Things keep happening
In addition to my latent parenting angst, an old & good & amazing friend died suddenly over the weekend. He had a heart attack. He always joked that he was going to die of an early heart attack because of his overflowing spleen (he was a crusader for justice and a man of integrity, but also a bit of a queen) and it turned out not to be a joke. We went to university together and of course had hundreds of friends in common, so the phone and the facebook and the email have been humming and convulsing with VERY STRONG FEELINGS.
I don't mean to sound ironic or uncaring, I just find it hard to balance my own emotions with other people's. Donald was a man who inspired strong love in people, but he also had a string of much younger boyfriends, and he died in the presence of one of them. This young guy understandably freaked out and didn't know who to tell and so it took a while for friends to find out. And the person who first learned of it was not super close to him, and when she called other people who considered him central to their lives they reacted very strongly, even claiming that she must have made it up, so she is upset, and then I posted a sort of obit to facebook and she made me take it down (well, I agreed to take it down, because she was so distraught, and so worried that other people might have heart attacks themselves after reading it) and then she apologized and everyone was up all night. And I am concerned about our mutual friend who totally loved him so much (in a loving friend kind of way) and is clearly just devastated but not responding to my texts.
And every time I try to talk to people on my new iPhone (from my house) they sound like they are underwater. I think this is a Sprint problem & once I learn how to use the mic that won't be so much of an issue, but I haven't done that yet. I dedicated the morning to working out and cleaning a bunch of disgusting things out of my son's room. Then I took a nap. Now I guess I should focus on learning to use the iPhone. Once I cook something and make T bathe.
Ironically (is that the right use of this term?) I had a great day Saturday. I went to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is usually closed to the public, but was open over the Columbus Day weekend as part of a program called Open House NY, when you can visit non-public or members-only places. The Navy Yard has been around since the 18th century, but most of it was built between 1860-1945 (Civil War to WWII). It's just this amazing hodgepodge of buildings of different eras, and extraordinary views of Manhattan, and gigantic drydocks and huge manufacturing spaces. Plus there is an artists' studio program. In addition to being allowed access to areas that are usually closed, the artists had open studios as well. I took my iPhone and my little Canon and took tons of photos. Here's a selection:
Artist's dumpster
Beautiful frescoes by Fabio Salvatori on sheetrock -- I want one.
View from the 8th floor ladies' room (we only had time and energy to visit one building)
Building hodgepodge behind visitor's center
Front of visitor's center (image is of USS Brooklyn in drydock)
Empty drydock + view up the East River.
Midtown skyline & Williamsburgh Bridge.
Navy Yard themed bike rack
I don't mean to sound ironic or uncaring, I just find it hard to balance my own emotions with other people's. Donald was a man who inspired strong love in people, but he also had a string of much younger boyfriends, and he died in the presence of one of them. This young guy understandably freaked out and didn't know who to tell and so it took a while for friends to find out. And the person who first learned of it was not super close to him, and when she called other people who considered him central to their lives they reacted very strongly, even claiming that she must have made it up, so she is upset, and then I posted a sort of obit to facebook and she made me take it down (well, I agreed to take it down, because she was so distraught, and so worried that other people might have heart attacks themselves after reading it) and then she apologized and everyone was up all night. And I am concerned about our mutual friend who totally loved him so much (in a loving friend kind of way) and is clearly just devastated but not responding to my texts.
And every time I try to talk to people on my new iPhone (from my house) they sound like they are underwater. I think this is a Sprint problem & once I learn how to use the mic that won't be so much of an issue, but I haven't done that yet. I dedicated the morning to working out and cleaning a bunch of disgusting things out of my son's room. Then I took a nap. Now I guess I should focus on learning to use the iPhone. Once I cook something and make T bathe.
Ironically (is that the right use of this term?) I had a great day Saturday. I went to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is usually closed to the public, but was open over the Columbus Day weekend as part of a program called Open House NY, when you can visit non-public or members-only places. The Navy Yard has been around since the 18th century, but most of it was built between 1860-1945 (Civil War to WWII). It's just this amazing hodgepodge of buildings of different eras, and extraordinary views of Manhattan, and gigantic drydocks and huge manufacturing spaces. Plus there is an artists' studio program. In addition to being allowed access to areas that are usually closed, the artists had open studios as well. I took my iPhone and my little Canon and took tons of photos. Here's a selection:
Artist's dumpster
Beautiful frescoes by Fabio Salvatori on sheetrock -- I want one.
View from the 8th floor ladies' room (we only had time and energy to visit one building)
Building hodgepodge behind visitor's center
Front of visitor's center (image is of USS Brooklyn in drydock)
Empty drydock + view up the East River.
Midtown skyline & Williamsburgh Bridge.
Navy Yard themed bike rack