The Trash Heap Returns

The trash heap makes its slow return.

I think if I recreated this in a gallery I could call it art.

Face in the stone

Today I walking thru

Manhattanʻs Upper West Side

And I was delighted to see all of the cool

architectural details

that adorn the buildings and staircases.

American gothic, for sure!

Dancing water

Part of the World of Color show at Disney's California Adventure; the colored water fascinates me.

Andy Warhol monument

Today we had such a great sky here in NYC

and I passed the newly-famous

Andy Warhol monument in Union Square.

The sky, the buildings, the monument

I had to snap a quick photo to share.

A Missed Post

I missed my daily post yesterday. I came home tired from teaching all day. And the cold rainy day just begged me to hibernate. I fell asleep early. Woke up before midnight. "You could still get that post in," I told myself then fell right back to sleep. This morning I woke up with a big smile on my face, even before I looked out and saw this beautiful day.

Later, I'm hoping to see the ocean out there. In the early afternoon the sun hits the water just right and if I'm lucky I can see a thin strip of gold on the horizon.

Open Up!

We hardly ever have days this gorgeous in L.A.  This house with big wide windows and wonderful views - Hey! Open up your curtains! Open up your shades! It's beautiful out here!

Abandoned lot

An abandoned lot

not too far from my apartment

Across the Harlem River--

where the boundary between Manhattan and the Bronx

becomes blurry.

Vet sculpture

As many times as I drive past this emergency pet center, I just noticed this beautiful wood sculpture; I thought it must be new but was told it wasn't, just new to me.

Keyboard

I had to buy a keyboard today

I'm learning a new piece of music--

a throwback to another time in my life

It was very nostalgic

And very SCARY

My fingers remembered how to play a little...

That was the scariest part of all.

Taffy

The local ice cream shop is gearing up for Easter with a barrel full of assorted salt water taffy; although I enjoy the beautiful variety of colors, the only taffy I actually like to eat is the black licorice flavored ones; on that piece of information, my husband commented "who likes black licorice? which brought on a conversation down memory lane about how my beloved grandpa Julio loved black licorice and even kept a box of black licorice flavored cough drops in a drawer in the kitchen and how I would sneak in there and open the box and take in the scent of my grandpa's cough drops. Forgot about those cough drops and my grandpa's love of black licorice until I saw that taffy; I had a very special grandpa.

What to do with old records and toys

When I was first getting to know my now good friend Wendy, she invited me over one day to help her with a project. We made dozens and dozens of these wacky decorations for her upcoming house concert. We painted flowers and designs on old 45's and LPs, then glued on goofy toys we bought from the thrift shop. We hung them from the ceiling, suspended upside down, all over her house. It was super fun and started the foundation of a super friendship. I still have about a dozen of them hanging from the ceiling and wall over my work space.

Parking lot view

Makes me happy to come out from work and still have some daylight.

Self portrait in a mirror

A self portrait taken in a mirror

A photo of my reflection

(Like a portal into an alternate universe.)

Manhattan, Upper West Side

Snails and Shells and Puppy Dog Tails

Today Donkey and I went for a walk in the amazing Debs Park. It is one of our best kept secrets here in northeast Los Angeles. At the park, walk up the road to the pond. Stand in the shade and check out the view, then keep on going. The paved road follows the crest of the hills northward and soon leaves the graffiti behind while many small hiking trails wind their way along through the trees and brush giving spectacular views of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Arroyo Seco, and downtown Los Angeles. Its my new favorite place.

After another fabulous walk, we left the park and I desperately needed something cold to drink. I found a little burger joint and went in to get a soda. Donkey waited outside. I hurriedly reached into my pocket for some crumpled dollar bills. And I laughed at myself, feeling like a little kid just coming in from playing all day on the hillside.

Ouch

I painfully had to fill my gas tank today; my pocketbook is bruised.

NYC wakes up

This morning, I sat in a coffee shop in Hell's Kitchen

and sipped coffee

and watched the city wake up.

I could get used to that.

Be Happy

This little chalkboard slate hangs by my front door.

Every December we have a party: Christmas Game Day. It's a big deal around here. Last December I wrote on my chalkboard "HAPPY! !!GAME DAY!!"

That message stayed until about Valentines Day when I finally erased the GAME DAY!! part of the message. But I was in a hurry (and not in the greatest mood) and couldn't decide what to put in its place. So I left it.

Today I noticed it again. And instead of the grumpy mood of that day, I'm in a great mood on this day. And I realized: why do I need to be told to be happy about some specific thing or event?

"!HAPPY!!" is enough for me.

Street Lights and Mocking Birds

When I was growing up, all the street lights looked like this one. I didn't think there were any left around here.

A few years ago the city replaced all our street lights with super bright ones. The one in front of our house can make my bedroom look like midday. The same year they put the new street lights in, a mocking bird started hanging out there. I love mocking birds. They are my absolute favorite. They make me laugh every single time I hear them. But this mocking bird was hanging out between 1 and 3 am. Every night singing his heart out. We decided it was because of the street light, making the middle of the night seem like midday. We lay in bed and listened since there's no going back to sleep when a crazy mocking bird practices his repertoire outside your bedroom window. And we chuckle through the late night hours.

Found Treasure

This treasure had been unintentionally put aside years ago and sadly forgotten until my grandson emerged from one of his exploration adventures dragging it with him. Apparently, he knows valuable art when he sees it and knows it should be displayed with pride.

New seats on the subway!

We got some new seats on the subway!

See the orange and yellow seats in the top left corner?

Those are the old seats.

But see this shiny seat that is almost the same color as Eeyore?

That's the new seat!

New color. Slightly uncomfortable in the current color scheme.

And, as always, slightly uncomfortable to sit on.