Aboveway

 New York City as viewed from the 9th St-Smith aboveground subway platform.  One of the wonderful advantages of living in not Manhattan, is that many of the subway lines run above ground.  Riding the train above ground is about ten million times more pleasant- sunshine comes in through the windows instead of terrible flourescent light casting green shadows on everything, making each person on the train look jaundiced.  Besides the light, are the views.  For example, riding the J train over the Williamsburg Bridge is a joy all in itself.  This platform, for the G and the F trains, is one of those with an amazing view, just after coming out from underground.

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at Overhead for a  Paris Cityscape.

Music to a Woman's Ears

SALE.  It's fascinating how much joy that one word can ilicit.  I know that when I see it, my heart begins to pound, my palms get sweaty, my eyes get bigger, and a feeling of excitement courses through my veins until I can lay hands on a new piece of lovely clothing.  So that might be a slight exaggeration, but it's kind of intriguing how slight that exaggeration really is.  As a mostly reformed shopaholic, I actually adore the word sale, and all that it is connected to.  New stuff, mostly.  I like buying new stuff.  And I really do like the process of buying it, not just the owning of it.  Taking the new skirt home is nice, but digging through racks and racks to see if you can find that special something, then laying eyes, on the one print or fabric that catches your eye or your fingertips, taking it to the fitting room... bliss.  Utter bliss.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Try taking a look at All You Need Is Love for another photograph that might evoke joy.

Peaches

I love walking through the Union Square Greenmarket.  The food always looks so delectable, even at the end of a day of sitting out in the sunshine, when they are cleaning up.  Every once in a while I will indulge in some of the beautiful fresh produce, but more often, I just take it all in, which is what I happened to be doing the day that I took this photograph.  I realized that it is not just chalkboard signs that I love- I love all handwritten signs.  It is the human handwriting that makes one feel so comfortable, that connection to the understanding of another person as expressed through their physical motion and a writing utensil rather than a machine, a printer. Immediately, it's more relatable, it makes us feel relaxed, and promotes fun.  The barista behind the coffee bar, or the guy working at the farm stand seems more like a person than an entity divided by the worker/ buyer relationship.  We eat some peaches, and all is well in the world.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at another Union Square Greenmarket fruit photograph, Gala.

Return to Ongweoweh

It sounds like the title for a teen fantasy novel, with a full story about how a young girl travels to a faraway land populated by magical and grotesque creatures, but really, it was the writing on a crate sitting in a trash pile in Greenwich Village.  I'm just wondering what it actually means, if Ongweoweh is a town, or if that's a misspelling- in any case, the crate was sitting in the trash, so unless Ongweoweh is a garbage compactor... it probably will not be returned there.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at Back Alley of Comfort.

Milk & Cookies

And Ice Cream Sandwiches!  Wow, it was really hot on the day that I took this photograph, and ice cream sandwiches sounded like the best idea ever to my brain.  My waistline and wallet thought otherwise, however, and I went without.  I did not go without a photograph of this excellent chalkboard street sign though.  That would have not been okay.  I love chalkboard ads- they are so endearing in so many ways.  A coffee shop with the choices written on a chalkboard has so much more character than one with everthing just typed out.  It seems so French to me, I'm not sure why, but I have it in my mind that the French use chalk boards a lot more than we do.  Maybe they just have nicer handwriting on their chalkboards.  I don't know. I like these ones that I saw in the East Village.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

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On Film

A digital shot taken of my darling film camera, given to me by my wonderful friend Kacie.  It was sitting in my room, on my side table, on top of a scarf I have, that I bought in Paris about three years ago.  The scarf is covered in different Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec lithographs, so it's mosty shades, of green, mustard yellow, peacock blue, and red.  I loved how this offset the camera.

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a gander at Photobook.

Smart

Smart Cars are fabulous.  At least, I think so.  I don't really like cars- and in an urban situation, I cannot figure out for the life of me why on earth you  would ever want to drive one.  Public transportation in New York is generally pretty great, and a million times cheaper and faster than driving a car.  It is so incredibly easy, environmentally friendly and cheap, that I feel like if it was implemented everywhere, our world would be an even lovelier place than it already is.  Not that I have anything against driving a Hummer, or an SUV or anything.  My boyfriend used to drive a truck, my dad has a truck, and my mom uses a small SUV.  A lot of places, you need a car.  And I can understand loving the feeling of driving a big car on the road.  But, in a city, I think that, if you must drive, a Smart Car makes total sense.  

What doesn't make sense is that this Smart Car was... in the middle of Madison Square Park. Umm...

Like this?  Take a look at The Little Ship for a slightly more miniature means of transportation.

Cha Togar M' Fhearg Gun Dìoladh

Cha Togar M' Fhearg Gun Dìoladh (Gaelic)

Nemo me impune lacesset (Latin)

Wha daur meddle wi' me (Scots)

No one attacks me with impunity

This is the motto of the Scottish Order of the Thistle, the Scottish chivalric order.  This particular painting was in Edinburgh Castle, in the private chambers that once belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots, in a time when Gaelic, Scots, and English would have been spoken.  Latin was still considered to be a language of old orders, and of oaths.  French would actually have been spoken in this castle as well.  In any case, I love the unicorns, I love the phrase, I love the painting, and I love Scotland.

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Like this?  Take a look at For Scotland!

Hello Kitty

I generally hate Times Square.  Keeping a smile on my face is difficult in that area.  The tourists swarm and walk slower than molasses drips in winter.  I understand why- I walk all day long to get where I need to be, but most people in the world drive these car things to get places, and don't ever have to actually use their feet, so they are a bit out of shape.  And, many people don't encounter tall buildings or glaring neon lights on an every day basis either.  Hence, they walk slowly taking everything in.  This is wonderful for them, but when I have somewhere that I need to be, and a massive group of fanny-pack bedecked people in front of me are walking at the pace of a snail, I get perturbed.  However, I adore Hello Kitty.  There's this little girl in me somewhere, who still wants to cling onto pink, frilly, sparkly things and giggle at a sleepover while wearing bunny slippers.  That little girl comes out sometimes, especially when I come into contact with something Hello Kitty.  It may be immature, but I find it fun to allow myself a miniature freak-out every once in a while when I spy a Hello Kitty purse, cupcake, or toy.  So imagine my inexplicable joy when I saw a street performer dressed up as Hello Kitty in Times Square.  Suddenly, the entire experience of being int hat area seemed magical... and I felt like a tourist.  In a good way.  Now to go get my visor and my crocs...

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at Child's Play.

Just for clarification, that was a joke about the visor and crocs.

Petit Four

Can you tell that I'm on a diet?  The only things I'm posting photographs of are desserts. Yikes.  This diet is apparently frying my brain.  But, I must.  I finish school in just a few weeks, and if I want to be competitive auditioning, I have to be in great shape.  Not that I advocate being anorexic- I don't.  I don't at all.  That's not a good thing.  However, being physically fit and able to do the kind of strenuous things a person must as an actor is a delightfully good thing.  Oh, by the way, dear readers, my main career is that I'm an actor.  Who currently just loves staring at desserts, like these ones, also from Little Italy.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at Sneaky.  I think you'll enjoy it.

Nom nom

I posted this photograph, taken in Little Italy on the same night as the previous two, on my facebook page, and my younger sister Julianna, who has a much better design eye than eye I do, and far superior photography skills to match it, commented on it.

And I quote, "om nom nom nom nom nom"

I took that to mean that I had done something right.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at some more Cookies.

Vinny's

I love street vendors.  I think that they are generally fantastic.  Food off of a cart just has a certain appeal- you watch them toss your falafel on the hot plate, or pull that pretzel out of the murky water, or pour some hot sauce on your mango slices and your day gets significantly better.  But, when that street food is candy, life is just fantastic.  This seems to be a trend in New York City now- dessert and candy trucks and carts seem to be popping up everywhere.  Ice cream, particularly Mr. Softee has been around forever, but now it's cupcakes and waffles, and, here at Vinny's in Little Italy, cotton candy and nougat!  I actually bought myself a cannoli from another outdoor dessert stand.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?   Sink your teeth into Candied.

Little Italy

Blurry, yes.  But I think that it really captures the feel of Little Italy around 11PM on a Saturday night, which is when this shot was taken.  Chinatown seems to die down after dinner time, but Little Italy rages on into the hours after midnight.  Even at 11PM hosts were trying to get us to come and sit down in their restaurants, raving about their cannolis or tiramisu.  

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at Love is Just a Game.

Sneakers

When she came to visit, my friend Bianca was wearing these excellent sneakers.  I am not a big sneaker person, and by that, I mean that if you catch me wearing sneakers anywhere other than the gym, you have seen a rare sight.  However, I love them on other people, and she has that flair to pull off ones with lots of bright colours, like these.  We were on one of the balconies at South Street Seaport, she was sitting on a chair and I was sitting on the ground, and I couldn't help but take this shot.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at Fool for some silly fun.

Model: Bianca Di Maio

Twilight

No, sorry, this has nothing to do with that vampire thing.  This is just a photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge and a boat and a cityscape near the end of sunset.  I hope you like it :)

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at another shot of the bridge in Brooklyn.

A Splash of Orange

I love flowers, if you hadn't been able to tell.  Half of the photographs on this blog are of flowers.  And, why not?  If we're talking about the lovely things in this world, it is hard to ignore them.  Manmade loveliness is wonderful, but if you want to discuss natural beauty, the flower is where it's at.  Colours like this happen without any person trying to create them.  How wonderful is that?  

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at Pink is Pretty.

Tired

South Street Seaport is a really fun place.  I've been shunning it for the past few years as a tourist trap, but when a few visiting friends wanted to go down there and have a look around, I was forced.  I was so glad that I was.  The boats docked there are so lovely, and the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the balconies of the mall is just exquisite.  More on that to come.  This is the side of one of the ships,  strung with... car tires.  I have no idea why, but I thought that it looked rather nice.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Like this?  Take a look at For the Long Haul.

Across the Pond

It feels so odd to think that I have been back from the UK for two and a half monthes now.  I was only there for four!  I started this blog to chronicle my travels there, and I had no idea that I'd still be keeping it up now.  If you check my oldest entries, they are more like a journal, telling "what I did today in London" with a smattering of some photographs to demonstrate what I had seen in images as well as words.  Then, I posted a photograph and no description.  Slowly, I've been writing more and more.  How far this has come!  Now, I really enjoy working on this blog.  Even more than that, I take at least ten photographs a day, look at other peoples work, read photography books... I feel that I'm getting better.  Which is why it is so fun for me now to go back to some of my older albums and  choose what I think are the best photographs.  They aren't the ones I would have chosen three months ago, for certain.   I hope you are enjoying this blog as much as I am. :)

Hampstead, London, England, UK

Like this?  Try out Landscape.

Peeping

I love these flowers peeping through the brick wall.   They seem so sneaky, in a silly way.  The wall is so thick, yet they have managed to finagle their way through to the sunlight and sidewalk on the other side of this yard.  As if they just needed to say "hello!" to the passersby, to remind them that life is lovely.  Lovelier than we think it is.

Hampstead, London, England, UK

Like this?  Try out In Bruges.

Wilting

I love flowers when they're like this- those few days when the brilliance of the flower in full bloom is still delightfully evident, but the process of wilting has begun.  When the edges of the flower begin to discolor, but the center is still radiant.  This decay of beauty is lovely to me.  It reminds me of the ephemeral quality of the flower, which for some reason, I find comforting.  I can't quite describe it, but I like it.  And, I hope that you do too.

Hampstead, London, England, UK

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