Yeah, I don’t feel like pre writing a post for Monday. I’ll be down in Florida visiting the mother. Going down for my father’s unveiling even though it hasn’t been a full year and even though he’s in a wall 4 stories up. Don’t ask. Yes, I took a picture at the funeral. Right after my mother made a scene about not wanting to throw Israeli soil on the coffin because she’s American, not Israeli. Right after she made my husband find some Florida dirt and cousin Linda started gossiping about it.
I’m going to bring my Flip video with me. I bought the new toy months ago and never used it. Some family members might have conniptions if I start taping the unveiling, but I’ll try to get some good footage of the crazy Florida Jews somehow. I’ve gotta start using that camera.
Anyway, Happy Monday. I’ll be schvitzing down south with my goyishe mensche and my meshugine mispokhe.
* Yiddish
I’ve been playing on NYC Subway lately. The site is too extensive to sum up in a few paragraphs. Let’s just say you have to check it out for yourselves. There are exterior and interior shots of historic subway cars, abandoned stations, old tokens, you name it. If you ever wanted to know everything there is to know about the NYC Subway system, here it is. And if that’s not enough, there are several links to other sites.
My memories only date back to the early 70′s (maybe a little late 60′s). I remember the large tokens with a cut out Y, colorful graffiti covered trains, absolutely NO air conditioning(!) and even a few wicker seat cars leftover from earlier days. And a ride was 35 cents.
Oh yes, my father worked for the Transit Authority and to this day my mother holds a grudge against Ed Koch for the transit strike. I didn’t pay much attention. I was too interested in Starsky and Hutch at the time.
What are your earliest subway memories? Bet you’re not as old as I am!
I just remember a couple of leftover trains.
I just swiped this video from Kinetic Carnival. It was too good to pass up for my own blog.
My Grandma Clara was a young girl living in Brooklyn around the turn of that century. I inherited her scrapbooks and have loads of images of the family spending time at their summer home in Cape May. This footage reminded me that I have to start scanning those photos!
Enjoy.
You know those goofy home shows that take place in school auditorium or civic centers? Yeah, well, the Architectural Digest Home Show is probably slightly better than those.
This year’s show takes place at Pier 94 starting on March 26th. Apart from the exhibitors, there are design and culinary seminars and a sustainability conference.
Dude, you should go.
Add Drywall to the List of Bad Chinese Imports. Charles and Hudson
Reopening a Brooklyn Jail? City Rooms
Brooklyn is now Groovalicious. Creative Times
Springtime Table Settings (something I’ll never actually do). Hooked on Houses
Guest Bedrooms. Door 16
Those burly tattooed angels over at Rescue Ink are up to some good again. They’ve acquired an ambulance from an anonymous donor and want to pimp it out (or just make it run) so they can use it as an emergency pet mobile. This will be a hospital on wheels, not merely an ambulance.
The PETT-mobile will also be used to provide veterinary service to the pets of the elderly and home bound, as well as being on call for their Trap Neuter Release program.
This of course, takes money. Warning: The donation page has some disturbing photos. I hope these dogs had happy new beginnings.
And speaking of happy new beginnings, check out their adoption page once you’ve finished digging in your pockets.
A big Bed Stuy welcome for Save Bedford Stuyvesant, the new kid on the block! The blogger writes about the history and architecture of the southern tip of the neighborhood, an area folks are trying to get landmarked. Why this blog exists? “To show why it is important to safeguard and preserve the aesthetic, and cultural heritage of Bedford Stuyvesant Historic Districts.”
SBS focuses on Bedford Corners, which has actually been around for centuries and is not the figment of a realtor’s imagination. It’s my neck of the woods, so I had a good time reading about my neighbor’s homes around the corner.
I’m all for getting the landmarking….absolutely! Hypocritically, I must say that I have work to be done on the exterior of my house and I plan on doing that before there’s a huge hassle with landmarks.
Save Bed Stuy joins Bed Stuy Blog and Bed Stuy Banana as the third “strictly neighborhoody” blog.
Our buddy Andrew is a high end contractor who charges sick prices we couldn’t even dream of affording. He gets gazillions of dollars to work on opulent palaces. That was before the collapse of the world economy.
I was chatting with Andrew the other day and he needs work. He hasn’t had a contract in awhile, yeah, because of the economic situation, but mainly because he took time off to sell his house and buy another. And renovate the new home before moving in.
I don’t really know what Andrew’s company, Anglo Inscape normally charges for jobs. He and his employees are highly skilled, meticulous craftspeople. They do specialized, quality work. But Andrew is ready to set his ego aside and charge less because he just wants to get to work again.
Now, I’m not saying he’ll be as cheap as grabbing a day laborer off the street, but it’s possible that this high end contractor might be charging mid range prices now. It can’t hurt to ask. You heard it here that you don’t have to be intimidated by him.
Sometimes it pays to stick around Beacon on weekends. We did very well at the tag sale, thanks for asking. On top of that, I met a few cool people that I didn’t know existed.
Two of those people were Stephen and Patrick, the guys behind Big Gay Hudson Valley. If you haven’t heard of them yet, that’s because the site is brand spankin’ new. And they seem to have quite the following already!
BGHV blogs about local events and resources including my favorite….food and drink. You don’t gotta be gay to enjoy a good meal!
I found out from reading their blog that it’s been five years since the gay New Paltz marriages. I lived near Kingston at the time and sneaked in to the roped off family section to photograph the event. Had it up on my photography website all these years. (Mainly because I haven’t updated that website.) It turns out one of the couples married that day were good friends of Stephen and Patrick.
Small gay world, huh?
There’s only a week and a day left to “shop” at the Free Store on Nassau Street. The project, which opened last month, is the brainchild of artists Athena Robles and Anna Stein. It’s funded in part by The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) and The September 11th Fund.
Although you may walk in and take something without putting in, you’re encouraged to drop off. Obviously, if nobody worked on the barter system, the store would’ve been empty the first day. Word is there is still plenty of merchandise.
More info at Free NYC or Artlog. If you want to read something really funny, check out the comments on the NY Post article. People getting all up in arms about the project. “Hippies!” “Commies!” “It’s Obama’s fault!” Good stuff.
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Perfect timing, Phyllis, I’m going to be blogging about cemeteries, memorials, and other landscapes for remembrance today. I look forward to your follow-up posts and I hope it’s a good reunion with mom and other relatives.
Comment by Naomi Sachs — March 21, 2009 @ 10:11 am
You really are too much.
Hope that your reunion and unveiling went well (not sure “well” is a great word…when we unveiled my dad’s — and he wasn’t even Jewish! — a year later I was bawling like a baby)…and that you didn’t schvitz too much.
Comment by laura @ the shore house — March 26, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
As usual, there was too much family drama to get upset about my dad. It was a nice ceremony though, a “healing” experience.
Comment by RH — March 27, 2009 @ 8:28 am
You and my Fiance would get along sooooo well.
Comment by Renovation Therapy — March 29, 2009 @ 3:59 am
WhadIsay?
Comment by RH — March 29, 2009 @ 9:20 am