A Bird, A Tree and A Lens

We (Marci, really) hosted some of my family (my Mom’s side and the local portion of my Dad’s side) for Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was a great time. I took some pre-party pictures, but then I set the camera down and never picked it up again, so there are no shots of people.

The next day, we continued our semi-tradition of trekking to a tree farm and cutting down our own Christmas Tree.

Some of my family returned that evening to help us trim the tree. Well, to help Marci and the girls — I don’t think I’ve hung anything on the tree other than the lights in several years. Again, no pictures of people. This time, however, what happened is that I went to attach my 17-40L lens and could not find it. Sadly, my best guess is that I left it at a venue back in July. Much sadness. I did take a few pictures of the decorated tree, keeping just the one shot at the right.

I’ve previously misplaced an HD camcorder back when they were still an expensive purchase. If this is becomming a habit, I wonder what I can do to try to curtail it?

Countdown

T minus…

… 6 weeks until 2010.

… 5 weeks until Christmas.

… 1 month until I turn 40.

… 3 weeks until our birthday trip to Vegas.

… 2 weeks until my dental check-up.

… 6 days until Thanksgiving.

… 2 days until I am the father of a 12-year-old daughter.

… 1 day until the weekend.

Flashback Friday: Weekend in Manhattan

In memory of 9-11 and in honor of my upcoming visit to NYC, and because today is a Friday, I’ve decided to do another Flashback Friday using this post from last December. By the way, our trip to Toronto was last weekend. I’ll get a post done about that eventually, but I still have lots of pictures to process and I’ve been pretty busy with other things this week.

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As I mentioned last week, we spent last weekend in New York City. We flew in Friday night and by the time our delayed flight landed we decided to head straight for the party. It was my first opportunity to put faces to the names of Marci’s co-workers. We had a good time.

After sleeping in Saturday morning, we headed downtown to see what discount Broadway tickets were available. Next, we made our way up to the South Street Seaport where they were having some sort of Santa convention or something. There were people walking all around the area wearing Santa suits. We spent some time looking for some gloves for me as I’d left mine in my lighter jacket at home. I ended up picking up a pair from a street vendor near the World Trade Center Site — just before my hands were about to fall off. 🙂

World Trade Center Site

We were too late for the guided walking tour of the World Trade Center Site, so we just walked around on our own. Surprisingly, one of the best views was from the second story of the Burger King on the corner (above). There were only a few other spots around the site from which you could see the construction. I suppose the weird vibe I had was to be expected, but looking at the plans for the memorial and new buildings I couldn’t help but feel that the vibe will be even stronger after construction is complete.

Rockefeller Center

Without realizing it, our choice for a show for the night ended up being right next to Rockefeller Center, as well as being very close to our hotel. This was particularly convenient since we had previously decided to go see the Christmas tree before the show. Continuing the trend through most of the day — except for the walk from the South Ferry to the South Street Seaport — the place was packed with people. I know it’s cliched, but even at 28°F the energy level in Manhattan is constantly as high as (or higher than) most other places during special events.

We didn’t stay long, just long enough to take a few pictures before queueing up for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes. I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t let me in with my camera (it doesn’t fit in my pocket), but my long coat concealed it so there wasn’t an issue. As it turns out, they only forbid flash photography, so it probably wouldn’t have been a problem anyway. The lack of coat checks does make me wonder what the point of bag checks was, though.

Rockettes Dolls

The show was festive and enjoyable and included a nice short rendition of The Nutcracker, which is about the only way I can take it anymore. I hadn’t originally planned on taking any pictures, but since I had my camera and they had only prohibited flashes, I went ahead and took a few — and I certainly wasn’t the only one. Still, I made an attempt to avoid being too annoying to those around me. I doubt I was successful, but at least I made the attempt.

Weekend in Manhattan

As I mentioned last week, we spent last weekend in New York City. We flew in Friday night and by the time our delayed flight landed we decided to head straight for the party. It was my first opportunity to put faces to the names of Marci’s co-workers. We had a good time.

After sleeping in Saturday morning, we headed downtown to see what discount Broadway tickets were available. Next, we made our way up to the South Street Seaport where they were having some sort of Santa convention or something. There were people walking all around the area wearing Santa suits. We spent some time looking for some gloves for me as I’d left mine in my lighter jacket at home. I ended up picking up a pair from a street vendor near the World Trade Center Site — just before my hands were about to fall off. 🙂

World Trade Center Site

We were too late for the guided walking tour of the World Trade Center Site, so we just walked around on our own. Surprisingly, one of the best views was from the second story of the Burger King on the corner (above). There were only a few other spots around the site from which you could see the construction. I suppose the weird vibe I had was to be expected, but looking at the plans for the memorial and new buildings I couldn’t help but feel that the vibe will be even stronger after construction is complete.

 

Rockefeller Center

Without realizing it, our choice for a show for the night ended up being right next to Rockefeller Center, as well as being very close to our hotel. This was particularly convenient since we had previously decided to go see the Christmas tree before the show. Continuing the trend through most of the day — except for the walk from the South Ferry to the South Street Seaport — the place was packed with people. I know it’s cliched, but even at 28°F the energy level in Manhattan is constantly as high as (or higher than) most other places during special events.

We didn’t stay long, just long enough to take a few pictures before queueing up for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes. I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t let me in with my camera (it doesn’t fit in my pocket), but my long coat concealed it so there wasn’t an issue. As it turns out, they only forbid flash photography, so it probably wouldn’t have been a problem anyway. The lack of coat checks does make me wonder what the point of bag checks was, though.

 

Rockettes Dolls

The show was festive and enjoyable and included a nice short rendition of The Nutcracker, which is about the only way I can take it anymore. I hadn’t originally planned on taking any pictures, but since I had my camera and they had only prohibited flashes, I went ahead and took a few — and I certainly wasn’t the only one. Still, I made an attempt to avoid being too annoying to those around me. I doubt I was successful, but at least I made the attempt.