Just happened to come across this picture. I actually lived in New Jersey! I moved from San Francisco to New York city with my boyfriend Peter Haskell in 1980 and we sublet places for a whole year, could not find permanent digs in Manhattan. In desperation, we crossed the Hudson into the Garden state and lived in Frank Sinatra’s hometown Hoboken, which was becoming hip, and Newark, which I’m betting never was and never will be. I think this was taken in Weehawken. We stayed there for a week or so too. I loved the view of the city from the park there, which of course included the twin towers. I should post that next. I have a beautiful photo of me taken at the top of one of the towers. It’s grainy, misty, and atmospheric. Pete took pictures of everything, including me. Perhaps I will start with that period and go from there, the element of chance so much more exciting than linearity.

Nice coat, eh? It was not expensive. I bought nearly everything I wore in thrift stores. This was before they had been discovered and dubbed “vintage.” There was even a shop on Powell Street in Vancouver where you were given a bag and encouraged to stuff in as much clothing as you could to then pay $1. a pound. I remember wading into six-foot piles, tossing aside unwanted items with both hands until hitting the jackpot with a trench coat or a beaded, cashmere sweater. Clothes were so much better constructed that they were invariably still in good shape. Of course I would have to shower as soon as I got home. Hard not to get nostalgic.