4th Annual I Love New York Day

People handle things different ways. For the most part I stay alone and do stuff in my own little bubble. My decision at some point was that this day in the world is going to be I Love New York Day. But just for me. I usually don't spend too much of the day with other people. It's less about what I want than being afraid that the other people will have definite ideas about how the day should be spent. I like to go with the flow. Here's where the flow took me today:

This delicious restaurant. It was a brunch Sunday and I didn't think it was a good idea to cancel it.



With, among other people, this short person.



Then I walked over to this cocoa-licious institution.



I passed by this place in honor of the 2 cousins of mine that live in New York. For all I know the younger one was in there but I failed to check.



I knew about this but I don't think I'd ever spent a lot of time looking at it until today. The tiles are memorials and they come from all over the country, possibly the world.



Bought a book here in honor of ChemE who LIVES for her trips here.



Passed by the garden where Miranda got married in Sex and the City but didn't take a picture because a man with a lot of duffle bags started talking to me about his college reunion yesterday.

Then there's Washington Square Park.





The 2 guys in front have been doing this act in this spot in this park for as long as I've been here. No pictures of the action because I came in at the beginning and as the years have passed the rabble rousing, crowd raising part of the show has gotten to be about 25 minutes long and the performance part is like 3 minutes and I just couldn't sit through the berating again.



Then, right in front of the University library I used maybe once in the 4 years I attended, I bought another book. Gangs of New York, actually.



Then I bought toilet paper, no picture of that, but it's important to preserve a sense of normalcy on days of remembrance I think.

Just took a picture here, didn't see a movie.



There's one picture I didn't take. It happened early this morning. Usually when I walk the dog on Sundays or any day that's really an off day I let her lead me around. She led me all around Robin Hood's barn today and at about 10:23 we ended up walking around the corner toward the local fire station. There were maybe 15 firefighters milling around outside. Some were in their working uniforms and some in dress ones and one had his son with him, a towhead of about 2 years old. As we sniffed our way by on the opposite side of the street the commander came out and started organizing them. They got into their rightful places and they were still laughing and joking and messing around. The father picked up his son and stood in the back row where the boy proceeded to play with his hat. And, at the exact time of the last moment of silence, they were called to attention and I stood up straight and observed the moment of silence with them. No one else was around. I wouldn't have thought to come there. They did it for themselves, a formal observance with the people to whom they're close.

This is looking downtown on Broadway today.



Empty.