Happy New Year 2015

Many of you never imagined we'd be here this long yet here we are turning another "page" in the hologram of our reality. For much of the world 2014 was a struggle. It was the year of protests, as these energies continue into 2015. When reflecting on 2014, think about the fun times you had, not the challenges as on we go ...

Happy New Year with Ellie and her friend Clell Tickle

Clell is an actor

We had fun making this video.

Ellie and Dean - Crystals and Meditation

I spent New Years Day 2015 with my good friend of 20 years, Jewelry Designer Dean Harris at his apartment in the city.

Dean's table is called a "spider's nest". It's actually a "chair" upon which the chief
of an African village would have sat. It's made from a single piece of wood.

These are hand-made specially designed opal earrings from Dean's collection.

The energies of rare and exotic crystals and art make for great ambiance.

We had fun making these videos. I also learned a lot along the way.

Goodbye Dean. Thanks for a great day! (Hug)

From Dean: The gentrification of New York can be summed up on the block on which I live - West 18th Street Between 7th & 8th Avenues. The photo of you in front of 'Room & Board' is where Barney's Co-Op used to be. Twitter will now be located in the top floors of that building. Down the street, Google purchased the entire old Port Authority building for a billion dollars a few years ago (it was the only bldg in Chelsea with power during tropical storm Sandy).

Approximately, thirty years ago, this neighborhood was mainly latino & a rough place to live. My building had bullet holes in the walls when I moved in. But, all that has changed. The Verizon building was re-branded as the "Walker Tower" & is now the most expensive piece of residential real estate south of 34th street. The top penthouse was for sale for $55,000,000 & Cameron Diaz now lives in the building. Barney's New York, which was at 7th avenue & 17th, left the neighborhood, but will now return in 2016.

The gay guys who populated the west village have migrated up to Hells Kitchen (now called 'HellSea'). The Yupsters (Yuppie Hipsters -- yes I made that up !) eat at their kale at Westville & drink their coffee from one of the 4 (!) Starbucks that line 8th avenue.

The edge of the city almost completely whitewashed over beginning with Giuliani. Is it a bad thing? No. It's simply change. All seen from my doorstep.