Color and Light
And in memory of the great Roberta Flack, whose singing was always iridescent.
788 West End Ave (Thursday Doors)
I follow myself
around and around
repeatedly finding
what I’ve already seen
The Peter J Brennan House was designed by architect John G Prague in 1896. Originally there were three houses designed by Prague and developed by Brennan, a wealthy contractor, as well as two houses on the other side. Brennan occupied this one, which was somewhat unique as it had a separate entrance, on the left, for servants and deliveries. There was also originally a window between the doors.
The Brennans left in1924 after the other brownstones had been demolished and large apartment buildings had been constructed on either side. It became a school, then another school, and in 1939 was converted to apartments. The splashes of color and guardians (a woman and two dragons) were added in 1979 when Hilario Villavicencio purchased the building.
Of course the guardians and the red color were what always attracted me to the facade, which is otherwise pretty undistinguished. Here are two different times I photographed them. I’m not sure if it’s been painted a more pinkish color, or if that is my photography. It does add a bright spot to all the big brick apartment buildings that now surround it on both sides of the street.
The Daytonian has a more detailed history, as well as a photo from the 1940s, but not, unfortunately, a photo of it when it was part of a grouping of five houses.
The apartment listings show that the interior has, as it so often is, been stripped of all details and turned into white boxes of rooms. The building last sold in 2019 for a little less than four million dollars. Two bedroom apartments, some with outdoor space, rent for around four thousand dollars.
And look for more doors at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.
Castles in the Air (Thursday Doors on Friday)
The fields are full of dreams–
failures left far behind
as pitchers’ arms unwind–
Spring comes to Queens.
I was looking for something else and came across these two photos from Citi Field, the Mets’ Stadium in Queens. They were taken last April, at the beginning of the season when anything seemed possible. And it was, despite an extremely slow beginning. Who knew they would make it to the National League Championship series ?
(OK they lost, but still…)
The Dodgers broke the hearts of every New York baseball fan in 2024. But every spring begins a new chance for redemption.
I was there on Pride Night last summer when Jose Iglesias debuted his song OMG which became the anthem for the Mets comeback during the rest of the season. So they didn’t get to the World Series…they made it exciting, and entertaining, right to the end.
Hope springs eternal once again as spring training begins. Even for a Pirates fan, right Dan?
My poem is an abhanga, the form suggested by Robbie this week at her Spin The Bottle prompt. For its theme, I used Svenja’s prompt at W3 to write a poem encouraging someone not to give up. I’m pretty sure this is not exactly what she had in mind, but: Let’s Go Mets!
As always, you can find more doors at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.
Clam shells
Kerfe told me to post these so I am. I haven’t had the spark lately but find painting clam shells to be relaxing.
Two birthday clamshells. One is my husband and the other a co worker. I think they got a kick out of these.
Some older ones.
And some in progress.
Please forgive my absence. It’s been hectic around here.
Nina
The Kick-About #125 ‘The Rorschach Test’
Some really wonderful responses to the Rorschach, one of my favorite ways of making art. WP is extremely buggy these days, so I could not reblog, but hopefully the link will work…
The Kick-About #125 ‘The Rorschach Test’
Bluethroat (Draw a Bird Day)
Like the sparrows, singing I’ll fly–
wings expanding to trace the sky–
I’ll follow them come tomorrow.
I’ll tell this gravity goodbye,
free the silence of my sorrow–
singing I’ll fly, like the sparrows.
The bluethroat is a sparrow-sized bird common throughout Europe, North Africa, and Asia, breeding in the northern regions, and migrating south to winter. In North America it is found only in the Alaskan tundra during breeding season; it is not known where this bird winters, but presumably southern Asia.
It resides in low scrub thickets along streams and in the edges of forests near water.
Bluethroats feed mainly on insects, but also seeds and berries when insects are scarce. They tend to stay hidden, except when singing. They have a variety of calls, including imitations of other birds.
I discovered this bird when reading a book about robins; evidently they are often associated with them. Formerly classified as a thrush, they are now identified as Old World Flycatchers, and are commonly known as chats.
I included the flying sparrow to go with my poem, which is a sparrowlet, as prompted by Laura at dVerse.
Annie Lennox. She’s the best–nothing holds her down.
Rescued (Thursday Doors)
despite my constant
constant
meandering, I do sometimes
(sometimes)
get from here to there–
there
is a destination of sorts, though–
though
I lack the language to define it—
“it”
meaning the paths that blend–
blend
together until they are all one–
one
located always in between
between
Yesterday I wrote a lot of angry, despairing, depressing words but they had nowhere to go. So I went out and ran my errands–UPS store, post office, grocery store–and took some photos.
This is the first time I noticed the fire engine in the school playground–I must have looked at it hundred times, with children and without–is right across the street from our newly renovated firehouse.
Isn’t it beautiful?
My poem is an echo poem for the W3 prompt given to us by David.
And I had to take a photo of the bear outside the UPS store. It’s an advertisement for a local florist. I really like the way it looks like the tree is growing out of the bear.
And, as always, you can find more doors at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.
February 2025
In the shadow of an endless night, the singing of Aurora Borealis.
In the shadow of hibernation, dreams sailing the Milky Way.
In the shadow of shifting paths, an incandescent orbiting.
In the shadow of bitter winds, the fullness of the Snow Moon.
In the shadow of candlelight, spirits dancing like galaxies.
In the shadow of a beating heart, veins threaded with stardust.
In the shadow of time passing, a dawn that floats like feathers through shimmering light.
I had a lot of trouble trying to juggle all the different criteria for Jaideep’s W3 prompt this week. There’s definitely no narrative arc, but I did start each line with the proper phrase “in the shadow of”.
February is a month full of shadows.
More Library Doors (Thursday Doors)
doors modified by the word “only”
some unreadable, completely closed–
others hinting at what lies behind them–
collections of books, hidden files,
food for thought, more hallways and rooms–
signs encouraging speculation,
an urge to answer the invitation
to inquire about opening the door
This door to The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle not only had me peering inside, but attracted the attention of almost everyone who walked by. Though it was locked, the inside was very intriguing.
I found the above photo on the library website. That’s quite a collection of books! The Collection contains works of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his contemporaries plus “collateral materials supporting study of the period” with a particular emphasis on women’s lives. The original donation by the Pforzheimer family continues to be added to by the library today.
You can make an appointment to visit the room, but many of the pieces in the collection are archived online, here.
Other doors along the hallways were closed and locked, some marked “Staff Only”. Most had no way to look inside.
These metal doors were clearly a later addition to the building. And you could see what was behind them.
I wonder what’s behind those doors at the end of the hall.
My poem is a quadrille using the word “hint” for Mish’s prompt at dVerse.
And you never know what doors will greet you at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.
Self Portrait #22 (after Jawlensky)
The Kick-About this week explores self-portraiture. I used the prompt not only to take a look at all the self-portraits I’ve done since my 20s but to revive the “100 Self Portrait” project I abandoned in 2017. This was my attempt to do self-portraits in the style of other artists. For the Kick-About I chose a painting by Alexej von Jawlensky, a Russian painter who moved to Europe and became a member of the Blue Rider Group. I hope this will inspire me to continue and perhaps even finish this project.
Visit the Kick-About to see not only my other self-portraits, but the wonderful and varied ones produced by the other Kick-Abouters.
My real face is
etched in sparse lines,
painted hues that
merge together
in looped flashbacks–
always out of
focus–inside
a past that seems
to belong to
someone else, not
me. I peer in
to the dense fog
and see only
shadows, carried
by nothing but
invisible
thoughts that tunnel
in circles through
the ruins of
form, of pattern,
of sight, of sense
method two madness 
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