New York City! and ROW80

New York City! At Christmas!

Er, sort of. I was there the week before Christmas, but it was my first time in NYC in December, and I finally got to see the Rockefeller tree:
Tree from a distance

Tree and skating rink

Other lights

Funny how in real life - as opposed to movies - the skating rink looks so small. But the tree and the lights are lovely, as is the countdown on the Saks Fifth Avenue building. Then it was on to St. Patrick's Cathedral:

Cathedral nave

Creche

Later I wandered through the lobby of another building that had an entire village along the floor space:

Village

Churchill exhibit behind the village

Churchill closeup

Cornerstone bar, which reminded me of the Arctic Monkeys song.

The next morning I visited the New York Public Library, where they had a Dickens exhibit on:

Dickens poster above the steps

Dickens' character used to advertise whisky

I've featured Buchanan whisky on the blog before

Dickens' compass

On Dickens' notebook

Dickens' handwriting!

From there I went to the Morgan Library, where there were many fascinating items. On the way, I saw this:

For some reason, there was a rat.

Samuel Johnson's dictionary! Sausage!

Thomas Hardy on animal welfare

Postcard from Thomas Hardy

A Gutenberg Bible! I stood in front of it for quite some time.

Handwritten letter by Beatrix Potter.

I also took a photo of a handwritten copy of Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat, but it came out all blurry. Mostly because, as usual, I was sneaking a lot of these photographs in, without using a flash. Why oh why isn't photography allowed in museums? All these items are under glass anyway, so what possible difference could it make? The library itself is one to envy:

Morgan library shelves

Books behind radiator cover-like barriers

Morgan's study

Drool...

More books, on levels. More drooling.

Actually, my hotel room had a library too! And there was a cat exhibit at a nearby Barnes and Noble:

Cats!

Saw Seinfeld's black and white cookie at the airport:
Look to the cookie!

Here's the wee aircraft I flew on:

And here are New York's lights from behind the wing:

I miss New York already.

As for ROW80 goals, the editing is going well! I have a clearer idea now of the progress I hope to achieve on Druid's Moon in this round: I'd like to finish editing and write my synopsis before NaNoEdMo in March, during which I'll print it all out and re-edit on paper, before calling it ready for betas. And still querying Out of the Water, with no luck (not that I try very hard. Maybe a couple of agents per month).

Also, I just took the Jeopardy online contestant test. 50 questions, with 15 seconds to type your answer for each. Now that was a panic-filled few minutes. Even stuff you know flies from your head when you're under pressure. I did get the Queequeg question, though, thanks to Joe Hill's BigReadAlong of Moby Dick!

What was the last test you took?

Comments

Your photos are awesome! The Morgan Library is really cool. And that is one OLD and rare Bible.
Linda G. said…
Great pictures! What a lovely visit you must have had. I've always wanted to see NYC at Christmas time.
Zan Marie said…
Drool! I wish I could have been in New York for Christmas! Love you pictures!
Anonymous said…
Awesome photographic tour, Deniz! I really enjoyed it. Reminded me of the one time I got to New York City, in 1971. I don't think there was a Barnes & Noble. No cell phones. My friend and I rode the underground subway. We strolled through F.A.O. Schwartz toy store, gazed through Tiffany's window, went to a small bookstore that is probably no longer there. Were warned away from Central Park by my friend's father. Not safe, he said. Sigh. Wish we had strolled through it anyway, but we were young; my friend had two little children and I had four. We didn't want to get mugged!

All the best with your Druid's Moon!
Sarah McCabe said…
NYC is awesome. My husband hails from there, but we don't get a chance to go out on the town much when we visit because it's hard to drag kids around the city. Last time we had the chance to go just the two of us we went to the garment district so I could drool over the fabric shops. Our other favorite place is The Met. The Temple of Dendur exhibit is fabulous for an Egyptophile like me.

And the pizza. Oh, the pizza. There's simply no other pizza like New York pizza.
Michael Di Gesu said…
HI, Deniz,

YOU'VE made me SOOOO HOME SICK! There is NOTHING MORE GORGEOUS than NYC at CHRISTMAS...

Thanks for the AMAZING PICS!

I WANT TO GO HOME!!!!
Jack said…
VERY pretty pictures! I love the lights.
S.P. Bowers said…
Thanks for the photos. I was in NY over thanksgiving once, but that was it. I loved seeing how it looks at christmas.
Thanks for the lovely photos Deniz! I feel as if I've lived through with this photographic tour you gave! It is so lovely, and I wish I could be in NY one Christmas!

Nas
Luckily my drool over your photos did not hit my keyboard. I am so envious of all those BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS you saw!!

Fantastic!

And also, way to go on your ROW80 goals. You've got it going on!!
DL Hammons said…
New York at Christmas is on my bucket list! Your pictures are beautiful!! :)
Seeing NY at Christmas time has always been a dream of mine. You have a wonderful blog!
LR said…
Have never visited NYC at xmas time. Very pretty :)
Misha Gerrick said…
Beautiful pictures. I love Morgan's Library.

Last test I did was a blood test. ;-)
Hi Deniz ... love the shots of Christmas time in NYC .. then those secret snaps in the Morgan Library - I must go when I get back to NY sometime!

You saw lots - great remembrances ... Gutenberg Bible is special isn't it .. then Beatrix Potter's letter .. with her illustrations - talented people.

Wonderful to read you had such a good time ... have a great year ahead - Hilary
I can't remember the last test I took, unless you count those "are you dateable" type tests that a lot of women's magazines have. (Apparently, according the tests, I'm not very dateable, because I'm too neurotic and not flirtatious.)
I like your pictures, especially the ones of the library (it's so big!) and the literary exhibits. More reasons why I want to see New York someday too.
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks so much for all the lovely comments everyone! I promise I'm coming round to visit your blogs soon.