As promised, I’m continuing my NYC photos theme from last week. One can not do a Manhattan spread without water towers, so here are four favorites. Next time, it could be construction sites, because I love them. In the meantime, Facebook has reminded me that it’s been two years since I bought my first tickets to visit Paul in Newcastle. It was a stressful experience. Hitting that final Pay button and dealing with visas and such should’ve been the worst of it, but, no. Getting from Provincetown to Logan in Boston takes almost four hours regardless of how many cars and or buses are involved, and on that first trip, I was halfway there on the airport shuttle when I got a text that my flight was cancelled. The driver, who was listening to my frantic phone calls, said since I had to stay on the bus until it reached Logan anyway, I might as well relax and demand British Airlines put me on another flight once we arrived.

Eventually, I ended up on KLM, which took me to Amsterdam instead of London. But even with the extra couple of flying hours, I was in Newcastle almost on time. I liked the Amsterdam airport enough that I took KLM again for the next trip. The third visit was that disastrous British Air experiment to save time and money, where everything that could go wrong without actually crashing did. Never again. On the fourth trip I went KLM again, but you may recall my being stuck in Amsterdam overnight on the way home. For the last visit, I tried Aer Lingus to Dublin which was shorter as well as cheaper, and because Logan and Dublin have a special arrangement, getting through US Customs was easier. Now that I’m this experienced traveller, that will be the way I go. If I ever get to go, that is.

When people ask why the hell I’m still here, I avoid politics and blame it on money. I just know when I was in Newcastle last October, our plan was for me to move there after my Commons show closes in mid-May. But these days I have been renewing my lease and looking for a seasonal summer job. I’ve begrudgingly accepted having to stay stateside and keep busy here for the time being. I’ve ordered new business cards and the announcement for the Commons show. A new gallery owner is coming for a studio visit later today because she wants to include me in an exhibition. I was also contacted by someone else who wants to discuss a possible mural project. Oooh, I see a giant bird head, à la the Easter Island totems, and a landscape with castle ruins on a distant hill in the background.

Yep, I’m up for that - Onward.