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Monochromia: Subway Surfing

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It’s hard to believe that it has been 5 weeks since that incredible weekend in NYC.  The past month has been a blur!

When Joe, Stacy, Terry, and I were taking the subway to meet up with Patti and Robyn, I had fun trying to stay upright without holding onto anything as the train sped underneath the streets of the city.  I also posted myself right in the window to grab this shot.

Such fabulous memories of a great time.

(and, just FYI, I did manage to stay upright … although I’m not sayin’ it was pretty 🙂 )

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Finding a Way

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I came to WordPress last evening, seeking a distraction from despair.  I’ve been on a media blackout, avoiding television, the news, and FB.  I have just not been ready to face a world in which so many people, although NOT the majority, voted for  … well, a man whose values are so very different from my own.

And I’ve felt badly about that.  Where was my fight?  Where was my ability to rally?  I’ve been feeling like Tom Cruise in Top Gun after the death of  Goose.  Maverick couldn’t engage, and I hadn’t been able to either.

As John Pavlovitz said in his article “This is Why We Grieve Today”:

This has never been about politics.
This is not about one candidate over the other.
It’s not about one’s ideas over another’s.
It is not blue vs. red.
It’s not her emails vs. his bad language.
It’s not her dishonesty vs. his indecency.

It’s about overt racism and hostility toward minorities.
It’s about religion being weaponized.
It’s about crassness and vulgarity and disregard for women.
It’s about a barricaded, militarized, bully nation.
It’s about an unapologetic, open-faced ugliness

Starting a new business and being so overwhelmed with it that I didn’t have time to focus on the results of the election was helpful.

Being with my likeminded, similarly destraught friends was also helpful.

Knowing that so many of my WP friends feel the same way that I do has been comforting.

When I heard about the Women’s March on Washington, a peaceful march in the unity of women to honor women’s rights and values, I felt something rising within me.

I don’t have answers, and I surely haven’t been able to express myself as elequently as so many of you.

But I do feel the hint of a rally.

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Waking Up in an Alternate Reality

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Deborah is able to put into words how I have been feeling, and offers quotes from HRC’s concession speech, which I have not been able to watch. Thank you, Deborah.

Deborah J. Brasket's avatarDeborah J. Brasket, Author

485px-Paradise_Lost_12 From Paradise Lost

I woke this morning feeling as if I had  been tossed from the real world into an alternate universe–where Trump had become president. I kept grasping for something that would allow me to return to that safer and saner world where Hillary had won.

How could a man who had said such vile things about women and immigrants, who had mocked the disabled, insulted POW war heroes, bashed Gold Star families, and belittled worthy adversaries become the leader of our nation and the free world?

How could the most qualified person ever to seek the presidential office, who had worked her whole life to help children, oppressed women, and working families, who would in turn break a long-standing ceiling to become the first woman to hold the highest office in our land–how could she lose to him?

I felt sure there must be another reality in which…

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#safetypin

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A symbol as simple as a safety pin can be an important first step in showing solidarity and support for people who are scared and upset at this time. Tell people that they are safe with you.  Join this movement, inspired by Brexit.

#safetypin     #whentheygolowwegohigh    #solidarity

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Fading Beauty

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As I walked into the kitchen the other day, I saw the fading blooms on what had been a bright yellow fall mum.  Past it’s prime, the blooms still drew my eye and my camera.

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The demands of new job and civic work will continue to interfere with my ability to post more than a single image for the next few weeks.  Soon though, I’ll be back on track, and until then, I thank you for being here even if I don’t get over to your place.

In the meantime, for those in the US, please make sure you make a plan to vote, and then be sure to follow that plan.

Frightening days, indeed.

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The Oculus and One World Trade Center

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While the other Monochromia photographers had been to see the 9/11 Memorial, it was the first time for me.  It’s a moving experience,  and despite the beauty of the day and the restoration of the site, I couldn’t help but think of that terrible tragedy 15 years ago.

It was daunting to attempt to photograph this space.  I imagine that I am not the only one who has been intimidated.

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The World Trade Center Site has been transformed into the Museum and Memorial, One World Trade Center, the One World Observatory, and the Transportation Hub.  The centerpiece of the Transportation Hub is the Oculus, which in architectural terms means a circular opening, especially one at the apex of a dome.  The Oculus “represents the most integrated network of underground pedestrian connections in New York City”.

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The inside of the Oculus is as stunning as the outside.

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In fact, I have a whole folder of interior images to work through.  Please visit Monochromia to see one of Joe’s interior images.

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Back on the outside, Stacy and I were taken aback by the people who wanted to use the 9/11 Memorial as the backdrop for their selfies.

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As it is, I didn’t even want to put my watermark on images of the Memorial site.  The almost 3000 names are the only names needed in these images.

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It is a place for somber reflection and remembrance … not selfies.

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Photo Bloggers In NYC!

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If you saw my last post, you know that I had the incredible opportunity to travel to New York City to meet up with some of the Monochromia photographers.  While I’d never met any of these people in person, we’d been online friends for years.

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Photo Credit Theresa O’Loughlin-Giordano

I took the train from Washington, DC to Penn Station where I met Joe and Terry.   After checking into our hotel, we walked right across the street to quench our travel thirst.  How convenient!

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Soon enough we were joined by Patti.

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 It was not long before the cameras came out, and we were hitting the streets.

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Stacy, already in the city for a photography workshop, joined us next,

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soon followed by Robyn who drove up from PA.

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We visited Grand Central Station, the World Trade Center Memorial, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Central Park, and the Public Library.

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 We traveled by subway, taxi, and elevator (yes, there’s a story there), and by foot … many, many miles by foot!

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We met great people, including Patti’s husband, Mark, and enjoyed good food and drink.

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There are many stories to tell and photos to share.

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Photo Credit Joe Giordano

For now though, I just have to express how fortunate I feel to have met so many great people, virtually and in person, through WP.

Please visit Monochromia to see the image of Joe that I shot when Patti captured this one of me. Thanks Patti!

Laurie shoots Joe

Photo Credit Patti Fogarty

More NYC photos soon!

The next two weeks will find me opening a new medical practice.  Despite that, I hope to find time to visit all of you this coming weekend.

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Monochromia Connections

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As you view this Black & White  image, I am on the train to NYC to meet up with some of the photographers who contribute to Monochromia!

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We all know the gifts of WP blogging, and I’ve been tremendously blessed to have made friends the world over.

In just a few short hours, I’ll be gathering with photographers that I met years ago through WordPress.  Since then those photographers have become friends and I cannot wait to them all in person.

Stay tuned for photos!