The Ups and Downs of Being Back

Now that I am back from the pleasant quiet and sleepy pace of the Big Woods, I'm tossed right into the thick of NYC. Today, moving my old paintings and art supplies from my wife's studio to the storage (how miserable that is on its own), I promptly received two tickets from the Traffic Dept of NYC. One for an 'unattended commercial vehicle' and the other for parking on the sidewalk, for a total of $160. I was going as fast as I could, only damaging my stuff in the process! Since when must you be with the truck you are loading (and how can you be?) and since when can't you park on the sidewalk in front of commercial loading bays on extremely commercial Van Brunt in Red Hook? Must be all part of the retail-ization of the waterfront area. So my four hours with a rental truck cost me $200 instead of $45 doing something I really hated doing anyhow.

Thanks NYC, for kicking more dirt in the face of working class artists.

That aside, it is nice to be back. I am looking forward to making some lasagna (essentially the same recipe as my grandfathers- I make it so little, little chance for evolution) for some friends this weekend. Looking forward to the snowy weather on friday, I am actually beginning the meal that day.