March 4, 2019
I really wanted to take snow pictures today, but I had to settle for slush pictures. The bright white would help me play a little bit with aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation, the three variables that were the subject of my first photography class. Setting out, I wanted to Read more…
March 2, 2019
Sometimes I say to myself, “I canāt wait to see what youāll create.” I know that sounds super geeky, but I get excited for me. I get excited to see what will creep out of hiding, something that needed a form to speak, something that would move my hand with Read more…
February 18, 2019
Ice Castles is a man-made tourist attraction made entirely of water, the brainchild of a California ex-pat who relocated to Utah and needed a way to get his six cooped-up kids out of the house. His ice castles became a neighborhood draw and, in 2011, he brought his castles to Read more…
November 30, 2018
[That’s not me; that’s Henry Thoreau, one of my favorite men in history.] Either stop or slow down.Ā But don’t go. The F train views, 87.5 feet from ground level. The highest elevated train IN THE WORLD. Sometimes the litter is a Millennium Falcon. My Bridge Take-out Thursday Top Thai Read more…
October 13, 2018
My partner in special ed combat and ultra-rare fellow INFJ is a Staten Islander. So today she was my expert guide, uncovering the best of all the things on the island I like–abandoned stuff, scenic beauty, and vegan options.Ā First, we split a quick lunch atĀ Dosa GardenĀ in Tompkinsville.Ā Ā I was Read more…
August 22, 2018
QueensĀ has plenty of beautiful things to see, though I don’t spend much time there.Ā More often it’s the chunk of traffic between me and my family or some errand on Long Island.Ā But today, a deep dive in. My first stop would require binoculars, my camera, and a hefty dose Read more…
May 19, 2018
I work several blocks away from Brooklyn’s historical Green-Wood Cemetery. And I had been meaning to get in there the entire school year. Now that the weather is relatively nice, I have taken a few opportunities to kill time, getting lost within its 478 acres. The cemetery is beautiful, quiet, Read more…
April 3, 2018
The blooming daffodils got a coating of snow this week in an early Spring cold snap.Ā Such juxtapositions had me breaking out the camera.Ā And the doves looking for a seed handout… Happy Spring!
February 22, 2018
Arts & Crafts, Beautiful Places Far Away, Eating Out, Nature, Photography, Urban Exploration, Wanderlust
It was a short walk from my hotel to breakfast at Cafe Pascal’s, right on Santa Fe Plaza–the heart of downtown. This is a popular place so centrally located, dressed to the nines in New Mexican flair, and with awesome service.Ā I had to doorbust so as to not be Read more…
February 19, 2018
My 23rd National Park: Carlsbad Caverns. Every time I go to a new National Park I say to myself, āThis is the most beautiful place Iāve ever seen.ā And itās true, at the time. But this place, this time is justā¦ (resisting urge to deconstruct my good feelings)… I canāt Read more…
February 18, 2018
A visit to White Sands National Monument, 100 miles north of the Mexican border, had more enchanting views, more blue sky backdrop.Ā This state is so varied in its beauty.Ā Standing within these stark white sand dunes was a thing of fantasy.Ā It’s like you’re on the beach, but you Read more…
Though I’d love to say that I joined Fox and Scully in the New Mexican desert to discover a mysterious and striking field of giant radio antennae pointing to our dear sky–emitting, absorbing, tracking… The possibility of an intricate and expansive government conspiracy is alluring. But the truth (which is Read more…
My second day in New Mexico was absolutely beautiful. With a bright blue sky behind all I did, I ended the day sun-drunk and in awe, again, of this country, her land. I realized that I can hike devotedly for hours for the reward of seeing a glimpse of her Read more…
February 17, 2018
New Mexico has preserved remnants of countless ancient peoples. From the prehistoric Clovis Man to the Anasazi, ancestral Puebloans, the number of historical sites in the area is mind-blowing. One of the Anasazi, the Chaco Culture, inhabited Chaco Canyon in current day New Mexico during the 9th and 13th century. Read more…
February 16, 2018
In the northwest corner of New Mexico, just east of the Navajo Nation, is 45,000 acres of wild land: theĀ Bisti/De-Na-Zin Badlands. 70 million years ago the land was a river delta from an inland sea that used to flow from the present-day Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The Read more…
January 3, 2018
Here are the best shots of a ton by my fumbly frozen hands: the gorgeous supermoon waking up Brooklyn.Ā And here is that same supermoon the evening before saying goodnight. That’s all: “With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?ā (Oscar Wilde)
December 19, 2017
Walking into a sunrise like this on my way to work does all kinds of things to perspective and priorities. And it makes me later than usual. What is better than a pressed, warm sandwich with your favorite morning foods within… in your hand and on the way up to Read more…
October 5, 2017
October’s full moon is the Harvest Moon. This is a rare thing as the Harvest Moon is in September most of the time. I caught it on my way to work, bringing to mind Neil Young’s sweet song. I caught this gaggle of butterflies from the kitchen window that overlooks Read more…
September 30, 2017
This is kind of how summer is… and kind how the days after summer are, too. They are potent… and in the rear view seem further away when they’re gone.Ā Seeing pictures from the summer once the school year starts is surreal.Ā Time passes with a tremendous stomp. This blog post Read more…
September 17, 2017
I’ve begun to understand that observing the world’s beauty is my most favorite therapy. And if you look for it, you’ll find it most everywhere. From delicate macaron feet peeking out from a soft pastel shell to the browned crisped dough of a pastry that some young lady made lovingly Read more…
August 21, 2017
I spent my day in Gallatin, Tennessee in the line of totality during the Great American Eclipse. Since I traveled far and prepared a lot, I thought it best to get there at 2:45 a.m., joined only by singing crickets and several other eclipse chasers who agreed that the idea Read more…
August 17, 2017
Spoilet alert: By the end of this blog post, by the end of my day, I end up… in a cabin in the woods in the mountains within rumbling thunder, the lucky pile of wood between two very vocal mocking birds going on and on about something, perhaps the storm Read more…
August 16, 2017
First: you know how you hear stories of people who try frying turkeys during Thanksgiving and cause an explosion? Or Meth producers who blow up their homes? Ā Like that, you risk catastrophic consequences if you go staring at the sun willy-nilly without protection–or looking through a camera without a solar Read more…
August 10, 2017
Like many neighborhoods along the L-train, Ridgewood, Queens, which sits next to Brooklyn’s Bushwick and East Williamsburg, is pretty hipster-invaded. There’s nothing that a natural born weirdo dislikes more than someone who is simply in a weirdo costume. Ā Eh. Ā If you still have your appetite, you can check out the Read more…
August 9, 2017
I made my first reservation related to Great American Eclipse travel in September 2016 …like a big nerd. Ā Now that it is almost here, along with growing media coverage including its own section in the New York TimesĀ last Sunday, I have to make sure my preparations are squared away. Ā Like Read more…
