We'll take a trip up to the moon
For that is the place for a lark
So meet me down at Luna, Lena
Down at Luna Park

"The Teaser", Coney Island in Luna Park (LOC)

I have so many old things floating around my casa, it's ridiculous. Blame it on the sheer pleasure I derive from trolling eBay and browsing antique shops for fascinating relics from the past. I also have a number of older relatives who have passed some of their keepsakes on to me.

I have my Grandmother's dining room furniture (purchased sometime in the 1930s or 1940s if my memory serves), her silver service, and eight place settings plus a few serving pieces of Lenox china (the discontinued "Rutledge" pattern) that once belonged to my late great-Aunt Doris. I have a Spanish-made chandelier that's at least 50 or 60 years old, not to mention a pair of wall sconces shaped like seahorses that are probably just as old.

But when I think about it, the oldest thing in my possession is a set of three glitter postcards from Coney Island that date from the turn of the 20th century, when Dreamland, Luna Park, and Steeplechase were all in their heyday. From the research I've done, the postcards were produced around 1906 by the Illustrated Postal Card company of New York. One of them depicts the Helter Skelter ride at Luna, another shows a view of the Dreamland tower, and the third is an illustration of the Japanese Cafe at Dreamland. You can still make out the glitter on all three of them.

I had them framed together (along with a fourth postcard -- also of Coney Island -- that is about 40 years newer) and they make a nice little piece of art to hang on my wall. Given the good-quality, archival materials that were used to frame 'em, I expect they'll hang around for another hundred years. We should all be so lucky.

I don't fancy myself a photographer, although the medium has always interested me. My ex-husband had to take a photography class when he was an undergrad, and in addition to being his subject now and then, I would observe him sometimes as he fiddled around with aperture settings and shutter speeds on the ancient, ever-so-slightly jacked-up SLR he snagged on eBay in order to have something to use in class.

My photography experience consists mainly of various film cameras used in my younger years (who remembers the Le Clic? I had one... pretty sure it was like this one. My parents insisted on 35mm film, even though I thought the ones that used disc film were much cooler.) I don't think I got a digital camera of my own until about four or five years ago. I was traveling a lot for work and thought it would be cool to have something small that I could use to take photos of some of the interesting places I visited. Enter the Canon PowerShot, which was my faithful travel companion for two years of frequent flier miles and hotel points. It was the PowerShot that snapped this picture of the Coney Island boardwalk in the snow. I took it in February of 2008 while unexpectedly stuck in New York for the weekend.

There are no words to describe the quiet at Coney Island that day. There were a few people around, sure (as you can see in the photo) but the stillness was striking, particularly when you consider that for four or five months out of the year, CI is crowded, hot, and noisy. On this day, it was cold, deserted, and absolutely gorgeous.

I'm strictly an amateur when it comes to taking pictures, but I do love the way this one turned out.

Hemant Karkare

2010 was....interesting, to put it mildly. I experienced some moments of unmitigated joy as well as some crushing, devastating lows. Looking back, I think the single most important thing I accomplished in 2010 was just tapping into my inner strength and finding the courage to face every single day as it came, regardless of how hopeless circumstances may have seemed in any given moment. I spent a lot of time in self-reflection (some might call it navel-gazing) and came to treasure my independence and stand on my own two feet. I learned to trust my instincts and follow my heart, and the end result is that I'm ending 2010 in a much happier place than I began it.

That being said, 2011 cannot come soon enough!