Feeling a bit better. Actually a lot better. Slept about ten hours and woke up refreshed. Felt pretty good. Bill ran off and got bagels then did his errands in the city. I hung out, had a nice breakfast and called RoDa to see if we were still on for this afternoon’s trip to Chelsea. He was and we were headed to the Path train at 2PM. A nice walk down 23rd Street where we finally saw the Jean Michel Basquiat exhibition.

Bill from St. Patricks Night

It was great, not the big show that RoDa and I missed last year at the Brooklyn Museum, but still I was great to be able to see the work up close, inches away from your face. What a great talent Jean Michel was. There were 13 pieces total and 2 were amazing, one was very powerful. The powerful one was Untitled. The other was named ‘Self Portrait as a Heel’.

RoDa JOZ

Great stuff. I’m glad that RoDa and I were able to get it together, he’s such a great fan of Jean Michel Basquiat. RoDa is a great artist too, and of course suffers from self doubt like me. Am I saying I’m a great artist? Why not? My father would say more like a great bullshit artist.

After an entertaining stroll with a jazz cigarette we wandered through a few more galleries, really liking Shimon Okshteyn at the Stux Gallery. Funny and macabre, a perfect foil for our red eyed states. The Okshteyn show was paired with Martha Colburn, and she wasn’t as good.

We also enjoyed the Tom Sanford exhibition, which featured hip hop and rock and roll themes as well as a big portrait of Stefon Marbury from the New York Knicks. That was fun. He also did 30 draft pick portraits from 2005 all in pencil and framed quite nicely.

There was also an outdoor exhibition, a group show, called Survivor. It was set up rather haphazardly, almost like an outlaw show. A running theme I believe was Bin Laden Youth. RoDa and I made plans to go visit the galleries next week if possible, starting a lot earlier than we did today. And perhaps the weather will be warmer than it was today.

RoDa and I did a lot of walking, we wound up on the east side, he running into Forbidden Planet and me running into Farfetched so I could buy a present for my niece’s birthday party tomorrow. Jessica, sweet Jessica was able to help me pick out a mirrored jewelry box, despite the fact that I don’t know if she ever has any jewelry.

I also picked up a book called ‘The Bridge of Stars’ containing 365 blessings. prayers and meditations from around the world. I know, it seemed like I’m encouraging religion, but I think Meg would like it, or at least accept it graciously and rolling her eyes later on when she got home, saying ‘Oh my Uncle John’.

RoDa and I took the Path back home, he headed for the Light Rail and me strolling up Washington Street.

Watching Basquiat on cable now.