journal
April 19, 2005
Saint Marks Pl. in the Spring
Mostly I love seasons, nature, cycles, and this is where I live so this is where I'm experiencing that. But I guess — in the snow series and this one — I'm also looking at the juxtaposition of nature with ultra-urban culture. (That sound like an artist explaining their work. Ick. These are just snapshots. Look at the pretty pictures, k?)
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Full entry: Saint Marks Pl. in the Spring
April 02, 2005
Shred what?
Proof that you can make a business of anything. The bigger question: What were they doing on St. Marks, a few miles from anything corporate? My guess is a paranoid consipracy theorist on my block decided mass shredding had to happen immediately.
Full entry: Shred what?
January 29, 2005
barn coats and neck warmers
Last week in NYC we had a blizzard with a foot of snow, single-digit temperatures and 50mph winds. It's funny. In Maine, that would be unexceptional, but down here it's just shy of the apocalypse. It's like when I was growing up in NY and would laugh when Southerners had freezing weather and an inch of snow and everything shut down and cars were sliding off the roads left and right. Now, having lived through a half dozen winters in Midcoast Maine, I watch fellow New Yorkers prepare for storms and cold with bemusement. Ya call this weather?! Sheesh. Also their understanding of cold weather dress is so uninformed. Every time I go out in sub-freezing weather here at least one if not several people say something about my being underdressed, when I'm the warmest one there. They all have...Full entry: barn coats and neck warmers
January 23, 2005
Saint Marks Place in the Snow
I always think it's cool when New York has a blizzard. People walk in the street, things slow down, people seem festive.
When I left earlier, around 6, the snow was falling hard, cars were slipping around -- it was cool, and I didn't have my camera. Later we were tromping around the Upper East Side throwing snowballs at each other and I didn't have my camera. Well, I took some when I finally got home at about 1am. The snow had calmed down, but it was still pretty.
Full entry: Saint Marks Place in the Snow
November 24, 2004
Holiday season
As I talk to friends and read blog entries about trips to visit family for Thanksgiving, and decompress from the visit I just had from my ex-wife on her own way to a Thanksgiving feast with her new partner's family, I'm struck by the fact that while I feel melancholy, it's not over my family being gone, it's over not having a partner to share the holidays with.
I'm a sentimental ninny -- I will go on a Christmas window outing every year, decorate a tree, see Handel's Messiah, and generally enjoy strolling around my East Village neighborhood streets where trees and lampposts are strewn with strings of little white lights and boutique after boutique offers the perfect gift for that hard-to-get-a-gift-for friend.
The nip in the air, the smell of soup, fogged windows from warm bodies inside: all put a smile on my face. For me, the holiday season never led to suicidal states. It was always a Good month, annoyingly interrupted by a few one-day family events. Those days could be horrific, but I didn't generally blame the season for them.
Family holidays have faded into background memory. My family of semi-choice is more fun. But this year, despite my life being good, and despite its being the fourth holiday season in a row that I'm single, it feels different. I think the fact that my life is good may be the reason my singleness is more problematic. These last few years, I have given the holidays far less recognition -- it's just not the same to go window watching or see a concert without a partner. This year for the first time, I'm feeling not OK with that dearth in my life. At the same time, there's a bittersweet taste to it -- I like that I'm feeling something, even if it's unsatisfying. I think that's a good sign.
-- Philip F. Rose 2004
Full entry: Holiday season
November 20, 2004
lobbying Congress this week
Full entry: lobbying Congress this week
November 01, 2004
Martha?
My god-awful attempt at a Martha Stewart costume:
Full entry: Martha?
October 28, 2004
Powerful important anti-Bush video and song from Eminem
The powerful anti-Bush lyrics in Eminem's last album went largely unnoticed. But there's no mistaking it this time. With a week before the election, Eminem has released Mosh, along with an incredibly powerful video. Moby, yes the same Moby of whom that little imp Eminem once said in a song "You thirty-six year old baldheaded fag, blow me." Yes, Moby has called this new Eminem song and video the best thing that's been done all year. I could not find a downloadable copy of the awesome video, but here are links for a streaming version in Windows and RealAudio that will work. They're the official ones from eminem.com. You must watch this video: Windows Media Player Realmedia Here are some of the lyrics: All you can see is a sea of people some white and some black Don't matter what...Full entry: Powerful important anti-Bush video and song from Eminem
August 07, 2004
Watching Watching the Friedmans
Recently, I saw Watching the Friedmans. Immediately after that, I put on The Mating Game, a "60s" romantic comedy (it was from 59 actually) with Tony Randall and Debbie Reynolds. To me, these movies and movie experiences side by side offer a perfect case for asking whether the point of life is to be happy and if so what choices one might make. Why the hell did I submit myself to the ugliness of Watching the Friedmans? I felt dirty and sad afterwards. Watching The Mating Game I was between amused and laughing out loud. Tell me, why would one choose the former over the latter? Life is hard enough, filled with enough ugliness. I don't need to add to it by looking inside the minds of sick people that the world would be better off without. Give me farce....Full entry: Watching Watching the Friedmans