Saturday, August 18, 2007

Summer Warm Up...

Unfortunately, I could not make it down to Pennsylvania to celebrate Margot Potter's birthday as I had originally planned for today. However, I had a wonderful time hanging out with my buddies Brian Mills and Chris in Queens. We attended the Warm Up at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City.

The weather was so nice - very sunny and clear, but not too hot. As we approached P.S.1, we were greeted with a festive vibe of music and colored canopies. Food trolleys had set up outside, which added to the festival feel.

As the light filtered through the giant tents, colored patterns shifted onto the crowd, the gravel, and the concrete walls adding to the giddy energy abound. While waiting in line for drinks, we also enjoyed one of the water sculptures that would dump troughs of water onto unsuspecting passersby.


As we got deeper into the fold, there were literally thousands of people all dancing and having a good time. It was quite crowded, but still lots of fun. Naturally we gravitated to the very center of the throng of people, pulsing with energy and an almost blind euphoria.



Right: A picture of Brian Mills and Chris near the much less crowded water sculpture area. I told Brian Mills that I wouldn't put a picture of him on my blog if he insisted on making faces in all the photos. Alas, I couldn't find any pictures of him where he wasn't.



Left: The most "serious" picture of Brian Mills and I. It has been so nice to reconnect with him. Before a week or so ago, it had been years since I saw him last. Brian Mills has ever been the character intent on seeing me have a good time and being happy.




Right: Reunions abound, I ran into Michael Crachiolo! I haven't seen him in years. It was a delightful surprise. Apparently he's my neighbor and is going forward with the NYC Teaching Fellows position. He'll be teaching ESL. Unfortunately, I decided not to go forward with teaching special education. I also saw in the droves of people Harei and Emil from the studio program and a few other studio-mates.





The festivities went on into the evening. (I got elbowed in the head by Eric Duncan a.k.a. Rub n Tug. HA! I'm fine though.) Lots of dancing, music and fun. The Warm Up has such a great vibe and goes towards supporting a really great cause. These happen every Saturday, starting at 3 PM at P.S. 1 in Long Island City up until September 1st. Be sure to check it out.

2 comments:

Margot Potter said...

Mon cher

You were much missed at the festivities. I'm so sorry that you couldn't attend. I was so looking forward to seeing you!

Will you be at BeadFest this weekend? I'll be there with my lovely daughter on Sunday.

If not, we must find a way to get together!

Cheers!
Margot

Andrew Thornton said...

Hey Margot,

Happy belated birthday wishes! I wish that I could have come! It sounds like it was a blast.

I actually won't be able to come down for BeadFest this year. I'll be working and am going to go on vacation the next day. Not to mention that everyone else seems to be having a birthday party this weekend.

Perhaps when you come up to judge the Swarovski pieces we can, as they say, "do lunch".