City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

I am someone who tells myself and others, I never get sick. Until I do.

It is so annoying to admit that over two weeks ago some germ or other got into my system, and since then I really haven't been running at full speed.





Cold, flu? Who knows, but the main problem has been the cough that will not leave. Many of us at the shop have had the same symptoms, and our customers tell us that they have also been felled by this wicked business.

The germs really did pick a very inconvenient time to come calling. On February 7, I'd planned an experiemental special evening at the shop, inviting long time loyal customers to come in from 6-8 pm, wearing or bearing their favorite vintage garments from our company. We had a lovely buffet of light refreshments and fizzy water and white wine, but best of all, had representatives of the company's design team on hand to meet the customers. In our invitations to the customers we described it as a backstage pass to meet the designers and ask/tell them anything on that they would like.

I felt absolutely rotten that day (could not even wear my absolutely required eye makeup) but the evening was a wonderful success. The customers loved meeting each other, and the designers had a grand opportunity to meet their public, so to speak. I took lots of photos and have written the first of a series of reports on the evening. I think that the company will be replicating this event at other shops in future.

Meanwhile, every time that I have had a day off, I have just slept as much as possible, rallying thereafter to get down to the shop again. Every time that I thought I had banished the bug, it just came back at me again.

But a lovely surprise came last weekend, and would not have happened if I had not been at work.

We are now featuring our spring preview styles, and New York weather is not at all springlike just now. So, along with the incipient economic recession that is sweeping over our land, business is not so good. Many customers now either concentrate on the sale area, or utter those "I am just looking..." words. On the weekends, we have many visitors from abroad and from other parts of the States. We can usually figure out who is not "local."

So. A couple had browsed through the shop, and were on their way out, and as is my habit, I went up to them to say bye, bye, and to offer the lady our most current brochure. As I gave the booklet to her, she turned to me, and said, "I know you. Aren't you Frances ...?"

Well, I am. Thank goodness, she quickly took away the mystery of her own identity and I realized that I was seeing a teenage, college-aged good friend, whom I had not seen in 40 years.
What a marvelous random gift of fate!

We had a grand, if too brief, chat, and exchanged e-mail addresses. I am just stunned that she recognized me! It is really marvelous to now already have been playing catch-up with the e-mail technology, and to re-c0nnect with someone whom I felt I had lost. If I had given in to the flu/cold or whatever has been giving me such grief, I would have missed this lovely reunion.

My lesson learned is that even when you might be feeling sorry for yourself, and doing a bit of moaning, life just might toss you an unexpected bouquet.

Pleasant dreams to all.

City Views, Country Dreams ... a day in the life

Good evening from New York, where no day is ever quite the same as any other.

Well, each day does begin with a sunrise, or an alarm clock beep that precedes that gentle light.
After that, all bets are off. I remember the structure that I might yearn for, but have to be ready to improvise.

I am lucky to be able to sleep easily, and do usually wake before the 6:50 am alarm beeps.
Then. I will usually press buttons on the television's remote to see what might be going on beyond my bedroom. I am something of a news junkie, eternally wishing to place my day(s) into some perspective against the broader spectrum. Perhaps foolish, but I continue to try.

It is at this point that I frequently briefly re-enter the land of nod, for just one little farewell dream. Then I really am awake. I learn of overnight tragedy around the globe, and local weather and traffic reports.

Now. I think, what day is it. Am I going to the shop early, later, or not at all?
Depending on the answer, or if I can think of the answer, I may still indulge my news hunger, or get going. That means up to fix breakfast and switch on the computer.

If it's a work day, I will always have an egg, toast, juice, coffee breakfast. I never know when lunch might occur, so want to travel full. With the political/financial news on as background, I make a quick or not so quick visit to the internet, emails and this site.

I will see if there are any shop e-mails that I should know about before I arrive at the shop. Sometimes I will cringe, and wonder if I want to arrive at the shop.

By now, I may have gotten a phone call from a staffer who is ill, or for some other reason, won't be showing up. Cringing again. Even saying bad words out loud.

On to the shower, get the hair and make up done. Figure out which outfit to display to the customers. get dressed. Gather up all the folders that I will need for the day into the tote bag that I refer to as my portable safe, get keys, get out the door.

Now, my building has three elevators, but they are slow at best, so I usually walk down the three flights of stairs to the lobby, greet the doorman, and off I go to the glamor of the subway train.

My neighborhood station has both express and local (making all, all, all stops) service, and entry to the trains comes via a "Metrocard" that I buy monthly that gives me unlimited rides for a 30 day period. I sweep that little card through the turnstile, and gain access to the stairs to the dingy train platform. It is a narrow concrete area, between the local and express train tracks. I am very glad not to travel during rush hours often, because that would be scary with the crowding.

The wait for the train can be very short or irritatingly long. Sometimes we are entertained by a musician who hopes that we will help him exist in the city. Some of these entertainers are great, some just make me want the train to arrive more quickly. Sometimes I will see someone I know in the crowds waiting for the trains, but usually I just blend into the anonymous masses, with my head in a magazine or a book. Train riding time is a great reading time.

A train eventually arrives, and if the cars (carriages) are not too crowded, I can wedge myself into a spot of my own.

There are may different subway routes under New York, somewhat like London, so I can vary my route according to variables like weather, delays, whim.

One variation that I like in cold or wet weather allows me to transfer between two subway lines in the Times Square station. A benefit is that my underground walk between the lines often takes me past some very fine entertainers. Could be Cajun bands, Asian flutists, break danders, Peruvian rockers, Japanese Bowie wannabes, crazy lady playing a saw, gospel singers, totally fabulous drummers playing instruments of their own devise. And more.

I will not describe the various fragrances that you can encounter in the subway. They are too varied.

One subway route allows me to exit to Seventh Avenue, and I will walk two long crosstown blocks to the shop, that is on Fifth Avenue. This walk takes me past some interesting sights. Many new buildings are being constructed along these blocks, filling in tiny street level spaces with very tall slivers of expensive condominium apartment buildings; cranes are everywhere. The recent financial mortgage/credit crises may cause problems for these buildings as 2008 advances.

In the midst of these projects, some traditional businesses of this area continue. They relate to old line photography studios, commercial photography/advertising businesses, recording studios and some shops that make props for theatre. These prop shops are my favorites, because their windows, and the sidewalks outside their buildings always display a true surrealistic vision.
Example: golden mini Eiffel towers, next to huge pink flamingos, and all sorts of greenery, in every scale. Then there are some statues of the Virgin Mary, and a giant green pig, and some beautiful Japanese lanterns, and ... is that a hula dancer? Little blue rabbit statues next to a big kitchen sink. And more.

Also on this walk is a wonderful baker's supply shop. Everything that anyone would ever need to bake or decorate anything. It is all here. Pans, sprinkles, silver and gold decorations, cookie cutters, muffin tins, lots of stuff to go on top of tacky wedding cakes, mixing bowls, doilies, cardboard boxes of every shape and size to put a cake in. Etc.

Also pass by some very down and out folks, either asleep on the sidewalk, or waiting for some kind of connection at a corner or two. This is the city.

Finally round the corner at Fifth and get to the shop. If I am the earliest shift, that means I start the day fresh and will unlock the door and let the rest of the day evolve little by little. If I arrive after others have started up the day at the store, it is an entirely different day. I often feel that I am playing catch up for the next eight hours, putting out fires that I did not set.

It is all totally unpredictable. Phones ring, people show up. Some of these encounters are very pleasant, and some require detonation skills. My role is to inspire my staff to do their best, and to make sure that each customer is well served. And meanwhile to do all requisite corporate politicking. And make sure that the shop's merchandising always looks great, and all the items are fully restocked, and all the computers and other pieces of equipment work properly, and the banking and other financial doings are done on time, and so much more. Oh, we also always have to have fresh flowers in big vases all over the shop.

I usually work during my 45 minute lunch break, as that is a time to get into the somewhat calm office area, and to check on e-mails. The days usually flies past. Our shop's busiest times occur shortly after we open, then during the lunch period 12 to 2, and finally when folks are on they way home after work, 5 to 7. The earliest that I will go home would be 6; it is more usual for me to leave around 7 or later.

When I leave the shop in the evening I can glance up Fifth Avenue and see the bright lights of the Empire State Building, and the beautiful deco Chrysler Building. Then it is down into the subway, for the return uptown to home.

I may have to pick up groceries in order to prepare dinner. Once home, I can relax, change into tee shirt and jeans, read my mail and e-mail, fix dinner, pour a glass of wine. Check the news, listen to some music, maybe have time to call a friend if it isn't too late. But it often is too late! So most of my catching up with friends has to wait until one of the two days off per week. The pattern on those days is more varied.

All in all, I do find myself squeezing much into each day, and often do wonder about why it is that I live in this city. Then something extraordinary happens, and I rejoice!

It is always such a pleasure to finally cut the lights out, and rest my head on my luxurious down pillow. I am asleep in a minute or less.

Pleasant dreams to all.

Country Dreams, City Views

Hello from New York.



Leap year is underway. How will we use that extra day?



In this country, a cartoonist of the 1950's who created the L'il Abner series, also created a holiday know as Sadie Hawkins Day. It is celebrated on February 29, and the cartoon character Sadie H was allowed on that day to propose to the batchelor of her choice, in her hillbilly community. The cartoonist, Al Capp is long dead, but many still laugh a bit nervously when the name Sadie Hawkins is mentioned.



That was not at all the way that I thought I would begin this posting. But the fingers on the keys know their rhythms and destinations. Typos, my fingers scoff at such trivialities.



We are indeed in mid January. The days are lengthening. In the States, the presidential election follies are well underway. We view these activities from the outside via media, and opinions of friends and family. And wonder. What we have got now is not serving our country well. Will the replacement inherit a condition that can be fixed?



New Year. Thinking again of cartoons, and the new year's baby in a diaper (nappy to most of you) full of hope, perhaps. Two weeks later. Wondering.



Within the company where I do work so many hours, I am so sorry to say that we have lost a colleague whom many of us held in very high regard. She has now "left the company" in official speak. Confidentiality prevents us from ever really knowing more. But, of course, in the fullness of time, we will know more. Her sudden departure has left many of us fellow shop managers wondering where our future, and that of our company may lie. The company is dedicated to being different, setting a higher standard. Now we wonder.



I may write more later, but cannot now.



In the week between Christmas and New Year's, a neighbor in my building took the step of sort of indicating that he would be interested in advancing our friendship to another level. Since then, I have done a bit of a dance, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, but at this stage in my life, not really wanting to have any more entanglements in my life. Right now, I yearn for more free time. I cannot now paint or draw when I want to. I have so much stored up inspiration and ideas to release.



But, I do not want to hurt another person, who has gotten his courage up. Do any of us ever get beyond our teenage years? I know that I were even again really smitten, I would be a born again 16 year old in a second. But now, I feel all of my well-earned 62 years.



The full moon will have its way with us on January 22 (in the States) and perhaps after that this year will gain grace and elegance and we will proceed accordingly. As of now, the weather is very strange, the financial markets (upon which I pin any hopes of leaving the work-a-day requirements of the shop,) the global politics, and even certain local situations involving some dear to us on this site, are a bit in turmoil.



I have not written a blog in weeks and right now think that this lapse has led this one into too much of a summary. I usually like to just have a stream of consciousness, free flow in my writing, without any outline or agenda.



But, I do want to include a picture by Vanessa Bell ... so hoping that it will appear, that is just for our very special birthday girl of January 18, Camilla.






Art usually leads me into light, and I will mention that this afternoon, after meeting with representatives of the management of this apartment building to try to sort out the latest manifestation of the change of ownership of the building (incorrect figures filed with New York State regarding my current protected tenant-status rent) and this morning's lack of running water for four hours, I took a walk.



I walked through Central Park, warmish in advance of expected frigid temps this weekend, and went to a gallery on East 57th Street (a traditional block of fine galleries for decades) to see an exhibit by a favorite artist, William Kentridge. As anticipated, it was wonderful. If you ever get a chance to see his work, please do so. His drawing is sublime, but he takes these drawings to another level, and had made many animated films, and also designed sets for major opera houses. Today's gallery's site is http://www.mariangoodman.com/



Maybe I will leave you with the hope of seeing this wonderful creativity. Still hoping for a happy new year.



Pleasant dreams.

City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

Over here, it is still January 1, so allow me once again to wish a very happy new year to all who will read these words.

After the sometimes frenzied days of late December, it was a great pleasure to awake to a grey beginning to the New Year, and to know that when the alarm clock beeped, it would not be necessary to jump up and adhere to a schedule.

Bliss.

I was able to awake prior to that electronic beep because I did not stay up late enough to see the final minutes of 2007 drift over the horizon. My new year's eve strange dreams were broken, of course by the sounds of party folks singing and yelling their way home down the sidewalks outside my window. I also think that I hear the fireworks that are sent up over Central Park.

As a measure of how civilization passes by with each year, a sound that I used to hear at midnight was silent last night. On my street, there was a custom at midnight that lots of folks would open their windows, and bang on metal pots and pans with big wooden spoons. A very domesticated way of celebrating the new year.

I fear that the folks that used to do this, for decades, have now been forced to move from the street as the speeding forces of real estate upgrading, and renovation, and costliness may just be stomping upon those earlier simpler forms of celebration. Or maybe, I just slept through it last night. Don't think so, though.

All right. Moving into 2008 and its grey sky and mistiness. I got up early and got down to a bit of very much needed apartment cleaning up. Out with the old sort of thing. Several chairs and tables now are bare, the piles of papers, magazines, books that they once held have been banished to other locations. Some of those piles actually made their way outside the apartment to the recycle area down the hall.

Great. Sent off some e-mails to friends and family. Balanced the checkbook. Started early preparation (soaking in lots of water) of a dried legume known as black-eyed peas. It is considered lucky in traditional Virginia lore, to eat black-eyed peas on the first of January. I am very afraid to tempt fate by ignoring this custom, so every year I manage a mouthful of these beans before nightfall on January 1.

Next I turned to working on a long-term knitting project, originally begun to "use up" left over yarns. As any knitter will know, this sort of project can only encourage the purchase of additional yarns, so the project continues ad infinitum. If all goes well, I will illustrate this blog with a bit of the increasingly large coverlet that results from this multi-year project. I will spare you a photo of the black-eyed peas.



In early afternoon I had a surprise visit from a fellow tenant, who came by to wish me a happy new year. I served him tea and some of my home made sugar cookies (not so many people in this city still bake any kind of cookies.) It was nice to just chat a while. This gentleman had an impromptu birthday party last weekend to which I was invited. So...this is quite a lot of socializing for me in a few days.

The weather cleared in early afternoon, and so I also managed a quick walk over to the Park and enjoyed stretching my legs, seeing all the European tourists doing the same, and came home feeling as if my 2008 was off to a good beginning.

I wish the very same to all of you. Pleasant dreams to all.

City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from a rainy, sleety New York with sidewalks that are slick with ice.

Now, does that sound like a winter wonderland? Well, not to me either, but it is what we have tonight. With our reasonably-well-functioning public transport, we New Yorkers are generally able to just go with the flow as the unpleasant side of winter tries to interfere with our pursuit of happiness.

But, this is getting close to Christmas, and we all do have lists to check off, parties to attend, and even the usual round of errands staring at us.

For myself, this was to be a day off with lots of required appearances, nonetheless. But the weather chased most of the requisites away. I not so quietly cheered.

I did not need to attend the previously scheduled meeting downtown at 9 this morning, and so I did not set my alarm clock and let the darker-than-usual sun up allow me to sleep a bit late. But then it was up and down to the basement laundry room (now undergoing some of the signs of renovation that the new owners of this building are bestowing upon all floors of their new property.)

The early morning was rain, then sleet, then snow, then a slow reversal of the earlier special effects. I figured that if I could wrap up in weather-proof and warm layers, I should, post laundry, set out to do lots of Christmas shopping, and other errands. And so I did.

A great achievement for this small-shoe-sized person, on this foul weather day, was that I took my dripping down-coated, damp-parcel-carrying person into a neighborhood shoe shop, and asked the staff (I was the only customer on this bad weather afternoon) what waterproof, snowproof and warm boots do you have in size 5.5? Well. They showed me a fine little style, made in Canada (Pondside, take note) and a very simple design with just a little bit of edge. Hey, that is me, very simple with just a bit of edge.

I was very glad to take those little black boots home with me and to have a chance to warm up before the next required appearance of the day.

My shop was to have its holiday dinner party tonight, but thank goodness when I got home and called the shop, those there had already decided wisely, to postpone that festivity.

Great. Because I had another festive function to attend late this afternoon, a retirement farewell reception for a dear friend whom I first met back in the early 1970's when we were both archivists at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There is no way that I would have missed attending this party, held in a rarefied lounge area of the Met. I definitely wanted to be there to honor my friend, but also to take another of my walks down memory lane. Sleet and snow and frozen sidewalks and a long wait for a crosstown bus, none of them were a deterrent.

Yes, it has been thirty years since I was an archivist at the Met, and in those thirty years I have been through many changes in my life. There were very few people whom I recognized at the party. Strangely, what interested me was that any regrets that I had wondered about ... whether I would be sorry to have given up the museum life, if re-entering that society this evening at a very high level would give me doubts about my decisions.... Well. None of that remotely true. The many people gathered about with glasses of wine, and tidbits to munch on, seemed sort of insular, a bit self-congratulatory. Virgo that I am, I could not help but check out various bits of body language, and wonder at the subtle messages that were being sent across the beautiful, large room. Messages that would mean little outside of that huge Museum building.

I was happy to see some other old pals, besides the honoree, and to chat a bit. Our old boss, a glamorous male, who featured in many society column photos, made a last minute appearance. It was fun to chat a bit with him. But all in all, I was glad to be able to take the elevator down to the first floor, and walk through the beautiful Museum lobby, out the front door and down the marble front stairs. I was so happy that all ice had been cleared from those marble steps! There was a very long wait for a bus to take me back westward across the park, but that time in the chilled evening air (with fur-edged hood up on my down coat at this point ... it was getting cold) gave me more time to contemplate some life decisions that I have made.

The career that I work so hard in now is very demanding, not very intellectually driven, but is very people focused. Tonight, as I look forward to another long day, mainly on my feet, tomorrow at the shop, I am glad that I have tried so many different ways to making my way in the world. Each career choice has had its reasons, and each aftermath has had its pluses and minuses. My current choice is still in the plus column, no matter how much I might whinge from time to time in this space.

City Views, Country Dreams

A late good afternoon from New York.

As many of you all know by now, I love reading. Most of my books now come from a great, quaint old members-only library, but the New York Public Library has a prominant spot in my heart.

I have borrowed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books from the Public Library, and about six years ago, made much use of its free access to computers when preparing resumes and correspondence as I sought to re-enter the working world.

For many years, I have donated a little bit of money each year to the NYPL, and think of it as a small thank you for all that the Library has given me. The main branch of the Library is a splendid stone building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. It has grand exhibition spaces where wonderful exhibits regularly appear; a rare books room that one can actually visit, after going through a few security hoops; a rare map department, a magnificent reading room arrayed with fine old books, and sparkling new computers. The building is a wonder, and many fine librarians are there daily to help everyone.

On a December Sunday each year, the Library holds a very festive holiday open house, to which all the Friends of the Library are invited. It is great fun. The place is magnificently decorated with greenery. Lots of music is played and sung. Many folks parade around in storybook costumes. Children are encouraged to attend (it is not a day for silence in the halls) and there are all sorts of entertainments for the children ... face painting, juggling lessons, magic and puppet shows, storytelling, origami, and more.

Lots of cookies, chedder cheese pastry twists, punch and lots of wine is served from many buffet tables throughout the many levels of the marble halls. In one ballroom sized area, a disco band plays for dancing, and a more elaborate buffet is on offer.

The party is great fun, and a queue forms outside the building on Fifth Avenue about an hour before the starting hour. It is so funny to have bustling Christmas shoppers stop in their tracks to ask those in the queue, what's happening, what's going on ... and to tell them it is a party, and ... if they were to become a Friend they could come to next year's party.

This year's version was just a enjoyable as those of years past. I am glad that the forecast precipitation held off, so that after I left the party, I did a bit of walking up Fifth Avenue with my camera and have tried to get a few photos to share with you all. I have pictures of the special windows in shops such as Lord & Taylor, Saks seen from Rockefeller Center, and best of all, Bergdorf Goodman. BG's windows always set the standard.

By four o'clock, the air was distinctly cold, and it was time to get myself home, change clothes, and get some groceries. Now I am cosy by the laptop, and hoping to be able to properly illustrate my Sunday blog so that you all will be able to see some city views.

Pleasant dreams to all.

City Views, Country Dreams

Good Evening from New York.

Today has been a really cold and windy day in New York. I had my little scrap of notated paper in my pocket as I headed out around 11 this morning, with the intent to get started on my Christmas list. Well. I waited a very long time on a windy corner for a bus to take me to the East Side of the park. I kept thinking, do I want to be even colder? Where is that elusive bus?

I had already done some errands on my west side of town, but needed to go eastward to go deeper into the Christmas shopping. Since I have to grab my free time when I can, every half-hour really does count.

Finally the bus arrived. My fellow twenty waiters and I boarded, and soon we wound through the Park's transverse road and emerged on to Fifth Avenue. I got off and got to stop one on my list. Done. On to stop two. But by this time the cold and the really huge crowds on the sidewalks of midtown were putting me off. (I do think that many of these folks on the sidewalks were out-of-town tourists, because they just did not walk at the pace that we New Yorkers sort of get used to.) I made one stop, and then returned home.

It was much more productive to stay cosy at home for the afternoon and continue my Christmas card painting. Great jazz music on my radio. A few phone calls with friends. Very relaxing. And warm.

This past week, our company held its annual holiday party, a few weeks earlier than usual. Don't think that we have ever before had the party in November. Anyhow, it was fun to have a chance to see folks that I usually only connect with via e-mail or phone calls. Great food and drink. Music, dancing. Venue located right on the edge of the Hudson River, with great big windows overlooking the water and the city skyline. Lovely.

We also learned this week of the year's great financial success for our company. This means a big profit sharing bonus for each of us, and hopes of more to come. I attended a meeting at which there was opportunity to share views with our company's founder, and of course I had to take advantage of that opportunity.

Perhaps not so great news is the past week's crime in the area of the shop. Last weekend as a club in the area closed up ca. 3 a.m., someone was stabbed to death. This club is a block away from our shop. Obviously the night life in the area is quite different from what normally goes on during business hours.

Ah, but wait. Also last week, there was an armed robbery in a shop at the corner of our block of Fifth Avenue at 4 p.m. Now this concerns me. Alarms me. Since learning of this incident from one of our delivery service's drivers, I have tried to find out more about what actually happened, and how we may get additional protection for the shop. I have been communicating with the robbed shop, the police and with my company. So far, I regret to say, I am not happy with the results of my communicating. Maybe I will feel differently by this time next week.

December is always a dicey time crime wise in this city. There is just so much money around, the nights are long, people are not attentive, all sorts of factors.

My concern as a manager is that I want those on my staff, and also my customers to be safe. I want to be safe myself! Making theory into reality is not always so easy. When it comes to safety, I am not of the laissez-faire school of thought. It is upsetting not to have calls to the local police precinct returned. When I go back to the shop tomorrow, I will try again to get some answers about what the police may be doing to provide the area with addtional protection during this glorious holiday season.

Meanwhile, my neighborhood's sidewalks now have the annual additions of lots of Christmas trees for sale. The trees mostly are trucked in from Canada, in all sizes from tres petit to twelve foot tall ones for the high-ceilinged grand apartments. It is great to walk past these trees just to breathe in the fragrance. Each one of these "encampments" is staffed 24/7 by heavily bundled up young entrepreneural folks who manage to make a bit of money each December. Most have boom boxes blaring forth various notions of Christmas music, usually not any of the carols that you all might recognize.

Let me end this seasonal New York report with the vision of sidewalks lined with stands of lovely green Christmas trees awaiting adoption.

Pleasant dreams to all.