movie withdrawals

i've said before that i enjoy going to the movies as often as possible.  primarily because it is the cheapest form of entertainment in new york city.  i mean it is an at least once a month event in my life.  the funny thing is that i haven't been to a movie since the first week of august.  last movie seen was "bourne legacy" at the lincoln center AMC theater.  was supposed to go to a movie tonight but the afternoon rock band and just dance 4 party wore me out that i couldn't pull myself out of my apartment to see daniel craig save the world by driving a really nice and expensive car.  

i feel like there are so many movies and so little time.  skyfall, lincoln, final twilight, etc., etc.  plus the one thing that my brother pookie has asked we do while i'm with the family for christmas is to see les miserables.  i mean, if i must, i will sacrifice my time to spend it in a movie theater listening to music that never fails to make me cry.

love me some movies.

ode to helping hands and yellow vests

Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.

this video shows the efforts made by some of my family (looking at you gooch), neighbors and strangers in the rockaways after the devasting superstorm sandy blew through area.  it reminds me of something my grandma jewel and then my mother always said "many hands make light work". 

self portrait in iPad reflection

me and my madison avenue

i ride a bus home each night.  the bus takes me up madison avenue from 50th street to 96th street.  i think i choose to take the bus home because i love looking in the windows of certain shops along madison avenue.  those certain shops include the following:

laduree macaroons @ 70th Street

graff diamonds @ 61st Street

christian louboutin @ 76th Street

dolce & gabbana @71st Street

whitney museum @ 75th Street

hermes @ 76th Street

crate & barrel @ 60th Street

vera wang @ 77th Street

valentino @ 65th Street

amsale @ 58th Street

but my absolute favorite store to look into its windows and dream belongs to carolina herrera on 75th Street.  the clothes in that store's windows beckon to me like no other.  they are so beautiful - like beacons of light in a dark and dreary world...ok, that might be a bit melodramatic.  i just love, love, love her clothes.  i could maybe only afford a belt with her name on it but a girl can dream.  so thank you carolina herrera and the other designers that broadcast their wares along madison avenue.  you make my commute home just a little bit brighter.

maybe one day i will have the courage to actually walk into one of the stores.  baby steps.

a city in light and dark

a photojournalist named iwan baan with the new yorker magazine was able to snag a helicopter with enough gasoline located in a hanger with no electricity to take some amazing shots of a city left in both the dark and the light.  the images are really beautiful and almost chilling at the same time.  (here's a link to more photos from his late night flight over the city)

photo by Iwan Baan for The New Yorker
(click for a larger view)

this place is my home and to see so many living in the dark was heart wrenching and humbling, especially as i sat in my home with power, hot water, heat and gas to cook.  i was truly amazed at the sheer number of people ready, willing and able to help our fellow new yorkers who were suffering in the dark.  the red cross literally had to turn away volunteers and donations because they didn't have the man power to sort the huge inventory of coats, blankets, clothes and shoes.  the hardest part was the locations that needed these items the most were still inhabitable or unable to be accessed because of the sheer destruction of our landscape.  

i'm not one to push my beliefs or agenda on anyone, but if you are able to donate to the red cross's efforts to help those who have lost everything, i urge you to do so.  please help any way that you can.  the website is www.redcross.org.

alfie boe and the fan with a cane

netter and i went to see alfie boe in boston.  it was a fun concert but i must say the demographic of our fellow concert goers was somewhat older than netter and i.  like seriously older than us.  at one point alfie went into the aisles of the crowd to allow his fans to sing along with him.  when the time came for him to get back up on the stage he started running down the aisle to the stage steps.  only problem was that there was a woman who had basically made a personal wall in front of the steps so that alfie could only get up the steps if he went through her or around her.  well he did a combo and the lady ended up on the ground after doing a 360 degree turn.  the unfortunate part is that this woman was also employing the use of a cane.  poor alfie.  he took down a late middle aged woman who used a cane.  but at the same time the blame for the sprawled position can be placed solely on the fan who made a personal wall in front of the steps.  i mean if you plant yourself in front of a man running down hill then you kinda have to be prepared to end up thrown to the ground, cane or no cane.

one at a time is always best

have you ever sat down and let your mind wander until it settles on all the things you want to change about yourself or your life?  no?  well it seems like my mind likes to torture me in this way by showcasing what i want to change but because of laziness it hasn't happened yet.  i guess for most people this type of self reflection happens around the month of december and generally towards the date of the 31st of that month.  well i say why wait?  jump into the deep end of resolution to change and be a bit better right now!  who's with me?  anybody?  somebody?  one body?

there is so much pressure at new years to do all of the change immediately.  that just seems like a full proof way to burn yourself out on changing things that have been routine for probably years upon years.  instead let's take one thing at a time.  much more manageable that way.  and hopefully if the concentration is on one thing at a time then it will become habit so it is already in effect when the next month's change happens.  takes some of the worry out of whether or not you'll revert to your old self and old habits.

so now out of the many things that i want to change or learn do i choose for november....hmmm...i'm going to choose...