Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 1920s, book, Harlem, jazz, literature, newness, Oprah, optimism, subway, Toni Morrison on July 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
God Bless Your Grace on Thee, Originally uploaded by lorenzodom
I’m crazy about this City.
Daylight slants like a razor cutting the buildings in half. In the top half I see looking faces and it’s not easy to tell which are people, which the work of stonemasons. Below is shadow where any blasé thing takes place: [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged book, Broadway, cities, exploring, Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino, linguistics, New Amsterdam, quotes, sense, Venice on June 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
, Originally uploaded by downtownbrown
by Italo Calvino is general travel reading – it’s word pictures of fantastical cities, told to Genghis Khan by Marco Polo. He was talking about Venice, really, but he was also talking about exploring, & how sense is made:
The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged book, Dominican Republic, Junot Díaz, Kim Hill, new Jersey, novels, Oscar Wilde, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao on April 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
She awakened just as in her dreams some ciegos were boarding a bus, begging for money, a dream from her Lost Days. The guapo in the seat next to her tapped her on the elbow.
Señorita, this is not something you’ll want to miss.
I’ve already seen it, she snapped. And then, calming herself, she peered out [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged book, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote on September 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
He picked a telephone out of the air and held it to his ear. “She says, this is Holly, I say honey, you sound far away, she says I’m in New York, I say what the hell are you doing in New York when it’s Sunday and you got the test tomorrow? She says I’m [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged book, Jeanette Winterson, maps, Paul on September 15, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Sexing the Cherry was the first of Jeanette Winterson’s books I read, years ago, and I fell in love with its beautiful language and the strands of fairytale and quantum physics and history woven into something that seemed completely new. I’ve since read most of everything she’s written, much of it more than once, and [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged book, city child, Eloise, hotel, rawther, the Plaza, turtle on September 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Plaza Sign, Originally uploaded by Trish Mayo/mayotic
NYC fact learned from Eloise: The Plaza is the only hotel in New York that will allow you to have a turtle.
Must see if my parents still have the books. Or might buy The Ultimate Edition.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Australian, book, lee tulloch, Shakespeare, surf on September 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Didn’t find Fabulous nobodies at the library, but instead borrowed Lee Tulloch’s Two Shanes. Also set in NYC, it’s the intertwining story of two Australians, both called Shane (or Cheyne) & various New Yorkish characters who, well, intertwine with them in various ways. Americans can’t tell Australians apart so well, and a comedy of errors [...]
