WINTER 2011 TOUR DIARY Part Five

After our trip down the Greenpoint Nature Trail, Julia, Gabrielle, and I wandered south a bit to look for the last wooden cobblestones in Brooklyn.  This is what we saw along the way:

I liked this "Night Regulation" sign.

The East River

"Under the paving stones...

the beach."

Hey, wait a minute...

Down at the Ferry Launch was a colony of cats.  There was a guy there feeding them and watching them, and he explained that they were TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release). 

The cats take shelter in these boxes, lined with cedar oil-treated straw, which keeps fleas away.

Meow

I liked this art-door.

Wooden cobblestones.

Goodbye, New York!

NEXT:  PROVIDENCE, BOSTON, ETC.

WINTER 2011 TOUR DIARY Part Four

Monday morning I made plans to meet up with Gabrielle Bell and Tom K. for breakfast.  I had another cup of coffee, my second since 2005, and this time I didn't get a headache!  So look out world.  After Tom took off for the airport, Gabrielle, Julia, and I made a trek out to the mysterious "Greenpoint Nature Trail," which turned out to be an artful cement pathway along the East River.  Wow.

Inclined path at the entrance to the Trail, with peepholes.

"What the Butler Saw" (a view of the water treatment plant).

The path bends and heads down toward the river.

Turning basin, with junkyard.

Steps ominously leading down into the "water."

Nice garbage cans, though!

Unknown Industrial Facility.

By this point Julia and I had brought Gabrielle to tears with our untrammeled  vulgarity.

"Do not eat any fish or eels..."

Where the sidewalk ends...

We took much delight in the persistence of this graffiti artist, who used every last shake of his can to add this classic cock and balls to the picnic table at path's end.

Shocked and humbled by the Greenpoint Nature Trail.

Underneath the entry ramp we found this idyll of green.

God bless us all, everyone...

NEXT:  MORE BROOKLYN PICS

WINTER 2011 TOUR DIARY Part Three

Woke up early for the show (Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival), and had my first cup of coffee since 2005.  Delerium, including headaches and unstoppable visions of comic books, ensued.

The Teeming Masses congregate outside the Fest.

The view inside.

Dr. Jeckyll

(Photo by Phoebe Gloeckner)

Mr. Hyde

(Photo by Phoebe Gloeckner)

Spit and a Half table. (Photo by Phoebe)

The Brooklyn Fest was an amazing success. The only thing is it was so busy I had basically no time to ever leave my table. I managed to scramble out the last half-hour and see people briefly, but a lot of folks had already left or were sold out of stuff by then. And there were tons of artists that I didn't even know were there until I came home and read people's recaps online.

The day after the fest, my host Julia Wertz and I met up with Sarah Glidden and Zak Sally for a walk across the bridge into Manhattan.

Such is life in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Amused.

A stop at the Brooklyn Reliquary (Neon sign salesman's sampler case).  (Photo by Sarah)

Breakfast at that place on Union.  Not Shown: James McShane.

Sampling the "Gummi Fried Egg" from a junk food shop in Chinatown.  I'm trying to decide whether to puke or ask for more.  (Photo by Sarah.)  It tasted like a combination of coconut and artificial buttery flavor.

Getting my head squished in Zuccotti Park.  Occupy!

(Photo by Julia Wertz)

* * *

Scenes from the Brooklyn Bridge:

(Statue of Liberty)

Sarah, Zak, and Julia.

Anyhow, we walked about nine miles that Sunday.  I drove Zak to the airport and came back to Julia's place to decorate the cat, which she enjoyed:

NEXT: GREENPOINT

(Cat photo by Julia Wertz)