Tag Archives: nyc photo journal

Breaking Out

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This post was initially going to be a note on Facebook with a few photos. It is, I feel, more appropriate as a blog. I have not been visiting Robert: there are Covid cases in the building and until this is under control, I’ll limit going: I need to break out, away from the stress and tension of what has become my life. Strangely, talking about breakouts, I had a close look at my aging, almost unrecognizable face in a magnifying mirror and gasped at “stuff” that didn’t belong. I poked and prodded and probably injured myself in a fruitless … Continue reading →

Homage to Hammer’s Dairy Restaurant

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    So many of our memories involve food and this one is no different. This is Steven Hammer, my classmate, a sweet little second grader with red hair. His dad was Bill Hammer, and the Hammer family owned Hammer’s, the dairy restaurant at 243 East 14th Street, off Second Avenue. I don’t think we were in any other classes together, having consulted my stack of class photos, but for some reason, I remember his face so clearly, a seven year old. It was 1955-1956. The class was taught by a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Marion Oppenheimer, who later left to … Continue reading →

New York City Photo Journal: A Visit To a City Agency: Visual Commentary

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A recent visit to a branch of the NYC Department of Transportation, Access-A-Ride, March 4, 2020   This is where the disabled in the borough of Queens go to be evaluated for para transit. (Something we felt we should get as a back-up to driving due to health issues and limitations.) You bring an application, medical documentation and are interviewed and evaluated. You are picked up by a vehicle assigned by this department and returned home, but because they pick you up at least an hour and a half early, you end up waiting hours for return transit, and if … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: Garden Updates

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 Butterflies  The 7th butterfly began emerging, spontaneously and the liquid soup he was part of spilled out onto the pot. What was happening?   2.   Cactus  There is Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus and even Easter cactus; this guy thinks he’s a Halloween cactus.     3.  Snails    Sheldon and Swirl try to take the subway.  

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NYC Photo Journal: The Bounty of Images From A Garden

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My neighbor has a tree that hangs over her backyard. No one has claimed it; it is likely a “volunteer” tree. It has delicate frond-type leaves and yields green baseballs. Now I know that these heavy projectiles are actually black walnuts.       For a few years some iris bulbs took over an area of the garden and choked a little rosebush. I thought it had died. Soon after we removed all the stuff that was sapping it of water and light, it began to bloom and bloom. There’s a lesson there. I brought these lovely roses in this … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: The Butterfly Project 2019: Transformation

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  At this point, there were seven pupae in the little tree we constructed and about a week went by. Then, one morning, this happened:   This was our first “baby.” We weren’t sure how to proceed: we ended up waiting a day to release it, it might have been the weather. The wings have to dry; this guy was ready to go and was very active. We gave it sugar water but it didn’t drink. And then the time came for the ceremony. The shortened version. It was very touching to let it go. We had done our job. … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: The Butterfly Project 2019: Part 2: Fat “Cats …”

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What you witnessed in the previous blog post was the hatching of little egg gems and the morphing into tiny barely visible creatures, which, when fed well, grew and grew into chubby green multi-legged hungry guys, with black, white and yellow markings. In short, it was amazing. Life is a series of transitions and growth: Caterpillars are programmed to transition and they adapt to each stage so well, relying on innate messages to move on with their lives. We watched this occur with eight caterpillars. The eighth one was rescued after we explained to our neighbor that it was a … Continue reading →

How to Deal With Anxiety

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  Be creative. This is a compilation of photographs taken with the iPhone XSmax, edited on iPhone, many with the slow shutter app. I take most of my city photos from a car, passenger side. My photography group workshop this month was BLUR. The above photo originally looked like this:                                 Click box icon in video to see full screen. The slideshow was created via Keynote on the Mac.  

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The Kitty Tale

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I realized I never gave you closure on the sick kitty. To refresh your memory, in December there were subtle signs that something was wrong, the vet couldn’t find anything but I could hear something in Caramel’s throat. We ended up in an emergency animal hospital five days later on New Year’s Day. It appeared to be a bad cold. They did a fortune’s worth of testing. No diagnosis. Another five days went by and the cat was obviously ill. Finally a call from the vet at the emergency hospital indicating there was a huge cyst in Caramel’s throat and … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, NY: Orchid Show

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THE ORCHID SHOW: SINGAPORE   I visit the orchid show annually, each year the theme varies; this year was “Singapore.” It was a cool, wet day, probably a good day for a visit, mitigating the crowds. I felt that in the past the exhibits were more abundant, somehow fuller, not that this one wasn’t filled with beautiful orchids, but it was somehow different even though the set up was the same. At any rate, there was a lot to enjoy. What I learned: some orchids have faces. Look for them. Here’s what mattered: not all orchids steal a show. Photography … Continue reading →

Playing Catch-Up: Cats, Cold, Mothers, Makeup and Art

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  The last we spoke, it was a rocky start to The New Year, and Caramel was in a bad way. But she came home and began eating, purring and exploring; I am sure the relief of the draining of that huge cyst was enormous. It was likely pressing on her trachea and vocal cords. She looks so much better and at least we know now what the culprit might be in the future if this returns: if she is strong enough, they’ll likely remove her thyroid. You know you love kitties: here’s a slideshow of improvement. So, while the … Continue reading →

On David Bowie, Mercury in Retrograde, and Vertigo

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  OK, kids, life has been strangely quiet on the mother-front. I think this Mercury in Retrograde has had the opposite effect of the usual; it sometimes brings issues to a head and aids in their solving. SO FAR the only electronic issues I have had were: 1. missing a phone call—a spam call came through while the museum restaurant was calling to offer a table, causing me to miss the call from the restaurant, and 2. one of my Verizon Fi-Os set top boxes got stuck in a flashing light loop indicating it missed an update and tech support … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: A Visit To My Alma Mater, CCNY, “The Poor Man’s Harvard”

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  Looking across Convent Avenue towards Shepard Hall A visit during Open House New York (OHNY) (Alma Mater ) CCNY. Harlem, NYC https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/ https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/about/campusmap https://www.pointsmap.com/ccny/ I hadn’t been back since graduation in 1969. It is a very changed place. My observation: The North Campus has been gussied up and is shining. There was no Raymond the Pretzel Man. There is a fleet of vans poised to shuttle the masses from north to south: No running like a maniac for half a mile. The admin building is still standing. Remember how in the late ’60s we’d go in to pay the … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: New York Stories: Seeing My City As A Traveler (travel module)

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Seeing what is familiar with a foreign eye iPhone Photography Academy Travel Module All photos taken with iPhone 6s and edited on iPhone or iPad The Annual Strawberry Festival at the Zion Episcopal Church, Douglaston, NY   2. The Day of the Puerto Rico Day Parade     3.  From the 14th Floor of The Hilton Garden Inn, Times Square, 8th Avenue   4. When store windows cross the line     5. Dodging construction, garbage and traffic   6. To the Javits Center, World Stamp Show   7. Theater District   8. Men and Women in Black   9. … Continue reading →