NY Mysteries Aug.16, 2019

 A friend and I went to the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown. The six hour drive was tiresome even though my friend is a superb driver. On the way we stopped at various auction houses.

 

Cooperstown is both upscale and down home. We stayed in a homey motel on the Otsego Lake. It’s the sort of place people return to, having been there with their parents. You can stay in the motel or in a cottage. We chose a large motel room. Its back door opened onto a lawn and then down to the lake. It’s very quiet.

The Baseball Museum was delightful, not crowded but filled with baseball enthusiasts. The Fenimore Art Museum was spacious and has a superb collection of American Indian Art and American Folk Art. Herb Ritts: The Rock Portraits has terrific photos and videos of the glamorous eighties and nineties.

 

At Glimmerglass’s main theater  we saw a matinee performance of Showboat. Too long, a meandering plot. 

 

The next day we saw The Ghosts of Versailles, music by John Corigliano, libretto by William M. Hoffman. For me, it was a delightful surprise.  

 

 

RIP Paul Findley

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries Aug.9, 2019

 

Frick Staff Education Day

I hurry back from Portland, Or.  each year so I can participate in the Frick Staff Education Day. It’s a merry-go-round of choices. Available all day are button making and banner picture taking, bowling in the 1914 bowling alley, Ghetto Film School movies. Other events scheduled throughout the day are a Cooking Demo, a Talk on Betoldo di Giovanni, Orchid repotting with the head gardener. Later in the day he led a tour of Central Park Trees.

Keep in mind that many of the staff are also artists. There are several  arts and crafts activities such as creating miniature book ornaments, creating and sculpting in the morning and painting in the afternoon.There are tours of the Library and Museum building. There’s the mysterious (to me) Testing of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence App, and the grand finale is a trivia competition followed by the  Frickin’ Historic Cocktail party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries Aug.2, 2019

 

Good bye, dear Portland until next year. This visit was bittersweet. Dear friends whom I’ve visited in Portland for twenty years are moving to Albuquerque. They are so popular and so loved that they’ll need  a witness protection program to keep all their friends from visiting them. It won’t stop me. One of the highlights was visiting a friend I hadn’t seen in forty years. He and his wife have moved to Gearhart, Or. It’s on the majestic Pacific Ocean. We walked for miles, well, five, on the beach, barefoot and dipping into the oncoming tide. Afterwards, a delicious meal cooked by my friend. Like his late father he’s an amazing cook. I stayed where I’ve stayed for the past three years: The Inn at Northrup Station. Was it designed by Freddie Flintstone and Salvador Dali ? It’s charming and efficient. Wouldn’t stay anywhere else. 

Flying into Portland. Hello, Mt. Hood.
The Inn at Northrup Station
The friends who are fleeing to Albuquerque
The Inn at Northrup station
Wine label designed by Jerry Dickason

Have I mentioned how Portland was named? In the 1830s It was named after Portland, Maine.

One of the founding fathers wanted to name it Boston. He and the man from Portland, Maine flipped a coin. You know who won. The coin is in the Oregon Historical Society.

Photos of Portland, Or. Lovely memories:

 

 

1740 Giuseppe Bonito
The Femminiello
Oregon Museum of Art

 

Study this aquarium closely. Do you see what I see?

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries July 27, 2019

Another blissful week spent in Portland, Or. Last Sunday a friend and I went to Cathedral Park, sat in the shade and listened to jazz. 

Cathedral Park Jazz Festival

 

 

 

 

 

Later that week, old friends and I returned to a bar with four aquariums. 

Aquarium Bar on Mississippi
Aquarium Bar on Mississippi

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to the Portland Art Museum on Monday. Closed, of course. So I’m going back today to find Childe Hassam’s Afternoon Sky, Harney Desert. It was the museum’s first original piece of art, acquired in 1908. What a concidence. I spent part of my childhood in Old Lyme, Ct. where Hassam and his painter friends had a colony.

This evening I’m giving a margarita party. Friends and I have done this for several years. We have it in my place at the Inn at Northrup Station. Usually, we drift up to the roof which is like an attic, tons of chairs and tables brightly colored and a perfect way to gently end a party.  

The Inn at Northrup Station

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries July 20, 2019

No trip to Portland is complete without attending at least one Mississippi Street Fair.

 

Mississippi Street Fair
True North Folk Singers

 

 

 

 

 

Midsommer is an unfogetable movie. Violent, barbaric, bloody, brillant, disgusting, beautiful. There are no likeable characters. A group of Americans go to Sweden to observe the anniversary of an ancient rite. Agatha Christie’s Then There Were None meticulously kills off every character. Midsommer kills off many in the cast. Is it the girl’s dream? Decide for yourself.

 

Happy Hour at Nel Centro was followed by a True North concert in blissful weather at the Origan Historical Society. We sat on the patio and listened to folk and blue grass then took a quick tour of the recent exhibit of the Beatles. Yes, the Beatles played in Portland. 

The facade of the Oregon Historical Society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beatles

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries – July 12

 I’ve visited Portland, Oregon for twenty years. Dear friends of mine moved here at that time. They bought a little house in north Portland and turned it into an enchanting oasis. It was on public land that was gobbled up by Las Vegas developers. Their house and garden were surrounded by buildings that dwarfed them. The good news is that they sold their house and managed to have included parking and gym rights in one of the new buildings. It’s bittersweet to acknowledge that this will be the last time we’ll hang out in Portland for three glorious summer weeks. I’ll visit them in Albuquerque and we plan on having reunions in Portland. We stood in for artist Jerry G. Dickason at an open viewing. Here are some photos.

Can you bet what this is?
The late nineteenth century railroad station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My wonderful friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerry G. Dickason’s Studio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Jerry G. Dickason painting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries July 5, 2019

What a busy week. As you know, on Sunday there were two Pride marches. I joined the one that originated at Judson Memorial Church. It was smaller, less commercial and more like the gay day march of years ago. 

Judson’s Meeting Room. Judson’s Saints
Judson on the march. Beloved and Proud
Greeting one and all to Pride Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I joined dear friends in Brooklyn for the perfect July 4th celebration: A small group in a luscious  garden, feasting on grilled meat, potato salad, garden lettuce and tomatoes and homemade strawberry shortcake plus lots of lovely wine.

Stairs leading to the garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I have forgiven The Morgan that ridiculous Renzo Piano J. C. Penny entrance. Director Colin B. Bailey has vitalized the Morgan. He’s tapped into the city’s LGBTQ community, offering parties and previews open to all. Director Bailey has not neglected the Morgan’s classical background. Friends and I went to the enchanting Maurice Sendak’s Drawing the Curtain, a Walt Whitman exhibit and Hogarth’s Cruelty and Humor. Hogarth gave an unflinching view of eighteenth century London’s Gin Lane and Beer Lane. Weary from so much culture, we had a charming lunch. 

Maurice Sendak’s Design for show curtain

 

 

 

Ad for Walt Whitman’s
Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries June 28, 2019

A friend and I went to Artistic License at the Guggenheim. Six artists who had all been shown at the Collection became curators and chose art that they cherished, including some of their own works. We strolled up the spiral ramp to the top floor, taking time to look at various exhibits tucked into the nooks and crannies. These included Basquiat’s “Defacement” and Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now. Both exhibits were what you’d expect: edgy, verging on shocking but of course being a New Yorker I can never admit to being shocked. The Brancusi collection is always a treat. The different sculptures are beautifully placed so that space seems part of the art. 

Brancusi Sculptures
Brancusi sculpture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cindy Sherman’s Scale Relationship Series – The Giant is weird and wonderful.

Cindy Sherman

 

 

 

 

 

Quilts of remembrance were hung in the Judson Meeting Room to commemorate the victims of the AIDS epidemic. 

 

 

A Quilt of Remembrance
Quilt of Remembrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries June 21, 2019

“Combining dazzling surrealism, poetic movement, and sheer physical strength, Pilobolus makes a highly anticipated return to The Joyce!” This is a quote from a Joyce ad for the dance company. In the ad a very tall figure in a very long skirt and wearing a fedora scrambles up a ladder to put Pilobolus June 11 thru 29 on the theater marquee. But wait! She’s replaced by a short man who completes or repeats the job. The tall person in the long skirt climbs the ladder yet again! Go to the Joyce Theater website and go mad. I had never seen Pilobolus and was concerned that it was a left over sixties group. Before the performance began, there was horseplay among the dancers which reinforced my concern. Once the performance started, I realized my initial opinion was nonsense. It was a seriously silly afternoon. I borrowed the Joyce quote because it describes this wonderful, flexible group perfectly.   

 

Philobolus warming up.
Catherine Maiorisi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s have a shout out for Sisters in Crime. Cowgirls on Hudson was the place where we had our last meeting of the season. Also, it was the changing of the guard. Catherine Maiorisi, was a hard working, organized, relaxed president who was lots of fun. Unlike most heads, I’m sorry to see her go. The good news is that Alison von Rosenvinge will be our president. If only our political parties could learn from Sisters in Crime how to choose leaders. 

Alison von Rosenvinge wearing the Sisters in Crime crown

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries June 14, 2019

Father’s Day

I didn’t know my father but I revere him. HIs ship was torpedoed when I was two years old. He left me a copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets, college tuition and a letter. He wrote the letter a few days after I was born while he was at sea. He was on the S. S. Peu, the ship that two years later would be attacked by enemy action. The letter is my most precious possession. He describes in adult terms what life was like, how much he wanted a child and his joy when I was born.

Happy Father’s Day to my dear Father!

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Clarence McGovren standing in front of the Parthenon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ? His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

Mary Jo Robertiello's mysteries and life