Well, dear friends, I am here to wish you good cheer and good health during the Winter holidays and the months to follow. Pick a holiday, any holiday, and enjoy it. Find its true meaning and let it sparkle within you. Or just go and have a damned good corned beef sandwich on rye.

As I sit here writing, I am at the tail-end of a scintillating scotoma. For want of a better description, it is that shape that takes over my vision when I least expect it. I was innocently having my split pea soup when this “thing” decided it wanted attention. The good thing is I have learned some things about these episodes: they pop up during mood change, both good and not so; there have been fewer episodes since I recognized that emotions can bring them on and biofeedback works!

Anyway, I am also dealing with two tears in the miniscus (knee cartilage) and I am finding that Physical Therapy is a godsend. Had I not been ignoring this issue for years it might not have gotten to this point. I took my knee into my own hands. And now I am putting myself first.

I had a huge amount of paper work to do for my mother, who, at ninety-seven appears to be doing better than many people I know.

I’ve been spending a lot of time taking photographs with my iPhone and posting them on EyeEm, Instagram, and The IPhonePhotography sites. I’ve been working on the third course with the pros and getting good feedback.

Here’s an interesting article on the state of photography:

Apple Displaces Canon as Top Camera Brand on Flickr in 2015

One of my photos was chosen for a weekly contest (architecture), and appears on the website as seen below. People are doing spectacular work.

http://iphonephotographyschool.com/architecture-images

 

I am next to last, bottom row.

I took the photo in mid-December at MoMA PS1, (the outpost of The Museum of Modern Art in Queens, NY), in the former Public School 1, which became Public Studios 1 (PS1) and then part of the museum.

I took the photo in the stairwell; I waited for people to climb the stairs and as luck had it, this was my capture. It is edited to b/w and given a mild red tint. This stairwell, along with P.S. 1 was built in the 1890’s.

In, out, and around, photos by the author/iPhone6:

 

In the sculpture above, Maria and Her Mother, I was amazed at how much the security guard looked like part of the display; she looked like Maria’s mother!

 

At the Brooklyn Museum …

 

The two little Mickeys have a home until Spring in the museum lobby…but wait! Little?

Former street artist, Kaw, took two years to create the Mickeys, modeling them after one of his cartoon characters. Their heads are bowed, they have crosses on their hands and eyes. And they are 18 feet tall. I guess we’d be bummed out, too and in a state of existential angst if we were stuck in a lobby with kids crawling all over us and people posing at our feet.

If you were a mouse, wouldn’t you want a tail?

Meanwhile, upstairs at the Coney island exhibit…

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/arts/design/coney-island-culture-at-the-brooklyn-museum.html?_r=0

“The Hug: Closed Eyes and Smile” (1982), by Harvey Stein is used as the key photo of the exhibit. It’s priceless. [photos from the museum site]Photos by the author/iPhone6

 

May your year be filled with love, joy and creativity. May all your mice have tails.

 

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