More Bushwick street art!

in , , , , ,
I have not really had a moment to myself these past three weeks, and I keep seeing places that I want to photograph, and immediately forgetting them again (then again these places happen to be pieces of art along the railway tracks somewhere between Philadelphia and Penn Station, or Penn Station and Boston, so I really don't know how I would remember...).

In any case, I was in a car going home on Wednesday when I noticed some more great street art in Brooklyn, and this time remembered to put the cross streets down in my phone. I got up early yesterday morning, took a few cameras with me (I never know which one I am going to use until I actually decide I want to take a picture). I found the location I had gone past on Wednesday and started from there... Walking randomly for 90 minutes or so, I came across more and more great graffitti art... All portrayed HERE on my Flickr. A Bushwick street art stroll past Bogart & Boerum, Harrison & Morgan, Morgan & Grattan, Knickerbocker & Thames, Jefferson & Knickerbocker. I ended up just using the Canon Rebel Ti1 for all shots, just because there was so much to shoot and I didn't have enough colour film on me.

I've been reading up on the different crews and their history - it's really interesting.
Here is a great blog on NYC graffiti: Fresh Paint NYC
If there are any writings you want to know more about let me know - I tried to grab the signatures on all of them, so I could find out more about them.

East New York next week. Probably not the best idea in the world, but I'm sure I'll find some really cool spots.

This one is my new favourite, above one of the L train Morgan stop entrances:

Blizzard!!

in , , , , ,



As everyone probably already knows, NYC was struck by a blizzard that started during the day on Sunday 12/26 and ended in the morning of 12/27. We get at least 3 blizzards a year, so this one really didn't come as a surprise, and I love a good snow storm. All you can really do is stay inside, keep warm, and watch the snow pile up outside. When the city is covered in snow there are about 2 hours where there is a general sense of peace and quiet (something that pretty much never happens in NYC), and I love to walk around in it, hearing the crunching sound of my footsteps in the fresh snow, dancing around under the snowflakes, making snow angels etc etc. Not this time - the wind was too strong and too bitterly cold. A car got stuck in the middle of my street around 10pm, and by morning it was completely covered, blocking the snowplough who had turned into our street at some point during the early morning hours.
When I woke up I checked the MTA's website to see if the J train was running, but there was no real message stating that it was or it wasn't, so I wrapped up warm and got ready to leave, bracing myself for the walk to the subway in 19 inches of snow... But I couldn't even leave the apartment! The snow that had come down in the driveway had all drifted right up against the front door of the building, with no way of getting out from the inside. Snow day!!
In any case, the J wasn't running anyway, so it was a blessing in disguise. I probably would have pelted people with snowballs f I had gone all the way there for nothing!
The kids from the first floor apartment were finally able to dig us out around 1pm (but only when someone actually was able to dig from the outside first. I got some good pictures from the street and from the roof, trudged to the deli to get some food for the rest of the day and went back home to stay warm. The next day I made it to work, but it really did feel like I was in a scene from a disaster/apocalypse movie - hardly any cars on the roads, people walking down the middle of main roads (like Broadway in Brooklyn), buses stuck in the middle of streets, mounds and mounds of snow on the sides of the street.

Five days later and it's still there - not very pretty anymore, and the slippery slush is excellent for falling over and looking like an idiot. We are supposed to get some rain on Sunday, so it will all melt away... Until the next one.

Go to my Flickr set to see more snow pictures!

BLAH.

in , , ,
I'm getting itchy feet again. I've been here over four years now and I still love it. I don't really want to move anywhere else... But I really want to settle down and feel like my life is stable. The idea that once filled me with utter panic is now what I want most of all. Actually the opposite fills makes my heart jittery with fear right now. What if it never happens? What if I am alone for the rest of my life?

Bushwick is tiring me. Last night my street became a full-blown party area around 3am. Cars stopping in the middle of the street blasting the crappiest dance music I have ever heard, people yelling at each other, skateboarders riding up and down the street, non-stop... The BP gas station was robbed at gunpoint again last week and I can never walk to subway station without hearing some kind of lewd remark. BLAH. I love Brooklyn but all this is tiring me. I want a house in the country. Do I?

Overwhelmed by everything at the moment.