cats and pumpkins

the sun has been very strong and i sometimes close the curtains to keep the room cool. it was chillier today and i wore a sweater out to an accupuncture appointment. we've been having facade work done on our apartment complex. they're drilling around the windows: replacing bricks and waterproofing. it'll be nice when it's finished. i stopped by kendall's on the way back from the appointment today to pick up her air purifier. it helps eliminate the odor from the waterproofing. they haven't done outside our windows yet . . i'm sure there will be dust. hopefully, the filter will help. 

some cute pumpkins i passed today on my way home from kendall's.

greg had a fever the other day, but is doing better now. he decided to work from home as he has a bad cough. we moved his desk into the living room to be away from the drilling and waterproofing, even though it's not directly outside our window (it is right next door on either side).

last night's dinner and a knitting project

 
dinner last night with greg at a mexican place on 7th avenue. i had enchiladas mole and greg had enchaladas tomatilla. both so good!

walking home . . it's been warm again. we still haven't put the heat on or changed to warmer blankets. i still have summer blankets on the beds!

the teal cotton sweater i made finally wound its way to austria and onto the sweet child it was meant for. morgan knitted the hat. as you can see both will fit for another month or two and then i think they will be too small. i'm glad the items made it in time to be worn! and maybe they will be handed down to another child in the future?

artist at work

 

a week or so ago i posted about nepalese artist sneha shrestha, imagine, and her installation at the rubin museum of art. here is a video in which she discusses creating her piece for the reimagine: himalayan art now exhibition.

sunday morning poem

the michaelmas daisy

last smile of the departing year,

thy sister sweets are flown;

thy pensive wreath is far more dear,

from blooming thus alone.

thy tender blush, thy simple frame,

unnoticed might have past;

but now thou contest with softer claim,

the loveliest and the last.

sweet are the charms in thee we find,

emblem of hope's gay wing;

'tis thine to call past bloom to mind,

to promise future spring.

by letitia elizabeth landon (1802-1838)

coffee get together

this morning greg and i were out early to have coffee with the different schools (parsons school of design, mannes music and theatre school and the lang school of liberal arts). they offered very good local coffee from the joe coffee shop directly next door, along with blueberry muffins and chewy chocolate chip cookies. we met a lovely couple who were there from colorado. their daughter was in her first year.

the different deans spoke today . . highlighting the camaraderie amongst the departments and how they encourage the students to take classes from all areas. it was fun and i'm so glad we participated. i think it's the first family get together they've had since covid. i really feel that the pace has accelerated and we are back to how things were before the pandemic arrived. it feels hectic to me! i have to make an effort to keep things simple.

i spoke with morgan today. they are very busy in london with working for the society for the blind and with a preschool. they've also been working on the new apartment that is a little damp but is slowly improving (two dehumidifiers have been installed and plaster has been taken down from the walls to allow the brick to breathe and dry out better). they are still waiting for a heat pump to be installed so they can have hot water. it's supposed to be done this coming week.

victoria is in town. she came by to pick up her keys for the storage unit. she has a friend coming in from texas to help clear things out. she's staying at a finnish friend's residence hall uptown. they're supposed to come for dinner next saturday.

here's korrina with grimace the mets unofficial mascot (you can read about how he became the mets good luck charm this summer here). she was on her way home from work and is wearing her latest hat and shawl knitted pieces. you can see them better here:

we've been following the mets and yankees games . . game six for the mets is tomorrow in california. the dodgers lead with three games to the mets two.  the yankees are playing game five right now with cleveland and the score is currently tied at 2-2 and it's the bottom of the ninth.

family weekend at the new school

 
chanda's school has been having events for parents this week and into the weekend. this afternoon i attended a talk about the history of the new school (with teachers julia foulkes and mark larrimore) which first opened in 1919 by a group of disgruntled columbia university teachers. they felt that columbia had become too didactic and regimented. for years they offered classes focusing on the joy of learning and didn't become accredited until 1934 when they took in many professors fleeing europe who needed to be working for an accredited college in order to remain in the country.

they had us form six different groups with each group discussing a photograph presenting an artifact from the past. my group had a schedule of courses from the spring of 1958 showing the emphasis on communication, personal growth, and broadening one's mind and horizons via group discussion and attendance at the neighborhood's local theatres.

one group focused on the public art work poem that wraps around the cafe where we were sitting (the words in purple in the photo above) and how different phrases may present themselves to us depending on the mood we are in.

this bottom phrase running along the wall touched my heart today and then i knew i was reading the words of walt whitman.

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in the midst of the discussion, a student activist dressed in face paint and halloween costume came by to pull off a top poster displaying this bottom poster calling out for the college to divest. i also had received a flyer saying the same thing when entering the school. i thought it was very clever of the students and i was happy to see that the protests were continuing in subtle ways. (i've also been keeping up with my phone calls and letter writing with jewish voice for peace and the american friends' service committee.)

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after my workshop i met greg on 12th street for the reception in the student hub building.

i ran into a mom i knew from ellen's dance classes. i hadn't seen her in at least five years. her daughter was also in her fourth year studying costume design with parsons. she was always at the sewing machine her mom said.

the new president of the school gave a talk. he has only been on the job for two months and was a teacher for twenty years with the art program. i thought he seemed caring and open minded . . i hope that doesn't change! they had a very delicious buffet catered by pig and butter, a local catering service. 

taking a photo with the new school mascot, gnarls narwhal . . (there's a story that goes with gnarls and you can read about it here).

chanda joined us after her environmental studies talk (it was with the author of the nutmeg's curse, amitav ghosh) in time to have some of the delicious food and then we walked home together.

dance class at the museum

ailey extension presented two classes this week . . one on wednesday was in the horton technique . . 

and one on thursday was in a broadway jazz style. wednesday's class was taught by lisa johnson-willingham and thursday's by matthew ward. both were dynamic and supportive teachers and were able to transform a room of mixed abilities and ages into a cohesive group having a joyous time. wednesday's class managed to dance a segment from the ailey company's revelations and thursday's class managed part of a chorus line's final number. a grand and exhausting time was had by all (including me).

the cat in black is back

seen on my way to help ellen today . .
 

learning the skeleton dance . . 

beautiful sky . . 

greg met me at oscar's for dinner with a package that came today . . my new book of poetry by mosab abu toha, forest of noise.