At last, I spot my first bulb sprout of spring

The words I have waited so long this March to type: I have spotted the first green sprouting from a bulb in the gardens of the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood. It’s in the very corner of the front garden, where a good-sized pile of snow still lurks a half-dozen feet…

How do you prep for a Sweet Sixteen?

There are many ways, I suppose, for a bunch of college-aged men to spend a few hours in a strange city before a very important evening. Add in the fact that they’re joined by the collective purpose of their university’s sports team, and it’s surely no surprise to discover them in a pack, dressed rather…

Photo 101: We depart in triumph

The Final Lesson. I expected something dramatic as we say farewell to Photo 101, and the words sent by Krista for lesson 20 did not disappoint. Triumph and contrast. Life serves some of the first to the fortunate and plenty of the second, always. I looked through the photographs I’ve taken these four weeks on…

The Bracket World knocks on Syracuse’s door

There was a little warmup for in Syracuse for our quarter slice of the Sweet Sixteen pie. I took a walk up to the Syracuse University hill because the NCAA opened the Carrier Dome for free to watch the practices for the four squads who’d reached the East Regional portion of the Sweet Sixteen. By…

Is any movie worth a fourth swing at it?

To me, “A Star is Born” means a drunked-up rocker played by Kris Kristofferson doing the right/wrong/right/wrong dance with a wild-eyed optimist of a young singer played by Barbra Streisand. To a generation that came ahead of me, Judy Garland was the young singer. In the original, it was … well, you can trace the…

The Little Bitty in Syracuse, N.Y.

Photo 101: Keeping my edge aligned

As Photo 101 winds down in week four, I want to make sure I concentrate hard. You know. Keep my edge. Make sure I use these parcels of enlightenment to gain as much knowledge to make my blog photographs captured by my iPhone 6 and iPad Air as good as they can be. So I…

A reflective walk and a legacy shot

After our working lunch at Clark’s Ale House to discuss and take pictures for the Photo 101 lesson glass, squaredTuesday, by longtime friend Jim McKeever and I walked along South Salina Street toward his place of business, talking about this and that, like two guys on the far end of their 50s who’ve known each…