http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/ subjective thoughts and observations by Witold Riedel, a New Yorker photographer and draftsman by choice. en-us 2009-05-25T18:49:24-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003421.shtml remember the under construction signs that used to littler the web when it was that empty set of tubes? well, just imagine one here right now... i am working on some things, somehow... hmm... testing testing. will be right back. but nobody is going to notice it anyway... nobody visits this place anyway... ; ) okay... i will slowly rebuild...... Witold Riedel 2009-05-25T18:49:24-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003420.shtml Okay, this is a bit of a test again. If you can read this (and "you" might as well be just me at this point,) then I have successfully managed to upgrade this old blog to version 4.25 of movable type. i had no idea i was capable of doing this kind of thing all by myself. funny what a few days off work can do. testing testing... ...... diary Witold Riedel 2009-05-25T07:44:08-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003419.shtml Walked around the castle this morning. There is a field in the back, waiting for its yellow color. the trees are currently covered with multiple layers of moss. birds are moving in slowly into the many homes prepared for them. what sounds like a joyful song could potentially be an angry territorial argument. it is still cold here, but the water around the castle is molten now and school of huge carp wait for their feeding, or maybe for the mosquito larvae which could also make a delicious snack. my room is like a snail house made out of oak planks and granite. so wonderfully quiet, calm, a very fine filter for concerns. perhaps the very tiny ones make it... Witold Riedel 2009-03-16T01:13:09-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003417.shtml fingers crawled into envelopes with bills and other odd unlovely questions. eyes glanced at some labels with alarming names, then flew through the world of interiors. pen crossed a t. dotted an i. i had a cup tea. was in no way upset about things i could be upset about. decided to not get attached to anything bound to pass either way. (nor attached to the way it might.) considered for a few moments if this was day number two or number three of today? and i did not have the answer. (it really depends, see?) some of the tulips out there are braver than others. soon the gentler plants will get to spend some time outside. i now might... Witold Riedel 2009-02-21T10:29:07-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003416.shtml after the longest four day week, it might be time for a completely uneventful two day weekend. how will this be achieved? Is there such a thing as uneventfulness? (Apparently yes, Apple does not want to change a thing about the word.) I should be sleeping right now. Right now. Now. The world should be nothing more but a distant memory, a dream. The four day week should be a few pages in my planner. traveling objects. traveling. objects. once the dust settles, i will need to have a bit of a conversation with that working version of me. Oh, and it is out. I am one of the judges in the 2009 tournament of books. Oh yes. Books. I... Witold Riedel 2009-02-20T20:20:54-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003415.shtml The puppy upstairs loves to play in exactly the spot that happens to be above my head. There are apparently no carpets in apartment 11C. And the puppy is not wearing any socks. It sounds as if... no it sounds like a crazy little dog chasing a ball on a much too polished floor. The park looked pretty incredible right around sunrise this morning. And the geese were celebrating their almost successful suicide mission. A gigantic flock was shouting at each other in the middle of the almost frozen lake. On the other side of the hill, the open air kennel had its meeting. Insane dogs and wild owners shouting names and whistling and clapping their hands. Saw several cardinals... Witold Riedel 2009-01-19T18:34:34-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003414.shtml burning plum incense now. two sticks. one held by the pewter bunny amy gave me for christmas perhaps two years ago, the other sticking out of a pile of the glazed tiles that came with this particular brand of short sticks. trying to cover the smell of sake vinegar. it was not the right kind of vinegar, i guess. much too fragrant for the job. but i did not want to leave the house to buy vinegar. and maybe vinegar is the wrong thing to use anyway. it does make sense somehow though. a cure i came up with myself, again over a year ago, when the lime tree was starting to die because of some bug infestation. perhaps the... observations and experiments... Witold Riedel 2009-01-18T14:34:07-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003413.shtml we took the car back to the city with the many men who somehow deposited their stories into the one guy at the wheel. the drive was about 60 minutes, but the stories spanned several lifetimes. there were people jumping off cliffs and buildings, there was french and italian cooking, some of it for hundreds of people. there were children born to many mothers. and there was a good layer of bitterness. and whenever it became too thick, the music would be turned up and any thinking could be blasted away by the smoky voice of rod stewart. the navigation system with the adjusted, seductive voice seemed to not know the way, until it became clear that it had been... Witold Riedel 2009-01-11T23:08:57-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003412.shtml 13 years in New York today. Soon this will be the place where I spent most of my life.... Witold Riedel 2009-01-03T09:04:40-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003410.shtml the sun was on sale this morning, about 50% off. the sky looked like it was up side down, the clouds like orange juice infused shaving cream. now we are milky again, colors have been recalled. it is hot inside but outside it must be just the right temperature for the season. cold. everything is cheaper now. everywhere. for the rest of the year. all the gifts returned to the stores are even cheaper. some are worthless. some are hated. some are just painful reminders that having stuff this year might feel wrong. maybe. maybe it is not so. maybe it is good to have more stuff. more informed matter. because that's what it is, no? i think villem flusser... Witold Riedel 2008-12-26T11:01:41-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003409.shtml The Morning News Annual Originally uploaded by kansasliberal. The Morning News year-end edition 2008. "Hardbound for lasting excitement, just in time for the holidays. Designed by Jennifer Daniel with illustrations by Witold Riedel, our inaugural 2008 edition features some of our favorite pieces from the year alongside new pieces from TMN writers, including Matthew Baldwin’s invective of spoilers, movie and otherwise; Anthony Doerr’s essay on attempting to savor the offline life; Lauren Frey’s remembrance of a voice gained, then lost; Sarah Hepola’s dissection of the song she keeps on repeat; Elizabeth Kiem’s journey to hurricane-striken Haiti; Todd Levin’s revelation of his family’s too-frequent Disney excursions; Pasha Malla’s op on how the N.C.A.A. beats out the N.B.A.—except when it doesn’t;... Witold Riedel 2008-12-21T14:45:46-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003408.shtml grr... today was a bit tough.... Witold Riedel 2008-11-30T23:59:59-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003407.shtml A dozen layers of sardines wait headlessly on the top shelf of my refrigerator. it is the kind that was sold out of local stores as long as oil was above $60 a barrel. recession eats the canned fish first. then the alcohol goes, the baked goods, the cigarettes. for a while the sardines were replaced by some experimental versions of insults to the little fish. some of the sauces were simply disgusting. some of the cans contained more oil than fish. a serving of these little buddies covers about 70% of a man's daily cholesterol, apparently. has anybody ever tried to eat a perfect day? has anybody ever measured the 2000 calories and all the traces of vitamines... Witold Riedel 2008-11-25T00:30:55-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003406.shtml not quite sure where i put this pen now. the drawing is from some meeting in the summer of 2007, i think. but i am not sure. and maybe it does not matter at all. (it actually probably really does not.)... drawing Witold Riedel 2008-11-15T11:37:44-04:00 http://www.witoldriedel.com/MT/archives/003405.shtml The clouds are in a rush this morning. As if the fog earlier had somehow created this urgency, as if some catching up were to do now. pigeons look as if they had real fun with this kind of wind. the wings adjusted to just the right angle, the birds can enjoy not just incredible speeds, but apparently the thrill of indescribable mid air acceleration. recently saw one of them almost hit the building again and again, at higher and higher speeds. the seagulls are very relaxed in mid air right now. here. and i can see jfk again. it was gone for the first several hours of my awake day. now i.m.pei's tower sticks out of the horizon like... Brooklyn Witold Riedel 2008-11-15T07:35:47-04:00