Lammies, Brooklyn and Broadway

My trip to New York City last week included surprising pastoral and cultural parts of Brooklyn, a fun bar hop, a brilliant Broadway show, a Philadelphia group reading, and culminated in the 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards.

My first day proved surprisingly botanical with a long stroll through scenic Prospect Park. I enjoyed Frederick Law Olmsted's other masterpiece, Central Park, on my last NYC visit in 2012.

Prospect Park is of course much smaller, but retains that balance of natural and tarted up landscaping. Open fields echoed with the joyful screeches of packs of school children at recess, and a lone reader under a huge elm (or oak?) proved the tranquility of the park.

Prospect Park serenity

I couldn't help but think about my fictional character Reid Conniff, who spends a good deal of Every Time I Think of You and its sequel Message of Love working in parks or studying plants. Thus the two book covers that sort of resemble field guides to plants.

Of course, my own modern curiosity about plants and trees could have been solved with a few apps, including Leaf Snap and Plant Net. The phone apps let you take a photo of a plant or tree leaf and it identifies the species.

Plants of all types were identified by small nameplates throughout the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, which are adjacent to the western edge of Prospect Park. This highly manicured park includes a rose garden, Japanese mini-lake and landscaping that's beautiful.

Parks and Wrecks

Of all the massively stupid things Republican politicians have done about the government shutdown, the pinnacle of GOP idiocy may be the Texan Republican congressman who stupidly tried to castigate a Washington D.C. park ranger for the park being closed, when its closure was his own damn fault.

His even more deranged colleague, Michelle Bachmann, tried to position herself in a photo opportunity as being sympathetic to disabled veterans who took over a World War II memorial. Bachmann, who literally cheered for the government shutdown, is a prime example of corruption. Not only is her campaign under investigation for financial abuses. She is also one of biggest recipients of Koch Brothers/Tea Party funding.

Bear Hug

I love it when current pop culture, or a sweet Public Service Announcement, reflects the values and intention of my fictional work. Sometimes I find a direct connection.

My (and my characters') love of forests and nature play a big part in my last novel, Every Time I Think of You (set in 1979-80). A new clever series of ads conveys a similar love and respect of nature and our forests.

Parks & Rec

At the risk of being a bit future-anachronistic, here's an "It Gets Better" video released by the Department of the Interior. I'd like to think that in some kind of fiction-real future projection, an older Reid would be one of these speakers.

Follow the Trail

I find all kinds of news articles relating to the lives of my characters in Every Time I Think of You. Mostly, I've been researching the historic facts relating to their lives during the time of the novel. But here's an example of the hopeful vision of Reid come true. I'm kind of giving away a bit of the ending, or, more precisely, Reid's potential career goal after the book ends.

This Times Leader article focuses on accessible ramps in state parks in New Hampshire; pretty neat.

One of the interviewees, 55, had his disabling accident in 1980. At 55, he had to wait decades for this goal to become a reality. Hopefully, my fictional characters will not have had to wait so long.