I guess it's Summer.

Tonight I made my first 311 call to complain about the noise of my neighbor's party.

The music, blaring since 8PM, is so loud that even with all of the windows closed, the fan and noise machine on, and the TV turned up as loud as I can stand, still makes watching TV nearly impossible and definitely prevents me from hearing myself think.

I guess that's just one more notch to add to the "True NewYorker" belt.

Friday Night Fight

For some, taxis are a way of life in The City.
For me, they are the way to make me think about ending someone's life in The City.

Sure, now you can get a cabbie to take you into Brooklyn, but don't expect that he'll go out of his way to:
1. Get you there in one piece.
2. Not abduct you or hold you hostage.*
2. Listen to your directions.
3. Keep his displeasure about doing his job to himself.

Just your average Friday Night Fight in The City.


*Yes, I was actually abducted/held hostage by a cab driver. It was during the Transit Strike and it's a story for another time.

Heh!

The NY Times makes news. Literally.

I guess, when a Parisian decides to scale your building, you needn't even break a sweat fact-checking.

Nighttime sounds

There has been rhythmic singing/chanting and drum playing coming from, I believe, somewhere on Winthrop Street for the past hour or so.

It is raining and the little red house behind us has all of its lights on and its porch doors open and over the rain I hear singing and clapping.

I don’t know if it’s a church or not but whatever it is, it is an jubilant offering to the Universe.

Morning Sounds.

Thinks that there's little better than waking up to the sound of birds chirping.

Even if those birds are the pigeons in the coop next door.

Neat-o!

My boss' office on the 16th floor has quite a lovely view of Governor's Island.
Last week, while waiting for her to sign something, I looked out of the windows (as I am want to do) and saw something new along the coastline.

I saw scaffolding.
I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought that it might have been the beginnings of a ramp for speed boating but then I realized that the scaffolding was too high and close to the shore for that to be so and that it would just be plain irresponsible to do any kind of speed boating event in that particular area of the harbor because it's quite busy.

And then I came across this article in the NYTimes explaing that Olafur Eliasson is going to be doing a waterfall installment and I could barely contain my excitement. This is going to be so awesome! Apparently, Mr. Eliasson doesn't hold much truck with Paul McCartney.

Visting these waterfalls is TOTALLY on my Summer To-Do List!

Afternoon Stroll.

Today I circumnavigated Prospect Park.

I walked down Flatbush from Empire to Grand Army Plaza and then back up Prospect Park West to Prospect Park Southwest to Parkside Avenue (okay, so I guess because I didn't walk on Ocean it wasn't totally a circumnavigation but I am counting it as such because I had to go back down Flatbush again later in the evening to meet A for dinner).


It's a really beautiful park and it was really interesting to see the change in the neighborhoods (both the people and the architecture).
Seeing the Library and the Arch on one end to the beautiful statues of the gates on the other ends, and the lake and the Parade Grounds really filled me with a love of the Park and of Brooklyn (or at least this part). I could live pretty much anywhere around the Park and be perfectly happy -and feel perfectly at home and at ease with The City.