Skate Park

Down at Chelsea Piers there is an alarming concrete playground for those

equipped with guts and kneepads and elbow pads and helmets

it's great fun to watch too

an adventure altogether

sort of like surfing on a very hard surface

you can even drop off the right angle in the middle......

When I think of all the totally unsuitable stuff we did as kids, this doesn't seem as alarming - in fact it looks like fun and I'm jealous. 

Happy Holi/Delhi/India

For weeks bright colored powders have been for sale in the markets for the celebration of Holi - a wonderfully fun holiday where everyone gets decorated/ smeared/ sprayed. Yesterday we saw a powder decoration on the street in Agra.

Today, as we entered Delhi, even the man taking the road toll was getting into the spirit of the festival.

It starts off rather slowly. Each person puts a little powder on your forehead and then you return the compliment.  Here's Robert with Ranash and his wife and daughters with the first color. Then come more colors........and more people

and the color gets tousled into people's hair and the kids get out their squirt guns. Some people's faces turn entirely blue, or red or yellow...............

In fact all generations get in on the fun............

Apparently, in the late evening it gets very wild indeed. 

Martha Stewart and an Anomaly

Yesterday morning, when I was walking back from having coffee with Judy, a pleasant young woman approached me and asked if I'd like to see a taping of the Martha Stewart show.

Since I have never seen inside a TV studio, I said yes.

So after lunch I went and joined the cheery fellow attendees on 26th Street.

Many were from out of town and had dressed up nicely.

Some had initially arrived at 7:30 in the morning.

Everyone was very good spirits..........

 
...including James the young man in charge of security at the front door.

There was a certain amount of waiting around as lots of chipper, competent young people with headsets and clip-boards rushed about efficiently. People chatted and Joey Kola kept up an antic banter.

People had photographs taken of themselves in front of MARTHA signs.

The studio audience numbered around a hundred and  people entered the studio according to marks on their tickets.

We were 'wrangled' wonderfully well.

"Anyone with a green stripe?"

"Anyone with a star?"

"Anyone with a pink stripe?"

Those of us who had none wondered what we lacked. A bit like not being chosen for a gym team in junior high.

The studio is large, well-appointed and surprisingly chilly.

We are instructed when to clap or say "Mmmm...."

Joey Kola laughs and dances about, reminding me of a Shakesperean clown.  He keeps up such a constant banter of terrible jokes we smile anyway. He promises extra cheery people prizes. 

At one point he plays catch with Martha Stewart using little tomatoes.

The show is taped, but, since it won't be aired until Friday, I'll keep you in suspense as to the content -- suffice it to say that the crafts section included use of a glue gun.

Here is Joey Kola posing with Michelle from Florida.

We were given little presents at the door.

A good time was had by all.

Preparations

There has been a flurry of blogchat recently about preparations for the festive season.

Some people go into utter overdrive and, as a result, make the rest of us feel woefully inadequate. For some reason two copies of Better Homes and Gardens(AKA Better Homes than Yours)are delivered to us each month which is odd since I did not order it.

Since it's there, I read it:"For chef Michel Nischan, his wife Lori, and their five children, the holiday feast is an easygoing affair. Heirloom dishes and crystal come out of the cypboards, and everyone gets involved in the cooking, barely needing to refer anymore to keepsake cookbooks and handed down recipes. Fresh, seasonal and locally grown ingredients take only uncomplicated roasting,baking and pan frying. "This is our tradition," Michel says, "sustaining the family with good food and honoring the farmers who grow it."

Good for him. Be honest. This sounds much too good to be true.  When was Christmas ever easygoing? When did everyone get involved?Hah, I say to you, as per Stanley Kowlaski. Hah!

I spent yesterday trying to copy our friend Motisi's camels. Mine would have to go to a camel chiropractor or have camel acupuncture.

I have a book with images of winter. Isn't the skeletal tree bliss?

These girls were decorating the windows of the High School for Fashion Industries on 24th Street. They were doing an excellent job and having fun too.

This couple are ready for a winter ball. The suds are from the window washer.

Fortunately, they  kept the dangerous tree and the equally dangerous secretary firmly chained up.

PS. For stunning, not to be missed  photos of the window displays uptown go to Susanna's blog here.

Reflections on the Blogosphere

I was having a conversation with a fellow New York blogger the other day and she said she might have to stop blogging for a while out of sheer exhaustion.
Unlike me, she is a very polite person who feels she has to go to all the other participants on a blogging event.....
Some now have several hundred.



Anyway, for people who come here to see New York stuff, this is the newly returned Intrepid.
Pretty amazing, seen from the bike path, and, I'm sure anywhere else.
Back to my theme.
I'm spending way too much time in the blogosphere.
Do I have a life? Sort of.
Lucky I don't have a day job...........



These are typical tall buildings at Columbus Circle when you come out of Central Park.
To revert, I read my e-mail and daily blogs in the morning.
I like blogs that entertain me and are upbeat. I like blogs that are quirky.
I read the comments too and am driven wild with fury sometimes.
No point in this whatsoever.



Nice fall rose hips in a garden way down town.
Having a blog and looking for things to share is sort of fun.
Then you have to look at the blog stats and wonder why a zillion people haven't commented today.
Did I offend someone?
Should I care if I did?
So and so hates me.
I am back in middle school.........Hm......



The shadow of a tree on the wall of FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) on 8th Avenue.
What should I say to my fellow blogger?
That blogging should be fun.........but it's sadly addictive.