BOOKS AND THEIR COVERS

Looks like a mother's worst nightmare-- right. He is not an actor that I would dash to see on opening day --say like-- Phillip Seymour Hoffman or Clooney. O.K. I have a wide range of likes.

Then I read this in the New York Times today:
"While pursuing a full-time acting career, he earned a bachelor's degree at U.C.L.A. and then enrolled simultaneously in four graduates program---New York University for film, Columbia for writing, Brooklyn College for writing and Warren Wilson College for poetry. He's also pursuing a Ph.D. in English in Yale and taking classes at the Rhode Island School of Design. His fiction has been published in Esquire (his first book-length collection was published by Scribner). His first solo art show was at the Clocktower Gallery in New York City."

May have to rethink his status in my life.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

THE OLDER I GET....
"The simpler my holiday preparations become...
The closer I feel to old friends as I write my Christmas cards...
The more I cherish the oldest ornaments...
The more fondly I remember Christmases past...
The longer I hold on to a holiday hug...
The more I realize Christmas is a matter of the heart...
The tighter my throat gets when I sing "Silent Night"...
The more I enjoy giving than receiving...
The more I try to see Christmas through the eyes of a child...
The longer I sit at night in the glow of the Christmas tree...
The more wondrously beautiful the Christmas story is...
The deeper my awe at God's infinite love...
The more I love Christmas!"
~Author Unknown

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

LIGHTENING LIVES WITH ME NOW.

"Lightening" was the first pony to carry mail for the Pony Express west of Salt Lake City. The first day she galloped into the first relay station twenty two miles away in only one hour and five minutes. That is 1 hour longer than it took my Grandma to talk the assistant manager at Wells Fargo Bank into forking one over, without opening a new account or an exchange of favors or money, because I'm 2 and I wanted one.

WHERE'S NORMAN WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF ........

Frosty greeted me this afternoon when I got home.

Noah and Mom had been very busy

Modern Display gets the award for UGLIEST

TREE of the season and they were not cheap.Scored at two garage sale's last Saturday.
52 beautiful hardbound picture books for .10 a piece.

Ask the Mom if she had a preschool and she replied

"No, I have a spending problem".

Somebody cute and adorable turned 5.
The "end cap" of the magazine rack in Harmons
in Orem, Utah . It greets you as you walk in the door.
This might be why I tell people I am from Colorado.

HEADS UP GUYS ! !

Note to Children: Remember how your always

saying how hard Dad and I are to buy for--
Good News..........

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ! ! !

Closing in on a 10 day marathon of the first

three seasons.

Wish I'd watched the first 5 episodes this fall.

And yes, I know it's filmed in California but it

does show Rockafeller Center at the beginning

of each show

WHY DON'T WE JUST DANCE

HALLOWEEN

SQUEAKY BOB WHEELER'S PHANTOM VALLEY RANCH

Hiked back to the "right" location of the old Phantom Guest Ranch.
So much history in this valley.

Squeaky Bob and his wife

Original ranch house was on this Park trail next to the Colorado River.

Original entrance to Ranch. Comes down from Trail Ridge Road.
You can still see the entrance on the upper road if you know where to look.

Hiked up about 3 more miles and this girl and her boyfriend blew past us
going uphill. Youth is so good.

Phantom Ranch Meadow looking North to South

About 200 feet south of the entrance to the meadow are the remnant's of

the old root cellar. You could see small pieces of the lumber that was

used for the roof and a couple of large rusted tin cans. It was a huge

storage area but then they did a large business in the summer and

lived there through the winter.

This fella was right along side the highway on

the way home. His harem was on both sides of the road.
We counted about 14 cows. He was bellowing like crazy trying
to get them all together. I'm in the car and he was this close to the road.

GRAND LAKE FIRE AREA 2010

September Meadow Fire 3 Miles from Cabin

Burned about 40 acres. The construction flag worker
watching traffic for a road repair in this area was
standing in the middle of the road smoking.
Hello!!!!!

DAY 6 NEW YORK CITY

Headed back to the Upper East Side so Dad could download some
information he had located yesterday and I
jumped on the M2 on Madison and went to The Museum of New York City.
They had a great display on vintage clothing titled

"Notorious and Notable"

Please tell me Brooke Astor didn't really wear the white number above.
It was in the 50's. Maybe that explains it.

Mrs. Vanderbilt Very Old

One last short walk along the Park
This photo is for A.L. She would be so happy with all the dogs in N.Y.

This banner was staring at me as I sat down on the bus.
The M 79 through the Park.

Dinner at Whole Foods. Pizza and Carrot Cake


The Sukkah - This "tabernacle" was set up in Bryant Park for the Holiday. On the holiday of Sukkot, Jews are commanded to dwell in temporary shelters or booths, as their ancestors the Israelites did in the desert after the exodus.


The obligatory dash through Times Square. Unless your going to
a really good Broadway show there is no reason to be here. It is my least
favorite place in New York.

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

DAY 5 NEW YORK CITY

Got a late start today. Brunch in Bryant Park.

I may be getting too old for this. I'm go'in through

Motrin like crazy.

I did not eat half of this.

This is the Bryant Park's Outdoor Library for

Children. The children can read the books for as

long as they are in the area.
There is an Adult Outdoor Library on the other
side of the park.

More Park

Art Class doing their thing.

Dad read an article a couple of months ago that said
Bryant Park's bathroom were 2nd on the list of "Best Bathrooms
in the United States". Grand America was 3rd. The fresh flowers
in this foyer are changed daily.

This is a huge inflatable RAT and it was outside of the Chase
Bank branch for this block. In Manhattan, Chase Branch's are

as plentiful as Starbucks. I have no idea what it was promoting or

if someone was upset at the bank.

Two great buildings-- Grand Central and Chrysler Building.

Walgreen's bought all of the Duane Reade Stores in Manhattan.
They are an institution and people don't want the name changed.

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
or as I prefer to call it--
Andrew Carnegie's Home
Dad had made an appointment to do research on some Sinclair logo's
from the 50's. The Cooper-Hewitt had the designer's papers and archives.

I was more interested in the history if the house and the gardens.
They had several folders for Dad to go through so I walked a block to
the Jewish Museum that I haven't seen yet.

Carnegie Gardens

Well I'm not going to see the Jewish Museum today either. It's closed on Wednesday and for the next two days for Jewish Holidays. That's the

bad news but the book store was open-- good news. I did not eat

this cookie and I did not buy this bag of books.

Dad spent about 2 hours in the library and I read in the Garden.

Then across the street and into the Park. I have never seen the Jackie K. Onassis Reservoir. It's beautiful.

Obelisk in back of The Metropolitan Museum

Friedman Playground near 5th Avenue Exit from Park.

Caught a bus but it was so slow we got off at Rockefeller Center to

grab the V Subway. Headed for the Subway.........

Wait--- it's LEGO HEAVEN. Bins of different colored LEGO's. From
floor to ceiling.

We're Walk'n, walk'n, walk'n.......
I'm just a little lost but wait, I see a sign that says "Subway" and down

the stairs we go. I was just up 1 floor.

O.K. This is more like it. But can't find the "V" line.

"Oh well, we'll just jump on an express going downtown. Everything

stops at 14th street which is O.K., even though we wanted to get off at

23rd." We need the extra steps on the pedometer.

"What ........why did this express just blow past 14th street.
We do not want to be on West 4th"
O.K. we can do this. Up the steps and over to the other side and

down the steps. Repeat after me "Only get on the local".
Yes, we made it. Off on 6th and 23. When we're good, we're good.

Shop'in, shop'in shop'in

More shop'in............

We're headed for a place called " Limelight Marketplace".

It's a very old church turned into a very upscale boutique-mall.
The minute we stepped in the door I knew 3 things. 1. Nothing in this
place would be my size. 2. We could afford nothing in this place.
3. We would not want to be able to afford anything in this place.
I read my article further after getting home and discovered this place

hasn't been a church for many years. Before this reincarnation it was

a infamous New York nightclub.

This is the 10th Precenct on 20th Street of the New York Police Department.

We stopped in and ask a nice Sargent Petrossoki if he had any freebee's for
a 2 1/2 year old little boy that could sing all the words to "Bad Boys, Bad Boys" and really liked policemen.
They gave us a badge and a pencil.