eve

New Year's Eve and flurries in NYC, we're expecting light snow throughout the day and it will be cold. It seems no one made any party plans, but it's looking like an east village sort of night out. Check back tomorrow for pics, broken resolutions and other remnants of the hazy aftermath...

2008

Click to Play

From http://ridavio.com/ Finally! The year in pictures for 2008 is finished. Did you make the cut? You'll have to watch to find out. Similar to last year, the passing of the seasons is defined by trips upstate to the Catskills and bike rides through Central Park and down the Hudson River. There was more filmracing and I was lucky to see my family several times: Mom's spring visit, 4th of July with both parents hosted by Barbara in Ocean Grove, the Davis family reunion in KC, the Chavarria family reunion in Saltillo and my brother's big birthday in Gig Harbor. While there was little international travel this year, a spring project took me to the far reaches of New York including little Russia in Brighton Beach, little India in Jackson Heights, Chinatown in Flushing and more. My work for the Center still figures prominently, after four years working under contract I was officially hired this year. The Center celebrated it's 25th anniversary and the highlight of that was marching at the front of the Pride parade. When you see beach it's probably Fire Island (if it's not the Jersey Shore) - I made it out three times this year. I finally made it to PS1 for the first time and the car free Saturdays on Park Avenue in August were lovely. You see lots of old friends and a few new ones and a couple of long lost ones. But the fondest goodbye was Florent, a restaurant that closed this year, and not after countless Saturday brunches. The trip upstate that is not in New York is New Hampshire on Labor Day thanks to Chris. And then there were the elections, the hard fought struggle, the unbelievable elation and the bittersweet aftermath with the outcome of Prop 8. Thanks to Basil, David and Andrea for their music suggestions and contributions. Once again I'm including Santa Baby as sung by Eartha in honor of her recent passing. Over 12,300 photos taken this year were edited to around 1,800, of which probably around 1,500 made the cut. It didn't help that I resolved to post a photo a day to my blog on my birthday this year. As this year draws to a close my thoughts go out to those who have experienced the downside of the current economic situation first hand. Let's hope for a better 2009 with more enlightened leadership and some real gains in equal rights for all of us.

winter park

The weather was overcast and unusually mild in NYC yesterday.

morning after

Hopefully your holiday fun has not deflated like this giant Santa from the neighborhood.

le rouge et le vert

box it

Nothing says Christmas like pancakes and ham. Basil was kind enough to host a xmas breakfast yesterday and we had a wonderfully goofy time. Ended up at Alvin Ailey for the evening performance - amazing.

happy holidays!

Chris hosted a lovely cocktail by the tree in Brooklyn yesterday and Carlos had his big dinner with family and friends. I hope you are enjoying the holidays wherever you are today.

eve

Santa has some work to do and will not be going out with the boys tonight.

warmth

On Saturday I had a little holiday gathering and several friends came by. A good time was had by all. The first to arrive came straight from the Light Up the Night for Equality protest in Times Square (see previous post 'light') It was quite cold that night and they were frozen solid. The place glowed in warmth - red and gold here in the kitchen and green in the living room. Soon there were so many people we had to open the windows to let a little air in. Now that's cozy.

light

Join the Impact added more light to the night in Times Square. It was a very cold evening to march for marriage equality, but an intrepid Center Media crew took on the challenge. The recent outrage around Rick Warren seemed to carry the day.

solstice

Happy Winter!

snow II

The second snow of the season brought more than a dusting. I was inside most of the day and evening finishing the December show at the Center. So I caught the aftermath, late, on the way home. The online version of the show is done, tomorrow I print to tape.

celebrate

The third-to-last holiday celebration included 3 work-related happy hours last night. Just the holiday lunch today and the holiday party tomorrow and it will all be over.

countdown

When you can't throw a shoe all you can do is wait and hope for the best.

snow

The first snow of the season dusted NYC yesterday.

fountain II

The Jackson Square fountain has been dressed up for the holidays. Basil is of the opinion it looks like Josephine Baker dressed as an African dancer. What do you think?

vigil

On Sunday I went to Brooklyn. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn spoke at the vigil in memory of José Sucuzhañay in Bushwick, Brooklyn. José died of injuries sustained in an attack on December 7th in which four men beat him and his brother with a bottle and bats shouting anti-gay and anti-Latino slurs. He was an Ecuadorian immigrant, father and small business owner. The vigil was organized by the Bushwick-based Make the Road.

santacon

Today is Santacon in NYC. It's an event I first came across last year. Here is the photo of that encounter taken with my phone.

CCNet

The video that I shot for the Cochrane Consumer Network has just gone live on their website. It was a lot of fun making it although the process has been long, they have been very happy with the result, as am I. What is CCNet you ask? Well, watch the video to find out, and if you are interested in health, get involved - it's for you, the consumer. As the description on the website reads: "this is a nine-minute video featuring members of the Cochrane Consumer Network describing how they work together and contribute to improve health care in communities around the world."

lane

Happy Birthday, Lane!

wreath

Someone hung a wreath on the door to my office. Tis the season.

Advent Tree

My friend Jer passed through town recently and we had a night out with our set of friends, old ones of mine he had met, and new ones he hadn't and friends of his he hadn't see in years. His sister in Chicago sent his childhood advent tree which brought back all kinds of memories. Since it was the morning after I couldn't remember basic words like 'pouch,' but you get the idea. What did you look forward to at the holidays? Need some holiday giving ideas? Make a donation to the Center, we need your help more than ever.

market

It got cold in NYC over the weekend. That didn't slow down things at the Union Square green market. Strawberry rhubarb jam was the top seller at this stand.

brody

Last night I went over to Tim and Angelos' to celebrate Tim's birthday belatedly. It was a really nice evening, even though poor Brody got a little sick. But she seemed to recover nicely. They ordered pizza with truffles - yum!

negocios

Jer had a really productive layover in NYC. He met several people at the Center and made some good connections. Yesterday he even had a meeting at amfAR. His boss told him to wear a tie. So he did. It went well. Wishing you luck with the interviews in London. Te quiero cada dia mas, amigito ;)

jerrrr

Jer is in town from Lima in transit to London. Tonight we go out - watch out NYC!

wood

duck, duck...

What's good for the goose is good for you. Won't you consider giving to my cause this season: The Center. Thank you!

projects II

World AIDS Day

On November 30, 2008, the eve of World AIDS Day, a small group gathered at Pier 49 on the Hudson River walk to dedicate the AIDS Monument. The project of the AIDS Monument Committee took 14 years to come to fruition. Located on the Hudson River Park at Bank Street, the memorial is a 42-foot long, 2-foot tall, 12-inch deep curved granite bench. An inscription on the side facing the river says: I can sail without wind, I can row without oars, but I cannot part from my friend without tears.