Irene Did It: MTA Suspends Public Transportation

7 Avenue BMT Station Roped Off on the Brighton Line in Park Slope, Brooklyn 

I must say: not having our iconic subway trains in service because of Irene is eerie. I understand the rationale behind the MTA's decision but I am still stunned that in New York City today there is no revenue service AT ALL. The MTA suspended service on all subway, bus, Metro North, and Long Island Railroad - as well as New Jersey Transit and PATH.

Trains have been moved from vulnerable yards and holed up on tracks at a higher elevation. If I could be a fly on the wall during this complicated maneuver to put the MTA rolling stock on safe ground.

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image source: bkabak

Aesthetic Thursday: Giant Head in Madison Square Park

The sculpture of a head sits in plain view in Madison Square Park in Manhattan.

Jaume Plensa, Echo, Madison Square Park

image source: Benjamin Sutton

It's an apparition out of a dream. I am walking in Madison Square Park. And I see a head. Jutting out of the ground. The head of a woman. Her eyes are closed. And she does not awake. But it is not a dream. It is real. A public art installation this Summer. And I thought I was dreaming!

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Report: Earthquake in the Northeast

In this post, I record that time there was an earthquake felt in New York City.

Felt a Minor Shake
I was in a library near 14th street (320 miles away from the epicenter) when the quake occurred. I noticed the building sway but I thought it was due to the activity of a construction site next door.

It Was Barely Perceptible
It was not until the alarms went off in the building (twenty minutes after the initial seismic nudge) and when I heard some say "earthquake" that I knew what had happened.

I hope you did not shake too much!

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List Writing: Must I Have Something to Say?

Goals — What Goes Up Must Come Down

Writing a list of questions and providing a concise answer helps to solidify confidence in goal-making.
A List of Goal-Related Questions with Concise Answers
1. Must one have a plan?
Yes. But be open to abort and plan again.

2. Must I have something to say?
No. It makes you more mysterious. Or more stupid. Go figure.

3. Must one write every day?
Yes. Blogs and grocery lists don't count. Only sterling prose. (bullshit).

4. Must one be self-effacing?
Yes. Because otherwise, you're just a non-self-effacing twat. I was going to say, "dick" but I didn't.

5. Must I read into everything?
Yes. Because most people under-read everything.

6. Must I write in lists?
No. But some bloggers insist it promotes readability.

7. Must I use words to express meaning?
Yes, dammit. I hate it when people ask such questions.

8. Must I rant? Or must I rave?
Both.

9. Must words more often fail than succeed (in meaning)?
This could be a paper topic. Or a dissertation.

10. Must beauty be truth?
Yes. And truth, beauty.

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First Sentence of a Failed Novel

Do you have failed first sentences of novels you tried to write? Here's one:

Her skin was chalky white, but Patrick thought she was rosy. Amelia was stretched out on the bed, beneath the mosquito netting.
Please share your own failed sentence in the comments section:

Image source: the new yorker

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Quote from Don Quixote

Henry Caseroti, Cock-A-Doodle-Doo, 2010

Every cock crows on its own dung hill

Miguel Cervantes, Don Quixote

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