Happy Happenstance

Yesterday was one of those days that bring pleasant surprises. It started off fairly crappy. Had rained before I left for my haircut appointment and was overcast and humid. But I was determined to enjoy the day and take pictures -- I was on the hunt for a 195 for a flickr photo group NYC in Sequential Numbers -- so off I went down to the East Village, a neighborhood I love and where I thought I could find building numbers in the 190s as well as other fun things to take pics of. I did get my pic of a 195, but I also happened upon a mini sidewalk tribute in front of the Pearl Theater (on St. Marks Place, aka East 8th Street), similar on a much smaller scale to Grauman's Theater in Los Angeles.


As I was taking pictures of the concrete slabs with their autographs and footprints and/or handprints, a man came out of the upstairs of the building and started telling me about the autographs. Then, he realized he'd forgotten to put up a sign for his photography show in the small studio above the theater and he invited me in to see the photos while he got the sign. Turned out he's Lorcan Otway (and I just discovered he has a flickr account) and I guess he manages or owns the place and his photos were of neighborhood folks. He told me the stories of the photos, which of course, were stories about some of the street people of the East Village. I was enchanted.


After, I walked back on East 6th Street. There are a lot of private community parks in the area, but I found one called the Creative Little Garden that was open to the public. I walked around a bit -- no one else was there -- and took some photos. It was narrow -- almost a wide, leafy alley -- and utterly charming.

It's these little encounters that make me love New York. That, plus all the history and wonderful architecture. Mr. Otway told me he was considering applying for landmark status for the theater building. He should, because he also mentioned that Trotsky had lived for a while in the apartment being used for the photo exhbit!

Oh, and here's a fun link:
These toilet paper roll dolls are just about too cute to use.Found on Neatorama.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
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