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I live! Sort of... The medication I need to be on to keep my lungs clear has an interaction with my IBS and *hand waves* I've got brain fog like I've got uncontrolled IBS for now. It took me a while to even realize that's what was going on and it's happened before, so that's how unorganized my brain is. I am trying to get shit done anyway.

Because the universe hates me, this week is the event at Bold Coffee for indie authors to network and also chat with publishers. Unless I magically get much better, I can't go. Either I will have brain fog from hell or I'll have lung congestion. Those are my choices. Also, this month I, uh, haven't exactly met my writing goals. I fucking hate this.

I am going to be getting caught up here in a very uneven way, sorry for that.

NYC Trip Day 4 Part 1 - Wandering and The Highline

I started the day just heading out from my hotel to the areas I can see from my window. I'd never been in the Bowery before this trip, but I did recognize some intersections and buildings from photos.







And then I wound up in Greenwich Village, which I had actually ventured into as a teenager a few times. I didn't try to sneak into clubs or anything, so I just went there to buy comics and eat pizza back in the day.





I hadn't planned on going to see Stonewall because I knew the building was partially covered by construction. The park and interpretive center are relatively new and I'm not sure I was aware of them. So, it was another day of unexpectedly intense emotions seeing it. I wish I'd had a chance to go there during an age when I could have met people, etc, but time is what it is.

Then I walked over to Highland, which is a park made out of the old elevated freight track running through Manhattan. I love it. I wanted to go back and explore it more another day, but I ran out of time.



Being up among the buildings like that was so cool:



Also there was a birb:



( More Highline )

NYC Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Stranger Things

My seat was alright:



And I was there 2 weeks before the NYC opening night? Because the opening night just happened. I was in some sort of pre thingie? IDK. I just grabbed a ticket? The show was good! I'll post more on that below a cut.

Due to rain, I took a car to the theater. The driver was deaf. The reason why this is relevant is, you know how modern cars sometimes have censors that ding if a car is too close to you, or you are too close to it? Imagine being in a car in NYC traffic with that sensor NOT disabled. The driver was fine. He drove exactly how I'd expect someone who drives in NYC for a living to drive. But, the whole ride was dingdingdingdididididididididding.... ding....

Then I couldn't find the theater because the way I needed to go was blocked by people who were in line for 'whatever my tour group booked'. Seriously, most people couldn't or wouldn't tell me what they were in line for, so I just had to start pushing through lines to get to an employee for help. The lines turned out to all be for Hamilton, the line for my show turned out to be inside.

( The show. No specific spoilers, just plot structure stuff )

NYC Trip Day 5 - The Cloisters

I had a bit of a slow start to the day because I'd walked several miles the previous day and was feeling a bit run down. But, I pulled myself up and got myself going anyway. I had limited time there and the plan for the day was The Cloisters, the place I'd wanted to visit for decades.

The Cloisters is a weird place. It's literally chunks of cloisters from Europe made into a giant Franken-cloister, with a scoop of Gothic Cathedral on the side. One is the Cuxa cloister from the northeast Spanish Pyrenees and was founded in 878. They were broken down brick by brick, remade here, with some weathered stone to connect them and also they added in a bunch of stained glass windows from the thousands they'd scarfed up from across the continent. The result is a strange sort of building that kind of reminds me of... have you ever played a video game that has a 'glitched out' or liminal level with assets from various other levels stuck together in weird ways? Yeah, it's like that.

Scoop of Gothic Cathedral seen from the Cuxa section:


Some of the tapestries:


I was far more interested in the doors and the architecture in general than the thousands of artworks in the space. It's all cool, but I was mostly interested in the building and also the various implications of the pieces even being here. The Morgan Museum hoovered up valuable books from around Europe, this place hoovered up mostly medieval art and architecture and then there's the Met which is just... the sheer weight of the Met and the collections there is a trip, But, that is another post.

Doorway into the tapestry section:



Doors:


Taking pictures was a bit tricky because it was swamped with school groups. I'd bought a ticket ahead of time online, which was good because they did stop selling admissions that day. Again, buying tickets ahead of time is how to museum in NYC.

( Read more... )