Day 59 of 365

Gansevoort growth

Lights shine from below on decorative plants outside the Gansevoort Hotel.

"The Corner Deli, Manhattan," October 2007

The Corner Deli, Manhattan

A slice of New York City life from just one of many Manhattan corners.

"Deep Ravine trail path," Montana, May 2006

Deep Ravine trail path

To protect the grasslands at Little Bighorn National Park (and what still may be an archeological site, since I know they've found artifacts decades after the battle), a gravel path winds through the hills, leading you past markers where soldiers fell.

Day 58 of 365

Hudson Street evening

I've really taken to the walk up Hudson Street to get to work. I get to pass some of my favorite bars, including the White Horse. It's where Kerouac and Dylan Thomas drank, it's where I saw Michael Imperioli one ridiculously hot summer afternoon, and it's one of the bars we hit on my bachelor party pub crawl -- after 20 minutes wandering around the Village trying to find it because we'd been to a few places already, and we were all confused by the angled streets.

Day 57 of 365

Spilled

This is what happens when Casey leaves the gourds out for the winter and the animals enjoy the feast.

Day 56 of 365

Sous-Chef Cat

It was even better when he was reaching up to the edge of the counter to get at the pork.

Day 55 of 365

Front St., Red Bank, then and now

An early-20th Century postcard from Walker Evans' collection (on display at the Met) and my view of the street in 2009. As soon as I saw the postcard last week, I knew exactly where it was from having tossed back a few at The Globe (now just a bar). So today, since I was down in Red Bank, I made a point to go to Front St. to take an updated picture of the scene. Other than The Globe and the big building next to it (and barely in the frame), little is the same.

Day 54 of 365

Train at the end of the day

Went to pick up Casey and realized I hadn't taken a photo today, what with doing my taxes and scanning in old negatives. So, voila.

Day 53 of 365

As if it's sliding

As I waited inside the lobby of my building for my car to pick me up at 3:30 a.m., I watched the revelers pass by on the sidewalk, heading home after a night out in the bars of the Meatpacking District. Ninth Avenue was busy, mostly with taxis making their way toward the Village. As one after another passed by in the city night, I realized that I could be outside, setting the camera to a slower shutter speed and panning with the cars as they zipped by, capturing the motion. My ride home was running late, and I fired off five shots before it arrived and I was on my way home.

Day 52 of 365

The end

Caught the orange light of late afternoon reflected off of Lower Manhattan as I moved from NJ Transit to the PATH at Hoboken.

"Bixby Canyon, Big Sur drive, California," September 2005

Bixby Canyon, Big Sur drive, California

I love scenic drives and known or historic routes. Route 66, Highway 61, Route 1 on either coast. This view of the Bixby Canyon Bridge in Big Sur is what the trips on these roads are all about -- new views and new adventures.

I descended a dusty gravel ridge
Beneath the Bixby Canyon Bridge
Until I eventually arrived
At the place where your soul had died

Barefoot in the shallow creek
I grabbed some stones from underneath
And waited for you to speak to me

-- Ben Gibbard, "Bixby Canyon Bridge"

"NYC glow," November 2007

NYC glow

I didn't want just a street scene as my urban landscape. I considered something that's more of a landscape than urban, even if it's technically in the city. So then I settled on this shot, one of my personal favorites, in which, with just a little imagination, those aren't buildings bathed in the light of sunset but trees against a deep blue sky or leaves aflame in the colors of fall.

OK, or it's just sunset on Manhattan.

Day 51 of 365

Glowing in the gathering dusk

Walking along 15th St. toward 9th Ave. on Thursday, I took notice of this building on the corner with its vertical white lights on a black silhouette against a deep blue dusk sky. Had I not been five minutes late for work, I would've stopped to take a picture. Though I also realized that had I not been five minutes late for work, I probably wouldn't have seen that moment, because it would've been earlier and the sky perhaps not at that perfect time of blue gradually growing to black.

Twenty-four hours later, it's Friday, and I'm walking to work along 15th St. and note the tint to the sky and the time on my watch. It's just about 6 p.m. Yes, I'm a few minutes late again, but I was originally delayed by the train, so I take two minutes to pause and compose a few shots before moving on through the wind tunnel to work. Those two minutes -- or however long it was -- was enough exposure of my bare right hand to the gales that it hurt considerably as I buried it into my pocket to cross the street and enter the building. It was worth it, though.

Day 50 of 365

Putting on the finishing touches

I got a glimpse of the future when I went out to Queens for a look at the past.

Day 49 of 365

Across the foyer

I got down on the floor to get a cat's-eye view of Harry as he rested, but my coming to his level inspired him into action -- mostly approaching me, purring, for petting. I took a few other shots, particularly a ground-level view of the foyer, and liked this one with the large ghost cat moving through it.

Day 48 of 365

Spotted again

I parked the car and noted that despite my best efforts, I couldn't really leave enough space in front of me for anything but a Mini or other small car ... like a Miata. When I got to the car after work, I saw the small white car in front of mine. Its front bumper was touching the car in front of it, but I had enough space to get out.

And then when I sat down behind the wheel, I saw the license plate of a familiar vehicle.

Day 47 of 365

DC

I took this one just because I wanted a new profile pic with my initials. It's the logo on the left chest (of the wearer) of a Washington Nationals jacket I have (again, because of the initials).

Day 46 of 365

Pizza pizz

Just up Ninth Avenue from the office is Stella's Pizza, an excellent slice that I get for dinner with probably too much regularity. I'll reach a saturation point every now and then and will refrain, yet there's something about seeing its glowing neon sign from two blocks away -- or from right out front -- that makes me want it, even if I just had it two days ago.

I restrained myself, though.

"Canadian National Railways No. 47," Pennsylvania, June 2007

Canadian National Railways No. 47

Between lunch with a friend on afternoon and a ballgame that evening in Scranton, I spent some time at Steamtown National Historic Site, a collection of retired trains on the tracks of a former maintenance yard and turntable.

Day 45 of 365

Outside the vault, in from the cold

I love this huge sign inside Chelsea Market.

Day 44 of 365

I work down at the car wash

Well I work down at the car wash
For a dollar and a dime
And mister, I hate my boss
It's at the car wash I'm doing my time
Pick up my water bottle and my towel, sir
And I take 'em one by one
From Mercedes to VW's
I do 'em all and I don't favor none

-- "Car Wash," Bruce Springsteen

Day 43 of 365

Time waster

After finishing off the basement, I hooked up the ol' Xbox again, and now I find myself getting sucked into old games for the hell of it. Fun and frustrating at the same time.

Day 42 of 365

Done with the run

I didn't keep to my hope of running at least once a week this winter (I decided that 35 degrees was my limit, plus you can't depend on clear sidewalks and gutters in the days after significant snowfall), but a few nice days allowed me to get out this week. Hopefully I can go once or twice a week until April arrives.

"Early morning Hudson River," New Jersey, November 2004

Morning on the river

The sunrise image I really wanted to use was the multiple-image panoramic shot that this photo is just one part of a larger canvas. But that pano won't show up quite as well in the blog.

Ah, whatever ...

Day 41 of 365

Vertical neon

I found this neon advertisement for the store below amusing. I never really saw the need to know right now where I could go to buy or repair a vacuum cleaner.

Day 40 of 365

Harmon reflection

Flickr (or Blogger, not sure which is responsible) is ticking me off. The "blog this" link isn't working, and the "Try Again" button does nothing. It's so much easier to post when technology doesn't crap out on you.

Anyway, my previous (slightly) longer post has been whittled down to this:

The Harmon Cove Towers reflect the setting sun from across the Meadowlands, and the Hackensack River reflects the condo/office complex as I zip by on the train on my way to work.

Day 39 of 365

Late night ticket counter

I went to pick up Casey at Newark Airport late Sunday night, when the normally hectic airport was eerily quiet. That's not a new revelation, but I'd forgotten just how much things slow down in the late-night hours, when the only flights are those coming in -- either scheduled to arrive late, or delayed in their departures en route to New Jersey.

As I walked in from the parking garage, she called to tell me they had landed and were on their way to the gate. Yet when I checked the monitors inside to find out exactly which gate, they still listed the flight as "landing." As I wandered the airport trying to guess which of the two checkpoints she'd emerge from, I ended up on the deserted check-in level, where the long banks of kiosks stood alone, awaiting the early-morning hours when departures would resume and passengers would arrive, ready to travel once again.

"Ridin' on a wet night," New Jersey, January 2009

'Neath the refinery's glow

New Jersey Turnpike ridin' on a wet night 'neath the refinery's glow, out where the great black rivers flow

-- Bruce Springsteen, "State Trooper"

The road on a wet night, Secaucus, New Jersey.

"Afternoon on the lake," New York, October 2006

Afternoon on the lake

Taking a rented rowboat out for a spin in Central Park.

Day 38 of 365

Earflop

Clark enjoys a romp in my friend's yard on a pleasant 50-degree afternoon in central New Jersey.

Day 37 of 365

Tree shadows on a winter afternoon

As I was scurrying around the internets on my laptop this afternoon, I looked out the front windows and noticed the bare branches casting their crooked shadows on the house across the street. My camera bag was right at my feet, so I grabbed this shot.

Day 36 of 365

Before, during and after

My most impressive feat of homeowning yet! I had to remove the tank in order to replace the flush valve, which was old and corroded. Knowing this would be the most monumental homeowning task I'd taken on yet (at least solo), I wanted to document it. You can see the subtle differences in the before and after pics to prove that I got everything back together. And it works! I was sure to check.

Day 35 of 365

Workbench organization!

Before I spent a couple of hours sorting assorted screws and putting tools away, this whole workbench was piled with the scattered implements of home repair. There is still some yet to be done (those white boards in the foreground are narrow shelves that will be fastened to a wall), but everything is now neat and organized and easy to find. And it feels good.

Day 34 of 365

Mmm ... discussing burgers

We went to Burger Bash at the James Beard House to sample four delicious burgers, along with tasty fries and onion rings and the ever-wonderful Victory Prima Pils. I also bought George Motz's Hamburger America and Josh Ozersky's The Hamburger: A History so I can make myself hungry while I read.

Day 33 of 365

Distribution

Took this on the way home from one of many trips to Home Depot in the last two weeks.

Day 32 of 365

Football party

I was too wrapped up in the food, the football and the friends to remember to get up to take a photo of the crowded living room early in the game. This was near the end -- just before the Cardinals scored, I think, and the Steelers staged their great comeback.

"Beneath a Florida lamp," Titusville, March 2008

Waiting for T-minus 0

People await beneath a Titusville park lamp for a space shuttle launch in the early morning hours.