Tag Archives: #a-good-idea

Posters

The poster has been dorm room art for very many years.

The Poster House is a museum that treats posters as art and their designers as artists.

A poster for a bygone event is now a work of art  decorating a French cafe.

Lithographs were created as commercial art. They were made as accessible reproductions of famous works by famous artists.

They were utilitarian or they proselitized, or they were affordable, or they were mementos.

Poster House shows the best of these and expounds on their background. It houses a huge variety of these types of artwork.

Poster House displayed political art as well as advertising art at the exhibits I saw.

My first visit to the museum was in tribute to a boss back in the day who started his businesses selling posters via catalog.

Admission is  free on the First Fridays of the month.

It’s a sweet and friendly space. Go and enjoy it.

Operation.Boot.Return

It sounded like a CIA operation. It was not what I intended.

My operation was a simple and straightforward return. Amazon has certainly spoiled us for that; no bag, no box, no return label.

This shipping and shopping behemoth spoiled us with quick heck even same day delivery. There was a portent in this order; it took weeks to arrive.

My complaint wasn’t the delay; even the vagueness of who the merchant might be didn’t rile me. Yes, portents and mystery came with this transaction.

I was promised an infomercial’s worth of ‘great for wearing in the snow’ and ‘so comfortable for older women’ that the stiffness of this boot irked. Of course, the boot looks great from its forest green exterior and nice design to the neat angle of its raised heel. It doesn’t feel great.

So, long story short [I hear you saying ‘that ship has sailed’] I called customer service. “We’ll call you in 26 hours; if you don’t answer, we’ll send an email with the address for the return.”

I asked about the logistics of my return.

“You’ll get an email  telling you all about that.” Click.

The address for the return is somewhere in Guangdong Province China. I am not kidding.

Shipping charges would fall to me. Unheard of in the annals of easy returns!

Included in this email was this wisdom: “We advise you to stay with the product and we can give you a $ 18 dollar refund otherwise continue to send the product back to us.”

Always accept good advice when it’s generously offered. At least I shall.

M.C.N.Y.

Sing it to the tune of .. yeah you guessed it.

When you tell people you plan a visit to the Museum of the City of New York, they usually have a positive response.

My friend M said something to the effect of , “I love that place.” You get the drift.

I loved the Manny Vega exhibit. That especially, but there was a lot to like in every gallery.

So, a chance to enjoy tea [and crumpets?] with a curator just seemed like a perfect lunchtime activity.

One such event passed us by on the 2nd (with Sarah Henry), and The Curator’s Cup: Afternoon Tea with Sarah Seidman is on Oct 22nd, aka this Tuesday.

I am intending on attending the November 19th. I look forward to The Curator’s Cup: Afternoon Tea with Lilly Tuttle.

Journaling

Lately, my favorites have been those that specialize in Japanese paper goods; there are so many adorable, and useful, little amusements to discover. I recommend starting out in midtown, at Kinokuniya USA, a giant bookstore whose basement level is almost entirely devoted to notebooks, pens, and letter-writing sets. You can then trek to the East Village, to niconeco zakkaya, a cute-as-a-button spot that specializes in journals, sticker books, rubber stamps, and washi tape.

The New Yorker Daily                     By Rachel Syme

There are many platforms for the many disciplines of self-expression.

Journaling is a way to get control of your life or at least chronicle its natural disarray. Generally, the journal is used to report to oneself on oneself.

In my books, it’s separate from the  blog posts I share with others. [There is an intended pun in there.] My writing is often a chronicle of my life, but the one I post is more organized than it would be in a journal.

Here, I try to make some order of it all. My posts, whether poems or opinions, intend to make a point.

My preferred “journal” is Samsung Notes. I type, therefore, I can read what I wrote. In my long hand, yesterday’s entry would remain a mystery; well, not just yesterday’s but most days’.

Nonetheless, I am attracted to the paperback book journals Rachel Syme describes and recommends.

What’s your jam?

UES “golf course”

Exercise can take a number of forms. In the ‘burbs, you grew up on a tennis court, or poolside or at a golf course.

Your city-mouse counterpart went for jogs in Central Park or pedaled his bike to work. She may have hit the weights at a nearby gym or taken to a barre class. Lots of choices await those wanting to work out.

Aren’t so very many ways to get/stay fit enough? Chelsea Piers offers golfing for the NYC veteran, as does Five Iron Golf. At the latter,  they’ve set up a clubhouse where winners can buy a victory round. There’s probably a similar post-play locale at Chelsea Piers.

There’s basketball (and now pickleball) at your local playground; you can reserve a tennis court for singles or doubles around town, too. As the weather warms, kayakers take to the rivers, aa well.

Walk, jog, run, dance. Get out there and exercise your options today.