The Panorama

I've been sick for almost a week now, so we haven't had any outings or squirrel-related adventures in about that long. I have been meaning to write about our little trip to the Queens Museum of Art, which is located on the old World's Fair fairgrounds that I wrote about a while back.

The Queens Museum of Art is small, and doesn't have much of interest to me. It was mostly modern art when we went. The major draw, though, is the giant 3-D map of New York City, which they refer to as "The Panorama."

It's a three dimensional map of New York City, all five boroughs. Some of the buildings are quite detailed, and I believe they try to keep it up-to-date now (except for the WTC Towers you see here; apparently they are keeping those in place until the new structure is completed on that site). This was originally built for the 1964 World's Fair.

It's very cool, and is kept in a large room with a walkway all around so you can get different angles on everything. Unfortunately, our part of Queens is pretty much right in the center of the thing so we couldn't get a close enough view to really pick out our neighborhood.

This was a really cool little exhibit, and I think anyone who has lived in New York City for a decent amount of time would enjoy it. I'm glad we dragged our butts out to Flushing to see it. Now I'm interested to see if my geography nerd friends chime in with interesting facts about this map.

Squirrels on Banks

So this past weekend we went to the Brooklyn Flea Market. I enjoy flea markets because I just love looking at all the old random stuff. I never buy anything. But where else could you find the guide to the USSR's pavilion at the 1934 World's Fair or postcards from 1942? That's the kind of stuff I enjoy.

We also went to this flea market because during the winter months it's held indoors, in the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, a landmark now turned to condos. The market is in the main hall and the food vendors are downstairs in the vault. It's a very cool setting for a flea market.

So of course I was there to try to find squirrel items, because that's pretty much what I'm always doing. The flea market disappointed me; not one squirrel was to be found there. The bank, however, had many!

Some of you loyal readers will think that this squirrel looks awfully familiar, and the rest of you will scroll down the rest of the way on the page (unless you're on Google Reader, in which case you are lame) and note that I found a squirrel almost exactly like this on an old bank in Manhattan just last week.

And that wasn't the only squirrel! There was also a squirrel in the interior, right in the staircase!

So has anyone else ever noticed that squirrels frequently make an appearance in the sculptural program on banks? It makes sense, since they are the savers of the animal world, but I still think it's a little weird. I did some googling about this and couldn't find anything on the Internet about it. I'm going to have to look for more examples of this phenomenon. Maybe I'll start up a catalogue or something and become the renowned expert on squirrels in sculpture.

New Calvary Cemetery

So our new apartment (not so new anymore, I guess) is located pretty close to a cemetery. Now, I come from the West, where cemteries aren't quite as old. I actually grew up pretty closet to a cemetery, but it's one of those that have only flat headstones, no cool sculpture, and not much character.

I am strangely attracted to cemeteries. It may be because there are squirrels.

But I also am intrigued by the sculptural programs and general types of art that surround death. This cemetery, New Calvary Cemetery in Queens, is Catholic (I think) and has particularly excellent sculpture. The addition of the votive items brought by living relatives makes it even more interesting.

Some of the sculpture is in really good shape, and some of it isn't. But even the stuff that isn't makes it all the more interesting. This is one of my favorite views from the cemetery.

The building on the left is the Empire State Building and the one on the right is the Chrysler Building. There are some truly fantastic city views from this cemetery, but this is not a place to rest for eternity if you actually want peace and quiet. They've built a huge freeway over the cemetery and it creates a constant stream of noise.

I'm hoping to explore this cemetery, and the others in the neighborhood, a little more in the coming year. Did you know that there are more dead people in Queens than living people? It's true. The real question, though, is how many undead are there?

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Earrings

So I obtained this new squirrel item an embarrassingly long time ago, and it took me forever to post about it, in large part because of the new job, but also because getting a decent picture was a bit difficult.

Yes, these are my new squirrel earrings! My friend A sent them to me, and I just about shat my pants when I opened the package!

THEY ARE CARRYING TINY ACORNS, PEOPLE. IS THIS NOT AMAZING?!?!

I'm clearly still a little overexcited about them. This is my first piece of squirrel jewelry and I'm wearing them right now. It's the perfect squirrel accessory because, unlike a squirrel shirt or squirrel tattoo, these earrings don't scream, "Hey! I'm a crazy person!" No, these are tasteful and small and every once in a while someone might notice and think, "Wait, is that girl wearing squirrel earrings? And are they carring TINY ACORNS? Wow, how awesome is she! I should make friends with her and buy her lots of beer!"

So thank you A, for giving me the gift of tiny acorns and beer.

Found Squirrels: Bowery Savings Bank

Sorry to have let this blog fall into hibernation for so long! I ended up becoming employed again, and it appears that full-time employment takes up a lot of time! I also somehow found a job that does NOT involve me thinking about squirrels all day, which is a pity, really. If anyone hears of such a job please let me know.

Anyway, I am still alive and scampering around New York City, as is my habit. I now work in an area that has a huge squirrel population, and yet my first post back from my break is going to be about an inanimate squirrel.

Here he is! I found him on the Bowery Savings Bank, which is right by Grand Central. This is on the back of the building, on 41st Street, and I'm surprised I noticed it since he's placed so high above eye level. It's a terrible picture, and I apologize for that. This is actually above the back door, and 41st Street right there is a little weird and I think people were really confused about what I was taking a picture of. Anyway, despite the fact that this squirrel is a little creepy, it warms my heart that somewhere out there someone cared enough to carve him into a bank.

Not Squirrel Related, Sadly

The final season of Lost premiered tonight, and we celebrated in a fine fashion.

Yes, that's right, I made Dharma Initiative beer! Who says I'm not crafty? Our Lost-obsessed guests certainly seemed to enjoy it.

More squirrel news coming soon, I promise!

Found Squirrels: HP Printer Squirrel

Today is a special day for HP; you know why? Because today HP is getting free advertising on this, my very special squirrel blog.

What did HP do to deserve this honor? Well, friends, HP decided to use my favorite rodent in their most recent advertising campaign. Behold!

This was in the New York Times yesterday, and to be honest I didn't even read the copy, just shrieked with excitement, which caused Brandon to come running because last time I shrieked it was because I sliced open my thumb with the apple cutter and it took almost 12 hours to stop bleeding. But I digress.

I love this squirrel. He's got a great shape with a cute little white belly and a big nose and and a perfectly curled tail. He's BLUE, which is a seemingly crazy choice but it really works here. I mean, this squirrel is using an HP printer, he's clearly cutting edge in many ways. I love the happy little way in which he lifts his legs to dance/walk, and how he's staring lovingly into my eyes. And the best part is really the stack of papers with color pictures of acorns. Genius, I tell you! There are days when advertising just works!

So, loyal squirrel blog readers, I beg you, if you're in the market for a new printer (or laptop, I hear they make decent ones), please consider HP. Companies need to be rewarded for using rodents in their advertising like this, and if we start small now maybe the whole world will be using squirrels in their ads in the next few years. One can dream.

I'm also hoping for a kickback from HP.

Because I clearly have a huge fan base.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: The World of the Gray Squirrel

I received this beautiful vintage book (copyright 1973) from my friend M on New Year's Eve at around 9 PM. It was a wonderful way to end 2009 and ring in 2010! As M had predicted, I pretty much stopped paying attention to my friends the moment he handed this over.

Not only is this book about squirrels, it's also OLD. And I adore old books. I love the black-and-white pictures, the old-fashioned vocabulary, the strange diction. Sure, this book is only 37 years old, it's not exactly an antique. But the world was a different place in 1973, and so was our study of squirrels. The introductory chapter in this book brings up squirrel hunting multiple times, and the authors themselves appear to have hunted squirrels for fun. There is also a large section devoted to distinguishing an adolescent squirrel from a fully-grown adult. I certainly learned some new things about a squirrel's pelage as it matures.

While this book is not nearly as useful as my other squirrel book, I'm still a big fan. This is my bedtime reading for the next few weeks, as I'm working my way through the chapters about squirrels in the different seasons.

Thanks, M!

Found Rodents: Jerboas At The Met

Went to the Met the other day with my friend S. I brought my camera, hoping to find some squirrels, but was sadly disappointed. It may have something to do with the fact that we spent all our time in the ancient art sections, and squirrels apparently were not a big part of Greek mythology.

We did spot a different kind of rodent in the Egyptian section...

Jerboas! Three jerboas, in fact, and from the 12th Dynasty! They're from a tomb, but the little sign didn't explain exactly why someone chose to have these little rodents in their tomb. Not that I'm judging; I would totally have rodents in my tomb.

Later we found another jerboa in the Greek and Roman Study Collection! So... while we failed in our mission to find squirrels, I did acquiant myself with a new rodent friend.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: 2010 Squirrel Calendar

Well, this is a timely post!

My wonderful B has once again purchased a squirrel calendar for me.

Please realize that this purchase is very meaningful. When he buys me a squirrel calendar, not only does he shell out money for a bunch of squirrel pictures, he also commits to looking at them every day for the rest of the coming year. Because he lives with me, poor thing. Nobody is as affected by my squirrel habit as he is, and I appreciate his undying love and support.

And I just want to note that I noticed that every single picture in this calendar was taken by the same person. There is somebody out there who is making a living by taking pictures of squirrels. I must become his protege.

Should old squirrels be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should old squirrels be forgot,

and auld lang syne?