News From The Big Apple...

NYC... along side Chelsea piers 6th of April 2008

I shouldn’t complain, but still I feel like it… a little bit, only because I’m a bit spoiled!!! Let me explain why I feel like complaining, and why I shouldn’t… I’ll start with the why not…!
Friday night we got tickets for a baseball game, (sponsored by the company that owns the ship!) we got picked up here at the pier by our driver, who happened to be driving a stretched Limo, no bullshit, the 8 of us just fitted in there, It felt surreal to be in a limo, drinking whiskey on the rocks out of crystal glasses, we drove to Brooklyn, Yankee stadium, had super seats… more drinks, caps, T-shirts, cracker jacks, hot dogs… more fun!!! It was great and this time (it’s my third time at a baseball game) I actually kinda got the rules, I was impressed with myself, it’s a silly game anyway, but great fun to be there, see it LIVE!!! It’s funny how many sport events I’ve been attending the last months. I don’t even like sport! Anyway after the game we got picked up by our driver again and driven back to the ship, I spent a night away from the ship and woke up in huge king size bed Saturday morning, knowing I had the entire day off!!! So I met up with one of the cooks and after a descent breakfast at a typical American diner (not as good as in Mexico, I still miss “huevos a la Mexicana”). We went to MOMA… I must admit I wasn’t impressed, as I walked around in there looking at all these paintings by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Miró, Warhol, Jasper Johns… etc I was thinking to myself “Oh my God they’re taking the piss on me, this can’t be real, is this really fine art and worth a fortune??” I didn’t dare to say that out loud, I was surrounded by an Ih and Oh crowd of people who seemed to feel very differently about it, at least they looked interested and awed by the fact that they where looking at the works of “great masters” very artsy and hip… I didn’t feel comfortable; I was totally out of place… I much rather go for a walk trough a scruffy neighbourhood looking at graffiti and random “sculptures” that somebody made to brighten up a grey building, to me, that’s art! The one thing I did like though was the few kids at just the right age… you know that age where they are critical to what they’re looking at, asking questions, why is her head square? Why is the sun blue? Why is the clocks melting? Or just beautiful comments like… “That don’t look like a man, that looks like a mad dog in a catfight” or “Mom, this picture says OOF it’s missing the ARGH then it would be just like my favourite cartoon” or “why is this painting just black? There’s nothing on it, is that on purpose?” the dad answered “yes my dear the painter is trying to express how he feels about blahblahblah and the kid patiently listened then nodded and added “ hmm I think that the painter must have been very sad, maybe if he had painted it yellow dots on it he would’ve felt better”. Those small conversations made it all worthwhile… the parents desperately trying to explain the wonders of a certain, to me, boring painting and the kids blunt but very honest replies was just great!
I truly didn’t see anything in those paintings and when a tour guide explained why Monet was so fund of painting something as “boring” as water I got so upset that it ruined the rest of the of it… Water is not boring, the beauty of it is that it changes all the time, the colours can be anything from different shades of brown, to all shades of blue or green even red and yellow to gold and silver sometimes it’s even pitch black or all white, all depending on what kind of water you look at, rivers, deep water, confined waters, falls lakes, ponds, streams, coastal waters, salt water, fresh water, even the water in a bathtub can be amazing! What also influences how water looks like is what the bottom looks like, is it sand, rocks, coral reef, mud, a combination… Where in the world are you looking at water? What’s the temperature? Is it a sunny day in the Caribbean or a rainy day in The North Sea? what time a year, what time a day, what kind of weather is it… there’s a million things that influences how water looks like… but it changes all the time, even in Monet’s little pond in his back yard, he saw the beauty of it, he saw the changes and that’s one thing I can understand why he wanted to capture and keep it forever that way… I’m sorry that some stupid little Artsy freak, who is probably studying art in books and boring museums with big white walls spends more time looking at other peoples impressions on how our world looks like than actually looking at it herself…
I left with a feeling of being robbed or made fun of…So I think the next art thing, exhibition or museum I will go to, will be in a kinder garden , at least kids don’t pretend to be anything that they’re not or to have any deeper meanings with what they’re doing… they’re just putting colours on a piece of paper, it us “grown ups” who try to put a meaning into everything and that meaning and those colours come with a price tag that’s usually completely ridiculous… So I did get something out of it, I don’t think I like what most people calls art. It’s overrated by a long shot and to me a waste of time… the real thing, whether it’s water, humans, trees or something is usually the one thing that counts for me…! Sorry Grandpa, I don’t get the meaning of the so-called ART!!!

Anyway it’s dinner time, and I’m off tonight so I think I’ll head for lower east side and get something to eat and look around maybe a find some street art to look at, maybe that will mean something to me…


It’s now the 7th, I’m back at the gangway, the same spot as yesterday… I want to finish my story about why I shouldn’t be complaining!

So I had a nice day off, the other day I enjoyed it a lot, but the one thing I really wanted to do, I did get to… I just wanted to start at Union Square and walk down Broadway, Bowery and maybe Lafayette. But I didn’t had the time, in the end. I had to be back at the pier to catch mooring lines at 18.30 and 40 minutes later I was having a beer at an irish pub, and then dinner at great Indian place on lower east side… So about here is where I start complaining.! I had a day off, I had a great time and in total I “owe” the ship 10hours of work. But the rest of my watch had 3hours off the same day, and 6 hours of yesterday and 2 hours off today!!! So eh I would say that I’ve paid my dues. But No, No… I’m far from done, tonight we have a cocktail party onboard and I have to stay here as part of a fireteam. Ridiculous!! Everybody has been given a lot of time off several hours everyday and because I had one day off, I get to pay back double! That’s not really fair I think, on the other hand I shouldn’t complain too much, then it might won’t happen again or then somebody else might not get a the same opportunity. Maybe next time I’m the one who gets off all the time!!!

Oh well here’s the next 8 lucky ones waiting for the limo and then they can go to Yankees vs Tampa bay Rays… I’m desperately trying to get internet, there’s several hot spots but eh it doesn’t seem to work! So eh I guess I’ll try later or maybe when we get to Boston! We’re leaving tomorrow, the forecast predicts head winds and lots of it. So it’ll be a hoot!!! Boring, motoring for 48hours against wind and current and heading North!!! Grr it’ll be a cold one…!

Oh well I got relieved at the gangway now, and I’m in a pissy mood because I can’t leave the ship anymore before departure… I could leave at 21 but I have a night watch from midnight-04 so eh I guess there won’t be any more cruising around NYC!!! Damn it… anyway I think I better stop complaining! Oh Actually I had a great night yesterday… I went out for a few beers with the Bosun who just got back from Mexico and later the cook joined us, So eh it was the Mexican trio again, we got pretty smashed, but had a great time. It was nice to be out with them again, I kinda missed it, without even realizing it. We ended up in strange bar in the meatpacking district, only a few blocks away, and by the time we left, the two barkeepers where so busy dancing on the desk and pouring Tequila down somebody’s throat, that we left without paying the bill. It wasn’t intentional, we all thought that somebody else had paid… but eh we managed to just walk out of there in to a cab and then back to the ship. We didn’t even think about before this morning when we tried to find out who paid what and if it was kinda even… I had a bit of a hangover this morning, but luckily we where back before 2 so I got enough sleep! And I was on time this morning…
But it was a great night out and it was great to be with the guys again!!!

My fingers are almost numb so I think I’ll pack up, get something to eat, (it’s dinner time already) and then hide in my bunk and then maybe I’ll be in a better mood when I go on watch tonight!!!

Until then… enjoy!

*Ninon