I can't believe it's been like a week already, but last weekend, Amy and I had another adventure. Well, Amy had even more of an adventure than I did, actually. We made plans to go to Liberty and Ellis Islands, as I'd never been to the Statue of Liberty and she'd never been to Ellis Island. Our little trip, however, was postponed for much of the morning, 'cuz poor Amy lost her bank card, and had to go through the hassle of getting that straightened out.
Eventually, we made it down to Battery Park and bought our tickets for the ferry. I got to Bowling Green first and had to wait for Amy, so I hung out in the park for a while, watching the people go by. It wasn't a terribly cold day, but being right there on the water made for some cold wind, so I was pretty bundled up while I was waiting. I know I've said this before, but it never stops amazing me how beautiful and wonderful and crass this city can be. There I was sitting in this lovely landscaped park with tons of history everywhere I turned, and swarming all around me were the street vendors trying to sell watches and sunglasses out of briefcases. Absolutely amazing. This is a little shot I snapped while I was waiting for Amy... there happened to be a wrought-iron rail right next to this bench, so I put the camera on it, set the timer, and looked away. Directly afterward, a very nice young man came up to me and gave me a tract of bible passages designed to inform me that, unless I very quickly asked Jesus Christ to be my personal lord and savior, that I was going to have a rough time of it in the afterlife.
Proselytizing by way of handing out tracts is beyond tacky, it's pathetic. Look, if you're gonna take the bible seriously and go out and try to convert people, do it the way it's meant to be done: Sway the uninitiated with the passion in your words, and the example in your actions. Don't hand me some crappy-ass piece of paper with bible quotes taken out of context just to prove a silly point. Save some trees along with those souls, shall we?
Anywho, as I said, Amy eventually arrived, and we got on line to get to the ferry. By the way, when Amy saw the picture of the building above, she looked at the light flare and said, "Dude, that's a cross." It freaked her out. I elected not to tell her about Proselytizing Boy.
Eventually, we made it on to the ferry and headed out to Liberty Island. I took, you can imagine, copious shots of our approach to Lady Liberty, but I'm only uploading this one... it's not even my favorite, but it's one of the clearest, and I do like all the shades of blue in this photo.
Because of the big bank card embrolio earlier, we were on the last ferry to make the circuit of Liberty and Ellis Islands, so we had to choose between the two... we couldn't get off at both and still get back on the last ferry. So we opted to forego Liberty Island (the statue itself still isn't open to the public, so we figured we come back when they finally do open her), and both of us were kinda itching to see Ellis Island, so we chose that. I took a lot of shots on Ellis Island, too, but a lot of them just didn't turn out, or turned out too fuzzy, 'cuz I still haven't mastered the art of working without a flash indoors. We did, however, get a couple of nice shots of lower Manhattan from across the harbor:
To the left, Amy in her "I'm a crack addict trying to look sexy" pose.
To the right, the expanse of lower Manhattan from Ellis Island.
As days out go, it was a pretty good one. The bank card trauma kept it from being a great one, but take one look that the kind of day it was in these photos, and you'll know that, all things being relative, it was a good day to be alive, and to live in New York City.
Eventually, we made it down to Battery Park and bought our tickets for the ferry. I got to Bowling Green first and had to wait for Amy, so I hung out in the park for a while, watching the people go by. It wasn't a terribly cold day, but being right there on the water made for some cold wind, so I was pretty bundled up while I was waiting. I know I've said this before, but it never stops amazing me how beautiful and wonderful and crass this city can be. There I was sitting in this lovely landscaped park with tons of history everywhere I turned, and swarming all around me were the street vendors trying to sell watches and sunglasses out of briefcases. Absolutely amazing. This is a little shot I snapped while I was waiting for Amy... there happened to be a wrought-iron rail right next to this bench, so I put the camera on it, set the timer, and looked away. Directly afterward, a very nice young man came up to me and gave me a tract of bible passages designed to inform me that, unless I very quickly asked Jesus Christ to be my personal lord and savior, that I was going to have a rough time of it in the afterlife.Proselytizing by way of handing out tracts is beyond tacky, it's pathetic. Look, if you're gonna take the bible seriously and go out and try to convert people, do it the way it's meant to be done: Sway the uninitiated with the passion in your words, and the example in your actions. Don't hand me some crappy-ass piece of paper with bible quotes taken out of context just to prove a silly point. Save some trees along with those souls, shall we?
Anywho, as I said, Amy eventually arrived, and we got on line to get to the ferry. By the way, when Amy saw the picture of the building above, she looked at the light flare and said, "Dude, that's a cross." It freaked her out. I elected not to tell her about Proselytizing Boy. Eventually, we made it on to the ferry and headed out to Liberty Island. I took, you can imagine, copious shots of our approach to Lady Liberty, but I'm only uploading this one... it's not even my favorite, but it's one of the clearest, and I do like all the shades of blue in this photo.Because of the big bank card embrolio earlier, we were on the last ferry to make the circuit of Liberty and Ellis Islands, so we had to choose between the two... we couldn't get off at both and still get back on the last ferry. So we opted to forego Liberty Island (the statue itself still isn't open to the public, so we figured we come back when they finally do open her), and both of us were kinda itching to see Ellis Island, so we chose that. I took a lot of shots on Ellis Island, too, but a lot of them just didn't turn out, or turned out too fuzzy, 'cuz I still haven't mastered the art of working without a flash indoors. We did, however, get a couple of nice shots of lower Manhattan from across the harbor:
To the left, Amy in her "I'm a crack addict trying to look sexy" pose.
To the right, the expanse of lower Manhattan from Ellis Island.
As days out go, it was a pretty good one. The bank card trauma kept it from being a great one, but take one look that the kind of day it was in these photos, and you'll know that, all things being relative, it was a good day to be alive, and to live in New York City.
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