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Would You Live in a Water Tower?

I’m going to answer my own question: Yes. Absolutely. But only if said water tower looked like this:

Tom Dixon, a British design and manufacturing company, converted a 60-foot water tower, in North Kensington, London, into a gorgeous apartment. It has three floors complete with a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and (sigh of envy) a roof terrace. It’s going for $3,900 a month–which, scarily, isn’t too bad if you compare it to NYC prices for similarly sized digs.

I love how the big windows lets lots of light into the space:

There are tons of water towers in NYC. I’m wondering when someone will convert one into a luxury apartment here on this side of the pond!

(Photos via Gizmag, via Architizer; thanks to Shawn for introducing me to the link)

Postcards from Nowhere

Here’s a Kickstarter I wish I had gotten in on earlier: On June 1, Brooklyn-based photogs Andrew Kenney and Jake Jones took off on 3-month road trip through each of the lower 48 states. Along the way, they’re shooting lots of pictures and printing and sending postcards from each state to the people who backed them via Kickstarter.

While it’s too late to sign up to receive postcards now, you can follow their journey and see their gorgeous photos on their website and Facebook page. Here’s a sampling:

Wyoming

Nebraska

Idaho

New Jersey

You can also preorder sets of blank postcards–which they’ll ship to you in September, once they’re back in NYC after their journey.

(Photos via Postcards from Nowhere’s Facebook page; found via Afar)

The Museum Of London’s LomoWall

The Olympics start tomorrow and I’m so excited. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I never watch sports. But every two years, I find myself glued to the Olympics, watching and reading about athletes and events that I could care less about at any other time.

I’m not lucky enough to be in London during the Games, but if I were, I’d definitely check out the new LomoWall at the Museum of London. The mosaic spans more than 213 feet and is comprised of nearly 30,000 photos that amateur photographers from around the world shot on film. (Yup, actual film!) The theme was “inspiring and achieving in London’s Olympic Year” and includes images of Britain’s Paraolympians training for the games.

The Lomography site has some cool shots depicting the wall’s construction:

It kind of makes me want to go out and shoot some photos on a manual camera!

(All photos via Lomography)

Fried Egg Earrings

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love eggs and live off them. For years, I’ve been going through more than a dozen a week. (And no, surprisingly, I don’t have high cholesterol!)

I wasn’t always egg-obsessed. I grew to love them, partially by necessity. As a writer/editor, I don’t make a ton of money. And in order to afford the things that bring me the most happiness–ballet classes, travel, dinners out with loved ones–I have to make lots of really cheap breakfasts, lunches and dinners at home. Which means that my day-to-day diet consists of various combinations of spinach, avocados and lots and lots and lots of eggs: hard boiled, poached in soup, sunny side up over pasta, scrambled, made into veggie omelets, added to stir fries and curries.

So this weekend, I was amused and delighted when Mal and I stumbled into Torch Song Metals, a little jewelry shop in Mal’s new town of Nyack, NY, and discovered these adorable earrings. I love how it’s not immediately obvious that they’re fried eggs. At first glance, they look like a pair of simple studs.

The designer (whose name escapes me!) told me that she she first created a pair of chicken wing earrings and made these to accompany them–because she also loves eggs. I think they’d be a great pair to wear every day–and delight in knowing that you’re subtly wearing your favorite food!

(Photo via Torch Song Metal’s Etsy shop)

A Big Welcome Back to NYC!

About a year and a half ago, Mal and Peter moved to Maryland from NYC. I went from living and spending time with them every day to wondering what my life would be like with my two favorite people so far away. (Coincidentally, my best friend left for a six-month work trip abroad right at the same time. It felt like all my loved ones were fleeing New York at once!)

But clearly, I survived–and I feel like I became a lot more self-sufficient, too. I moved into my own apartment and found that–surprise!–I actually love living alone. I started taking more ballet classes, reconnecting with other friends, taking myself out to dinner, running, writing this blogВ and, as of late, going to Spanish lessons. And, of course, I made lots and lots of trips down to see Mal and Peter, especially during the summer.

And while I’ve realized that I can more than just deal with them not being in NYC, no one is happier than I am that they’re returning. I’m looking forward to weekend BBQs at their new place, late dinners out with the two of them and girly manicure and shopping trips with Mal. I’m so excited that whenever I want to see the two people who know me best, I can just hop on the train–and not take a 6-hour bus ride!

Welcome back, Mal and Peter! NY–and I–are thrilled to have you here again!

(Photo by Dana Tanamachi via Sadie and Dasie)

Fireflies on the Water

How pretty is this photo? It’s an image of the exhibit “Fireflies on the Water,”В which is at the Whitney through September 30. The artist, Yayoi Kusama, created a seemingly endless space using strategically placed mirrors and tiny yellow and blue Christmas lights. Visitors enter the room alone and experience the effect standing on a small platform over a pool of water. (I imagine it must be beautiful and surreal, enchanting and a little disorienting. I’m hoping to take it in sometime during the coming weeks!)

I hadn’t heard of Kusama before, but she has a really interesting story. She was born in Japan and came to NYC to make a name for herself in 1958. She became part of the avant-garde NYC scene in the ’60s, hobnobbing with Andy Warhol and the like. Then, in the early ’70s, Kusama packed it in, returned to Japan and checked herself into a mental hospital, where she still lives and produces art today. I thought that sounded a little, um, weird, until I read NY Mag‘s feature on her, which contains this explanation:

But whatever you make of her retreat into a psych ward, her mantra was always вЂњself-obliterationвЂќвЂ”to lose herself in the work, or to the work, to save herself. вЂњI fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only method I have found that relieves my illness is to keep creating art,вЂќ she wrote in her autobiography.

Who can’t relate to that desire to lose yourself in an activity that allows you to escape your troubles? (Even if we don’t go to the extent of institutionalizing ourselves?)

(Photo via the Whitney Museum of Art)

Dancing Around the World

I’m a big fan of the “Where the Hell Is Matt?” videos. The first one, which Matt Harding, then a backpacker, put on his blog in 2005, shows him dancing in different places around the world. His signature move is delightfully amateurish–it looks like a goofy mash-up between a flailing Irish jig and running in place. But he’s so exuberant and the backdrops are intriguing and the soundtrack is infectious. You can’t help but grin when watching. Not surprisingly, it went viral.

The В two follow-up videos he made (thanks to a sponsorship with Stride gum) are even better. One, released in 2006, is similar to Matt’s first video:В He dances in iconic place after place around the world. The second, released in 2008, is even better:В Thousands of locals from each destination join in with the same running/jig-like moves.

Matt’s latest video, which just came out, still manages to top that one. It follows the same format, but with one big difference: Instead of Matt doing his trademark moves, locals teach him dances native to each place. This time, he created it without a sponsor and it’s clearly a labor of love. Check it out–and be prepared to smile:

NYC Expeditionist

Travel | Ballet | NYC

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