Waiting for high tide

This project is all about slowing down and taking time to see a world most people fly past, and yet I'm willing to confess it is taking way too long for the boat to Ellis Island to sail. I've been pressed against the railing for five years, and it is time to go. Now!

What the heck. Contradiction is the human condition and I'm only human -- all too human sometimes. It will all happen. I'll land on Sept. 6, and get the wandering started.

I hope you'll stick with me. I'll try to make it worth your while.

Some of what you can expect to see, if you have patience, is a Bob's eye view of New York City. I'll hit the streets with a notebook, a cell phone, an audio recorder and a camera and explore the people, events, hidden treasures, painfully displayed tourist sites, open spaces, dirty streets, culture (high and low) that a sea of humanity like New York presents.

Right now, let me introduce the concept of the flaneur or gentleman wanderer. I'm not a French scholar, nor have I got a great grasp of literary references, so I'll let wikipedia do the technical explaining. My dim understanding is that a flaneur is a dandy who takes his time, exploring his urban environment and allowing the winds of fortune to push him through his days.

What I hope to present here is a bastardized version of the gentleman wanderer -- because I am more bastard than gentleman, even if I have the wanderer down to an art. This site is an attempt to create a personally skewed vision of New York City with enough reality to keep you coming back day after day and enough practical information about the mundane to help you plan your own wander, should you have the opportunity and inclination.