American Dream: To Live in Brooklyn!

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American Dream: To Live in NYC, and in Brooklyn -- Even Better!

By Norma Jaeger Hopcraft

One of my dreams has come true. I was always curious, what was it about Brooklyn that people enjoyed so much?

I've been here two weeks, and I approve of Brooklyn! It's bustling, the neighbors are getting to know me and saying hello, there's LOTS of great cafes to choose from to work in. It's got a diverse population, and that's important to me at this point in my life. I like to talk to all kinds of people.

If I won PowerBall, I'd buy a row of brownstones, renovate them, and rent them out at cost to my family (except most of them hate the city) so therefore artist friends.

Here's some scenes from my neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant.

It's January, and it's COLD. But the sun warms the faces of the brownstones.

Here's a close-up of a handsome one.

The front door is glamorous.

There's lots of murals around. This one spells out "Brooklyn."

A row of bigger brownstones. The area is gentrifying rapidly. Notice the architectural details under the eaves and above the doors and windows.

Here's another mural, on a corner. That's my shadow in the corner :)

A mural with a message: Stay in school.

"Find the good and praise it!"

Here's another mural, one of a row of brownstones.

It's glamorous enough for a movie set, no? Well, there's lots of movies being made in Brooklyn. My roommate directs indie films!

How about you? Do you dream of living in the city? Comment below!

American Dream: To Live Protected and Safe

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One of NYC's Finest, Fallen

By Norma Jaeger Hopcraft

Last week, New York City's midtown was choked with traffic--streets were blocked off around St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. I saw groups of NYC policemen and women, in dark blue suits, shirts, and ties, standing and talking in somber voices.

There was a funeral going on for a policeman killed in the line of duty. He had been a Marine before serving in NYC to protect us.

Police commissioners from all over the Tri-State area sent motorcycles to NYC, to serve in the procession. 

The bike with the yellow gas can is from Newark, NJ.

The motorcycles were parked on Madison Avenue, waiting for the funeral to end. There were hundreds of bikes.

A view of the motorcycle cortege that preceded the hearse with the fallen hero.

Hundreds of red and blue lights flashed as the motorcycles proceeded down 42nd Street, at Bryant Park. 

American Dream: To Do What You Love To Do

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American Dream: To Prevail Against All Odds

by Norma Jaeger Hopcraft

My daughter's dream of earning her Ph.D. came true recently. She labored for six years, not knowing if she would prevail or not.  She studied the Hepatitis C virus and how it enters the liver.

She persevered! She got it! A lesson for all of us.

I asked what she would aim for, now that she had won her Ph.D. She said she just wanted to keep doing what she was doing, scientific research. 

Here's Sharon with her advisor and mentor, Dr. Matt Evans. You can see her ace her thesis defense at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLLIybs_OXQ.

She just added "Ph.D." on masking tape to her name outside her laboratory.

She's at her bench, where she pushed the frontiers of science back a little.

This is the building where she worked, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine building at 100th Street and Madison Avenue. The shot is taken from across the Jackie Onassis Reservoir in Central Park, NYC.

Here is where my daughter labored long and hard.

One last shot of where she spent six years of her life.

How about you? Will you persevere? Stick with it!

American Dream: Designing Something Like the HighLine in NYC

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Dreams of High-Impact Design

By Norma Jaeger Hopcraft

I wish I had thought of it: Convert an old, elevated railroad track through a gritty part of New York City into an elevated park.

What a great concept! Probably stolen from some other city, but executed in a grand manner here in NYC.  These shots are from July 2014, just before I went on the grandest adventure of my life (so far): a one-year creative writing sabbatical in Paris! More on that later.

Good, clean design. Unfortunately, not designed for me! I need back support!

Lush vegetation along the HighLine.

A gardener working (I want that job!) and people enjoying.

The people in this building get a bonus view.

Lovely plantings -- wait, that's not cannabis, is it? :)

Artfully placed plants -- or perhaps one of nature's serendipitous juxtapositionings.

Restful greenery and flowers in a high-density area.

A shady perch, with back support.

An extension of the HighLine in the process of being completed.

Now we go to Maplewood, NJ, to an indie bookstore called Words.

This is a great space for a writer to see, a place where people can buy books and read about another person's viewpoint. And not be so alone.

A sign in the window. A reminder for when life gets hard.

A reminder for every day. This is how the HighLine started, as a dream. "Nothing happens but we dream it first," Carl Sandburg said.

How about you? Are you dreaming about what could be? You're never too old to stop dreaming! Comment below on your dream, or on bookstores, or on the HighLine.

Dreams of Independence: Catalunya

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Catalunyan Dreams of Independence

By Norma Jaeger Hopcraft

Catalans held their independence day while I was in Barcelona recently. Supporters of the idea of secession from Spain draped themselves in Catalan flags and showed their support every which way they could.

If you wore a pendant like this, you were for independence.

If you wore a T-shirt like this, you were for it.

For it.

There was no lack of flags, or Catalan independence spirit, that day.

A pro-independence flag against a Barcelona / Mediterranean sky.

Face paint? For it.

See the giant in the red cap? That's pure Catalunyan. He's for it.

More symbols for it.

Barcelona's iconic Agbar Tower is for it.

It's hard to convey the spirit of the crowd.

These young ladies are all for independence.

He's for it, too.

The giant farmer and mermaid were paraded for independence.

Looks like they'll live happily ever after.

He's head and shoulders above the crowd.

Have a beer in favor of independence.

He's in favor, too.

Heading toward the big demonstration, all in favor.

This guy doesn't care one way or the other.

The outcome of the vote later that month was complicated, and not at all binding on the legislature of Spain.
But you got a taste of Catalan spirit. Not everybody wants independence. Some Catalans feel that they are stronger united with Spain. The outcome of all this flag-waving and parading waits to be seen.