Urban poetry

It doesn't get much more urban than this: Times Square on a winter's evening this past February.

I seldom carry a real camera around any more, and can't remember why I happened to have it with me that day. Maybe I thought I'd take something I could use in my class this semester—the theme was photography—but it took me three months to get around to looking at the pictures and classes ended last Saturday.

Saturday reflections

A store window near Times Square this week.

Standing with Ukraine

A demonstrations in Times Square last night. Several huge Ukrainian flags were draped across Duffy Square, while the demonstrators sang in Ukrainian. It brought tears to my eyes.

Unfortunately I couldn't linger, or try to get a better picture. On Tuesdays I drive to Brooklyn in the morning, meet with the professors of the class where I'm a TA, lead a half hour session on writing and grammar, then observe the rest of the class. When class ends, between 3 and 3:30, I retrieve my car, drive back to Manhattan, do some last minute homework while eating an early dinner, then walk to the Upper East Side for my evening class. I usually get home a little after 10, take a shower, crawl into bed and stare at something stupid on television until I'm sleepy.

I'm always rushed walking to my evening class, but it's the only exercise I get all day, and it clears my head. Unfortunately it means I can't take the time to enjoy any interesting things I pass along the way.

Urban poetry

Times Square is mostly empty, but I'm relieved to see that the Naked Cowboy is taking appropriate precautions.

Welcome to the working week

New Year's morning in Times Square and all that pesky confetti to clean up.

I don't really have working weeks any more (hurray!) but I'm taking care of so much paperwork at the moment, plus planning upcoming trips, that it feels like a job. Though fortunately I don't have to write a report on my progress or sit through a meeting explaining what I'm doing instead of doing it.

Urban poetry

I have never been even a little bit tempted to go to Times Square on New Year's Eve; it's one experience that I'm perfectly content to experience secondhand. (I can hear the crowd cheering from my nice warm apartment on the rare occasion that I am actually awake at midnight.)  But I do love walking through the morning after, watching the cleanup of confetti and party hats.

It rained last night and I slept late this morning, and I didn't even leave the apartment until mid-afternoon. Surprisingly, there was still plenty of confetti -- the winds were obviously making cleanup a challenge.

Finally

By every standard -- personal, professional, political -- this has been one long freaking year. It's hard to find anything good to say about being as unwell as I was for so much of it, but the fact that I spent months unable to follow current events with my usual passion was definitely a blessing.

Of course I couldn't muster much passion for anything beyond my bed for most of that time either. Being sick was a huge, tedious black hole in the history of this year, but I am bloody grateful for every second all the same. I still managed to see penguins and icebergs, medieval masterpieces, and mountain gorillas, even while spending far more time learning about all the varieties of cardiac dysfunction than I'd ever dreamed possible.

Here are the preparations in progress in Times Square earlier today. I might wish that 2019 will be a little less dramatic than its predecessor, but at least I feel ready to take it on, whatever adventures it brings.

Party life on a cold planet

Here's one more: confetti frozen into the asphalt on 42nd Street.

The morning after

Times Square confetti blown against a revolving door near 42nd Street in New York this morning.

Happy New Year, everyone! It was single digits when I was walking to the office this morning, and it did make me wish, a little, just for a second, that I was going somewhere other than Antarctica on my vacation.

On the bright side, it's actually warmer in Antarctica than it is here right now. Plus, there are penguins.

Urban poetry

The weather outside may be frightful, but nothing deters the hordes of tourists in Times Square.

Saturday reflections

Times Square, with the color saturation turned up to 11.

Urban poetry

I'm ready for the end of summer weather, but I will miss the dancers in Times Square -- though not threading my way through the crowds of tourists surrounding them.

Welcome to the working week

Here's a trifecta of faces from Times Square to start off the week: a dancer, a security guard, and a pretzel vendor.

Urban poetry

I took this with my phone on my way to work this morning: getting ready to greet the summer solstice with yoga in Times Square.

Urban poetry

Some of the Times Square costumed characters posing with a baby while the parents took pictures. I love the expression on the kid's face.

I was in Chicago for a conference this week, and I had intended to come up with something very Chicago-y for urban poetry day. But I had very little time to get outside and walk around -- once the sessions finished for the day I had to spend most of the evening answering email and doing my regular job -- and I've had no chance to look at the pictures I did take. 

I got in very late last night, after thunderstorms shut down La Guardia for most of yesterday. I sat around O'Hare for five hours before getting on the plane, then we sat at the gate for another two hours while we waited to find out if we'd be allowed to take off. (It wasn't just that no planes were being allowed to land there -- La Guardia usually shuts down at midnight and they had to get approvals to keep the airport open.) We finally got in around 3 am, and I've been cross-eyed from lack of sleep all day.

So Chicago can wait. In the meantime, here's a grumpy baby, brought to you by Grumpy Kathleen.

More urban poetry

Because sometimes even Lady Liberty needs a little wardrobe adjustment.

Urban poetry

Liberty contemplates the implications of a recent phone conversation.

This is one of the characters who pose for pictures with tourists in Times Square.

Urban poetry

Another photo from New Years morning: no confetti on this side street near Times Square, just these three party hats dancing in the wind.

The party's over

I walked through Times Square on my way to the office yesterday morning. It was breezy so the air was still full of confetti hours after the ball dropped.

New York, New York, it's a wonderful town

I took this picture with my phone on my way to work yesterday. It made me smile, in a week in which I desperately needed all the smiles I could get.

It's a reminder that some things never change -- the Bronx is still up and the Battery down, and sailors still want to see Times Square.