Waiting to Get There. Usually on the A/C/E in Chelsea, New York City.

The local music fest in Sunnyside, Queens   A friend of ours invited us to a music festival in Queens, it was a fundraiser for their local park. So we go, there's a whole bunch of us. This photo above is from early on in the evening, it got a little wall-to-wall blankets as the night wore on. Mostly the crowd was families and lots of sneakers and practical clothing chosen for comfort and warmth and walking home with a backpack full of lawn gear. I say this as foreshadowing. I will also point out that the Chelsea area of Manhattan where we live, has been, less so now, but has historically been known for its very out gay community. Marchers line up for the Pride parade in front of our building, and it doesn't matter who you are, you know when it's Bear Week let me tell you.  When we first moved in, they'd call 8th Avenue near our building "the runway" and it sure was. The outfits you could spot on the weekends were legendary. While I'm on this topic, I reme...

A major component of all my museum-going endeavors is to calculate when to show up to avoid the worst of the crowds. I occasionally succeed. There's just too many variables, including but not limited to: - Whether school is in or out. Both can be a problem, meaning school field trips vs. families on vacation or coming into the city for the day. - The weather. Again, it's not a clean if/then. If it's sunny, you'd think people would do outdoor things and not be at a museum. But also, if it's sunny, people leave their homes for an outing, such as the Met. Definitely though if it's raining, there are more tourists at almost all the museums. - The time of day. But just when I think I have the perfect arrival time all figured out, I get there and there's a line out the door. So I have no idea with this one. Anyway, I say all this to say, when Tom and I popped in to see the huge and extremely popular exhibit of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollack 's work... it was...

The three jewels of Refuge . I enjoyed learning about this! I decided to take a three-part class after work called "Taking Refuge" that was billed as helping to find peace in a crazy world. It's at a meditation center. As with most of my calendar-related decisions, I RSVP'ed yes because: 1) I can walk there. 2) It's at a convenient time. A minor consideration is often "did I actually read the whole description thoroughly." (see prior Day 2 post ). Apparently I thrive on not quite knowing what's going on. So I go trucking uptown to make it in time for the first class, and turn on the cross street. This is in that weird no man's land between midtown and Chelsea. I pass a couple of those handbag stores selling, you know Pradda and Louis Vuittin. They're closed with the metal security doors down because it's after hours and dark. I pass a closed lunch place and a bunch of old dark office buildings and sign for a pottery studio on the 8th floo...

 I wondered why she was not responding to my texts.

So right it’s true my knickers were in a twist about something at work. A remote colleague advised me over Zoom that maybe it would be good to go out and "touch grass." She said it's a really great way to get grounded and set one's knickers aright.  Fine! I had limited time before my next annoying meeting, but I set out down the street. This is not grass. It's also covered by netting so hard to touch. This is grass, although the ornamental kind. If I'm not standing on the grass, but lean over and take a swat at it, does this count for grounding purposes? I am way too lazy to go up on the highline, even though I recall there being some grass up there. But i forget exactly where. There is grass on that pier over there, but it is far away and also suspended above the river. If I touch grass that is not planted in actual ground that is connected to the earth... idk. This feels incorrect. And I am not in the right pants for a quarter mile sprint.  More grass in a r...

PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE THERMOSTAT Yeah, when you need a sign because everyone really really wants to touch the thermostat.