Simplify
I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of time I spend on social media, especially on Facebook and Twitter. I maintain my author presence on my book’s Facebook page, visit a few friends’ pages, and occasionally catch up with breaking news on Twitter. But with the exception of a couple of Facebook Groups I belong to, none of it really sparks joy for me. And it creates a huge distraction from my writing and editing.
So I’ve been writing more, reading more, and just generally feeling better about how I use my time. The compulsion to document and share my experiences in the highly temporal world of social media is not enjoyable for me any more.
Greenway
Last Summer, there was an installation of landmark Boston-area neon signs along a section of the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, which included the sign from The European - a restaurant in the North End that is long-gone, but memories of which will always be alive. It was a place to go for pizza with the kids before Bruins or Celtics games at the old Boston Garden, back in a time when those things were affordable to do for an average family.
If you haven’t visited the city since the completion of The Big Dig in the 1990s, when the Expressway was dismantled and removed, you will find it hard to believe (and positively thrilling) that such beauty has replaced such ugliness.
Art Therapy
After a particularly difficult week in America (and a disgraceful performance by the Boston Red Sox last night) it was time to visit the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts today, and experience beauty and tranquility.
The gallery of Modern American Art was especially helpful.
Girls In The Windows
Photographed by Ormond Gigli on East 58th Street in Manhattan in 1960, just prior to the building’s demolition in order to make room for a high rise.
Prime “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” era.
