Scribbles and Photos

I made a very short expedition to the Rose Reading room at the New York Public Library having heard it was finally re-opened after being closed for renovation for two years (or forever depending on how you feel about the Rose Reading Room).  It was closed in 2014 because one of the rosettes that decorates the ornate beaux arts ceiling had fallen down.   Because of my ankle boot (yes, I fractured my ankle, long story for another blog post), the expedition was relatively short as these things go.  Which was a good thing because once I was back out on the street it was hard to get a cab and Uber was charging double. Once I'm out of this boot, I plan to go back -- and when I do, I'll be packing my wide angle lens because this room really deserves a photo that takes in the whole perspective. The short, empty red hallway was just a bonus on my way to the ladies room.

I was lucky enough to catch two awesome sunsets while out in California for a meeting and a long weekend.  They were just the icing on the cake to great conversations with good friends and colleagues over good food. From the patio at Donovan's : From the terrace at George's at the Cove : And there was also a sunrise when I was up early one morning at the Best Western in Indio: Indio Sunrise. _____________________ #desert #roadtrip #longweekend #nancyx2 #bestwesterndatetree #california #travel #indio A photo posted by Nancy L (@nlundebjerg) on Oct 1, 2016 at 6:49am PDT

The intrepid Nancy B and I recently took a jaunt to the Salton Sea and environs.  Along the way, we saw two very different ways of restoring VW camper vans.  I prefer the bling on the VW van in East Jesus.  Although I still dream of rolling down the highway in a restored VW camper van.  There are rumors that VW will be debuting the 21st century version of it's iconic van at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas in early 2017.  Be still my beating heart.

Richard Serra is back at the Gargosian with three massive sculptures of the forged steel slab variety.  These pieces were not on the same scale as those I saw back in 2014 ( Expedition Richard Serra ) but, just like that time, I found myself feeling pretty small and insignificant.  And I was reminded while revisiting my prior post that I really do want to see his work outside.  And, now that I've read the NYTimes review , I am a little bummed that I missed NJ-1, 2015.  That's the thing about NYC, if you blink, you can miss the art. If I had to explain what I like about Serra's work, it would probably boil down to the patina on the steel.  Let's just say, there is something about rust that I find extraordinarily appealing.  And much of his work could be categorized as rust on a grand scale.  

Among those that we lost on 911were five firefighters from the Ten House.  The house, located in the shadow of the World Trade Center, was the first to respond.  I took this photo last week as Tower Ladder Ten (ladder 10 was buried under some 40 feet of rubble on 9.11.01) was rolling out to respond to a fire (engine 10 was close behind).  The courage of first responders never ceases to amaze me. A small element of this picture is the beams that were salvaged from the ruins of the two towers and that stand now in the 911 museum (the right side of the museum window).  Etched on the side of one is the word save.  One day, I happened upon the museum when these same beams rose up inside the reflection of the Freedom Tower -- old scars surrounded by new skin. Individual Losses Last year, I visited the Memorial on the evening of 911 -- long after the names had been read.  The walls of the fountain were full of flowers, flags, and even the...

I wonder if being an actual wedding photographer is as stressful as public speaking?  I tend to think it would be -- after all, it's not like you get a do over of the wedding day if you mess up the photos.  I have been known to follow the occasional bride through Central Park (see Wedding Party , Instagram Intersections ).  The couple above didn't need to be stalked in Florence.  I am only sad that I did not catch their photographer. As for this bride, we had a small disagreement about whether this was a bride who had booked a destination wedding or a photo shoot (it was, after all,  Pitti Uomo week in Florence and even if that is about men's fashion, there were lots of fashionistas afoot).  My money was on the photo shoot since there was no discernible wedding planner hovering around -- just the guy with the black suitcase. Florence Bloom The setting for the photo shoot was a piece was called Florence Bloom which was a ...

Approaching David When in Florence, one goes to see David -- it's an obligatory stop.  And having braved the lines and the crowds the Accademia, you need to spend a bit of time studying him from every angle.  Or, about ten minutes because the press of the crowds is such that that is about all I could stand.   One tip is to go with a guide as they get you through the line more quickly. The Original Six Pack Those Calf Muscles, That Butt That Hand Scrum at the David

I've been visiting the Union Square Greenmarket on a weekly basis since first wandering down there on one of the hottest days of the summer to see my friend Kate and coming home with some Row by Row Farm tomatoes, Tonje's Farm cheese PLUS milk with cream on top, and Hodgson Farms  blueberries. I'm already mourning the end of summer and the waning days of the tomatoes.

We are waiting for the boats to arrive that will take us away from Herculaneum, my father, my mother, sister, and me.   Here they had said, we will be safe here at the waterfront sheltered by the strong stalls that held goods from other lands.   We’ll be safe there my mother whispered to us children as she dressed us while father bundled up our gold and silver.   Take only what you can carry they said with that serious, stern expression that usually preceded a more serious than normal punishment for some childhood transgression. I could see the smoke rising up from Vesuvius and heard the whispering of our neighbors and my parents as they talked about whether to stay or to run.   And if we run, I heard my mother say to my father, where will we run to?   To the sea he had responded, to the sea.   We’ll be safe there he said – his whisper joining a 1,000 other whispers as that single word – “safe” – bounced off of walls and careened around co...

Queen of the Garden -- the Rose The Lowly Dandelion The Hardy Crocus

Aah, spring... Dahlia ... Tulips Snowbell (an early spring harbinger)...

Whoa, I am not going to win any awards for blogging regularly (much less frequently) on this blog.  The writing muse just isn't striking me so frequently these days.  Or maybe the photography muse is striking me too frequently?

totally unrelated I sense a purchase coming on:   Olympus 7-14 f2.8 PRO .

Here's the thing, I'm not sure that the inside of the Oculus ( The Oculus ) delivers on the promise of the exterior.

A little hay to break up the cityscapes.

I went to see the inside of the Oculus. Twice. 'nuf said? Dizzy. #insidetheoculus #oculus #wtc #oculus #construction #wtctransportationhub #calatrava #santiagocalatrava #architecture #modern #trainstation #NYC #nycprime_ladies #ownyourcity A video posted by Nancy L (@nlundebjerg) on Mar 3, 2016 at 4:09pm PST

More photos from last Saturday's expedition to see the Audubon Mural Project .   I think I need to make a bird list of some sort so I can keep track of the ones I did not get to or where the security gates were closed.  Sort of like what a birder would do -- right?

I went on a hunt for the murals in the Audubon Mural Project yesterday.  The project is a joint effort of the Gitler and  ___ gallery and the National Audubon Society to paint 314 murals depicting bird species that are threatened by climate change.  It was a gorgeous day for a walk -- I clocked almost 8 miles.  Love those kind of days.

When you wake up and it's 0 out and feels like -19, the best thing to do is to hunker down with a cup of hot coffee, catch up on Homeland, and troll your photos from that time you went to Canada to see the Northern Lights and really big waves.  That time when it was this cold and they took dressing you up for the weather really, really seriously ( Mush ,  Yukon Impressions ,  Of Ice Fishing and S'Mores ). Yesterday was the first day that the sock monkey hat purchased in the Vancouver airport and the red wool buff purchased in White Horse came out so I could go on an expedition to see the frozen fountain in Bryant Park ( Frozen , Frozen Fountain ).  By the end of my little expedition, I was really wishing I had worn my really big mittens and had the parka wardrobe to choose from at the Inn on the Lake . #frozen #raybanselfie #rayban #selfie #fountain A photo posted by Nancy L (@nlundebjerg) on Feb 13, 2016 at 7:26am PST