A weekend in New York
A weekend in New York
#92: A recap of selects and observations from a quick weekend in the city and the valley
BRIEF NOTE
Apologies for my absence around these parts — big life changes happened (we bought a house). Paired with a general malaise for photo-making and an uninspired regard for this newsletter, I took a break to reassess. Miscellanea is a great name though, because it means I can turn this into anything I want it to be at any turn. And I think y’all will actually appreciate that. I don't know. Maybe I’m wrong, but it is my newsletter and you can unsubscribe any time you want to!
This past weekend we flew up to New York for fun and it was the first time I’d made photos for myself in a very long time. It was good to get back to that. Many of you have seen these in my Instagram story without any real context, so I’ll provide some context here.
You may need to open this in your browser to see the whole thing, but I think that may depend on your email client.
We took a later flight on Thursday so we could have a full day in the city before we drove up to Hudson on Saturday. We got into the city late and grabbed drinks at Attaboy, the New York outpost of a popular speakeasy type of spot that we’d loved in Nashville. Then onto a night cap at The Flower Shop, a bar I’d been shown a few years before. They started turning off the music and turning up the lights like 30 minutes before close, which was weird-bar-behavior.
The next morning I woke up with a Lower East Side hangover. I made my way around the corner to the CVS for some Tylenol and snapped a photo of the Katz’s sign(s).
Our day was long and the humid heat seemed to have followed us from New Orleans. I shopped till I dropped, ate a burger at an Italian spot, and I finished the night camera-less at the Charlie Martin concert. We started the day with breakfast at Little Canal, which is a fantastic little spot even if their espresso is mid, which it is. We hit a couple spots and then cabbed up to the park for a quick walk to the fountain. Visiting the International Center of Photography was a highlight, and I grabbed 5 books to take home. We shopped all afternoon. With my camera on me, I noticed the motifs I generally do — and in editing I happened upon some interesting pairings. Sequencing things for my story was great practice for my hypothetical future in photo books!
I love amorphous blobs and the lines that intersect them. The balance of control and free movement. Man vs. nature is an interesting perspective because man is nature. That’s always struck me as an odd comparison — that we put ourselves at odds with the very things we’re a part of.
Funny how we view those closest to us with an innocence that’s usually reserved for kids — this deep connectedness that allows us to see what’s true and good in them. The truth is that we are all so similar, in unique pains and searching for happiness. I try to see people this way. I want to live my life with a gentle ease.
Of course there are singular things – particular situations that stand out and deserve extra compassion, or scorn, or a more removed and neutral consideration.
Whichever way you lean – at whichever angle you view it – there’s always something in frame to maintain the hope meter. An opening. A way out or a way in.
I stopped into Aesop for some smells while Mary tried on tank tops. In SOHO, half the people have that model-look, which was the case in Aesop. Usually people in New York aren’t that nice, but these kind people working the store seemed totally open to me. I asked them if I could take their portraits. Kayla and Brock.
The next morning we grabbed our rental and drove up to Hudson, NY. The drive up on the parkway was nice as hell – we felt a cool breeze through the windows, turned up the music, and tasted autumn for the one real time we actually will until late October in New Orleans. Upon arrival, we stopped at a nice little café/market called Kitty’s.
Sometimes the pairing happens in the frame instead of in the edit. Serendipity.
We spent the majority of the day on a slow crawl of the main drag, in and out of antique shops, fawning over mid century treasures, handmade goods and such.
I grabbed some marbles for a game of Mancala back home that’s missing some pieces. Mary grabbed some miniature hand-carved ducks reminiscent of her Pawpaw’s decoy collection.
Before dinner we caught golden hour on the river, where a family had set up several fishing rigs and sat together at a picnic table. Mary looked for rocks and snapped some photos too.
After a slow evening at dinner and a tiny panic over forgetting the keys in the car, we got our only full night of sleep and spent the next morning in line for treats from Breadfolks. Worth the hype! Hazelnut Cruffin, Chocolate Croissant, and Red Wine Sausage Roll — all perfectly flaky and moist.
We drove back to New York and spent our last few hours in Brooklyn. We happened to be near Roberta’s, so we grabbed pizza for lunch. Mary deemed it ‘the best pizza she’s ever had’. We walked to the river after a short walk through Williamsburg, then we were off to the airport with full bellies and happy hearts.
Maybe related: if anyone has an effective strategy for removing prosciutto fat from weirdly tight molar crevices, please let me know. Maybe I’ll just start keeping toothpicks on me.
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve made it this far. Email me with any print inquiries, everything is always for sale. I am working on a new website and will share that here soon. Exciting!
As you can imagine, Best of 2022 playlist has beefed up quite a bit since March.
Something easy on the eyes: My are.na channel, ‘pretty alright’
Until next time…
"The daily routine of most adults is so heavy and artificial that we are closed off to much of the world. We have to do this in order to get our work done. I think one purpose of art is to get us out of those routines.
When we hear music or poetry or stories, the world opens up again. We’re drawn in — or out — and the windows of our perception are cleansed, as William Blake said. The same thing can happen when we’re around young children or adults who have unlearned those habits of shutting the world out."
URSULA K. LE GUIN