Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Norm!

Look at this loveliness, from my friend Norm's blog


I think I met him in 1989. Or 1990.
We lived in the same apartment building on Horatio Street,
in a neighborhood now made famous by "Sex & the City."
Except when we lived there, you were more likely to see
a transvestite hooker on our corner at 9am, than a Samantha Jones.
Or in the same frame: a tranvestite hooker 
side-by-side with a meat-packing guy in a bloody apron.

pic from the flickr page of kathyylchan

The first time I saw Norm, he was blowing bubbles 
in the middle of the street, with a giant bubble wand.
Those were the days!
Though we've fallen in & out of touch over the years,
I've never stopped appreciating his artwork.

You can see much of it here.

Go visit his blog & say hi. Or say "NORM!!!"
Or send him some FREE signs.
:-)



5 comments:

norm magnusson said...

Hey fab-chick,

Thanks for the shout out and the trip down memory lane. One of the lovely things about those bubbles was that the nastiest days to be in the city were the best days for blowing enormous bubbles. The humidity kept them from evaporating too fast and the heat rising off of the boiling asphalt pushed them up with it. Taxis with foreign drivers seemed to be the most appreciative audience, stopping to ask about the "balloons" in the sky.

Great pic of the old building too. So many remarkable people and big characters in that place. I met Steve Gerberich on the day he was moving out. (http://www.gerbomatic.com/) We've been friends ever since. My pal Madeleine Smithberg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Smithberg) created The Daily Show while living there. NPR's lovely Renée Montagne (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100929) lived there until the mid-80's I guess. Tama Janowitz lived there and supposedly wrote some of her best-seller "Slaves of New York" while living there. Singers, songwriters, bikers, little old ladies in rent-controlled apartments. It was a wonderful mixed bag of nuts. Helen and Michael and Jim and Rick and Tory and Super Bob and Eugene and Jim and Debbie and eee-gads so many more I remember so clearly. And of course, the fab-designer Heidi Antman lived there, too. (http://www.faboographics.com/default2.asp)
Thanks for the morning memory excursion, missy.

xonorm

pve design said...

I miss the city - when it was like that.
I say bring back the city neighborhoods.
Perhaps Norm is just the man to do this job.

Kwana said...

Love that leaf and I remember Horatio street when it was like that and being in high school and walking down on St. Mark place when I should have been in class. Those were the days. BTW had a goldfish back then named Horatio. LOL.

Joyce said...

I really like the leaf this is so neat! Look what a little paint and a leaf can do. xoxo

jae said...

I love Norm's decorating nature series! Sounds like it is a building with some amazing creative energy.

P.S. You are in one of my favorite places...i didn't realize that's where you are until i shipping your package.