Top Five Museums in NYC to Escape from COVID

Tired of sheltering and dealing with the cold weather? We are all yearning when we can begin to do day trips, weekend gateways and make plans to new travel destinations. A chance to breathe and enjoy the air of a new destination, a welcoming change to our immediate surroundings. Spring can not arrive soon enough, as many of us are dealing with another dose of snowy, freezing weather. Once the temperature climbs to 40 degrees and hopefully vaccinated, I plan to get away for day trips to New York

Sophia Loren's New Movie .... Reclaiming the Meaning of Love

A Film Review: Sophia at 86 is just Marvelous I recently came across an interview of Sophia Loren and her son Edoardo Ponti, a filmmaker much like his father and had recently cast his mom in a film that piqued my curiosity. During the interview at the age of 86, Sophia was both enchanting and captivating. At her age, she still evoked a presence of confidence and sensuousness that immediately reminded you of her films as a young starlet. No doubt in my mind that I had to see this movie featured

Planning Trips During and After COVID Vaccinations

By now, many of us, especially those living in the north, are running out of steam being cooped up during the cold winter months, sheltering in place with new mask mandates while longing to be on some faraway exotic beach. The pandemic continues to rage on and is now mutating, becoming more contagious. I for one, am being cautious while earnestly plotting how to escape from the daily boredom of working at home and not being able to socialize or be outdoors. As the population that chooses to be

The Allure of Escapism is Not Lost on Netflix’s Bridgerton

Over 80 million households have watched Netflix’s Bridgerton since December when it first aired. The acclaimed Shonda Rhimes has proven that with a limitless budget and creative license she can deliver lavish storytelling that is both provocative and scintillating. As someone who has always loved period pieces, Bridgerton is a weird combination of Jane Austen, Downtown Abby, and Dynasty. So much elegance, opulence, backstabbing, gossiping, and let us not forget love-love-love. Ladies and gents

A World Without Elephants...and We Only have Ourselves to Blame

I recently came across a quote that both horrified and saddened me. The quote was by Sir David Attenborough, a naturalist and well-known BBC broadcaster and environmentalist, stating the following “ The question is are we happy to suppose that our children may never see an elephant except in a picture book?” Pretty devastating when you think of how much destruction we as human beings continue to extract on this planet. Years ago, I was able to tour an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, where I eas

Spotlight Artists Series 3#: How Urban Artists are Thriving and Surviving the Pandemic ... Artist Ricardo Roig, Hoboken NJ

As I continue to spotlight urban artists in understanding how they are surviving or thriving during this pandemic, I was encouraged by a colleague to meet Ricardo Roig. I was intrigued by Ricardo’s imaginative artistry and that he lives and works in Hoboken, NJ. Hoboken is a waterfront city, precisely one square mile facing the New York City skyline. It was once a poor and working-class, multi-racial city with a significantly large Latino community, no longer the case. In the 1970s, this city be

Seaplanes, Rising Sea Levels and a Booming Real Estate Market

During my last trip to Miami before the recent peaks in COVID cases, I took a flight on a seaplane with a couple of friends to explore the wonders of Miami’s spectacular coastline. Emerald waters with sandy beaches and luxury high rises side by side offers the most captivating panorama landscape that could fill your eyes. The wow factor of taking off from the water into the sky where you can still smell the ocean as you are climbing up towards the clouds is indescribable. My memories and photos

Exploring One's Own Backyard during COVID.... Finger Lakes in the Fall

The October foliage is a wonderful time of the year to get out and explore the beauty of this annual splendor, thanks to a bit of chill in the air and a little something called chlorophyll (remember earth science class). The Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York offers both the opportunity to enjoy the foliage, its famous wineries and harvest. With the October holiday weekend upon us, both my sister, Carmen and I reserved a small log cabin in a woodland area near the city of Ithaca, about 25 -

Indulging in Masterclass

With time on my hands during this COVID 19 crisis and wanting to be as productive as possible, I convinced my sister to split the purchase of an all-access annual MasterClass membership priced at $180.00. The best online shopping to date and believe me there has been way too much of that lately. To my surprise, MasterClass is a compelling and alluring platform to learn everything from gardening to films, writing, music, politics, science, and even magic from some of the top experts, influencers

The Cardboard Placard: An Evolved Art Form For Protesting

After ten days of witnessing a massive global reaction to George Floyd’s killing and realizing that the pandemic is no longer dominating the headlines, I wanted to experience or partake in some small and safe way in this extraordinary call for action. On a sunny Sunday morning, I checked the local New York news to see what was happening in the city that I may want to photograph. There was to be a Meditation Protest at the Brooklyn’s Fort Green Park at 10 am that was both interesting and safe. Ac