tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70215242024-03-13T07:22:45.728-07:00The Road Less TraveledJourney on the backroads of the internet.Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.comBlogger452125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-13871156874070455242024-01-09T22:00:00.000-08:002024-01-11T01:18:36.102-08:00Live, love, laugh, learn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmYUVLyQtTZDPOY6NHCY3CV-rqIlVWDGsoJnxHB-wMKJBBGoR8RJH1n_osaIZkj7JBwUj8_Nj6c01v8HgNDpsmejpb7FERXW__3F-V7_V-vR5GBegO1Gz8UZHFqmwO3lZtcvFVYuqlC5CiKjPV-JnGvUjLTYWd-Trxm_a6QRJ9S71JGtVQlnpvQ/s4080/PXL_20230812_220013031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3044" data-original-width="4080" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmYUVLyQtTZDPOY6NHCY3CV-rqIlVWDGsoJnxHB-wMKJBBGoR8RJH1n_osaIZkj7JBwUj8_Nj6c01v8HgNDpsmejpb7FERXW__3F-V7_V-vR5GBegO1Gz8UZHFqmwO3lZtcvFVYuqlC5CiKjPV-JnGvUjLTYWd-Trxm_a6QRJ9S71JGtVQlnpvQ/s600/PXL_20230812_220013031.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>What makes life worth living?</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">January 9 Bloganuary Prompt: What is your mission? </h3><div>Life is making others smile, learning new things, enjoying nature, exploring, connecting. </div><div><br /></div><div>No big mission, just the little things.</div><div><br /></div><div>Art: Painting with LEDs "Love is interactive" by Amy Lindal. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvXQcHZgnsL/">Watch the Instagram reel </a>showing how she created it. Photographed at <a href="https://sungallery.org/">the Sun Gallery</a>. And yes, it's interactive in person - much better!</div>Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-27585841869757489512024-01-08T23:59:00.000-08:002024-01-11T01:00:47.847-08:00To live long and prosperI want to visit the future. <div><h3 style="text-align: left;">January 8 Bloganuary prompt: What are your thoughts on the concept of living
a very long life?
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcB4UvFFkI69yvSREXqto9Oac5dhbk5acMFKucHSI4QyCCN_01mGwdJ3w5ABFxTUT0915iVfKpjgmTJH9Ml9TyMQ1_ke0hVe6JcgZ3VBaWVJLQqMlmE_OWaNvhtPlYjYQ3ABv01MHnLdRIfp2em2OoR8UKGMPwohNtnf-T253NCFtRq6V3EiIuQ/s4080/PXL_20240111_085030442.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcB4UvFFkI69yvSREXqto9Oac5dhbk5acMFKucHSI4QyCCN_01mGwdJ3w5ABFxTUT0915iVfKpjgmTJH9Ml9TyMQ1_ke0hVe6JcgZ3VBaWVJLQqMlmE_OWaNvhtPlYjYQ3ABv01MHnLdRIfp2em2OoR8UKGMPwohNtnf-T253NCFtRq6V3EiIuQ/s600/PXL_20240111_085030442.MP.jpg" width="301" /></a>
</div>
</h3>
</div>
<div>I want to be able to see the world.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>I want to interact with people younger (and older) than me. </div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<div>I don't want to be bedridden or live in pain.</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<div>
And I want to live in a system where growing old doesn't mean scrambling
to pay the bills.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>I want to both live long and prosper.<br /></div>
</div>
<br />
<div><br /></div>
<div>
(As a side note,
<a href="https://www.startrek.com/news/live-long-and-prosper-jewish-history-month">this is a really interesting article</a>
about how the Star Trek Vulcan "Live long and prosper" gesture was suggested
by Leonard Nimoy, drawn from his own Jewish heritage)
</div>
<div><br /></div>
</div>
Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-32089751588936229942024-01-07T19:04:00.000-08:002024-01-08T12:24:05.079-08:00Ch-ch-changes<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4BgF7Y3q-as" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>What could I do differently? Pretty much everything.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">January 7 Bloganuary Prompt: What could you do differently?</h4><div>The real question is what <b>should </b>I do differently? And what do I <b>want</b> to do differently?</div><div><br /></div><div>That's much harder to answer. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some small personal changes I'm working on: </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Blog more often (doing that now)!</li><li>Walk and hike in new places</li><li>Eat more fiber </li></ul><div>There's more things I'd like to do differently, but I'm working on how. I'll see how 2024 goes.</div></div><main class="wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained" id="wp--skip-link--target" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-block-end: 0px; margin-block-start: calc(7 * var(--wp--custom--gap--baseline));"><div class="wp-block-template-part" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-block: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: var(--wp--style--global--content-size);"><div class="wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="wp-block-group post-meta is-layout-flex wp-block-group-is-layout-flex" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-block: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: var(--wp--style--global--content-size); row-gap: var(--wp--custom--gap--baseline) !important;"><div class="is-style-post-date-icon wp-block-post-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--wp--custom--color--foreground); display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: var(--wp--custom--font-sizes--x-small); margin: 0px;"></div></div></div></div></main>Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-80721076174529950012024-01-06T19:03:00.000-08:002024-01-06T19:03:58.416-08:00We're all in this together<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFD8nonwpHla2R4kVR13rKD6jYNNFSERLGh8p4XkEkvFA6Crr_kZgbXcJAX3-rqA3x0X9yMNw9EVtINWaxGsMqtcSVqpSXqBMFtNNhHBaCFsWT4DWHEl6ra3Wdpo9_VCpoAnzZgveIMjonAx345-DNUJscxDGI2t5vv8giLlfUCjQjfLajje5gzQ/s1200/Together%20in%20this.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image of the earth on a background of dark clouds over a landscape with lights and the text "We're all in this together"" border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFD8nonwpHla2R4kVR13rKD6jYNNFSERLGh8p4XkEkvFA6Crr_kZgbXcJAX3-rqA3x0X9yMNw9EVtINWaxGsMqtcSVqpSXqBMFtNNhHBaCFsWT4DWHEl6ra3Wdpo9_VCpoAnzZgveIMjonAx345-DNUJscxDGI2t5vv8giLlfUCjQjfLajje5gzQ/s600/Together%20in%20this.png" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p>
One message I wish people would take to heart is that we are all more similar
than we are different, we have one home, and ultimately we're all in this
together.
</p>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
January 6 Bloganuary Prompt:“If you had a freeway billboard, what would it
say?”
</h4>
<p>
People need to work together to make the Earth stay fit to live on, to prevent
diseases from spreading, to get people housed and fed.
</p>
<p>
Or, as the tender-hearted millionaire Elliot Rosewater in Kurt
Vonnegut's <i>God Bless You. Mr. Rosewater</i> put it:
</p>
<blockquote>
“Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the
winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a
hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it,
you've got to be kind.”
<div></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
Of course that's a bit much for a billboard, and "We're all in this together"
is a bit more pithy.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
And truly I think the nicest thing would be to take down the billboard
completely. Who wants to see that when they're driving?
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Image: My billboard mockup created in
<a href="https://designer.microsoft.com/">Microsoft Designer.</a> It came
out more ominous-looking than I intended.
</div>
<div>
<br />
<p><br /></p>
</div>
Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-91944728490697879022024-01-05T22:27:00.000-08:002024-01-06T18:32:41.923-08:00Gazing into the future, reflecting on the past<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23Fm4Kp7cug_DUT_hLX7AIJjM_TSpiKcXArldCj15XShdVmLE1uVQ6VUq672ITABRUNho-psExkpKTYp4Yf-AOzw0hdr3ArYslmWVrV5-GK_W2v5_38SAMhoOPd6QRbO449uKbHs7_QzKRfrYuR5vzvSqxd69pdgDrT4wbjFda_EfP1b8k6_i1w/s1024/WKx3lsG.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23Fm4Kp7cug_DUT_hLX7AIJjM_TSpiKcXArldCj15XShdVmLE1uVQ6VUq672ITABRUNho-psExkpKTYp4Yf-AOzw0hdr3ArYslmWVrV5-GK_W2v5_38SAMhoOPd6QRbO449uKbHs7_QzKRfrYuR5vzvSqxd69pdgDrT4wbjFda_EfP1b8k6_i1w/s320/WKx3lsG.gif" width="320" /></a></div><p>I feel like as I've gotten older, I have spent more time thinking about the past. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">January 5 Bloganuary Prompt: Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?</h4><p>It's not just that there is more in the past to reflect on, but that I've come to realize that the future is largely unknowable. </p><p>I plan, I think about where things are heading, I imagine future technologies. But all it takes is a world-wide pandemic to knock everything onto a different path. And who knows what might happen a year, or a decade or a century from now?</p><p>I have hope for the future. And I'm interested in learning about the past. So truly it's both.</p><p>The animated image image at the top was created by <a href="https://extrapolate.app/">extrapolate.app</a>, which uses "AI" to extrapolate what you look like from baby to old age. I used a photo from when I was in college. And I can confidently say none of the generated images look like me.</p><p><br /></p>Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-68907268496933038082024-01-04T22:27:00.000-08:002024-01-04T22:27:31.471-08:00The Gift of Time<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM0dVqEu4BUn8-_tAfulJ2qvlkywEO-oZyDEEu2j5G0n-cj9uMgsRy5V7tIB9vRKaxMYNUvcohoQpLh6I5rGjCptNoeB1Ru43PZf328funZrS4XkHPrApLV_hO8hAdj_3Df6gFMVmFHIC6sB5R87VUxrZtmyQdtz7qjYXTX9F3WtOcSQHbPhsqg/s1000/Me%20Time%20Turn%20Sculpture%20Blog%20Small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Selfie in front of a sculpture of a distorted clock" border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1000" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRM0dVqEu4BUn8-_tAfulJ2qvlkywEO-oZyDEEu2j5G0n-cj9uMgsRy5V7tIB9vRKaxMYNUvcohoQpLh6I5rGjCptNoeB1Ru43PZf328funZrS4XkHPrApLV_hO8hAdj_3Df6gFMVmFHIC6sB5R87VUxrZtmyQdtz7qjYXTX9F3WtOcSQHbPhsqg/s600/Me%20Time%20Turn%20Sculpture%20Blog%20Small.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div><p></p>
<p>Time is the greatest gift! But what does that mean exactly?</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
January 4 Bloganuary Prompt: What is the greatest gift someone could give you?
</h3>
<p>When I read the prompt, I immediately thought "<b>time</b> is a precious thing, and it would be wonderful to have more of it." </p><p>But what would that be in practical terms? </p><p>I thought of a few things: </p><p>It's taking care of chores, so that I have time to do more things I enjoy. </p><p>It's planning an outing to take together.</p><p>It's helping me gather information on something I'm having trouble making a decision about.</p><p>It's helping me remember that I sometimes need to take a break from what I'm focused on.</p><p>There's no way to add more hours to the day, so it would be a great gift to make the time I have more enjoyable.</p>
<p>Photo: me in front of the sculpture "<a href="https://www.sfomuseum.org/public-art/public-collection/time-turn-and-light">Time, Turn and Light</a>" by Woody De Othello at the San Francisco Airport.</p>
Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-65805666255225541762024-01-03T23:01:00.000-08:002024-01-04T00:06:19.857-08:00Go Bears!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wcV0FnVMChmaGrQOlxViiVIpKaA2XPX_x0zbuWEr1Rc5edIxlFbeX3QToZ44wP5YfuI4DPgl8PCgmVvhZe7_q0V1ucO5Madczq4yt3cBHj8EiP-qDc7GuzWRNNyRgS0MX7RuEWyw8n7XalE4XKCh0BPLNpdC_TRUtRrFgSmiLglxnq_pCM4cYA/s3000/010324%20Blog%20Cal%20Alumni%20Day%20WIth%20Mom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo of me and mom at Parents and Alumni Weekend. Mom is holding a champagne glass with orange juice and I am wearing a large foam Go Bears claw." border="0" data-original-height="1540" data-original-width="3000" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wcV0FnVMChmaGrQOlxViiVIpKaA2XPX_x0zbuWEr1Rc5edIxlFbeX3QToZ44wP5YfuI4DPgl8PCgmVvhZe7_q0V1ucO5Madczq4yt3cBHj8EiP-qDc7GuzWRNNyRgS0MX7RuEWyw8n7XalE4XKCh0BPLNpdC_TRUtRrFgSmiLglxnq_pCM4cYA/s800/010324%20Blog%20Cal%20Alumni%20Day%20WIth%20Mom.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p>Now the Bloganuary prompts are getting personal.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
January 3 Prompt: What colleges have you attended?
</h3>
<p>
I got my bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, 3
dozen years ago.
</p>
<p>
I'm a second generation Golden Bear. Both of my parents graduated from Cal as
well. Maybe a bit oddly, I knew the
<a href="https://calband.berkeley.edu/media/cal-songs/#California%20Drinking%20Song">California Drinking Song </a>(and several other Cal fight songs) before I even graduated high
school.
</p>
<p>
In recent years, my mom (class of '53) and I would head to Berkeley for
<a href="https://homecoming.berkeley.edu/">Parents and Alumni Weekend</a> in
October. We'd attend a few interesting faculty lectures, check out the tours
and displays in the Library and science facilities like the
<a href="https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/">Jepson Herbarium</a>, watch the
marching band and get refreshments at Alumni House.
</p>
<p>
The campus is built on a hillside, with some fairly steep paths, but there
were golf cart shuttles to help move people around (if you could find one).
</p>
<p>
I say it in the past because 2019 was likely our last year doing that.
</p>
<p>
There were only virtual sessions in 2020 (not surprisingly) and that has
evolved into a "hybrid" event. But there weren't many virtual sessions in
2023, and most of the action is now back on campus. Unfortunately mom isn't up
to traversing the campus, even with the provided rides.
</p>
<p>We'll keep watching from home. And, as always, Go Bears! </p>
<p>(Yes, I attended more college after Cal, but that's a different story.)</p>
Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-81088295785072577542024-01-02T23:45:00.000-08:002024-01-04T00:04:20.496-08:00Nature, walking and play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimqxIcJM_2x2M6HPoXJOs_5QlwU4K8O1_WevcFWEJ2TzsJxtA5B_mH3CA0sbD5nhkD04WAMgJJeoqni2YREe8Ks5SjRs6D8htMqA8XwCqoTjGA8ULAs7lCC1oiXxFt3MczVLEmoXOHIghZXr6JtgkUDmsIIFkhFE7oHQU4xGs1YxoKkleRemuaqw/s800/010224%20Mushroom%20blog%20Small.jpg"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"
><img
alt="Close up photo of a mushroom poking through damp dry leaves."
border="0"
data-original-height="800"
data-original-width="800"
height="400"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimqxIcJM_2x2M6HPoXJOs_5QlwU4K8O1_WevcFWEJ2TzsJxtA5B_mH3CA0sbD5nhkD04WAMgJJeoqni2YREe8Ks5SjRs6D8htMqA8XwCqoTjGA8ULAs7lCC1oiXxFt3MczVLEmoXOHIghZXr6JtgkUDmsIIFkhFE7oHQU4xGs1YxoKkleRemuaqw/s600/010224%20Mushroom%20blog%20Small.jpg"
width="400"
/></a>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Do I play? Day 2 of Bloganuary and I was already stumped.<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
January 2 Prompt: Do you play in your daily life?
</h3>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
What says “playtime” to you?My first reaction was that, no, I don't have
"playtime" in my daily life. <br /><br />
But this afternoon I took a nice walk in the rain. I checked out what was
growing (mushrooms!) and took photos. I hatched a Pokemon and planted Pikmin
flowers. <br />
<br /><b> This</b> is my play.<br />
<br />
Last year I was hoping to hike in more areas, but got put off when so many
were closed at the beginning of 2023 due to storm damage. And somehow the year
passed and I didn't get to the new trails (see
<a
href="https://thoughtsontheroad.blogspot.com/2024/01/how-can-it-be-2024-already.html"
>my biggest challenges</a
>).<br />
<br />
This year, I'm going to try it again. <br /><br />
I've downloaded the
<a href="https://www.ebparks.org/sites/default/files/TC-2024-Guidebook.pdf"
>East Bay Regional Park District 2024 Trails Challenge guidebook</a
>
and added the submission deadline to my calendar and bookmarked the local
<a
href="https://www.ebparks.org/natural-resources/biodiversity/plants/flowers"
>wildflower</a
>
guides for spring flower identification. <br /><a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmptqgWpFbymm25DbxGiCK7ihrVyEnHEYurFB7W7WE_4CFAAzdErMqbRqk50NP9ZOZoC0rRsd-0gseMKAvkmAVIrLivnbXC9HWIgAfk4Uty5F9n4ySpDpjhRim8L7Hu8Zte_tB-XTf8kWVL6R6Bk_N5nLJffMvtydpEVYzJfzGi4dZGXppP2kyvQ/s1067/010224%20Play%20Trails%20blog%20Small.jpg"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"
><img
alt="Photo of the book Urban Trails East Bay"
border="0"
data-original-height="1067"
data-original-width="800"
height="400"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmptqgWpFbymm25DbxGiCK7ihrVyEnHEYurFB7W7WE_4CFAAzdErMqbRqk50NP9ZOZoC0rRsd-0gseMKAvkmAVIrLivnbXC9HWIgAfk4Uty5F9n4ySpDpjhRim8L7Hu8Zte_tB-XTf8kWVL6R6Bk_N5nLJffMvtydpEVYzJfzGi4dZGXppP2kyvQ/w300-h400/010224%20Play%20Trails%20blog%20Small.jpg"
width="300"
/></a>
</div>
<br />
And for Christmas I got a copy of Alexandra Kenin's
<a
href="https://www.mountaineers.org/books/books/urban-trails-east-bay-oakland-berkeley-fremont-richmond"
>Urban Trails of the East Bay</a
>, which includes both nature and city walks.<br />
<br />
I'm ready to explore! <br />
Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-12677121093022039972024-01-01T23:25:00.000-08:002024-01-04T00:02:34.147-08:00How can it be 2024 already? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoUSftibb83uaHRUO4pA7b1r_BdR_Uv5ltw3lE22LrkrenoKC5gpmYnUaoak-LaH4ntIrzSluZbVskm8b5ikzimJPS-yJvdvpTM4PrU2fztkHF8ERnQee5DyRvDYpBIh2e6P7bH7PmkXsx6sN2CdNc1uqO5w5T269eKWiGep6mFn5voLRjqZXmw/s837/010124%20New%20Year%20blog%20Small.jpg"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"
><img
alt="Photo of a person's long shadow on a path at the top of a grassy hill, with blue sky and more hils in the background."
border="0"
data-original-height="837"
data-original-width="630"
height="400"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoUSftibb83uaHRUO4pA7b1r_BdR_Uv5ltw3lE22LrkrenoKC5gpmYnUaoak-LaH4ntIrzSluZbVskm8b5ikzimJPS-yJvdvpTM4PrU2fztkHF8ERnQee5DyRvDYpBIh2e6P7bH7PmkXsx6sN2CdNc1uqO5w5T269eKWiGep6mFn5voLRjqZXmw/s600/010124%20New%20Year%20blog%20Small.jpg"
width="301"
/></a>
</div>
<p>
Hello readers, you may have noticed that the last post on this blog was in
March 2009. If my math is right that was almost 15 years ago.
</p>
<p>
Over the years I shifted to making personal posts on social media, but I'm
thinking maybe it's time to shift back to actual blogging.
</p>
<p>
So, here I am again. I figure this is a nice easy place to share interesting
things and my various thoughts without worrying about algorithms and followers
and such.
</p>
<p>
There were some folks following this blog by email, but since
<a
href="https://www.peggyktc.com/2022/07/simplified-feedburner-no-publicize.html"
>FeedBurner turned off their RSS to email option,</a
> they won't be notified of this post. And following feeds directly has
mostly gone out of fashion. So I'm not expecting many people to read this,
which is actually kind of nice.
</p>
<p>
This month I'm going to be following the
<a href="https://bloganuary.wordpress.com/">WordPress Bloganuary prompts</a
> to get back into the swing of writing.
</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>January 1: What are your biggest challenges? </b>
</h3>
<p>
One of my biggest challenges is actually completing new projects. Either I
don't start or I get distracted and then end up moving on to something new.
</p>
<p>
I was thinking about restarting my personal blog a year ago, mostly prompted
by the changes over on Twitter/X.
</p>
<p>
But I needed to decide on whether to continue blogging here, or start a new
blog. And do I need a new design? What about a custom domain? And ooh, there's
another shiny project over there to focus on ...
</p>
<p>And suddenly a year has passed. Or 15 years. </p>
<p>
So, I've decided just to do it. I updated the blog theme so it's at least
using a responsive design and will read OK on mobile devices. I have a bunch
of changes I do want (and need) to make, but this year I'm not going to let
that get in the way of writing.
</p>
<p>If you are reading this, do you have similar struggles?</p>
<p><br /></p>
Peggy Kolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01466907398485574017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-45097133536650783062009-03-24T23:54:00.001-07:002012-03-12T23:07:48.439-07:00Spring has sprung!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg14fw6c7CYNGWtiJkHMQdlAy3b2YwpXXmO3WMbOgs7oQiJEnJNE20dFgzSanVrFD4w_35tqEwmyMr8L1FqEA0-RY1RH9_H2k737YfssyB_hNpGfWQUEwBrWvmD3iZ5m-npnT0iMQ/s1600-h/Freesias.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317015887100014274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg14fw6c7CYNGWtiJkHMQdlAy3b2YwpXXmO3WMbOgs7oQiJEnJNE20dFgzSanVrFD4w_35tqEwmyMr8L1FqEA0-RY1RH9_H2k737YfssyB_hNpGfWQUEwBrWvmD3iZ5m-npnT0iMQ/s400/Freesias.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 300px;" /></a> One of the signs that spring has arrived in full force is that my freesias start to bloom.Their bold colors and sweet scent just make me smile. I just wish there was a way to keep them going year-round.<br />
<br />
There's also a non-freesia bulb that's blooming. I have no idea what it is (obviously I have a short memory here). The only problem is that I don't remember what exactly it is, not that it matters . . .Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-23279803015302828972009-03-15T20:26:00.000-07:002009-03-15T21:54:27.004-07:00Richard Lewis Kolm (1935-2009)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7AVQw-xy0fQ1VVHV7FUQ-eLiV5Y2YVgqGnHOfypYBUdlQlk1GuAr-EdDNY1xCrPz31wp3jx-jkf_TozRVvB6R16VHOeOGDDZPdBGOQCwJnsrpSjKzAj9AlFdxb1NaSc82VIEQNQ/s1600-h/1968-011+crop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7AVQw-xy0fQ1VVHV7FUQ-eLiV5Y2YVgqGnHOfypYBUdlQlk1GuAr-EdDNY1xCrPz31wp3jx-jkf_TozRVvB6R16VHOeOGDDZPdBGOQCwJnsrpSjKzAj9AlFdxb1NaSc82VIEQNQ/s200/1968-011+crop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313638872669545778" border="0" /></a>On Saturday, February 28th, my dad died. It doesn't seem like two weeks ago. It doesn't even seem real sometimes. A week ago, on March 8th, we held a lovely memorial "service", which more than 100 family, friends and colleagues attended. It meant a lot to me - to all of us - that so many people shared their memories with us.<br /><br />I thought I'd share some of our memories with anyone else who might be interested.<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.legacy.com/insidebayarea/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=124865733">Richard Lewis Kolm Obituary</a> (ANG Newspapers, March 6, 2009)<br />- <a href="http://www.pkolm.com/dad/Richard%20L.%20Kolm%201935-2009.pdf">Richard Lewis Kolm Biography</a> (written by mom and shared at the memorial, 23.7Mb pdf)<br /><br />My brother, Brian, and I sorted through and scanned lots of old photos which we posted around the chapel. I turned a handful of them into a slide show. Here's the video, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZjonv2xj98">via YouTube</a>:<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jZjonv2xj98&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jZjonv2xj98&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br />It was originally set to "Blue Monk", which Gene suggested.<br /><br />Bri and I also stood up and talked about our own memories of dad. Here is approximately what I said:<br /><blockquote><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxfCd10bjLM8cioMqudhOwVF7oVV0Zh6iMXhKBC0as4KNqyX5GYJGAn7KKbaEp6FBSMMmKNYc7Fa5vbmr119B3OILUkltIiwn9izbe6xV1WKouJsqEl_Q5Hzc0kFSqDjQ7yG4bg/s1600-h/1973-009+crop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxfCd10bjLM8cioMqudhOwVF7oVV0Zh6iMXhKBC0as4KNqyX5GYJGAn7KKbaEp6FBSMMmKNYc7Fa5vbmr119B3OILUkltIiwn9izbe6xV1WKouJsqEl_Q5Hzc0kFSqDjQ7yG4bg/s200/1973-009+crop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313639163634601650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">One of the things I've been doing the past few days is sorting through more</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;"> than 40 years worth of family photos. It's brought back so many happy memories – family trips, parties with family and friends, and the activities I did as a kid.<br /><br />There aren't as many pictures of dad as I expected, though, probably because he was usually the one holding the camera. And when I think about dad, that's often how I remember him – with a camera or video recorder in his hand.<br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDINKqR5-W8FyECrerceBWbNS4hIpPHiTHwkJh_6HqCBkXP_nJr0vh8VBVBJsF4EGF2mYmVbyrE68kHG5DoZqVuR-NkXVDKmwcEU4dASYlXrWIr_QYu8YMOP9VTr5k6oUWZ7n63A/s1600-h/1977-001+crop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDINKqR5-W8FyECrerceBWbNS4hIpPHiTHwkJh_6HqCBkXP_nJr0vh8VBVBJsF4EGF2mYmVbyrE68kHG5DoZqVuR-NkXVDKmwcEU4dASYlXrWIr_QYu8YMOP9VTr5k6oUWZ7n63A/s200/1977-001+crop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313642711539037698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">And while he didn't even make it into every roll of photos, he was always there. He was supportive of all my various extracurricular activities - even though I'm not sure he was really that interested in swimming or ballet or soccer. I could always count on his support.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">D</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">ad and I did share many interests. He was interested in science, and always encouraged me to study science myself.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:courier new;">His stories about his college days helped me decide to attend UC Berkeley. He made sure I was </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">well prepared for that too - I'm pretty sure I was the only Freshman in my dorm who already knew the California Drinking Song.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGlhhPubnX36OfJTTTgtNdu3nsknDDtD6kE-qc8DEF4v7vbQZHmiSdUw1G8pbVJdVVwcqiP-Yvr-EgO-rmxSFGF_WyDZBbecpy-Gut8Mcbxct3RnSSTRhK3jVXf2uV_sHRM5gNIQ/s1600-h/1997-+Peggy+PhD-crop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGlhhPubnX36OfJTTTgtNdu3nsknDDtD6kE-qc8DEF4v7vbQZHmiSdUw1G8pbVJdVVwcqiP-Yvr-EgO-rmxSFGF_WyDZBbecpy-Gut8Mcbxct3RnSSTRhK3jVXf2uV_sHRM5gNIQ/s200/1997-+Peggy+PhD-crop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313644223289888386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">We also shared an interest in history and genealogy. We spent a lot of happy hours researching and compiling our family history. That's a project I plan to continue.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">Of course in some ways we're really different. Dad liked to plan and organize, while my style is to do things haphazardly and at the last minute.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">But he's always been there when I needed a helping hand, sometimes even before I'd asked for any assistance. He helped me build school projects, was with me when I bought my first car (my only car), and he would even jump right in and do dishes when he came over for dinner.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVHB9hDvkDk57VHmJ9ANJX6wHrdC81tCSpyQEgtTWdLzxIXzapLgksLb2yT9kXA8bRxzjobpZCepxYrpySKAGhIyccENiY60IIn7SeTTwU5nf2awZpr4ouxlih1nop755fT0jfA/s1600-h/1992+nz-001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVHB9hDvkDk57VHmJ9ANJX6wHrdC81tCSpyQEgtTWdLzxIXzapLgksLb2yT9kXA8bRxzjobpZCepxYrpySKAGhIyccENiY60IIn7SeTTwU5nf2awZpr4ouxlih1nop755fT0jfA/s200/1992+nz-001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313641965607882466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">I admire how honest and responsible he was. Just as an example: when I was in elementary school he wouldn't help me sell Girl Scout cookies in his office. That's because he was a manager, and he didn't want to do anything t</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">hat might seem like he was putting unfair pressure on the people who reported to him. I found that annoying at the time, but now I really respect that.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Tju9rPEMNDScsI3Zk82q7PeWeC2Y3U_mEX4FQBUWE5ZDN6i2qzpp4MqUE_RL3BbK6KrTLRcKzst_uTq6NcDF61ghIm3-kPGKw6c5xdf_p1IqnwnLHUn_SYwHXN2Lbsp5nyEk4g/s1600-h/2008+PC250083_2+crop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Tju9rPEMNDScsI3Zk82q7PeWeC2Y3U_mEX4FQBUWE5ZDN6i2qzpp4MqUE_RL3BbK6KrTLRcKzst_uTq6NcDF61ghIm3-kPGKw6c5xdf_p1IqnwnLHUn_SYwHXN2Lbsp5nyEk4g/s200/2008+PC250083_2+crop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313639520821426834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">And, while he was very hard working, he always made sure he had time for us and for the things he enjoyed doing, like traveling and train watching.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:courier new;">I don't recall ever hearing him being spiteful or intentionally cruel.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:courier new;">I'm proud to be his daughter and I miss him very much. </span></span></blockquote><br />The last line is really all I wanted to say. And I still have trouble reading it.<br /><br />Thanks to everyone who has been their for us over the past few weeks. And thank you for being part of dad's life.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Photos, top to bottom (click for larger image):<br />- Me helping dad build the deck (1968)<br />- Off on a family trip (1973)<br />- Me and dad on a hike at Lake Tahoe (1977)<br />- Getting my PhD (1997)<br />- Mom and dad in New Zealand (1992)<br />- Dad, me, Gene and Brian (Christmas 2008</span>)Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-38407572407405773522008-12-17T20:31:00.000-08:002008-12-17T20:36:22.641-08:00Snow!!!It's been raining off and on for the past couple of days - gloomy and damp and altogether yucky. But lo and behold, about 7pm tonight the temperature dropped enough to turn the rain into that white fluffy stuff. Well, actually sort of damp and sticky, rather than fluffy, but still better than rain. It's kind of hard to remember that just two weeks ago it was sunny and 75 degrees.<br /><br />Snow! I love it!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWjuVBlV9nF7TceaaCEMQRSq4-2T4qKyjPr23O9B_qO0r4D_nzWfBysCEK5RraQ9pxd9Z8VzC7YMrrVa_WuB64Sj_QJwuc_iYQO3Cu6-CDAsTuVBsdIlIFljHyAG1H0risiUIJw/s1600-h/IMG_2764.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWjuVBlV9nF7TceaaCEMQRSq4-2T4qKyjPr23O9B_qO0r4D_nzWfBysCEK5RraQ9pxd9Z8VzC7YMrrVa_WuB64Sj_QJwuc_iYQO3Cu6-CDAsTuVBsdIlIFljHyAG1H0risiUIJw/s320/IMG_2764.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280982362953175874" border="0" /></a>There are a couple <a href="http://aroundyucaipa.blogspot.com/2008/12/im-dreaming-of-white-christmas.html">more photos on my Yucaipa blog</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:small;">Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/yucaipa" rel="tag">yucaipa</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/snow" rel="tag">snow</a></span>Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-33282588174308879912008-12-14T15:29:00.000-08:002008-12-14T15:39:00.035-08:00Last Crop of the Year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgza0KgeKecFqumuFMJubqCqrXvoSjdwe8FUJoQZ2a0yRAGs1BIJcYhmFYIFn5TfWi6W36LLwKKu_uvmE1ffGxeJ_Tv8HNVAey5v9BD_pKPNGo4qJX-kLzY8X7H0AR-H48b6dD1mw/s1600-h/IMG_2749.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgza0KgeKecFqumuFMJubqCqrXvoSjdwe8FUJoQZ2a0yRAGs1BIJcYhmFYIFn5TfWi6W36LLwKKu_uvmE1ffGxeJ_Tv8HNVAey5v9BD_pKPNGo4qJX-kLzY8X7H0AR-H48b6dD1mw/s200/IMG_2749.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279792892787222434" border="0" /></a>We had a chilly rainy day yesterday, followed by almost-freezing temperatures over night, so I wasn't particularly surprised to find that all my basil plants had turned brown when I checked on the garden this afternoon. I decided it was time to harvest what was left of the peppers and tomatoes in my vegetable garden.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVOaEjycdV12Ns87EdychuKkctsGJwmjXN_hM1AgeimNNCYv1kCYkWX-ERKocwx2f4nBGS46Q6XDAK6qiGB-w4bDBVNTEiMQs8kxyzr2taaxEls9sqsQXkMdgorD7u1xZHMtKOg/s1600-h/IMG_2750.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVOaEjycdV12Ns87EdychuKkctsGJwmjXN_hM1AgeimNNCYv1kCYkWX-ERKocwx2f4nBGS46Q6XDAK6qiGB-w4bDBVNTEiMQs8kxyzr2taaxEls9sqsQXkMdgorD7u1xZHMtKOg/s200/IMG_2750.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279793468771959698" border="0" /></a>The peppers will be fine, and I'll probably toss whatever we don't eat this week into the freezer anyway. The tomatoes, on the other hand, may not be particularly tasty. I'll leave them out on the counter to see if they ripen any more, but they may be as ripe as they'll get. They probably aren't any worse than the artificially ripened tomatoes that you get in the supermarket.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzZLUgtPeJWkCNn_C1VjzspialKgn36CLrt0tm0WCBaeYNu48JZxeyA1WNYqAYMqvTkDINj2ZWnGyP5eEZkH_K1q4wrwANXabEoL1UAGq6bMX1zto7T5jLOVhMEKM5zDHAEzUdw/s1600-h/IMG_2754.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzZLUgtPeJWkCNn_C1VjzspialKgn36CLrt0tm0WCBaeYNu48JZxeyA1WNYqAYMqvTkDINj2ZWnGyP5eEZkH_K1q4wrwANXabEoL1UAGq6bMX1zto7T5jLOVhMEKM5zDHAEzUdw/s200/IMG_2754.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279794243247113730" border="0" /></a><br />My sugar snap peas, on the other hand, look like they are loving the nippy weather. I can hardly wait until there are enough pods to eat.Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-80277647991434620062008-12-08T14:14:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.116-08:00Home AgainSo here I am, home again. It feels like I brought a piece of New York City with me, since the temperature right now is only in the 50s, instead of in the 70s like it was the day before we left. I may even turn the heat on tonight.<br /><br />I haven't unpacked yet, because my suitcase didn't make our connecting flight in Chicago. It should be delivered some time this afternoon. That's no big deal, really, except that the refrigerator is bare, and I can't go out to the supermarket until my luggage arrives.<br /><br />Overall it was an excellent trip. We didn't do everything that we wanted to, so we'll just have to make the trip again sometime.Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-18739413440062780902008-12-08T13:46:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.117-08:00Day 5: Herald Square and the Empire State Building<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWuiHbRi5aVyT7tS6zDBTPZWGSWuU1DQAkZVlo4aR08NwCfVSO3YBeCL2FjkY5aVj0IC_uR1oevLZOyZX_BfyJIEJ-UQ-yZbsOEF_n1rjIvO7giQkeP-uTWJVnAbAJl3Kq5fIXKA/s1600-h/IMG_2703.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWuiHbRi5aVyT7tS6zDBTPZWGSWuU1DQAkZVlo4aR08NwCfVSO3YBeCL2FjkY5aVj0IC_uR1oevLZOyZX_BfyJIEJ-UQ-yZbsOEF_n1rjIvO7giQkeP-uTWJVnAbAJl3Kq5fIXKA/s320/IMG_2703.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277539626197400626" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7f0oDWGNVLm6_BFWNqQ0dJxqlvE5DSOkXrQETmFwO1-riRaWwgxH8bj7ArgNK96IPsI40EA2Z6OmzhOvHqW8FqWg0Sj1x2E_K9nn6tQYrhbJh2HuYPJ_p2JT1-x6wvFt5Wrc8w/s1600-h/IMG_2712.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7f0oDWGNVLm6_BFWNqQ0dJxqlvE5DSOkXrQETmFwO1-riRaWwgxH8bj7ArgNK96IPsI40EA2Z6OmzhOvHqW8FqWg0Sj1x2E_K9nn6tQYrhbJh2HuYPJ_p2JT1-x6wvFt5Wrc8w/s320/IMG_2712.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277540438790663138" border="0" /></a><br />Our last stop was Herald Square. The flagship Macy's department store had an elaborate holiday display that put a sort of whiz-bang mad scientist twist to the season. But Macy's wasn't our goal, the <a href="https://www.esbnyc.com/">Empire State Building </a>was, and so we headed down 34th street to find the entrance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKUd95ZDy7-wA3NU_QZko80reypJPvyuC0oiHPm-1c8Mmf1dszZWfMx2rpTYD8S57Szby5kw1xO65a_KSiwxpjf1cvP00Ro7aCLWxpxxdcm98k-ipmrfhdF8y7qPVsK_TtwbktA/s1600-h/IMG_2725.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKUd95ZDy7-wA3NU_QZko80reypJPvyuC0oiHPm-1c8Mmf1dszZWfMx2rpTYD8S57Szby5kw1xO65a_KSiwxpjf1cvP00Ro7aCLWxpxxdcm98k-ipmrfhdF8y7qPVsK_TtwbktA/s320/IMG_2725.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277542888778889586" border="0" /></a>Getting up to the observation deck on the 86th floor is a bit like queuing for a ride at Disneyland. No, it doesn't have animatronic tableaux or cheesy music, but there are maze-like paths roped off to follow (fortunately pretty empty Sunday morning), and you are offered additional opportunities to spend your money seemingly at every turn. I wanted to carry a sign that said: no, I don't want buy a special map, or rent the audio tour, or watch the NYC virtual tour, or have a photo taken in front of a green screen (with the backdrop added in later), or buy some expensive souveniers.<br /><br />We did eventually get up to the top without emptying our wallets, and the view was spectacular. I didn't stay outside that long, though, because the temperature was frigid - and on the south side of the building the winds were fierce.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAr9UgJnLb1YytJug-Mi8B902QY1qmGv0aHrHE3aSykEO3MtcGnUIXUD47PwzYaDCRNu7JFnIVYV30jORPCAW8SWlXOdt-L7LRJX82sa-D4ks3kzdYSRuP82YMxFrUqbjBwcFBBw/s1600-h/IMG_2744.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 5px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAr9UgJnLb1YytJug-Mi8B902QY1qmGv0aHrHE3aSykEO3MtcGnUIXUD47PwzYaDCRNu7JFnIVYV30jORPCAW8SWlXOdt-L7LRJX82sa-D4ks3kzdYSRuP82YMxFrUqbjBwcFBBw/s320/IMG_2744.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277543442254346130" border="0" /></a>That's my "I'm very cold" face.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjtifDmCD7INHRWjM-Nnga33elzIUcsGxXMSdVXpwDxzZ5Eh5OHKLbHOMP916bnVbYvmTlevyVuDWzjxdHy1r7Ld9Zx1jng7malmRBp544csxiDCJ-zlRek2fZEVzZLGvVamrCg/s1600-h/IMG_2742.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 5px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjtifDmCD7INHRWjM-Nnga33elzIUcsGxXMSdVXpwDxzZ5Eh5OHKLbHOMP916bnVbYvmTlevyVuDWzjxdHy1r7Ld9Zx1jng7malmRBp544csxiDCJ-zlRek2fZEVzZLGvVamrCg/s320/IMG_2742.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277543433778882562" border="0" /></a>Looking downtown towards the Financial District.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzkn_ZrGXmGz_F6URuVhh3nRjbhkDR9uYHfIKsCZM4EkEZt8NkAWRw_b-GmV0dLaHKKuxYOi0WkQsJtfXiqtCFMV_QVysZHJWqV7CLs3WwrQvwXRursxgqhqRFyE_Y8MxoKiFiQ/s1600-h/IMG_2733.jpg"><img style="margin: 5px auto; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzkn_ZrGXmGz_F6URuVhh3nRjbhkDR9uYHfIKsCZM4EkEZt8NkAWRw_b-GmV0dLaHKKuxYOi0WkQsJtfXiqtCFMV_QVysZHJWqV7CLs3WwrQvwXRursxgqhqRFyE_Y8MxoKiFiQ/s320/IMG_2733.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277543428900129666" border="0" /></a>Looking uptown towards Central Park.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZj1cv5mCZPfS8tgK_5BBDgvcW1Vh8AVCL8CBkvXQnYIrRJHAxnUmyoz801jwxpZeSoHe3Z2gsnDy5McAFo48A-tQNSkvShu9V-UhgeOucQqM5PjIQF0T8LkmH4EqCu6YlkEM6A/s1600-h/IMG_2722.jpg"><img style="margin: 5px auto; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZj1cv5mCZPfS8tgK_5BBDgvcW1Vh8AVCL8CBkvXQnYIrRJHAxnUmyoz801jwxpZeSoHe3Z2gsnDy5McAFo48A-tQNSkvShu9V-UhgeOucQqM5PjIQF0T8LkmH4EqCu6YlkEM6A/s320/IMG_2722.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277543418818064194" border="0" /></a>Puffed-up pigeons with the Chrysler Building in the background.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbAEojy68IDWT3194oM8X-fyBFdKx129KCMUkY1ux5_QQQCaAvCC-0gQgqd2EHfAb09uuCYa8gdTv3lP1rWHlJy4AW8NwdZS0vEGElRuuPCncR1Ii7d8zimZ2ehrlR1hsngtb-pg/s1600-h/IMG_2746.jpg"><img style="margin: 5px auto; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbAEojy68IDWT3194oM8X-fyBFdKx129KCMUkY1ux5_QQQCaAvCC-0gQgqd2EHfAb09uuCYa8gdTv3lP1rWHlJy4AW8NwdZS0vEGElRuuPCncR1Ii7d8zimZ2ehrlR1hsngtb-pg/s320/IMG_2746.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277545826947770978" border="0" /></a>Did I mention it was windy?<br /></div><br />A fitting end to our trip to NYC!Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-87962690563163115372008-12-08T13:40:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.117-08:00Day 5: Rockefeller Center<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyWTFZCM8NaltwAt3o5JbU6AmUM8qEt7NnualwcvEWvKZSfDuw1evKhxf4M_u3NWxQ1J7IC8Fu7nnC3LtsSHJvy8KvXtU15Wa45tc2jKofxg1bTSFDHij_GdbkEAtHQZcXqK5zA/s1600-h/IMG_2686.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyWTFZCM8NaltwAt3o5JbU6AmUM8qEt7NnualwcvEWvKZSfDuw1evKhxf4M_u3NWxQ1J7IC8Fu7nnC3LtsSHJvy8KvXtU15Wa45tc2jKofxg1bTSFDHij_GdbkEAtHQZcXqK5zA/s320/IMG_2686.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277538649392190850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKI63Js9BPidFRpjmdwpfLIJZcuTbmC0b1zdjCb_btZFkVtIB1nu5qfD8cA31aFHIZ4UsYkrg56fRDUAcAxOvjhfDEN409KLsmqr4tca_gK4fEfdVPyEPLd_svKUWvHaRAHTjFg/s1600-h/IMG_2682.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKI63Js9BPidFRpjmdwpfLIJZcuTbmC0b1zdjCb_btZFkVtIB1nu5qfD8cA31aFHIZ4UsYkrg56fRDUAcAxOvjhfDEN409KLsmqr4tca_gK4fEfdVPyEPLd_svKUWvHaRAHTjFg/s320/IMG_2682.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277538390181696018" border="0" /></a>Our flight was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, giving us all morning for a last look at Manhattan. We decided to head back over to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree in daylight and watch the skaters.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1RRXfhARpH1BoBvD8AePIIOo9fvGaZv5MqJdpc0xSJ0E8LMrqtHDIv6dD3yM1HcD3Kezhz_XXNNvKQH9_5VRSku4Fe0aYZGPSDF0J-tjq2yNx62L5GYgiPoWeTwDgT7k_Pt44sg/s1600-h/IMG_2697.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1RRXfhARpH1BoBvD8AePIIOo9fvGaZv5MqJdpc0xSJ0E8LMrqtHDIv6dD3yM1HcD3Kezhz_XXNNvKQH9_5VRSku4Fe0aYZGPSDF0J-tjq2yNx62L5GYgiPoWeTwDgT7k_Pt44sg/s320/IMG_2697.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277538826162762162" border="0" /></a>Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-38479556088787148482008-12-08T13:00:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.118-08:00Day 4: Dinner in Little Italy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstaGIWiNhNUcstDQC4NgT3IVAOJtz7ArpJglNuAXLwnK7k4o3KVlEW9n6EVcf2En27DkDCZ7RiSq6qbXxwz20wvUmiFoxoJSTtKHpZwqqjMtChX0DdQVpwfjue0UzqeEYd9j_og/s1600-h/IMG_2654.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstaGIWiNhNUcstDQC4NgT3IVAOJtz7ArpJglNuAXLwnK7k4o3KVlEW9n6EVcf2En27DkDCZ7RiSq6qbXxwz20wvUmiFoxoJSTtKHpZwqqjMtChX0DdQVpwfjue0UzqeEYd9j_og/s320/IMG_2654.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277537212847695698" border="0" /></a>One of the things that's awesome about Manhattan is that you can walk down the street in <a href="http://www.littleitalynyc.com/">Little Italy</a> shortly before 10pm and have your pick of different restaurants - and you don't have to worry about being turned away because they are about to close. Eating any time - that I love.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBBryX5riObzHcUISEvw9jczjQvmZCxGQc6KDcfQi3VEOmRh9P5HOc0GKCya8XN4uD4jQT_BLvIP-IHUiunyyVSpJNNBgW9pqWYt4y66OrtRz9aR6-0jMyRZ5nTSw-MQ0jipdRg/s1600-h/IMG_2662.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBBryX5riObzHcUISEvw9jczjQvmZCxGQc6KDcfQi3VEOmRh9P5HOc0GKCya8XN4uD4jQT_BLvIP-IHUiunyyVSpJNNBgW9pqWYt4y66OrtRz9aR6-0jMyRZ5nTSw-MQ0jipdRg/s320/IMG_2662.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277537116974316162" border="0" /></a>Anyway, Erin recommended <a href="http://www.danicoristorante.com/">Da Nico</a>'s for dinner, so, not having any other specific goal, ate there. We each started with a large antipasti plate - Gene's with portabello mushrooms and mozzarella, mine with prosciutto, salami, and cheeses. Those went down surprisingly easily, and then we had our main courses - Gene had a pork chop in spicy sauce, and I had orecchiette pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe. We ended with a cup of coffee and fried dough on the house. Then we strolled down Mulberry street, looking at all the festive Christmas lights (Little Italy goes all out!) in the gentle snow flurries. Perfect.Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-46614015808452647662008-12-08T12:50:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.118-08:00Day 4: The Met<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEuwrvOk7acWAKSkS79RtizwvkGzayff3SaMM-8OwrLs5gl1fnkROUr-et0gSxBhC8ys0uqFf3iGUvMgQVUoGcxGjIWoQrlJf_W_g0hyphenhyphenr7dzf-z3g09Ej27AfYgMRmw4hMSVjPOw/s1600-h/IMG_2638.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEuwrvOk7acWAKSkS79RtizwvkGzayff3SaMM-8OwrLs5gl1fnkROUr-et0gSxBhC8ys0uqFf3iGUvMgQVUoGcxGjIWoQrlJf_W_g0hyphenhyphenr7dzf-z3g09Ej27AfYgMRmw4hMSVjPOw/s320/IMG_2638.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277535898935562802" border="0" /></a><br />At brunch David had strongly suggested that we visit the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp">Metropolitan Museum of Ar</a>t if we had a chance, so we decided to do that before dinner. Fortunately the Met is open until 9pm on Saturday night, so we didn't have to race Uptown before it closed.<br /><br />We ended up being there for almost 3 hours, and saw only a tiny fraction of the collections. The <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/curatorial_departments">variety of works</a> there is really incredible - parts of <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/medieval_art">medieval churches</a>, <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7B94AE65CE-A1ED-4D05-A4B9-6178A303EA78%7D">18th-century nativity scene</a>, an entire Egyptian temple, sculptures and artifacts from ancient Greece and Babylon and China, and paintings and other works of art from Europe and the US to the present day. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyzGG1HKXRPPjcLKnT-TA78WBnyJW03zebSiCXdC-UB51ouLLLOSW8Q29fHhRXuogNsDxJoahHSqFccjc5fLT4pUTWO26m_WNyVg9NtEPxBgVex3gWj6b73N7xv2zB67JoliFoQ/s1600-h/IMG_2641.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyzGG1HKXRPPjcLKnT-TA78WBnyJW03zebSiCXdC-UB51ouLLLOSW8Q29fHhRXuogNsDxJoahHSqFccjc5fLT4pUTWO26m_WNyVg9NtEPxBgVex3gWj6b73N7xv2zB67JoliFoQ/s320/IMG_2641.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277536013047327218" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We could have spend days looking at it all, but focused most of our time on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Dendur">Nubian temple of Dendur</a>, which was given to the US by Egypt to save it from the flooding upon completion of the Aswan High Dam; and the<a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/musical_instruments"> musical instruments collection</a>, which had thousands of years worth of musical instruments from from all around the world. In between we saw some of the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/asian_art">Asian art</a>, <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/featuresExhibitions.asp?dep=10">Egyptian art</a>, the<a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/arms_and_armor"> armor collection</a>, bits of and, shortly before the Museum closed, the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/european_paintings">European art collection</a>, including the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7B284E2626-F32E-4EFF-9E89-213AA61644B8%7D">late 19th/earthy 20th century French art - Degas, Picasso, Monet, Braque and colleagues. </a><br /><br />It was both overwhelming and exhilarating to see so much in such a short time. And in a move was obviously meant by nature to keep me in a cheerful mood , it was snowing a wee bit when we left the museum.<br /><br />More to come . . .Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-70728232117364233572008-12-08T12:45:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.118-08:00Day 4: Brunch with SciencebloggersOur only scheduled event for Saturday was brunch/lunch with Sciencebloggers at <a href="http://hundredacresnyc.com/">Hundred Acres </a>in Greenwich Village. I had a great time meeting <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/">GrrlScientist</a> and <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/worldsfair/">David Ng</a> (who was in New York to perform at a <a href="http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/list.asp?sdate=12/4/2008&from_cal=0">science comedy show</a>) and the other Scienceblogs people. Anyway, the food was great there - how can you go wrong with donuts with a warm chocolate dipping sauce and eggs benedict with salmon? - and I was glad we hadn't filled up on breakfast.<br /><br />We headed back to the hotel for a rest - Gene napped and I blogged.<br /><br />ETA: <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/12/brunch_with_sbs_millionth_comm.php">GrrlScientist has posted some photos</a>.<br /><br />More to come . . .Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-84418783696302621492008-12-08T12:35:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.119-08:00Day 4: Ground Zero and Canstruction<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_ZrQPK-rEannxBo9NROLxFjiioyEM2fWnAABzAMn4XODlH6KSx8aa6VXnP5gdJlrWE4so_LZKohzWaysxorxJGdRnza71ighxmJvPkWWKlOgzEiDNH2IiF-nc4z8wMogU8R2Uw/s1600-h/IMG_2596.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_ZrQPK-rEannxBo9NROLxFjiioyEM2fWnAABzAMn4XODlH6KSx8aa6VXnP5gdJlrWE4so_LZKohzWaysxorxJGdRnza71ighxmJvPkWWKlOgzEiDNH2IiF-nc4z8wMogU8R2Uw/s320/IMG_2596.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277521607553596146" border="0" /></a>On Saturday morning we headed Downtown to <a href="http://www.wtc.com/">Ground Zero</a>. There are covered fences all along the WTC site, with short stretch open for viewing. At the moment, there really isn't much to actually see. If I didn't know differently, I would have thought it was just a large construction site. There is a simple list of names of the "Heroes of September 11, 2001". And that's it. There is a also an artist's rendition of what the site will look <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFZxTWrqHyXyoI5G68zff4ZaypUjRkbI7eBntMp49yCoM-7vaKoMDTxIRD8xy7z2Xc7jSJu7nqAihSO0kvk_5d-waAguiKaW110M3tjImZRjv6lJUNYtO4j-EmZLwTORD1Df8Lw/s1600-h/IMG_2599.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFZxTWrqHyXyoI5G68zff4ZaypUjRkbI7eBntMp49yCoM-7vaKoMDTxIRD8xy7z2Xc7jSJu7nqAihSO0kvk_5d-waAguiKaW110M3tjImZRjv6lJUNYtO4j-EmZLwTORD1Df8Lw/s320/IMG_2599.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277522060375829538" border="0" /></a>like once construction is completed. It would have been nice to learn about what had made those I suppose we would have learned more if we had visited the nearby museum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfDtjhbxcms53A3N7sQLrT8ftey381OJXNx7pt4bq6AmQAnnZ_gZlpGzFLv3_KQDRJ2gNR6mSPDUAyZVtObN3bW43rn0N3emv_tfKFCgieyWBg72aeO4gVbOKuTy6PsGrkFNsnuA/s1600-h/IMG_2611.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfDtjhbxcms53A3N7sQLrT8ftey381OJXNx7pt4bq6AmQAnnZ_gZlpGzFLv3_KQDRJ2gNR6mSPDUAyZVtObN3bW43rn0N3emv_tfKFCgieyWBg72aeO4gVbOKuTy6PsGrkFNsnuA/s320/IMG_2611.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277521410275487618" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_D5o3h4s9v6ZeYLE9zZHTYGp26BV35PSDjJ3az6KAjd8lVxZCe-MiLu6rrDmqAKOi87TITuv13g1u2ayW2Yhh98duXGWYHjqQU7G76NIaVqGK_j0s8Ow0z59Z0r1NA3yS_n_Daw/s1600-h/IMG_2619.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_D5o3h4s9v6ZeYLE9zZHTYGp26BV35PSDjJ3az6KAjd8lVxZCe-MiLu6rrDmqAKOi87TITuv13g1u2ayW2Yhh98duXGWYHjqQU7G76NIaVqGK_j0s8Ow0z59Z0r1NA3yS_n_Daw/s320/IMG_2619.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277528055667024834" align="right" border="0" /></a>We continued on to the <a href="http://www.worldfinancialcenter.com/">World Financial Center</a>, a sort of shopping and business center across West Street from the World Trade Center site. There they had the winners of the annual <a href="http://www.canstruction.org/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=151&Itemid=44">Canstruction competition</a>, in which the competitors - teams of students, architects and engineers - make sculptures out of canned food. When the exhibit is over, the food will be donated to local food banks. The sculptures remind me a bit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointillism">pointillist art</a>, because up close they appear as stacks of cans, while from further away you can see the design as a whole. The winner of the competition is a representation of a Giant Panda ("CANda") made from about 4500 cans of tuna, 1000 cans of Amy's Organic Soup, and 200 bags of brown rice.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmpnb1DG_aicQGiK4sRoxaiVCy5w5I_t3SWrohyphenhyphenFeNs8plrKglpQ2Z9M9T3_0NH08NheSR7eg9I4ZT6Rp8feilCqHC6ZUDA59Dn4mXyUpabU43IgpZXAmMMHX_WG5AFNMhK9mXg/s1600-h/IMG_2616.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmpnb1DG_aicQGiK4sRoxaiVCy5w5I_t3SWrohyphenhyphenFeNs8plrKglpQ2Z9M9T3_0NH08NheSR7eg9I4ZT6Rp8feilCqHC6ZUDA59Dn4mXyUpabU43IgpZXAmMMHX_WG5AFNMhK9mXg/s320/IMG_2616.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277528067521365122" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mYnN8ndefTvlND4AvfSLGR-gDkr6la3HUSVaG_B3_e1v5hsorircC6VUpZOBsEyFNEzU9XjszJWZG_Tu60MbVcuB4CPwwZhyphenhyphenGpO2yUIljNjsoi443q3ZsQx-Bt_JlFzXqGt60A/s1600-h/IMG_2622.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mYnN8ndefTvlND4AvfSLGR-gDkr6la3HUSVaG_B3_e1v5hsorircC6VUpZOBsEyFNEzU9XjszJWZG_Tu60MbVcuB4CPwwZhyphenhyphenGpO2yUIljNjsoi443q3ZsQx-Bt_JlFzXqGt60A/s320/IMG_2622.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277528068451517746" border="0" /></a><br />More to come . . .Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-36955388249186939962008-12-08T12:28:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:13.207-08:00Mapping NYCI've made a Google map showing where we stopped during our trip to NYC. It's embedded below, but if you are having trouble seeing it - or want to see the full size version with the list of locations - <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109197417519323742361.00045cde353227c5494e7&t=h&z=13">click this link</a>.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&s=AARTsJqTz9Gov-Baen7J5wBf-xoYmoBjlw&msa=0&msid=109197417519323742361.00045cde353227c5494e7&ll=40.744916,-73.982964&spn=0.104044,0.145912&z=12&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=109197417519323742361.00045cde353227c5494e7&ll=40.744916,-73.982964&spn=0.104044,0.145912&z=12&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-53983739605372756862008-12-08T11:15:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.120-08:00Day 3: The City from Brooklyn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IeIRdVJjhDcqFVuSC4z46nLR0SETEtf1C7pmqZ2AKCV9FOispbQ6F1nuYU-2IfhsChyln6MUULFd8HHOV3nPEkaFhwYp9a_hGdep-VEd9b7LV4baLga1hrMwDBX6x-mF8WX__g/s1600-h/IMG_2559.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IeIRdVJjhDcqFVuSC4z46nLR0SETEtf1C7pmqZ2AKCV9FOispbQ6F1nuYU-2IfhsChyln6MUULFd8HHOV3nPEkaFhwYp9a_hGdep-VEd9b7LV4baLga1hrMwDBX6x-mF8WX__g/s320/IMG_2559.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277501762007123634" border="0" /></a>On a previous trip to New York, Gene had walked along the Brooklyn Promenade and wanted to go back to see the view of the city. It's a short subway ride to the Brooklyn side of the river, and then a few blocks walk down to the base of the Brooklyn bridge. The view from there is spectacular, with the whole brightly lit skyline and bridge laid out in front of you. After admiring the view for a while, we walked several blocks down along the water to the Brooklyn Promenade, which gave us a higher vantage point - and slightly different angle - to see the city. You can even see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3yoN5GRNoLjR89DMzrxvT2vU4ZDvemMfihxjSGpZCgsUFPGhxGnF3C7UIpFixcvHmMsrEhyphenhyphenms7fH2iwD-2Lk26ROvK7n0SpHlDmfZFTEATlyzRNHTEuTB6pY7vBRjvLQIhQ7Ow/s1600-h/composite+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 103px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3yoN5GRNoLjR89DMzrxvT2vU4ZDvemMfihxjSGpZCgsUFPGhxGnF3C7UIpFixcvHmMsrEhyphenhyphenms7fH2iwD-2Lk26ROvK7n0SpHlDmfZFTEATlyzRNHTEuTB6pY7vBRjvLQIhQ7Ow/s400/composite+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277501447518167394" border="0" /></a><br />After we had seen our fill, we returned to Manhattan and decided to walk through the East Village. It's a busy area near NYU, with lots of restaurants - especially Indian ones, it seemed - and bars. We had a beer at the <a href="http://ryansnyc.com/ryans/aboutthirsty.htm">Thirsty Scholar</a>, but were hoping to hear some music. The bouncer told us that there wasn't really any live music in the area, and that the place to go was Greenwich Village. We figured it wasn't too far to walk, which was true, sort of.<br /><br />Let me make an aside to all you thinking of coming to Manhattan: wear walking shoes whenever possible. My shoes were comfortable, but definitely not meant for miles of walking. I didn't have blisters or any serious foot pain, but my feet were really tired by the time we got back to the hotel. After this night, I just wore my sneakers. But I digress.<br /><br />So we ended up back in Greenwich Village, which was very lively. What is totally awesome is that just within a few blocks there are a couple of dozen choices of places to enjoy live music or comedy. From what we could hear from the street, some was better than others, but there was a fantastic choice. We ended up at a place called <a href="http://www.kennyscastaways.net/">Kenny's Castaway</a>, where <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=299147836">a very young looking band was playing reggae music</a>. We stayed and listened (no dancing on my tired feet!) until the end of their set, then headed back to the hotel.Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-51333119387175922582008-12-06T14:07:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.120-08:00Day 3: Dinner in Chinatown<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgryd9xbUoZ_GP7ObsIRylwapeQJS0MPJ1neYEpy4KQNu6efXaYWrEKoCbDAxwybe0MHSoaKYeIcOKS2js2SpzGyDutEI1bOsoSA9oM7gSk9ZHuFRDDyZFFsyeUUbYzPWfeh-dkqA/s1600-h/IMG_2531.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgryd9xbUoZ_GP7ObsIRylwapeQJS0MPJ1neYEpy4KQNu6efXaYWrEKoCbDAxwybe0MHSoaKYeIcOKS2js2SpzGyDutEI1bOsoSA9oM7gSk9ZHuFRDDyZFFsyeUUbYzPWfeh-dkqA/s320/IMG_2531.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276806767923931618" border="0" /></a>So, Friday night we decided to mix it up some and head to Chinatown for dinner. Erin at Scienceblogs gave us a few recommendations, and we decided on <a href="http://www.joeshanghairestaurants.com/">Joe's Shanghai Restaurant</a>. It's a popular crowded restaurant, where you share the 6-seater tables with other diners. The good thing is that there is a regular turnover of seats, so we didn't have to wait for too long.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2wHGjl9fUIt0YazVvRol-q7vetLgPawTlHG2DqB0K9cVl8NmZhESoUbKlK0E64SeGKxXAYGHLwxX-Nq4ZOek5XuDDjhacHgIhVIpAz8Z6dra1PpZwZEVQfWuKlTqGrQKkb4TMQ/s1600-h/IMG_2533.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2wHGjl9fUIt0YazVvRol-q7vetLgPawTlHG2DqB0K9cVl8NmZhESoUbKlK0E64SeGKxXAYGHLwxX-Nq4ZOek5XuDDjhacHgIhVIpAz8Z6dra1PpZwZEVQfWuKlTqGrQKkb4TMQ/s320/IMG_2533.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276806883998471618" border="0" /></a>Joe's is famous for their soup dumplings, which are just what they sound like: steamed dumplings filled with soup. Well, not soup exactly, but a small pork ball and flavorful broth. They are a bit tricky to eat without dripping the broth all over the plate, but worth the effort. The rest of the meal was pretty good, although not as interesting as the dumplings.Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-66944766801736822282008-12-06T13:40:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.121-08:00Day 3: Central Park and Whitney Museum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimeP6v-DvgYMN5jMQnElYqSfjvrOobkNH7whI7zBlrly6S6pzPkETRsJgOnR_SNZ5wDmLUfrDuzpIT4m2z5YdTuQHVw9DR9sI_INnxn4r_iYtgxOtgC_j7jHC_DFX1ROF9f0UVAw/s1600-h/IMG_2514.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimeP6v-DvgYMN5jMQnElYqSfjvrOobkNH7whI7zBlrly6S6pzPkETRsJgOnR_SNZ5wDmLUfrDuzpIT4m2z5YdTuQHVw9DR9sI_INnxn4r_iYtgxOtgC_j7jHC_DFX1ROF9f0UVAw/s320/IMG_2514.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276795883207140130" border="0" /></a>Friday morning was chilly and a bit overcast, so we bundled up to head towards the Whitney Museum via Central Park. The park has kind of a stark beauty this time of year, with the largely leafless trees and browning grass. One thing I hadn't realized was the size of it. Sure I could see that it's 50 or so blocks long, but I hadn't really put that into context. We strolled for a while and only saw a fraction of it. The sun finally came out completely and it was a brilliant day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3k6tPuLngkCL9WIHuKGBGHj2S8OeRapQ9fg38vtfXuoWaoxsmmUpIfisRzXZDY1oP7WiX2wisHJcKSk4zH5iSsluCcSf0Ie-Uqx5aRbsOrhjPcHN1aChJ7KkQXhw-MESQjNcoA/s1600-h/IMG_2527.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3k6tPuLngkCL9WIHuKGBGHj2S8OeRapQ9fg38vtfXuoWaoxsmmUpIfisRzXZDY1oP7WiX2wisHJcKSk4zH5iSsluCcSf0Ie-Uqx5aRbsOrhjPcHN1aChJ7KkQXhw-MESQjNcoA/s320/IMG_2527.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276796842209237410" border="0" /></a>Our goal was the <a href="http://www.whitney.org/">Whitney Museum of American Art</a>, for which we had tickets. The museum wasn't actually open yet when we arrived there, so we wandered a bit down Madison Avenue looking at the fancy shops, and decided to find a place for lunch. We settled on the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/12/2007-10-12_e_side_diner_viand_fit_for_billionaire_m.html">Viand Coffee Shop</a>. I had a big piece of spinach pie (since I had been feeling a bit vegetable-deprived) and Gene had a salmon burger. It was tasty and filling after our walk.<br /><br />We then headed back to the Whitney, and spent a leisurely couple of hours browsing the collection. The <a href="http://www.whitney.org/www/calder/">Alexander Calder exhibit</a> was especially interesting, with <a href="http://www.whitney.org/www/calder/images.jsp">3-dimensional wire portraits</a>, moving sculptures that anticipate his famous mobiles, and an entire circus-worth of performers. The circus characters were meant to be in motion, but the museum simply showed Calder's movie of them in operation:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t6jwnu8Izy0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t6jwnu8Izy0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />More to come . . .Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021524.post-5349767757014103562008-12-06T13:11:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:48:03.121-08:00Day 2: Physics and Jazz<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxL3jA1iyb4yYzo_xKjI2EsnSL25IeRR3ES_EZaUpvz1lAfS9wk5bzZjlDDQ7EWYo3t5eA2g_AaJKAxTbhI14d15PfHhnOntxPbOlrv14PvuzTKjYoFRqA4OZUT6lQUzlUCBIow/s1600-h/IMG_2464.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0px 10px 10pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxL3jA1iyb4yYzo_xKjI2EsnSL25IeRR3ES_EZaUpvz1lAfS9wk5bzZjlDDQ7EWYo3t5eA2g_AaJKAxTbhI14d15PfHhnOntxPbOlrv14PvuzTKjYoFRqA4OZUT6lQUzlUCBIow/s320/IMG_2464.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276789005403500706" border="0" /></a>Thursday evening, we had tickets to a public talk by theoretical cosmologist <a href="http://www.jannalevin.com/">Janna Levin</a> at <a href="http://www.92y.org/92yTribeca/">92YTribeca.</a> 92YTribeca has a cafe and a display of comic art on the walls.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?productid=T-MM5LC03">Levin's talk </a>was based around the question: "<a href="http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?productid=T-MM5LC03">Is the Universe Infinite?</a>", but she touched on a lot of basics of cosmology, including the Big Bang, expansion of the universe, and higher dimensions. She did a great job explaining the science in basic terms, but I honestly still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that there is nothing - no space, nothing - outside our universe (not to mention 10-dimensional space). Her last slide showing a mushrooming of different universes off of a big blob of space-time was both weird and wonderful.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSzlXHdbklpkqNdvjJ_vVsl4TJt5BJ4bv2hkeDX0jZkA_17SnaKTHjsHeTbajA7rC3nvVKo4_guQrGzc2yASIjTntwv2NnPvu7n7Z9vZhb4p4h2ZAzM9i6QJnFhrDN-CzVodD7Q/s1600-h/IMG_2469.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSzlXHdbklpkqNdvjJ_vVsl4TJt5BJ4bv2hkeDX0jZkA_17SnaKTHjsHeTbajA7rC3nvVKo4_guQrGzc2yASIjTntwv2NnPvu7n7Z9vZhb4p4h2ZAzM9i6QJnFhrDN-CzVodD7Q/s320/IMG_2469.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276791757284634194" border="0" /></a>After the lecture, we decided to get some dinner, so we headed to Greenwich Village near a place with live music Gene had read about. We ended up eating in a cafe/diner-type place, which was tasty, but not particularly exciting. The bar turned out to be too crowded to sit down in, so we decided to move on. We had seen a sign near our hotel for <a href="http://www.amalia-nyc.com/">a place with live mid-week jazz</a>, with no cover or minimum drink purchase, so we headed there. The jazz trio was OK, and the cocktails were $16, so we sipped ours slowly while listening to the music.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6v6JAYRi8rMFcbzP4pG6cNSWz5C4MNeXRGZNZ7Ibtr16H1rK5a9Pv9_NmvhhGmMkvsG1_O_tPPf9iBDZq_SQfPcqz9gdG536RZa5e11ts4R1rjvpaoKZL6oLgzColmEFde8LEA/s1600-h/IMG_2478.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6v6JAYRi8rMFcbzP4pG6cNSWz5C4MNeXRGZNZ7Ibtr16H1rK5a9Pv9_NmvhhGmMkvsG1_O_tPPf9iBDZq_SQfPcqz9gdG536RZa5e11ts4R1rjvpaoKZL6oLgzColmEFde8LEA/s320/IMG_2478.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276793025503566338" border="0" /></a>After the set was over, we decided to head over to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner_Center">Time-Warner Center</a> at Columbus Circle. In the atrium there is a pretty holiday display, with lighted "stars" that change color in time to the music playing over the PA system.<br /><br />Our goal was <a href="http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/dccc/index.asp">Dizzy's Club Coca Cola</a>, which, despite it's horribly corporate sounding name, is a nice club associated with Jazz at Lincoln Center. After hours the <a href="http://www.steinbrothersjazz.com/html/slideshow.php">Stein Brothers Quintet</a> play for a minimal cover charge. They were excellent, and it was a nice way to end the night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d9X71dnM2Nm-W4kf51cORA5Al4P3CPglfRsCgIyFYEFZ0Em_L9f2rhgOSdKTBNRqFp7lcsrT3Q2QbIWFJjA7ucrxIc-kechIf9gqg_Radegnk3Ke861Pl37IZjjFYYITxo3PkA/s1600-h/IMG_2491.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6d9X71dnM2Nm-W4kf51cORA5Al4P3CPglfRsCgIyFYEFZ0Em_L9f2rhgOSdKTBNRqFp7lcsrT3Q2QbIWFJjA7ucrxIc-kechIf9gqg_Radegnk3Ke861Pl37IZjjFYYITxo3PkA/s320/IMG_2491.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276793918762819458" border="0" /></a>Thus ended Day 2 of our trip to NYC.Peggy Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360669414917755737noreply@blogger.com0