Le cordeaux de Frenchman

It took me NINETY MINUTES to find a Starbucks where I could sit down, plug in and get to work.
After an hour and a half of scouring lower Manhattan for a Starbucks, I stumbled into the "office" of an eccentric, angry Frenchman. The corner of Starbucks had two tables; one for your humble photographer, and one that had been taken over with a pile of bags, two different cell phones, a journal, a netbook, and the bundle of cords seen here, plugged into his universal adapter.
I took my first, very blurry, shot while he was up, half yelling at, half negotiating with, and completely confusing the baristas. Luckily, he got up again, giving me a second chance at a clearer shot.

Designline Bus

Brand, spanking-new city bus; only one of three so far.
Good news: I had an awesome window seat at Starbucks this evening.
Bad news: I had to take this picture three times, on account of cell phone camera jerkiness, and random umbrella-carrying passers-by walking into the picture.

Boston!

Every now and then, your humble photographer leaves The City for a day or two out of town. Last Saturday in Boston was too good for just one picture. So, my humble submissions:

We arrived at Back Bay station a few minutes early. The great thing about the Back Bay location is this: if you're taking the T to the bus (or vice versa), there's no need to run like the hounds of hell through passageways and separate buildings, like at South Station.





Entrance to Chinatown. 'Nuf said.





Oceana, an old work friend, and my companion for the day. Fun was had, walking was done, and dim sum was eaten.

Are You That Somebody?

The guy and gal you see here are half of a band called Closer Still, who played a small show tonight. I brought Gloria, a good friend of mine visiting the city, along, and we met up with a guy from Trinity Grace.
The other pictures I took do show all of the band (but they're all of the same cell phone quality), but this one made the blog because Jason and Maggie were doing a cover of Are You That Somebody?
If you listened to the radio in the fall of 1998, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout!
If not, hit up YouTube, you youngin'.

Floral Arrangement

The Tank doesn't sell Four Roses (thankfully), but somehow, a nearly empty jug found its way here. First thought upon seeing it: "That's interesting." Second thought, after seeing the floral arrangement next to it: "That's one for the blog."
Last night was decent for tips; both the shows I worked had low turnouts, but those who turned out drank - and tipped.

Fasten Your Safety Belts

Monday night after missional community, a bunch of us went to Flight 151, a bar down 8th Avenue, for post-group chillaxing. This speaker here in the men's room broadcasts satirical "message from the pilot" announcements on, you guessed it, Flight 151.
The Captain doesn't instruct poopers to wash their hands, but the scrawled missive above the light there does.

Tipopotamus

I snuck this shot in at the Rockefeller Center Starbucks this evening while the barista was putting my coffee together.
It was cute, but I didn't have any change. :-(
Sadly, I also didn't have cash for the fundraiser for Haiti that some friends from church went to tonight. I would've felt guilty about showing up empty-handed. Naw'mean?

Compare & Contrast

Truer words haven't been spoken about laughter than these, found on the side of a restaurant in Media, PA.
Just a little while away in Norristown, they may be party poopers, but they are more environmentally conscious.

Time Flies When You're Drinking Coffee

Picture of the day, folks. True story, too.

Birdface

The one-armed hostess/mascot at The Tank.

Legend has it that she lost her head over a lack of tipping customers, and then a dove of peace settled in to fill the void.

Mealtime Extremes

Kristi, one of my Trinity Grace friendquaintances, giving her mozzarella sticks the thumbs up, and Silk Kaya, a new friend, eating healthy.

IKEA

Furniture named for obscure Swedish towns, cheap eats and a free ferry on weekends! What's not to like?

Live Ad/Dead Mail

New Target ad being installed in Times Square.






Stack of undeliverables at one of my volunteer gigs. It's not as bad as it looks, considering we sent 4,000 holiday newsletters out right before Christmas.

Two, In Lieu

You know the kind of day where you either look in vain for something to photograph, or see something awesome that somebody doesn't want you to take a picture of?
Yeeaah, that would be, in reverse order, Monday and yesterday. But fear not, I'm back with TWO pictures. Not one, but two.

Church

It's good to be back.

























I had to be a little sneaky taking this picture because I didn't know whether or not photography's allowed in the sanctuary. So, when the pastor gave us a moment or so of silent reflection on the year gone by (see all those reflective, bowed heads?), I snapped a quick one.

Hypothermia

Some pictures are worth a thousand words. This might be worth a few less.

Body temperature drops by 1–2 °C (1.8–3.6 °F) below normal temperature (down to 35–37 °C or 95–98.6 °F). Mild to strong shivering occurs.^[3][4] The victim is unable to perform complex tasks with the hands; the hands become numb. Blood vessels in the outer extremities constrict, lessening heat loss to the outside air. Breathing becomes quick and shallow. Goose bumps form, raising body hair on end in an attempt to create an insulating layer of air around the body (which is of limited use in humans due to lack of sufficient hair, but useful in other species). Victim may feel sick to their stomach, and very tired. Often, a person will experience a warm sensation, as if they have recovered, but they are in fact heading into Stage 2. Another test to see if the person is entering stage 2 is if they are unable to touch their thumb with their little finger; this is the first stage of muscles not working. They might start to have trouble seeing. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone's recovered from their New Year's Eve hangovers by now (I mean, that is why New Year's Day is a holiday, right?).
365 pictures a day, in and around New York City - that's what my photo blog's gonna be all about. So, to kick things off...

That's my brand-new Starbucks Gold card I'm holding. Hard to see in the light (??), but it even has my name on it.