The weather was kind to New York yesterday, so following brunch with some of humanity's finest, I decided to walk home from 29th and 3rd. When it's nice out, my preferred method of travel is by foot, so I was excited to embark on my first nice walk of spring.

Delighted to be on 3rd Ave. (a.k.a. Bowery - by far my favorite avenue in New York), I wanted to pay my friends at the Morrison Hotel Gallery a visit. Unsure of who would be working, I also was unaware of the current exhibition.

That being said, as often as good things happen in this city, I probably stumbled into one of my favorite moments on that walk.

Greeting me as I started to check out the work of Lynn Goldsmith (holy moly!), Rick started to catch me up on all the latest and greatest happenings at my favorite art gallery, until the phone rang.

I had been telling him about meeting Bob Gruen at the gallery a few years ago, so when he answered the phone, I was super surprised to hear:

"I have a photographer friend of mine here and she would love to meet you."

Rick walked back over to me and said:

"Can you wait 20 minutes? Lynn is heading this way."

Of course I can wait 20 minutes, 30 minutes, two days, Rick!

To make a long story short, I spent about an hour and a half just wandering with her and listening - even when she was speaking to someone else. We talked about her work, my work, other photographers, the state of the business, the mindset of shooting, grazing the tip of the iceberg of everything I would ever want to talk to her about. I even missed a dinner with one of my closest friends because I just wanted to listen to her talk.

Not yet an owner of one of her books, I purchased one on the spot and asked her to sign it. You have to understand that this is a big thing for me because I never, ever ask for signatures. I always try to pretend I'm not excited to meet someone I profoundly respect out of fear of being unprofessional, but lately I've realized that that's just stupid. This was probably the first time since I was a kid at Disney World that I asked someone to sign something and I am glad beyond words that I did.

Inside my book, Lynn wrote:

"For Alli, With hopes that you balance your life with love of work and love of people - May the gods of Rock and Roll appreciate you."

This will stay with me forever and for always.

Despite Saturday's sideways rain, I had an amazingly stellar weekend.

4.17.11