Little by little, and also by great leaps.

Trying to settle back in to life in NYC after a month away is like trying to do yoga on the branch of a very tall and wobbly tree, while its hailing toxic shit from the sky and an army of people are trying to ax down the tree from the ground, one annoying blow after another. You are hyper aware of the potential for danger and disaster, it's almost impossible to get into the flow because there is so much distraction, and it is very, very hard to find your balance.

Over the past week, however, I stumbled upon two things that have actually done wonders to ease my mind, and make my subway rides far less anxiety inducing. The first is the Irish folk group Lunasa, whose sound is both soothing and exhilarating, particularly in this song, Morning Nightcap:


The second thing is the poem below, by Pablo Neruda. It strikes such a chord with me in this moment, and I could read over and over and over and over.


October Fullness

Little by little, and also by great leaps
life happened to me, and how insignificant this business is.
These veins carried my blood, which I scarcely ever saw,
I breathed the air of so many places without keeping a sample of any.
In the end, everyone is aware of this:
nobody keeps any if what he has, and life is only a borrowing of bonse.
The best thing was learning not to have too much either of sorrow or of joy, to hope for the chance of a last drop, to ask more from honey and twilight.

Perhaps it was my punishment, perhaps I was condemned to by happy. Let it be known that nobody crossed my path without sharing my being. I plunged up to the neck into adversities that were not mine, into all the sufferings of others.
It wasn't a questions of applause or profit.
Much less. It was not being able to live or breathe in this shadow, the shadow of others like towers, like bitter trees that bury you, like cobblestones on the knees.

Our own wounds heal with weeping, our own wounds heal with singing.
but in our doorway lie bleeding widows, Indians, poor men, fishermen.
The miner's child doesn't know his father amidst all that suffering.

So be it, but my business was the fullness of the spirit: a cry of pleasure choking you, a sigh form an uprooted plant, the sum of all action.
It pleased me to grow with the morning, to bathe in the sun, in the great joy of sun, salt, sea-light and waves, and in that unwinding of the foam, my heart began to move, growing in that essential spasm, and dying away as it seeped into the sand.

-Pablo Neruda

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Sometimes I feel like this.



Thanks to my loaf Olivia Cerf for showing me :)

Buenos Aires

Greetings from Buenos Aires, where it's winter time but people salsa/tango/merengue/rhumba like it's hot hot hot! I am here visiting my dear friend and collaborator Julia Bloch, my other dear friend and collaborator Jake Slovis, exploring a new city because I haven't done that in far too long, and absorbing inspiration from the Argentine dancing culture. I've only been here for 24 hours, but I've already witnessed the musicality and sensual movement awareness that seems to be an inherent characteristic of the porteños (residents of Buenos Aires). Today, Julia and her room mate Nati are taking me to La Boca, the Tango district, where apparently people dance Tango in the streets! I don't have pictures yet, but, in honor of The Dance and The City, I leave you with some contrasting images from New York. These photographs are from The Ballerina Project.

The Joys

Photography is a medium that pushes me to take a step back and to truly appreciate my surroundings. I am realizing that for me, being happy has a lot to do with being present and allowing myself to take the time to witness what I like to call "the joys". Here are a few of the joys from the last two weeks:

I'm a Fan

I'm clearly a fan of the World Cup. I am also a fan of Brooklyn, and I think it's really awesome that the city has taken the time and common sense to set up a public viewing space for fans to come together to participate in this global event. I'll be at the Dumbo Archway under the Manhattan bridge on Sunday to watch the final as my 2nd fave team (Nederlands) takes on Spain, and I encourage any and all of you to join in the festivities. It's not often NYC gets it's act together like this, so I'm definitely trying to take advantage!

Thanks to Time Warner Cable, the City of New York, NYC Department of Transportation, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s Office, NYPD’s 84th Precinct, New York City Council, Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation and Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.

Cooking Dinner

Cooking Dinner Vol. I from William Hereford on Vimeo.

Rex is finally home from his film-making adventures (yay) and his first endeavor was to cook dinner for me! I was feeling under the weather when he got back, so he made me this amazingly hearty soup with lots of really healthy greens in it. I'm usually the one experimenting in the kitchen, but Rex said he was inspired by this gorgeous video, Cooking Dinner Vol.I an atmospheric and elegant spin on the quick cooking lesson. I'm hoping his next attempt will include that succulent roasted duck!

World Cup Comes Home

This is the second time I've felt compelled to write about soccer and how absurdly excited I am about it. If you know me, this might come as a bit of a surprise. I am decidedly not a sports fan, but I pretty much go ape sh*t over the world cup. It's just so much more than a sport! It's people from ALL backgrounds coming together for a shared experience, and what can I say? It moves me (kind of like this cheesy but so amazing anti-racism ad).

My love of the game was born when I was 11 years old and my dad's company was a sponsor of the World Cup'98 in France. I had no idea how lucky I was as I watched my first World Cup match in a stadium in Paris. I painted my face blue, white and red, chanted "Allez les Bleu!" in the stands as France dominated Croatia, and from then on, I was hooked. In 2006 Genvieve and I backpacked through Europe and worked for a month at (my current employer) Primavera/ Amala headquarters in Germany, perfect timing for the Cup. We didn't watch any of the matches in the stadium, but we joined the dynamic crowds in Munich to watch all the games in the Fan Park. We met cool interesting people from all over the world, and though they all had varied interests, we bonded over our love of the game. I found myself back in Germany with Eric during the Eurocup in 2008, once again working at Primavera, and regularly watching the games in the nearby town of Kempten.

I was disappointed about the prospect of watching the games this year in NYC, but I am thrilled to say that so far it has NOT been a let down. Maybe it's because this year, the US surprised us all by not completely sucking. Or maybe, could it be... we are finally excited about the idea of joining the global community, breaking down cultural barriers, and getting behind this beautiful global event? 300 people watching a huge projection of the US/ Ghana game last Saturday under the Manhattan bridge in DUMBO with absolutely no interference by the police makes me think, YES WE ARE! I couldn't be happier about it.
Read my last article about soccer here.