Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 29, 2008

I was working on a video documentary today that will cover the installation of three public artworks in the County. Today we started with Alice Aycock who is an accomplished public artist from New York and has art all over the country as well as in museums. I got to interview her (I was off camera) and we will edit this all together for a piece that will air at an art exhibit in September 2009. I am working with a company named Image Alliance. I have worked with them before on other video projects.

This is a photo of the Field House at the Central Broward Regional Park. It was a beautiful South Florida day. They kind of day that you dream of in the middle of the summer. I even got to wear my leather jacket this morning.

The purpose of this park is Cricket. Yeah, I know, Cricket. It is apparently a really popular sport in this country. Who knew?



This is Alice Aycock having her hair and make up done by Connie Jennings. I have known Connie for about 18 years . . . or maybe more! She has seen my girls grow up from little babies!



This is a photo of the artwork entitled, Whirls and Swirls and a Vortex on Water, a sculpture of metal, steel, concrete and acrylic, measures approximately 34’ wide and 17’ tall and hovers slightly above water in a 30’ x 21’ elliptical-shaped pool.



And here is Tom testing out the lighting and sound to see if we could interview Alice in front of the artwork. It just didn't work out because it was really noisy. There were many news helicopters everywhere because Barack Obama was on his way to the BankAtlantic Center to do a rally that was live at the end of his 1/2 hour ad buy. I know some folks that attended it. So it didn't work out for us to be outside, plus Alice would have been squinting due to the sun in her eyes. So we opted for inside of the Field House and we will cut in with B roll.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 25, 2008

As I sit here enjoying the quiet of the Sunday morning, I have already had my cup of coffee and my bowl of cereal and read tons of email. Now I am starting to get photos and videos from Joel and Rachel.

The first photo is Rachel fishing on John and Kim's boat on the lake that is owned by Kim's family. It used to be a quarry and then it filled up with water and became a lake! The dogs belong to her family and everyone takes care of them.



This is Kim Newton. I am surprised that she let them take a photo. She is usually camera shy! But here she is piloting the boat!!




And the video below is of them going across the lake to where Kim's dad used to live and the dogs wanted to get off over there. Of course, Rachel forgot the worms so they had to go back to the house to get them. More to come later.



I guess they went back and got the worms!!!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 25, 2008

The barrage of photos from Joel and Rachel continued as they progressed on their Indiana adventure. This photo was taken after the Homecoming parade. Adina wanted to know if they were going up in the balloon, but that was a no! Fine with me, I prefer to have my family with their feet firmly planted on the ground.
























This photo is taken in front of the apartment that Joel lived in during college! We have so many great memories from this house. He lived there for about 2 1/2 years. He had a neighbor from Iran. His name was Adnon Miershuggi (not really sure if that is how it is spelled but that is how you say it. Adnon had two friends named, Sallah and Collette and the three of them were just like the sketch on SNL by Steve Martin "Those Wild and Crazy Guys!!" They dressed in long sleeved shirts and opened them up almost to their navels, they wore tight bell bottom pants with weird patterns on them and they hung out at "Bo Disco" and danced the Hustle on a nightly basis. There sure were interesting! The funniest thing was when the landlady found his stash of pot and dumped it on the living room floor and vacuumed it up. I thought Adnon's head was going to blow up like in Mars Attack!!


















I found a couple of photos from then! The first is of Joel in 1978 standing in the same spot.
























This is Adnon cleaning up after the landlady dumped and vacuumed his pot!!
























Later in the day Adina and I did a bit of house cleaning. I came across the pencil sharpener in Rachel's room. I decided to clean it out because it was making funny noises. Well, no wonder, there was probably ten years of pencil shavings in there. I dumped it out on the counter and took this photo and sent it to Rachel so she could see the mess! It was a lot, maybe you can't tell from this photo but the cup at the bottom was jammed full and it took a few hard shakes onto the counter before it would even come out!



And this photo was taken after we had dinner at Too Jays a typical Jewish deli (yes I had a nice bowl of matzo ball soup!). Next door is a store called "Precious Puppies." The puppies are kept in "cribs" instead of cages. This fella was sleeping when I was trying to take his photo. He popped open an eye but I couldn't help but laugh because he tongue was hanging out. We must have spent about an hour petting all the cute puppies. They can keep them though. This purebred cost $3,800! I really can't understand why people would spend that amount of money when there are thousands of puppies and kittens put to sleep at the Broward County Animal Care and Regulation each year. If you keep going to the shelter you are bound to find one that you can fall in love with and then they spay or neuter it for you so that it won't go out an repopulate the neighborhood if they get off the leash.

Okay, I do understand that if it is a business or your show your dogs at competitions, but most people don't. I would prefer to put that money toward my children's college education!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 24, 2008

So with Joel and Rachel gone and Friday being a Teacher's Planning day . . . I had to think of something to do with Adina. I let her sleep in as late as she wanted, and then Aunt Marilyn came over and picked her up. The two of them went shopping to Plato's (a really cool consignment shop for teens) and then they had their hair cut and blown dry. I absolutely LOVE this photo that Adina took of herself.

I am finding that instead of me taking photos lately, I am using my family's photos. Oh well, I will eventually get the bug to start snapping away again.



This photo was taken by Kim Newton, John's wife. John was the Alumni Director at ISU for more than 30 years. He just retired and will now run the school's foundation. However, he gave us quite a scare three weeks ago. I received a phone call on Yom Kippur from Kim to tell us that John had open heart surgery. Well have a look at him now, he looks great!

They were all dressed up and ready to go to the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony at the Hulman Center (yeah, named after Tony Hulman who was the big hoo ha of the Indy 500). Rachel and I went to the event last year. It is fun, because you get all dressed up, have cocktails and network with all the folks that you went to college with and then they feed you and you get to sit through the awards ceremony. The dinner is served on the floor of the center where all of the famous Larry Bird basketball games took place!!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 23, 2008

It has begun . . . Rachel's search for a college! Our lives are now changed forever and ever. She is growing up, fast!

But it is okay. I will be sad and I will probably shed a lot of tears but it is what we want for our children. To grow up and succeed in whatever it is that drives their passions.

Rachel and Joel left for Indiana on Thursday to go to Homecoming at Indiana State University, our alma mater. Rachel is interested in attending, but she is also interested in other schools.

This photo was taken by Joel's cell phone as they were walking on campus. The weather is a bit chillier than in South Florida . . . it was 54 degrees when he took this photo and it went down to the 30s at night! I don't think that part scares Rachel at all. I love the seasonal changes, but I can't tolerate the winters anymore. I guess my blood has thinned after almost 30 years in the south!

Rachel had interviews with the Statesman (school newspaper) director for an internship (paid!!) and finanical aide officer and the admissions officer. So I made sure that she had clothes that made her look professional. If you take a closer look at her jacket . . . that is my silk jacket that my mom bought me in the early 1980s!!! It still is in perfect shape (I hope it is returned to me in the same condition!).

Anyway, I am a proud mom at the moment and until August comes around, I am not crying yet!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 20, 2008

As the campaign is winding down the candidates are focusing on the key states where most of the undecideds live. Unfortunately Florida is a difficult state. We botched it for election in 2000 and now we have a new voting method . . . near and dear to our children's hearts because it is the old "bubble in" the oval with a pencil method. All of us that have taken Regents, SATs or FCAT tests will be very comfortable with this method and then we take our ballot and place it into a scanning machine that reads our #2 pencil marks. However the rest of the population may not be as familiar with this, especially our elderly population. We have a lot of state constitution amendments and charter amendments, not to mention circuit court judges to vote for and the sheriff and then our county commissioners and city commissioners. The ballot is going to take a long time.

So the candidates are out there stumping. So are their surrogates. I was lucky enough to be able to walk directly across the street from my office to Huizenga Plaza (where we actually have one of our public artworks!!) and stand in a crowd to listen to Hillary Clinton. I was one of those staunch supporters of the Clintons . . . both Bill and Hillary. I know there are many people that don't agree with me, but that is really okay. This is America where we are free to make our own decisions. I am sorry that she didn't win the Democratic nomination, but I applaud her for continuing in the fight to get a democrat in the White House.

I will be voting in the early voting days which started yesterday. My sample ballot is sitting right here on my desk at work so that when the line gets a little shorter (yesterday it was more than an hour wait to vote) I will be marching down there to cast my ballot.

These are two photos, one that I took and one that someone in my office took. I LOVE the one of Hillary with the book over her head because the heavens opened up and poured on us for about ten minutes, but then let up. Finally someone came out with an umbrella for her.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 17, 2008

Friday night was the grand opening of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and gala. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest film festival in the world! It last more than a month and there are so many films, gala events and celebrities to see.

We went the Miniaci Theatre at Nova Southeastern University. They showed the film, "Coyote." The film was about a very tough subject of human smuggling over the border from Mexico. It was done on a shoestring budget and the producers/directors and stars were there and spoke to us after the film. They always do a Q&A after each film. It gives the audience a chance to get to know more about the film industry.

Prior to the film they gave John Ratzenberger a lifetime achievement award. He was extremely humble and funny. He even posed for a photo. I only had the girl's cell phone but it worked just fine! If you don't remember him, he played Cliff Clavin on Cheers.
After the film we went over to the Signature Grand for the gala party. We were all duded up in cocktail attire. It was fun getting all dressed up. We had lots of fun chatting with all the people we knew. There was endless amounts of food but it was a cash bar . . . all proceeds went to the Film Festival so it was for a great cause. Joel and the girls were on the dance floor having a ball. This was reminiscent of the Miami Vice days when Joel and I were getting dressed up almost every night for gala after gala. I don't really miss it that much, but once in a while it is fun and to share it with the girls was absolutely priceless.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 11, 2008

Seniors get to paint their parking spot. It is the schools way of allowing the seniors to have a special honor. For four years they think about what they want to paint on the asphalt in order to be unique and special and stand out.

So we enlisted Jose's services (my graphic designer) to assist. These photos tell the entire story!

After we painted the spot, Jose taught Rachel's Journalism class all about Photoshop and In-Design. So we basically spent the entire day at high school and had a great time. By the way, Rachel's teacher is in one of these shots . . . can you find the teacher???

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 9, 2008

What a lovely stretch. Of course Grace happens to be stretched out on my kitchen table. Bad kitty. But a very cute moment so who can really be angry?

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 8, 2008

Out come the good plates, the new tablecloth and many leaves in the dining room table. This was the quiet before the guests arrived to eat lots of food on the eve of Yom Kippur. I always like to sit back and look at the table before anyone arrives. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom would set the table the night before the holiday so that we would get into the holiday feeling a little early.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - October 4, 2008

Saturday morning and it is time for cereal. Mmmmm . . . so many to choose from!

























But never mind about the cereal . . . Joel made us yummy pancakes. So nice to have a cook in the house!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - September 24, 2008

For the past 24 years my office, the Broward Cultural Division, has honored the most outstanding arts teacher with a very special awards ceremony and an $80,000 package of gifts ranging from a Tiffany apple to a scholarship at Nova Southeastern University.

I took this photo of my director, Mary Becht (Left) and the music teacher, Nicole Greggs the night of the ceremony. The festivities take place at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in the smaller theater which seats 600. Following the ceremony we have a reception with refreshments and music.

I love this event because arts teachers work tirelessly to infuse culture into our children's lives while they are attending public school and they do it with very few resources and they do it from their hearts. During the ceremony there are performances by the students and proclamations read and gifts given to the teachers.

And the minute we are finished with this event, we start working on next year's event so that it is equally if not better than the previous one.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - September 21, 2008

Ah, normalcy once again. The girls doing their homework at the dining room table was so calming to me. It made everything right again.



Later in th evening we celebrated Helen's birthday. I love photos by candlelight.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - September 20, 2008

Can you see the relief in my face? The hard part over, Rachel and I were on our way to the party when I snapped this photo. We had to run home to change our clothes because I forgot to grab them on the way out in the morning. We made it to the restaurant before most of the people.

Adina did a fantastic job. I was so very proud of her. She did the Haftorah flawlessly and effortlessly. When Adina was finished, I had to make a speech to her and when I was finished and looked up I was so surprised because everyone was teary eyed! I guess I did a good job.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - September 19, 2008

Our temple photos were taken last night. It was terribly hot in the sanctuary and we were all dressed up and I was sweating so badly. But as long as we don't look sweaty in the photos, I am okay with it. Then we went out to dinner to Anthony's Coal Fired Grill.

I was just like I wanted it to be . . . a loud family event with lots of laughter. Lenny and Helen and Robert Levy joined us. Jose also joined us since he is our photographer.

Today Adina and I spent the day preparing for the big event. I kept Adina home from school and we got to sleep late and then in the afternoon we went to get our hair and nails done. These photos show the transformation of Miss Adina! After the salon, we headed home to get dressed to go out to dinner and then off to Friday night services since Adina was going to help with the services.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - September 17, 2008

It was a peaceful morning. Fall is almost here and the days are a bit shorter. Not quite cooler yet, but the cool fronts can't be too far away now.



I took these shots only two minutes apart. Amazing what that short amount of time can do to an exposure.

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - September 14, 2008

We just can't resist taking photos of the cats, especially when they are doing something extra cute.

Newton was sitting on the windowsill behind the headboard of our bed. He was just barely peeking through so that he wouldn't miss anything while he was back there exploring and we caught him in the act!

Project 365 - Photo of the Day - September 13, 2008

Counting the days until the big event. Here are the girls working hard on the centerpieces for the tables, the "Chinese Pet Rocks" giveaway for the kids and the glitter and tie-dye covered guitar shaped candle holder for the candle lighting ceremony.

Thanks to Greta for helping us with the creation of these wonderful and artistic decorations!! No way could we ever have done this without her.