Who knew Flickr had such gorgeous stuff?

A fun game, beautiful things, and free time at work.

Here's how it works:
1. Set up a matrix at Flickr
2. Go to Flickr Search and answer the questions at the bottom.
3. Chose an image from the first page of results and add it to your matrix.
4. Have fun!!!



(sorry it's so small--I don't really know how these things work)
Questions:
What's your first name? Holly
What's your favorite food? Vegan
What high school did you go to? Lincoln
What's your favorite color? Violet
Who is your celebrity crush? Hugh Jackman
Favorite drink? Water
Dream vacation? This one is too hard!
Favorite dessert? Pie?
What do you want to be when you grow up? Kept woman
What do you love most in life? Moments of sensing the divine.
One word to describe you: Sunshine
Flickr name: Huh?

If you have some free time, I definitely think you'll enjoy doing this.

To give credit where credit is due: 1. Holly in winter., 2. Vegan Stromboli, 3. Lincoln View HDR, 4. Orange as any orange on a tree, 5. Hugh Jackman, 6. water droplets in the shower - o.k. bokeh, 7. reaching out ........., 8. Intruso - Intrusi ? - Intruder - Intruders ?, 9. Storm is Over, 10. Aliens learn thanks to HIM, all may arise; turn you on any?_0472, 11. Day 241 | Walkin' on sunshine, whoa ohhhh, 12. Hidden Hug

And a big thanks to Hillary for discovering it! Thanks!

Holly's Wall Street Report

Although I am lucky enough to work in a beautiful history building (real Tiffany glass in the windows behind my desk!)located at the intersection of Broadway and the now-infamous Wall Street, I don't really wander over to Wall Street very often. But I do love walking on it and looking around when occasion permits, so I was pleased when my after-work plans yesterday led me there, especially in light of all the attention this seemingly ordinary street has been eliciting lately.

As I so often do while off on my various adventures, I wrote a blog entry in my head while experiencing it. I decided I would start with a description for my non-NYC readers; "Like most of the Financial District, Wall Street is a very narrow street surrounded by very beautiful, very tall buildings. It is a singular feeling to be so closely surrounded by such great buildings (using "great" to mean both "large" and "wonderful")." I planned to let you know that the section of Wall Street where the famous buildings are is closed off to traffic. Then I was going to talk about how things pretty much seemed just the same (but that could be because it was 7:30 and the stock exchanges all close at like 5 and the Financial District becomes a ghost town by about 6:00). I figured I would end the blog with some sort of wit-ism about how Wall STREET was doing fine.

Then, I noticed that the important buildings (which are always barricaded) were double barricaded. Next, I saw this left-behind protest sign which made me mad because this whole mess is NOT FREE MARKET. It was caused by government regulation impeding the free market from protecting and balancing itself.

On the next block I saw definite signs that protesters had been there earlier. Apparently the anti-capitalists are a messy group because there was paper everywhere. In hindsight, a picture would have been appropriate. But my attention was quickly diverted as I realized that further up ahead there was, in fact, a HUGE HOLE (almost a block long) running down the middle of Wall Street. Some construction project. Not doubt a coincidence. But still I thought it was... what is the opposite of ironic?

So I guess my conclusion must be--Wall Street is, in fact, broken. (but I still think it's the government's fault. both literally and figuratively)

I was thinking of going back today to see what people were up to on Wall Street during the day so I could report on that. But I couldn't stomach the idea of walking around on Wall Street during the day taking pictures and looking like a tourist. My pride just wouldn't let me. Plus, it's sort of raining today so the protesters probably aren't out anyway.

waxing political

My go-to guy for financial things explained to me all about the cause of the current financial mess. And I'm sure you will NOT be surprised to hear that it is a direct result of government regulations. Laissez faire, people, LAISSEZ FAIRE!! Goodness gracious. I'm having shortness of breathe just thinking about it.

Also, my friend Amy found this completely awesome website about potential ways to brand Obama. Funny.

The Nation's Capital

Last last weekend I went to Washington DC for one friend's wedding and another friend's triathlon.
It was an interesting experience because it was the first time I really realized just how much my rhythm is set to New York. Well, let me just say DC is NOT New York. I almost got myself killed several times (apparently cars yielding to pedestrians in all situations is not a cultural universal). Also, I realized that it is not appropriate to get frustrated at the tourists and walk around them mumbling about out-of-towners when you are, in all actuality, a tourist yourself and there's a good chance the person walking at a mind-numblingly slow pace right in front of you is a native.

It was also a reminder of just how hellish it is to get into and out of the city:
From Washington DC to Newark NJ (where we rented the car):
Distance: 220 miles
Travel time: 3.5 hours

From Newark NJ to my apartment:
Distance: 20 miles
Travel time: 2.5 hours

But it's all worth it. And there's not a city I'd rather be in rhythm with. P.S. It's also much harder to find soy milk in DC

Best Gift Ever

My seester Heather made this for me. Aren' I a lucky girl?

An Important Announcement

As any of you that have had more than a four minute conversation with me in the last several months will know, I have been very very keen on the idea of obtaining for myself a food processor. I only learned what a food processor was about three months ago, and I've been amazed by them ever since. I did the research and found exactly the one I want. It is very very highly reviewed on all the websites I checked and is only $50. Definitely a good investment. But, alas, I am painfully thrifty and somehow just could not convince myself to do it. Instead, I would torment my friends and associates with constant cost analysis of everything ("Well, I would go to the puppet show with you, but that $20 could buy half of my food processor" etc.) Finally, for no particular reason at all (unless being bored at work is a reason), I did it! I bought the food processor.

I anticipate that said food processor will go very well with the joy of my life Kitchen Aid which I recently procured
but for reasons of pure giddiness have not blogged about previously. It makes me so so so happy to own a KitchenAid. (Now I won't have to have a reception or shower when I get married.)

I think I have probably been nesting lately. In the last two weeks I have also purchased the long-lusted after bundt cake pan (like the one above, only red); an extraordinarily nifty cake carrier (for all the bundt cakes I have been and will be making), and a sleeping bag!! It is purple and yellow like Wolverine and served me very well on my camping trip last weekend that I forgot to tell you about.

Another blog entry that does not actually say what I've been up to lately (which is really too bad because I've been having lots of fun adventures)

This morning on the subway I was delighted to be in the same car with my very favorite subway preacher. It was not this guy My subway preacher is a very large, very buff black man. I see him in the subway about once a month. He has a duffle bag full of food for anyone who needs he. He offers food, asks for money to continue his mission and then preaches about being saved. He walks back and forth shouting the good word yelling an occasional hallelujah. I usually give him some money and then put away my reading and listen to him. I really like what he has to say and I love the passion he has about it.

I realize that if I were not a Christian who had personally experience what he preaches about I would probably think he was crazy. I always think about this when I see a street preacher: if an Islamic person were to act that way they would almost certainly be locked up--either at a jail or a hospital. Can you imagine a very large black man jumping around the subway saying "Accept Allah or go to hell!"? or even "Allah doesn't want you to go to hell, he wants to save you from it"? Oh man, it would be a bad situation for that unfortunate preacher. I wonder if that is caused by our prejudice against the Islam or by society's dedication to the Christian faith of our fathers (because non-religious people would be just as upset about it I think).

But listening to my favorite Christian preacher makes me happy. And then when I got off the train the calypso drum player in the subway station was playing "Israel Israel God is Calling." We must have stolen the tune from some famous source because I hear it once in awhile and it seems the Caribbeans have made it their own. It made me super happy.

In other news, the attorneys today are in an uproar because it has been discovered that the building does not actually recycle the paper we separate. Apparently there was a recycling email sent around about 2 years ago establishing the guidelines for recycling and that email, if found by the attorneys, would establish a reasonable expectation that a recycling program was in place and the lack of it therefore constitutes fraud. (I just remembered that I never actually typed the blog I wrote in my head about going green, which is too bad because I even had photos. This would make a lot more sense if I had. Oh well.)

I love New York.