Views from the City

A few more shots taken from the Empire State Building. This is shot from all the way up at the top. That's Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty out there. We haven't been there yet...perhaps next year.
Because of a commitment to meet some more friends, we didn't stay at the top through sunset, but it was close. The colors were amazing...

Not much time to edit...these don't do it justice, but at least you get the idea of the contrasting colors.

There was still a bit of snow on the ground in shady areas when we got there. Central Park was a bit icy.

On an unrelated note: Today's SotD: "Gotta Be Something More" by Sugarland. Interesting sidebar: My hound (who is an older gent) sometimes (frequently...okay, most every night now) has to go out in the wee hours of the morning (sorry. couldn't resist. "wee" hours! ;D ) Anyway, I've discovered that I generally have a different song in my head each time I get up.

Yeah, I'm Still Here...

...just been wildly busy here lately. Was on critter duty at the barn this weekend. Plus, had my eleven-year-old nephew spending some time with us. So, no time for blogging this weekend. Will get back to it soon.

Meanwhile, some random musings:
Wanna' discuss the Oscars? Did you watch? Did you like the results? I didn't watch. Hmmm. I intended to at least check out Hugh Jackman...but it didn't happen. I did hear this morning the run-down of the top categories. What do you think about Heath taking the Oscar posthumously?

A recent SotD:
"I'm Still Standing" by Elton John

My friend Pepper pointed out that there have been no recent Solana pix, so promise to remedy that soon. She's still growing! ;D Also, she's quite fuzzy right now...her winter coat is pretty impressive.

More soon!

Bright Lights, Big City

So we're taking the train from Jersey (where we'd spent Friday night) into The City and I shot this out the window. I'm pretty sure it's the Giants' new stadium going up. Cool, eh?
Just walking around, and this place cracked me up..."The Bar that Banned Danny Boy"!

Gotta' love Times Square...even the NYPD gets lots of lights!

Crossroads of the world? Yeah, maybe.

A Very Special Birthday

Today is a very special day. It's the birthday of two very special kittehs...Oz:
and his sweet sis', Willow:

Happy Birthday, woogums's !! :D

In their honor, please go visit www.icanhascheezburger.com It's a great site, and I'm totally addicted.

NY & Westminster, Year the Second

So, we're back from the Big Apple. Thoroughly enjoyed our second trip up there for Westminster. Hard to believe I've had this crazy blog going for exactly a year now! I have so much to show you and tell you about from our latest trip. (And, who knows, someday I may even finish my four-month-long telling of the last UK trip!) For now, I'll give you a few teasers:

We met up with some friends and went up to the top of the Empire State building:
A beautiful Am. Staff. taken just for...well, you know who you are!

This, to show you that sometimes you got a visual of just how stressful this show is to some of the dogs! (But, all kidding aside, it is pretty stressful for some...just not particularly this one...)

Yes, SIL, there were lots of lovely borzois!

And plenty of greyhounds too! This gorgeous 92 pound male was one of the few close in size to my Phil ;D

Since I don't have President's Day off, that's all for today. But I'm back, and have hopes to blog more regularly again. Til' next time...

Genius, NY, and the SotD

I'm in love with Genius. Genius is the iTunes program that, among other things, makes up a playlist from one song that I pick. It rocks. I love being surprised by what song comes up next! And it's a good way to listen to a wide selection of songs (helpful as I have a ridiculously large library on said iTouch!). It's probably responsible for me listening to some tracks that I haven't listened to in a while (and thus, may contribute to what percolates to the top of my brain and comes out in the Song of the Day).

Well, today's departure day! Will be off to NY and gearing up for Westminster. Get ready...I'll have lots of pix to bombard you with when I return!! Until then, take care of yourselves.

SotD (Song of the Day): "Unforgiven" by Metallica (hah! Didn't peg me as a Metallica kind of girl, did you?)

Song of the Day

[Or, "What was running through my head when I woke up"]

"Viva La Vida" by Coldplay.

New Feature: Song of the Day

"If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher.

Yesterday's song: "It's in the Way that You Use it" by Eric Clapton.


Okay, for the full story, I refer you back to my post entitled "The Soundtrack of My Life" posted on April 3, 2008. For those of you too lazy to go back and find it, here's the most relevant part:

Another interesting (read weird?) piece of trivia about me: I wake up every day with some song running through my head. Yep. Every day. It's different every day. Sometimes it's just a song that I've listened to recently. But sometimes it's more about a mood...I don't even know if it's a carry-over from a dream or if it's like a forecast for the day ahead. Sometimes it's a song I swear I haven't heard in years. Where does it come from? Your guess is as good as mine.

So, here's the deal: the song of the day will become (for now) at least a semi-regular feature. All it is, quite simply, is me sharing with you whatever song it is that was playing in my head when I woke up. I promise not to edit it. Understand that by doing this I'm putting myself out there, unexposed a bit...opening myself up to the ridicule of "I can't believe she even knows that song!" Oh well. :D What can I say? I guess I just like sharing the madness.

View from a Fairy Tale

Every once in a while you capture an image that just speaks to you. Or, at least, I do. I shoot hundreds of shots with the firm belief that by doing so, every once in a while, I'll hit on one I fall in love with. This is one of those shots.

I'm standing on one of the paths in the shadowy forest that is Gnome World and I look out onto the adjoining fields.
Ahhhhhh.

P.S. Stay tuned for an upcoming regular feature: Song of the Day.

Gnome World

One of the highlights of the long-weekend trip for the 2 year-old and the 3 year-old was our trip to Gnome World. I don't have the brochure handy, so I forget how many acres are covered by gnomes...gnomes captured doing a variety of activities. It was a blast!
There was even this helpful gnome who held the paper in the facilities! ;D

Winding Down

As we approach the time for The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show--the original inspiration for this blog--I feel the need to wind down our visit to England. In a little over a week you'll be once again bombarded with dog pix ;D

Here are a few more shots from Great Torrington:
I may have mentioned already that the plaster work on the house we stayed at was fabulous. This is just one example from the outside.

Such a quaint village!

Here's a shot of our lodgings: