Happy Halloween

In previous years, Eileen and I have gone as
Elvis & the Devil in Disguise


Charlie Brown & the Great Pumpkin



Magician & Magician's Assistant Sawed in Half


Sam Adams & the St. Pauli Girl

Halloween parties

With Sarah and Aleta, we went to a couple of parties, dressing up as a headhunter and a pink slip:


Best of the other costumes we saw: pig-in-a-blanket, JT on Saturday Night Live, and synchronized swimmers.

Reno

After our weekend in the beautiful Catskills, Jesse headed to Virginia and I headed to the less lovely Reno, Nevada, for a work project. Since gambling, pawnshops, and divorce hold little attraction for me, I was not looking forward to the trip, but was pleasantly surprised to find a fantastic collection of mid-twentieth-century motels and signs.

Applemania weekend

Last weekend we visited Keith and Nicole's beautiful new house in Kinderhook. After Friday night's horrible weather, we had a beautiful fall weekend. We went apple picking, played Apples-to-Apples, and ate Nicole's terrific seasonal dinner.






On own way home, we stopped at Frederic Church's Olana and explored the grounds.

Wellfleet Oysterfest

We were on the Cape this past weekend for Wellfleet's annual Oysterfest. It was a perfect fall weekend for it: we ate raw oysters and grilled oysters, watched the shucking contest, and saw Julia Stiles.




The rest of the weekend included the hot tub, Pounce, 3 sets of tennis, and dancing to "Sister Christian":

Jesse's "Where I've Been" Map

Biking in Brooklyn

A few pictures from Jesse's recent biking trips to Gateway NRA and


to the Brooklyn waterfront

Open House New York

We visited a few Open House New York sites this weekend. A real highlight was the Brooklyn Army Terminal, designed by Cass Gilbert and built in 1919.



Jesse climbed to the top of the arch at Grand Army Plaza, and then visited the Prospect Park farmer's market for some late heirloom tomatoes...



A gang of us went to Roosevelt Island. While OHNY's Encampment installation wasn't that great, it was a beautiful night and the Renwick Smallpox Hospital is eerie and spectacular.

Twin Cities

I headed to St.Paul/Minneapolis for a conference this past week. My focus this trip was on Modern buildings, and I saw some great ones, including spectacular Art Deco interiors (my favorite) at the Minneapolis Post Office and St. Paul's City Hall. I also visited Saarinen's beautiful Christ Church Lutheran, a building that could almost convince me to start going to church again.

I had a chance to catch up with my preservation friends around the country--the best thing about this annual conference--and be amazed again at how disinvested people are in their downtowns in cities outside of New York/Boston/San Francisco. There was no one walking around in St.Paul at night, and hardly anyone walking around during the day. It really makes me appreciate living somewhere with a lively street life, even though sometimes it can be overwhelming.