at the library

i met my knitting friend, evie, at the main branch of the library this afternoon.

we met at the cafe/gift shop to catch up on things, and to swap some yarn. i gave her a few skeins of light blue/grey bulky yarn and received two skeins of turquoise bulky yarn (knit collage). she's flying to london in a week to visit a friend, and then on to lisbon for her archival work.

after saying goodbye, i decided to view the library's current exhibit titled . . 

"the awe of the arctic - a visual history." they highlighted several exhibitions to the arctic accompanied by beautiful photographs, lithographs, woodcuts and engravings.

sledging over hummocky ice, april 1853

i was intrigued with the section about women in the arctic . . 

photos by jette bang, danish, 1914-1964 (children in greenland)

"greenland", one of several books she authored that included her photos.

hand-drawn map, 1908, by agnes deans cameron, canadian, 1863-1912.

in the winter of 1908, journalist agnes deans cameron planned a journey from edmonton, alberta to the arctic ocean. however, she needed a magazine to commit to publishing her account, so she sent a "pitch" package to the editor of the century illustrated monthly magazine highlighting her credentials and explaining the significance of her expedition. the map above was included.

agnes dean cameron's travelogue of her adventures in the arctic, the new north.

the book pictured above i would like to read, eine fraue erlebt die polarnacht, (a woman experiences the polar night). it's by austrian writer, christiane ritter (1897-2000) (she lived to be 103!) who traveled with her husband to a remote, uninhabited part of svalbard, norway in 1933. her writing encompasses her time alone in the their hut while he was off hunting. she shares her fears that changed into a deep appreciation for the beauty of the landscape and a strength that came from being alone for such an extended period of time in nature.

photos from my walk home:

bryant park

the sign says "lawn closed - the new sod is establishing its roots."

m and j trimming!

i bought colorful buttons . . 

and large snaps.

meeting greg at las mariscos for fish and shrimp tacos . . 

and guacamole and chips.

it was a good long walk and i should sleep well tonight!

finding grumpy in the fashion district

chanda had one more cavity to be filled at the dentist today, and i had a crown to be glued in (they're so expensive, it's depressing). afterwards, we walked to 39th street to purchase more grey silk for her modern dance group piece and noticed that cafe grumpy had opened a new location. the barista said that they've been there for two years already . . it's funny how time flies and you don't visit a neighborhood for awhile!

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for the fabric, we stopped at weaver's just up the block from grumpy. weavers is a fabric store we've been visiting for ten years. they used to be on the north side of the street, but moved to a smaller and less expensive lcoation on the south side about five years ago. the owner and his wife are so sweet and always remember us, which amazes me. they have two children and one is hoping to obtain a masters degree in psychology at hunter college, while the younger is in tenth grade. unfortunately, they're being pushed out of their current location again. the landlord has rented it to a restaurant. the fashion district is being targeted by developers for luxury housing and is in danger of being pushed out to sunset park. costume designers and theatre directors are upset, saying it's important to be near each other. these developers are so greedy and it's terrible how much power they have in nyc. i think they pay off the mayor and the governor. we have so many empty storefronts because the rents go up so high, the current tenants can't afford it and then the spaces sit empty . . for years! it doesn't make sense. wouldn't it be better to get some rent, even if it's lower, than to sit empty? i do know that the landlords get tax breaks when they can't rent. can it really be more worth it for them to not have tenants?

here's an article about the garment district and the struggle they are having to keep their space in manhattan.

in the evening i met my friends kendall and janine to celebrate janine's birthday.

we ended up walking along the river . .

downtown to battery park . .

and to walkers on north moore street, a place we used to frequent when we studied acting together on vestry street at the actors's space, with alan langdon.

at the fabric store

our friends will be flying to austria in a few days, and morgana has asked for fabric.

chanda and i were rather comical texting her pics of what we thought she might like . . and then waiting for her answer. it was very late where she was . . 1 am in the morning and everyone was asleep so she couldn't facetime much to c's disappointment.

fabric shopping and the opera

this afternoon, morgana, chanda and i went fabric shopping to weaver's on 39th street, and m and j trimming on sixth avenue. on the way home they noticed this building on broadway around 36th street. lombardy dresses is painted on the side of it . . i suppose it's an old factory building. my grandmother (my dad's mom) used to do piecework for men's suits and ladies' dresses. my dad would pick up the material for her from this neighborhood and take it home to her in the bronx. he would also bring the finished garment back to the factory for her.

at 8:15 pm, morgana and i left the apartment for the met opera. her friend, yves, was singing as a midshipman. his name even got to be on the poster (first name, bottom right). he sang beautifully. it was fun to see him.

we were up in the nosebleed section. it was good we had the binoculars, otherwise i wouldn't have been able to see him very well!