I originally posted something about the election today. But then I walked around Greenwich Village this evening, just wandering through the streets and seeing all the people in their crazy costumes.
A lot of the costumes were store bought, maybe something picked up before going to a Halloween party. But a lot of others were clearly custom made, crafted with love and care, and a charmingly fanatic devotion to the strange, the unexpected, the endearingly oddball.
It was to these costumes I was drawn, and what they said about their wearers.
For all the hype surrounding the parade itself, for me the real show every year is in the citizen-created street art. All of these people who will never be famous, and have no intention of ever becoming famous, just creating something wild and weird and beautiful for the sheer love of it.
This is what I love about our town: its underlying spirit of unchecked creativity and fearless individuality. On this magical night of the year you can walk the streets of New York City for hours on end, and everywhere you look you will see that spirit in all its crazy magnificence.
It is a beautiful sight.