Saving Your Soul with Neon...?

Felipe and I were walking home after his birthday celebration and I was struck by the neon cross floating above 51st street. Something makes me think I've seen this sign before, but I can't quite remember...

I saw the "Sin will find you out" side first and thought - that's quite ominous. The other side - more well known apparently is the "Get right with God" side. I looked it up online and found out later that it belongs to the St. Paul House, a "multifaceted ministry" that serves New York City's homeless community.

While reading the about page on their website, I can appreciate their service to the New York City community, however I feel like it would be off putting to people in need to assume that their state of homelessness is due to sin... I guess what I'm saying is that I would find it difficult to accept help from an organization that condemned my assumed "sin" so brightly over their establishment.

Happy Birthday Felipe!

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! Of course I wish him happiness in the year to come - and look forward to celebrating his birthday tonight with a few friends :D

Happy Anniversary to My Wonderful Husband!

Today we celebrate our second anniversary - and I can honestly say - I love him more every day!

The 39 Steps - On Broadway

Felipe and I decided to celebrate our two year anniversary by going to see a show. This morning we went to the TKTS booth in Times Square (yeeesh is all I can say) with the intent of either getting tickets to The 39 Steps or Hamlet. As you can see - The 39 Steps won out. This play was originally a movie done by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935. It's story is about a man who finds himself embroiled in a mysterious spy plot and the suspect of a murder. The main character is Richard Hannay (played by Sean Mahon), he spends the entire time running from the police (who mistakenly suspect him of killing a young female spy) and trying to convince that there are "vital military secrets" that are imminently being stolen from the country.


Photo by Joan Marcus
The play is acted out by four actors: Jeffrey Kuhn, Arnie Burton, Sean Mahon, and Jill Paice. They did an amazing job playing over 150 characters! There's a bunch of videos on YouTube of the show - below is one where they're switching between characters:

The nice thing is that they're very comical about switching from character to character - they don't try to make it seem like genuinely different people. I highly recommend the show - it was such a good production. As a small bonus, we shared the audience with Dustin Hoffman! He walked right by me :D

Saturday Evening Sunset on the Hudson

Outdoor diners at SouthwestNY by the Hudson River

Last night Nicole took Felipe and I to dinner as a dog sitting thank you - we ate at a place near Nicole's called SouthwestNY. It's right on the Hudson River, and there was a beautiful view of the Sunset. It was a crystal clear evening, and so the colors were amazing. Above you can see a view of the outdoor dining patio that we sat at for dinner.

Below is a photo of a striking silhouette of a dog that was watching the sunset with its owner. The "park" was full of people walking dogs, biking, running and pushing strollers. It was a wonderful place to relax!

Happy Birthday Aunt Robbie

Mom and Aunt Robbie

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Robbie! I hope you're having as much fun as possible! Hugs from afar!

Sticking with a Little Bit of Color

Red Doors and Wrought Iron

I took this photo today while walking down Central Park West on my way to Dizzy's Club for another great show (Marian McPartland - you'll see a post about her tomorrow). The color struck me, and so I stopped. Funny thing, I was looking up "Wrought Iron" and as it turns out, most of what we see from the current day isn't truly wrought iron - it's a steel made to look like wrought iron. I would bet the metal adornments on this door are the true wrought iron though, as they are on an old church - Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, which was built before 1969, when wrought iron production ceased in the United States (the building was completed in 1904). Bet you didn't think you'd learn about wrought iron today did you?

Art Underground - 59th Street Subway

It was a slow weekend here - but I did go out to run some errands today and saw the new art in the Columbus Circle subway stop. It was designed by Sol LeWitt, who frequently used very geometric and brightly colorful themes in his art. It's super colorful, and nice - I think it would have looked even better if it had been made with colored glass instead of tile, although from the article they got all the tile from Madrid especially because they were able to match the color. None-the-less, it is certainly something to brighten up an otherwise dreary trip underground!

Autumn is Coming....

Central Park - November 2007

It seems like it has come so quickly! Of course there are the usual questions about where has the summer gone, and how did fall arrive so quickly? Yesterday I stepped out of work in the evening and actually smelled like fire, you know the beautiful smell in the air when people have started using their fireplaces again...

It's been rainy, but I'm looking forward to fall. Some of my favorite things come during this time of year. Central park will be splendid again, in a new colorful way to replace the green of summer. The picture above was one I had taken a couple of years ago in Central Park - I can't wait to see it painted like that again. But even before the leaves turn, there is more jazz, celebrating my life with my wonderful husband, and after that...Thanksgiving. Those of you who know me, know that I love this holiday. And you can bet that I am already planning my Thanksgiving meal. I've just got to get started on that playlist...

Orfeo ed Euridice

Felipe and I decided to grab a bite to eat around the neighborhood, just to a local Irish Pub, and while walking home by the Lincoln Center we came up the crowd of people watching the projection of Orfeo ed Euridice outside of the Metropolitan Opera.

We sat down and caught the last fifteen minutes - the singing was beautiful and the orchestrations wonderful. The crowd sat and listened intently, while a full, clear moon rose behind them to the East.

Another wonderful outdoor New York City moment provided by the Lincoln Center.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Sheeps Meadow - Central Park

And the end of the summer is here - how did that happen? Maybe it was the fact that June was basically a second March.... In any sense, we've been graced with some really beautiful weather for this Labor Day weekend.

In addition to the extra day off, we have two extra dogs visiting us this weekend - Dexter and Bailey.

(This is Dexter - more pics to come with Bailey too)

Sit with us and tie a knot...

I'm going to rug weaving after work tonight - I need to spend some quality time with my loom and yarns! I'm totally delinquent in my hobby...what does that mean?