Here is New York....

[jupiterjane]

Hi Marty!
I was wondering if you ever read "Here is New York" by E.B White. I just bought it for my 16 year old nephew b/c of his interest in architecture and I thought to myself, I could totally see Marty writing a similar love story about Chicago. Many of your songs and blogs have helped fuel a love of Chicago for me...each time I visit there is something new to see. I'm hoping to fly him out to Chicago this summer and see you guys again!

PS: With 2010 being a great year for SE Collection, have you thought of doing any dark chocolate brown leather as an alternative to the black?


Best,
Adrienne

[martinxavier]

Adrienne, Thank you for the book recomendation. I need a new book to dig into.

I have a definitive love affair with New York City. I spent ALOT of time there between 2001 and 2005 and even lived there full time for a portion of that. The other day I went to an art opening at the Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It featured artists from New York City and had a graffiti feel to the paintings. There was one particular painting that nearly knocked me off my feet. It was a view looking out from under some elevated train tracks that creep thru neighborhoods likes Queens or Brooklyn. On the other side of the painting were metal fire escapes dangling from rusted screws sewn into masonry walls of the five-flat walk up buildings. In the center was an image of the Empire State Building. It was so immense that it appeared to be blasting off like a space ship into the sky complete with clouds of white smoke in the afterburn.

At first glance the painting did not mean much to me. As I sat there and understood the perspective of the painting, the train tracks, the fire escapes, it brought me right back to New York City. I sat there staring into the painting and I started thinking of how much times have changed since those days living in Brooklyn. I was impressed that this piece connected with me a took me on a journey. It was like going thru a scrapbook of the past that I need to see. I showed me where I am. Like finding a hidden map that explored where I have been so I could figure out where I am at now.

I know you are not supposed to take pictures at a gallery but I did. I just wanted to remind myself of those important thoughts that passed thru my brain. I don't often get quite so moved by a painting where it takes your mind for a ride. I was physically standing in a gallery on Michigan Avenue but for a few moments I was walking thru the streets of Brooklyn circa 2004 with a slew of goals and dreams burning like fuel in my footsteps.

Marty

Marty