A blog about New York City, my books, and my cats. Mostly.
Having forced me to move my laptop off the desk and onto my lap, and to put my coffee way off the left, making it difficult to reach but safe from being knocked over, Finney can rest and clean himself, the sunlight spot now safely secured. A most evil job well done.
I had my first appointment with the NYU College of Dentistry, where I’m getting all my dental work done. I got there at 5, I left at around 7:45. They forewarn you that it’s going to take a lot of time. While treating you they are also training young dentists. When I asked the dentist doing my intake where she was from she said, “I am from a country called India,” like India might be a country I’d never heard of? I didn’t get any actual work done. It was all xrays and lots of questions and waiting. I go back Thursday to learn my “treatment plan.”
It was exhausting. The whole process also made me feel bad. I’m not sure why. I’m getting good care for affordable prices, I should feel great about it. But the process was demoralizing.
I walked around Gramercy Park on my way over, at least. That area is one small pocket of heaven. Every building surrounding the park is more beautiful than the next. I think I had a Gramercy Park ghost story in my book Unbelievable. I did! Here is is:
A 1942 piece titled Haunted New York told the story of a young family who had moved into a Gramercy Park apartment, not knowing that a girl had thrown herself from the window of what was now their 2-year-old son’s bedroom. One night the child woke up screaming. When they ran into the room he was pointing to the window crying, “The lady jumped out.”
I’ve been writing all morning, so yay! How long has it been since I could do that during the week?? Felt great!!
There’s a fire on the Harlem River Bridge right now. I wanted to go up to the roof to see if I could see the smoke. I probably can’t, but I didn’t go up because I’ve stopped feeding the pigeons and I can’t face them. If I go up there they’re going to flock around me thinking I’m about to put down food. Oh god. My heart is breaking a little. Why oh why can’t I be rich? Or a little less poor?
I’m sure this sign is a scam. It’s got to be an advertisement for a new store or something.
A good project needs your help!
NOTE: Deadline to help: Sept. 29th, 2010
Power Poetry will be the world’s first mobile/online youth poetry community dedicated to social activism. It’s a project designed to inspire and assist young people to use their words to change the world.
Power Poetry grew out of five years of work on the documentary, To Be Heard— the story of three Bronx high-school students who were among the first students to participate in Power Writing, a program created by Joe Ubiles, a former high school teacher, Amy Sultan, the organizer, and filmmaker Roland Legiardi-Laura.
Their new media project team, Roland Legiardi-Laura, Eddie Martinez, and George Weiner have been invited to the Good Pitch Forum in San Francisco. The Good Pitch Forum was co-created by The Sundance Foundation and BritDoc in order to put innovative projects in front of major supporters who are committed to help. It’s a wonderful opportunity, but the team doesn’t have the funds to get from NYC to San Francisco and cover 5 days of lodging, etc.
Please click on the link below to learn more about the project and how to donate if you can.
Please note: This is a ‘Kickstarter’ website project. The way Kickstarter works is that all the donators together must pledge enough to equal the entire amount needed or none of the pledges will be accepted and the project wont get any support. People have already pledged roughly $2,300 of the the $3,800 they need. There are only 10 days left to raise the remaining $1,500.
I’m trying to decide about going to the Frick. I’d have to leave soon-ish to take advantage of the “pay what you like” window. I’m leaning towards staying home, but I leaned toward staying home on a recent saturday and missed this <--- a particularly fun day of drumming with my old band, Manhattan Samba.
These are fish I felt sorry for the other day.
