GALFROMDOWNUNDER UPOVER

Children's Book Council Picture Book of the Year - Notable Book : An excellent book for teaching kids (and the rest of us) about diversity - or at least being a bit different Once in a  blue moon,  everyone has  a really,  really excellent dream.  How easy is it to write a good 10-and-under children's book? Flip through the dozens of thin, large-format offerings in the 10-and-under kids section of any bookstore and you think, c'mon, how hard can that be? Large type, short sentences, the occasional big word thrown in (because kids these days listen to your business calls) and of course, cutesy illustrations - not photos. Drawings please.  Hey, my kid could do that! But flip a little slower and you'll discover just what it takes to achieve that winning trifecta: a fresh, engaging voice that's accessible but not infantile; a plot that's uncomplicated but not predictable;  a visual treatment you feel you haven't seen somewhere else b

1959 Pontiac Bonneville. Photo by Lydia Bogner. One of the nicest things about writing a book is having readers pop up out of the woodwork and regale you with their tales of retracing your steps, doing it better, faster, slower, weirder (and even enthusing about some of the same obscure obsessions as you...) Lydia Bogner, who hails from Massachusetts, discovered the Handsomest Man after taking a "lazy, 5 day cruise for my daughter and I, via Miami." Finding your book at the library was pure serendipity and truly has strengthened and magnified my memories of our one day in Havana. Reading it enhanced both my understanding of the Cuban people and my memories. Having been to San Salvador 3 years ago, I can't help but compare the survival instincts of these 2 different cultures. Salvadoreans must survive the gang violence, and Cubans must work and eat one day at a time...  Love me, love my Cuban car So what was the first thing Lydia went looking for in Cub

A WHILE back, I organized the odd thanksgiving for NYC transplants and itinerants, aka “orphans.” Turkey with all the trimmings beckons from inside... Well, there must have been a lot of subsequent adoptions because this year, beau and I found ourselves to be the only orphans without invites in town. So we decided to do as the rent-stabilized might and the rent-controlled do, and seek out some turkey action at a local diner. But to work up an appetite, why not bookend a Thanksgiving meal with a bit of New York starchitecture, conveniently served hot and happening along the Highline?  See that gobletty thing wedged between the buildings? That's  Thomas Heatherwick’s "Vessel ," a honeycomb-like structure made of interlocking staircases, soon to be populated by thousands of bodies, aka the gum-chewing, selfie-snapping public. Like Calatrava's Oculus , it looks like it's elbowing for room in a subway car between those adjacent towers, but that'

The Rinsten Spring on a Bike Friday   Pros: Simple device, fits on any bike Accommodates riders up to 150 kg (330 lbs) Appears to work, good on small wheeled bikes Minimalist aesthetic Relatively Inexpensive Considerations: You can’t as easily carry your bike upstairs on your shoulder Gets in the way of your toolbag You may need to cut down your seatpost to make it the right height Some may not like the “oscillating” sensation Adds 392g (0.85 lb) VIDEO: A glimpse from the road I WAS recently contacted by a mysterious person on LinkedIn, asking if I’d test a new bicycle shock absorber. The contact had a rather long, rather foreign-looking name, and I confess my first reaction was to dismiss it as a scammer from Russia along with the zillions of emails I get from factories in China asking if I want to order some traffic cones (yes, I’m the inventor of the Traffic Cone Bag ).  But since I was heading out of the New York tundra and into a perfe

A lamp post installation by PHIL, with a contribution by Stikman (inside). It's been a while since I've blogged, but I broke the drought with a fascinating tour of street art in the Manhattan neighborhood of West Chelsea - led by a real street artist, Patrick Waldo aka Moustache Man . Read about it over on my ChelseaGallerista blog: http://chelseagallerista.blogspot.com/2016/11/street-art-in-west-chelsea-alive-and.html Mural by Brazilian brothers Os Gemeos 

The key to the city ... for 45 mins at a time I caved. I have officially joined the Citibike program recently introduced in New York City. Now why on earth would a die-hard foldie with two perfectly good, fast and fancy folders in her closet do something like that? What, no helmet? At least my Traffic Cone Bag will help keep me alive Convenience with a "C" First, there are times when you are across town on foot, and you want to get back quickly without resorting to the expense of a cab, the lethargy of a bus or the claustrophobic cram of the subway. Second, it saves my own bikes from wear and tear, especially when it's a bit damp out there.  Grit and road grime are the enemy of tiny New York apartment spaces where your bed and kitchen and living area are often one and the same. On that note, lucky the few who have dedicated downstairs bike storage in Manhattan ... Third, it's a great workout. Think of a pedal powered Leopard tank. Ev