Monday, October 17, 2022

RIP Geri Harkin-Tuckett

Geri Tuckett, October 19, 1987
©NG McClernan
I wrote a post about Geri Harkin-Tuckett back in 2015, when I hadn't had contact with her for over 20 years. 

Our relationship had always been a bit of a roller-coaster since we met at the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) but it was pleasant after we re-connected on Facebook, shortly after I wrote that blog post.

But poor Geri had a horrible condition: hyperacusis and was basically house-bound - even without the pandemic - for the last seven or so years of her life.

But we chatted now and then on Facebook. 

She died last week and I didn't realize it until today when I decided to check in and see how she was doing.

Her niece Julia posted the news on Facebook.  

Then she told me via Facebook Messenger that it was lung cancer that got Geri.

Considering that both the portraits I drew of her include a lit cigarette, I guess it isn't a surprise. I wonder now if somehow the hyperacusis was another symptom as the mass in her lung grew. 


Saturday, October 15, 2022

You're a Big Girl Now

Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan was one of the first albums I owned. This was back in the last century, when music was recorded onto waxed discs and had to be purchased one album at a time, or even one single song at a time. You had to go to a physical store and hand over your cash money. Or in one case, I shop-lifted the single "Hurricane" - also by Bob Dylan - from the Cherry Hill Mall Sound Odyssey.

I didn't steal Blood on the Tracks, I won it in a game of chance on a boardwalk at the Jersey shore. Since it was one of the very few albums I owned, I listened to it a lot. Then I forgot about it and didn't really think about it again until last week, when I decided to listen to the whole thing through. Because nowadays you can basically listen to any song ever recorded, either for free on Youtube or inexpensively through an Apple Music account or something similar.

While listening to Blood on the Tracks, I was pretty surprised to find that I still knew the lyrics to Rosemary, Lily and the Jack of Hearts perfectly. But what surprised me most was the song "You're A Big Girl Now." It barely made an impression when I listened to it last century, but last week it blew me away.

I don't know if being almost a half century older makes the difference, or if the sound quality is just that much better, but I really loved it. Dylan's whooooahs! just grab me. And the guitars are wonderful.


Sunday, October 09, 2022

You're welcome NYC!

I will always think of these two as my signs
Last year I had a bad experience on the MTA - what a surprise.
.


It wasn't due to a public masturbator but rather because of bad signage. I went into the subway station at 14th St. and 6th Avenue and was looking for the stairs to the uptown F train. But all the signs said downtown. I ended up walking a city block to the 15th Street entrance looking for a sign that said Uptown F train. Not finding one, I walked all the way back only to see the sign - but you couldn't see it unless you were walking in that direction towards 14th Street.

I mentioned this to the surly guy in the booth who implied that the fault was mine rather than the bad signage.

I wrote to the MTA and complained about the situation and lo and behold, three months later I got an email from the MTA that said: "a member of our Signage team conducted an inspection and based on your helpful feedback we will be adding a sign above the staircase to the downtown F /M platform directing customers to use that stairway to access uptown..."

And the other day I happened to travel to a store near 14th so I checked it out - and there it was! 

You can fight city hall.