12th St Church

Church on E 12th Street near Union Square:

Off topic:
Since second grade, or thereabout, I have this unfortunate habit of mixing up "union" and "onion" while reading.  Just something I need to double check myself on because "Union of Guerrilla Fighters" is very different from "Onion of Guerrilla Fighters." (oh, Redwall, you are my childhood...)

Q to Coney Subway People

Some people on the way to the beach a few weekends ago:

Lobster Burn and Stupid Gulls

Despite the fact that this is my second summer not completely landlocked, I have only gone to the beach a handful of times (like, twice?).  Got a fantastic lobster burn on my legs (naptime on the skillet), but my shoulders have been burned enough that at this point it just starts browning (hurrah -- no longer quite the pasty blue person).  Got some locals (the best part was the umbrella in the top left corner):

There was a fellow sitting somewhere behind us who kept feeding the gulls, so even when he stopped they would prowl around behind us every so often looking for more handouts:

Gallery Night BBQ

Finally made it to gallery night with EC.  (I know, kinda bad that I've been in the city for almost three months and haven't bothered to go out on Thursdays.)  Afterwards we went out for dinner at Texas BBQ (very much like the midwest's Damon's): their brisket sandwich is really good, and they have giant frozen cocktails (which are also very good, but unless you're very thirsty, you should go halvsies with whomever you're out with).

I can't remember the artists and galleries we saw because I left all my postcards at the restaurant table when we left.  That and EC and I were rather tipsy from complimentary wine and champagne

St Mark's Lion

The Lion in front of St. Mark's Church on 12th St, early July

This image was the first in a long time that people came up to compliment me on (last time I got that was early last June).  I ended up adding color when I returned, but it was gratifying in a sense that at least the black and white could hold its own as well, even in its incomplete state.

There was one fellow who came up specifically and started chatting.  He apparently works the night shift... somewhere, and was meeting a friend of his in the square to plan a walking tour of the area.  He wished to compliment me on my sketch, and he showed me a tattoo on his upper right arm of a lion (rampant?): a big-cat enthusiast.  We discussed briefly the nature of lion statues, and if you keep your eyes out while you walk, lions are everywhere: over portals, guarding the steps of residential buildings, in front of official buildings, portrayed in reliefs that pan across second and third story levels of older buildings...