Ruins in New York

As seen on a post in Design Corner: One misty morning while in New York City, take a cab uptown to West 64th Street in Manhattan. When you reach the Riverside park, observe a dark undulating skeleton sticking out of the Hudson River. The twisted metallic construction that stimulates comparisons with Frank Gehry’s architecture has been there since 37 years ago. Before Pier D was consumed by raging fire in 1971, it was a part of the New York Central Railroad Yard. Today Pier D is the kind of design form that quite literally follows the function – chronologically leaving its original practicalities behind in the smoke of Manhattan’s industrial past. Back then, Pier D’s utility was to be used as a deck for longshoremen to unload bulk cargo. Now Pier D is all about emotional significance – it serves no purpose other than the aesthetic one. However, the official confirmation of the site’s new aesthetic status was issued no earlier than in 2003 – through a timely gesture of Adrian Benepe, the parks commissioner who has been known for his protective stances vis-à-vis the city’s natural and historic beauty. He was called on the phone one day to be put on notice that a crane had begun dismantling the pier – according to approved plans deliberated and finalized in Benepe’s absence. The commissioner rushed to the site and ordered to stop the demolition.Accidental landscape design… In the opinion of a nearby dweller, since the arrival of Trump Place “everything looks so new here, […] we need a reminder of what it was like 80 years ago.”

What Makes you Smile?

You Have Your Life to Smile About

It's funny to ask you what you have to smile about, because you always have something that's making you happy. You are a naturally smiley person, and you are happy with your life. You feel like you have to be. You see happiness as something under your control. You don't think there are any big secrets to being happy. If something isn't going well, you fix it. You're proactive in making sure that you're living the best life possible.

What Do You Have To Smile About?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Blogger Tricks and Widget Help

Blogger Tricks

Blogger Widgets

Found these two sites today while looking for a widget to use on WordPress, oddly enough.