upstairs, of course I did. 

Four days went by. 

On the evening of the fourth I saw there was something  in my mailbox.  I opened the entrance door to have a look, and since it wasn’t for me I placed it on the top step as instructed by my landlady.  You see, we’re still getting mail for the previous tenant that lived there.  Oh, and Then I see the circus jack Russell…oh look it …..it's Petey.  (I wonder how they spell it).

So I know it’s the WOMAN upstairs.  And while I try not to look “challenging”, (it’s quite impossible if you know me, you understand)  I am small, but have the confidence and stance of a super muscular pit bull or maybe a rotty, or NO!…A BOXER.  A boxer is much more playful! And elegant!

I digress.  And yeah I know, get over myself ay?  Lol.

So I am standing there, looking at the Jack Russell and whoever is at the other end of the leash.  The woman speaks.  “Oh, you don’t have to hold the door for me”.  Detecting something, but not really knowing what, I just stared incredulously and promptly let the door shut behind me.  She proceeds to leave thru said door about 15 seconds later.   Hmmmm.

Interesting.

I go into my apt, which has a separate entrance  and retrieve my dog and we go for a walk.  Upon return, within minutes actually…as it was bitter cold…I see that the mail I’ve left on the step has been placed back into my mailbox. 

Even more interesting.

Ah, and there is my landlady.  All bundled up, walking slowly from her car to her building.  We chat, and she informs me that she has called the tenant earlier that day to ask that she please quite down.   The tenant, oooh, let’s call her PATTY. Patty and Petey!  Patty and her Peter.  LMAO. 

She reports that Patty became defensive right away.  Said she walked in slippers in her apartment ALL the time.  Well, I’d love to see those g d slippers I would!  They must be platform and spiked!  Lol.

So….that night I suffered terribly.  It was the loudest ever! But it has died down since.  I’ve not reacted, haven’t even turned up my tv or stereo to block it out.  I am just dealing. 

And last night……I slept SOUNDLY.  I guess when you have a control freakazoid and clompity clomp clomper like she is, the best thing is to just pretend she doesn’t exist.   I thought I might install several alarm clocks in my mudroom, RIGHT UNDER HER BEDROOM and have them go off at 2am, 2:30am, 3am, and then again at 4:15, just when she thought she was sound asleep again.  But I don’t need to go there JUST YET!

Which reminds me, the batteries in my megaphone are running low.  I have to replace them soon.  Patty and her old beau there, were getting it on on Sunday.  I can cheer them on this weekend.  But I’d have to move fast or keep the megaphone handy.  It was over in a few minutes! 

All the best for the weekend bloggerpeeps!

NObody KNowS the TrouBLE I SeEn......

Looking at the lives of others, particularly those closest to me, makes me appreciate mine at moments when I don’t feel lucky at all.

Right now, I’ve just moved into a new apartment,  I’m slowly acclimating, having some trouble with sleeping due to the clompity-clomp clomper upstairs.  I mean who the hell lives in an apartment building and walks all hours of the morning and night on a hard wood floor without any coverings…and by that I mean before 7am and after 11pm, in hard soled shoes.  A clueless self absorbed a-hole is who. 

So….it seems that this majour problem in my life, the only one really…..is minutia compared to what others around me are living.

Daniel,  a nice looking gay man, is in a very long term relationship with Tim.  But Tim is an alcoholic and an emotional mess.  Daniel often has escapades with much younger beautiful men, with discretion of course, but Tim knows that he does; he just doesn’t want to hear about it.  They are both in a constant state of denial and prefer things that way.  Daniel is my best friend, although I haven’t reached out to him since before my move.   We’ve been friends for 20 years, and we break off sometimes into our own worlds. We now live on separates coasts but when we reconnect it’s like there never was a break.   Tim cooks and cleans for Daniel AND lets him fool around with gorgeous men.   This is a problem?

Darla, a mom of four, married to a Muslim, actually converted for him, talks about leaving him; two of the four children are autistic.  Darla is bipolar, and medicates every single day. The hubby, Jay, is a stay at home dad who has dinner ready at her arrival and is amazing in bed. MY GOD, he sounds like the perfect husband, what is she complaining about?

Sonya, is an alcoholic mess. She has a female partner (one who thinks she is really a man, or at least in a man’s body) and on the side….she knowingly dates abusive substance using men and incessantly whines about her life.  She cries about being lonely; she has a son, 2 gorgeous grandkids, a man-she who takes care of her financially and lets her date outside of their relationship.  She should reconsider the choices in who she dates and quit the drinking and she’d be just fine! I want a man (OR a man-she) to take care of me financially. WHO DOESN’T? Lol.

And finally, Mary, married for 14 years, mother to an adorable imperious two year old, who is a frail split-end hair from divorce.  The husband, Brad, is “sick of her and wants out” by Spring, when the lease of their condo on the waterfront  runs out . She is terrified of being on her own and starting over at “her age”.   I’ll hold my tongue on this one but trust me I have an opinion.  I know Mary visits my blog....girl....chin up, better stuff is in the future. Don't hold on to the not so good stuff. okay?

I didn't make up any of the scenarios, nor embellished.  Well, the names I did yes.  I respect each of the people stated above, for their own choices, everyone has the right to live and walk their own path even it's right toward the quick sand. 

I am really not judging, I simply state the facts and ask....what exactly is your part in "all of this".  It occurrs to me that each has contributed substantially to their own predicaments.  I also think "all of this" crosses my mind because I do not want to live in my apartment anymore, and I haven’t even met the 30 day mark.  I usually follow the 30 day rule.  Make decisions after a 30 day trial. I simply will not live with noise. I will NOT adjust my schedule. I will NOT spend a cent to sound proof an apartment I do not own.  I will not struggle or fight with another tenant's ignorance, nor with an inefficient landlord. 

I’ve decided that I will move in the Spring, if not sooner.  I am thinking I will research first time home buying and find out about what sort of government grants are if i need one.  I think I want to buy a house, not a condo, next year.  This thing….renting….is for the birds.  Now that I've made that painful move, from a solid house with 5 rooms to a 2-room less-solid home, and have experienced that material things are truly meaningless...I can probably move every month.  This weekend I went thru some of the clothes, I am building a huge bag for goodwill.  I got rid of alot to move here, and I can now sift thru even further.  It is true, you get rid of the junk, and only then you can really see who, what and where you are.  I feel the same applies with emotional junk.  So only the things I truly love, that truly bring me joy, and truly enhance my experience in this world will remain with me to reside in the new home.  And perhaps in only this way I can TRULY make room for more things and persons of true substance. 

Someone expressed to me that they were surprised I hadn’t said anything to the woman upstairs.  Bottom line is, you can’t change stupid people, you cannot get thru to inconsiderate people…you have to just let them be and GET AWAY.  Get as far away from them as possible. From the boring, neglectful, or cheating husbands.  From the drugs and alcohol for escape.  From the self loathing, destruction and deprecation.  And most importantly from the clinging of fear to be who you really are, whatever that may be. 

So cry me a river everyone.  I’ll sail away on my small yacht.

Or you can count your blessings; that you have families, and people who do love you mixed in with a few who don’t. That you have friends and that you live in a country where almost anything is possible. Pull on the reins.  Take control.  I say this with love.

My hair dresser, Maria, she is Polish.  She mocks the Americans she knows or hears about for living such meager lives in this country.  She came here, has her own business and owns her own home.  She’s worked hard for what she has and is living the life she wants.  Why aren't we all?

Cause frankly, it’s all rather not interesting to not be. So there.

The eyeballs are two small paintings that I did at the School of Visual Arts years ago.  I remember the instructor well, but not his name.  This was the first time that I used acrylic in the manner of an oil paint.  I have placed them in the doorway to my living room from the mud room. And it made me chuckle and think about all the noise upstairs and all the noise around me in general, that has nothing to do with high heels. 

PEACE....within.