Happy 5th Birthday!

Wow, we are growing up so quickly! On August 29th, we celebrate the 5th birthday of our little blog bklynbiblio! It really is amazing how far we have come and how much has happened over the past 5 years. We are now at 427 posts. Our top 5 tags haven't changed since last year, although the order has: "New York" (107) and "19th-century art" (68) are still the top tags, but "photography" (64) has moved up, with "England" and "gay" still up there as well. My thanks as always to all my readers for your continuous support these past 5 years.

Frisco-bound

With everything the past few months a big whirlwind for me, between a new job and a new apartment, I haven't had time to blog too much. I'm sure that will change soon, however, as I'm off on another great adventure: San Francisco! You may recall I was last in California (Los Angeles specifically) in February 2012, and about this time of the year I've been known to run off to Provincetown. But this year my friends and I decided to traverse to the West coast. It will be my first time in San Francisco, so I'm thrilled to be going, and we do have plans to go to Sonoma one night and partake of wine tasting opportunities. Hopefully I will recap highlights from the trip when I return. I wonder though...will I leave my heart in San Francisco? Tony Bennett did so, and he sang that song on Judy Garland's variety show back in the 1960s. Here's the delightful video of that crooner, or you can see it on YouTube by clicking here.

Movin' on Up!

The picture you see here is the front facade of the building in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, where I've lived for the past 8 years. It amazes me to realize that I moved here in August 2005 and how fast the time has flown by. My entire doctoral education took place on the 2nd floor of this building, as did a number of parties with good friends, and stayovers with family and friends who got a taste of Brooklyn on their visits. This is actually one of the longest residences I've ever had too. But one must move on. Or as I've been envisioning it, I'm "movin' on up!" Yes, readers, I'm moving into Manhattan. I'm moving into a studio apartment on the Upper West Side, which will make my commute to work faster. I will be able to enjoy the benefits of being near Riverside Park and Central Park as well. It's going to be a big change for me, but I'm looking forward to it. But what shall we do with bklynbiblio? The premise of this blog name was because I lived in Brooklyn. Do I change it because I'm moving out of Brooklyn? I've thought a lot about this, and I've decided the answer is NO. I've become rather proud of my blogging sobriquet, and rather than suggest by its name that I'm a current Brooklyn resident, my blog name will reflect where it was born and christened. So, although I bid adieu to 8 years of Brooklyn residency--to the BQE, to the Met grocery store, to Bocca Lupo's amazing food, and my local laundrymat and dry cleaner/seamstress (that poor Chinese woman will be devastated!)--I also say hello to Manhattan...I'm movin' on up! And to commemorate this great moment, I present to you George and Louise Jefferson, who once upon time found themselves "movin' on up" to the East Side (okay, I'm going to the West Side, but you get the idea). If you can't see the video, click here.