Real winter in orange and yellow

IcicleBay shotDirt roadShirley BeachShirley BeachShirley Beach
Shirley BeachShirley BeachShirley BeachShirley BeachShirley BeachShirley Beach
Shirley BeachShirley BeachFlags & Gas StationGrocery store, Mastic BeachThe abandoned house I see every dayEarly morning walk round the bay
GeeseThe sky matches the waterReedsTracksSnow moundsMarina

Film - Orange/Yellow, a set on Flickr.

I've been working so hard on my novel and working hard at my jobs, so I haven't really had too much time to post on my blog this week. I was perusing some old photo albums on my Flickr and found this one from January 2011... We've had such a mild winter this year that looking back at these makes me realise how lucky we have been!

These were all taken with my Canon AE-1, using a 35mm ISO 100 Lomo negative film without flash. Most in Mastic Beach on Long Island before my mum moved back to California, but some in NYC. I miss using my AE-1 and playing with the settings to get interesting photos, but I can't really afford to spend too much on film and developing film right now.

I kind of also miss the beauty of winter right now too... Maybe we will get one blizzard this year, but it's already the end of February and it doesn't really look like it...

Snow/England/Nostalgia... TOTPs?!

I was going to write a really serious article about something serious that is happening in the world today, but that is going to have to wait until I am in a really serious mood... Woke up to hearing that Jimmy Savile had sadly passed away this morning, and then seeing the snow falling rapidly outside my window lead to me spending about 3 hours of my life watching old Top Of The Pops Christmas specials on YouTube. Which then lead to just regular TOTPs videos...

I miss the England I grew up in today, so I'm just giving in to nostalgia, laughing my head off and enjoying all of the silly outfits and good music (as well as terribly bad music). Here are some gems, enjoy, while I waste the rest of my Saturday watching more and more.

The Stranglers - Golden Brown 1982


David Bowie - Starman 1972


The Rolling Stones - Let's Spend the Night Together
(OK - I know I wasn't born then, but who cares):


The Cure - Lovecats 1983
(I love how they make it painfully obvious that they are miming)


Spandau Ballet (cue snickers of laughter) 1982

Blizzard!!




As everyone probably already knows, NYC was struck by a blizzard that started during the day on Sunday 12/26 and ended in the morning of 12/27. We get at least 3 blizzards a year, so this one really didn't come as a surprise, and I love a good snow storm. All you can really do is stay inside, keep warm, and watch the snow pile up outside. When the city is covered in snow there are about 2 hours where there is a general sense of peace and quiet (something that pretty much never happens in NYC), and I love to walk around in it, hearing the crunching sound of my footsteps in the fresh snow, dancing around under the snowflakes, making snow angels etc etc. Not this time - the wind was too strong and too bitterly cold. A car got stuck in the middle of my street around 10pm, and by morning it was completely covered, blocking the snowplough who had turned into our street at some point during the early morning hours.
When I woke up I checked the MTA's website to see if the J train was running, but there was no real message stating that it was or it wasn't, so I wrapped up warm and got ready to leave, bracing myself for the walk to the subway in 19 inches of snow... But I couldn't even leave the apartment! The snow that had come down in the driveway had all drifted right up against the front door of the building, with no way of getting out from the inside. Snow day!!
In any case, the J wasn't running anyway, so it was a blessing in disguise. I probably would have pelted people with snowballs f I had gone all the way there for nothing!
The kids from the first floor apartment were finally able to dig us out around 1pm (but only when someone actually was able to dig from the outside first. I got some good pictures from the street and from the roof, trudged to the deli to get some food for the rest of the day and went back home to stay warm. The next day I made it to work, but it really did feel like I was in a scene from a disaster/apocalypse movie - hardly any cars on the roads, people walking down the middle of main roads (like Broadway in Brooklyn), buses stuck in the middle of streets, mounds and mounds of snow on the sides of the street.

Five days later and it's still there - not very pretty anymore, and the slippery slush is excellent for falling over and looking like an idiot. We are supposed to get some rain on Sunday, so it will all melt away... Until the next one.

Go to my Flickr set to see more snow pictures!