Write this. Right, this?

Horse!

2014-03-17T21:10:00.002-07:00

Horse! Shall we join forces?!

Fire Works

2014-03-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

A good memory

South Beach

2014-03-13T22:37:00.002-07:00

Girl and her pet scarf.

Un-boxed

2014-03-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Blocks

Miles

2014-03-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

of mattress

Sea Grape Trees

2014-03-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

A 4th-Street Studio, South Beach

Hello.

2013-05-14T12:01:00.003-07:00

Hello, Cotton Candy.

neighbors

2012-02-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

On a walk

2012-02-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

in Paris I saw a shop keeper exit her establishment to greet a street cleaner with two kisses. He wore orange, he swept the ground with a straw broom. They were happy to greet each other.

rome covered in snow is rare

2012-02-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

Today I saw people throwing snowballs, this includes adults, other people were taking photos of the snow, and one woman used a rolled up yoga mat to clear the windshield of her car.

V, i think i'll have melted chocolate for breakfast

2012-02-03T07:17:00.000-08:00

When I got to Versailles all of the statues in the gardens were covered by plastic, the fountains were off, bushes were browning. I commented to my friend that these things were done especially for me.

With that said, nope I wasn't bothered. How can I be bothered by such things? Someone once told me that grey is grey, when you decide to see it as grey.. I'll have this memory to compare it to the next.

photography is art.

2012-02-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

The Henri Cartier-Bresson 'immagini e parole' exhibition in Rome. If I could spend a morning with three of photos from this exhibition they would be:

A photo shot in Mexico in 1954 of an unkept boy entering a gate of a somewhat unkept home with a framed portrait of a well dressed woman who could pass for his mother, tucked underneath his left arm.

The 1947 downtown photo of New York. In it there is a cat and a man, they both seem to be out of luck, or they could just be looking for a quiet place to sit.

A photo taken in Paris in 1938 of a young man (30s) kissing the hand of a Cardinal.

two boots in a tree

2012-01-22T10:56:00.000-08:00

The other day, on route to the metro, I stopped to admire two boots in a tree.

Pantheon

2012-01-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

Indeed it is open.

Yes

2012-01-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

The bottom of the dress looks like melted metal. I wouldn't mind going to the movies in this.

lilies

2012-01-17T03:47:00.000-08:00

There's a park near the coloseo, that can be seen from inside of the coloseo, yet tourists don't venture there. Which works out well since the locals always have reading spots in the sun.

The other day I had a walk there, and on the walk I noticed a floral symbol on a step by the side entrance. If I hadn't combed the area I wouldn't have seen it... Since the symbol could have passed as an intended mistake, intended mistakes are sometimes hard to spot. .. Once I examined all of the stairs I found three on that set, which all varied in design.

After this discovery I took to examining other sets of stairs, there were two others. One was brick which probably means it was renovated... And there were two other flowers on the other.

After this, I remembered that this design was also used as a drain at the Spanish Steps... I've also been seeing it on the exteriors of buildings.

This morning I showed my barista the photos on my phone. "Che significa?," I said.

"It's a coincidence," said he.

"You shouldn't lie if you don't know the answer." I said. The he called be Sherlock Holmes, and I will not tell you what I called him.

~

After some web searching I think it's safe to say that these floral designs were done in the likeness of lilies. Leonardo da Vinci, El Greco, and Botticelli incorporated a lily in their paintings of Archangel Gabriel's visit to the Virgin Mary.

This may also be of some importance: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not neither do they spin. And yet I saw unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." - Christ, from The Sermon On The Mount.

~
This may make sense since Rome is the Pope's house.

The King Arthur Cloisters

2011-12-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

Some time has passed since I last wrote. But it was only a blink in my life, so that's alright.

In October I visited the Cloisters in nyc. Upon arrival I was reminded that there are still places that I have not seen in the city...

Upon this walk I found a room with a small fountain. I stood over it and dropped a coin. .. I don't remember what I wished for.

As I was leaving an Asian couple, dressed in bride and groom attire, and a photographer were stopped from taking photos. There were some words about needing permission.

On route to the Cloisters

Apples

2011-10-10T23:49:00.000-07:00

This evening in front of the Apple store on 68th and Broadway.

There were also bitten apples and flowers on the ground.

Giacomo Matteotti

2011-09-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

There is a monument in Rome that doesn't have many visitors since a busy street without a side walk was planted directly before it some time ago.

The monument is dedicated to Giacomo Matteotti, who was a Socialist leader, who was assassinated in 1924 shortly after his book, The Fascisti Exposed: A Year of Fascist Domination was published.

At this monument there are five headstones from 1972, 1999, 2004, 2009, and another with an unclear date. Which leads to this question.. Why are there five plaques that state the same sentiment?

Perhaps because speaking out isn't easy.

leaving Lilliput

2011-08-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

Please read the following as if they were true: I'm 9 years old -- I'm 15 years old. I'm 21 years old. I'm 27 years old. I'm 34 years old. I'm 40 years old. I'm 56 years old. I'm 72 years old. I'm 89 years old. I'm old.

Now let's turn to these lines that I have been hearing until now:

I'm too old for that hair cut. I'm too old to learn another language. I'm too old to make new friends. I'm too old to change careers. I'm too old to go back to school. I'm too old for a divorce. I'm too old for a trip to Egypt. I'm too old for a karaoke night. I'm too old to miss a parent. I'm too old to accept help from anyone. I'm too old to be in this position, I should be there, and further there. I'm too old to eat 15 cookies for breakfast. I'm too old to be in a close-up photo. I'm too old to pursue that thing I haven't been able to forget. I'm too old to dance around on my front lawn... What will the neighbors think? (Who cares what the neighbors think. You don't like talking to those jerks anyway.)

~~~

Dear Home: About this word "old."

Quantos anos voce tem? From Brazilian Portuguese to English: How many years do you have?

Quel age avez-vous? French to English: What age are you?

Quanti anni hai? Italian to English: How many years do you have?

~~~

Dear Everyone and All:

I would like to say that for me the only thing that gets old is milk. Why are we paying the bills for these words that keep getting passed around? Who told you that you're too old? Did someone pull you aside and lightly put it to you? I hope not. If someone did, I have to sadly say that person isn't helping.

In regard to change: Nope I can't say that it's never too late because at some point it will be. But why trim down possibilities and freedom ahead of time? That's like pausing a movie at the most important part. (Every part is the most important part.)

About the next thing. The next thing is scary. It's a challenge. And it wouldn't be the next thing if it weren't. It's going to make you cry. It may make you say curse words. .... But what else is there?

~~~
Thank goodness for old milk. 'Cause what would we do without cheese?
~~~
p.s. I: I'm speaking to myself about this too.
~~~

Susie

2011-08-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

As of late I've noticed a woman seated on a low wall half a block away from the colosseum who sells these handmade animal figures that are made of palm tree leaves. So far her orgami-like collection consists of frogs, scorpions, birds, and turtles.

I'm not sure how many times I walked past her until I made the decision to stop. I chose a bird. A small crowd materialized at the moment of this transaction.

During the walk to the line B metro, people kept looking at the clear plastic bag as if I were walking past with a bag of gold fish.

hop on!

2011-08-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

"Bortolucci," a shop in Rome that sells wooden objects such as hair brushes, pencil holders, and clocks has this wooden motorcycle in their doorway.

2011-08-10T00:45:00.001-07:00

Ricardo

2011-08-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon at 12:37 Ricardo the horse stood in front of the Pantheon attached to a carriage without an owner in sight. Schools of persons were walking over to pet him, or take a photo with him, or to look upon him with curiosity.

The owner returned with a bucket of water. When Ricardo finished drinking he shook his head from left to right. It seemed he was trying to loosen or lose the metal steering clamp from his mouth, in doing so a long pink tongue spilled out and wagged in the wind.

Before leaving I asked the owner for the horse's name. Then I asked what Ricardo was doing there. The response: "He's working. .. He takes people around the center." Myself: "Is he here everyday?" The Owner: "He works one day, he sleeps one day."

"Echo" at Madison Square Park

2011-07-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

Although "Starbucks" is still keeping everyone awake and the Statue of Liberty never tires from holding onto her torch, change is ny's favorite pair of socks.

Indeed shops open, shops close. Indeed, park benches and resting areas/relaxation areas are blinked into being without any post-it notes that say, "whaddya think?" The downtown building murals keep changing... And even the homeless eventually move on.

With that said, there are two changes I would like to highlight. The current sculpture that's featured at Madison Square Park (Until August 14.) that seems like an illusion, and the "Corner Shop Cafe".

When I first saw "Echo," the sculpture by Spanish artist, Juame Plensa, I thought it was a representation of the varying cultures that can be found in New York. Then, while still there at the park I read the sculpture information which stated that "Echo" was created in the likeness of Plensa's nine year old neighbor from Spain.... I prefer that explanation rather than my own theory.

After reading what the New York Times said about "Echo," I jotted down two lines: She is "the nyph of Greek myth, condemned by Zeus to repeat the words of others." And, "Many times we talk and talk, but we are not sure if we are talking with our own words or repeating just messages that are in the air." (Both quotes are from Plensa.) The second quote continues, but let's leave it at that for now.

The "Corner Shop Cafe" was a place that had mis-matching tables, a chandelier that was made from some poor animal's antlers, red curtains that had some sort of pattern on them, and framed pictures on the walls that didn't seem mass produced.

Although the menu is the same the "Corner Shop Cafe" is now sporting uniformed tables. Is it because "many times we talk and talk, but we are not sure if we are talking with our own words or repeating just messages that are in the air." ? There was always a wait to eat at csc, especially on Sundays for brunch. So why have we changed it?

~~~~

Nah, don't boycott. I can't stay sad for long and neither should you. The Creme Brulee French Toast is a must if you have a thing for sugar. And if you go, I have one request... Leave an unsigned note that says, "Sometimes I miss what passed."