Tulum.

This trip was one of my best. A few of us piled into a jet and flew down to México for some sun and fun over the Christmas break. After a seven hour trip to Cancun via México City and a two hour drive from Cancun, we finally took a left onto RT 109 in Tulum. This is a magical little strip of road parallel to the beach that's filled with smaller boutique hotels, dimly lit restaurants and some of the kindest and best looking squatters/swingers/hippies/philosophers/musicians/artists/yogis around. This part of Tulum is very different than the downtown area that I've visited twice before. Both are unique in their own way but our hosts at Casa Luna Limon, who own and operate a production company (http://www.gorilafilms.com), provided us with the opportunity to experience Tulum in the way they live it.  Here are a few highlights: fresh squeezed juice and chilaquiles each morning, family style Méxican dinners, dance parties on the beach, a super close call with two wild dogs, guided tours of cliff jumps-yep I did it-and cenotes (underground fresh water systems) that are not advertised to tourists (scariest thing I've done in awhile), knowledge of the best and cheapest places to buy ceviche, pool parties, taco lunch for 4 people for $13 bucks, a group bike ride past the check point to the Sian Ka'an reserve at the end of RT 109 for a ridiculous lunch on top of some hotel we didn't know existed and then a mad dash home at dusk on a dark, dirt road with no lights or reflectors on our bikes, a self guided tour of Pablo Escobar's abandoned home 'Casa Magna', evening music session including didgeridoo lessons for Kayte with some guys living in a tent city across the street from our place and then a moonlight jam session on the beach-for real, body painting, body surfing, skinny dipping, coconut harvesting, storytelling, some tequila and a whole lot of other stuff. Oh yeah...music, music, music--our hosts had the BEST taste in music and played it from about 10am-12am. Amazing. 

This was our lunch while visiting The Sian Ka'an Reserve. 

Kayte and Felix on our way back from Pet Cemetery Cenotes. 

Lunch in The Sian Ka'an Reserve. 

This ladder down through a tiny, dark hole in the ground led us to the fresh water cenote we swam through for about an hour. Clearance above our heads was about a foot at some points. Yeah. I didn't appreciate Kayte biting my toe 1/2 way through. We all made it and I'm glad we did. It was so incredibly beautiful. 

Here is Randi, Itai and Missy on a Tulum beach. 

Kayte and me, chillin' on our terrace. 

Missy and Kayte at sunrise.

Randi, Missy and me on tour with Itai.

Here's our rooftop terrace and a view of the penthouse. 

Every morning we woke up to fresh juice and coffee!!!

Here's Missy and The Ice Cream Monkey.

Kayte (my partially exposed butt) and D. Dave. 

The Cliff. 

More soon. 

Balance.

What does it mean to be balanced? To me, it means that you have a handle on the the various elements in your life and don’t feel that your heart or mind are being pulled too hard in any direction. More often than not, you feel calm, grounded, clear-headed, and motivated. The elements in life that require the most balancing can be divided into two categories: internal and external. Oftentimes, people focus on one more than the other. For example, you may find that you focus on external things–like work, relationships, and activities, and that you pay very little attention to what is going on inside your heart and mind. On the other hand, you may find that you spend so much time being self reflective that you sometimes miss out on the experience of living. Other people may be fairly balanced between the two but might want to balance out some specific elements within each category. Here is an outline to help us better understand the beneficial components on both ends of each spectrum.

1) Internal (Mind, Heart, Health)

• Mind: Challenging yourself intellectually vs. creating opportunities for your mind to rest
• Heart: Giving love vs. receiving love
• Health: Eating, drinking, exercising properly vs. resting and treating yourself to some extra yummies

2) External (Work, Social, Family, Fun)

• Work: Pushing yourself to achieve goals vs. seeing the bigger picture and enjoying the ride
• Social: Satisfying your social desires vs. taking time for yourself
• Family: Fulfilling your familial responsibilities vs. creating healthy boundaries
• Fun: Allocating time for things you enjoy doing vs. making sure you don’t overdo it

Both ends of each spectrum are actually positive; but if either side is taken to an extreme, something that is intended to be positive can end up being detrimental.

What works for some people does not necessarily work for others; and that one person’s idea of balance may not constitute anything remotely balanced from another person’s perspective. Create your own definition.

-Tiny Buddha

The Pricelow's Wedding!

Cristina and Jeff posted some pictures today of their beautiful (albeit soggy) wedding day back in August! Such a fun weekend with friends in the Green Mountain State. Cheers to the newlyweds!!

Go ahead. Punch me.

Long week. Feeling down. Goodnight. 

Viva La Chrismukkah!

I'm changing it up this Christmas. After a bunch of highly entertaining and sort of productive Google+ video chats, a bunch of us got together and rented a place in Tulum for Christmas. So, we'll be celebrating with the locals on Christmas Eve. Our place has a pool but, it doesn't have 24 hour a day electricity (common in Tulum). We're all buying headlamps to bring with us. That's about all I can tell you at this point. What else do you need? Good peeps, the beach and good food (fingers crossed). 

Life. For now.

My mind is being blown on a regular basis these days. This time it's Grandma's fault for whispering some profound words to me at the dinner table last night. She is 98. I'm sure it's not easy getting to be that age. Cheers to her for making the best of the years during which she's faced some of life's biggest challenges. Grandma: May you feel joy, peace and love until you go--and thereafter. 

The Eating Season.

I took a quick trip last weekend to have dinner with some fine folks including 6 week old, Chet Curley! QT with a few of my peeps will fuel me through the next few weeks of crazy. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

One night in Philly.

That's all it takes to marry off The Grilliamz. Stephanie and Mike threw a beautiful celebration at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia last night with 170 of their friends and family. Stephanie was stunning in every way and Mike and his Dad were the life of the party! The families of both Stephanie and Mike spoke about the couple throughout the evening and shared stories that gave us all a window into what makes this couple tick. We all know they're great together but, the crowd last night reaffirmed this. I didn't bring my camera this time so, I only have a few iPhone pictures to share. It was such a happy occasion for so many reasons! Thank GOD we weren't there for more than one night or we might have burned the place down. Today, a few of us did a bit of site seeing before catching our train back to NYC. We even managed to fit in a trip to Tommy Dinic's at The Reading Terminal Market. Nice! Back to work tomorrow. 

The Fire of the Ring

Today was Day 9 of working from home. I'm practically a freelancer. I go back tomorrow. Thank GOD! I took my time getting up this morning once I realized all the snow had melted. Before I knew it it was 6:30pm and I hadn't gotten out of my pajamas--not for lack of trying. I was in the midst of conference calls, texts, emails, spinning plates, UPS deliveries while on conference calls--it was bananas. There's no sign of it slowing down either...not until January maybe? 

Being at home during the day is just one of the ways the last two weeks have been different. Hurricane Sandy is one of those defining moments here in NYC. It has been and will continue to be a big deal until shit isn't broken anymore and people have what they need. I don't want people to suffer but, Sandy was an equalizer. Some of the wealthiest people in the tri-state area were left in the dark and huddling under blankets in their swanky homes. Some of the homeless didn't seem as lowly to others who were temporarily beside them in despair. People talked to each other and many got in touch with how lucky they are to have what they have. HEAT! POWER!CLEAN WATER! HOT FOOD! So many don't have these things. If you've got them, be grateful.

Just when I thought things were calming down...triple whammy! The Election, Mom's ER visit and a second storm. 

Our country's young, progressive thinkers are growing up. They are influencing the direction of our country and the Republican base is shrinking. The GOP is not so grand these days but, they sure are old. So is their thinking. I am still dumbfounded by all that transpired on Tuesday night. So many victories!! Although I don't back legalizing weed. Sorry stoners. It's bad for you and eventually the Feds will get involved and tax you to your extinction.  Generally,  I'm proud of the way people voted and excited that there is a clear shift right now. Acceptance and understanding is so trendy. Let's all enjoy our cumbaya moment...at least until 2016. And please, for the love of God, somebody find a way to monitor campaign spending. It's embarrassing. 

My mom is resting comfortably at home but, for a moment things got pretty hairy. She experienced symptoms of a heart attack on Monday night so, Patrick took her to the ER. She was in a good spot because 72.35% of Florida is old people with heart problems. I'm pretty sure implanting a stent is like changing a lightbulb for those doctors. In the end, she has minor blockages but, no major heart issues. They released her yesterday afternoon. She will still need to follow up to find out what's causing her symptoms. But, for now...Big. Sigh. Of. Relief. 

Athena? OK, so...now we're naming winter storms? I do not back this move. Don't get me wrong. I love me some Jim "a cow just flew by" Cantore but, really? Let's stick to naming hurricanes. I usually like the first snow but, this snow was WRETCHED. I was in Manhattan yesterday afternoon with some friends when the wintery mix drenched all of us despite our attempts to use umbrellas. Forget about it. During those storms you just have to stay inside or wear a snowsuit. It came, people lost power again and a donations tent collapsed in Brooklyn from heavy snow. Aside from that, our Nor'easter wasn't so crazy. 

Am I still writing? This post is sort of all over the place but, so much is going on these days! Just trying to keep up. Skyfall tomorrow night. I'll watch Daniel Craig leave the room any day of the week! 

The title of this post was provided by: http://mdbenoit.com/rtg.htm

"It was more difficult to rent a car than a helicopter in New York the day after Sandy."

Shooting in the dark, with a handheld camera, in a vibrating helicopter, 5,000 feet above land sounds like a photographer’s nightmare. But Iwan Baan made it look easy.The Dutch photographer’s image of a half-illuminated, half-powerless New York City in the wake of Hurricane Sandy captured the nation’s attention on the cover of New York magazine.“It was the only way to show that New York was two cities, almost,” Baan said on the phone Sunday evening from Haiti.

 “One was almost like a third world country where everything was becoming scarce. Everything was complicated. And then another was a completely vibrant, alive New York.” Baan made the image Wednesday night after the storm, using the new Canon 1D X with the new 24-70mm lens on full open aperture. The camera was set at 25,000 ISO, with a 1/40th of a second shutter speed.

“[It was] the kind of shot which was impossible to take before this camera was there,” Baan said. It was more difficult to rent a car than a helicopter in New York the day after Sandy, Baan said. And because there was such limited air traffic so soon after the storm, air traffic control allowed Baan and the helicopter to hover very high above the city, a powerful advantage for the photo. Shooting from a helicopter doesn’t faze Baan. He does it about once a week, on average, all across the world. But he had never tried it in the middle of the night before. Imagine crouching inside a vibrating helicopter, clutching a handheld camera and peering down at the devastated landscape of a city just ravaged by a storm that’s claimed more than 100 lives. Now imagine what it feels like to have no door between you and that wide expanse of nothing, just 46-degree air ripping around the sky. And somehow managing, despite the darkness, to capture such a vivid, emotional snapshot. “With these aerials you shoot a lot, bursts of images, to finally pick one out there which is sharp,” Baan said. “It’s difficult if it’s freezing outside, you don’t have a door, helicopter is moving and vibrating, etc., but you really work towards an idea, visualization of that image which you have in mind.” Baan knew before the helicopter left the ground what sort of image he wanted to achieve. And once they landed, the process of selecting and submitting to New York magazine editors was easy. The hour suspended above the earth was the hard part. “In a way, it all worked out perfectly,” Baan said. “You never know when something like this happens. If one thing would have changed, the picture wouldn’t exist.” The photo captured not only the effects of Sandy, but the reality of New York City on the eve of the 2012 election, he said. “What really struck me, if you look at the image on the left, you see the Goldman Sachs building and new World Trade Center,” said Baan. “These two buildings are brightly lit. And then the rest of New York looks literally kind of powerless. In a way, it shows also what’s wrong with the country in this moment.” 

City Hall's Secret Station.

Today was busy--filled with the unofficial NYC Marathon in Central Park, a trip to the Guggenheim to see the Picasso Black & White show and seeing a second exhibit a friend had a hand in curating. We headed back downtown on the subway (I think I actually missed riding on the subway!!) with the plan of stopping at City Hall/Brooklyn Bridge so we could walk over the Brooklyn Bridge-which we later did. At the very last minute, I remembered that City Hall was the stop where the secret station is/was. Only problem--I didn't know how to find it. We asked around a bit and finally realized we just needed to stay on the 6 train after it's last stop to get a glimpse of the station. So we asked the conductor if we could and he said yes! Unfortunately, the skylights are now covered. The only thing we got to see was the City Hall sign which was still lit. It's a beautiful station. Too bad it's not being preserved. The station is on too tight a curve and the platform is too short for modern day trains. Here's the history...

City Hall Station, situated on a loop of track in front of City Hall, was the original southern terminal of the Interborough Rapid Transit subway. The site of the 1900 groundbreaking, this station was designed to be the showpiece of the new subway. Unusually elegant in architectural style, it is unique among the original IRT stations. The platform and mezzanine feature Guastavino arches and skylights, colored glass tilework, and brass chandeliers.

The curved platform is about 400' feet long, which is the length of a five car IRT train minus the front and rear doors as was the IRT's standard design for a local station when it was constructed. In the center of the platform is an archway over stairs leading to the mezzanine. On each side of the stairway, there is a glass tile "City Hall" sign, and a third is on the archway above the stairs. No other signs like these were placed in the other IRT. stations of the era; the lettering is quite unique, as is the deep blue and tan glass tiling. The arched ceiling of the platform area has simple brass light fixtures along its length.

When City Hall Station opened, plaques were hung on the track-side wall commemorating the Interborough Rapid Transit company and honoring the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Co.. The plaques listed the directors, engineers, and financiers, including August Belmont, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. McDonald. These plaques were removed when the station was closed, and relocated to the Brooklyn Bridge station, where they hung near a token booth until 1995. As of early 1996, the plaques are back in their original positions on the trackside wall. Contrary to popular rumor, there was no plaque here honoring Alfred Ely Beach's early pneumatic subway.

The mezzanine featured a wooden ticket booth and two stairways to the street. The ticket booth is long gone. The complex green, tan, and white tiling pattern on the ceiling meets in the four corners of the vault over the mezzanine.

City Hall Station opened along with the rest of the Interborough's first subway line on October 27, 1904. It was immediately clear that expansion of the subway system would be necessary and additional lines were built. But ever-increasing ridership eventually required the Interborough's five-car local stations to be lengthened to accommodate longer trains, and so the IRT underwent an extensive program of station lengthening in the 1940s and early 1950s.

City Hall, due to its architecture and its being situated on a tight curve, was deemed impractical for lengthening. The new longer trains had center doors on each car, and at City Hall's tight curve, it was dangerous to open them. It was decided to abandon the station in favor of the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station, and so City Hall was closed to passenger service on December 31, 1945. The street entrances were sealed and the skylights covered over.

City Hall Station was never really an important one in terms of passenger use even when it was open; the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station was heavily used as it served both local and express trains, and the Brooklyn Bridge streetcar terminal was above.

While the station may be closed, and very few straphangers have actually seen it, the track on which City Hall Station is located is not abandoned. The #6 trains still pass through it on their way northbound, reversing direction using the loop for the journey back to the Bronx. In fact, to get to City Hall station, one must ride on an out-of-service #6 train. To get out, the motorman would key open a a single end door to allow visitors to step carefully out onto the platform. First-time visitors are awe-struck at the station's huge glass and brick arches and tiling. From time to time the NY Transit Museum has tours of this station, but these have been suspended due to perceived security risks in the area around City Hall.

Plans to open the station as an extension of the New York Transit Museum were mostly shelved due to recent security measures restricting access to the areas around City Hall. (These measures were in fact in place prior to 9/11/2001.) The station was spruced up for the October, 2004 IRT Centennial celebration. The skylights were uncovered, lighting fixed or replaced, and a stairway to the street reopened. A VIP ceremony was held there on October 27, 2004, and for a few hours after, the station was open to the public once again. It has remained closed since.

Hey everyone else on the planet, what do you think?

I got into a small discussion this morning about politics--I know, I know...you're jealous. Here's the thing. It's so upsetting to me that despite the biggest issues on the table (women's rights, climate change, the economy, jobs, foreign policy) some are choosing to focus on the "conspiracy" behind a malfunctioning voting machine in Ohio or The Warn Act and Obama's choice to indemnify businesses from legal costs associated with the skirting of a law he created. Good to know more about that one so I can have a meaningful discussion if it comes up again down the line. No politician is perfect. Not even Obama but, I don't have enough battery life to list all the times Romney has stepped in his own shit. He is a liar. I have to go take a walk. 

But, let's all keep in mind that there exists a huge group of people that have no leaders and no voice in America. They are sitting on the sidelines watching and listening to the ideologues and radical elements in both parties. At some point, this group may move to support one party or the other. If this occurs, the beneficiary will win the election. 

VOTE.

Sums it up.

#strandedinbrooklyn

Brooklyn goes huge on Halloween--even after a major disaster has occurred. I started last night at a kid's pizza party at Alex and Jude's place. It was awesome! Sawyer was a robot. There were a few small subway cars, an elephant,  a cowboy, a dinosaur, a really sweet little cat and a few others. I had big plans to get out of Park Slope for the evening (that hasn't happened all week) so, I split after an hour or so. I changed into my costume and headed over to Williamsburg via car service--no subway. I met up with Neely at a bar called Lucky's near her new place and we caught up for a bit over a glass of wine. She still had to change into her costume before we went out so after our drink we left. We found the cheapest/best Mexican I've had in a long time. I can't remember the name of the place (somewhere near S 1st off of Bedford). We ordered two chorizo tacos, a chicken quesadilla, chips and guac for $13.50. Win! After dinner, we headed to meet my friend Kayte and her crew at The Brooklyn Bowl. It was...interesting? I'm not sure the show we saw was legal but, there was an awful lot of naked booty-shakin! We had a few drinks and eventually ran into Jay's friend Lee who was out and about. He's an agent for Skrillex now so, he shared stories of a recent movie premier during which he sat next to Will Ferrell. Ha! Fellow Toki-yo-go-go rubbing elbows with celebs! Funny. He hooked us up with bracelets so we could join his friends in the bowling area of the club. Fun! Kayte and her crew were headed across the street to Kinfolk. I eventually popped over there for a few to see the bar and do a bit of dancing. It turned out to be a pretty interesting Halloween filled with lots of crazy costumes and a bunch of new peeps. 

I woke up this morning with a hint of a headache. I started by checking my email. I had some. There was work to do. My internet and phone signal has been pretty awful for the last few days but, I shouldn't complain. I have power. I have water. I have food and a bed to sleep in. I ventured out to my cafe to check email more easily. No internet. I headed to the library. No internet. Same at the museum-- although I stayed there for a bit to see what I could see. I can't believe I haven't visited before now. It's a great spot. Finally, I found internet at a hole-in-the wall cafe 3 blocks from home. Success! I was online for 3 hours...just enough time to get the major fires at work put out. Relief. 

Here's something I'm writing down as a reminder for myself and anyone else who might be reading. My problems are not real problems. They are inconveniences. I have been "stuck" in Park Slope all week. I'll be here tomorrow too since my office still doesn't have power. I'm fine though. No biggie. I have what I need. But, I have seen the tone shift in the last day. This morning was the first day that people really made a serious attempt to get to Manhattan. You can pick up the bus at the Atlantic Station if you're willing to wait in the line that wraps around the Barclay Center, twice. Then you can look forward to a 2 hour trip into the city. Time to get a bike. The guy who drove me to Williamsburg last night complained of the long gas station lines or no gas at all. We passed a number of stations with lines that were a 1/2 mile long. It's not locals. It's people coming here from all of the affected areas. It reminded me of how removed  I am from all that's happening around me. Don't get me wrong, I've been watching at least 2 hours of news a day trying to keep track of what's safe,  what's clean, what's open, timetables for repair, etc. I heard the constant sirens and today, the honking horns that came with the above ground rush hour traffic. I'm in touch with so many of the stories and it's really fucking sad. So many people have lost almost everything. Today is Day 3, the day that patience ran out. How long can you live without the conveniences of a civilized society before you crack? In this case there are too many to help all at once and everyone needs the same thing. All you can do is offer up your home, your shower, your outlets, your internet or maybe just listen. I've gotten to hear NJ Governor Chris Christie speak this week. He's killing it. Such an amazing guy with strong leadership skills. Obama too. He's on it. Go team. 

I'm not a NY'er (yet) but, I've witnessed a kindness and generosity through all of this that would make any community proud. Things will be better soon. Hopefully, NYC will be stronger for having gone through this. 

This should be fun.

This is the map of open subways as of November 1st. Happy Halloween!

Sandy.

She's so uncivilized! We've all been preparing for or in the midst of dealing with 'Superstorm Sandy' for the last few days. I actually went food shopping on Saturday morning to avoid the crowds so I could get on with my weekend. The storm was suppose to arrive on Sunday evening. It didn't. Monday morning came. It was quiet. Everyone was saying it was a bust. Many people didn't evacuate even though Zone 1 had a mandatory evacuation order. Irene hadn't hit hard (in NYC at least) so, maybe Sandy wouldn't either? Irene's doppler is pictured below on the left, Sandy's on the right. The rain finally came but, it was intermittent. The wind was substantial and didn't stop throughout the evening. Once the storm got going, it moved faster towards land and caught many off guard who were expecting it much later in the evening. At around 9pm last night things got progressively worse, quickly. The wind and rain were at their worst, the storm surge was already way beyond Irene levels (by feet) and it was a full moon which caused tides to rise about 20% higher than they normally would. NYC had weather all day yesterday but, no one expected the flooding that inundated Chelsea, Lower East Side, East Village, Financial District, Red Hook, Williamsburg, Gowanus and other low lying areas in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens in a matter of minutes. Water was pouring into Manhattan's subways and tunnels in a way it never has before (so I hear). All had been closed down earlier in the day. Pictures emerged of the East Village with 5-6 feet of water rushing into the city streets-people tried to evacuate but, it was too dangerous. Con Edison, NYC biggest provider of electricity, experienced an explosion at their plant in Manhattan that caused the power to go out everywhere south of 39th Street in Manhattan. Area hospitals were evacuating hundreds in the dark at 1:00am. The power  in that area is still out and won't likely be back up for 4-5 days. This happens in Manhattan!?! I'm so lucky. I have power. I never lost it. As I was falling asleep last night I saw at least 4 bright green flashes--presumably transmitters blowing. Bizarre. 

Today we saw what the storm left behind. The Jersey Shore was hit hardest for sure. Many people were killed by falling trees and some just trapped in the rising water. On the other side of Prospect Park a couple was found dead, pinned by a fallen tree. 

I took a walk today to see Park Slope. There were many trees down like the ones in the picture below but, overall things looked just fine. I've been working from home the last few days since our office was in the flood zone, a 1/2 block from the Hudson River. We're not allowed back in yet. Even if we were, I don't know how I'd get there. The subway is shut down for the next 4-5 days for repair. LGA and JFK are closed. LGA indefinitely. Their runway is a lake. Battery Tunnel is full of water with maybe a foot of clearance between the water and the top of the tunnel. 

So, where to next? Romney can keep holding babies and Obama can do a great job reacting to the storms as they come but, somebody has to DO something to address climate change. These storms are going to keep coming if we don't change our behavior. No one has the money to continue subsidizing the clean up and rebuilding costs. 

Through all of this nonsense, I'm reminded of what a wonderful community I have around me. Thanks for reaching out. It was great to hear from you. A word of advice...stay out of the big puddles. You don't know how deep they go!  

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

39 kids. 2 birthdays to celebrate. 1 photographer. me.

Yeah, I'll take that challenge--I just wish I brought my roller skates. Holy crap can kids move fast! My friend Kayte shoots on the side. She was busy today so, she offered this job to me and I took it. I shot just shy of 600 pictures in 2.5 hours. It was insanity but, super fun-I mean...kids eating pizza and cake? Hilarious. I just delivered the edited pictures (only 148 in the end). I hope she likes them! Now I'm going for a walk to find a bottle of wine and then, feet up!!