A little change can do you good

My bed has been turned long ways in my room since November, its pillow-top padding extending two more feet into my precious floor space for the past five months. Moving it from its original position - that is, being stuffed sideways against the back wall, the head of the bed touched the right wall and the foot of the bed touched the left, with the radiator sandwiched snuggly in between - seemed like a necessity at the time. I was completely unfamiliar with the sputtering, hissing and clanking that was bringing the metal bars to life. To me it looked like a fire waiting to happen - my comforter would surely ignite on the metal bars that were soon be flaming hot.

Maybe normal radiators get flaming hot, but throughout the winter, mine never so much as warmed up. Just sputtered and spattered and shook a few times, but never warm, much less hot.

So now with April approaching, and me sadly giving up (on my radiator burning) and joyfully letting go (of the cold weather), I decided it was time to claim back my space, which is no small feat considering: 1) the mattress could squish me like a fly swatter and a bug, 2) the width of my room is so small, the mattress, box springs and bed frame each must be lifted practically on one corner in order to "swivel" into a new direction, 3) my bookshelf, dresser and wall hangings all must be moved out of the room, and 4) I keep thinking I can do this all by myself.

Two hours and a broken vase later, my bed was back flush against the radiator, hushing it like a finger in front of a ssshing mouth. I skipped a few victory laps around my broadened floor space (four small skips and you've lapped back to the starting point!) and marveled at how invigorating a few extra feet can be.

Steps of Met

The mild and sunny weather brought a hint of intrigue to the air; a magical vibe connecting paths and creating music. A smile hello, an unexpected coffee, the glare of the sun, a wandering walk, the bright blue sky, my regular scones, a flurry of pigeons, a quartet of voices, notes from a saxophone, people perched everywhere, an empty space, a spot near the steps, a friendly phone call, an impromptu brunch, exploring a neighborhood.

A Sunday afternoon in New York City can twist and turn and change in a matter of moments. I'll remember that curvy day by the brief moment I spent near the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the person I met. Both making me reconsider my whimsy wanderings as possibly perfectly planned steps.

Snowy Spring

In anticipation of the first day of spring, I went to sleep last night with visions of blue skies, chirping birds, and warming temperatures.  

This morning I flung back the curtain before my head had even risen from the pillow.  My bright eyes turned hazy - what is that whirling and swirling on the other side of my window?!  

White-hot disbelief and disappointment mixed with the swiftly blowing snow.  When will this winter trudge turn into a spring pirouette? 

Rat Race

Today being St. Patrick's Day, and me not really caring but feeling like I should, I headed out to a pub with some friends to celebrate. Green beer and questionable outfits aside, I don't know what was more surprising and ultimately quite troubling...the rats-of-guys who were trolling the bars, or the actual rats that ran toward us - squeaking and squawling (the rats and us) - as we stood on the subway platform (noses pinched from the urine smells) racing away from a less than envious evening of green.

My Tulips

Like curling ribbon on a present or chocolate shavings on a dessert - what a treat of a tulip!!

~Keukenhof, Holland - April 2008

The New Museum

So the saying goes...you get what you pay for.

Admission to The New Museum in Soho costs only $12 - "what a deal!" we thought. More like a steal, a rip-off, a fraud. The same friend who accompanied me to Guggenheim suggested this museum for our March exploration, and silly me accepted the plan without investigating it myself.

Let's see...I don't know which of the exhibits was worse - "Be(coming) Dutch at a Distance"...or "Conversations on Iraq". With dashed hopes of possibly gazing at fields of tulips, windmills and wooden shoes, I was stunned to see the exhibit was a makeshift tent community depicting refugees who escape to Holland in the year 2045. And the conversations on Iraq were just that - a man sat on a couch in the middle of a huge white room - the entire second floor of the museum, as a matter of fact - and...he would talk to you about Iraq for as long as you want.

There were only about seven exhibits in the whole museum, and I didn't see a single painting or sculpture all day - scratch that, all hour.

Before escaping to the refuge of shopping on the Soho streets, I made a NEW museum by escaping to the rooftop. The views of the city and the structure of the building were more visually interesting and inspiring than anything inside that crappy old museum. Enjoy.

Rubin Museum

I blame February's deficit of days for the reason I didn't make my quota for visiting one museum that month. But marching on, I made up for lost time by visiting two museums during March (and this one counts as a show for the month too).

The Rubin Museum was at the suggestion of an out-of-town friend who wanted to see a live, un-plugged performance by emerging artist Keri Noble. Never heard of Keri Noble, never heard of Rubin Museum, and no idea there is a bar, restaurant and theater inside. The discovery of this interesting venue and program revealed something I already knew...I still have so much to learn and explore and do in this city!

Doing my part to fulfill the request the museum has of its visitors to tell 10 people of your experience there:
www.kerinoble.com - She will be famous one day, and I'll say I saw her when.
www.rmanyc.com - An untapped NYC source of entertainment and intellect.

My Tulips

If only I were a little bunny, peeking out of my colorful blanket of tulips - oh, how happy I'd be!!  (Can't wait to get a comment from Gabe about that!)