Good Light

Retakes for Geneva School yesterday. Setup and tear down has gotten quicker for me. I can get all this up and ready to go in about 20 minutes now. Not bad considering it took me an hour the first time. I'm really happy with these lights. Alienbees or "bees" are not the best out there but considering their ease of use and quality of light, they certainly can do everything that a Broncolor or Profoto or Norman or Hensel setup can do. We'll see what I can get out of them during a less formal shoot coming up. I'll be able to get a little more creative.

Old Language, Still New

Via Origins Church, NYC:

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one
Dwell in me
Dwell so richly in me
Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower.
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
Dwell in me
Dwell so richly in me

NYC is hollow

They are doing some construction on our street these days. I get to wake up at 7 every morning to the sounds of pile drivers and "your mom" backing up(heh) outside my window. They have dug a big hole the length of the block about 20 feet deep and 8 feet wide. You can look down in and see all the old pipes and wires and lines that have been there for a hundred years. Every now and then the building shakes because they are drilling or pile driving or dropping huge pieces of street out of the front loader.

Growing up in FL we didn't have things like basements or anything that went underground because there is water there. Here in NYC there is a whole other world of twisted, interlocking, rotting pipes and structures that go between underground chambers and passages that run throughout the city. "The Underworld" if you will.

Some pics..

Some Funny Internets

Flat Earth Society

but what I really want to do is dance

After work everyday, I take the subway across the city, then take a bus uptown to home. I could just stay on the subway, but when I'm not in a hurry, I find that taking the bus is better because you never know what you'll see while staring out of the window, or who you will meet while waiting for the bus to come....

I'm waiting for the bus today, enjoying my daily Starbucks iced coffee (shameless plug, one day someone at corporate will read this blog and thank me with freebies)and pretending not to listen to the red haired 16 year old fighting with her Mom on why she should be allowed to add purple streaks to her bangs, (she had some really good points I might add). My eavesdropping was interrupted by the sounds of loud bass and fabulous beats. The kid driving had his windows down, so all of E 62nd St was able to enjoy his awesomeness together. The guy next to me, who couldn't have been younger than 75, turns to me, and says, "would you care to dance young lady?" After spitting up the ice cube that had become somewhat lodged in my throat when he asked, I replied with, "heck yes I do," and so we did, I even threw in a few robot moves for good measure. His name was Marvin, and he loved life.

New York City

Roosevelt Island

This is where we almost lived when we moved here a year ago. We ended up in Manhattan instead. It took a whole year for us to get back and go exploring on RI but we finally did. We spent our holiday afternoon walking the river park and seeing the sights. Finally got to ride the famous tram too. Everything is clean and kept that way it seems. Not like the city where it's cleaned 'as needed.' It's nice but there really is nothing around to do. There is also a rehab hospital so we saw a lot of amputees which was gives you a strange feeling. We are glad that we live in Manhattan. Here are some pictures.


Walking the river.


The lighthouse on the northern tip of the island.


Amy sitting enjoying the view and the breeze.


Nice trees.


Nicer than Manhattan


...and a nice sunset to finish it off.

Easy Rider

Is it bad that I envy this dog's life?

Sorry it's blurry. Our little Casio camera is on life support. (hint hint)

It's happening.