the tree outside my window is beginning to bloom. the only hopeful thing this week.

on a rare break last week i went with some friends on a walking tour of lower east side offered by timothy speeds levitch, who has appeared on a number of things including the waking life - remember rabbit? - and a film called the cruise that should be coming in the mail today. it's a little difficult to relay this experience. Speeds is an interesting cat with unusual things to say and you come out thinking of massaging the city's epidermis - the asphalt - and the horrid conditions of immigrants first arriving in the city. he knows stories and facts and probably makes some stuff up along the way but the whole experience is a historical roller coaster that you don't want to leave. some of his gravest philosophical statements and parallels between torn down synagogues and life were followed by his unique nasal laughter, almost self-deprecating, which made the experience for me, all the more valuable. i'm not one for too much seriousness these days. here are some pictures from that walk