Early morning

Jigsaw

Having given Bernadette the jigsaw puzzle for Christmas we set about trying to complete it.

Recycle

A relatively common sight- people gathering recyclable bottles and cans from street bins and apartment trash piles.

Fire Alarm

The familiar red fire alarm box that has been a fixture on every other street corner in New York City is being phased out, with many of them being disconnected in many neighborhoods. The city has decided that calling 911 on a cellphone is the best response when a fire breaks out. The Fire Department of New York has complained that over 90% of the calls they receive from the fire boxes are false alarms. There were, in 1999, a total of approximately 4400 remaining pull boxes and 9060 Emergency Rescue Service boxes (the ones with the buttons to contact the FDNY or the NYPD). None of the older pull boxes remain in Manhattan or the Bronx.
It’s interesting to note, though, that many fire alarms, and the lights that mark their presence, are functional “living fossils” as far as ‘street furniture’ goes. Many of the fixtures were installed in the first few years of this century.

Over the years, the city has devised several methods to mark fire alarm boxes. In the early years, beginning in the 1910s, boxes were marked by large, orange globe-shaped diffusers, made of glass at the start and then plastic later on. They could be installed on the shafts of cast iron lampposts or on the arms of lights hung from utility poles. They could also be mounted directly on top of the main diffuser.
This became impractical, though, when mercury bulbs appeared and new diffusers started appearing in the early Sixties. The shape of the fire alarm diffuser changed from a globe to the tube-shaped object shown above. As a rule, the new fire alarm lamps were mounted on short, simple curved bars that were attached to the utility pole or lamppost shaft.
In certain sections of the city, however, the cast-iron arms shown above were retained to carry the fire alarm lights. These arms, with their distinctive ironwork, were originally used to carry street lighting on side streets in the days when a single incandescent bulb was needed to light the street, in the early part of this century. The one on top is the one most commonly seen, but the one below, which looks like its little brother, is much rarer.

Toward the light

Spontaneous

However spontaneous I hope a photograph will look, I always put a lot of thought into how I can make it happen. The very best pictures are the most relaxed, so a lot of fussing around technically can completely break the spell, and everyone freezes up with nerves.

Mario Testino

Brick

Views

Heading Home

It was a wonderful experience and feeling that we have been part of history!

Women's March

It was mere chance that i took this shot in front of the End Rape sign :) 

The Women's Marchwas a worldwide protest on January 21, 2017, to advocate legislation and policies regarding human rights and other issues, including women's rights, immigration reform, healthcare reform, the natural environment, LGBTQ rights, racial equality, freedom of religion, and workers' rights. The rallies were aimed at Donald Trump, immediately following his inauguration as President of the United States, largely due to statements and positions attributed to him regarded by many as anti-women or otherwise offensive. It was the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history.

Above

 We traveled to Philadelphia on our way to DC for the Women's March. The Philadelphia 30th Street Station's design was influenced by the Northeast Corridor electrification that allowed trains to pass beneath the station without exposing passengers to soot as steam engines of earlier times had. The station had a number of innovative features, including a pneumatic tube system, an electronic intercom, and a reinforced roof with space for small aircraft to land, and contained a mortuary, a chapel and more than 3,000 square feet of hospital space.

Construction began in 1927 and the station opened in 1933, starting with two platform tracks.[6] The vast waiting room is faced with travertine and the coffered ceiling is painted gold, red and cream. The building's exterior has columned porte-cocheres on the west and east facade, and shows a balance between classical and modern architectural styles.

Yellow

School bus yellow is a color which was especially formulated for use on school buses in North America in 1939. The color is now officially known in Canada and the U.S. as National School Bus Glossy Yellow and was originally called National School Bus Chrome. The pigment used for this color was, for a long time, the lead-containing chrome yellow.

The color was chosen because it attracts attention and is noticed quickly in peripheral vision, faster than any other color. Scientists describe this as follows: "Lateral peripheral vision for detecting yellows is 1.24 times greater than for red."

In April 1939, Dr. Frank W. Cyr, a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York organized a conference that established national school-bus construction standards for the U.S., including the standard color of yellow for the school bus. It became known officially as "National School Bus Chrome". The color was selected because black lettering on that hue was easiest to see in the semi-darkness of early morning.

Chosen

“There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk.”
― Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana

“But when you're in front of an audience and you make them laugh at a new idea, you're guiding the whole being for the moment. No one is ever more him/herself than when they really laugh. Their defenses are down. It's very Zen-like, that moment. They are completely open, completely themselves when that message hits the brain and the laugh begins. That's when new ideas can be implanted. If a new idea slips in at that moment, it has a chance to grow.”
― George Carlin, Last Words

Bubbles

It pays to get into the laundry early in the day and beat the massive rush!

There's going to plenty of bubbles.

Quiet

“One of the risks of being quiet is that the other people can fill your silence with their own interpretation: You’re bored. You’re depressed. You’re shy. You’re stuck up. You’re judgemental. When others can’t read us, they write their own story—not always one we choose or that’s true to who we are.”

Sophia Dembling

7am/pm Mon-Sun

Day of social conscience

P.E.N. protest outside the public library


PEN America hosts the flagship New York City event of a national rallying effort under the banner of WRITERS RESIST. This literary protest will bring together hundreds of writers and their fellow New Yorkers on the steps of the New York Public Library in a collective stand to defend free expression, reject hatred, and uphold truth in the face of lies and misinformation.

Coinciding with the birthday of Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., this family-friendly event will feature readings and performances by some of the biggest names in arts and literature. Award-winning authors Andrew Solomon, Masha Gessen, Laurie Anderson, Rosanne Cash, Jeff Eugenides, Amy Goodman, Jacqueline Woodson, Monica Youn, A.M. Homes, Moustapha Bayoumi, Alexander Chee, Michael Cunningham, and others will read from a curated set of diverse writings and seminal texts that embody the ideals of democracy and free expression including excerpts from the Constitution, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermons, George Orwell’s 1984, the Federalist Papers, and other prose and poetry selections. Broadway Kids Against Bullying will perform the new single ‘I Have a Voice.’


As the rally comes to a close, participants and audience members will deliver PEN America’s pledge to defend the First Amendment—signed by more than 150,000 individuals, including all past U.S. Poets Laureate—to the transition team of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who will take office just five days later on January 20.

Cosy

Clothing

This time of year, nothing makes me more comfortable than some sweats, a hoodie, and some polka-dotted fuzzy socks. Add a crackling fire into the mix, and my day is made. To include multiple elements with just a single focus, use a low aperture (think 2.5 or lower). So go find that favorite item of clothing that just makes you feel snug and warm and capture it!

So my cosy is...my purple moccasins...the Teeve ...the bedside lamp and photos from home...

Passing Time

Do you have something you like to do that makes you happy and is interesting? Out of several hobbies that I have, birdwatching is one I particularly enjoy. It tends to be relaxing, rewarding, and also challenging. The challenging part comes with trying to photograph them!

So at the time my happy space and interest are taking photos and flowers...the flowers in our apartment are in full bloom....the succulents as flowering extensively...even the ferns are flowering...

Bokeh

Glow

Details

The Prompt:

I like to mix it up every now and again with a black & white conversion. I’m always surprised by the details that stand out that would have been overlooked in a color version. Let’s see what stands out in your photos today. Will it be patterns and textures or maybe it’s a dramatic sky?

So my focus was the detail...as opposed to the black and white- getting the shallow depth of field and the detail...of the necklace I bought in Quebec City.

In my UnPlanner

Ready

So you are going to take a photo every day for this year. That is at least 365 photos. What will you do with those photos? Will they stay on your computer or in your camera? Let me encourage you to begin now to think about all the different options for getting those photos off the camera and into your hands. You can make a book, you can make prints, you can frame them. You get the idea. Just do it!! It is such a great feeling when you see them printed out and it is so fun to watch how your photography changes and grows!

The prompt for the 365 asks about what are you gonna do with the photos...last year I embraced the Documented Life Project with the unPlanner and in the end i did make it my own. Each week I pasted and painted and created pages in which the photos from Capture Your 365 could be posted and I made pages opposite that were art journaling opportunities and making emotional connections and thinking connections. It's a lovely record of the year and so i am making it again this year but as the UnDocumented Life has finished forever (and 2017) I am making it my own and loving it...all 1.5 weeks :). 

Play

So the prompt for Capture your 365...

How do you play when the weather outside is frightful? I enjoy playing play board games. I love it when the grandkids come over and we sit around the table and play and bond together. Why not capture your indoor fun today?

So I have begun the year by playing creatively...and trying to keep things a little tidier

7AM-January 1-8

7am New Year's day

7am Jan 2on the plane back to NYC

7am Jan 3 on the 6 train to work

7am Jan 4- letting the guests know the toilet is likely to flood and use the other one!

7am Jan 5-heading for the crosstown bus

7am-Jan 6 Friday morning in bed

7am Jan 7 -aah a sleep in!

7am Jan 8- the morning after the snowy day!

White

Colour White on white is challenging. Why not have a go? Regardless of your skill level, this is a great learning experience that helps you understand light, shadow and reflection. Avoid overexposing. It’s that little bit of shadow that makes the white show up on the white.

...so I went with the bedroom light on white walls

I love this mask,  I know it doesn't completely fit the criteria. 

The paper lamp in the lounge room and the lounge room wall.

One doesn't realize how grubby the wall is around the curtain pull until one photographs white on white- or perhaps not so white.

Where I stand

This Moment Today look down and show us where you stand. This is a favorite CY365 prompt that we will repeat each month. It is inspired by my dear friend, Holly Clark’s Mug Chronicles project. Today she celebrates her 2,000 day of photographing where she stands! Yes, 2,000 days in a row. It makes 365 days seem easy! Grab a cup of coffee (or your favorite mugged beverage) and let’s celebrate with Holly!



I wanted to not only show where I stand but that it was Friday morning and I was home in my jammies! Happy dance.

SMILE! Amused, Joy, Silly

Have Fun With This
 Pay attention to what makes you smile and capture it today.

This is a really bad selfie but I took at the time of the incident that made me smile. In a kindergarten class/prep grade (I'm not going to call it Foundation!) a little boy walked up to me and said "I like the colour of your hair!" SMILE! Then a bit later from the depths of the hoard of kindergarteners on the rug (rug rats) a very clear loud voice said "Dear God!" Got my smiles for the day and it was only 9am.