2001-06-16

well. today i was back in the saddle. i felt like me. that is, i did things that were typically me things to do. i woke up, went for a bike ride in the glorious summer sun. had a spinich pie and a big bottle of water.

kelli's got me on this water kick, and she probably doesn't even know the extent of it, seeing as how she's in pennsylvania and i, dear reader, am in new york.

i purchased a bike lock, happily, from the astoria bike man. its the first time i sauntered in to his store. and i started thinking about the glorious new bike i should get myself.

anyway, bike lock = freedom again. im biking around like there's no tomorrow. i go over a bridge that i've never before crossed; only noticed it a few times. it took me to roosevelt island. there is a hospital there for handicapped, quadripeligecs. everyone is suddenly in a wheelchair, parked listening to the rap stations on boomboxes in those covered picnic shelters, getting away from the oppressive sun. and seagulls are whizzing by, searching for pizza crusts on the winding sidewalk.

i find a no trespassing area that has a huge old palace, delapidated, covered with ivy and brush. it makes me think i've stepped into a book about african safari, or Duck Tales. or the Jungle Book. its wild. half the walls are missing. bricks are falling apart. Its portico faces the city. just maybe 500 yards away, directly across the river, is the capital of capitalism. 59th street. Citicorp, Chase, Merril Lynch, Trump Tower, the UN building, Met Life skyscrapers. its kind of surreal.

then this gull is agry at me. and wants me to move on. also, a cop copter spots me and i think to myself, "maybe they will come down here and give me a citation for trespassing. but they just flop-flop-flop away. more important fish to fry.

(hardie has asked me twice now if im doing anywork -- geez, no, im writing in my diary still, ! some people are just frothing at the bit to get to the grind...)

and then i find the Roosevelt Island Gardener's Club. Which is outrageous. Everyone on the island lives in high story condos, there's no place to have a lawn or anything. But if you want a garden, you can go up the island a short walk to this plot, its like the size of a baseball field, in fact its right adjacent to one; and you can rent a small garden space. Its kind of like a cemetary. some people have just cement and some trees. some have real gardens with berries and flowers. everyone is different and its all pretty neat. i think.

its only open on sat. and sundays, though, for a like 6 hours. Weird

Also stopped by the socrates sculpture park, and the noguchi museum. Noguchi was a pretty fly dude. He did so much stuff in his lifetime... i didn't even know.

i guess i'm rambling. suffice it to say... today was a good day. jeez its so annoying to read such an optimistic journal, isn't it?

well, i was alone all day, as usual. i guess that's kind of depressing.

Gordon my studio neighbor said that "art is a lonely activity." i think i like that. it resonates and sounds true to me.