Empire State Building

On Wednesday morning I took a little hike to the Empire State Building .From my hotel, It was roughly 1 mile away. When I arrived, I thought I'd see how long the line was to the top, to my amazement, there was no line. I quickly purchased my ticket and was quickly ushered to another line. This line was the security line. I had to remove all my metal and put them in trays. Again, I had to remove my belt. This was the third time that I went through security; Ellis Island and Liberty, MSNBC studio, and now the Empire State Building. I suppose in the long run, it's a small inconvenience to insure security. Next time I come to NY, I have to remember to wear suspenders or some other form of contraption to hold my pants up.
The visibility was 15 miles and there were few clouds in the sky. One of the pictures below has a shadow of the top of the Empire State Building. Enjoy.

Memorial Day - Flags

While in NY, my daughter bought us tickets to see the NBC studio. It was great seeing the sets of SNL and a few others. The studio is located in Rockefeller Plaza.
At street level, Rockefeller plaza has about 200 flagpoles. At varying intervals, the flags of United Nations member countries, the flags of United States states and territories, or various decorative and seasonal flags are flown; during U.S. holidays, every flagpole carries the Flag of the United States.
6 months ago, when I was here last, my nationality flag was next to the US flag.

Times Square - NY

After the graduation ceremony and dinner, our hotel was located in Times Square so we took a walk and checked it out. Lots of little shops and plenty of places to eat at all hours of the night. I wasn't too impressed, but then, I'm not a night person.

Goal.........Reached

On Tuesday, May 20 Celena finally achieved her goal. She received her Masters from Columbia University. The weather was horrible, it rained all day and traffic was ridiculous. The convocation was held in a large church and was very simple. The proctor would announce the students name and the student would stand and then be seated.

Because we were so rushed and hurried, we decided to have a couple of drinks to settle down before the ceremony. We were only a block away from the church and decided to head for the church at 6:30. The ceremony was scheduled to start at 7:00 pm. Well, there was already a line formed around the block of the church. By the time we got in, the only place available was on the fourth floor behind the organ. We stayed long enough to listen to Celena's name and then we decided to leave and be the first one's at the students exit. That worked out great. We were one of 3 families that had the same idea. We met her at the exit door then we went out to a sports bar and met up with her room mates.

Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty

I arrived Sunday afternoon in New York for my daughters Tuesday graduation. Sunday I rested but Monday I did a lot of sight seeing. One of the first places we went to was the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.


This is a monument in Battery Park to commemorate the soldiers in the Korean War.


The Sphere and Eternal Flame, a 9/11 memorial




pass we purchased for the trip to Ellis and the Statue in Battery Park.




Leaving Battery Park on our way to Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty.




A couple of different photos of the Statue of Liberty.





I took a picture of the back of Liberty and noticed that the flame is in the shape of Aladdin's Lamp. Interesting.



Arriving at Liberty Island.




Leaving Liberty island, I waited for this photo.




Arriving at Ellis Island.






Inside the main auditorium of Ellis Island.



Leaving Ellis Island.



On the way back to Battery Park, a photo of New York skyline with the Empire State Building in the center.



New York is known for having taxis all over the streets, the waterways are not exempt.

You Will Cry.

I just saw Brian's Song again. Great movie. I've probably seen it 5 times, I know what's going to happen and I still cry. I have to be the biggest wus there is. If you have chance, see the video, very entertaining. Below I have included an excerpt about the movie from Netflix.

This Emmy-winning movie of the week focuses on Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) and his friendship with fullback Brian Piccolo (James Caan). Coach George Halas (Jack Warden) encourages Piccolo to be Sayers's roommate during the season -- the first white-black pairing of its kind in professional sports. When Piccolo develops cancer, Sayers stands by his pal. Perfect for all ages.

Irelan & Maddie dining in.

Maddie came by a couple days ago to visit Irelan. They played a while and then it was time for dinner. So I set them up in their chairs and took pictures. Cool shirt, Maddie!!





Yesterday it reached 99 degrees in San Jose. So Irelan and I decided to take her drawing table outside where it was a lot cooler.

Nativity BVM 1961

This is my 8th grade class picture. I'm posting it in hopes that someone from my class would contact me and let me know how they are doing and if they know how any of the other classmates are fairing. This was my 8th grade class in Marquette Park Chicago.

More Orchids

Some white orchids with a purplish tint splash.

Dum Dums

One of our VP at work has a jar of Dum Dums on his desk. Always looking for something creative to photograph, I took a picture of it and here it is.