Back in the real world

For the past couple of weeks, I've been heads down studying and really have not had time to do anything fun. No dinner out with friends, no parties, no drawing classes, no picture snapping, nada. As a result, I've become a little withdrawn and unhappy. Thank goodness that horrifyingly boring test is over.

I'm only just beginning to feel back to normal.


Went to Prospect Park today and even though it was a little chilly, the signs of spring are all around. Daffodils poking out of dead winter leaves makes me feel quite optimistic about the world.


Trees are still bare but I love the interplay between the pattern of the bark, the shadows and the blue blue sky.

Snow Day!

So glad it's warm and toasty in here.

I heart Paris

On my first day, I saw a cat hanging out in front of a great bookstore. To me, a great sign of what's coming.



Ahhh...smells like the feet of angels (with apologies to Rick Steves).


The weirdest and creepiest church prize goes to...La Magdeline. Inside an organ was playing doom and gloom music, the sculptures were all lit from below giving an eerie glow and to top it all off they had this glittery creche.


Close up of creche. See how death (skull head, rocking a white outfit) and the devil (the guy from one of the new Star Wars movies) flank Mussolini on the throne? Makes perfect sense to me...the birth of baby Jesus above, Mussolini below.


The BVM lit from below.


Saint Chapelle, interior. We started doing this thing with the camera where you set the shutter speed to 1-2 seconds and then throw the camera around with the shutter open. Fun. Just don't drop the camera.


Saint Chapelle, exterior. Bondage angel.


Musee du Moyen Age.


Notre Dame, interior


The dog shit was everywhere. Though my friends told me that it was much better than in previous years...


Fantastic umbrella shop in the 6th. Some umbrellas had carved handles, were fur-trimmed or frosted with stuffed hearts. Completely impractical. Completely wonderful.

Winter in America

4th Ave and Union in Park Slope, Brooklyn



Greene Street, Soho



Wooster Street, Soho



Wooster Street, Soho



Wooster Street, Soho. Facing the parking lot on Grand Street.

Down South

Went down south to visit the family...I can still hear the dualing banjos.

Commerce, GA. Old glass electrical insulators.


Weeds.
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On the way back down from Atlanta, we discovered a poor little bird got it's leg somehow stuck in the truck. We didn't notice it until it was too late.

Even though, I guess I'm supposed to be horrified...I thought it was quite beautiful.

Death and decay

I saw this dead bird on the sidewalk near work and thought it was easily the most beautiful thing I had seen all day.

Peeling paint on garage door in Brooklyn

Abandoned Factory in Dumbo, Brooklyn

Factory, Detail

Paper Graffiti

on Grand Street, Soho

In NYC, you're constantly assaulted by advertising on cabs, subway cars, bustops, billboards, store fronts, even sidewalks sell Sex and City DVDs nowadays. As a result, in a sort of self-defense mechanism, we become blind to this constant onslaught and then begin to ignore all the hidden details of the city. I guess that's the point of this blog, to begin to unearth the small things that are forgotten and ignored. To pay special attention to the things in life that have become a part of the background.


on Mercer Street just above Houston. One of the more beautiful examples I've seen in a long time.

One of the wonderful things about paper graffiti is that with time, it degrades and begins to peel off walls. So from the moment it's put up, it changes. Sometimes, all you'll see of paper graffiti are the small traces left behind. A hand. A lone shoulder.

Dumbo, Brooklyn

Oregon Trip

Ahhh...fresh air and nature. Something this city girl doesn't get enough of.


The redwood forests! The trees are amazing. It's impossible to capture how impossibly big they are on a puny camera.


Helpful sign.


Requisite tourist crap. I love cheesy tourist crap. This one was particularly good because Paul Bunyan's head moved and talked. Very cool. And wait...is Paul wearing a sweater? No, silly! That's pure manly chest hair, baby.


I love power lines in rural settings (well, in all settings to be honest).

San Francisco Trip

Golden Gate Bridge with suicide helpline.



Mission Dolores


Inside the Mission Dolores


Ah...if only the prices were the same.


Opposite the Trader Joes


Car hood ornament

Off 4th Ave in Park Slope


PS 321 flea market. Who doesn't love a red BVM and Jesus?

First Post...

The city I live in and love. Simply can't imagine living anywhere else in this country.