ABC Wednesday—C is for "Colgate clock"

This clock has been here in Jersey City,
across the Hudson from lower Manhattan,
for 90 years.  Now it's about to get a makeover.
 Last month, the hands were removed;
ultimately, the whole thing will be
taken down and put back up with a better
foundation, new steel, and LED lights.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

up close and personal

Does anyone else find red flowers very
hard to photograph?  I keep trying, though,
and maybe one of these days I'll capture one just the
way I want it to look.  Meanwhile, here's a little
(about an inch across) bloom from my rescued geranium.

[To see more flower macros, visit NF/Blo-Ma.
For more Ruby Tuesday, go here.] 

In Living Color

Whenever I'm lucky enough to get
back to Venice, I always hope for a bright,
sunny day to ride the vaporetto out
to the island of Burano, wander around,
 and take in all the vibrant color.

[To see more Mandarin Orange, visit LoriK's meme.
Go here for Nature Footstep/Catching the Light.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

I love the way parts of the Brooklyn
Bridge are  wrapped up these days, especially
as all that white sheeting provides some
protection from the blazing sun—
and makes a great canvas for shadows.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

When the sun is in a position to stream through
the oculus of the Pantheon in Rome like
this, it's a time of day when you're likely to have
lots of company.  But just look up and you can
almost feel like you're alone in this incredible place
—and it could be any time in the past +/- 2,000(!) years.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Orange You Glad It's Friday

I understand most of the random stuff
I find when I'm crossing the Brooklyn Bridge,
but I had no idea why these balloons were
there at 8 a.m. on a recent Wednesday.  But it was
my daughter Lila's birthday, so I just told
myself that they were there for her!  Why not?

[To see more OYGIF posts, visit Maria's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"hard"

I understand they've now found some things that are
harder than a diamond—but surely not as pretty.
I inherited this stone from my wonderful
mother-in-law, but had it taken out of 
an old-fashioned silver setting and remounted
by a jeweler in Florence, Italy—where
they know a thing or two about gold.
(I think my MIL would love it.)

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—B is for "barefoot bride"

Our friend Dena got married this past Saturday.
She looked gorgeous in a silvery raw silk dress
with a purple sash.  And on her feet: what you see.
I thought she'd taken her shoes off after the ceremony,
but she informed me that she had been sans
footwear for the entire evening, ceremony and all.
Hey, the dress was long, no one knew—and just because
you're getting married is no reason to be uncomfortable. Right?

[To see more ABC Wednesday, go here.]

Ka-boom!

Doesn't it look like this little
flower just exploded?

[To see more flower close-ups, visit
Nature Footstep/Blo-Ma.]

How do you like me now?

Imagine if men went to these lengths to
impress women—who, following the example
of the peahen, wouldn't have to try at all.
Actually, with humans, it seems to
work the other way around most of the time.

(Thanks to my daughter Katie for letting me borrow
this pic of a California peacock trying to get a date.)

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

Shadow Shot Sunday

The current installation on the roof garden at the
Met is literally on the roof garden.  The work, by Pakistani
artist Imran Qureshi, represents his emotional response
to the senseless violence occurring in his country
—and around the world—in recent decades. 

The lush leaves worked into the blood-red
paint evoke the artist's hope for regeneration
and peace in the aftermath of manmade disasters.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

While I'm trying to teach myself to use
PhotoShop, I can still have fun
playing with iPhone apps.  This Venetian
inkwell and glass-and-silver pen live on my desk.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Skywatch Friday

When I'm crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and
am going down to the street on the Brooklyn side,
I try to remember to turn around and look back
first—just in case there's something like this going on!

[To see more Skywatch pics, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"abundance"

In this case, an abundance of something good and
good for you.  On the other hand, you could make a lot
of pies—or muffins— with all those blueberries!

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

ABC Wednesday—A is for "astrolabe"

There's documentation (in Cairo) that proves this brass
astrolabe was made by a 13th-century Yemeni prince.
Don't know how its last owner got his hands on
it, but his bequest left it to the Met in 1891.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.  I've been at it
every Wednesday since this post in 2009,
and still think it's one of the best memes ever!]

"5 in 1"

This steel sculpture by Tony Rosenthal has
been here in front of One Police Plaza
for almost 40 years. The five interlocking circles
are meant to represent the interconnectedness
of New York's five boroughs.

[To see more Ruby Tuesday posts, visit Gemma's meme.
For more of Our World Tuesday, see Sandy's meme.]

The Local Art Scene

There are still plenty of art galleries in Soho
(though there are probably more in
West Chelsea now), but they're kind of picky
about whose art they choose to show.
So plenty of artists sell their work on the street.
Some of it's pretty good and some it . . . well,
I'm no judge really.  But I hope they find some
customers among the many thousands of people
clogging Soho's streets on any given weekend.

[To see more Mellow Yellows, visit Gemma's meme.
For more Mandarin Orange, see Lori K's meme.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

This post had to have a photo from Paris.
 (I shot this the last time I was there,
in 2011, which is way too long ago.)
Allons, enfants—and Happy Bastille Day!

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

This Greek bronze, "The Boxer at Rest,"  was cast
sometime in the late 4th- to 2nd century B.C.
and discovered during an excavation on Rome's
Quirinal Hill in 1885; it's currently on display at the Met.
Despite his wounds (with dripping blood depicted
in copper), you can almost imagine
that he'll spring up to start the next round.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Skywatch Friday

A bright blue sky.  A warm, sunny day.
A perfect time for some summer sprucing.
That's one place on the bridge that won't get
marred by graffiti the minute the paint dries!

[To see more Skywatch, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"machines"

All Saints is a clothing store on Broadway in
Soho.  The clothes aren't really my style,
but I love the way this place is decorated—very
industrial chic, with dozens (maybe even hundreds) of old
Singer sewing machines lining the walls and windows.

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

ABC Wednesday—Z is for "zentangle"

So what is a zentangle anyway? Basically,
it's just doodling—but for lots of people (including
me), it's kind of a form of  meditation. Mine are
pretty simple so far, but you can see some incredibly
complex and imaginative examples on Pinterest.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Foxgloves

These beauties were one of a few
"other" species included in the display
at the rose garden in the Brooklyn Botanic.
I went there to shoot the roses, but thought the 
foxgloves deserved a closeup of their own.

[To see more flower macros, visit NF/Blo-Ma.] 

Candle lantern

One of the things I've tended to amass
over the years (along with Eiffel Towers, salt
cellars, and egg cups) is candle lanterns. I had a
candle lit in this one the other night and had
to experiment with my iPhone macro lens.

Though I am trying to pare down
my "stuff," I admit I'll 
probably keep this.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows,
Mandarin Orange Monday, and Macro Monday.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

This 14th-century iron, silver, and enamel reliquary
cross once sheltered a fragment of wood believed to
come from the True Cross (I'd need a very
large grain of salt . . . but so they claimed). It was a
gift to the Met from J. Pierpont Morgan—I showed
another one here on my other blog recently.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

We're having a little heat wave here in NYC,
and I really don't like air-conditioning—so
I'm doing my best to stay in the shade!

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

The bombs bursting in air

Whether you celebrated quietly—or like this—
I hope you had a good Fourth of July. And I hope
you're one of the lucky ones who are getting
 to take a 4-day weekend.  If so, enjoy!

[To see more Skywatch pics, go here.
And Orange You Glad It's Friday?]

Thursday Challenge—"art"

Give any kid a brush, some paint, and a blank
sheet of paper and they will create a work of art.
Most of us become self-conscious at some
point and decide we can't "draw"—but wouldn't it
be nice if we never lost our childlike creative abandon?

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

ABC Wednesday—Y is for "yarn"

At the greenmarket, in addition to yummy,
 locally grown fruits and veggies, you can also
find this beautiful hand-dyed yarn.  I'm not a
serious knitter, but if I were I'd love to work
with these gorgeous colors—wouldn't you?

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

red peppers

I think they're beautiful (Christmas in July!),
but never cook with them. With these things, I find
there's a fine line between not enough and too
much—and I have no idea where that line is.

[To see more Ruby Tuesday posts, go here.]

Bzzzzzz!

I shoved my little iPhone macro lens
down inside a peony—and this busy bee 
really couldn't have cared less (fortunately).

[To see more mellow yellows, visit Gemma's meme.
To see more macros, go here. And here for flower macros.
And it's the 1st of the month, so I've posted to my Paris blog.]