"Place, with a trace of humanity" Photography/Photo of the Day/Pittsburgh

Archive for January, 2011

Waiting While Someone Parallel Parks on Pearl Street

On the way home from school this late afternoon, crossed the Bloomfield Bridge, down Howley Street past the Shur Save and  turned to the right instead left.  Too much traffic by the new Children’s Hospital.  On Pearl Street the car ahead of me was stopped.  It took a long time for the parallel parker to get into the space.  Thought the row of houses on the right had some good repetition and rhythm.

Winter in the city.


Jigsaw Rooftops

In Lawrenceville. As I walked over the 40th Street Bridge I looked up and saw all these houses packed so closely together.. There was no air between the rooftops.  Reminded me of a difficult jigsaw puzzle.

Lawrenceville. Looking up from the 40th Street Bridge.


Winter River from 40th Street Bridge

And the birds flew up into the shot. I was wishing I had taken my new fingerless gloves from Christmas. Just left the Millvale Post Office (no line!) to mail Joanne’s Christmas box I’d been driving around for three weeks. And the cards that each needed an additional 5 cent stamp.   As I came back over the Allegheny I saw the light stream down onto the city. Pulled into the Bus Stop indentation at the end of the bridge, put the flashers on and walked to the center.  Fortunately the light was still there. Could have used a filter, too, but it was a stunning late afternoon in winter.  Could feel the bridge vibrate as I stood out on the walkway.

All I needed was a barge to come up or down the river. Not today.


Plastic Charm Necklace from the 80′s

Once her mother’s, now in my granddaughter’s room on a shelf along with her mom and dad’s teddy bears and a doll with a purple and white crocheted outfit made by Anna’s great grandmother.  The window light hit the blue skate, highlighting the plastic dangling down.  I was shooting the teddy bears and got distracted with the brightly colored charms. Underneath a music box bunny rabbit Erika had as a baby. Can something from the ’80s be vintage already? I found a listing for Plastic Charm Necklace at the 80′s Museum. Today at work a teacher said she is teaching the children to say TwentyEleven not TwoThousand Eleven for the year.  She asked me how I said 1985? or 1900? Hmmm.

Seemed once we hit two thousand we started saying it differently.  Two Thousand, Two Thousand One, Two Thousand Two……..As I walked down the hall a song came into my head- “In the year 2525….”

Next time I am in NYC I am going to ask my sister if I can photograph hers. It's loaded with charms.


Unexpected Mail

Home after being away for ten days. Steve bought a pizza for us. Found a pile of mail in the front hall; catalogs, bulk mail, a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon, a notice of a tangelos and grapefruit delivery, a bank statement and the water bill. A few Christmas cards and the Barbie scrubs I ordered  for Christmas from Etsy. A nice card with a Starbucks giftcard from Cj. AND a “Mug Rug” with a Norfolk VA postmark from Colleen, a long time friend of Joanne in Omaha.  Joanne insists that Colleen and I have met but we haven’t– yet! Colleen stitched a quilted “mug rug” and sent it to me with a lovely card. (Depending on when you are reading this, I am writing on the 9th Day of Christmas so it is 9 Ladies Dancing, 10 Lords-a-Leaping, Mary.) I love the numbers on the fabric.  There were instructions for a cup of tea and room for two cookies on the side but I didn’t want to cover up the fabric for the photo. What a happy surprise to find a handmade gift in the sea of fliers and junkmail! And how fortunate Steve had some cookies to supply for the shot.  What a great way to end the vacation. And Deb B I like the quote on your handmade card.

“How we choose to think,

Determines what we will see,

And so it is that we,

Create our reality.”

(a quote but no attribution, maybe someone will help find the source)

 

It is a happy 2011 already. Thanks friends.

*If you want to see the Blog Year in Review 2010  and the Top Posts- click here for late post 1/2/2011

 

Thank goodness Steve had some cookies a patient brought him. Delicious with Good Earth tea. (after the photo)


2010 in Review from wordpress

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

Featured image

Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 69,000 times in 2010. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would have performed about 3 times.

 

In 2010, there were 352 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 451 posts. There were 633 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2gb. That’s about 2 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was May 31st with 18,398 views. The most popular post that day was My Bookshelf .

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were reddit.com, mail.yahoo.com, mail.live.com, jimmyr.com, and facebook.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for disco ball, new york city, city rooftops, new york rooftops, and new york city at night.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

My Bookshelf May 2010
11 comments

2

New York City Rooftops by Night Light July 2009
4 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

3

Furry Convention in Pittsburgh June 2010
11 comments

4

Their Eyes Looked at Me as I Walked By- I Had to Photograph Them June 2010
8 comments

5

Memories Sparked by Disco Ball Reflections? November 2009
1 comment


Michael Photographs Through Glass at the Ice Skating Rink

Michael got a camera for Christmas from his other grandmother (F.F. Marlene), and was eager to try it out.  He was having fun at the Chiller rink on Friday .  Matthew skated up to the glass and smiled at Michael. Michael captured Uncle Matty’s image. He was so excited when he pressed the arrow and saw it on the screen.

Go Steelers!


Sharpen Every Pencil in the House for the New Year 1-1-11

A new manual pencil sharpener and left-handed Anna hard at work sharpening every pencil she could find.  I thought of the pencils at home that need some new points to write lists, notes and phone numbers. She needed a sharp pencil to complete her homework. Mary suggested the manual as the electric ones break easily or host a crayon. Nothing like a new can of sharpened pencils to represent possibility.


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