My New Year's resolutions

My New Year's Resolutions

Blog more

Eat more

Talk on the phone more

Drink more

Spend more

Sit more

Watch TV more

Sleep more

Wordless Wednesday

MacNeil Park, College Point, N.Y.

My World Tuesday

I guess the moon belongs to everyone's world, doesn't it? But here it is in the Eastern sky in 3/4 phase from MacNeil Park in College Point, N.Y.

This 29-acre waterfront property is popular with runners, walkers, and families year-round for its wraparound promenade with sweeping views of the East River, Long Island Sound, Whitestone Bridge, and the Manhattan skyline.

MacNeil Park, named for one of America’s greatest sculptors, is a spectacular waterfront landscape,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “With sweeping views of the Long Island Sound from its waterfront promenades, majestic trees, ballfields, and a 9/11 Memorial, this park is worth a detour.

My World Team:
Klaus Sandy Wren Fishing Guy Louise Sylvia

miscellaneous mondays

I'm joining Daryl of "on the m104" for Miscellaneous Mondays. Wondering what to do with those photos you love but don't know what to do with? Post any photo on Monday that doesn't match any other meme in the blogosphere...

So here's my first MM post. A shot out the windshield (passenger seat) on the way home from Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island. I like the way it came out so blurry. Gives the effect that we were speeding along... :)

Weekend Reflections #14

James hosts this delightful meme Weekend Reflections!

The kids across the street watched me taking pictures in the snow. I snapped them and got a reflection of the tree in front of their house.

Postcard Friendship Friday

Merry Christmas everyone! Marie hosts Postcard Friendship Friday!

Here's my postcard for today:


Here is the text on the back of this postcard which I just located among my Christmas wrapping paper and ribbons. I bought it back in the 1990s when I went to London:

SCROOGE'S THIRD VISITOR, DICKENS HOUSE
The Ghost of christmas Present, illustrated by John Leech for the original edition of A Christmas Carol (1843).

You are all special, you are all unique;

May your Christmas be as special and unique as you are!
Merry Christmas!

Disney's Animal Kingdom (scanned photo)

Disney's Tree of Life in Orlando's Animal Kingdom (1999).

I scanned this photo at 600 dpi using my HP All-in-One printer.

My World Tuesday

This is what My World looked like Sunday after the first snowstorm of the season in the Northeast this year. You're looking at my side entrance before it was shoveled out by my neighbors. They sure are sweethearts!

Can you see me in the reflection in the door?

Thanks to the My World Team:

Klaus | Sandy | Ivar | Wren | Fishing Guy | Louise| Sylvia

SOOC Sunday

Jan of Murrieta 365 hosts SOOC Sunday.

photographed by me at a local display near my home.

Here's my Christmas Mickey!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL THE SOOC SUNDAY PLAYERS!

Weekend Reflections #13

James is the host of this fantastic meme called Weekend Reflections. Go to his blog to see his wonderful photos and the photos of others who participate.

I took this shot in my nail salon the other day. The name of the salon is "Nails Bloom" and you can see the "B," "L," "O" of the shop sign reflected clearly in the mirror.

Postcard Friendship Friday

Marie of The French Factrice hosts this meme, Postcard Friendship Friday!

Our friend Craig sent us the postcard below:

The description on the back says:
This is a reproduction of a turn-of-the-century greeting by an unknown publisher. Santa was a popular subject for both greeting cards and postcards from this era.

The card is a Hallmark card. Made in the USA (no date)

Thanks Craig!

My World Tuesday

St. Michael's Cemetery, Astoria

St. Michael's Cemetery is situated in the borough of Queens in New York City. Established in 1852, St. Michael's is one of the oldest religious, nonprofit cemeteries in the New York City metropolitan area which is open to people of all faiths. It is owned and operated by St. Michael's Church, an Episcopal congregation located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

This little angel sits above the grave of a young child. Does the moss growing on the sculpture add to the effect or detract from it?

Thanks to the My World Team:

Klaus | Sandy | Ivar | Wren | Fishing Guy | Louise| Sylvia

SOOC Sunday

Today I offer you and Jan of Murrieta 365 two photos for SOOC Sunday.



I was driving through Forest Hills, N.Y. a neighborhood near me when I came upon the church you see in the photo above. It was huge and very imposing, a structure I had never seen before. The architecture was strange and modern-looking. It turned out to be the Iglesia Ni Christo, a church I'd never heard of.

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The Iglesia ni Cristo, Tagalog for Church of Christ, also known as INC, or Iglesia, formerly Iglesya ni Kristo, is the largest entirely indigenous Christian religious organization that originated from the Philippines and the largest independent church in Asia.

Due to a number of similarities, some Protestant writers describe the INC's doctrines as restorationist in outlook and theme, but the Iglesia ni Cristo does not consider itself to be part of the Restoration Movement. Felix Y. Manalo officially registered the church as a corporation sole and because of this, most publications refer to him as the founder of the church. However, the official doctrines of the church profess that Jesus Christ is the founder of the INC and that Felix Manalo was God's last messenger, whom he sent to re-establish the Christian Church to its true, pristine form because the original church apostatized.

They believe that the apostatized church is the Roman Catholic Church, and proclaim that Catholic beliefs shared by most Christians, such as the Trinity - which is according to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church as the central dogma of Christian theology- are proof of this apostacy. The organization does not believe in the Trinity, nor that the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit are Biblical. with him as executive minister on July 27, 1914

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That this church had been built in Forest Hills was unusual, I thought, but in my research I found out that 61.3% of New York City's total Filipino population live in Queens of which Forest Hills is one neighborhood. When I went to Wikipedia I found a photo of the Eglesia Ni Cristo church in Quezon City, The Philippines. Here it is:

If you click on the Wikipedia link above you'll see the architectural details of the Forest Hills church are VERY similar to the church in Quezon City.

Finally I want to show you the logo of the church which sits boldly on the front of the church as it faces the street.



What I noticed in particular was the combination of Christian and Masonic symbols. Apparently Felix Manalo, the church's messenger from God, was a freemason. I hope you liked the additional information attached to the photos I took of the Iglesia Ni Cristo church. They aren't touched up in any way.

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So what are the rules for SOOC Sunday? On any Sunday you can post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that hasn’t been tweaked or altered in any way (cropping is OK). In other words Straight Out Of the Camera.

Also, please link back to Murrieta365.

Weekend Reflections #12

James is the host of the wonderful meme Weekend Reflections.



Here's a weird thingamagiggy that was made by my nephew when he was at the Rhode Island School of Design. I took this photo on a day when the light was just right and I noticed the reflection of the basketweave in it.

Notice that the window in the kitchen is reflected also.

Postcard Friendship Friday

It never ceases to amaze me what you can learn on the Internet! The postcards below represent the KRAMPUS a cultural icon from Austria and Germany associated with Christmas.

Gruss vom Krampus!
Greetings from the Krampus!

*Greetings from the Krampus!

If you were not well behaved

by hopping to it,

Krampus will come
a-galloping

*Colonel Tiki's Drinks

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Dig into Christmas traditions outside the United States and you’re likely to find Santa Claus’ dark side. Artist Cameron Jamie did, traveling to the Bad Gastein Valley near Salzburg, Austria, to shoot footage of an annual ritual that occurs every December 5: roving bands of demon-like characters take to the streets to terrorize children, accost women, and wreak general havoc on the village.

The following day, the feast of St. Nicholas (who appears accompanied by a basket bearer and an angel), is decidedly less creepy. Some say the Krampus is the evil alter-ego of Santa Claus, others that Santa and the Krampus are one in the same, but one thing is clear, the creature is a throwback to the pagan rituals of the pre-Christian era.

Go over to The French Factrice for a wonderful post about mailboxes in Taiwan and other posts by other participants.