My NY Life

Going through some old photos.

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:38:03 -0500

Going through some old photos.

Very early morning in my (NY) living room.

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:50:00 -0500

Very early morning in my (NY) living room.

Just got this at Goodwill for Anna. It’s a Morse Fotomat...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:07:00 -0500

Just got this at Goodwill for Anna. It’s a Morse Fotomat 4300, Made in Japan. I’m guessing It’s from the late 50’s, but it’s a little harder to date foreign-made things. I am in love with this gleaming beauty! I don’t think it has ever been used.

Anna Lodwick Love

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:03:00 -0500

Anna Lodwick Love

1972 also saw the addition of a half bath. I adore these tiles....

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:21:00 -0500

1972 also saw the addition of a half bath. I adore these tiles. And, since my mom has four of these amazing hand towels, also from that year, I snagged one for me and one for Anna.

In 1972, my mom had the place redone, adding wall cabinets, a...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:04:00 -0500

In 1972, my mom had the place redone, adding wall cabinets, a sink, dishwasher, and washer and dryer in the kitchen. And she had these fabulous tiles put in all around.

This old bassena is in the entrance hall of the building. Until...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:59:23 -0500

This old bassena is in the entrance hall of the building. Until 1972, we had one in the entrance hall of the apartment, too. In fact, it was the one source of water in the apartment and it only ran cold. If you wanted warm water, like for washing, you heated it on the stove.

My Vienna View from the cabinett into the kitchen. See how thick...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:40:32 -0500

My Vienna

View from the cabinett into the kitchen. See how thick the wall between the rooms is? When I was little, a swing hung in that doorway — the kind for very small children, with a back, and a bar across the front - and I just loved swinging in that thing.

My Vienna A Walk in the Park Across the street from our...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:20:00 -0400

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My Vienna

A Walk in the Park

Across the street from our apartment building is a park where I was often taken as a child (as was my mother, and as were my children). The first thing you come across is this Mid-century bear statue (1). I sat on that bear many a time when I was little (as did my children).

After leaving the bear, you next see this enormous bomb shelter (called “bunker” in German) (2), an everlasting remnant of WW II. There are actually two in this park, and numerous others scattered throughout Vienna. They are now being used in various ways — one is an aquarium — because, of course, there is no way to tear them down safely. They’re pretty heavy-duty.

The sight of this thing is etched very strongly among my earliest memories. There’s a playground at the base of it, and I spent many hours there as a child (not to mention as a mom).

My mom didn’t use this shelter during the war. The building in front of hers had been a post office, long ago, and because back then the post office was used for transferring cash, the basement of the building had extremely sturdy and secure walls, and was suitable to go into each day near the end of the war, when the U.S. was bombing Vienna on a daily basis.

From this angle (3), it looks like a monster in a science fiction movie, looming among those other buildings, that are just kind of standing there, minding their own business.

Like most parks, this one is ringed by some very fine, old houses. I never noticed this one as a child, not until I was much older and could appreciate such things. It’s a splendid Art Nouveau building in pristine condition (4).

dalasverdugo: optimisto: poortaste: Judge Testifies for...

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:01:23 -0400

dalasverdugo:

optimisto:

poortaste:

Judge Testifies for Marijuana Legalization in California

Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray’s testimony was one of the last to be heard, and to use a World Series metaphor, we couldn’t have asked for a better “clean up” hitter

Watch the Entire Committee Hearing

My Vienna Our 91 year-old family friend texts on his Handy...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:11:00 -0400

My Vienna

Our 91 year-old family friend texts on his Handy (cellphone) with the help of a magnifying glass.

Mainly my mom lives in Baltimore, and she comes here four times...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:18:00 -0400

Mainly my mom lives in Baltimore, and she comes here four times a year for a month at a time. This is where she is the happiest.

A long, narrow bedroom like this one, with one window, is called...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:14:58 -0400

A long, narrow bedroom like this one, with one window, is called a cabinett in German.

My mom moved here with her mother and grandmother in 1928, when...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:06:41 -0400

My mom moved here with her mother and grandmother in 1928, when she was four, and lived here until she married my dad. When my grandmother died, my mom took it over and has a life-long lease. That’s how they do it here.

When I was a girl, the place was heated by a wood-burning stove in this living room.

My Vienna Well, I wanted to make a slide show, but this ancient...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:54:55 -0400

My Vienna

Well, I wanted to make a slide show, but this ancient computer can’t handle that, I’ll have to do individual photos.

The first set I want to show you is my mother’s apartment. It’s on the top floor of this building, which is about 175 years old.

Greetings from Vienna

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:22:00 -0400

So, I have taken so many pictures, and I want to make pretty slide sets and tell you, my tumblr firends, all the deep thoughts I’ve been having about my childhood experiences here and how the Vienna of the 1960’s influenced my aesthetic sense and so forth. However, my mother#s ancient laptop is running Windows 98, and it has no idea what my memory card is or what it holds (my photos!) and at the top of the screen tumblr is telling me

Your browser is outdated :-(

and the European keyboard has a bunch of letters worn off and looks like this:

Q W E R _ Z U _ _ P Ü
_S D F G _ J K _ Ö Ä
Y X C V _ _ _

But soon, I promise. Soon.

Yes! An empty seat next to me. Perfect. Good night!

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:45:37 -0400

Yes! An empty seat next to me. Perfect. Good night!

At JFK. Headed to Austria for the first time in two years.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:09:51 -0400

At JFK. Headed to Austria for the first time in two years.

supernice: Oh man so there’s a hell of a lot of catching up to...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:01:52 -0400

supernice:

Oh man so there’s a hell of a lot of catching up to do, mainly because of this double-plus-capital-M Major big project - our new apartment. Yes, oh, yes, we are officially Noo Yawkers now - 1600 sq ft of our ownsome.

I know, it’s ridiculous, and I can’t believe it either, but it’s So. Freaking. Exciting.

These are the befores. Can’t wait to share the afters.

Seeing an empty space like this has always given me a funny little feeling of pleasure in my midsection. There it is, just waiting for your hand. So excited right along with you.

supernice: My Own Private Museum (left to right): the wind-up...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:46:23 -0400

supernice:

My Own Private Museum (left to right): the wind-up goldfish (broken mechanism), Sydney, 199?; the painted glass Ikea frame (glass: broken; heart: not so much), New Jersey, 2004; the orange 5 ball (stolen, Beach Road Hotel, Bondi, very late one night in oh I’d say 1996 - this pool bar has moved with me 7 times). Is it so ridiculous that these are the things I can’t live without?

Nope, not ridiculous. Lots of people don’t even know what they can’t live without.