December 31, 2013 - New Year's Eve
We celebrated New Year's Eve at Charlotte and Malte's house with Joanna and Andre as well as her parents. As always, it was interesting, engaging and a lot of fun. Arno also spent the night on a sleep-over with his very good friend Hucki.
December 28, 2013 - Margo's Earrings
Margo had been thinking about getting her ears pierced for a while now and, given that other girls in her class had already done the procedure, we finally acquiesced to her request. Thus, today we set out to La Lobe which is apparently the best place in town for such undertakings. Ahead of us a girl cried viciously and that certainly scared Margo (and me) quite a bit. It was therefore all the more brave of her to go through with the piercing and she did not even blink an eye while it took all place. Needless to say, Meredith and I are extremely proud of her!
December 25, 2013 - Christmas
Well, then. This morning it was time for our American Christmas celebration and the exchange of all remaining gifts. Margo had asked for an American Doll that we customized to her liking and, according to her advice, to her likeness as well. Arno had wished for hockey gear from helmet to skates, which he will need playing at the Stars Center next year.
December 24, 2013 - Weihnachten
As every year, we followed our family tradition to celebrate the German Christmas on the 24th while celebrating the American one a day later. or Margo and Arno this mainly means that they get their German presents from my Mom today already. For the rest of us, it is a reason to have a very good dinner on both days, which is pretty nice as well.
December 22, 2013 - Simple Things
I have been very much impressed by the images of Eggleston and Shore for a long time now and decided that I needed to better understand their work by trying to create similar views of very ordinary surroundings. This is not to say that my images compare in any way, but rather that it was a lot of fun to follow their footsteps to learn from them.
December 20, 2013 - Dinner at Bubba's
After spending the entire week on the road once again, it was really nice to come home knowing that I am not flying anywhere for three weeks now. Tonight we went to Bubba's for a hearty chicken dinner and French fries with honey.
December 15, 2013 - Downtown
Margo and I went to downtown for our usual program of DMA art class and then the park. In class, staffers showed historic board games to the children, prompting one little girl to call them bored-games, to inspire them to create their own game. Margo made a new version of Candyland, which we played tonight. Obviously, as Margo makes up the rules and is quite flexible in her interpretation of them, she tends to win every time.
December 7, 2013 - Potsdam
We had an excellent day and visited three of the most beautiful castles in Germany. After a hearty breakfast, we started out at Sans Souci, which was Friedrich the Great's residence and also is his final resting place. Curiously, he is buried in the gardens along with all of his beloved dogs, yet not his wife.
After lunch we moved on to the Marble Palace, which was used by several German emperors until to WW-I.
Our next stop was the Cecilienhof where the last crown prince lived and also where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin negotiated the peace after WW-II. We got an excellent tour of the facility, which also serves as a hotel nowadays. It's a very unusual place due to its English Tudor style of architecture.
We concluded the day with an excellent dinner prepared by Georg and Nicole and then proceeded to have lots of wine.
December 6, 2013 - Visiting Georg
The weather was so dreadful this morning that we decided to focus on an indoor-type activity. Oliver had recommended the Hamburger Bahnhof museum for contemporary art, which turned out to be the most fascinating museum of our trip. They have a ton of great works in what must be one of Europe's fines contemporary art collections. There were literally no pieces that weren't interesting in one way or another.
Fighting our way through something akin to a snowstorm, we hopped into a cab and had a quick lunch at the hotel to meet Georg, who graciously picked us up for a two day visit in Potsdam. We had "Kaffee & Kuchen" at his home and then headed out for an excellent Italian dinner.
December 4, 2013 - Potsdamer Platz
Today we took an early train to Berlin and checked into our hotel just in time for lunch. Afterwards, we walked around Berlin's center to honed in on Potsdamer Platz and Legoland. Margo and Arno had a ton of fun with all of the rides and play stations three floors underneath the city.
December 3, 2013 - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
There is an old industrial complex in Krefeld that was originally designed by Mies van der Rohe. Being part of the textile industry in town, it had been abandoned for years and was recently rejuvenated by a developer who invested to create offices and manufacturing sites on the location. It is a classic architectural icon and thus well worth the effort. In the evening, we had an Italian dinner with Oliver, which was as interesting and engaging as ever.
December 2, 2013 - Christmas Market
Every city in Germany, no matter how small, seems to have its own Christmas market. By virtue of being here at the right time, we have all become experts on that subject by now. Margo and Arno are further great connoisseurs of the marry-go-round in that they have had the opportunity to try them in Krefeld, Aachen and Düsseldorf by now.
In the evening, I visited another very old friend, Sven, and his girlfriend Ulla for a fantastic dinner and very interesting excursion into 1950s Blues and Rock music. Sven is a great guitar player and truly opened my eyes with several really cool riffs.
December 1, 2013 - The Ferris Wheel
Another day by the Rhine river. We decided to go on a Farris wheel to get a view of the city from above. Our timing turned out great since we literally rode during sunset. Later, we met up with Torsten for a coffee and excellent conversation.
November 30, 2013 - Playing at Home
Everyone is acclimated to the time difference by now and we have been running at top speed for the past few days. Hence it was time for a break to relax and wind down. Margo and Arno learned a new tab game at one of our favorite eating spots in town, which was very funny.
November 29, 2013 - Museums
We were drawn towards Düsseldorf once again. This time we went to see the Neandertal Museum and also Kunstpalast. The former is a truly astonishing place with lots of interesting history about our ancestors of 50,000 years ago. Having taken a DNA test this year, we know that we have roughly 1,3% of Neandertaler DNA in our family which is fairly small.
On our way back into the city, we decided to stop at the very large Kunstpalast Museum located at the Rhein river. It is far too large to see everything in an afternoon so that we decided to focus on their glass collection, which is truly phenomenal. We'll have to come back for some of the other parts of the permanent collection and for exhibitions as well.
November 28, 2013 - Dinner with Friends
We stuck around town for the day, played at a place called Okidoki and met one of my oldest friends, Marcus, and his family for dinner. Marcus is an incredible cook and certainly did not let us down.
November 26, 2013 - Aachen
We visited Aachen today and had initially planned to go to the three-country corner where you can stand in a different country with each leg and use your arm to touch a third one. This is obviously as silly as the people that lean in when they are photographed in front of Pisa's tower. Anyway, it was way too cold and we thus went straight for the famous Christmas market, then to a historic home and finally the Ludwig Forum for contemporary art. We rounded the evening out with a really nice dinner in the company of Guido, an old friend of mine.
November 25, 2013 - Tzatziki & Co
This was our first actual day of vacation given that we finally got a few hours of continuous sleep and were able to acclimate to the season a bit more. We needed to procure indispensables such as pajamas and winter shoes, spent the afternoon roaming Düsseldorf and had a very nice evening with Michael at a Greek restaurant. Arno accidentally took a strong zip of Uzo, which added to the entertainment for everyone involved.
November 24, 2013 - Krefeld
Michael graciously picked us up at the airport, which made things very easy. Obviously, we were very excited to see my Mom and to finally be home again. Given that everyone was tired, we just hung out and did a lot of Origami and some drawing. Arno and Margo had each painted a shirt for my Mom, which she enjoyed a lot after creating dozens of shirts for them.
November 23, 2013 - Flying to Germany
Arno and Margo were so excited about our upcoming vacation that neither of them was capable of falling asleep last night. This morning we went to the airport bright and early, had a nice breakfast in the lounge and then headed across the Atlantic on two different routes. While Meredith and Arno enjoyed a smooth ride in business class via Toronto, Margo and I had to tough it out in the back of the bus via Chicago. We met up in Düsseldorf and headed for my Mom's home.
November 17, 2013 - A Slightly Different View
Given that we are doing the same things in the same places, I wanted to change the way I "see" images a bit. These shots, from one of our favorite spots, are thus a bit more gritty and not focused on making everyone look good. Maybe more natural?
November 14, 2013 - Margo's Ballet
After spending two nights on Arno's events, it was time to give Margo the opportunity to step into the limelight. She had her ballet and jazz dance classes tonight where I managed to capture a few glimpses of her well-developed craft.
November 13, 2013 - Arno's Soccer
We're busy! Tonight Arno had his last soccer game of the season and we went to watch. The kids played very well and have come a long way since the beginning of the year. Everyone was hustling and they were chasing each other all over the field.
November 11, 2013 - Arno's Skating
Arno really enjoys ice skating and certainly wants to be a great hockey player some day. He has been training for the past year and is now ready to throw on some gear and go out there with a stick and a puck.
November 10, 2013 - Arboretum
Given that it is still warm outside, we decided to meet friends at the Arboretum for a long walk. It was a perfect day for it, too. We all had tons of fun and certainly walked our energy off. Arno and Margo both fell into their beds tonight as soon as got back.
November 3, 2013 - A Couple of Shots
Having spent the last week in New York, there was little opportunity to take photos. I did manage to get a few shots of home-life before and after though, which were mainly taken at dinner as well as this morning when Margo and Arno gave an impromptu concert for us.
October 26, 2013 - JHG Night at the Museum
We had another very interesting and engaging event organized by JHG tonight. This time, the group visited the Samurai Museum in downtown for a private tour. It was truly fascinating to learn more about the different pieces and their historical significance over the centuries. We concluded the evening with an outstanding dinner at Mercat Bistro.
October 24, 2013 - Chef Arno
Margo had her ballet class tonight and thus, once again, Arno and I decided to take matters of the household into our own hands. Arno already cooked a full meal for us and we thought that he should repeat the feat. We sat down, planned our family meals for the next three days and then set out to procure necessary ingredients. Needless to say that all of the cooks in the market were jealous of Arno's professional clothing.
October 20, 2013 - And again ...
After a very entertaining and engaging evening with Connie and Royd, we tried our best to make it a rather uneventful Sunday. Thus, we ended up in the art class at the DMA once again and went for a stroll through the downtown park.
October 13 2013 - DMA
Margo and I went to the DMA so that she could participate in another art class. The museum organizes these every month and this time the children had a box with materials that they could not see, but only touch. It allowed Margo to develop a feel for textures that she wanted to use in a portrait.
October 12, 2013 - The Party
We had a full house for Arno's birthday party and could certainly use the help of cowboy CC who played a bunch of games with the children. Everyone had a ton of fun and Arno certainly enjoyed the company of his friends.
October 10. 2013 - Arno's Birthday
This was Arno's fifth happy return and an exciting day. It took about half an hour to put Arno to bed last night because he was so excited about opening his presents. We woke up very early this morning and opened my Mom's presents from Germany so that we could call her before school. Margo gave her brother a Batman costume, which was clearly one of the highlights today. In the evening we opened the other presents. Arno and I played a bit of hockey in the living room and he very much took to his new piano.
October 8. 2013 - Casual Dinners
Given hat we will be cooking around the clock in preparation of Arno's birthday party next Saturday, we decided to go out to enjoy the calm before the storm. Just a couple of shots ... from the road and restaurant
September 22, 2013 - DMA
This afternoon Margo and I took off to do "something". After much deliberation, we did what we virtually always do: go to the DMA. Margo went to a class on sculpture while I sat nearby waiting for photos to come my way.
September 21, 2013 - Arboretum
We finally renewed our annual membership at the Arboretum and went straight for the new Children's Center, which is truly fantastic. The exhibits and experiments reminded us of the Perot Nature and Science museum. In any case, we had a ton of fun as Margo and Arno ran through the park, explored lots of science and stood in the middle of a tornado.
September 15, 2013 - New Books
As the images below attest, we have new books. And lively ones. Margo came to me today and told me to bring my camera. When I got to the living room, she had already inserted herself fully into the bookshelf. It took a while to start shooting since I had to laugh as hard as Margo and Arno did. We also visited with friends a little later and sure enough the ritual repeated itself with now three little boys in shelves.
September 14, 2013 - Margo at the Nasher
Margo and I took off today and decided to make it an artsy afternoon. We went to the DMA, then the Nasher and then came back home for a quick snack before dinner.
September 10, 2013 - Airborne
Just another night at home, really. So we tried to get in a few action shots by jumping off the table while our dinner was cooking in the kitchen.
September 8, 2013 - Meredith's Birthday
Our weekend was clearly focused on making "Mom" happy. On Saturday evening several good friends came over for dinner, wine and lots of good conversation. On Sunday, we pretty much cooked and ate. Arno made a Schnitzel dinner for us, which was absolutely fantastic. It was certainly a very nice birthday gift for his Mom, while Margo made her a very beautiful picture.
September 1, 2013 - Central Market
Grocery shopping can be fun, if you make it a race and, obviously, have a race car on hand. We happened to have both as we took a stroll through Central Market in the afternoon.
August 31, 2013 - Dinner
We had an excellent day, beginning with a swim and ending with a dinner for Jerrold and Rita. It was truly a memorable evening.
August 24, 2013 - Swimming
We took a relaxing swim this morning and then relaxed some more ...
August 22, 2013 - Ice Cream Social
The school had an ice cream social today where we could meet some of the other parents and watch a scrimmage game of the football team afterwards. Arno and Margo were very excited to show us around as well. It was all good fun.
August 18. 2013 - Dinner
We had an uneventful day. Margo had caught a light cold and most of us were running low on battery. We did accomplish something though by trying out a recipe from one of my colleagues. It turned out to be one of the best meals we've had this year: steak sandwich on Boule with egg on top and a slow-cooked relish based on olive oil, banana peppers, garlic and onions.
August 17, 2013 - Bush Library
We had heard a lot about the new Bush Library on the SMU campus from friends, some of whom had attended its inauguration earlier this year. It was clearly time to get a first-hand impression. To begin with, the building is beautiful and the entire experience is very well done. We really enjoyed the restaurant, which served excellent food in a space very much on par with the best restaurants in town. Independent of what one may think of the President's politics and decisions, it was a memorable and certainly worthwhile experience.
August 16, 2013 - JHG Lecture Series
We had one of our JHG events tonight, which was based on a lecture on Kurt von Schleicher, the last chancellor of Weimar. Dr. Sall, the presenter, was excellent and shed light on a few fateful events that led to the rise of the Third Reich in Germany and greatly affected the misfortune of millions of people around the world. We had a great turnout and fantastic audience.
August 13, 2013 - School Starts
A truly exciting day! Arno and Margo started their new school, The Highlands. today. We took them in the morning for an orientation and it was the first and last day they could visit without their uniforms. Arno is particularly excited about his new uniform and especially the fact that he gets to wear a leather belt. Tonight, after going to bed already, he came back into my room fully dressed in his uniform telling me that this way, he can be faster to get to school in the morning.
August 11, 2013 - Dancing the Dance!
So, what happened this weekend? To begin, Meredith's car was hit by someone who tried to get out of left a turn and did not see us in front of him. It took several hours of nightmarish negotiations to have the car towed, but at least we used the time to buy Arno and Margo new clothes and a tie, which accompanied Arno for the remainder of the weekend as he is now a businessman. On Sunday we all got a much needed haircut, visited with friends and swam a lot. In the evening, Margo introduced me to the finer points of ballet by showing me her most important moves.
August 4, 2013 - Contemporary Museum of Art
After a busy and eventful week, we did as little as we possibly could over the weekend. We swam each morning, visited the bookstore and completed our homework on Saturday and saw an exhibition in the Contemporary Museum of Art on Sunday. They had a very interesting exhibition by avant-garde fashion designer Walter van Beirendonck called Lust Never Sleeps - Silent Secrets.
July 31, 2013 - A Busy Night
There was a lot going on: Arno came home in a self-made tie, Margo gave Arno a haircut without the cutting, we read books and then played a game of Sorry together. Margo and Arno learned how to shuffle cards this week at summer camp, so it is important that we only play games in which cards play a "major" role. Those are the instructions.
July 30, 2013 - Margo's Trophy
Margo received her trophy for this past softball season at a team dinner tonight. Most of the families had shown up to make this a great event for the girls. There were lots of friends from her old school, which made it a very memorable evening.
July 28, 2013 - Museums and Stuff
Given that I have not had an opportunity to venture out to shoot for several weeks, I took off in the afternoon and went into the city. Most notably, I accomplished to get a hefty parking ticket for not filling the meter in downtown. It was Sunday! Anyway, it turned out to be a great afternoon which I mostly spent in the Crow Collection of Asian Art and the DMA.
July 14, 2013 - Perot Museum
Arno and Margo were invited to a friends' birthday party at the Perot museum which had prepared a number of creative artsy-type activities for the kids before everyone was released into the museum. Margo and Arno particularly enjoyed playing "Bob the Builder".
To our great surprise the "Plastiki", David de Rothschild's environmental project catamaran, was on display in front of the museum which was really cool to see. The boat, built from 12,500 plastic bottles and other waste products, was used by a crew of six to sail across the Pacific in order to raise awareness for environmental issues.
July 13, 2013 - First Boots
As true Texans, Margo and Arno got their first pair of cowboy boots today. We had lots of fun in the store and took a pair of real cowboy hats along while we were there. Obviously, we now needed to do the stuff cowboys do and thus continued on to the stockyards in Fort Worth. We took a train ride, Margo and Arno rode ponies and they even learned to rope in a cow.
July 6, 2013 - Otto's Birthday
Arno's friend Otto celebrated his birthday today with a garden party and an amphibious vehicle. Needless to say, it made everyone's day and was a truly unique experience. To top things off, the children got to hit a shark piñata until it burst with candy and toys. As for us, we had an opportunity to talk to good friends and have a beer in the shade.
July 4, 2013 - Independence Day
Boy were we busy: swimming in the morning, lunch at Pete & Mito's, the DMA for an exhibition on Greek and Roman sculpture and a visit to the park. All told, it was a great day and we truly enjoyed our time together.
June 29, 2013 - And Another a Long Swim
Second round of swimming. We had a relaxing and uneventful weekend, which was about the best we could have hoped for. In the evening Charlotte and Malte came over for dinner while the we all went for yet another swim.
June 28, 2013 - Just a Long Swim
The title say it all, really. It was great to cool down in the water and just relax for a bit.
June 23, 2013 - Weekend
We had a very relaxing and pleasant weekend, spent Saturday swimming and cooking, saw Jerrold and Rita in the evening and shopped for kids furniture on Sunday. Margo and Arno now each have their own room, which is very nice.
June 18, 2013 - Ice Cream
I finally made it back from Germany and was very happy to see everyone at home. Tonight we got an ice cream and Arno modeled one of several t-shirts I had worn when I was his age that my Mom had given him.
June 15, 2013 - Vintage Race Days
Nils and I went on a photo safari at a classic car race. The event pretty much looked like something the Bugatti owners club could have put together. Most vehicles were extremely rare and certainly valuable. They even had a fully restored Brough Superior for sale, but quite out of our reach. We had a lot of fun and got a fair amount of really nice images. I am still jealous that Nils really killed a shot of the race that was far better than anything I had produced today.
June 14, 2013 - Blumenreich in Wiesmoor
I had a bit of time while waiting for Nils in his office this morning and found a flower park just a few houses away. Shooting nature in B&W is always challenging since you have nothing but contrast to work with.
June 12, 2013 - Mies in Krefeld
World-renown modernist Mies van der Rohe lived in Krefeld for a few years and built some of his most amazing early work here that I had covered in November 2012 as well as in March 2011. Currently, there is a temporary exhibit of his Krefeld Golf Club design of 1930 in its original setting. The clubhouse was never actually built due to financial constraints, yet it is one of Mies' most distinctive and recognizable designs. It shows a clear affinity to the Barcelona pavilion designed for the World Exhibition the previous year.
Helge Darfz, a film maker, producer and journalist who is one of the original founders of the project maintains a blog about the project site and has featured some of the images below recently. The blog is located here.
Helge Darfz, a film maker, producer and journalist who is one of the original founders of the project maintains a blog about the project site and has featured some of the images below recently. The blog is located here.
June 11, 2013 - Friendly Faces
Here are shots of my Mom and very good friends. Nils took the last image of me.
June 6, 2013 - Düsseldorf Harbor
I met an old friend for lunch in Düsseldorf today and thus started a bit early to catch a glimpse of the architecture in the recently rejuvenated harbor area. Today, it is a hub for media companies including TV, publishing and advertising.
June 2, 2013 - Margo's Annual Ballet Performance
This year the performance took place at Fair Park, which is a great 1920's music hall with all the trappings of the grand Art Deco design of the period. It was great to watch Margo perform with such ease and no sign of nerves. She does not even think twice about going on stage, which is truly amazing for her age.
In the afternoon, we officially opened the swimming season for this year. It's a bit later than in previous years, but the weather has been substantially cooler as well with temperatures just below 30 C. So the water was a little cold, but nice. In a few weeks it'll will feel like a hot tub to jump in the water and we'll miss these milder days quickly.
June 1, 2013 - Getting Ready for a Recital
Tomorrow is Margo's annual ballet recital and thus a big day for her. She has worked incredibly hard on her dance and made great progress. Now is the time to show off a little and reap the rewards. Speaking of which, we went straight from the music hall to an ice cream place.
May 31, 2013 - Propeller
Apparently our babysitter took Arno and Margo to McDonalds, where they received a launch-able propeller toy with their Happy Meal. I have to admit that the toy is actually pretty cool and fun to use.
May 27, 2013 - Austin's Birthday
This evening we celebrated Austin's birthday, which had been on the 24th already. He had chosen to spend a few days with his grandma and this was our first opportunity to give him his presents and take him out for his favorite Chinese food. He'll be graduating from High School in two weeks and will then move on to College. I'm sure we'll miss him.
May 26, 2013 - DMA
Margo and Arno each created an amazing etching at the DMA today. The task was to do a self-portrait for which they were both given a mirror. Arno's etching actually looked a lot like a snow man with house shoes while Margo created a portrait of herself closely resembling a Picasso. In the meantime, I took in a very interesting exhibition of works by Cindy Sherman.
May 25, 2013 - Homework and Burgers
Meredith, Margo and Arno went to the International Festival today while I worked at the office due to missing a couple of days earlier this week. In the evening, we did our homework and then headed for dinner at Chips.
May 18, 2013 - Concert
Margo and her friend Madeline gave an impromptu performance of "Call me Baby' today that got Arno and everyone else dancing.
May 17, 2013 - Take-Out
What do you need for a great dinner that you don't have to prepare? - Chinese take-out food, a couple of chop sticks and plenty of soy sauce. Margo would probably subside on the latter alone, if we only let her.
May 12, 2013 - Mothersday
It was Meredith's day today and we had diligently prepared for it. Margo, Arno and I went out to buy gifts and procure the necessary ingredients of a great breakfast. We prepared the latter this morning and then set out to spend the day together. Margo and I also went to the park in the afternoon, which gave us some well-needed quality time together. For dinner, we ended up at Veracruz in Bishop Arts District. Then we all fell into bed well exhausted.
May 9, 2013 - Mariano's
We had a really nice Mexican dinner tonight ...
May 4, 2013 - Samurai
To our surprise we discovered that Dallas is home to one of the finest collections of Samurai armor in the US, quite possibly one of the best outside of Japan. The Barbier-Mueller museum opened its doors in downtown about a month ago and has well over 200 first-rate exhibits. Given that Japan celebrates Children's Day on May 4, it was high time for us to take a look. Margo and Arno got to make a Japanese kite, which was great fun as well.
May 2, 2013 - Margo's Birthday
Today is Margo's birthday and she is now officially seven years old. Mentally, she was probably there a couple of years ago already! This morning we opened the package from my Mom and, of course, called her.
After Margo's ballet school, we all went to Maggiano's for dinner and then proceeded into round two of unwrapping presents. Margo mainly wanted a drawer for her new room, which will be ready for her in a few weeks.
May 1, 2013 - The Night Before
Tomorrow is Margo's birthday and she is very excited about getting up in the morning. We'll all wake up early and open the presents from my Mom so that Margo can talk to her on the phone before she goes to school. To get in the mood we had a staunch German dinner with lots of meats and all-you-can-eat ice cream for desert.
April 27, 2013 - A Birthday and a Dinner
We celebrated Margo's seventh birthday a little earlier this year due to scheduling conflicts over the next two weeks. She had invited a dozen of her friends from school and we brought in her ballet teacher for a lesson once again. As a highlight the girls gave a performance at the end, which was very beautiful. I think all of them enjoyed it very much.
About an hour after the birthday party ended, several good friends arrived for a nice dinner and some wine to celebrate the receipt of venture funding for their tech startup. We had a tremendous evening with lots of laughs and great conversation.
April 20, 2013 - JHG Wine Tasting
Meredith and I were invited to a wine tasting that benefitted the Johanniter Hilfsgesellschaft in Dallas tonight, which was a lot of fun. There were some incredible French and Argentinian wines in the lineup which, along with the excellent company, made this a very memorable event. Beforehand, we had a bit of fun with the camera at home and watched Arno in one of his soccer games.
April 14, 2013 - Upper East Side
Last night, Marcus called to let me know that he will be in town today. We decided to take a look around Central Park and the Upper East Side in the afternoon, which was great fun. Starting at Grand Central Terminal, we slowly made our way up to 73 Street and then back having lunch, coffee and dinner in-between. On my way to meet with Marcus, I happened to run into a most interesting Iranian parade ...
Our first stop was the MoMa, where we took in some contemporary art and had a very relaxing coffee ...
Next stop: Central Park. We did not venture too far into the park, but certainly saw enough of its bautiful surroundings. It is amazing how many different sides and sites this city offers.
We left the park in pursuit of a Ralph Lauren store, which turned out to be quite an elusive target. After two failed attempts to locate the main NYC men's store based on "expert advice" such as from the Polo lady at Lord & Taylor's, we finally smartened up enough to simply google it on the iPhone. Our hunt then took us deep into the Upper East Side, which is truly amazing.
Last, as always, here are a couple of interesting store fronts again. I am gradually becoming an expert in shop windows ...
April 13, 2013 - Southern Tip and Back
Finally! It's weekend and another oppportunity to explore the city with my camera. As mentioned, my digital color body is currently in New Jersey for repairs, which means that all of my shots on this trip will be B&W. I started the day at the southern-most tip of Manhattan with a tour of Battery Park and a very short-lived contemplation whether it would make sense to go for Ellis Island and Liberty. It didn't.
Walking back North, my next stop was Chinatown and then Little Italy, where I had lunch. Obviously, I made every effort not to hit the same spot where I had (a truly excellent) lunch the last time around. Consequently, I went for the restaurant that least resembed my recollection of the last spot. Without fail, I ended up in exactly the same place as before. Well, it was excellent once again.
Still heading North, I hit midtown and Madison Park, which was a nice opportunity for some street shots. There were lots of interesting characters, as always.
I was quite literally on my last leg when I walked past the hotel on 32nd and went on to Time Square for what amounted to my first real attempt to capture the place during daylight hours.
April 8, 2013 - On The Street
Just a few images taken earlier today at the airport and during my lunch break ... amazing views of Manhattan, as always!
April 7, 2013 - The Sunday
When Rachel came by after lunch, Arno surprised us with a bold decision to cut his hair short. Given that we tell both of our children that they have the last say in these things, we respected his decision and Rachel promptly went to work. She did an incredible job to give Arno a very stylish and modern haircut. For us, however, it's going to take a while before we get used to our little boy's new look.
In the evening we met up with Ute and Jeff for dinner at Villa O, a nice and very kid-friendly Italian place not far from the house. As you see below, all four kids wrestled with the waiter at one point. First, we had to burn off a little energy at the park!
April 6, 2013 - The Saturday
In anticipation of traveling to New York come Monday, we spent as much time as possible together. Our first stop, after teaching my course at UNT, was Arno's soccer game. The team had a photo shoot, which was a nice opportunity to piggy-back for some quick wins.
Tonight, we decided to have dinner at a popular burger joint, then reconsidered to turn around for an even more popular burger joint, which turned out to be overflowing with bikers so that we ended up in Bishops Arts District at Eno's, which is a hugely popular pizza joint. You get the drift. What was absolutely peculiar was that we found a parking spot right away and then got a table without a wait. Both eerily bizarre events in this town. Anyway, there was an art fest in the street that provided ample material for an aspiring amateur photographer.
April 5, 2013 - Goofing Around
I guess we just had a late April fools day this year, given that everyone was fooling around over dinner and certainly thereafter. We had lots to laugh about and poke fun at, which was really refreshing.
April 4, 2013 - NYC iPhone Shots
I had been taking shots with my iPhone all along while running around New York over the past few months. Most of these were never intended for more than to stirr Nils' envy since I usually sent them to him right away. Anyway, I finally had a moment to download all of them onto my laptop tonight and picked a few that turned out to be rather decent.
April 1, 2013 - April Fools
Not that anything was unusual today in the sense that we were less foolish than on any other day, however we did have a little bit of fun as we played at home and went to Bubba's for a truly unique Art Deco fried chicken experience.
March 31, 2013 - Easter
This year's Easter egg hunt took place in our living room rather than outside due to averse weather conditions in the morning. The day actually turned out beautifully, much better than we could have hoped for. We spent it with Charlotte, Malte and their three sons, which was a lot of fun.
March 30, 2013 - Killin Eggs
As noted in our timeless quotes, Arno had gently prepared me for the slaughter of Easter Eggs that naturally precedes Sunday's celebration. Today we painted the eggs and cooked a whole bunch of stuff in preparation of tomorrow.
March 27, 2013 - Rotini a la Arno
Arno has been a busy helper in my kitchen for quite some time now, but tonight we took things to a new level. Arno and I had bought a children's cookbook over the weekend and tonight he made his first own meal. He seasoned the ground beef, made the meatballs, baked them, poured the souce and selected the pasta. All the while, Margo helped with everything, took our orders for food and drinks and also served on the first line of quality control! Needless to say, it was delicious.
March 25, 2013 - Dancing with the Stars
We had a late night yesterday and subsequently accomplished very little today. After lunch we hung out and got a demonstration of the latest dancing moves from Margo and Arno.
Well, Arno and I did go to the park later. We had the usual dose of fun while Arno turned out to be an excellent climber.
March 16, 2013 - Young Renaldo
Arno had another soccer game today and scored twice (!). If he continues at this pace, he'll be able to take care of his ailing parents in no time. We just need to grab the attention of a Bayern Munich scout ...
Well, and here are a couple more images in the park and at home ...
March 15, 2013 - Amon Carter
We took the morning to visit the Amon Carter museum for Texan art. Among many treasures, they have a great photographic collection that includes Richard Avedon's famous "American West" images, which were actually commissioned by the museum trust.
For lunch, we moved on to the Kimbell before returning to Dallas in the afternoon ...
March 14, 2013 - Home
By now my main digital camera body has safely arrived at the factory for repairs and undoubtedly some pampering. I decided to work on film for a while. The process of shooting and editing is obviously quite different, and much more involved, but one good thing about it all is that it slows you down. It is simply not economical to just fire away when every image counts. Anyway, I took a couple of shots at home and dinner today.
This afternoon I took the camera out for a few macro shots as well. The results surprised me quite a bit. The colors and rendering are much better than anticipated. All images come straight out of the camera without edits or adjusments. The quality and texture of film really is superb. I'll definitely have to do this again sometime soon.
March 10, 2013 - The Cloisters and Coney Island
Today I went to the two extreme ends of New York City: the first stop was Tyron Park on the Northern end of Manhattan and my second one was Coney Island on the southern-most tip of Brooklyn. Needless to say, I spent some time on the subway. But, more on that later.
The Cloisters are four European monasteries that John D. Rockefeller had purchased while traveling through Europe around the turn of the last century. What else could you possibly take home as a souvenir? The buildings had been taken apart stone by stone and then rebuild into a single facility in Fort Tyron Park on Manhattan. They are filled with medival antiques and religious artifacts from the 12th to 15th century that are truly astonishing.
The Cloisters are four European monasteries that John D. Rockefeller had purchased while traveling through Europe around the turn of the last century. What else could you possibly take home as a souvenir? The buildings had been taken apart stone by stone and then rebuild into a single facility in Fort Tyron Park on Manhattan. They are filled with medival antiques and religious artifacts from the 12th to 15th century that are truly astonishing.
On my way to the nexy stop, I decided to take a couple of shots in the subway. Incidentally, my first sight was a guy without a head. The point? There is always something interesting going on in the subway. On the ride from Fort Tyron I came across a group of breakdancers. These guys did stuff on a train that any normal person couldn't accomplish on a trampoline. It was just incredible! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture half of it and missed their saltos and flips for example.
To my dismay, the camera broke while I was at the Cloisters. Thus, I was forced to stick to B&W shots throughout the day. My backup unit is a B&W-only camera. Anyway, I stopped at the hotel to unload the broken unit and then took off for Coney Island, which is at the Southern-most tip of Brooklyn. It's about an hour subway ride each way, but was well worth the trouble.
March 9, 2013 - Brooklyn
I made a round trip from Midtown to Roosevelt Island, from there to 5Pointz and the Pulaski Bridge, on to Dumbo and then across the Brooklyn Bridge on foot back into lower Manhattan. It was a great day with lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. Here are the first shots taken on the tram from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island.
Next stop: 5Pointz in Brooklyn. It is an industrial compound that has gradually been covered by graffiti. Located across the street from PS1, the contemporary art wing of MOMA, it certainly fits in well. There are quite a few shots below, but I felt that they are so diverse that it's not going to be boring.
From 5Pointz, I walked over the Pulaski bridge and then headed for downtown Brooklyn in a cab. The area is called Dumbo. It features truly amazing views of the Manhattan skyline and some of the best Italian restaurants in the city. Time for lunch at Juliana's!
Given that I needed to walk off a ton of calories, I headed back into Manhattan on foot. Brooklyn Bridge is probably one of the best known sights of New York. With the clear day, it was just incredible.
For the last part of the day, I walked around the financial district in lower Manhattan. It was interesting to see the stark contrast between very old buildings and skyscrapers.
Last, as in January, here are a couple of shops in the area. These are, again, very different from what you see in the Village and SOHO or in Uptown.
March 8, 2013 - On the Street
Obviously, street life here in New York is vibrant around the clock. I took a short walk this afternoon and snapped a couple of random shots. Well, and one to document a snow storm this morning. In Texas we're gradually getting ready to swim outside again. Anyway, ...
March 5, 2013 - Night Walk
A few shots from Midtown and the Flatiron district at night ...
March 4, 2013 - Back in New York
I flew in this morning and had an unexpectedly long wait at the airport before getting into the city. With appointments and calls throughout the afternoon, there wasn't enough time to commute to the office. This calamity turned out alright in that I was able to take a quick walk over lunch. Lots of vertical views ...
March 3, 2013 - Half-Priced Books
As the name suggests, HPB is a chain of low-cost book stores that started here in Dallas at the height of the Internet boom. They have been hugely successful, which is very nice to see. We usually get our fix once or twice a month, which is a fun experience. Naturally, Arno and Margo both love the hunt for new stuff.
March 2, 2013 - Arno's Soccer Game
Arno surprised us with a stunning performance at his soccer game today. He had always taken to sports and specifically anything that requires precise hand or foot and eye coordination. But this time around he was all over the place exhausting himself to chase goals, the ball or opponents. We are very happy to see this development in him.
March 1, 2013 - A Couple of Shots
A few shots with daring blanket acrobatics and one superhero. Said superhero actually did not want to eat dinner tonight since superheros are never really hungry. At least you never see them munch on, say fries and a burger. That mindset changed quickly once Meredith rolled out ice cream.
February 28, 2013 - Dinner
The title says it all ... I have experimented with a green filter on my lens, which really makes the images sharp as can be.
February 24, 2013 - Home
Our activities for the day basically revoved around cooking and eating. We did get a visit from several superheros throughout the afternoon, which was very entertaining.
February 23, 2013 - And Again ...
So this new park in downtown is really pretty cool for kids! However, going again and again and again ... will hopefully exhaust everyone at some point. This time Margo and I made the excursion since Arno was invited to a birthday party. I took a wide-angle lens instead of my usual staples, which produced some interesting results.
February 18, 2013 - President's Day
We had the day off today so that Arno and I could go for an ice cream and the park.
February 16. 2013 - Downtown
We gave Meredith the day off today and drove to downtown where we created a couple of art works at the DMA and then played in the new park. Afterwards we visited with Connie and Royd.
February 10, 2013 - In the Park
Just a couple of shots from the park ...
February 3, 2013 - In-N-Out Burger
We went to In-N-Out Burger today, which is a famed Californian fast-food chain. They just sell three products: burgers, fries and shakes, but do those extremely well. When they first opened stores in Dallas last year, they were so popular that you could run into a line twice around the building at lunch time. It is certainly a great marketing concept and people love the simplicity. Anyway, we played a couple of "Sorry" games afterwards for which Margo is undoubtedly the champion in our family. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she is the Bobby Fischer of Sorry.
February 2, 2013 - Photo Workshop
I attended a B&W photography workshop in Dallas today. We had an opportunity to get out and shoot for about an hour and a half, which was great fun. These images were taken in downtown and mostly around a new park built on top of a highway.
January 30, 2013 - Another Day
I have been testing a new 50mm lens today that resolves images almost perfectly. It has virtually no drop toward the edges and thus delivers professional grade image quality. The issue is that superior quality comes at a price. Namely this one is extremely hard to focus, which I do manually. Anyway, a few images from today. As you can tell, everyone's real excited ...
January 28, 2013 - Perot Museum (2)
OK, so we had only seen two of four floors on our visit in December and we knew we had to go back. The amazing thing is that the museum has been sold out solid for the past couple of weeks. Well, it is not entirely surprising as these images illustrate. Meredith was able to secure a noon showing of "Sea Monsters", a 3-D feature on underwater dinosaurs. We used the occasion to get a new floor in as well. Arno and Margo loved every bit of it and promptly forgot that we had skipped lunch altogether.
January 21,2013 - St. Rita
Margo invited us to a daughter-parents lunch at her school today. Per her request we brought sushi, which greatly impressed her friends. They probably did not expect her to eat "raw stuff".
January 20, 2013 - The Flower Deweys
Margo started a club today: the Flower Deweys. It has exactly three members in addition to our fearless leader and she has very tight rules about what we can and cannot do. Today we had our first club meeting in the living room. After passing paper strips and pens around, Margo instructed us to write down types of cookies that we are going to sell for the club. What she did not share with us, though, is how she intends to use the proceeds. Details ... Meanwhile, it turned out that Arno is quite a bohemian. He played guitar, smoked (pen) cigars and drank espresso. I wonder where he picked all those habits up!
January 13, 2013 - Downtown
After exploring the North, it was a given that I should venture South today. I started out on the High Line, which is an urbanized old railroad track. The project is privately funded and a very unique sight. With its "modern" architecture, I couldn't help but think about how this place will be perceived in a hundred years and whether people will have a similar "how classy" reaction that we have to 1920s Art Deco today.
Covering the entire High Line brought me directly into the Greenwich Village and SOHO. From there I crossed over to Chinatown and then Little Italy, walking up to the Flatiron District to close the loop. What struck me most was how different these parts of the city are. If you come from here, you wouldn't believe that the North is actually part of the same city.
Last, here are a couple of shops again. These are quite a bit more eclectic than the ones in uptown ...
January 12, 2013 - Upper East Side
What to do on a Saturday in New York? I decided to head North towards the Upper East Side while catching a number of museums and a cigar store on the way. My route zig-zagged between Madion and 5th Avenue for a while and then landed me on 86th at the Neue Gallerie and its Fin de Siecle Cafe Sabarsky.
My first stop was Pierpont Morgan's house on Madison Ave. I have to confess that his 1906 library already made my day. The images below attest to the splendor of the place. Except for the last image, which shows Morgan's former dining room, all shots were taken in his library and private office. Well, the second to last image shows the ceiling in his secretary's office. Now that's a proper work environment!
My first stop was Pierpont Morgan's house on Madison Ave. I have to confess that his 1906 library already made my day. The images below attest to the splendor of the place. Except for the last image, which shows Morgan's former dining room, all shots were taken in his library and private office. Well, the second to last image shows the ceiling in his secretary's office. Now that's a proper work environment!
One of the things that stands out everywhere in the city are amazing shops. Here are a couple of interesting ones.
Next stop: Museum of Modern Art! Unarguably hosting one of the finest art collections in the world, the MoMA is a conplete madhouse on weekends. Not sure how many people were there, but several hundred for sure. It was worth it though. After all, my favorite sculpture - Rodin's Balzac - stands in front of the courtyard. Also, the design collection is simply second to none. They have Breuer's original Wassily!
On to a couple of street shots! Due to overcast skies today all of them look rather flat. There wasn't a shadow in sight. Needless to say, the images do not really engage the eye as much as they would on a day with nice clouds. I had a blast walking though.
Towards the end of my day I took a few shots in and around Central Park. The sun was just setting as I passed through the area. I had gotten up 89th Street on foot and by cab and decided to walk back all the way. It was quite an experience.
Last, a few odds-and-ends in black-and-white taken throughout the day ...
January 10, 2013 - Times Square
I went out for a second night shoot in the city, which, given that I work during the day, was my only option anyway. Times Square is only five minutes away and thus was an easy choice. What surprised me most was that there was pretty much the same light that you find during the day. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
January 7, 2013 - Empire State
Given that the Empire State Building is just a stone's throw away, it was natural to grab the camera for a quick walk. The whole building is one big tourist trap, but once you're up on top it is just fantastic. I still vividly remember the views from the World Trade Center years ago, which were similarly spectacular.
January 1, 2013 - New Year's Day
We tend to always land in downtown around the first of the year and today wasn't any different. After lunch at Houston's (another tradition) we went to the Summer horses and then took a tour of Meredith's new office. The wierd part is that Meredith and I both changed jobs in December and we now both work in an I.M. Pei building. Given that there really aren't that many large office structures from the grand-master of modernism around, that is a pretty interesting coincident.
Here are a couple of "portraits" on film ...
