Photo of the Day

Untitled
Originally uploaded by TheWanderingEye

What I love most about skate boarding competitions is that moment right at the edge where the boarder is suspending in the air for a few seconds. It looks so fun and freeing but I would never try it myself.

I regret not being able to catch the moments that occurred here on my camera yesterday but I was in such awe just watching and only caught the last five minutes or so of it with a good friend and co-worker. I've never seen it on real life before, only on television. I would really love to see it again.

Photo of the Day

Bryant Park Chess Match
Originally uploaded by Zanalee

Bryant Park has a series of public spaces set of for games in the summer: bocce ball, ping pong, and chess. I love watching people pay chess, not so much because I love chess but because it brings all kinds of people together. They just gather in crowds like it's this big tournament and there's just this air of contagious excitement around it.

I have however never, ever seen a woman or a young play, at least not in Bryant Park. If I do, you definitely will too.

Fortunately for me, these guys had just set up as I was finishing lunch with a co-worker so there were no spectators yet and I was able to walk up and politely take a shot which the older gentleman said was fine with him. I love how focused looking people are when they play chess. It's so cool! Sorry. I'm a geek.

Photo of the day

Originally uploaded by Zanalee

The obligatory summer sandal shot. Except I really kind of like these shots actually. I'm sooo glad that I put my four favorite pairs of sandals from last summer in a bag in the back of the closet all winter so that I wouldn't have to scramble all over the place like a mad person looking for them this morning.

This is one pair. They're a bit dingy from wear but I still love them. I promise no more wardrobe shots after this...maybe.
LOL!

Photo of the Day

Little People's reading table
Originally uploaded by Zanalee

This is one the little kids reading table at "The Reading Room" in Bryant Park. I eat there at least once a week when the weather gets warm. I love the idea of bringing books, magazines and periodicals outside for the public to read whenever they want. I rarely see kids there but again, I love that they provide the space and books for them as well.

Photo of The Day

Originally uploaded by Zanalee
I have decided to do a "Photo of The  Day" entry in addition to my regular entries every day for a bit. I will post a pic I've taken (usually from my flickr account) and say a bit about it. And that's it.

This is a building in Chelsea around 18th Street where I was this morning. I love the red brick and the moldings around the window frames. I took this using the Instagram app. I added a cirular tilt shift effect.

Octo-Mind

My mind has countless arms
Reaching,
Some I can't even see,
Some I don't even know about
And perhaps for my sake
May never get to see,
That is if my self remains as always
Never free.
My mind has countless arms
That reach.
They grasp and pull and tug
Like a baby
And like a thug
Like a weaver
And like a bum.
They wave fondly at others
And shake a fist at some.
My mind is making arms that will
Preserve my legacy.
My mind is making arms that will
liberate and strangle me,
and sometimes they both feel the same.
But my two hands that I can see
Are vulnerable and empty.
They sense the underlying game.

-Zenzile Greene
(Written in Bryant Park)

It's been a while, kind of...

I think my last entry was on how I learned the true meaning of my name on my birthday. I am now sitting at a reception desk where I work weighing the pros and cons of attending an honors ceremony by catching a ride with someone I despise to a place I hate to go. Not much has changed.

Oh wait that's not quite true. I've gained more weight, my knees crack more and my back pretty much hurts all the time if I'm not careful. I've noticed that all the chiropractors at the practice I go once a week are all male an all white. This is not something that would have occurred to me about 15 years ago. Now it's starting to make me wonder. I can't buy food anywhere anymore without wondering about the conditions of the place, what the benefits are like and whether that bored and depressed look on the cashier's face is that way for many of the same reasons mine is often. I wonder if they're exhausted from fake smiling all day and pretending to be civil to supervisors, they'd just as soon see dropped off of a tall building. I wonder if their lives are treadmill like and what they do to temporarily relieve that each day. I guess for me, photography is a very big part of what I do to escape from the banal routine. Writing used to be this for me but hasn't been for quite some time. I think photography and nature may two of the last few places I can go to breath anymore.  Everybody's got their something and that is mine. And if it wasn't for the work of others I don't know if I would feel the same. Creativity is fed by creativity so if you're not inspired, neither am I. Thank God for nature.

So let's see, where does that leave me? It's scorching hot today, about to get worse tomorrow and I'll be upstate with Fran this weekend, maybe taking in the new Woody Allen film and if it's not too hot maybe a game of catch on the Ramapo High Football field. I like playing catch with Francis. It's very calming and reminds me of when I was girl playing baseball with my dad and brother in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. We talk, we laugh, we get to just enjoy being outside. Yeah, I'm an expert at escaping and relaxing. But regardless, there are some very practical, some very urgent matters that are starting to catch up with me. If I can tackle even one of those this summer, I would feel pretty triumphant.