Are Buttons, Bells and Buzzers a Vanishing Breed? (Mission District, San Francisco)

Some day everything will be activated by our irises. But until then, I plan to enjoy the beauty and tactile satisfaction of doorbells and buzzers.

The New York Skyline Keeps Changing (Midtown Manhattan)

I had a chance to visit the roof of my office building and was reminded that nearby the construction of skyscrapers in Hudson Yards continues apace. Buildings--especially large ones--always seem so permanent, and yet the massive project, which is taking place over 28 acres in Manhattan, reminds me that buildings come and go. If people are so good at creating cities that reach the sky, why can't we solve world hunger, end poverty, bring everlasting peace? Is it really a defect in human nature or is it just misdirected resources--i.e., if the $20 billion being invested in the Hudson Yards were spent on public health we might be able to, say, end malaria. 

For Short Time Only: A New View (Garment District, Manhattan)

The streets in Manhattan are often compared to canyons, with buildings substituting for mountains. But buildings are not mountains. For one thing, new ones come and go every 50 to 100 years. And when a building is razed, a new vista opens up. Light pours in. Life can be viewed from new angles.

Take, for example, 38th Street between 9th and 8th avenues. In one of those once-in-several-decades moments, a new view has been born, allowing strollers on 38th a little more breathing room, a little more sky and light, and a new perspective on 39th street, a block away.

Old Downtown (Okmulgee, Oklahoma)

No Smoking ... or whatever (Garment District, Manhattan)

Not that long ago, the idea of outdoor "no smoking" zones seemed silly. But when many cities (including New York) banned indoor smoking, smokers began clustering at building entrances, generating tobacco clouds and butt piles. In other words, the indoor bans only moved the problem of second-hand smoke outside. The solution outside many buildings has been to post no smoking signs, like the one above. And while it seems to have forced many smokers to find another perch, or least get a little more exercise before enjoying a puff, the signs clearly don't always work.

Gold Medal Flour (Minneapolis)

The view during intermission from the Guthrie Theater's cantilevered bridge.

But This Sign, Get Free Building (Grinnell, Iowa)

Dairy Queen's cookie-cutter cheeriness seems, on the surface, incongruous with the desolation of the vacant interior, empty lot and cracked sidewalk. But then maybe not. At least the humorous appeal for a buyer reminded me that franchises aren't the products of just big corporations but individual people.

The Little Building That Could (38th Street, Manhattan)

I'm amazed whenever I see a small building nestled among much larger ones, especially in Manhattan, where real estate is so expensive. Has someone deliberately decided to forgo the millions of dollars they would make by developing or selling it? Or have the owners forgotten they own it? Or does someone love this building, or this corner of Manhattan, so much that they want to keep this little piece of littleness just as it is? Then again, the scaffolding and boarded-up windows suggest that maybe the building isn't long for this world anyway...

Sunset on Hamilton Hamilton Place (view from 141st St., Manhattan)

The World Looks Smaller from Here (Overlooking the Hudson River)

Some friends just moved into a new apartment building with a roof deck that offers views of ... everything.

New Bricks for an Old Building (Manhattan)

Anyone who's visited New York City has seen building after building under veils of scaffolding and netting. My building was one of those buildings this past summer as workers re-pointed brick, removed asbestos from the roof and labored to make the fixes needed to keep the 100-plus-year-old structure standing for, hopefully, a wee bit more. Even though most of the scaffolding came down a month ago, workers are still keeping busy, as I couldn't help but notice this morning out our window.

Someone's Got to Do It, Harold Square

Getting ready for the holidays at Macy's.

I Was Robbed in Dallas, TX

While I was filming a video in a courtroom in this very building, someone (a defendant presumably) walked off with my backpack, stole my cash, iPod, sunglasses and CAMERA and dumped the ransacked bag outside the building. 

Signs of Dallas: Old & New

A cluster of signs across the street from the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center foretells the coming election while painted ads on the side of a building a block from where Kennedy was assassinated made me wonder if they signs were there in 1963, and if they were among the last things Kennedy saw before he was shot.

Dead Mayors' Club, Dallas, TX

Working on a video in Dallas, I had a chance to interview Council Member Delia Jasso (being miked by Niki). That she's a woman is hardly remarkable--until you see the photos in a City Hall corridor of the OWM (old white men) who once served as Dallas' mayors. It wasn't until Adlene Harrison in 1976 that the city had a female mayor. Bottom right is just a sampling of their pale, dry faces. I found the dude at bottom left so intriguing--the visual embodiment of old-school politician--that I thought he deserved a separate image.

Dust Mote, Size L, Garment District

As we waited for a Bolt Bus to take us to Boston, sunlight began to creep around the edge of a building at 34th Street and 8th Avenue, lighting up a cloud of particles. What is this stuff? 

If Buildings Could Talk, 23rd to 33rd Streets, Manhattan

The shadows in Herald Square (above) tell a story of things you can't see from the street. And Flatiron Building (below) tells a story of how much care was once put into even the smallest details of New York skyscrapers.

Garment District, Manhattan

Gray's Papaya at 37th & 8th.

Making salad at Dean & Deluca in the New York Times Building.

Cool old roof at 38th & 8th.

Columbus Circle, Manhattan

Workers from Whole Foods gave away gift cards to passersby who correctly guessed the value of the five items (instant noodles, vitamin water, apple sauce & nut bar) on the tray. I guessed $5.25. The correct answer was $5, so no gift card for me.

Chelsea, Manhattan

Growing old vs. growing old gracefully.