Diary of a Times Square Thief

The best things always seem to happen when you take a chance.
I think about going somewhere and see if it works out, the lights change in time and I get there.
I remember when I saw this movie, I had just come out of work and was walking down the street past the cinema, so decided to check out the listings.
There happened to be a documentary festival on and the title sounded interesting and starting in about 10 minutes. Had to buy a ticket!
So glad I saw 'Diary of a Times Square Thief' that day. Wish I could find it on DVD.

The plot tracks the filmmaker as he tries to track the unknown author of a old diary.
He finds clues in this battered exercise book full of clippings and ramblings of a man who arrives in New York and starts working on the front desk at an old residential hotel.

His journal chronicles his dreams and eventual self-destruction with the help of some serious vices.

By interviewing those mentioned in the pages, visiting the rundown establishment and its long-term residents, the filmmaker pieces together who this man was through his interaction with others and a hazy picture starts to emerge. But will we find out his true identity and what became of him?
It makes you think about the impressions you leave on others. When we all meet hundreds of people in our lifetime, are there many acquaintances we really remember?
It's sad and a sobering watch, so want to see it again!

Lost Art

Letter writing or sending a postcard seem to have become a lost art as email and new technology takes over the world.

In Browsers Bookshop, there is a box of old and new postcards. Most of the new ones are paintings by Edward Hopper (I'm now officially a fan) but some of the old ones are so faded and dog-earred.

It sounds strange to buy a used postcard, but the fountain tip pen message says more about the person than the scene. I read one from Paris that was an apology to a friend for something that they had not spoken off since.
I remember when I was younger, the point of writing a journal was to leave a piece of yourself behind and available to the future explorer who finds it.

A tale popularised by Anne Frank's diary, journals continue to be stocked with locks, flowers and ribbon bookmarks, but I wonder if their charm remains when social networking sites grow in members.

I guess its up to the individual as to what is important. Its nice to receive a hand-written letter or a postcard as fewer people get round to it, even if it has the cliche "wish you were here".