Scribbles and Photos

Somewhere in the Australian Outback

The Winter Palace party girls in the Saks windows are all grey, and whites with a hint of blue ( Party Girl ).  The Bergdorf girls, on the other hand?  Let's just say it's an explosion of color -- and then some. For more party girls (er mannequins), Party Girls . The Series Dressed Up (for the Holidays) 'Tis the Season for Selfies All Hail the Queens Oh NYC Christmas Trees Party Girl The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

I visited this tree 7 times this year.  These pics are from visits 5 (night) and 6 (morning) -- which occurred within the space of 12 hours.  I don't have any pictures on my camera from visit 7 because it was pouring down rain. Visit 5 Visit 6 ....and an iPhone shot from Visit 7 (aka the pouring down rain visit) A very wet #rockcenter #christmastree 7th and wettest trip this year. #holidays #holidaysnyc #christmas #city #NYC #nycholidays #ownyourcity #nycprime_ladies #photooftheday #touristinmyowncity A photo posted by Nancy L (@nlundebjerg) on Dec 23, 2015 at 2:39pm PST The Series Dressed Up (for the Holidays) 'Tis the Season for Selfies All Hail the Queens Oh NYC Christmas Trees Party Girl

The real question is, why don't I look like this after a night of partying? The Series Dressed Up (for the Holidays) 'Tis the Season for Selfies All Hail the Queens Oh NYC Christmas Trees

the Tree at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Tiffany's Tree The Peace Tree at St. John the Divine Seaport Tree. #holidays #holidays2015 #southstreetseaport #christmastree #christmas #nyc #ownyourcity #photooftheday #nycprime_ladies A photo posted by Nancy L (@nlundebjerg) on Dec 7, 2015 at 4:56pm PST The Series Dressed Up (for the Holidays) 'Tis the Season for Selfies All Hail the Queens

Somehow, both Saks and Bergdorf's ended up with queens in their windows for their 2015 holiday displays. And that is where the similarity ends. Saks Bergdorf's The Series Dressed Up (for the Holidays) 'Tis the Season for Selfies

It's not as if I don't do selfies myself but I am always amused when I catch people in the act. The Series Dressed Up (for the Holidays)

It's that time of year when NYC is all dressed up for the holidays.  And so begins my annual homage to the city that sparkles and glitters at this time of year ( Holidays in NYC , 31 Days of Holiday Windows ). What better place to start than with the red ornaments that are an annual feature at 1251 Avenue of the America's?

Marking a day of Thanksgiving for all that I have with a gift to: UNHCR The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is focused on helping and supporting refugees -- including the Syrian refugees that have been the topic of much debate here in the United States.  It's a small gesture this gift of mine to this organization that does so much for so many. The photo is a quick snap of the Prayers for Peace Ribbon Project , an initiative of the Marble Collegiate Church on 5th avenue in Manhattan.  Started in 2006, the different colored ribbons have different meanings.  The blue ribbons represent the congregation's prayers for the tens of thousands of civilians around the world who have been affected by conflict and war.   The green ribbons represent their prayers for peace. I hope we achieve world peace in my lifetime.  That would be something to be thankful for -- a world free of conflict and a world where there are no refugees. 

The Series Mother of Exiles Frightened Expedition Street Art I've been drinking Watermelon

The Series Mother of Exiles Frightened Expedition Street Art

Sometimes, you have to get out of the park (Central Park that is) and on to the streets of NYC.  Last Saturday, I did just that -- starting my walk in Little Italy and ending up just north of Washington Square Park.  I was hoping to see some new street art and also working on getting my steps in (AKA feeding my Fitbit).  There are two organized street art projects in this area (three if you count the Bowery Houston Wall) -- the Little Italy Street Art (LISA) project and the Centre-fuge Public Art Project . LISA is a bit like a scavenger hunt in terms of finding the art and since I did not venture far off of Mulberry Street, I likely missed a lot.  The art here has a feeling of permanence -- at least the major pieces by street art giants such as Ron Eaton and Tristan Eaton.  It's kind of like visiting Starry Night (van Gogh) at MoMA -- you just expect to find these murals intact.  LISA has expanded out beyond the confines of Little Italy and so new art is appearing all

Liberty artist = Tristan Eaton The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame, "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

It's four years later and I still don't know if I want to be buried in a cemetery ( Final Resting Spots ) -- even though I find them irresistible to visit and, on occasion, photograph.  As evidenced by these photos from my 2015 wanderings. Nevis (March 2015) Denver, CO (May 2015) Southington, CT (November 2015)

Something about a blanket of ginkgo leaves that makes my heart do a little back flip. The Series #1:   Bedazzled #2:   Orange Pop #3:   Very Wet #4:   Triangle #5:   Co-existing #6:   Right angle #7:   Leaf Compositions (Dry) #8:   Waiting for the Wind

In the category of facts I just learned from a quick perusal of the Central Park website , the pedestrian pathway here is the only intentional straight pathway in the park.   The American Elms that grace this section of the park had a few less leaves than in Literary Walk (Central Park) .  Still gorgeous in my humble opinion.

Seems like tall thin condominium towers are all the rage in midtown these days.  One57 (reflected above and behind the Essex House below) and 432 Park (on the left below) are the first of the super tall needles that are changing the face of midtown.  As shadows begin to creep across the southern end of Central Park, I am missing Jackie Kennedy Onassis who worked so hard to protect the park from just such a fate.   My favorite factoid from a May 2014 article by Paul Goldberger in Vanity Fair ( Too Rich, Too Thin, Too Tall? ) is that an early buyer at One57 was a Chinese mother who brought a "modest" (my quotes not Paul's) unit for her two-year-old daughter for $6.5 million.  Modest? Like the Time Warner building, these towers will be mostly occupied by the super rich -- people that jet from Shanghai to New York City as if they were taking a taxi from mid-town to the east village.  Don't get your hopes up that the building will stop with these t

Whatever did we do before we had cell phones? The Series Expedition TWA Flight Center Exit (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Kids and Architecture (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Fashion Shoot (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Bygone Era (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Ambassador Lunge (Expedition TWA Flight Center)

Details matter. The Series #1:   Bedazzled #2:   Orange Pop #3:   Very Wet #4:   Triangle #5:   Co-existing #6:   Right angle #7:   Leaf Compositions (Dry)

Last year at around this time, I posted a series of photos of wet leaves.  I think this year's theme will be dry leaves (unless it rains that is and then all bets are off because I've got a weather sealed lens to go with my weather sealed camera -- take that weather). The Series: #1:   Bedazzled #2:   Orange Pop #3:   Very Wet #4:   Triangle #5:   Co-existing #6:   Right angle

I am not 100% clear on whether the Ambassador Lounge was all that much nicer than the downstairs waiting area when it comes to the TWA Flight Center.  Both had drop dead gorgeous views of the runways and tarmac back in the day.   During this year's Open House New York, the lounge was open to visitors when we first got there but they closed it down at some point -- making for one of the few empty spaces in the building. The Series Expedition TWA Flight Center Exit (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Kids and Architecture (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Fashion Shoot (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Bygone Era (Expedition TWA Flight Center)

When travel used to mean getting dressed up. The Series Expedition TWA Flight Center Exit (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Kids and Architecture (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Fashion Shoot (Expedition TWA Flight Center)

When a fashion photo shoot walks into your photo shoot (yes, I was happily trying to capture the two women sitting behind her), you just go with the flow. The Series Expedition TWA Flight Center Exit (Expedition TWA Flight Center) Kids and Architecture (Expedition TWA Flight Center)

There were a lot of photo shoots going on at the TWA Flight Center -- none more cute than this one. The Series Expedition TWA Flight Center Exit (Expedition TWA Flight Center)

The Series Expedition TWA Flight Center

I knocked off a bucket list item yesterday -- visiting the TWA Flight Center that sits opposite the JetBlue terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport in Jamaica Queens.  It has been the object of my affections ever since I started standing in the cab line outside of the JetBlue terminal.  I just never seemed to be in NYC during Open House New York, a weekend where spaces that are typically not open to the public are open.  I just hope that Edgar Allen Poe can forgive me for jettisoning the plan to see his cottage up in the Bronx in favor of expedition TWA Flight Center with my friend Kate. Who knew that two people who aren't innately fond of crowds would spend three hours in a very crowded venue in order to be sure that we saw pretty much every inch of the spaces that were open to the public.  And some inches we saw twice.   Saarinen said that he sought to design   ‘…a building in which the architecture itself would express the drama and specialness and excitement of travel…

I am still waiting for the day when mannequins are more reflective of real people ( That Place between Youth and Scattered Ashes ).  In the meantime, this hand is from the just ended China through the Looking Glass Costume Institute exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC ( Haute Couture Dreaming , More Fashion ) .   This particular dress was from a bygone era of westerners in China.  Hard to fathom the handwork that went into creating it.

A little throwback to a day in wandering Cartagena, Columbia ( The Doors of Cartagena ) with the intrepid Nancy B. Porque el Amor by Nancy Lundebjerg on 500px

Men in Kilts by Nancy Lundebjerg on 500px For some reason, the Labor Day parade up Fifth Avenue was not actually on Labor Day (go figure).  So I stumbled upon it on the following Saturday.  There were a fair number of men in kilts marching in the parade. I ask you, what's not to love about a man wearing a kilt? More Men in Kilts by Nancy Lundebjerg on 500px