Here's Looking At You - #1000!

I said I'd drink a martini in honor of the 1000th visitor to my blog. No, I didn't run out to celebrate...this was taken in June when my friends Mollie & Joe were visiting from Reno. I've since learned that a 1000 visits is a mere blip in the cyber blog world. I read a blog that mentioned 30,000 visits. Can that be right? or just a little blog-brag?

a G. O'K State of Mind

 

Away from the Table - Back to the Easel

Between the Chocolate Show and Thanksgiving Dinner....this blog was getting a little too food obsessed. So, let's get back to Abstract Art. The whole month of December is filled with "eat, drink, and be merry." It's not going to be easy. 

Just Desserts!

Home made apple pie, home made baked Alaska; mini cheese cakes (horrors....not home made!)



To start....the Appetizers...shrimp, clam stuffed puff pastry cups, cheese & pepperoni, dips, etc. And then the main course--stuffed turkey, home made cranberry relish, 2 kinds of sweet potatoes, root vegetables, asparagus. Did I leave something out....it's one big caloric blur! No bread or rolls; after all we are watching our carbs.

1000th Visitor- But Who Are You?

Sometime this afternoon there was the 1000th look at my blog....but no message! OK, "Anonymous"...guess I'll have to have that martini toast to everyone and no one in particular.

Count Down - At the Finish Wire!

Hope you all had a Great Thanksgiving....My family and a sister who is a great cook/baker/host saw to it that I did!

Only 3 more "visits" to reach 1000 stops at this Blog! If you are number 1 quadruple 000 (1000), please send me a note, so I can toast the occasion with a very dry martini!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Count Down!

Last time I checked the visits to this blog totaled 992. Only 8 to get to the "grand" total of 1000! Don't forget to write me if you are the one!

I know you're out there.....so.......write me!

Hit the Road--Jack!

Today's mail had the following catalogs:

Grand Circle - Asia 2006 (China; Vietnam; Thailand)
Overseas Adventure - The Americas 2006 (Peru; Ecuador; Honduras, Guatemala, Belize; Costa Rica)
Overseas Adventure - Asia 2006 (Thailand; Vietnam; India)
ABC Tours - Almost everywhere else!

What--no Greek Isles, Africa,Turkey, Australia, New Zealand! Oh, that's right, I received those catalogs last week.

Is somebody trying to tell me something? I'd gladly take the hint, if only Publisher's Clearing House would also show up at my door with that great big check!

Amazing Counters Back & Counting!

Whew! The counters back...and at 927. ONLY 73 MORE TO REACH 1000 VISITORS. WON'T YOU LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE #1000?

Where Are You - Amazing Counters?

Just when I was near 1000 visits to my blog site, Amazing Counters stopped counting! When I tried to open the site, got the message "Web site not found." Where are you?

Will You be #1000?

According to Amazing Counters - there have been 920 visitors to this blog site (not including me!), since I started in September 2005.

Have you all just been surfing the blog? Passing through? Does anyone actually read the blog or look at the pictures? I don't have any problem with talking to myself....after all, I am my own best listener and give me my full attention (well, most of the time). BUT, it would be fun to know who #1000 is.

If you're the one, can you send me a comment?

The City of Brotherly Love

Friday, a fun day on a Newark Museum day trip with Thomy & Cliff. Also had a very interesting seat companion on the ride - Judy, who was a violinist with the NJ Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years. It was a long day...left at 7:00 a.m. and didn't get home until 7:00 p.m.

First a tour of the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; lunch and a lecture in one of their private rooms. Then from 7th Row Center Orchestra seats, a terrific concert. Beethoven's Second and Fourth Symphonies, and the World Premiere of Ben, a work by 29 year old composer Daniel Kellogg. The commissioned work is in honor of Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday.

The music was great, lunch quite good for a group function, and the concept and architecture of the Kimmel Center are fantastic!

Even the weather was beautiful...so did I take pictures? Need you ask?

Another experiment -- if you download a black & white photo onto a black blog background (say that fast!) it looks like it's a collage in 2 pieces. What water colorists call "a happy accident."

Left the color in--which is the sky and which is the reflection of sky?
The organ & stage at Verizon Hall (holds 2547 people)
The stage (and the piano being tuned) at the Perelman Theater, with 650 seats.

Just having fun - playing with the theater seats...but you knew that, didn't you?

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Garden on top of the Perelman Theater.
No, this is not a reflection. It is the view through the glass enclosure of the roof garden. The apartment building is across the street from the Kimmel Center.

In a Black Mood

I've spent most of today dealing with co-op problems, and hunched over a batch of unpaid invoices. Nothing fun about that...so I went into my "Picasa" stash and came up with these architectural tidbits from a museum tour of Newark back in September. From "The City Without Walls" to lovely old mansions.
Something old.....
Something new....
Old and New takes on the simple circle


I'm sooo excited. I tried numerous times to download this photo along with the others. Kept getting the message "Web site not responding." Why? So I "Googled" the photo to "Utter Frustration," copied the HTML to this site, ignored the Error message (I love doing that), and voila! Here it is! Perhaps this photo wasn't worth the effort, but getting the convoluted process to work...that was fun!

Chocolate Sunday in New York

Well, I didn't think it was possible...but I've had enough Chocolate!

Sunday was the last day of the Chocolate Show. We waited about 45 minutes on line, but were fed chocolate tidbits to pass the time. It was absolute chocoholic heaven inside. Belgian, French, Spanish, Italian, African, Colombian, Japan, chocolate from all over the world. There were chocolate truffles, chocolate covered apricots, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate flavored tea, hot chocoloate, chocolate dipped strawberries, brownies, & of course, chocolate turkeys and chocolate martinis! And everyone was forcing free samples on you. There were chocolate-themed t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, baseball caps, etc. - all very cute and of course, very over-priced. A couple of wine merchants also had displays and free samples...that was a welcome relief from all that chocolate!

I bought some truffles and fancy chocolates for Thanksgiving treats at Ann's. I am resolved that they will remain untouched and intact in the refrigerator. It was impossible to get photos of the chocolate displays...too many people munching. But I did get the non-edible items...chocolate fashions and the collages that an artist created out of chocolate wrappers.

After all that walking and choc-ing we walked from 18th & 6th Ave to 23rd & 8th. We rested our feet by watching a very interesting movie, "Capote." Then another "stroll" to 25th & 10th, and dinner at the "Red Cat." Very good food, lively atmosphere, and Kingston, a pleasant and helpful waiter. Another "stroll" to the Path station on 6th Ave, and finally, at round 9:30 p.m. home.

It was a fun Fall day in NYC, but oh, my aching feet! Except for the movie and dinner breaks, we'd been walking for about 7 hours. In fact, we had to stand most of the time for the Path train ride home to New Jersey.
Chocolate Fashion
A little Vampire Fashion?
Furry Chocolate?
Now we know why Mona's smiling...she's full of chocolate!


That just about wraps it up, which is what this artist did. She created collages from chocolate wrappers! Think of all the fun she had gathering her materials.

Saturday Night in Newark

Good company--good food--good theater! Who said you can't have a great time in Newark!

Thomy & I had dinner at Fornos with Barbara & Lenny and then went to the NYPAC's Victoria Theater for a peformance of Blueprint of a Lady: The Once and Future Life of Billie Holiday. The dancers, musicians, singer Nnenna Freelon and choreography of Ronald K. Brown were all outstanding. Because we all had plans for Sunday, we didn't stay for the "meet the cast" and refreshments at the Theater Square Grill after the performance. Saturday night was also opening night for a new Jazz Club on Park Place..The Savoy. A couple of years ago we'd probably have done it all.

Going into NYC today for The Chocolate Show. How's that for living up to the theory, "Life is Short--Eat Dessert First." The Westbeth Flea Market is in the area, so maybe we'll check that out. Between the chocolate and the Flea Market, there should be some good photo ops!

Express Yourself - In Words & Music!

Harmony.................................
Cool..........................................
Dis-cord....................................................

Are you talkin' to me????


A Sunday afternoon in Soho....

I thought I'd retired!

Between the Museum and the Co-op Board....I've been putting in some long hours working! How can I resist....that's the thing about volunteer work...no income, no income tax.

Tomorrow I'm "Docent Day Captain," which means I get to hang out at the Museum while other docents take visitors on tours. They're taking down "Alice's Wedding" in the Ballantine House so it can be re-decorated for a Victorian Christmas, "Feasting With Family & Friends." My sister donated some old wedding photographer photos that were displayed in a cabinet in the Music Room. I'll take some digital photos of the display before it's dismantled.

Without visuals, this is a blah-blog. Or a blah-blah-blah blog! I've just got to add a little something from my Picasa stash..not for you, but for me! So check out the next blog.

View From Another Room

The view from Kevin's room (and Kevin's photo) of the garden. Magnifique! OK, so I already put it on the other blog...can there be too much of a good thing? Not a question you'd ask a chocolate lover.

A Blog a Day......

....keeps the analyst away! I started this blog to post some abstract ideas I had for photos and paintings, but then I got distracted, instead of abstracted. I called this small (4"x6") watercolor "Desert Sunset," although it's not anywhere I've been. I actually gave it away as a greeting card insert. Do you think I'll be sorry when I'm discovered and it's valuable? Will I be around to even care?

Missed 66

Must have caught some sort of a bug and so I was in no shape to go into NY with Thomy & Cliff today. Missed lunch at 66 and whatever else they found to do. So I thought I'd post this photo of the counter from another lunch there. Talk about minimalist!
Well, they do have some colorful fish tanks that separate the diners from the chefs!

Belle - the other girl

Have to give equal time to the "other girl" -- Belle. She's giving it her best "Veronica Lake" look, for those of you who even know who Veronica was. No--Ariel & Belle were not named after the Disney characters. Ariel is after Shakespeare's character in the Tempest, and Belle after Catherine Deneuve as in "Belle du Jour."  

Ariel, the Princess

Ariel, who's usually a flying fur ball (no one told her that at age 12 she's getting a little old for that stuff), hasn't been herself for the last week. No jumping onto the couch, staying in her bed or cuddled up to the toilet on the tile floor, crying when I picked her up or touched her paws. I noticed a cataract in her right eye, and started imagining things like a brain tumor, severe arthritis, etc. and so I made an appointment with the vet, expecting the worst!

Wouldn't you know it--she had a broken toe nail. Now isn't that just like a true princess--having a bad nail day!

Actually, there was more to it--because of the cataract it appears she may have misjudged one of her flying leaps and fallen, spraining her neck and breaking the nail at the quick. She may even have hit her head. The x-rays showed nothing serious, and the vet gave her an anti-inflammatory shot, prescribed some pills, and took care of the broken nail. And wasn't she clever, using the cool porcelain of the toilet bowl as a cold compress for her aching head and neck.

Even a few hours later she seems much more like herself, although she isn't doing any couch leaping--she's a quick learner!

I didn't realize how stressed I was, until I realized how relieved I am now that I know she'll be OK.

And that's my furry dog story!