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Arts and Gardens in Central New Jersey

Leora — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:08:50 +0000

Crocuses, March 2009

Some Artsy Events Upcoming in New Jersey

Rutgers Gardens will be having a photo contest in early September. I am tempted to enter or at least to visit Rutgers Gardens (a short drive from Highland Park) a few times over the next few months and take photos of the lovely grounds and flora. (hat tip: Jill)
Raritan Valley Community College will be showing the ballet Sleeping Beauty in late March. I would love to take my daughter, but it is the week before Passover. I will be “industriously” cleaning my house for Passover.

Jacob informed me via Twitter that he has already started working in his garden. Have you?

New York City Reds

Leora — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:00:06 +0000

Yesterday we (my family) were in New York City for a wedding – a very, very happy occasion. The wedding was the Faculty House at Columbia University, and I took a photo of this red brick building (Wien Hall) as we walked from the (expensive) parking garage to the wedding. My middle son, who convinced me to take my smaller camera so I would pay more attention to the wedding and less to taking photos, said we would have gotten to the wedding a few minutes sooner if I had not stopped to photograph a few buildings on the way.

At the beginning of a Jewish wedding the groom is marched to the bride accompanied by dancing friends and family and by musicians. The musicians at this wedding were from the orchestra Nafshenu. The groom then checks to make sure it is really his bride (as biblical Jacob got tricked, the groom wants to check).

The red in the photo was in the musicians’ eyes – I selected the red in Photoshop using the magic wand tool, desaturated the red, and adding back in enough color so their eyes looked brown.

On the subject of cameras and photographers, there were many photographers at the wedding (I believe some were friends of the bride and groom). I was jealous of their gigantic lenses, as was my father’s cousin, who said there is no end when it comes to desiring good photography equipment.

In New York City one can pay to park one’s bicycle. The bicycle fees were considerably less than the car parking fees.

For more photos with a little or a lot of red:

Mosaic Wall in Sepia

Leora — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:10:21 +0000

You can see a full color version of this mosaic wall at Raritan Valley Community College in this post. To put this in sepia, I copied the original photo to a new layer in Photoshop, desaturated the photo, added yellow and red to get sepia, and then set the opacity of the sepia layer to 90% so just a wee bit of color would show through. I wanted to use the sepia effect to emphasize the textures of the mosaic.

For more sepia photos, visit Sepia Scenes:

Masquerade Ballet in Sepia

Leora — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:43:02 +0000

This was my favorite dance at my daughter’s ballet recital (not counting the ballet, tap and jazz dances she performed, of course). It seemed like a fitting ballet for this time of year; on Sunday Jews around the world celebrate the holiday of Purim, and dressing up in costume is part of the tradition.

For more photos in sepia, visit Sepia Scenes:

Oops – JPIX is Soon

Leora — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:12:13 +0000

My Mother Should Have Posted This Last Week

My daughter and her dancer friends want you to know that her mom should have told you last week to submit links for the JPIX Blog Carnival that will appear tomorrow on Pesky Settler’s blog. JPIX is the blog carnival for Jewish Photo Bloggers (about Jewish topics, but one can stretch this to nature, everyday living and food photos); everyone is welcome to enjoy the show.

Please also check out:

Kosher Cooking Carnival #51 by Adventures in Mama Land
Art Institute of Chicago: A Photo Essay (by Mottel)

Hair Bow of Dancer – SOOC

Leora — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:05:50 +0000

Bow of Dancer Waiting Her Turn to Go on Stage

My daughter’s dance rehearsal and show was last week. Lots of girls from ages 3 to teenagers performed ballet, tap and jazz. I love the costumes – they make the performances all the more fun. These girls, a group younger than my daughter, had polka dot outfits.

For more shots Straight Out Of the Camera, visit:

Ruby Tuesday with X-Country Skis

Leora — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:23:05 +0000

Last week for the first time in almost ten years I had the opportunity to go cross-country skiing while my daughter and her friends were sledding. The red hydrant behind the skis is what qualifies this photo for Ruby Tuesday, a photo meme where you post any photo with some red. And this was before our bigger storm that dumped over a foot of snow. Strangely, the Boston area, which I visited this past weekend and is over five hours drive north of our area of New Jersey, had very little snow.

I learned a good gardening tip on Saturday night while driving from Newton, MA to Marlboro, MA (we were invited to a laser tag party). If one of your small trees gets a lot of snow on it, brush it off with a long broom as soon as you can. Otherwise, the snow may permanently bend the tree into an unhealthy shape. If that does happen, you may have to trim the tree and wait years until it gets back a normal shape.

For more photos with a little or a lot of red:

Review with Hanging Pottery

Leora — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:29:32 +0000

Pottery Bell Hanging on My Porch

The bell part of this pottery that I made long ago never worked; it is supposed to chime with the wind. But it makes a pretty ornament on my porch.

On My Blog

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my interview with Raritan Air Water Power Service. If you haven’t left a comment yet, feel free to do so.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Ilana-Davita is traveling in Hong Kong, and she explains how the Octopus Card works.
Snow Photography Tips on the Adorama blog by Mason Resnick
Memorial service for terror attack victims on Muqata blog
Mrs. S.’s kids wonder if going to a blogger’s event is like spending an evening with strangers.
Rachel learns about an eye for an eye.
Although I usually don’t go the political route on this blog, in some cases I make exceptions. Here is a post by Westbankmama about an anti-Israel week. A good place to start on this topic is Phyllis Chesler’s blog.
A friend wins fundraiser of the year for an organization that provides legal support and counseling to survivors of domestic  violence.
The pilot for my son’s film is online at the Highland Park Public Library site:
every racers dream is to go to Ruin Rui…

I am leaving with my daughter in the morning on a trip, but I’ll be back by Monday morning. So if I don’t get a chance to visit your blog or respond on this one, that’s why. Have a great weekend everyone.

Red Fish and Careless Talk

Leora — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:53:28 +0000

Red Fish at Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA

One fish, two fish
Red fish, blue fish
- Dr. Seuss

Or is this an orange-colored fish?

Just for fun, from the same museum, a World War II poster:

For more photos with a little or a lot of red:

Review with Yellow Fish

Leora — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:03:06 +0000

Fish in the Basement Aquarium of the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA

On My Blog

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

The post is called Hermit Crab – see an inspiring, beautiful watercolor by Carol Feldman.
I am happy to see Batya participating in Ruby Tuesday – be sure to visit her photos with red, too!
A Texan visits the Dachau Concentration Camp. (hat tip: Louis La Vache)
Ilana-Davita posted a recipe for chicken with red peppers, which I made on Friday. I grilled it and then baked it a bit in the oven right before Shabbat. Tasty, though I think next time I should add more garlic.
A disturbing post on Jews Leaving Sweden – talks about Malmo, which I read about in Caldwell’s book (see below).
A discussion about modesty (tzniut or tznius) on Rachel’s blog.

Book Bits

Books I’m reading: I read most of the stories in The Jew of Home Depot and Other Stories by Max Apple. I would like to write a post on the story called “Stabbing an Elephant.” Can anyone guess what the story about stabbing an elephant is about? Hint: which Jewish holiday?

I started reading My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar, a birthday present from a dear friend (thank you). It is a captivating book; Ariel Sabar tells his story and the story of his father with great flourish and engaging description.

I finished Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West by Christopher Caldwell – I highly recommend it, though the topic is a disturbing one.