Will Grocery IDs Become A Thing?

What started as the funniest news tidbit of the week has given me the creeps:

Trump said at a rally in Tampa, Florida that you need to show identification to buy groceries. (We have to show proof of age to buy  alcoholic beverages.) My reaction was the usual eyeroll, followed by mild horror: Any regime that would confiscate children is not above restricting access to food.

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8 Other Places to Play In The Blogs

Hey blogging buddies, many thanks to everyone who weighed in on my previous post. Here are some other challenge options now that WordPress closed our playground:

A Challenge to Bloggers as Community-Building Comes to a Screeching Halt

I learned today that WordPress, who hosts this blog and a bajilion others worldwide, will no longer run their weekly photo challenges and writing prompts. By participating in the photo challenges, I have been privileged to view beautiful photography from around the world and right in my city. Many of us follow each other’s blogs so we don’t miss a post. I am lucky but new and future bloggers won’t have that opportunity.

One last time, here is my contribution to a challenge: Twisted. We were asked to show something that is rounded. This subway station connects the E and M trains with the 6. It was an efficient transfer point while I was commuting for a late-night short-term project. I don’t recall ever using that station much; indeed, I initially forgot about it and took a more time-consuming route.

I’d Rather Be Laughing In The Warm Sun

The WordPress Photo Challenge asks what I’d rather be doing:

• Laughing
• With my daughter
• Someplace warm. I’m damn tired of winter.

Storytelling Without Expression

Photo challenge accepted: A Face in the Crowd. “Without facial expression, can you tell how someone is feeling?”

Still Not Silent: Scenes from the Second (Annual?) Women’s March

Early reports estimate that 120,000  attended the 2018 Women’s March in New York City, less than a third of last year’s turnout, but the ideals and anger were no less powerful.

The Linda Life’s Best of 2017

Christmas and finishing up my coursework kept me from blogging for a while, so imagine my delight when the WordPress Photo Challenge was announced: Favorites of 2017!

The post that created the most dialogue was about my participation in the Women’s March on the day after the coronation election.  I’m so proud of every participant at every march location.

Serenity Across from the Casinos

Atlantic City, New Jersey, is usually associated with noisy casinos, the lively boardwalk and the sandy  beach.

The Experimental Construction Door

I examined each corner and surface of the doctor’s office wondering what to furtively photograph for the WordPress photo challenge.

Then it occurred to me: It’s all one big experiment. You’re born, you die, and in between you find things to be amused by.

Autumn Beauty is a Temporary Joy

I just love when a WordPress photo challenge sparks fond picture-memories: 

Rounded at the New York Public Library

I often find myself in Midtown Manhattan near the iconic main building of the New York Public Library. So, for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge featuring the word “rounded,” here are some shots taken in June, 2017 of the interior.

The Glow of City Construction

It was too beautiful a night to go straight home after class, so I walked to the next subway station. What I saw made me audibly say, “What the hell?” The office building I worked in for many years is under renovation; an entire section is open, with no walls or windows. The interior lights glow in the night sky.

The Hollywood Sign and Tiny Houses

WordPress photo challenge fun:  Another view of my trip up the Los Angeles hiking path that leads to the back of the Hollywood sign. Ironically, my initial post was for another photo challenge.

The Pedestrian at the Walkathon: Weekly Photo Challenge

I recently took part in a little two-mile fundraiser walkathon in Northeast Queens, New York. It was on a beautiful pedestrian and bike path, with Little Neck Bay on one side and a busy highway on the other. 

Layers of Architecture in Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan shows how buildings old, new and under construction can coexist.

Waiting at the Tate

In 2012, I ditched my travel buddies to spend an afternoon wandering around the Tate Modern art museum in London. The exhibit I most remember featured a caravan (That’s camper to us Americans.) surrounded by personal belongings. I kept returning to it, finally deducing that we were supposed to think about what we really need in life or something like that.

Greenery Atop A Renowned NYC Structure

Right in the heart of New York City’s newest up-and-coming neighborhood is a 7-acre green roof, on the fourth level of the Jacob Javits Convention Center. And on a rainy Tuesday in August, I got to tour that roof.

Black and White in Color: The Bike in the Corner

Here’s a quick photo share for the WordPress Photo Challenge:

One Last Time With Some Textiles

I like pretty things. I don’t like unruly clutter.

Periodically, I have to decide what stays and what goes to maintain some sort of order in my apartment. This is one of those times.

Shopping Collages

Manhattan browsing can be a treat for the eyes,  like this collage of costume jewelry and scarves for sale at the Theatre District Shopping Court near Times Square. The prices weren’t as excessive as I would have expected, given the popular location.

Like any other travel destination, New York has abundant opportunities to overpay for silly things. I would suggest that, in general, you shop where the locals shop.

My New York: Bridges

New York is a city of five counties divided by water. We rely on our bridges and tunnels to get out of our home boroughs to, well, everywhere else.

The Delta Musings

So I don’t know all the words after all.

I just learned that “delta” means, according to Merriam-Webster, “a piece of land shaped like a triangle that is formed when a river splits into smaller rivers before it flows into the ocean.” I’m picturing a lazy river spilling into the Pacific Ocean, gentle waters turned wild.

Or a playful winter weekend with a dear pal in balmy Florida, then returning to the cold and seriousness of New York City.

Remsen Cemetery: A Reminder Of Our Transience

When Jeromus Remsen went off to fight in the Revolutionary War, could he have imagined his remains would rest in what would become a busy little urban triangle, in sight of Trader Joe’s, Staples, Bob’s Discount Furniture and a car wash ?

I Tried to Bokeh a Bouquet

Bokeh is such a pretty photographic style: one item is clearly visible and everything else is softly out of focus. How hard could it be, I thought, to set my camera’s aperture as wide as possible, with a fast shutter speed?

New York In My Rear View Mirror?

Just as our ancestors followed water and wildlife for sustenance, I am not opposed leaving New York for a new job.

New York City is my birthplace and my home. I live in the neighborhood I dreamed of living in back when I was in college. It is fun and friendly, safe and pretty by New York standards.

The Dense Lights of the New York Skyline

The best way to appreciate the New York City skyline is from across one of the rivers, where you can get the panoramic view reflected off the water.

A brief subway ride under the East River from what we call “The City” takes you to Gantry Plaza State Park, a strip of shoreline facing Manhattan’s East Side. I rarely go to the neighborhood without a visit to this park. The sensible, walkable design and the beauty it presents remind me why I still live here.

A Wish for Spring on a Raw Day

The blizzard that was forecast for New York City turned out to be strong winds, some snow and icy rain.  Whew! I used this stay-inside day to complete a final exam and to block a newly-discovered air leak in the apartment. Strong winds will do that. In one class we had to copyedit a tomato recipe that looked so good that I plan to make it for tonight’s dinner.

A Good Match for New Life

One of the small, fun benefits of taking classes is the implied permission to collect supplies. Promotional pens and pencils, colorful clips, happy highlighters and a pencil sharpener that I forgot I even owned!

In the Shade of a Shadow Tree

A snowy day is the perfect day to browse the archives for a shadowy Photo Challenge picture.

And what better than a tree looming over a normally busy street that was closed to accommodate a nearby summer street fair!

Shoreline Solitude in Atlantic City

Atlantic City ‘s  Art Walk is well worth a visit.

The mile-long path borders marshland in the Marina District, crosstown from the Boardwalk that we usually associate with AC. On one side of the path is beautiful shoreline, which is desolate in the winter. The paved path undulates like the shoreline it follows.

Repurposing and Presenting Bubble Wrap

In honor of Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, here are two bottles of wine gift wrapped with repurposed bubble-wrap.

The Light At The End…

I’ve been trying to write a sweet post about decorating with light for the past week. But the inauguration had me too sad for pretty word pictures.

I wanted to show how I used a combination of tealight candles, battery-operated candles and battery-operated Christmas lights to transform the dark end of my living room. I wrapped bright lights around the top of my decorative lighthouse and I like it so much, it will stay that way all year long. It seemed appropriate to create my own personal beacon.  Light is safety; it prevents bumps and bruises.  Light shows what things really look like; a truly lit object will show its details and flaws. 

Naming In New York

New York City is five counties of unique areas that need names, as well as addresses, to locate. They are worth the hunt.

They are so wholesome that they opened this shop immediately after last year’s blizzard. The hearty lamb meat pie was delicious.

The Rise of the Snowflakes

There is a pattern in social media political discourse: abrasive comments using “snowflake and “safe space” as pejorative terms in an attempt to weaken opponents.

Winter Resilience And Fun

It’s been a mild winter so far here in New York, but we all know the snow is inevitable.

Anticipating Christmas and The End Of Renovations

Christmas is eagerly anticipated worldwide right now. In my corner of the planet, I am also looking forward to the results of renovations on my apartment building.

The modernization started about a year ago and I see beautiful new workmanship every day. Dated pink wallpaper was replaced with serene, sensible beige. Moldings were added with drops a few inches from the ceiling to hide cable wires. The elevators were replaced with taller, safer ones. Marble flooring is being installed, which actually worries me: the inevitable icy winter weather will cause wet, slick floors. And you really don’t want to slip on marble.

New Horizons: Things Are Looking Up

Midlife is a strange and exciting time to be job-eliminated.

I had a lifetime of caring for other people (I am the oldest of five so the responsibilities started early.) I can now sensibly think of shifting gears and earning a living at work that I love. But what?

Cheerful Little Apples

Distracting myself from 24/7 news coverage of the U.S. presidential election with this picture of apples and a pear. I couldn’t resist the tiny ones at the farmer’s market; they were so cute!

The Artful Parking Lot

On a bright day with shiny blue skies, an ordinary office building becomes a grid for the surrounding trees and parking lot.

From the third floor, those cars look like art:

The Hudson River at Dusk

In Midtown Manhattan it’s so easy to forget that New York is a city of active rivers, with shipping and ferries, sightseeing boats and sights to see. This is the view at sunset near where I currently work in New York City.