Tag Archives: Graphic Lessons

NYMysteries  Aug. 25 – Sept. 1

Stephen Maing’s Crime & Punishment is a documentary about the NYPD treatment of minority officers. I learned about Crime & Punishment at a Mystery Writers of America Meeting. Officers Pedro Serrano, Ritchie Baez and Derek Waller presented evidence of discrimination and disrespect. In the documentary, twelve courageous minority cops demonstrate how they’re pressured to arrest other people of color to meet an illegal but still prevalent arrest quota.  The documentary was shown at Sundance. It’s on Hulu and at IFC in NYC. I went to an early screening at IFC, along with about five others. It’s an engrossing examination. Congratulations to the 12 officers who participated and to Director Stephen Maing.

Off to MOMA to see The Rest I Made Up. It’s Michelle Memran’s documentary about Maria Irene Fornes, the Cuban-American playwright who influenced generations of other writers. Memran and Fornes develop a loving, joyous film friendship as they travel to Cuba, Miami and Seattle. Fornes’s encroaching Altzheimers is poignant. The Rest I Made Up shows early footage of Maria Irene Fornes teaching and directing. I had hoped for more coverage on her work with Al Carmines at Judson Memorial Church. 

One of the Judson members is a boat fanatic and she entrances us with lively stories about NYC waterways. The latest was about the John J. Harvey fireboat.

 

 

NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned a murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, Ja 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, the only witness to the stabbing 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. 

NYMysteries Aug. 19 – Aug. 25

It’s been one of those weeks where I am grateful I don’t own a house: a bookcase’s shelves collapsed, the Verizon landline was once again not working, and the toilet …I’ll leave it to your imagination. 

We Judsonites are decking the halls of MOMA. There’s The Maria Irene Fornes documentary, The Rest I Made Up. This morning I received the MOMA member calendar for Sept. and Oct. On page 6 there’s an article about the Judson Dance Theater plus photos of Trisha Brown and Anna Halprin.  Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done has member previews Sept. 13-15. 

Do you think the Guggenheim is lively, fun, glamorous? I do.  A friend Giacometti at the Guggenheimand I went to the Giacometti exhibit. The museum was teeming on Sunday afternoon. Like the Pantheon, the Guggenheim has an oculus. It’s great fun to watch visitors snapping the oval ceiling before starting to walk up the ramp or hop into a tiny elevator. The exhibit was beautifully displayed. Has an other artist concentrated on skinny sculpted figures like Giacometti? 

I signed up for Joyce DiDonato masterclasses. My friend suggested we go to the first and last masterclass to see the progression of DiDonato’s students. 

Joyce DiDonato

 

 

 

Crime and Punishment is at IMF. It tells the brave and true story of how minorities are treated in the NYPD.

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

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, 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, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man..

: 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. 

NYMysteries    Aug. 12 – Aug. 18

Writers Digest Conference 2018 was held at the Hilton. It was well organized and the staff were very helpful. I think there are more writers than readers. Estimating how many people were at the conference, I’d say between 800 and 1000. Pitching was amazing. You had one hour, 90 minutes with each agent to sell your story. Waiting to begin was like waiting for your own execution but once in the enormous, well organized room it went smoothly. Lots of good suggestions: Don’t wait in a long line. Find an agent with a short line and talk to her. Make sure you approach an agent who’s interested in your genre. There were signs over each agent’s desk describing his interest. Writers Digest had provided us before hand with a layout of the room, the names and specialties of the agents and their photos. In addition there were excellent discussions about craft, the business of publishing and lots of opportunities to speak to other people. It was an intense, wonderful experience. Well done, Writers Digest!

 

Don Swanson’s Landscape

The Frick Staff Art Show on Frick’s Staff Day was terrific. Two examples are Don Swanson’s Landscape Marbleized paper

Lorenzo De Los Angeles

and Lorenzo De Los Angeles’s Like the gilt-bronze mounts by Jean Godille …paper, mat board, glue, paint sold tissue, crushed glass and acrylic medium.

 

 

Writers Digest Pitch Line in Back of Me
Writers Digest Pitch Line in front of me

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

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, 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, the only witness to the stabbing 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. 

Mary Jo Robertiello

http://www.nymysteries.com

NYMysteries Aug. 6 – Aug. 11

It’s been a busy week in hot and humid NYC. 

The annual Frick Staff Education Day was held on Monday.  Emma Capron, the 2016–18 Anne L. Poulet Curatorial Fellow and an authority on Netherlandish art, gave a talk and slide show on The Charterhouse at Bruges: Jan van Eyck, Petrus Christius and Jan Vos. It was a tasty preview of the special exhibition opening on September 18. There were a variety of activities for Staff Education Day: a discussion about the future of the Boucher Room, a demonstration of sun printing and painting faux marble. Shadow profile portraiture was a popular activity in George Washington’s time. This activity ties in with the current Canova’s George Washington exhibit. Participants created their own examples.  There was also bowling. Let us not forget that in the early 20th century no mansion was complete without a bowling alley. The Frick’s is a beauty – all polished wood. The Staff Art Exhibition, Exquisite Corpse, was a knock out.

A friend and I visited the Morgan Library. After a very tasty lunch of cold soup, deviled eggs and delicious pinot grigio, we went to Morgan’s wonderful library on the first floor.

J. P. Morgan’s Library

On Friday I went to the first of three days of the Writers Digest 2018 Conference. Today was  dedicated to query letters. Janet Reid has been educating and terrorizing writers for years. QueryShark.blogspot.com. is where she lays down the law about writing in general and query letters in particular. Her talk was witty, biting and cogent. Paula Munier gave an interesting session on Beginnings: Your first 10 pages. There was lots of talk about pitching i.e. selling your story to an agent in 90 seconds. Tomorrow, I do it. Groan. 

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

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, 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, the only witness to the stabbing 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. 

Mary Jo Robertiello

http://www.nymysteries.com

NYMysteries in Portland,Oregon –  July 15 – July 21

 

Sleep walking in Portland. a few days ago I went to a birthday party, had a great time, and drank a little too much beer and wine. Back at the Inn at Northrup Station I fell into a deep sleep. At 3 a. m. I found myself  in the Inn’s corridor. The click of the door’s lock had awakened me. I’d sleepwalked. With nothing on but a modest nightgown I went to the front desk, way down the corridor. The night clerk, a millennial with a goofy hairdo, behaved with aplomb. Is he used to older women arriving at his counter in nightgowns at three in the morning? He gave me a swipe card and I went back to my room.

This year’s Inn at the Northrup Station’s corridor carpet.
David Edward’s Longevity scroll at the Oregon Historical Society
The Inn at Northrup Station’s last year’s corridor carpet. Which do you prefer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portland Museum’s Car Show. A Stout Scarab
The Portland Art Museum’s car show. The Aeromobile

 The sign at the Oregon Historical Society stated that Japanese calligraphy is an art form. Chinese characters are imported to Japan and still used today. I went to the Historical Society’s beautiful,  small exhibit.  David Edwards was represented by two scrolls, entitled longevity. He belongs to the Meito Shodo-Kai Calligraphy Association.(Shodo)

We went to the Portland Art Museum Car Show: The Shape of Speed, Streamlined Automobiles and Motorcycles 1930-1942. Nineteen cars, many one offs, were on display.  The 1936 Stout Scarab was $5000 in 1936 but didn’t attract buyers.  The Aeromobile speaks for itself.

 

 

 

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

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, 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, the only witness to the stabbing 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. 

Mary Jo Robertiello

http://www.nymysteries.com

NYMysteries June 24 -June 30

Pride Sunday. In the late seventies, when it was called the Gay Day Parade, my boyfriend and I would arrive at a gay friend’s apartment on Hudson, drink champagne at ten a.m. and smoke perfectly rolled cigarettes. I was titillated by the largely homosexual crowd expressing surprise that I was gay. Then we strolled up Fifth Avenue, slightly stoned. It was a leisurely walk, hardly a march.

 

 

For this Pride Sunday, The Judson Memorial Church’s staff created  evocative and heart breaking posters of the past LGBT community.

 

 

 

Saint James Baldwin
Saint Christine Jorgensen
Saint Alan Turing
St. Harry Hay

A friend and I go to the movies in hopes we’ll break the spell of choosing long, boring movies. The three most recent stinkers: The King, Phantom Thread, Gone Girl. 

The King, at IFC, ropes you in because it’s supposedly about Elvis Presley. Actually it’s a self serving vehicle about the director, Eugene Jarecki, who informs us that he’s anti-Trump and supports Black Lives Matter. What does this have to do with E. P.? Jarecki criticizes Presley for not participating in civil rights marches. Presley was a musical genius. That’s it. He might have been a dope but who cares? Speaking of vehicles, Jarecki has the usual tired celebrities such as Alec Baldwin ride around in Presley’s Rolls Royce.  Avoid. 

Paul Taylor Anderson’s Phantom Thread is so boring. Daniel Day-Lewis walks on water for some. In this long affected movie he treads on cloth. If you suffer from insomnia, this is the flick for you.

We saw David Fincher’s Gone Girl in a glorious Amsterdam art nouveau movie theater, Pathé Tuschinski. I’m a fan of Gillian Flynn’s flinty, non-flinching descriptions of everyday life and of her sense of humor. None of which is present in the film adaptation. And to put the nail in the coffin Ben Affleck wanders through the plot in his usual sleepwalker’s stance. 

I had to meet a friend for drinks at Bemelmans Bar after seeing Always at the Carlyle. Sitting in the twilight of Bemelman’s wall paintings, listening to someone slinging Cole Porter and sipping champagne is certainly the way to spend the cocktail hour. 

 

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

Graphic Lessons: Recent thirty-five-year-old widow Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a stabbed and dying man in the school kitchen, deals with the only witness to the stabbing – a troubled nine-year-old, develops a crush on a NYPD detective and her dog dies.

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. 

Mary Jo Robertiello

http://www.nymysteries.com

June 18 – June 23

By the time you read this, it will be too late. There’s a Tapas Bar on Clinton Street where we had delicious tiny dishes for an early supper before NYC ’s Secrets and Lies at Caveat. The Iranian owner has sold Tapas. Let us hope the new owner has was much culinary skill and style. We then went down, down down to Caveat. What a great nightclub. This evening event consisted of  five women conning us with incredible or credible stories about NYC. Four were truthful. One was a lie. The place was packed. Is Manhattan thirsty for nerdy fun? I think so.

Three day s later, after dinner at Gigino’s we went to Highlights in Jazz. We were saying good bye to Jack Kleinsinger’s longest running jazz series in NYC, as Kleinsinger is so fond of reminding us. We had decided that the series was old and dusty. This evening proved the series still has lots of life. It was a tribute to the guitarist, Russell Malone. He was joined by the drummer, Lewis Nash, Gene Bertoncini, the guitarist, and other stellar musicians. A lovely evening. 

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

Graphic Lessons: Recent thirty-five-year-old widow Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a stabbed and dying man in the school kitchen, deals with the only witness to the stabbing – a troubled nine-year-old, develops a crush on a NYPD detective and her dog dies.

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. 

Mary Jo Robertiello

http://www.nymysteries.com

NYMYSTERIES MAY 2 – JUNE 8

 

Off to Yonkers. We decided to go to Untermyer Park and Garden and ignore rain threats. It paid off. We had a delightful sun filled stroll around the forty plus acres. To the west is the Hudson and the Palisades. The fragrant gardens are being restored. We visited the mysteriously named Persian Garden which is filled with copies of Greek statues and columns. Around us, restoration work was being done on the 1899 structure. So quiet, so green: a perfect antidote for the NYC bustle. 

Untermyer Park and Garden
Untermyer Park and Garden

I confess. I saw Always at the Carlyle. I can claim I’m a native New Yorker and the Carlyle is part of my DNA. The real reason I went to the restored Quad was to see all the celebrities in the documentary who can afford $10,000- $20,000 a night.

 

 

 

 

 

Studio 5 Celebrating Bernstein and Robbins

Boo-hoo. We attended our final Studio 5 presentation. It was dedicated to Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein, as everyone knows, would have been one hundred this year. We were treated to music and dance created by Bernstein and Jerome Robbins. 

 

 

 

A friend and I planned our visit to the Cloisters’ Heavenly Bodies so that we’d arrive early and escape before the crowds arrived. After going through several cloisters, halls, and rooms to look at and drool over the fabulous and enormous exhibit which is part of the Fashion and the Catholic Imagination at the Metropolitan and the Cloisters, we felt peckish and went to New Leaf, a charming restaurant in the park.

It’s been a week filled with gardens and views of the Hudson.  

 

Now: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination at the Cloisters

 

 

Then: Tomb of a Lady and probably a saint. The Cloisters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned a murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His

partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

Graphic Lessons: Recent thirty-five-year-old widow Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a stabbed and dying man in the school kitchen, deals with the only witness to the stabbing – a troubled nine-year-old, develops a crush on a NYPD detective and her dog dies.

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. 

NYMysteries.com May 27 – June 2

May 27 —  June 2

What a week! Part of my birthday package was going to Coney Island. All New Yorkers know that weekend travel on the subway is an adventure unto itself. Eventually, I met my pal at Stillwell Avenue, the last stop on the D. She had wanted to knock off some barbecue but I used birthday rights and so we stood in line for about three days to get Nathan hotdogs, fries. We then strolled them off (ha!) on the boardwalk, stopping for a restful merry-go-round ride. Lots of crowds, lots of families, lots of lovely sea air and sunshine.

On Tuesday, I went to Caveat, the nightclub/ speakeasy on Clinton, to watch and marvel at one of my friends talking about her alter ego. Her performance was part of a Generation Women program in which women between the ages of twenty and eighty plus tell their stories. Caveat is a gem. The atmosphere is one of happy expectation coupled with wine, Get It Girl White Blend, that supports Planned Parenthood. 

I went to Invisible Julliard. We all know that every organization wants money, right? Some, like Juilliard, do it with class.  Lovely champagne followed by an hour sample of  classes: Drama Voice, Drama Movement, Ballroom Dance, Juilliard Dance, Basics of Singing -the selections seemed endless. I chose Drama Voice. It was held in an enormous black box and the instructor, Susan Finch, put about fourteen of us thorough our paces. Lots of movement and walking in circles while we trilled and buzzed our vocal cords. Afterwards, there was a buffet supper. A friend (Drama Movement) and I shared a table with some new friends from Drama Voice and Drama Movement including a Juilliard graduate who had majored in dance and who explained how daunting, thrilling, scary and life affirming it was to attend Juilliard.  A delightful evening.

 

Generation Women at Caviat

 

 

 

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

Graphic Lessons: Recent thirty-five-year-old widow Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a stabbed and dying man in the school kitchen, deals with the only witness to the stabbing – a troubled nine-year-old, develops a crush on a NYPD detective and her dog dies.

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. 

NYMysteries: May 20 —  May 26

Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

Catholic clothes at the Metropolitan Museum

 

One Size Fits All

Aside from one incredibly rude guard who would be at home torturing Riker inmates, it was a lovely visit. In the Anna Wintour – What a giggle – Costume Center, Catholicism displayed its visual strength through gorgeous costumes and stunning jewelry. Hushed, like a church, people gazed or frowned at the jewel infested crowns, some muttering about how many poor people the cost of that crown would feed. Catholic hierarchy understood how beautiful architecture, sculpture, paintings, seep into an innocent’s subconscious, establishing an eternal bond. The wily Jesuits claimed that if they got you by seven, you were theirs for life. Seventeenth century popes, Urban VIII and Alexander VII, were forerunners of today’s CEOs. To counter the reformation, in addition to the Inquisition, they worked Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s pious fingers to the bone. I took this photo at Villa D’Este, a sixteenth century summer palace for one of the Estes family.  It’s Bernini’s Oval Fountain, set against a rustic shrine dedicated to a nymph. Among his many masterpieces, Bernini is known for The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Apollo and Daphne as well as his work on St. Peter’s and the Four Rivers Fountain in Piazza Navona.  

 

 

Bernini’s Oval Fountain, Villa D’Este

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: Recent thirty-five-year-old widow Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a stabbed and dying man in the school kitchen, deals with the only witness to the stabbing – a troubled nine-year-old, develops a crush on a NYPD detective and her dog dies.

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 a murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook?