Archive #011
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Progress continues here in Pittsburgh, as far the recovery from the broken left ankle injury goes. To wit, this is the first of these archive posts that I didn’t have to throw together in a panic on the morning it was meant to publish. What that also means that is that my thought processes are recovering, and the sensory ‘noise’ introduced by the pain transmitting up from the ankle and foot is beginning to fall off a bit. This is being written on Saturday the 19th, btw.
Back in 2009, I was walking over the Pulaski Bridge – spanning the fabulous Newtown Creek – when the bridge opened for maritime traffic, as described in this posting from October 21 of that year. I find this sort of thing exciting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m hoping to be able to drive again fairly soon. What’s been holding me back is the physical reality of getting down the same flight of stairs that I broke my ankle on, then out the door to the driveway, and finally getting into the car without killing myself or incurring any new injuries. It’s a palaver, every little thing is. Taking a dump requires ten minutes of planning and careful execution just to get into position on the porcelain.
October 21 in 2012 is when this post was published, which discussed a random tugboat that I encountered while out on NY Harbor.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last time I experienced the lack of purpose I do now was during COVID, but at least then I was able to go out at night and walk the deserted sidewalks of the concrete devastations in LIC. No walkie for me for a long while, with long walks not being possible on an even longer timeline. I might have to switch over to bike riding!
This 2020 post ruminated upon getting what you want and not having to act like some boring and ideological ass to achieve it.
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Archives #010
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Catching up with what’s going on here at Newtown Pentacle: about a month ago, your humble narrator suffered a severe ankle injury, called a ‘Trimalleolor Fracture with dislocation.’ Surgery was required to put me back together, which has kicked off an interval of painful recovery during which I’m quite disabled. As the healing process plays out, photowalk activities are obviously not happening, so archive posts are being offered here instead. The conceit is that all of these posts were published on this calendrical date, but that’s really all they have in common other than myself as author.
On October 18th in 2011, a ‘placeholder’ post was published which coincidentally carried the best shot of FDNY’s ‘Three Forty Three’ Fireboat that I ever captured (above).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s been an interesting thing, being useless. Normally, I like to contribute as much effort as possible into life’s list of mundane tasks. Long suffering, Our Lady of the Pentacle has shouldered the entire household’s ‘to-do’ list unto herself and has been caring for my needs as well as those of our clinically insane dog Moe. To his credit, Moe adapted pretty quickly to ‘Daddy’s in a wheel chair.’
In 2016, a description of a nocturnal visit to Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery was offered in this October 18th posting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve got about two to three weeks worth of sitting around ahead of me, an interval that is bookmarked by my next appointment with the surgeon. My status will theoretically change after that meeting, and hopefully the healing process will have advanced to the point where I can use my left leg again. I miss walking around, and especially pacing back and forth while cooking up my plans.
I have no recollection of what it was that set me off while writing this 2019 post, but at this point in time I was already on the Community Board back in Astoria so… it was likely bike lane related. Those people…
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Archives #009
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another broken ankle archive post today. Good news is that I’m sleeping through the night, or at least I have been for the last week or so. It’s still difficult finding a comfortable position for the affected leg, but there we are. I’m just glad not to be on painkillers, to be honest. Nasty stuff.
Back in 2012, which was the year that the Mayan Apocalypse took the form of Hurricane Sandy, this post was offered which offered a description of my visit to the historic Onderdonk House, in Ridgewood on the Brooklyn/Queens border.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wish I could say that I’ve made some good use of all of this time, but agony keeps getting in the way. The skin of my left foot received a great deal of damage during the surgery, which has been the causal agent of a lot of the pain I’m experiencing. Feels like a burn.
I normally like to experiment with the camera, when at home and under controlled conditions, and I suspect that when this post arrived in your inboxes back in 2016 there was likely a weather related reason that I was doing a series of ‘macro tabletop shots’ of oil and water.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Annoyingly, I had planned on being in NYC and at Newtown Creek as you’re reading this. I had plane tickets and everything. Disappointed, me. I was actually looking forward to standing on Brooklyn again, whereas right now I’m just looking forward to being able to stand on anything again.
Finally, here’s this archive post in from 2018, which laments that LIC is no longer the deserted post industrial wasteland that it used to be.
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Archives #008
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve mentioned this show to a few friends, but I’ve been loving watching a Turkish TV series – about the Ottoman Sultans – which I happened across on YouTube called “Magnificent Century.” There’s a sequel series called “Magnificent Century: Khosem,” which presents the Sultan Murad as having been something of a medieval John Wick who often went undercover to fight crime. Good stuff, and it’s helped to pass a bunch of my empty time, as the broken ankle heals.
Back in 2009, this post described what I saw in NYC’s Chinatown when I was lucky enough to stumble across a group of Lion Dancers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s interesting for me to comb through the archives and see all of these early Newtown Pentacle posts again. The way I do things here hasn’t changed all that much since the start, from a technology point of view, but the way I slam posts together has. Experience, I guess. Do something often enough, eventually it’ll get a bit easier.
In 2018, this post was offered, and it’s focused in on DSNY’s toys.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m hoping that this week I can make it down the stairs and out the back door, to get to the car. For too long has the Mobile Oppression Platform sat idle. Also, I need to pick up a prescription at CVS. The plan includes Our Lady of the Pentacle coming along, and doing the actual ‘picking up.’ Long suffering, Our Lady.
From 2020, and a post that was part of the Pandemic series of night time walks.
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Archives #007
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s the little things… like crossing your legs when sitting… that you miss when orthopedically challenged. The cast on my busted ankle is made of those fiberglass bandages which the Doctors like, and it’s both heavy and omnipresent. Even when asleep, you’re aware of it. Existential comfort is dearly wished for, even as the pain levels off.
This 2014 post details the existential dread I always experience while waiting for something interesting to happen, or for a subject to just pass in front of my lens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The busted ankle event occurred roughly a month ago, which kicked off an interval of some of the most challenging weeks I’ve ever experienced. Pain, painkillers, the annihilation of personal dignity, and the loss of ability to take care of all the little needs which pop up during the course of your day. I’ll never take being able to use the bathroom freely for granted again, for instance, nor drop a pen on the floor without worrying about causing a dog related crisis.
In 2019, this post discussed the fact that I had grown jaded as far as all the cool stuff I used to see, on the regular, back at Newtown Creek and NY Harbor in general.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator is crunched up in a sitting position, and aching to get some exercise. My phone’s health app just informed me that I’ve taken 3,495% fewer steps than usual in the last month. Yesterday, my step count was 45. I miss taking photos and moving around big and interesting landscapes. Hell, I miss standing.
Another series of shots from a 2021 Amtrak trip, which were captured in Washington D.C., are contained therein this post from October 15th.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 