Happy New Year!

Hope your New Year's Eve celebration
includes festive hats—and also good food, good
friends, and all the Champagne you can handle.
And, of course, I wish you all the best in 2012!

Skywatch Friday

I'm headed down to Virginia to celebrate
the New Year with friends and family.
No, I'm not going by train, but this made
me think of childhood trips down there by car (before 
they built the Interstate!). One time we had to stop at a
railroad crossing while a freight train passed by—
and passed by and passed by.  We counted
hundreds of cars on that one train!


[To see more Skywatch, go here.]

Thursday Challenge — "light"

I was happy to see a continuation of last week's
challenge.  There's no lack of light here in
NYC, and even more so at this time of year.
Frankly, I wish they'd leave these lights (on
3rd Ave., near where I work) on all year long!


[To see more of this challenge, go here.]

abc wednesday —X marks the spot

In this case, a window in a building in Soho
where graffiti artists from around the world were
invited to come and do their thing. See here.



[To see more ABC Wednesday, go here.]

That's Our World

These young men are from the Lubavitch Hasidic sect of
Judaism, which has its headquarters in the Crown Heights
neighborhood of Brooklyn, not that far from where I live.
They are sent out to talk to less conservative Jews
on the street, apparently to make them aware
of the joy of returning to more traditional practices.
Don't know how successful they are, but they seem happy. 
[To see more of our world, go here.]

Mellow Yellow Monday

I saw these adorable hats at the holiday
market in Union Square (just one of many
around the city). Was kind of tempted by
the penguin number, but then
I regained my sanity and walked on.


[To see more Mellow Yellow, go here.]

Merry Christmas

Hope you're having a lovely holiday,
filled with family and friends and good cheer.

[Today is also Shadow Shot Sunday. To see more, go here.]

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Back to my fave store for a little photo op
with Santa (and I'm pretty sure they managed
to locate the real Father Christmas).
If you're a believer like me, I hope you
get everything on your wish list!

Skywatch/Reflections

Another one "borrowed" from my daughter Kate:
a glorious sunset, with the sun reflected on
the waters of the South China Sea (insert sigh here),
somewhere between Vietnam and Singapore.


[To see more Skywatch, go here.
To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge — "light"

Well, 'tis the season—so the light I
choose this week is this fabulous modern
chandelier in one of last year's holiday
windows at ABC Carpet and Home.
(I could literally live in that place!)


[To see more of this challenge, go here.]

abc wednesday —W is for "waterfall"

This is a little pocket park near where I work. 
You can pull up a chair and enjoy this 
waterfall while you eat your lunch.  But you're 
not supposed to do what I did (surreptitiously, 
with my cell phone): There's a sign placed very
prominently at the entrance that says
"Photography strictly forbidden."  Really?


[To see more abc Wednesday, go here.]

That's Our World

Now here's something you hardly
ever see in Manhattan: a phone booth with 
a phone that actually appears to be intact!


[To see more of our world, go here.]

Blue Monday

I'm really enjoying the holiday windows all around 
town. This is Fishs Eddy, who are on board with 
the 99% (as are most of us around here—still).


[To see more Blue Monday posts, go here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

These folks are in line for fresh fish at our local
greenmarket—and it's well worth queuing up for.
Do you have a great farmers' market in your
neighborhood?  If so, you're lucky!


[To see more Sunday Shadows, go here.]

New York at Night (16)

Yikes! I need to get out there
and take some pictures.
Meanwhile, here's one from
the other evening from my office: my
favorite NYC building, taken at
my favorite time of day—l'heure bleu.

Skywatch Friday

Last week I sang the praises of the window seat.
Well, here's a window shot of the night sky and
bright lights of Manhattan.  The dark rectangle
in the middle is Central Park. (We were soon to
come in for a landing and yes, the camera was
supposed to be turned off—but come on!)



[To see more Skywatch, go here.]

    

Thursday Challenge — "shoes"

These fabulous shoes were made by Signor Albion,
cobbler extraordinaire, in Florence, Italy
(where they know something about shoemaking).

And this is Sr. Albion (shot by
my daughter Lila 12 years ago).


[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, go here.]

abc wednesday —V is for "Vietnam"

My daughter Katie headed off yet again—this time
to Vietnam.  This is the Mekong Delta.  All the images
 of this place in my head are from newscasts of the war years
(and movies), so it's especially nice to see this peaceful shot.


[To see more abc wednesday, go here.]

That's Our World

The next stop is . . . the North Pole!
Last Saturday was New York's annual
Santa Con—essentially a bar crawl (though
they say it's not) and more fun than a
barrel of elves.  This gift-wrapped Santa had
speakers hidden in that box and was playing
"All I Want For Christmas Is You."
(Sorry for the fuzzy foto—cell phone, moving train.)


[To see more of our wonderful world, go here.]

Blue Monday/Monday Doorways

I recently featured another beautiful
old blue door. Just wanted to say that
if I can't have that one in Venice,
I'll very happily take this one in Paris!


[To see more Blue Monday, visit Smiling Sally;
to see more Monday Doorways, go chez Louis la Vache.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

I found this guy hanging around the Museum
of Natural History. It's a Japanese spider
crab (Macrocheira kampferi), which can be
13 feet (4 meters) from the tip of one
outstretched leg to another. Pretty impressive—
and it throws a mean shadow too!


[To see more Sunday shadows, go to Tracy's great meme.]

I f

New York at Night (15)

Not a lot of front yards in Manhattan—
around here, we deck the fire escape!

Skywatch Friday

Why I always want a window seat:
That's where I get to see (among other 
very cool things) the sun vanishing 
over the horizon at 30,000 feet up.


[To see more Skywatch, go here.]

Thursday Challenge — "communication"

This one is compliments of my daughter Kate
(though I did lend her my favorite camera),
taken when she was up in the Arctic.
This is a special kind of communication, because
not everyone can "talk" with walruses as this
fellow apparently can—and (so Katie claims) did!


[To see more Thursday Challenge, go here.]

abc wednesday —U is for "ugly"

I'm a cat lover, but this just has to be
the ugliest puss in Monteriggione Tuscany 
Italy Europe the northern hemisphere the world!


[To see more abc Wednesday, go here.]

the autumn leaves

Took a walk last week in the Botanic Garden
(where there were still some roses in bloom!).
A lot of the leaves were hanging on too, but they've
turned all shades of yellow, orange, and (my fave) red. 


[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.]

Balaenoptera musculus

aka the great blue whale, which can be 100 feet
long and weigh as much as 200 tons!
This one lives at the Museum of Natural History,
of course—one of my favorite places in NYC.


[To see more blue things, visit Sally's meme.]

Shadow Shot Sunday/Sunday Bridges

Came into this conference room for a meeting the other
day, but I had to run back to my desk and grab my
camera (my colleagues are used to this by now).
That's the 59th Street Bridge out there,
which you can see better here.


[To see more Sunday Shadows, go here.
To see more Sunday Bridges, visit Louis la Vache.]

Say Cheese!

There are enterprising folks selling all manner of
things on the street in Soho.  This guy had some
kind of Polaroid-type camera and was able to take a
picture and develop it very quickly.  I watched him
for about 20 minutes while I waited for someone,
and in that time he made at least $50.   Hmmmm . . .

Sunset in Suburbia

A gorgeous Long Island sunset—I took
this shot from my mom's kitchen window,
in the house I grew up in.


[It's Skywatch Friday. To see more, go here.]