Central Park in Blazing Technicolor

THERE IS SOMETHING SAD

There is something so sad about looking back and realizing that a world that once existed is gone forever. HOLLYWOOD. The place where Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin once worked and played is gone. They are gone. That place does not even exist any more. Everything falls away. 

TBC

AUTUMN

Today feels like AUTUMN. And with AUTUMN comes familiar feelings.... 

September 11, 2020

 The view is different, the memories are the same: 

Good-bye, Good Stuff Diner

The Good-Stuff Diner is permanently closing. The restaurant could not sustain the financial losses that were incurred during the pandemic. 

When I learned of this on the news, I was overwhelmed with sadness. So, I located sites where other former patrons could also be expressing their feelings over this information, and it was at facebook where I saw one heartfelt comment posted by a former  customer who said he was "gutted" when he heard the diner was closing. 

This restaurant was probably in business for about 15 years and during those years I went there often with friends, relatives, and even a viewer of my internet broadcast who, when she was in NYC, reached out to connect with me and that is where we dined. I can still see her dish of shrimp scampi on the table waiting to be devoured. 

I will miss this wonderful place. It is where I interviewed Robert Siegel and Wayno Drayno. But most of all I will miss the delicious food. This was one diner where you never got a bad meal. 

Can this restaurant be saved? I reached out to some in government and some reporters. But nobody responded. Why do these quiet stories that move so many people go unnoticed? And how is it even possible that this could make me cry? Maybe it is because so many places have closed and will be closing and the passing of time creates despondency because when the pieces fall away... all you have are the memories. 

walking in Selma to the Edmund Pettus Bridge

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: ONGOING

As I walked up the steps of my building to the sidewalk, the view is more alarming in closeups. The homeless man still sat there mostly unnoticed except for a few kindhearted passersby who did stop to talk to him and put some money in his cup... but the ongoing parade of pedestrians just kept on walking: unmasked and ignoring social distancing. 

WHAT HAPPENED TO AUNT DIANE?

coming soon....

A TALE OF TWO CITIES IN NEW YORK CITY

Just a few yards away from Walker Tower, where gorgeous apartments sell for millions of dollars... a homeless man sat on the corner with no place to go. The contrast speaks volumes.

Chasing Willoughby

"It comes with sunlight and serenity and is a part of.... The Twilight Zone."

Ida Grove

In IOWA...

The 350-seat Princess Theatre was opened in 1914. It was renamed the King Theatre in 1917. In 1940 it was remodeled and a 100-seat balcony was added. It was closed in 2010 and became a retail unit for many years. It reopened on October 17, 2019 with the 2019 “The Lion King.”