#1 - Accidental Art

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#1 – Accidental Art

The truth is I don’t know why I love the photos I chose for the top ten.

The captions are half assed attempts to identify in words my reaction to them. I like them. The pictures touch me for any number of reasons. I’ve tried to share what the reason could be and yet the truth is I don’t know. Why do we like anything? What makes us react to an image? Your guess is as good as mine, no matter what the art critics say. I react to visuals very strongly and I’m blessed to have a great visual vocabulary (if only my verbal vocabulary was half as good). But what made this image number 1? This white flower captured in the gardens of the Cloisters its romantic, pretty, elegant, organic, abstract and precious. This picture stands out for me from all the others because it is perfectly not perfect.

#2 - Window

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#2 – Window

I have a crazy amount of photos with silhouetted objects but this one of the ducks grabs me. I love the composition. I love the light and its potency up against the simple objects, it’s all elegant. Either that or I am craving home catalogs; I would like to think this would at least be in the Martha Stewart collection catalog.

#3 - Upsee Daisy

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#3 – Upsee Daisy

This little boy makes me laugh but what I love about this picture is the hand under his head supporting him as he walks up the stairs. He actually was being taken inside for a “time out” because the excitement of Family Day was just too much for him, but even on the road to punishment he was still a character.

#4 - Andrew Henry's Treehouse

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#4 - Andrew Henry's Treehouse

Every time I see this picture I have the desire to whistle the theme song from the Andy Griffith Show or read Andrew Henry’s Meadow it is the perfect back yard on the perfect summer day. You don’t need to be a kid to appreciate such a place.

#5 - I Want Them All

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#5 - I Want Them All

The pictures I chose for the top ten are a reflection of me and this one is one of the most obvious examples. I love sending postcards. I find it fun to share with someone a place I have been or a work of art I’ve seen. Plus, I need the karma of sending out mail that is not a bill. This picture could be a picture of me browsing in a museum gift shop hopeful they made a card of the work I loved best. I certainly have lived this moment no wonder I liked the picture so much.

#6 - Play Time

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#6 – Play Time

I love this photo because it is playful and sentimental with a historic twist – just like me. Plus I loved the way the old glass in the windows distorted the light. It seems like I could be a kid looking out my bedroom window in 1776.

#7 - Flower Explosion

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#7 – Flower Explosion

I took many photos of flowers this year, but can you really ever have too many photos of flowers? The problem started when I had to choose from among them. This image made the cut easily because it stayed with me all year. I took with my phone and used it as my background for months. Every time I looked at it I’d see explosions of red, beauty and power. I see a solar landscape of color and passion. I see how flowers can communicate and that these talk to me every time.

Don’t Call Me Jolly

It happened again this year – I was described as jolly.

Every year, for as long as I can remember, someone around Christmas time has described me as jolly. Now I’m flattered that the image of Saint Nick has a tendency to remind people of me, but I must admit this back handed compliment drives me crazy.

I feel like Alfred in Miracle on 34th Street, the kid who played Santa each year at the Y because “they had a suite - but no padding”. I know I come with my own padding and I have a tendency to wear a lot of red, but honestly it makes me cringe every time. The worst part is I first started to notice this trend in third grade when I actually was Santa in the school Christmas show. I brought down the house with my Santa presentation, as you can expect, but I didn’t know at the time jolliness would haunt me forever. I know I should be flattered to be called essentially a happy person but please pick another word. I can take any of the other synonyms: cheerful, fun or jovial even, but please leave the jolly for old men in white beards – thanks.

#8 - Home

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#8 – Home

Choosing the criteria by which to declare a photo worth a spot in the top ten was very hard. My photography skills are not good enough to go by photography standards (I’m a point and shoot girl) so I settled on “what would I hang on my wall?”

I would hang this on my wall because of the sentimental connection. This is a picture of home. Steak cooked by Dad on the grill; German potato salad hand made by Mom and corn on the cob with the corn holders my parents have had my entire life. This is a picture of where I grew up and now that I see it again maybe I wouldn’t hang it up, it makes me hungry.

#9 - On The Road

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photos and as hard as it was I narrowed them down this past weekend to my Top 10.

And they are:

#9 – On The Road

I’m a New Yorker so I don’t have a car, but this past Summer I hit the road, first on a rented bike and then my own bike and I felt a joy that had been dormant for a long time.

To see the pavement whizzing by under my feet and feel the freedoms that come with two wheels was great fun. This picture reminds me of that feeling and makes me smile. Plus, I love how some of the pavement was in focus and some was not – I caught the motion of the moment and I love it!

I'm Not Hungry, I'm Numb

I can’t believe I have done it but I went a full day without eating. Not something I ever thought I would do unless sick, but I did it. It’s weird because I don’t feel hungry I feel numb and my sense of smell is crazy. I walked out of the gym last night and I smelled bacon like I have never smelled it before. It was gloriously intense.

This fasting business is rally going to help me to appreciate food, as if I didn’t before. But it is a different appreciation, it's an enhanced sensual experience of it. I’m on day two and I almost cracked this morning. How sad is this one – I was heading to my office and I noticed a cookie crushed on the street. My thought, “that cookie looks good”, maybe I am hungrier then I thought. But then imagine how great a cookie will taste when the fast is broken – trust me I can imagine it.

#10 - Adorable

It’s the end of the year and we all know that means one thing – Top Ten Lists.

In 2009, so far, I have taken 9,786 photo’s and as hard as it was to do I narrowed it down to my Top 10.

And they are:

#10 – Adorable

I took this picture at our annual Family Day event on Staten Island. It was summer time there was face painting and balloons and she just looked right at me. I don’t know her name and I don’t have another picture of her, but I don’t need one because her face has stayed with me all year. No wander I titled it Adorable.

Getting Juiced

I am juice fasting today, something I have never done, but my friend Chantel convinced me to try it and with holiday food on the horizon I thought a pre-Christmas fast would be a good idea.

By “good” I don’t mean I’m exited or thrilled to be trying this, I mean…I eat everything in site when I am at my Mother’s (her cooking is that good) and I’m only there two times a year so in my mind that allows for guilt free indulging.

To prep for this annual gastronomic celebration I thought I would cleanse, detox, fast – whatever the currant buzz word is around this process.

I said I would take it one day at a time (the goal is ten days - which I can even comprehend at the moment). So here I am with my juice thinking this could be it for ten days, even typing that makes me hungry.

Today I've had a juice made of kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, parsley, celery, cucumber, apple, lemon and ginger for breakfast – this made my face feel tingly (or maybe that is a symptom of hunger). My lunch juice was strawberries, blueberries, orange juice and banana (that one at least stopped the grumbling sound my stomach kept making).

I am not a picky eater, I will try anything but I usually like to have my kale in a whole form and with sushi this liquid version of eating I can’t believe people do this often.

I'll see how long I hold out. I should not envision my Mom's cookies for motivation right?

Great Mystery of Life

Ladies and Gentleman I’ve solved one of the greatest mysteries of all time – how could It’s A Wonderful Life not have been a huge hit when released in 1946?

I’ve never understood why this classic needed a decade of constant play on television to become popular thirty years after it was made, but this weekend I stumbled upon the answer in the special features section of the collectors DVD - the original trailer…is terrible. Watching it puts this long debated mystery to rest, case closed, the marketing department is guilty of bad promotion.

The trailer is boring. It opens with a shout out to practically every cast member regardless of their importance as celebrities or characters – you know I love Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen and Ward Bond but, really, are Mrs. Bailey, Burt and Ernie instrumental enough to the plot to justify a trailer appearance? Why not add Mr. Potter’s man servant since we are throwing in the kitchen sink? Would any of them make you go hmmm…looks interesting a movie with a cop, a mother and a taxi driver included…come on. Then, after the cast roll-call, it goes in yet another direction alluding to a love triangle between Mary, George and Violet, but since there was no love triangle between them the footage they string together does not make sense at all.

If I was a moviegoer in 1946 I would have a better way of spending my 25 cents as well, so I am letting the greatest generation off the hook for this slip up and doing some finger pointing at the RKO marketing department. You all are darn lucky copyright expiration saved this film from the purgatory of films badly promoted.