Standing at the top of the Empire State Building, all I could think was that I couldn't believe I hadn't been there before. It's just never been on my agenda in New York before. But now I can scratch it off the list.
And by the way, this is taken with my new toy, the fisheye optic for my Lensbaby composer. It's a lot of fun, and for the price the quality is pretty good!
Manhattan
Bright Eyes
Finally think I may have figured out a way around the silliness of not being able to upload photos to the blog. Or maybe this was just a fluke.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Synergy
The Internet and I are still at a standoff - thus far, and no farther will it let me go. I can use my email, watch YouTube, read delicious recipes that make me salivate like crazy . . . all of these are fine. No problem. I could even, I dare say, find many pictures and movies of scantily clad women quite easily. Although that's an assumption I haven't tested.
But uploading a picture? Or an attachment to an email? Nice try. Fat chance. No ****in' way.
So, please have some patience with me. I am considering making an offering to the gods of the internet in order to get the appropriate privileges, but they are capricious gods, and the future still looks uncertain.
In the meantime, I have to talk about synergy. Or serendipity. Or perhaps, confluence. Or maybe all of those things. Let me tell you a story.
Two days ago I was with a student visiting from Russia. It was his first day in New York and he wanted to play basketball (he's huge, about 6'2", and a genius on the court). So we grabbed another student (happened to be from Denmark) and we went to the nearest public court. We all figured they would just go one-on-one.
But that's when the magical synergy or whatever it was from the courts happened. Both of these guys, fresh from the far-flung corners of the world were invited to play ball. Almost immediately. And without much fanfare. The Russian giant played with the regulars of the court (and was pretty evenly matched), and the Danish not-so-much-a-giant was invited to play with two ten-year-old boys. Who almost beat him.
And anyway, sitting on the side of the court watching this, in the intense humidity of an approaching thunderstorm, I was moved. And grateful to be an observer. Glad that at least somewhere, only one thing matters. Can you play ball?
But uploading a picture? Or an attachment to an email? Nice try. Fat chance. No ****in' way.
So, please have some patience with me. I am considering making an offering to the gods of the internet in order to get the appropriate privileges, but they are capricious gods, and the future still looks uncertain.
In the meantime, I have to talk about synergy. Or serendipity. Or perhaps, confluence. Or maybe all of those things. Let me tell you a story.
Two days ago I was with a student visiting from Russia. It was his first day in New York and he wanted to play basketball (he's huge, about 6'2", and a genius on the court). So we grabbed another student (happened to be from Denmark) and we went to the nearest public court. We all figured they would just go one-on-one.
But that's when the magical synergy or whatever it was from the courts happened. Both of these guys, fresh from the far-flung corners of the world were invited to play ball. Almost immediately. And without much fanfare. The Russian giant played with the regulars of the court (and was pretty evenly matched), and the Danish not-so-much-a-giant was invited to play with two ten-year-old boys. Who almost beat him.
And anyway, sitting on the side of the court watching this, in the intense humidity of an approaching thunderstorm, I was moved. And grateful to be an observer. Glad that at least somewhere, only one thing matters. Can you play ball?
Some Thoughts on New York
There was going to be an image at the top of this post, but my current internet won't allow for the uploading of images by an unknown entity (that would be me), so I thought I'd share my first impressions of Queens:
1) It's hot. And muggy. And . . . muggy. And did I mention hot? But actually, I don't mind. It kind of reminds me of Thailand, and my body knows how to handle the heat.
2) People are a lot more abrupt than Californians. It's not that they're not willing to help you - they are, sometimes, but only if you don't waste your time and it fits into their schedule. I've been treated to some amazing kindnesses, and also some unbelievable rudeness (like the bus driver who waited two minutes while I was counting my dollar bills to tell me that the buses only accept coins!).
3) Dunkin Donuts is everywhere! And open 24/7. And hopping. Busy. Crowded. Everyone needs their donut fix. I barely ever thought about donuts in San Francisco, now I feel like it's part of every second sentence in a conversation.
And, since I've been here a total of two days, and working most of that, I think I'll end there. I'll share more impressions with you all as I form them. And please, feel free to add your own impressions in the comments, or to tell me I'm absolutely wrong about something. Although I firmly stand by number 3.
1) It's hot. And muggy. And . . . muggy. And did I mention hot? But actually, I don't mind. It kind of reminds me of Thailand, and my body knows how to handle the heat.
2) People are a lot more abrupt than Californians. It's not that they're not willing to help you - they are, sometimes, but only if you don't waste your time and it fits into their schedule. I've been treated to some amazing kindnesses, and also some unbelievable rudeness (like the bus driver who waited two minutes while I was counting my dollar bills to tell me that the buses only accept coins!).
3) Dunkin Donuts is everywhere! And open 24/7. And hopping. Busy. Crowded. Everyone needs their donut fix. I barely ever thought about donuts in San Francisco, now I feel like it's part of every second sentence in a conversation.
And, since I've been here a total of two days, and working most of that, I think I'll end there. I'll share more impressions with you all as I form them. And please, feel free to add your own impressions in the comments, or to tell me I'm absolutely wrong about something. Although I firmly stand by number 3.
Edsel
I swear, I don't even really like cars. But they don't move, so they're perfect for photographs. And this one was really cool.
Tip: I used f/22 to get the highlights on the chrome to turn into those little star things. You can try it too!
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