NY to RI

Good Reason To Keep a Camera Handy: so I'm at my computer which faces the back of the building when I noticed this commotion outside. I looked out and about 20 feet from me was a beautiful (and large) hawk sizing up the menu of pigeon and squirrel. Grabbed the camera and got this shot, I guess its blurry because I shot through the window. Cool though.


Tuesday the Zuke and I did a one night road trip to our alma mater, RI School of Design, in Providence. A beautiful day, but of course upon entering La Prov the sky turned gray and that cold New England air kicked in. We walked all over campus and there's been many a change in 10+ years. Mem Hall is now the painting dept, and the mailroom and supply store are now on No Main St next to the Auditorium. We went to the Refectory for lunch and its completely different, several food stations and lots of "This contains Gluten" and "Vegan" signs - well, it IS art school. Oh, and computers in the cafeteria!! Actually, there were computers everywhere. Carr Haus is still there and cool although laid out differently.
We saw one of our old teachers, Hamid Nowroozi, and everybody had their little Mac laptops in his class. My how times have changed - our desks had xacto knives, rubber cement, cut boards, etc. Also, the school is now 70% female and of those, appr 80% Asian. Zuke was dialing up moving companies within minutes! Had a great dinner at Hemenways, then went to Wild Colonial (by the way, the Hot Club, Spats, Andreas, Geoffs, and Steeple St are all still there!) but like 2 middle aged guys, we had a few then retreated to the hotel, watched a movie and crashed. The Tap Room wasn't open that night, or we would've slogged through our weariness to stop by and hear the ghosts of 80s music echoing in our brains - DJoe Say Dance!
Providence is a great place. I love the old New England homes, slower pace and people are very friendly. I wouldnt mind teaching summer session and renting an apt. for the month there. Oh, they also built a huge mall near the capitol near downtown. The Arcade is closed now and is revamping, but people don't seem to know what the new incarnation will be. Lastly, below is our home from '82-85 at 230 Wickenden Street. When we lived there it was BAD, I actually walked in on 2 robbers in my apartment, but that's a tale for another time. 2nd floor lived Paul, Bill and Raymond and through the years Bif, Johnny W, John, Mark, Leo and Chaka Tong lived with me. Great memories and I took this shot for the boys.