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| My friends and I were relaxing on their deck and were joined by a baby praying mantis. I popped a closeup lens on my phone, but when I tried to take the picture the mantis jumped onto the phone! (This picture was taken with my regular camera.) |
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| Eventually, I coaxed it into letting me snap this shot with the closeup lens. (Working with insects takes patience!) [Linking back to Macro Monday and i heart macro.] |
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| "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because rose bushes have thorns." —Abraham Lincoln I choose to rejoice (and be careful). How about you? [Linking back to Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, and Today's Flowers.] |
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| 'Tis the season . . . for asparagus—and lots of other yummy things for sale at our local greenmarket. [To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.] |
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| at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 53rd Street. The building on the left is Philip Johnson's so-called Lipstick Building. Its most infamous tenant was probably Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme cost so many so much ($65 billion!) and landed him in stir until 2159. [Linking back to Skywatch Friday and Weekend Reflections.] |
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| The Pillsbury Doughboy stopped by our office recently—and one of my young colleagues just couldn't resist! [To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.] |
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| Well, after how many ABC rounds (I believe this is my 8th one), it's finally come to this: X = X! I found this one on a wall in Paris—and it kind of reminds me of the Zentangles (but that would be a "Z") that I draw as a form of meditation. [To see more ABC posts that feature the letter X, go here.] |
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| The owner of these cute boots is one of the charming people who gather every Sunday in front of the St. Medard church in Paris to play music, sing old French songs, and dance (and socialize a bit too). She is one of the dancers, but also . . . |
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| one of the singers. If I lived in Paris (sigh), I'd be there every week. [Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.] |
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| The first lotus blossom of the season. [Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows, Mandarin Orange Monday, and Macro Monday.] |
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| recreated in yellow and green gold, silver, pearls, and rose-cut diamonds by Fabergé in 1896 and given to Czarina Alexandra, the wife of Czar Nicholas II. Lilies of the valley were her favorite flowers too—and this piece is considered the most important Fabergé work in the United States. (It was recently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.) [Linking back to Shadow Shot Sunday and Today's Flowers.] |
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| Looking down Park Avenue on a gray, foggy day . . . [To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.] |
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| and all I got was . . . this awesome image! She hung halfway out of the train to capture this, just so her mama could use it here. Thanks for fueling my obsessions, Katie. [For more Skywatch pics, go here. And to see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.] |
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| My pal Virginia at Paris Through My Lens introduced me to this app called Waterlogue that can make your photo look like a watercolor painting. It's tons of fun, but (in this case anyway) . . . |
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| to be completely honest, I think I prefer my original photo of the beautiful village of Vernazza, in Italy's Cinque Terre. [To see more ABC posts, go here.] |
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| What do you suppose they do at this little shop in Soho? They specialize in makeup, of course—selling it and applying it. I really like their sign . . . |
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| And also the cute visual hint parked out front. [Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and also to Our World Tuesday.] |
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| That's the name of this tulip cultivar. The color of the flower is true, but I did have a bit of fun with the background in photoshop. (It may be just as well that I don't know how to do much with it—if I did, I'd be playing with it all night and never get anything done!) [Linking back to Macro Monday and Today's Flowers.] |
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| to me! Six candles for six years— and counting. I'm still having fun, so I hope you are too. And I hope that all my blog pals know just how much I appreciate their friendly presence here. With luck, I'll get to (actually) meet even more of you this year! [These candles were in the 12th-century church of St. Germain des Prés. To see more churches from around the world, visit inSPIREd Sunday.] |
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"There is nothing more difficult for a truly
creative painter than to paint a rose,
because before he can do so he has first
—Henri Matisseto forget all the roses that were ever painted." [To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.] |
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| The friends I visited recently down on the Virginia delta built their house to take advantage of some wonderful river views—like this one (reflected in their floor-to-ceiling windows). [To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.] |
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| I saw this colorful dishware in the window of a shop on the rue de Seine, in Paris. It reminded me of Fiesta ware—only a very chic French version. If I had an apartment in Paris, I'd get some of these for sure (because if I could afford the apartment, then I could certainly afford the dishes). If only. [To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.] |
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I've told people that I live at the highest natural point in Brooklyn, but it turns out I was This is it: Battle Hill, now in Green-Wood Cemetery but at one time the site of a famous Revolutionary War battle. The view of lower Manhattan from here is spectacular (that's the new Trade Tower sticking up above everything else.) |
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This is there at the site to provide a bit of perspective. It's changed just a bit in the past 200 years, hasn't it? [To see more ABC posts, go here.] |
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| Lots of flowers lately, I know, but c'mon—it's just that time of year (finally!). These were in full bloom in the garden last month, in white, yellow, pink, lavender, but only one like this: almost-red and white. [I'm linking back to Ruby Tuesday, and also to Our World Tuesday.] |
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| When I took this shot on Mother's Day, the roses were not yet blooming at the Brooklyn Botanic— except for these primula x rosa (also called primroses, from the latin for "first rose"), one of 1,200 different kinds in the Cranford Rose Garden (one of the largest collections of rose cultivars in North America). [Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows, Mandarin Orange Monday, and Macro Monday.] |
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This is one of my favorite churches— San Miniato al Monte, which has been standing on a hill overlooking Florence since the 11th century. Behind the altar and below the choir loft, the archways seen here lead to the crypt, where monks gather to pray in Gregorian chant. The cemetery behind the basilica is beautiful too. [To see more churches from around the world, go here.] |
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| This is the Passage Bourg l'Abbé, in Paris's 2nd arrondissement. These covered streets are a godsend on a rainy or freezing cold day (as this one was). Some passages have fallen on hard times; some have been renovated and feature mostly high-end boutiques. This one has excellent "bones" and lovely old woodwork—I think it's ripe for gentrification. [To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.] |
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| It's part of the spring color—seen here from the viewing pavilion in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic. To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme. And Orange You Glad It's Friday? If so, go here.] |
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| Various parts of the head, arms, and legs of the Colossus of Constantine (c. 280–387) can be seen in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Those body parts were carved of marble; the rest had a brick core and wooden framework (possibly clad in gilded bronze) that didn't survive +/- 17 centuries. Still, I'm grateful to be able to see what's left of this once-40-foot-tall statue. [To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.] |
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| I work right around the corner from the Ukrainian mission to the U.N. Here's what it looked like a few weeks ago. Now all this has been cleared away, and there's a railing around the fence and two policemen keeping guard. What's next, I wonder (here and there). [To see more ABC posts that feature the letter U, go here.] |
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| . . . and some cacahuettes—and an ashtray (!) Well, this is Paris, and I'd be willing to put up with some secondhand smoke if I could be walking (not long) distance from this café terrace. [Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.] |
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| There's a massive tulip border at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, with dozens of blooms of each type. When I took this shot, these were the last two of this cultivar standing. I thought it was spectacular even as it was beginning to fall apart. [Am linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows, Mandarin Orange Monday, and Macro Monday.] |
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| If asked to choose the flowers I look forward to the most each year, I'd be seriously hard-pressed to decide. But if I absolutely had to say, it would probably be the tree peonies— a clear contender for "sexiest flowers in the garden." [Linking back to Shadow Shot Sunday and also to Today's Flowers.] |
