It was bound to happen. We've done so much walking and sight-seeing since arriving in Sydney that it was only a matter of time before I stopped looking up at everything and starting looking down. if you look for them, they will appear The Lost Soles, they are here!
To be continued...
"Highwire Act"-First Avenue near 27th Street
With the big life change from city mouse to country mouse drawing near, I wonder how frequent my lost shoe sightings will be once I leave Manhattan. I’m constantly on the lookout but I never know when a sighting is going to happen and with the move to a much more rural area I don’t foresee too many instances where shoes are just going to be lying about. I do have to admit though that I’m surprised I’ve been able to find this many shoes even in Manhattan. When I come across a shoe or two I'm almost always taken by surprise, "A SHOE!" as if I haven't been keeping my eyes glued to the streets and sidewalks hoping to spot one. It's sort of funny to me how I don't see ANY for several weeks and then suddenly I can't walk down the street without a spotting every few blocks. Here are a few strays I've picked up since last Friday.
"Free Parking"-Third Avenue
I'm very disappointed with this shot. It was very late; I was on my way home from work trying in vain to schlep 6 large empty boxes plus my heavy backpack without tripping over myself ONCE AGAIN when I saw this sneaker. I quickly set the boxes down, fished my camera out of the backpack and went to stand in the street to take the shot. Just as I stepped off the curb and turned to take the picture, the traffic light changed and there were suddenly 8 cabs bearing down on me at speeds in excess of 200 mph-it was like a scene from "Death Race 2000" for a minute there. I snapped one picture quickly and just missed getting sideswiped by THISMUCH. After the first shot I called it quits. My hands were shaking pretty badly and I decided the shoe wasn't worth dying for.
"Tag. You're it!"-Third Avenue and 18th Street
This shot cracks me up for two reasons, 1. Slippers? How do you lose your slippers outside? "HONEY, I'm going out to get the paper and then walk barefoot down 3rd avenue, be back later" and 2. They look like they're playing some kind of chasing game or telling secrets.
"Let's see, a loaf of bread, a container of milk, a pair of stiletto's"-Second Avenue and 29th Street
As I was taking the picture of the "highwire shoes" (pictured above) while simultaneously trying to stop the little girl from eating food off the sidewalk and picking up broken glass my cell pone rang, it was my husband, who, not more than 2 minutes earlier had hurried ahead of us because nature was calling, was calling to tell me that he had spotted some shoes in a shopping cart near 2nd Ave and he wanted to make sure I didn't miss them. What a guy! I actually took a few pictures of these shoes but don't think any of them came out especially great. Ellie was hungry and she was fussing and we were starting to draw attention to ourselves and I suddenly felt very silly standing in the street taking pictures of shoes while my toddler was having a meltdown.
"Sidewalk Sale"-Third Avenue
I don't quite know what to make of this one.
"Jailbirds"-30th Street
I love this one. It's funny and yet sad at the same time. They really do look like they’re trying to break free from jail, which makes me chuckle, but then I find it sad because they also look like they have been sentenced to life behind bars, probably for giving blisters. Ok, let me stop being corny now.
Broadway and 13th Street-NYC
I really hit the jackpot for lost sole sightings this week! We’ve had family visiting us from out of town and so I’ve been doing a lot of walking and sightseeing and then more walking, a perfect opportunity for spotting poor lost and lonely shoes on these mean streets. Incredibly, I found all of the shoes pictured here on the SAME DAY. It must be because it is summer and it is hot and when it is hot people take their shoes off to air out their tootsies. I guess they forget to put their shoes back on afterwards, although I can't imagine not noticing that your bare feet are coming in contact with the sometimes skeavy NYC sidewalks, but that's just me.
Anyway, before I show you the latest Lost Soles sightings I just wanted to say a few quick things about them. A friend asked me to clarify my guidelines and explain what it is that I think constitutes a lost sole. So here it is, Deb’s Somewhat Official Guidelines for Lost Soles, I hope this makes sense. The shoes are definitely found shoes, they are not shoes borrowed from friends, stolen from shoes stores or from my own closet. Lately, I've been finding a lot of pairs of shoes over just a single shoe, that led my friend to think that I was setting up the shots I was taking but that is not the case, just an incredible coincidence. I do not alter the scene, that is to say that I don't move the shoes, or "pose" them. I will edit later on by making decisions like whether to keep the image in color or make it b/w and I might crop the image occasionally if it makes the composition a bit tighter overall, but that's all.
I've gotten a tremendous amount of positive responses via email about this series from some really nice people who have also started to tell me about their own lost sole sightings. I can’t thank all of you who have written enough, you have really encouraged me and given me confidence that I don't always feel about my photography, thank you. I'm also hoping to start accepting submissions from people who would like me to post pictures and text of their own lost sole sightings, wouldn't it be great to make this an international photo essay? I'll keep everyone posted as to when I might be able to start doing that, right now things are still a bit hectic around here and blogging isn't going to be consistent quite yet, but soon. I promise.
Fifth Avenue and 29th St.-NYC
6th Avenue and Van Dam St.-NYC
ROLLERBLADE! Hard to believe because of the sheer size but yes, this was seated all by itself right there on the bench.
Broome and Wooster Streets-NYC
I can sort of see why this shoe might have been left behind.
Washington Market Park-NYC
Washington Market Park-NYC
I can easily see how a childs shoes can be lost in the park especially now that I have my own child whose shoes I must account for. I was in the park for quite some time and no one in either play area claimed either of the shoes pictured above so I assumed they were lost.
Near Duane and Chambers St.-NYC
I love this shot, it's so peaceful and Zen-like.
near 3rd Ave-New York City-2005
I found another "Lost Sole" today. Technically this should be number four in the series, but as I was without a camera when I found the two before this, by default, this becomes the second photo in what I hope to be an ongoing series of found shoes. I spotted the first number two (does that makes sense) last Saturday on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. A pair of sneakers lying smack dab on the middle of the road, as if someone had tossed them out a car window. Ocean Parkway can be one scary mutha of a street to cross and because I didn't have my camera with me (which was dumb because I was on my way to the hospital to see my newly born nephew) and because I was in a moving car at the time I decided to just let the photo opportunity go. I’ll tell you though, IF I had had my camera I’m almost positive I would have asked my brother to pull over so I could attempt the shot. that’s what I’m telling myself anyway.
The pair of shoes that would have been number "three" in this series were found just this past Tuesday evening ( or early Wednesday morning depending on how you look at it) while I was walking home from work. I could kick myself repeatedly for not having my camera with me. I even considered going home, getting my camera and going back to the scene but it was already after 1 am and well, once I was actually inside the apartment and feeling the delightful air-conditioned coolness on my skin there was no way I was going back out into the sweaty night to take some crazy picture. Anyway. The shoes. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect set-up, a pair of women's dress shoes, real sleek, with a long and narrow pointed toe and a perky little heel that was maybe 2 inches high. They looked as if they had been slipped off momentarily, perhaps so that the owner could find relief from a blister or rub sore feet, but then, somehow they were abandoned near (and maybe even because of) an overflowing NYC garbage can that had a few of those heart stopping and immensely skeevy giant water bug creatures scurrying nearby . The street lamp, traffic light and car headlights were all reflecting off the black leather in such a way that depending on how I moved my head the shoes looked almost sparkly. There was a cab parked nearby and the driver (I’m assuming he was on a break) was staring at the shoes through the open window of his cab. The whole scene made me think of the lyrics to a Patsy Cline song: "I go out walkin’ after midnight Out in the moonlight Just like we used to do I’m always walkin’ after midnight searchin’ for you…" Oh well, I think that even if I had gone home to get my camera I probably would not have been able to accurately capture the mood anyway.
daytime near 3rd Ave-New York City-2005
Enough about what could have been, let me tell you about what became. The shot you see above was obviously taken earlier in the day than the final night shot up at the top of this post. I wasn’t crazy about the day photo for many reasons and thought about not posting the shot. I didn’t have my usual camera with me, (Nikon D70) instead, I had an old Sony Mavica (long story, silly reason). The Mavica is a conspicuously large camera (it saves to a floppy disc) and compared to today's tiny slip into your back pocket models it looks ridiculous I guess. I imagine that, combined with having suddenly stopped dead in my tracks to whip it out this enormous camera to photograph a shoe might have seemed a little odd. The street was crowded which is pretty normal for that time of the evening (6:30 pm) and passersby were definitely puzzled by what I was doing, one woman even muttered a snarky "O-kaaaaaay" as she passed me to which I (silently) replied "oh please, if this is the weirdest thing you've seen in NYC then you need to get out more.” It’s funny, but since giving birth to my daughter I’ve gotten over worrying about what people think of me. I mean really, I was in a hospital grunting and sweating like nobody’s business to a steady stream of (mostly) strangers who were privy to my more intimate parts, and this lady thought photographing a shoe on the sidewalk was surreal? Anyway, I also just didn't have a lot of time because I was running late for work so I rushed to take the picture and didn’t give it much thought and I think that’s definitely reflected by the weakness of the composition. It’s a lame shot. On my way home from work later this evening (and on the lookout for more shoes because this is turning out to be a lot of fun), I couldn’t help but think how great it would be in if the shoe were still where I had found it, so I retraced my steps and LO and BEHOLD, (to my great pleasure) it was!
Lately, my co-workers, the locusts have been dropping not-so-subtle-hints at me stating that they would not turn down any of my recent cooking experiments, successes or even failures (as long as they were still edible) should I like to unburden our household of extra or unwanted food. Their cries of "you don't love us anymore" and "boy do we wish we had some home baked goodness" have been haunting me at night. I do so want to accommodate them, really I do, but right now I have too many things going on at home and as usual never enough time. (Sheesh, that’s becoming my theme song isn’t it?) My pleas for patience and understanding have fallen on deaf ears. These days, with an extremely active toddler who by the way has learned to put on her own shoes and point to the door demanding "out," I find that there is no time for what I call “hobby cooking” anymore. I look for recipes I can prepare quickly and that will allow me to put fresh and wholesome meals on the table in hopes that the wee child will eat. She hardly eats anything anymore having become suddenly picky except for meat, cheesy poofs and "ize keam"
Luckily for my co-workers we have had some really hot weather recently, so the girl and I have not been venturing out as much as we normally do. Summers here in NYC have always been rough; ninety-plus degree weather with one thousand percent humidity brings new meaning to the phrase “melting pot”
Anyway, I had some time to bake a little something for the guys at work and I found this recipe on the Epicurious Website. It's actually a recipe that appears in "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison and one that I had wanted to try for some time. I especially wanted to try some of the suggested variations but I decided to keep things simple this time and followed the recipe as is, except for the topping. I used a coarse sugar (turbinado) and that was a mistake. It never really melted and made the texture of the topping crunchy-gritty in an unpleasant way, so next time I'll just use regular sugar or maybe even superfine. The "cake" was tasty although the first few bites left me disappointed because it was crunchy in a weird way (my fault) and I was also expecting the texture to be more like cake but it wasn't. Is it cake or is it bread? I don't know! It does have yeast in it which makes me think it might be bread but then, it is sweet like a cake too. The "crumb" is much closer in texture to that of bread, and to me this is definitely bread. No matter really, it was pretty darn edible, it was so edible in fact that I never did bring it in for the locusts, Ellie and I ate almost half of it before we realized we should stop...oops!
I have just finished reading the 6th Harry Potter book. The book got off to a very slow start and wasn't the tightest of stories but I thought that in the end the payoff for sticking with the book was good. Over the years I've read many criticisms of Rowling's work, some of it sometimes too harsh in my opinion. I think the books are good for what they are, fun, easy reads. I appreciate the escapism they provide and I look forward to reading them again with Ellie one day. I won't give away the plot or discuss the book any further in case you haven’t read it, I'll just end by saying that all in all I enjoyed reading it am looking forward to the 7th book.
Horatio Street, New York City- 2005
I may have mentioned once or twice before that I have an intense fascination for what I think is a strange phenomenon, lost shoes. I can't for the life of me understand how people can become separated from their shoes and not realize it and yet throughout the course of my life and in my travels I have come across more than my fair share of lost shoes. Sometimes I see a single shoe looking lonely and sad and sometimes I come across a pair, a pair may be less lonely because it’s with its mate but still, it’s a sad thing to see. I’ve decided to do a photo essay on these lost shoes. Pictured above is the first photo in a series I might call “Found! Lost Shoe(s)”
ETA: I just thought of the perfect name for my photo essay, "Lost Soles" HA!
Covered with a cracked sugar crust, this cake is fragrant with butter — yet it uses far less than most cakes. And although it's made with yeast, the rising time is brief. I love this cake at any time of day, with raspberries, with fruit compotes of all kinds, and in place of shortcake with strawberries and cream.
The Cake:
The Topping:
Stir the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar into 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Combine the flour, remaining sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the yeast, milk, and eggs and beat until smooth. Add the butter and beat vigorously until the batter is silky. Scrape down the sides, then cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes
Lightly butter a 9-inch tart pan or cake pan. Stir down the dough, turn it onto a lightly floured counter and gently shape it into a disk. Set it in the pan and flatten it with your hands. Rub the softened butter all over the top, then cover with the sugar, using all of it. Let rise for 30 minutes. during the last 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bake the cake in the center of the oven until well risen and the sugar has begun to melt and brown, about 25 minutes. The surface should be covered with cracks. When done, let it cool briefly, then unmold and serve, still a little warm, with fruit and softly whipped cream.
Variations: Add 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest to the batter along with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon crushed anise seeds. A half cup of finely ground almonds and a drop of almond extract are also good additions.
Serves 10 to 12.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone Broadway Books October 1997 Deborah Madison
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