BAM Next Wave: Pina Bausch's Full Moon, Laurie Anderson's Delusion...

Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography at MoMA

Managed to catch this interesting exhibition at MoMa - from Virginia Woolf's grand-aunt, the Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (her first exhibition was in Ireland? Really?), to Maya Deren, Dorothea Lange, Mary E Frey, Gundula Schulze-Eldowy, Nan Goldin (or course), and Alex Prager ("Despair", above, featuring Ron Howard's daughter Bryce Dallas Howard) - among many other female photographers through the ages. None Irish though. Dorothea Lange has photographed in Ireland - does that count?

My 2nd Home The Lincoln Center & its new Illumination Lawn etc.

Ambling around the Upper West Side on another October day, it was nice to see the Lincoln Center Fountain in action again. Also - there were changes and even a new "Illumination Lawn" to be laid on, in the hot October sun (yes, you read that right - hot October sun). I spotted and snuck a photograph of one specimen who I felt embodied the relaxation ethos of this new space - a man kicking back on a free chair, reading his paper. When I showed this exemplary image to my friend Julia Judge later on she declared "John McMartin - that 's John Mc Martin!". He was more than likely on a 2 hour break from rehearsals for John Guare's new play "A Free Man of Color" - currently in rehearsal. Well, it's a small world, even in random New York city. & when I say that Lincoln Center Theater feels like a second home, I earned that when I was lucky enough to partake in their wonderful Director's Lab, run by Anne Cattaneo. Apart from Wuppertaler Buhnen, it is the one theatre in the world where I am more familiar with the backstage area than the foyer. Lucky me, and nice to be reminded of it.

Still here - 7 years on!

On my first day in NYC in 7 years, I ran around the upper west side to check that my favourite things were still there - joggers in Central Park perpetually jogging, people perpetually paying homage to John Lennon in Strawberry Fields, and the perpetual queue at The Muffin Shop (our own nomenclature, as you can see). Oh yes, and a couple of skyscrapers with the clouds reflected in them. Tick. All still here.

Landing in JFK on a gorgeous October afternoon

I'm glad Aer Lingus gave me a window seat! What a beautiful descent into NYC!

Aggie's Room

I stayed in the room named after my old friend Agnes Bernelle in Castle Leslie, while performing the great role of Bridesmaid at another good friend's wedding recently. This is just a reminder to self to write something inspired by it as soon as I get a minute to do so...

Not how people move, but what moves them...

A friend of mine in NYC spotted this poster, took a photograph, and kindly emailed it to me. Then she spotted another one, photographed it, and sent that too! Thanks Patricia Schneider.