Month: April 2011

I literally ran by the Capitol Building on my way to the Library of Congress. I had only four hours to browse three collections and I almost made it. I didn’t get to three boxes, but that’s okay. I got to the main ones I wanted to see.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that made me scream. There was one long letter though, that I didn’t stop to read—I was just racing through the boxes, photographing everything that looked like it might lead to an interesting story—and maybe there will be something good in that letter.

Still, I had to go down there and see. It would have driven me crazy wondering if there was something in there I could have really used. Next week, Harvard!

Well, my phone call with my new editor went very well. She really likes it, and she does want changes, but of the “more of this” variety, and none of the “less of this” and more importantly no major over-hauling. So yay!!

I’m running down to the Library of Congress to check a few archives. I have to get there and back in a day and I’ve been emailing with a librarian to work out the logistics. I’m literally going to jump on a bus and take a 4 hour plus ride to DC, run over to the Performing Arts Reading Room, take pictures like mad (they won’t let you copy older materials, but you can photograph them) then run back to Union Station and jump on a bus back home. I’ll be leaving the house at 7:20am and getting back around 10:30pm. Quite the whirlwind of a day!

A semi-secret garden in the West Village. Where did I see this? Morton Street? But this is looking down what was probably an alley leading to a stable for horses.

For two reasons, maybe three. First, after trying on 16,000 pairs of jeans, and returning what I’d bought two times to the Levi’s store, and three times to the Lucky store, I now have two pairs of new jeans. I ended up with the Lola Skinny straight jeans from Lucky, and their Classic Rider. I got the Classic Riders in a size that’s a little too big because one size down was too small. So I’m going to have to get them tailored, which is a drag, but what are you going to do?

Now I’m hoping I can get these jeans to last me more than a year? Maybe two? I’m sure the people at the Lucky store on 5th Avenue don’t want to see me for a while.

Second reason life is good again, my camera is back!!! What did I shoot first? Dogs.

My maybe third reason I’ll know after I speak to my new editor to see what she thought of what I sent her. This is a VERY scary phone call for me. I’m going to have to just bite the bullet and call her. I already know she doesn’t hate it, she emailed me, so I shouldn’t be feeling this scared, but I am.

There was a great piece in the Times a while back, something about “how to get the most out of your technology.” One of the things it suggested doing was fine tuning and calibrating your HDTV. They said:

“Order Spears & Munsil High-Definition Benchmark Blu-ray Disc Edition [Blu-ray], a DVD, for $25. Its regimen of tests and patterns will help you adjust your TV’s settings to more natural levels. After you use it, you may want to fine-tune the TV some more, but you can do so knowing you are getting the most out of your display.”

I wonder if I should do it. Has anyone ever done something like this with their tv?

When I get my camera back I’m going to spend the day taking pictures. Maybe I should plan a nice NYC tour, and visit a bunch of spots I’ve never been to. I took this uptown a month or so ago.

The picture below was taken on the stage at SOB’s, one of the proudest moments of my life. For people who haven’t read Waiting For My Cats to Die, I learned how to drum in response to my mid-life crisis. I was so terrified the first time I tried to hide in the back, but there wasn’t really much of a “back” to hide in. But soon after I always wanted to be in front. I liked being closer to the audience and watching them dance.

Before I forget about it completely, this is a recording of someone reading a letter from a former slave [the recording I linked to was removed] to his former master. I learned about it from a tweet, and there’s been some discussion about whether or not the letter was really written by the former slave. The last I read the consensus seemed to be forming that it was.