Last Saturday in the city was beautiful, even if it was a bit cold. I went on a photo walkabout in Greenwich Village. The tour guide, Lora, was great and taught me how to use the manual mode on my camera. I had not learned to do that yet. She showed us where the exterior of The Cosby Show was filmed, Friends, and other well known sites, like the house used in the Will Smith movie I Legend. It was one of the most fun things I have done so far. Greenwich Village is interesting to walk through with loads of variety packed into a small area. The tour group meet at Father Demo Square. This movie theater is right there, just to the north.

This famous arch is in Washington Square, right across the street from the house used in I Am Legend. Our tour guide said Will Smith was a really nice guy and during the filming he climbed aboard a tour bus to say hello to everyone. The park is under construction now so parts of it are inaccessible. The squirrel came right up to me. I think he was certainly expecting a hand out.

There is a street with a row of exotic stores with brightly colored fabrics and apparel. The beautiful owner allowed me to photograph the interior. There were lots of beads and jewelry.

After the tour I ate at a really nice restaurant called North Square at the Northwest corner of Washington Square. It was a brunch with wonderful baby pancakes with walnuts, eggs, apple sausage, home fries and this scrumptious cranberry bread. It was intimate and comfortable and moderately priced.

Next, I walked over to the 6 train and went up to the Armory to see the Art Dealer's Association "The Art Show." I was up close and looking at a Renoir and could have bought it, if only I had enough money. The show was great and the building is beautiful with stained glass windows, deep wood paneling, and a grand staircase. The show had calla lilies placed around on pedestals and an elegant feeling. My favorite booth had works of Picasso, Leger, and Henry Moore. The girl stayed in that position for hours. I am not sure how they did it, but she was good. I never saw her blink.

Finally I walked down to the southeastern edge of Central Park and took more pictures of the people and the evening. This was a lovely day.

This weekend was beautiful in the city with the weather warming up a bit. I went to the Black Fine Arts Show at 34th across the street from the Empire State building. It was really neat because a lot of the artists were there and they talked to me about their work.

On Sunday I went to church again, I love the service at MorningstarNY on 50th between 9th and 10th. After I walked to MoMA to see the Jasper Johns exhibit. On the way there I stopped to eat lunch. I came across a place that I ate at just because it was called Thalia. It was really nicely decorated, the food and service ware great. On weekends they have little pumpkin, carrot muffins with chocolate chips that are yummy. It cost about 15 dollars for my entree. Good job Thalia :)
I walked past Rockerfeller Center and the ice skating rink. I saw a guy in a wild Chiquitta Banana outfit walking a baby in a stroller. New York just has to make you smile.

I stayed close to Skidmore this weekend. I got a great hair cut at Dominic Ricci Salon in Islip with the owner, Sherry. I also went to Fire Island and took some photos of the light house. There is a nice wooden path over the dunes from the beach to the light house. It takes about 20 minutes to walk it. Lots of deer roam around the island. It was a really nice day, but chilly in the wind.

This weekend I went all the way up to Columbia University to hear Georg Friedrich Hass conduct a 24-piece chamber orchestra. I found out when I got there that had the date wrong, so I will get to make the trip again this Friday. Since I was there, I decided to try out an Ethiopian restaurant in the neighborhood that I had read about. It is called Awash and just a little bit south of Columbia on Amsterdam.

I was seated right away but the service was slow and I spent two hours there, but the food was wonderful. They cover large plate with pancake-like bread called Injera. I ordered Lamb Yebey Tibs, a mildly spicy lamb dish, with a lentil side and a chickpea side. It comes with two rolled up injera, and you eat with your food with your fingers, so they bring you a hot towel to clean your hands. It is very spicy, but a different hot than Mexican food. My mouth had a nice warm feeling for about an hour after I ate. I really like the food.

Saturday I went to the Metropolitan Art Museum. I saw the exhibit, Raphael to Renoir: Drawings from the Collection of Jean Bonna, and the Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors exhibit and then ate at the cafeteria. My chicken dish was ok but nothing special. After I meandered a little I ended up in the Impressionists rooms and I sat down in front of Sargent’s Madame X. I had felt a bit lonesome when I sat down, but as I looked around I realized I was surrounded by old friends, Sargent before me, Degas on my left, Van Gogh, Monet and Manet on my right, an Cassatte behind me. It was great to see them in person knowing that Picasso or Braque had put his hand to that piece of canvas.

Sunday I came into New York to go to Chinatown for the Lunar New Year’s Parade. It was crazy crowded. I reminded me of the poem “There’s too many kids in this tub, too many elbows to scrub. I just washed a behind that I sure isn’t mine, There’s too many kids in this tub.” It was so crowded that I was pushed on every side. I found a niche on the side of a building and tried to get out of the crush. Eventually I made my way a bit further down the street and a nice old Chinese gentleman invited me to stand beside him on a step and he told me about the parade as it passed. He told me where different lions were from and also about the different costumes people were wearing. He told me the black lion had to come last since it is the strongest and would overpower the others if it came earlier. This is the year of the Ox so a lot of people were wearing horns. It took me a while to realize they weren’t meant to be devils. Venders everywhere were selling poppers full of confetti so there was a constant flow of colored paper in the air.

It was hard to see the parade very well because of the crowd. Many people had their babies on their shoulders so the crowd looked like a sea of people with bobbing babies on the surface. Still, I enjoyed it and I did get a few good pictures of the event.