Random NYC shots

No particular day/event here, just some random ones from NYC.

Our hotel was near Fashion Ave.
Some graffiti from the drive in.
This one is especially for Sharon :-) Shot through the cab window on our way uptown one day.
I like this shot of the Chrysler building better than the last one I posted, which was edited on a laptop:
We were there a full day before I realized I could see the Empire State Building from my hotel room window. Actually, it would probably have been longer than that if my husband hadn't come in my room (I shared with Delaney while he was around the corner with Cam) and told me.
I thought my only view was this ugliness. I needed to stand over there on the right and look over to the left to see the Empire State Building.

Orange butterfly

I need a break from city shots. Here's one from the butterfly conservatory at the Museum of Natural History. There was lots of funky lighting to deal with in there.


Here's how I ended up at MoMA without my camera. I had my camera and backpack, and a security guard said I couldn't bring it in (after a different one said I could). I didn't want to check it (the line was soooo long and it wasn't for valuables), so my husband ran everything back to our hotel. I didn't realize it was the backpack that was a no-no, not my camera. I should have asked. When I got inside I saw all kinds of people with cameras (and some with backpacks--grrr.) When I checked online later, I saw that the policy was no backpacks, but cameras were okay as long as you didn't use flash. Of course I saw all kinds of people using flash. Lesson learned and I checked camera/bag policies for the places we went the rest of the time.
Boring story--aren't you sorry you asked?

Madame Tussaud's

New York City Day 2, continued. After Ripley's Believe It or Not we headed next door to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I won't subject you to every snapshot of us looking silly posing with a fake famous person, just a few.

A view of Times Square from one of the windows.
You're greeted by The Hulk on your way in.
The kids hanging out in the Oval Office with the POTUS.
One of my photography idols, Annie Leibovitz. Too bad my focus fell on her hand and camera instead of her face. She would probably not be proud ha ha.
I photo-bombed Brangelina!

The final part of day 2 of our trip was spent at the Museum of Modern Art, of which I have zero photos because of a misunderstanding with one of their security guards. To summarize, my husband and I enjoyed it; the kids hated it. I don't know why that surprised me. They've never enjoyed any art museum we've ever taken them to. My son (15) couldn't seem to appreciate all the works by famous artists that we saw. Instead he got annoyed by things like here. (I'm not sure that's the actual one, but you get the idea.) His actual quote was, "Those white canvases just pissed me off!" Not an art lover, that one. I admit to not being able to appreciate those either, but how fun to see some Picasso/Dali/Monet/Warhol/Pollack, etc. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get to see Van Gogh's Starry Night. It was on tour (ha, like a rock band.) It really was a beautiful museum.

Ripley's Believe It or Not--New York City Day 2

DD and I got our heads pickled at the Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium:
DD also lost her bottom half (some of you Facebookers have already seen this one):
NYC is full of amazing art museums, but my kids turned their noses up at them and loved this place instead. It is pretty fun--there are lots of torture devices and shrunken heads.

I liked this display, because I've been morbidly fascinated with Chinese foot binding ever since I read "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan":



This is a ship carved out of camel bones:
A little detail:
I took photos of these statues so I can pretend I was in an exotic foreign country (Who am I kidding? To me New York IS an exotic foreign country):
This one reminds me of the World's Ugliest Dog we see every year. I think it's the mouth:
In case you haven't had any luck googling this:

New York City

It was school vacation last week, so the family and I headed off to New York City. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and walked over to the Empire State Building.
View of the Chrysler Building from the observation deck on the 86th floor:
I think that's the Brooklyn Bridge:
I don't know what this building is, but I just thought it looked cool from the observation deck.
A street scene from our walk back to our hotel.

Weed of the Day

Back to the Birds

Male/female pair of goldfinches. I wish she hadn't turned her head away.

Buds of Spring

Budding trees in my yard.

Hearth and Home

The hearth at my mom and stepdad's house.

BirdHOUSE of the Day

You thought it was going to be another bird, didn't you?

Bird of the Day: Robin

Another sure sign of spring in New England; the return of the robin.

Bird of the Day: Female Goldfinch

Female goldfinch.

{Yellow}Flower of the Day

Nothing too exciting about this photo except YAY! my first daffodils bloomed the other day.

{Yellow}Bird of the Day

Male goldfinch.

Baxter

Baxter doesn't spend all his time being dressed up and humiliated by me. Sometimes he gets to play like a real dog:

Sully

My niece's puppy Sully. He's a daschund/miniature poodle mix.

Fun with fungi

My mom has this tree stump covered with fungus in her yard. (Yes, that is snow on the ground on Easter Sunday. That's Maine for you, kids.)
Of course I moved in for a closer look.
I like the stripes.


I thought this one would look cool in black and white, but I think I like the color version better.
The stump is topped off with a "corsage":

Easter Sunset

The sunset on my way home from visiting family on Easter. I took it from my moving car, so I guess that makes me on theme (motion). I also still had my camera on custom white balance based on my mom's yard in daylight, then took the photo through the car window, so I got color that wasn't what I actually saw--but I like it. I ran it through my HDR plugin too.