Happy New Year to me

This year Santa Claus, being a faithful reader of this here weblog and knowing that I have purged most of my worldly belongings and am none too anxious to replace them all with more to move from place to place, opted for gifts of the virtual and/or easy to pack variety. I am awash in Amazon credit, more than I know what to do with, except of course I know exactly what to do with it, and have already bought EIGHT Kindle books in anticipation for the five glorious weeks of vacation coming my way. I was also given a beautiful green scarf knit with love by Mama Bossy, and CM and I will be buying our wedding rings as belated Christmas presents when I'm back in Wien next week.

CM and I still managed to prolong the holiday, though. We opened little gifts and chocolates and Christmas pjs all week long, and I realized on the day that I didn't miss the huge presents at all. Valuable lesson, that.

But now here it is a week later. I've started a 365 project, did you hear, and I'm feeling the need for some extra inspiration. So… I bought a new lens. A big fancy wide angle lens, one I've been coveting for a very long time.

I took it out for a spin this afternoon. The day was gray and rainy, but I still had fun traipsing around with my camera. This new lens is going to force me to look at things differently, with a grand new perspective. I haven't quite figured out its quirks just yet (all that distortion: arty or annoying? I'm not entirely sure), but I'm looking forward to experimenting.

Because the weather was grim, there were far fewer people out and about than I expected. I checked out the Brooklyn Bridge Park, I think for the first time. It's beautiful, on the edge of the water between two massive bridges to Manhattan. It's too easy for me to stay inside my bubble, to and from work, walking the same route every day, rarely straying from my own little neighborhood. It was great to explore a part of this incredible city that I don't know very well today, to remind myself that there is more to NYC than Lincoln Center and Columbus Circle. One of the reasons I've started this project (again) is to get out more, to take more risks. I'm hoping that on the quest for my next great picture I'll find my next great adventure.

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