Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 3:04PM | Torea Jade 
We bought our supplies yesterday and secured the plants and furniture in our backyard this morning, so we decided to walk around Astoria this afternoon. Eerily quiet; many businesses closed, and very few people on the streets. The signs were quite interesting, though.
Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 2:02PM | Torea Jade 
Rain showers before Irene: what are we in for?
Post a Comment | Share Article | tagged astoria, hurricane 2011, hurricane irene, new york, new york city, standing water in New York Monday, May 30, 2011 at 7:34PM | Torea Jade 
This weekend was surprisingly busy! On Saturday, I wandered around the city and spent some time at the green market in Union Square, before we had a lovely dinner at ABC Kitchen (suggestions: ramp and goat cheese toast; roasted carrot and avocado salad with sour cream and seeds; salted-caramel ice cream sundae with hot fudge, candied peanuts, and popcorn). On Sunday, inspired by a few books my mom sent me about day hikes in the tri-state area, we took a stroll on the Appalachian Trail; on Monday, we met with friends in Prospect Park for a barbecue. Some scenes:
50 faces in chalk, near Union Square, by Felix Morelo
A water tower and signs near section two of the New York-New Jersey section of the Appalachian Trail
Grilling in Prospect Park
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 5:51PM | Torea Jade 
Jaume Plensa's Echo, which was installed in Madison Square Park in early May and will be on display through mid-August, is breathtaking. About the piece:
[The sculpture] depicts a nine-year-old girl from Plensa’s Barcelona neighborhood, lost in a state of thoughts and dreams. Standing forty-four feet tall at the center of the park’s expansive Oval Lawn, Echo’s towering stature and white marble-dusted surface harmoniously reflect the historic limestone buildings that surround the park. Both monumental in size and inviting in subject, the peaceful visage of Echo creates a tranquil and introspective atmosphere amid the cacophony of central Manhattan.
Plensa’s sculpture also refers to an episode in Greek mythology in which the loquacious nymph Echo is forced as punishment to repeat only the thoughts of others. Plensa’s Echo plays on the narrative of this Greek myth by depicting a young girl’s face in a state of reverie, translating this sculptural portrait into a physical monument of the internalized voices of the thousands of daily visitors to Madison Square Park.
