me and the bridge for the final class day

our last photo class homework assignment was to create a series of images about something that we love.  i adore new york and two of my absolute favorite places in new york are poets walk (aka the mall) in central park and the brooklyn bridge.  since i used poets walk for homework assignment number 4, i bet you can't guess what i chose as my subject for the final series...come on, one guess...
 

i chose the brooklyn bridge on a gorgeous sunshine filled blue sky evening.  the problem that i encountered was that it became quite difficult to compose my photos how i wanted them because the bridge was swarming with tourists.  this was not unexpected but i was disappointed that i didn't do exactly what i wanted.  maybe it's a blessing in disguise so that i can go back again to really get the shots i had composed in my head.
 

behold, i give you the 'me and the bridge' photography series.
 

we had to present our series at class.  my teacher told me i did a 'great job'.  woot woot.  i'm totally biased but i thought that my series was the most cohesive of the rest of my fellow classmates.  it had the same subject and color tone.
 

our last class we spent outdoors practicing our panning technique and learning how to use the built-in flash for those moments when it is absolutely necessary.  it was really funny to practice our panning.  we found a large gap between cars because of a fire hydrant so the 8 of us literally lined up shoulder-to-shoulder on this small stretch of road on 2nd avenue.  our teacher jumped up on the hydrant and would yell "biker, biker, biker" to alert us that a person was about to ride by our camera line up on a bicycle.  then she would jump off the fire hydrant and run in front of us along the street.  we laughed a lot and enjoyed the strange looks we got by people as we would start looking to our right and follow them to the left.

this is our teacher Patricia running back and forth so we can get "the shot"

captured using the focus panning technique

 

 

i must say one of the best compliments i have ever received happened while i was chatting with teacher patricia and owner francisco at the end of the very last class.  i've mentioned before that my camera is quite limited because it is over 4 years old.  so we were chatting about which model i should consider grabbing next.  then patricia told me that i take stunning photographs with a lesser camera than the others.  she was very impressed with my abilities when using a camera that wasn't as "high tech" as the others.  i love being praised for something that i have created.
 

i'm sad that there are no more classes for me in the photography realm right now.  my time and funds need to be focused in another direction.  maybe in a few years, after i upgrade my camera, i'll find my way back to photo uno for some more instruction.  because in a few years i'll have mastered shooting only in manual mode and will need some new challenges.

personal realization #15 - the dark day is done

last year was a bit rough for me.  it didn't start out well, primarily because of the events that led to the dark day in february.  then my rut, named george, and i had some issues causing my happiness level to be down in the doldrums.  the kicker came when i noticed that my marital status might be my fault.  ouch. 

 

recently in my life i have been feeling abundantly blessed.  i mean life changing wonderful things have happened lately.  i'm not sure how to embrace all the good that is happening.  i feel like i'm cheating another person from getting their prayers answered because the majority of mine are being answered in a wonderful way.  and then there is a very slight feeling that something horrible is on the way to counteract all of these good things.  thankfully that is a very small, almost insignificant, thought right now because i remind myself that life doesn't work that way.  it also has helped to talk to a therapist.

 

the biggest recent "woo hoo" occured when almost a year of hard work and the catalyst for the dark day was overcome.  i reached my goal!  hip hop hooray!  strangely i did it by not putting so much pressure on myself and just trying my best.  then voila! i was able to defeat the events that led to the dark day.  in a way the agony and defeat i felt prior made the absolute joy of the moment of acomplishment so much sweeter.  i even cried again but this time the day was full of sunshine, birds singing and me skipping down a new york city street.

 

i guess the biggest personal realization from last year to where my life is this year is that hard work will pay off but often it takes time, commitment, assistance from others and patience.  lots and lots of patience.  i'm constantly learning how to be patient in my life.  i must have missed the line in heaven where they were handing out patience...instead i went right to the line where organization was being given out.  blast!

 

good things happen when you don't give up.  now i'm going to go bask in the warm and bright glow of happiness.

week 3 homework

loving my photography class.  especially because i feel like i control the camera rather than it controlling me.   yippee!

 

my homework from week 3:

 

i highly recommend photo uno photography school for increasing your skills as a photographer. now trying to determine which course to take next...i'm thinking their "iPhone Photography".  taking this class now means that my photos from the european vacation 2013 with joani and flex are going to be exquisite!  stay tuned.

why did i wait so long?

i have wanted to take a photography class since i got my pretty SLR camera over four years ago.  i have been able to fake good pictures and think i have decent composition but couldn't utilize the true photographic skill of shooting only in manual, aperture or shutter mode.  i really wanted to be able to use these functions rather than rely on the pretty icons on the mode dial for night, landscape and action shots.  so finally after checking with my friend yelp.com i found a school that had a 6 week course for those such as me who wanted to embrace their inner amateur, but wanting to be professional, photographer.  

my first class was last saturday.  i LOVED it.  soaked up all of the information like a sponge and was probably one of the more engaged of the 9 students in the class.  had so much fun that now i kick myself that i didn't do this earlier.  what was i waiting for?  it makes me happy and wasn't going to break the bank.

can't wait for session two where we learn about aperture.  gotta go do my homework to prepare.  i have homework and i love it!

debit cards seem to like me

crossing the street by my apartment I found a debit card resting peacefully on the ground.  I picked it up and put it in my purse.  the next day I went to the bank it originated from to return it.  the nice bank teller lady thanked me and I continued with my day.  my mommy taught me that "honesty is ALWAYS the best policy".

 

a couple of days later, netter and I headed to the 'burbs to do some food shopping.  the parking lot at the shopping center was packed so we ended up stalking a spot that was a little ways from where we wanted to be.  I pulled our zipcar into the space, turned off the engine, grabbed my coat and purse and proceeded to open the car door.  as soon as I looked down I saw a debit card literally right next to where I put my foot.  what are the odds?

 

the next day I made a trip to a different bank to return the debit card.  when I handed it to the business bank teller and explained where I found it, she looked at me incredulously and said "wow.  thank you." 

 

it makes me sad that a bank employee was shocked that I had returned this lost debit card.  they probably deal with more stolen credit and debit cards then they get lost ones returned.  that is truly tragic.  if only people would treat others how they want to be treated...

a typical tuesday night in new york city

i got free passes to an early screening of the new nicholas sparks penned movie "safe haven".  let me state that i would NOT have gone to see this movie if it required me to pay for the viewing pleasure.  i generally find nicholas sparks adaptions for screen annoying.  my one exception to this rule is "the notebook". 

 

any hoo...my buddy lauri agreed to accompany me to the screening, which was taking place at one of the largest movie theaters in the city.  so after work i trekked over to 42nd street in times square.  let me paint you a picture of my trek.

• tourists clogged every inch of space on the sidewalk.
• "characters" like the statue of liberty, mickey mouse and dora the explorer were out in force waiting for parents to shove their kids their way for a picture that would cost the parents $5.
• wind howling down broadway so it felt like my coat was a light wind breaker.
• sirens from two firetrucks screamed through the square as they tried to negotiate speed without injuring oblivious tourists.
• two NYPD vans parked with lights flashing directly outside the movie theater entrance.
• about 100 teenagers yelling and holding signs outside the movie theater entrance because some boy band was holding a free screening of their concert film.  pandemonium.
• about 12 cops barricading the entrance.
• the wind is now colder because i've ventured closer to the water (aka hudson river)
• was jostled while trying to make my way to front of crowd to have a little chat with an NYPD officer so i can gain entrance to the theater.
• finally a movie theater employee opened the door so i could walk through and stand in line with about 80 other women for the screening.

luckily once i got inside all was rosy.  the generous screening promoters didn't just offer us the free viewing but it came with a small popcorn and soda.  boo-yah!  throughout the movie, lauri and i had fun playing the game "guess what happens next".  the majority of our guesses were accurate.  well done us.

 

so that is a typical february tuesday night in manhattan. 

 

 

2012 - keep calm & carry on

Greatest vacation:  Walt Disney World twice!  Went in January with friends and my brother Corey then again in October with my mom and sister Alyssa. 

Greatest family time: weekend in March visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Highline with my mom, headed to California to celebrate my cousin’s wedding, made classic grandma Jewel “bunny” cake with nephews for Easter, spent a week in July with my entire family - went to the water park, played the piano with my niece, posed for family portrait and took an hour long walk with my 3 year old niece & nephew for entertainment. And our regular Sunday night video chats.

Greatest daily distractions:  Instagram photo sharing, Draw Something playing and Spoiler TV website viewing

Greatest concerts/Broadway shows: Newsies (3x), Kelly Clarkson @ Radio City, Peter and the Star Catcher, Snow Patrol @ Terminal 5 (2x), As You Like It, The Cranberries @ Terminal 5, Into the Woods, Keane @ Beacon Theater, Ed Sheeran @ Bowery Ballroom, Once, Ed Sheeran @ Terminal 5, Paloma Faith @ Mercury Lounge, The Heiress and Alfie Boe @ Berklee Performance Hall in Boston

Greatest evidence that my friends take priority: not attending the Men’s Final @ the US Open (which Andy Murray won in five sets!) to hang out with my friend Megan when her vacation plans changed at the last minute

Greatest guilty pleasures:  Purchase of 4 pairs of Salvatore Ferragamo shoes, facials @ Bliss Spa, US Open tickets, using miles to upgrade to First Class for trip to CA, drinking tea, watching TV on my Time Warner Cable iPad app and Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepson)

Greatest songs played on my iPhone: the “+” album by Ed Sheeran, Burn It Down (Linkin Park), the “Our Version of Events” album by Emeli Sande, New York & Lifening (Snow Patrol), Catch My Breath (Kelly Clarkson), Amsterdam (Imagine Dragons) and Just Be (Paloma Faith)

Greatest time spent unwinding in front of my new HDTV: Revenge, Once Upon A Time, The Good Wife, Downton Abbey, The Big Bang Theory, Smash, Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy & the coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London

Greatest hours spent in a movie theater: The Avengers, The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises, The Vow, Les Miserables and Skyfall

Greatest purchases in lieu of annual European vacation:  diamond necklace, Walt Disney World annual pass and Bose home theater system

Greatest New York moments: earning “New Yorker” status on Sept. 19^th after a decade living in NYC, taking a bike ride through Central Park with my cousin Ali, escaping the screaming teenage girls cage outside my office because of One Direction concert, an early Sunday morning stroll through Central Park with friends who just arrived from AZ via a red-eye flight and witnessing compassion, service and kindness after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy

ode to helping hands and yellow vests

Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.

this video shows the efforts made by some of my family (looking at you gooch), neighbors and strangers in the rockaways after the devasting superstorm sandy blew through area.  it reminds me of something my grandma jewel and then my mother always said "many hands make light work". 

ode to new york city

if i could write poetry this would be the post to bust it out.  but alas, my talents lie elsewhere.  the reason for my wish to write in verse is that today is my 10 year anniversary with new york city.  i can officially call myself a new yorker.  this city is the one place i have lived the longest consecutively in my young life.  here's a brief run down of the biggest highlights of my relationship with new york city in chronological order:

• moved to new york with two large suitcases and a box of linens
• my first apartment was on 92nd and 2nd street on the fourth floor of a building with a pizzeria on the ground floor
• three weeks after moving i got a job with the NBA retired players association as a coordinator - also worked at bath & body works to supplement the income
• new york fun day was born in december of 2002
• in spring of 2004 i flew on my first international flight to land in paris - spent 5 glorious days in the city of lights with netter and doc 
• survived the blackout that turned off the much needed A/C in the heat of august for three days
• in june of 2005 i left the nba retired players association to take a job with a hedge fund
• moved into my very own apartment in june of 2007...didn't even care that it was on the 5th floor of a walk up because it was my first home
• took more trips to the european continent including rome, florence, london (x2), prague (x2), vienna, budapest and again to paris
• spent 6 weeks caged in my apartment due to a broken ankle sustained at the home of my buddy clare
• took a helicopter tour over the city with my brother flex (my gift to him for helping me move)
• moved into my second very own apartment in 2009 and this building had laundry AND an elevator

this city is hard to live and thrive in.  if you don't absolutely love it then it makes absolutely no financial sense or common sense to continue to call it your home.  there have obviously been times that i have thought about leaving to be closer to family but i also have a family here in the city.  i'm grateful for the many wonderful people i have met throughout my 10 years in this amazing city.  that is what has made these 10 years fly by and mostly filled with happiness and joy.  the opportunity to watch amazing broadway productions and museum exhibits not to mention the great food doesn't hurt either.

i love this city.  those cheap touristy shirts that everyone has to take home really mean something to me.  i love new york.

foreshadowing of fall

it's beginning to look and feel a lot like fall.  hip hop hooray!  while i didn't think the weather experienced in nyc this past summer was horrid, i do always look forward to the light sweater wearing days of autumn when the air is crisp and the trees are glorious with color.  i have even bought a couple new blazers to wear while trapsing to and from my mass transit of choice.  soon the wardrobe swap will take place and drinking hot chocolate on a saturday morning will become the norm.  even though we are a few weeks off it is always fun to notice the changes that trigger the season known as autumn.  some of the current foreshadowing events of fall are:

• no longer run air conditioning at night to combat the humidity - instead just crack open the bedroom window
• needed to wear a blazer and actual shoes to work on tuesday because the temp was 62 degrees at 8am
• started thinking about annual fall foliage vacay with netter to pick apples and take pictures of the majestic new england foliage
• found myself on the 9th floor of macy's herald square to peruse their coat/jacket section - already on the hunt for my 2012/2013 new coat
• us open tournament is over - CONGRATS to Andy Murray!!!
• tax season is upon me - meaning i have to submit and process over 100 tax returns for the good old employer
• reviewed the upcoming fall broadway season to scope out what shows i want to see
• first inclination is to avoid the ice cream aisle at the grocery and instead buy boxes of nestle hot chocolate
• week 1 of nfl season is done - 'nuff said
• can't talk to my joani whenever i want because she is back to work as an award winning junior high school teacher
• fall tv premieres are happening now - although downton abbey doesn't come to the states until early 2013 (another reason i want to be a brit living in the UK)
• listened to my first Christmas song since january

i'm excited for this upcoming season which is why i chose to use a picture i took last year of poet's walk in central walk on an early October morning as my blog's banner photo.  love the color and light that occurs in the autumn. 

and one last thing, i like to refer to falling leaves as "golden dewdrops from the overlords of autumn".  just an fyi.

a typical saturday

I went to the gym.

I did the dishes.

I cleaned the bathroom.

I took a nap.

I vacuumed my 5' x 9' area rug.

I ate hummus.

I made my bed after taking a 40 minute nap.

I ran both air conditioners at the same time.

I had take out Chinese for dinner.

I bought groceries and some Gatorade.

I contemplated changing the furniture layout of my living room.

I texted with my joani, friend T and netter.

I ironed my Capri pants and picked up the mail.

I dropped off my dry cleaning.

I checked my instagram feed (multiple times).

oh the entertaining, lively an exciting life I do lead.

dog days of summer

so...haven't blogged in awhile...ok, more like 6 weeks.  i guess i forgot that i have a blog and the purpose of which is to update it.  video chatted with joani last night and she even brought up the fact that i haven't posted in a very long time.  when your mommy wants to hear your innermost thoughts about life, liberty and my pursuit of happiness that means it is time to use my newly manicured fingers to type away.

things are busy yet lazy at the same time.  ya know what i mean?  if you don't, please go with me as i do a little explaining.  i've been busy because things seem to be happening quickly.  been working hard at work as well as in my church responsibilities.  trying to live the dream.  but i've been really lazy because once i get home from my evening festivities the first thing i do is turn on HGTV.  i can't seem to shake my addiction to home improvement shows.  just recently found a love for yard crashers on saturdays.  i really need to get a grip on my obsession.  (watching love it or list it as i type)  plus last weekend i literally slept 30 hours of the 48 hours of the weekend.  i guess i was tired.

love me some summertime.  enjoy the strawberries in season.  national cheesecake day is july 30th where the cheesecake factory offers 1/2 price cheesecake slices.  adore the natural light that pours through my windows in the mornings and evenings.  walk home multiple times after work to enjoy the fresh air and sunsets.  love this season!

i apologize to joani and any other casual readers for not taking the time to update my little life lived in new york city.  i try to do better.  pinkie swear.

attack of the pegged pants

i was going to mention this little moment from yesterday in this week's simple moments post but decided i couldn't wait to share.  so here is my quick run down of the attack of the pegged pants...

yesterday afternoon around 3pm i was waiting for an elevator in my office building to take me to the 20th floor.  elevator came, so i proceeded inside.  then just before the doors closed a masculine forearm appeared between the closing door and the wall.  the doors proceeded to go back into their open position so a group of 5 men could enter my previously solo journey to the upper floors of my office building.  

i moved to the side to allow them in and kept my headphones in my ears to enjoy more tunes by my current rotation of ingrid michaelson, ed sheeran, cary brothers or (as always) linkin park.  my eyes veered towards the floor as i let the tunes take me to my happy place.  that's when i noticed this mob of men all had PEGGED THEIR PANTS!  

what the biz?  did my elevator suddenly turn into a time machine taking me back to 1987 when i wore side ponytails and desperately wanted a hyper color t-shirt and espirit bag?   if you don't know what pegging your pants means please raise your hand.  read the below to learn about the finer points of pants pegging.  if you do know about pegging pants or t-shirts or shorts, then you can skip the next paragraph to find out what happened next...

(...pants pegging was a fashion fad in the 1980s.  you would take the cuff of your pants and wind it around your ankle/calf so that you were left with the excess material.  then you place it around the cuff which is lying close to your skin and roll up.  then you roll the cuff up again until you have achieved the pants peg.  see step by step pictures at the end of the blog posts for pegging pants.  a thank you to my coworker receptionist for being my pants pegging model...)

the attack of the pegged pants didn't stop with my elevator ride.  no sir-ee.  instead it continued as i left work for the day.  i was on the escalator and lo and behold the man about 8 steps in front of me going down on the escalator also had pegged pants.  no joke.  for reals y'all.  i couldn't grab my iPhone quick enough to snap a picture for photographic evidence before he exited the escalator and moved too far away. 

trust me the attack of the pegged pants is coming.  first it was the bright pinks and neon greens showing up in my local ann taylor store and now the 80s are taking young men hostage one-by-one by forcing them to peg their pants.  we must remain strong and fight off the urge to grab a can of hair spray to cement our waterfall bangs hairstyle and no spending hours making friendship bracelets with string or grabbing that pair of L.A. gear hightop sneakers complete with multiple pairs of laces in the very back, dark corner of your closet.  resist my friends.  resist i implore you.  resist!

and now, a step-by-step picture guide to pants pegging as provided by moi et receptionist...

this week's simple moments

1.  dinner with my walnut creek friends at parma.  great conversation and fabulous food.
2.  spent lots of time scouring the racks at ann taylor and ann taylor loft for friends & family 40% off
3.  swapped my winter sweaters and wool pants for springtime cotton and linen
4.  finally used an earned 25% off coupon my full purchase at the local CVS
5.  sold Ed to my co-worker.  i will miss him.  now it's time to buy a new TV!
6.  patiently waiting until 12pm in order to buy tickets to ed sheeran show at bowery ballroom
7.  started following gary lightbody from snow patrol on twitter - he's funny
8.  played online game to obtain free single from forthcoming keane album out may 8th
9.  began preliminary research for fall vacation to spain
10. walked into mikimoto fifth avenue store and did not purchase anything...progress

where my commute time goes to die...

my laziness in the morning has necessitated taking the subway to work.  for the last month or so, almost every single ride on the downtown 6 train has encountered a very long stop at the 59th street station or a stop between the 59th street and 51st street station.  there is something about the 59th street station that causes any extra minutes i have on my morning commute to evaporate like my breath in the cold air.  i don't think it would bug me if i didn't exit the train at 51st street, which is the very next stop after 59th. 

this time sucking station is causing me to attempt, with all that i am and have, to get up a little bit earlier so that i can take the limited M1, M2 or M4 down fifth avenue instead.  enough of wasting valuable minutes of my life stuck underground at 59th and lexington.  if i'm going to be stuck somewhere i would prefer it to be above ground with the picturesque central park out the window.

this week's simple moments

1.  had my first 2012 girl scout thin mint cookies
2.  no matter how hard i try, there will always be dust bunnies in my apartment
3.  man on bus wearing truly awesome striped socks
4.  dressed almost exactly alike as receptionist.  man at qdoba even stopped us to comment on how we dressed alike that day.  awesome.
5.  opened my last bottle of bath & body work's strawberry lemonade lotion

this week's simple moments

1.  finally stepped foot in washington square park by nyu
2.  asked mooch to buy me shoes from payless on her worker bee discount because full price payless shoes aren't currently in my budget
3.  found out a close friend is moving out of the city - sad
4.  downloaded all episodes of downton abbey from iTunes...have i mentioned that i'm obsessed?
5.  saw tulips starting to poke through the dirt of the park avenue mall in february!
6.  construction worker called me 'hot mama'
7.  brilliantly brought my lunch to work on a rainy day to avoid the massive crowds at lunch time in the rockefeller center concourse
8.  climbed a ladder at work to put an HVAC diffuser in the ceiling - boo yah!
9.  booked a flight to utah to see the family and munchkins in april
10.  took a nap on the couch from 6:30 - 7:15pm on 2 out of 5 week nights this week

this week's simple moments

1.  took me almost 2 hours to de-decorate my christmas tree.  apparently i did a little to good of a job wrapping lights in the tree.

2.  sitting at home on my couch with the television only leads to one thing - copious amounts of online shopping.

3.  i really want all holiday tourists to just send the city of new york a check instead of physically taking up space in rockefeller center

4.  57 degrees on a saturday in january ('nuff said)

5.  a hovering helicopter woke me up at 5am and didn't stop hovering over neighborhood until almost 6am.  welcome to new york.

this week's simple moments

1.  my mommy sent me flowers for christmas...she is the best mommy i know
2.  enjoyed the new york philharmonic's performance of handel's messiah on wednesday night
3.  stood in line for 30 minutes to enjoy laduree macaroons.  worth every minute of line standing.
4.  made my bed every morning this week.  progress.
5.  glad my bed was made when my co-worker had to escort me home from work because i was sick. 

this week's simple moment

i'm bucking pinkymcg blog trend and only mentioning one simple moment this week.  this moment has been on my mind a lot recently as i walk the streets of my adopted home town.  a large number of my friends are leaving the city for locations distant and often considerably warmer during the winter.

the mass exodus from NYC seems to have begun in may with gooch moving to dallas to pursue her dream job.  then came clare taking her talents, VW beetle named daisy and contagious laugh to utah.  and then the ward friends are systemically leaving to go to london, san francisco, utah, baltimore, toronto, australia, miami, etc.  it seems that each time i walk through the doors of church there is another family who has recently announced that they are moving out of the city.  enough already!

i definitely don't judge these friends who are choosing to take their life's journey down a path away from the concrete jungle.  i'm just sad.  the simple moment of life in new york city is that eventually almost everyone leaves.

the only way i've tried to stem the pain of separation is to give these moving friends a charge to always think in the back of their mind when they meet an LDS single man - "is this guy a possible good match for my totally awesome friend pinky?".  if the answer given by their mind to that question is "yes" then it will make the long, short or miniscule time we spent together in nyc completely worth it.