Wonderful picture from Fredericksburg, VA rally

photo by: ROBERT A. MARTIN/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

I like T Rex, but this is ridiculous.

This is worth a look-see, folks, especially if you are still undecided about who should be given the keys to the country.

Tunnel to Towers: first 5k!

Today I ran in the Tunnel to Towers run through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel up to the WTC site. I was joined by my friends Rebecca, Leslie and Paul from Macy's, and Nicole and Augustin, as well as 15,000 other runners, a great majority of whom were firefighters from the area and beyond (even London, UK). 2008 is the year I discovered running on a regular basis and this was my first timed run. It was just spectacular to run down into the tunnel with thousands of screaming people at your side and be pushed on through the tunnel by the echoing sounds of several groups of Marines doing their chants, each of them in full dress fatigues and carrying all of their combat gear in tribute to the firefighter Stephen Siller, who died in the towers on 9-11-01 after running through the tunnel on his day off to join the rest of his battalion. I feel very proud to be a New Yorker, even though too much flag-waving and screams of "USA, USA!" from local groups of cheerleaders and police make me nervous. The worst residual of the attacks on the WTC to me was the carte blanche given to our most jingoistic leaders to saunter through the world with a big stick. But, as my Dad says daily, Obama will fix it.

Working Life: Fishmonger in Union Square

Most recent participant from my Working Life series. Many thanks to Jonathon and everyone at Blue Moon Fish.

Register to vote by October 10th!

- In person: You can register in person at your county Board of Elections. To find your local office go to www.vote.nyc.ny.us/offices.html

- On the web: Register to vote online at www.rockthevote.com

flying up Manhattan

midtown, originally uploaded by dirtystan.

Riding out the storm

I love the picture at the top of this NY Times article from yesterday.

So excited....

My Bloody Valentine: When You Sleep

Right before you jump in...

Not that you would, but it is fun to be in a fast boat across New York harbor.

Have you ever been to Governor's Island?

Neither had I, until last week. My dear old friend Vivien is a charter member of the Gotham Planning Society, who co-sponsored a maritime visit to the island. A Navy stronghold until 1966, it then changed hands to the US Coast Guard who used it until 1996 when it became mainly an under-utilized and under-appreciated part of this great city. I wandered through an empty house built in 1834 that used to be where the Navy captain and his family lived. It was last lived in during the early 1960's and it shows. Apparently the folks who care about Governors Island really want you and I to care about as well and come up with great things to do there. We walked underneath one of those waterfalls and it was September 10th, so the lights to commemorate the Twin Towers were on in lower Manhattan. Seeing as I grew up here, I still can't really fathom that all that really happened. It seems abstract.

Love is ageless

This past Saturday I shot a wedding, which I have only done once before, but this was a special case. The bride, Babs Kellogg turned 92 yesterday and the groom, Leonard Schwartz, a spry 88. They had a bus to bring all their friends from the retirement community in Princeton up to St.Mary's on 126th Street and then to the champagne toast at the Waldorf-Astoria. I felt honored to be part of their wedding. They seemed really happy and kept telling me not to leave that Toni Morrison was going to show up any minute.

This election is different and it matters what you think

It makes me crazy and sad at the same time to listen to friends and colleagues of mine who are supporters of Obama yet say that the election is going to be won by McCain/Palin. It might be. That's not the point. Why give up now when we have such a good shot and things are going the Democrats way? It often seems to me that people bring so much of their own pain upon themselves. Call me an "elitist" crazy liberal, which I guess I am, but if you imagine yourself a loser, that is what you shall be, but if you know that you will be alright, that is what will be as well. Obama knows this, and that is one of the reasons why he has been so successful, in life, and in this campaign. The modern Republican party appears to be primarily concerned with abortion, the death penalty and the NRA, but that's a bait and switch to hard working people who are just looking for the strongest leader. They have no faith in Americans who are seeing the economic life of this country slide across the oceans and think on election day it all comes down to which candidate goes to church more often. I think America is smarter than that. Don't you?

Everyday, imagine President Obama making a speech on the veranda of the Rose Garden at the White House, and read this