This garden in my neighborhood is kind of everyone's back yard. And so all manner of things end up in it. I liked the juxtaposition of the spider and the fish in the picture above, but the real reason I stopped was to get the stuffed tiger in the gazebo:



A closer look:

rock and roll artifacts: a wristband

Basically I just liked my wristband. And I was bored on the barrier, waiting for the show to start. But wristbands are a thing that interest me, as objects. As markers and signals and memories that we wear and eventually discard. Some wristbands have show-specific information on them, making them even more of a memento mori.

Plus I like pictures of peoples' hands. Someday I'd like to do a series just of concert-goers hands, and wrists, and the things (jewelry, wristbands, sharpie drawings) they wear.

Meanwhile, have some pretty lights, and a collection of footwear:



(Pictures taken at the Titus Andronicus show at Webster Hall, New York, NY, September 2010.)

Onwards up the Hudson: Poughkeepsie

I went to a show in Poughkeepsie, NY, recently; this is the alley/entrance near the club. We all stood under the watchful eye of the dragon and waited to be let inside.

Poughkeepsie includes many unusual treasures, including a sculpture park, featuring this:



and also this:



Finally, here's a shot of the Hudson from out the train window. This kind of light on the water is exactly why I live here:



(p.s. I haven't forgotten about the rest of the design house! More of that coming soon!)

Showtime Design House 2010: The Borgias

The Showtime Design House is one of my favorite design houses, not least because they not only allow but encourage photography. This year it is at Cassa Hotel and Residences, on 45th Street between 5th and 6th. Entrance is $15, and the money goes to the Harlem Children's Zone. It's open Saturdays from 11 AM to 5 PM, through Oct. 23.

(Also, since it should be said: I don't watch any of the shows represented, I'm just along for the purpose of appreciating design.)

When you get off the elevator, the first room(s) you see are inspired by the show The Borgias, and was designed by Keith Baltimore, Marc Thorpe and David Schwarz:


The Great Room; notice the cross-shaped rug.


I love this chair kind of a lot.


The kitchen counter, complete with skulls.


The kitchen window, with delicate chain mail curtains.


The media room/chapel which is SO AMAZINGLY UNSETTLING, oh my god.


In the bathroom!

These rooms are really, really exactly the kind of thing I like. More red velvet and skulls and delicate fluttery chainmail for everyone! I also though the "media room" was particularly well done, even if it did totally creep me out both times I went into it. The red light and the hum of the neon cross are totally overwhelming, and I mean that in the best possible way. As it happens I read the neon cross as designating a chapel, not a media room, but in this case I don't think the two things are mutually exclusive. And somehow the stark modernism (as opposed to the more Renaissance-inflected great room) created a sense of lingering malevolence better than any pile of medieval skulls.

Next up: The Big C.

Last gasp of summer: Asbury Park

Last beach day (and night) before autumn was upon us:

it's full of stars

. . . okay not really. It's Christmas lights on a tree branch outside the Whole Foods at 59th Street. I just like to pretend it's a galaxy. Here's a broader perspective:

my favorite season: autumn in new york

There's a chill in the air that says fall is here. I'm not excited about the rain coming our way, but cold crisp fall days, and the explosions of color on the street as the leaves change, that is just the best. Some highlights from autumns past:



A close-up of foliage from a photowalk at The Cloisters last year. This is the full wall:



Foliage at the New York Botanical Garden:



And also on my street: