Year End!

My best of list for 2007 and a reflection on the past year of good and bad (mostly bad).

Top Albums
This list is in no particular order because I don't feel qualified to rank anything. I don't listen to nearly enough music to have a true top 5. Look in the newest issue of The L Magazine for that (I only agree with most of that list).

Bishop Allen- The Broken String My best "new" band discovery this year. This album is amazing.
Arcade Fire- Neon Bible Is it better than Funeral? I can't decide, but I think I like Funeral more overall.
Feist- The Reminder This album was really good and still is but I kinda overplayed it and can't listen to it that much anymore.

Hmm, this is it for anything I can remember off the top of my head. That's sad... I'd put Vampire Weekend on the list, but their album isn't technically coming out until next year. I really just listen to whatever Mike puts on at work or writes about now (Vampire Weekend and Bishop Allen, lolz). There were a lot of 'meh' albums this year for me though. Namely, Challengers (The New Pornographers). It sounded too much like their last few albums. Very indistinguishable. I also don't get all the hype with Boxer (The National). I really can't stand the guys voice, mainly because his voice reminds me too much of a certain friend's ex-boyfriend who is in a band. The new Modest Mouse album was also very meh, I listened to it maybe 3 times and forgot all about it. Cassadaga (Bright Eyes) had a few standout songs (mainly Classic Cars) but other than that, it all sounded like a mash-up of his 2004 efforts A Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake It's Morning but not in a good way.

Some huge disappointments though. Mainly Under the Black Light (Rilo Kiley). So much I hate about this album that I can't even talk about it. American Gangster (Jay-Z) I couldn't really get into either.

I think I've seen like 4 movies total this year in the theater so I'm not even going to bother talking about them. I can't even remember what the last movie I saw in theaters was. If you ask me, the act of going to see movie is a huge waste of money. $12 for 1.5-2 hours of entertainment? Fuck that. I didn't even pay that to go see The Darjeeling Limited. I did see Knocked Up through other means...but it was kind of disappointing. I don't know what all the hype about that was. It wasn't really that funny. Superbad, on the other hand, was decent.

Games
What a great year to be a gamer. Right behind 1998. There were literally so many good games this fall that I didn't know how to play it all- and my wallet wasn't too happy about it either. Started with Bioshock (Xbox 360) in August. What an amazing experience. It's about a man named Andrew Ryan (Ayn Rand, GET IT?) who builds a city underwater called Rapture with no rules where man can further science and art. Of course shit goes terribly wrong because people are conducting unethical experiments and there's a crazy (or brillaint) artist who plasters humans and makes statues of out them.

Of course you all know about Rock Band (Xbox 360)because I've been talking about it non-stop. I was going crazy the 2 days leading up to the release of that one. It was worth it. That game is so much fun and you can learn how to play drums with it! I had a few people over a couple of times to play it and everyone loves it. Jackie can't believe how much she loves to sing and Justine is a pretty good bassist. I don't know what it is about bass and girls. Kevon's girlfriend Julie really got into bass too.

I couldn't help but smile every time I played Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Wii). It just brings me back to childhood nostalgia and it's so innovative it's mind-blowing. It's colorful, Mario is jumping around yelling "woo-hoo!" and being all dainty. It's great.

-----------

Personally, it's been a decent year, I guess. Time and distance sure took it's toll too (out of sight, out of mind) or another way to look at it is that I'm finally free now. I'm kind of sad and happy about that at the same time. I really wish there were certain people that were close by that I could see more, but everyone has to follow their own path.

I was lucky enough to be hired by a magazine that I enjoy working at greatly. Left my previous job and haven't looked back (literally). I can now proudly tell people what I do when they ask and I think that's a lot more than a few people can say at this point in my life.

I guess that's it. Aside from getting a new job, nothing notable really happened for me in 2007.

Mo Money, Mo STUFF

I spent way too much money in the month of November. I just added up the amount I spent, sans necessities and it is not pretty. I've more or less spent all of my income of November in November.

This whole keeping a spending log thing is scary. Especially since I decided to start it at the beginning of the most costly 2 months of the year for me.

Finally.

It's December. Since I don't go to school anymore and don't mark the passage of time with it, I use release dates of various things now (videogames, movies, new music, ipods etc.). And for all the great things that came out in November to seemingly make the month go by faster, it has actually felt like one of the longest months ever - the final 2 day stretch for Rock Band was brutal.

I really, really hate the month of November. Seems like for the past 3 Novembers now, some bullshit is happening between me and someone I care about. This year it wasn't as much as an instant punch in my chest as the previous two but I'm a lot more disappointed in what is going on right now.

It all comes down to something called loyalty - something not a lot of people I roll with have apparently. I've come to terms that people change and you just have to accept it but it still hurts when you are being treated like a second-rate friend reduced to lunch meetings because you have more important people to hang out with at night. Or not hanging out at all now. And being lied to in the face. Blatantly.

Oh say, say,say, oh say, say, say

After Thanksgiving dinner, my sister and I played Rock Band for a bit. She has absolutely no rhythm (I don't either, but I'm getting better at it). I started her out singing because that seemed to be the easiest- you don't have to follow color-coated bars on the screen, just sing the words that come across. Except, she completely ignored the the genre of music known as 'rock' for all her life and doesn't know ANY of the songs in Rock Band. So she's literally saying the words in a monotonous voice. It was horrid, I wanted to throw my guitar (controller, lol) across the room at some points it sounded so bad.

She really wanted to try drums and she was ok at it on easy. At one points, I forget which song, she actually kept the beat for like 10 seconds, and we were playing in sync, and you can hear it. My mom, who was reading a chinese newspaper also heard it, and looked up at us and then carried on reading the newspaper. For those 10 seconds, we were a ROCK BAND.

I'm getting ok at the drums now. The base pedal is going to rip me a new one on harder songs though, but it's really fun and "I'm almost actually playing the song!". Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is REALLY FUN to play on drums because it has a really good drum line.

I wish I knew some people who were at least semi decent at music rhythm games (Ray excluded) because when it all comes together and all 4 people are playing in sync and on beat, it's magical.

Black Friday stuff

Oh man, I totally forgot about black Friday deals when I wrote the last post. I just saw all the leaked black Friday ads and there is almost nothing I want so that's good at least. A part of me feels really disappointed though. This year's black Friday sales are the most lacking in the last few years, easily. Well, I'm glad I won't have to get up at 5am and line up at some store in the cold to get shit this year.

I'll probably post photo's of all the crap I buy in the next two months to see how my spending habits play out. I'm picking up Mario tomorrow. Toys R Us is giving away $25 giftcards with purchase, which is INSANE. So the $25 will help towards the purchase of...another game from my last post.

So, So Broke

Oh god. This month:


$50 11/12


$60 11/13


$60 11/20


$40 11/20


$170 11/20

Total: $380

Ok, I'm obviously not going to buy all this crap this month. Fuck. I hope I don't. I'm only getting Rock Band (being overnighted to me from Amazon) and Super Mario Galaxy for sure. The rest can be holiday presents. *wink

Gaming hasn't been this exciting since 1998.

/geek

That Didn't Last Long. At All.

Well, my blackout didn't last long. This is stupid, it lasted for like 2 days. Didn't even get past the first weekend. I gotta stop being so nice.

But it still feels shitty to be dropped like Britney Spears drops babies =(

For the worst thing of all too. Fuck people with no loyalty.

Life

I haven't been updating this blog as much anymore. The reason there are less posts is because I'm trying to get away from righting about everyday life and shit I'm doing with people.

Some stuff from the last month (extremely abridged)

-There's always some movie/music video/photo shoot happening in DUMBO. Literally every day some shit is going on. A few weeks ago a movie was being shot. I was walking to the bar with some co-workers and telling them how I never spot celebrities even if they walk right by me. I was telling them about the time I saw Natalie Portman. As I'm telling them this, Antonio Bandaris walks by us and "brushes up against me" and I didn't notice. Morgan Freeman was also spotted. I didn't pay attention to either.

-Alex was in town a few weeks ago. We went to Union Pool.

-Colleen, Adam, and Cassidy was here last week. We went to Union Pool.

-Kevon and I was supposed to go to Union Pool last night but it was too chilly.

-Spotted: L Magazine in Gossip Girl, for a split second. The Fiction Issue!

-There's a blackout coming soon.

ROCK BAND!!

I was around 23rd and 6th this afternoon to take a photo of the window dispaly of Brian Oglesbee's photos from his new book Aquatique. The one of Colleen was in the window and she wanted me to take a photo of it for her. I think the one of Kate is also in the book.

After that I went to Best Buy across the street to browse and to my suprise, they had a Rock Band demo set up with the guitars, drums and mic. No one wanted to sing in Best Buy so it wasn't even touched. But OMG, I tried the drums and guitar a few times and you don't even know how excited I am for this game. Drumming is sooo much fun.

The songs you can play (not counting the unlockables)-
list courtesy of ign.com

1960s

• Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"

1970s

• Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin'"*
• The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
• Boston "Foreplay/Long Time"
• Mountain "Mississippi Queen" (cover)
• The Police "Next to You"
• David Bowie "Suffragette City"
• Black Sabbath "Paranoid" (cover)
• Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
• The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
• Deep Purple "Highway Star"
• KISS "Detroit Rock City"
• Molly Hatchet "Flirtin' With Disaster"
• The Outlaws "Green Grass & High Tides" (cover)
• Sweet "Ballroom Blitz" (cover)

1980s

• Rush "Tom Sawyer"*
• Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
• The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
• Faith No More "Epic"
• Pixies "Wave of Mutilation"
• R.E.M. "Orange Crush"
• Iron Maiden "Run to the Hills" (cover)

1990s

• Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
• Metallica "Enter Sandman"
• Nirvana "In Bloom"
• Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
• Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
• Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
• Radiohead "Creep"
• Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
• Hole "Celebrity Skin"
• Garbage "I Think I'm Paranoid"
• Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"

2000s

• The Hives "Main Offender"
• Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
• The Strokes "Reptilia"
• Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
• OK Go "Here It Goes Again"
• Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California"
• Coheed & Cambria "Welcome Home"
• Fallout Boy "Dead on Arrival"
• The Killers "When You Were Young"
• New Pornographers "Electric Version"

The New Pornographers!!!

Look for my Rock Band party on black friday invite soon. My Rock Band band is going to be called BLACK FOR ASSOCIATION. Oh yeah.

Pane alla olive

For the upcoming Food and Drink issue. We didn't end up using this version in the mag, but I still like it. Cover shot coming soon.

Falls Apart

Deterioration, digital print, 2006

I feel like I should continue making my prints. The time now is as relevant as it was back then. The vicious cycle of change never ends.

Sharon's Wedding

Went to a wedding on Saturday night for my mom's friend's daughter Sharon. It was in freaking Flushing. Why? I don't know. All their relatives and friends live in Brooklyn... The grass is greener.



Tea Ceremony! She's wearing a Chinese wedding dress. Same as Michelle did at hers. It's the same dress. My mom was the tea handler person. I don't know what you'd call that in English. She's the one standing in the middle holding the tray.



Games are often played at Chinese weddings. They are playing what is, essentially Marco Polo here. The bride and gloom has to find each other.



There are also a few other games, that they didn't play. They can get pretty elaborate. I remember when I was a young lad attending a wedding in Chinatown. The only game I can remember from that involved a blindfolded gloom trying to grab boiled eggs from the bride's leg. Or something.

They had an open bar. That was the first thing my sister and I did. I had 4 rum and cokes throughout the night, but didn't even get really that tipsy. I had 2 before we started to eat. I guess the food negated it.


Cheers.

A few more photos at my flickr.

New Photos of Sus

2 weeks ago I had a photo shoot with Sus in her apartment. After viewing some of these, I realize that sometimes it takes me a while to really "see" a photo and its merits. I had converted a few of these but didn't upload them till today. After the initial impression, I didn't look at them for a week, then I came back to them and was pleasantly surprised at what I had. Some photos are like wine, they get better with age. Or at least, you start to see things in certain photos that you don't see at first glance.





This one reminds me of a classical 1/3rd view (is that even the correct term?) portrait.


This one was a study for a long term project idea I have. We tried a few in this pose, but the lens distorts Sus's legs and make them look un-proportionally long. I gotta figure out how to fix that. That's what this study is for.

A few more photos at my flickr.

For the Bitches That Come Over for Haloz

I'm so getting pink controllers.

Weekend Update 10/1/07

-I was having coffee with Heather at Joe's this weekend and a (cute) girl walked in with a big-ass cassette tape player strapped to her right butt pocket. It was awesome. This was one of those things where the person is rocking it so nonchalantly that it works, not in a douchey trying too hard to be cool kind of way either.

-Went out in Dumbo this weekend. It was really strange because I'm there all the time now and not use to seeing it in such a perspective. 68 Jay was bustling! The DUMBO arts festival was going on too. Apparently there's an artist in a side room right next to my office...we went around looking for random art parties to crash, but we went a bit too late. Everything was kicked.

-Saw Andrew Eridos sitting outside of the place I get coffee from in the mornings at 1AM in the morning...

B and S

I can't believe I just watched Gossip Girl. I can't believe my co-workers are so into it either. Croissants!

Whole Bunch of Stuff

It's 1:18AM and I'm still at the L office closing the next issue. Sometimes there are blocks of time when I have nothing to do. I like to look around all the boxes full of stuff thats at the front of the office, which are all pretty much up for grabs.

We have a lot of useless crap relating to the crappy Dane Cook vehicle Good Luck Chuck right now from a recent promo. Size L t-shirts, a huge ball of lanyards, small posters, and an entire box of mostly unhanded out postcards which all have Good Luck Chuck stamped on it in some form.

We also have a box of Volkswagon branded lip blam left over from Summerscreen. That's going to be useful with the upcoming weather. That's everything that's interesting. We still have a bunch of L branded t-shirts, which are quality I might add.

People Still Lining Up for Wii

I was at Best Buy this morning to buy [something] and they had advertised that they would have Wiis in stock today so there was a line of about 30-50 people before the store opened up at 11AM.

I can't believe people are still lining up for one. It's really quite amazing on Nintendo's part on marketing, but not so amazing on keeping up with stock. It's going on 10 months and it's still not regularly in stock.

So Best Buy opened the store and everyone started running to the videogames section. I just shook my head and went around to the other guy at the videogame section. "What you looking for, a Wii?" he asked me. "No, I have one. Do you have the Halo Xb0x?". I went to the Xbox section, picked up the fricken 30 pound (slight exaggeration, but not by much) box and went to the cash register. Done.

Free Beer, Lots of it.

On Friday, the 2nd annual Brewfest took place at South Street Seaport. It's basically the biggest excuse to get drunk ever in NY. Pretty much most of the microbreweries around NY state come and set up tables for tasting.

Tickets are $45, but I got in for free. My job gives me perks like that. That is like the most amazing thing ever. Every time I think about it. Beer? Microbreweries? unlimited FREE? OMG.

They gave everyone a 4oz shot glass at the gate for you to use. After about an hour, you'd hear the occasional glass breaking on the floor, and everyone would go "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOh". When you're drunk with 5000 other people around that are also drunk on a seemingly unending supply of beer it's alllllllright.

I must have tried at least 25 different beers. That probably was only 30% of what was available. The festival was supposed to be from 5-11pm, but around 8pm, everyone started to run out of beer. By 9pm, it was pretty much kicked.

I went with Ray and we told Kevon to just come. It's in a public space, which is also pretty amazing in itself- that the city allowed this to happen on the pier. There are no barriers set up, anyone could just walk around the seaport. We could have easily just gotten beers with our glasses and poured them into a cup for someone, or just drink and get more. Brewfest is like the best thing ever the more I think about it.

Next year, we're telling everyone to come because it's so easy to get beer. I don't think they changed the glass design from last year either, so I'm just going to bring it back and let someone else use it. So great, so glorious!

MGS4

Holy Shit.

This Beer is Now $6 Dollars

I saw Feist at McCarren Park Pool last Wednesday and the first thing I did when I got inside was go buy a ticket for beer. Getting beer at the pool is a three step process. You have to show ID, get in the line to buy a ticket that you can redeem for a beer and then get in another line to actually get beer. They must have done a ton of research and analysis on what the most efficient way to sell beer was.

Anyway, at the Blond Redhead show, the beer (which is all Brooklyn btw) was 5 dollars. When we got up to the ticket line, I noticed a really haphazardly '6' in written over the '5'. Someone had taken a sharpie and turned the '5' into a '6'. You can imagine they only made the bottom half of the '5' into a circle to look like a '6'. They didn't even try that hard, as it was very obvious they had jacked the price up. I guess they felt like they could get away with it. What, being the end of summer and all. Right? Actually, I don't know why, all I know is that I didn't tip the them because of this.

I Take it Back

This is the best movie ever. The Shanghi Kid (apparently, that's what it's going to be called now). It's not even out yet. It's in post production. I have no clue when it's going to be in theaters.

Fuck You "Shanghi Kiss" Movie.

Ok, bad enough that it's Saturday night and all my plans have fallen through and I'm here in my house alone. So I grab a beer and now I'm watching this movie called Shanghi Kiss.

I'm three minutes into and and I had to pause and blog this immediately. This is what has happened so far at 3 minutes- the main character, a Chinese guy (who's just decent looking) gets on a public bus in LA. He is sitting across a hot blond girl,who's sketching him, and she says to him "don't be sad" (I guess he looked sad). He's taking the bus because his car has been towed. So she starts to sing him a song and then sits next to him. Then she asks him out to coffee and he's all "I don't think that's such a good idea" and she's like, "what if I'm the one?"

That's when I paused it. This shit is the most highly unpalatable scenario for a movie ever. Like this shit ever happens. I'm going to finish this movie and then either phrase it's highly GROUNDBREAKING STEREOTYPE BREAKING story or bitch about how stupid it was. Stayed tuned.

Urge

I need to be photographing.

Zunes? Anyone?

I bought a Microsoft Zune (super impulse buy) from woot.com because it was $150. It arrived yesterday and took me more time than I would have liked to set it up. The software is really buggy. Anyway, no one has these things. It's like a "why bother?" when you can get an Ipod. I don't know how I feel about it. If the next ipod blows my mind, I'll might just get that and give this to my sister.

Actually, Dapo had one for a while. I don't know why he bought it though, since he uses a Mac now and Zunes are not compatible with them. Anyway, he traded it to some guy for a ipod...

So I'm transfering trains this morning and sit on the R train. Low an behold, the woman sitting next to me is using a...Zune. Isn't that weird? I've never seen them before and the first day I have one, I sit next to someone on the train with one.

Maybe you don't notice things unless you have a reason to.

What is love?

Buying Crap

I was seriously considering buying a Macbook pro this holiday season, but now that I use macs at work I don't really need one. I still have some odd consumeristic urge to drop money on something [big] so now I'm looking at the next big thing- a HDTV! I'm determined to buy one but can't for the life of me figure out where I'd be able to set one up in my house. Can't really afford to buy one big enough for my living room. Besides, we have a perfectly good and huge SDTV there right now.

My room is kinda small and I really can't fit anything else in here, especially something as, well, flat as a 32" LCD. The only thing I can think of is clearing out my stereo (who uses those things anymore?) and cd/dvd rack and putting it on top of my drawer. That would be kind of weird too because my drawer is like 4 feet tall and I'd most likely be sitting on my bed (backwards) to watch the damn thing and I'd be looking up at it. Seems like a lot of trouble for something I really don't need or have space for.

Maybe I should just not buy one till I move out. Or maybe I'll buy it anyway and worry about logistics later! Consumerism at it's finest.

PS this whole HDTV thing spawned because I plan on getting an Xbox 360 soon- something else I have no need or time for. What the hell is wrong with me?

New Rilo Kiley = .....

I'm listening to the new Rilo Kiley cd Under the Blacklight right now, a full week early. I get perks like this working for the L now. And it's....different to say the least. I don't think I will like this album much, or maybe at all.

I've listened to it about 4 times through now and only 2-3 songs are even sticking out for me. The entire album sounds more mainstream (to be expected) with lot of repeating beats and background vocals. Most of are songs aren't deep (lyric-wise). She sings a bit in Spanish in one song for god's sake. No....just no...

I'll listen to it a few more times before declaring anything...

Need a Fake Name

I put one of my photographs in the newest issue of the L, but I don't want to use my real name to credit it. So I need a fake name. Any suggestions?

Dapo

So when I "went out" with that girl a few weeks ago, Dapo called me and started to ask me something about the Wii. i stupidly talked to him for like 2 minutes about it. Then when I got off the phone, I naturally asked "Do you play videogames?" which was one of the stupidest things I could have said to a girl I didn't really know.

That's probably where it started to fall apart. Fricken Dapo, always ruining ma game with the girls! And that's why I H8 U. I should really start learning how to not pick up my phone all the time.

Ceramics

I have all these pieces of ceramics around my house that I've traded with people from Alfred for and my mom has started to use them for random things. Yesterday I noticed a cup that was being used to hold pens and stuff. Tonight in the kitchen I saw a bowl that she filled with rocks and marbles.

I can't even remember whoso made those pieces anymore...at least their being used for something around the house. I actually need a new coffee mug. The one that Jenni Cooper gave me cracked after the use I put it through. Then it just broke.

McCarren Crazyness

Liz and I went to the Blond Redhead show yesterday at McCarren Park Pool. It's a free concert every Sunday with the "hottest up and coming" indie bands. This was a pretty big show, as Blond Redhead's new album has been pretty well received.

Pretty much half of the Williamsburg population (and their mom) was at this show it was so packed. The entrance to get in is at the main gate at the middle of the block. The line stretched from there to the left, made a U-turn back past the entrance and all the way to the right end of the block. Then it hugged the right side all the way almost to the end of the block. That's how long the line was. It took us about an hour on line to make it to the entrance.

There were so many hipsters (to be expected). It got pretty ridiculous standing there in line and watching all of them. Sometimes I wonder if they all still think they are "unique". Jackie says, "I think they do". If they do, they really are delusional.

When Liz and I got inside, we pretty much went straight to the beer line. The only beer to be consumed was (what else?) Brooklyn Brewery. I tried the Brooklyn Summer Ale and the Antwerp. I'm not really that into Lager anymore. Not on a hot summer day anyway, the taste is too distinct.

Blond Redhead was okay. Their music isn't something you can dance too so... After the show Liz caught a bus back to Astoria. Just then, Jackie texts me and says she's in the area. I sat down in McCarren and watched hipster kickball till she got there. The entire park was filled with "big-ass" foam cups, either in the trash or people sipping on them. They are all TO GO beers from the Turkey's Nest. They cost 3.50. "This is only 3.50! It's 32oz! That's almost 3 beers!", a hipster shouted out as we walked by me. No doubt, he just discovered the (awesomeness?) of Turkey's Nest. It's so funny because almost everyone in the park was sipping beer through straws in these big-ass foam cups. Awesome.

WillyB really is something else. It's sorta turning into Disneyland.

On My Creative State

If the [edit out]'s confuse you, it's self-explanatory why they are there. They obviously offended someone.

Today I was at Joe's for a bit and started to think about my photographic creative state. As most of you all know, I have been doing a portrait series for the past month and didn't know what my idea for them was. That has been on my mind a lot lately.

A few days ago, I talked with Jenny Link about that body of work and asked her opinion on it. We discussed it for a bit and I realized that she was the first person to give me feedback on it that wasn't empty. What I mean is, I got a lot of "great photos!" type comments on them, but nothing really helpful or meaningful until we started talking about them. I really miss that part about college.

That lead me today to the Barnes & Noble photography section, where I looked through books on photography theory. I'm at a point now where I need to be more critical about my body of work and where I want to take it. I want to be. They didn't really have any books on theory of portraiture; I probably have to look at academic journals or essays on that subject to really get some ideas on what a portrait can be and develop an idea for myself. So, I'm in a creative crisis right now, not that it's a bad thing. It's actually good for me because it is fueling my desire to get into a deeper meaning about photography and what it means.

Jenny said she liked my photos of the girls on the bed more than the ones on the beach. She says its more intimate and the photographer's presence is not felt as much as in the beach ones. The ones on the bed more closely speaks of the dialog and interaction between the subject and photographer for her. In the beach ones, she feels the photographer's presence a bit too much, ie she "sees" the photographer constructing the photo. She sees the depth of field, the composition, etc. and the background takes away from the subject. I understand what she means with the beach photos though. In a sense, they are half about the subject and half about the environment, I guess the idea there isn't as cohesive. It is true though, because I try to be at the beach at a certain time in certain light to "catch" it, so it does take away from the subject in a sense. Especially with the idea I have right now for beach shots, which I haven't been able to find time to do yet. They are becoming more and more about the environment in the beach shots. In a way, that series has started to place less emphesis on my subject and more on the environment.

I was disappointed with the beach the last time I shot there with Susannah because it wasn't the way I wanted it. The tides were not in my favor and I didn't get to shoot the photos I wanted in the water. I think I might head towards the direction of going over to people's houses and taking photographs of them in their personal spaces.

I am, however probably going to stop using close friends as subjects because it is becoming a huge lose-lose situation for me that is creating huge amounts of jealousy and tension. When I asked Jenny if she saw those photos she said, "You mean the ones of the Alamo girls?" which really just enunciated the entire thing perfectly.

[Someone got mad at me] because she thought I didn't want to take photos of her, which according to girl logic, [edit out]. Which of course, is NOT the case at all and is putting me in the position of having to justify who I choose and why, which I feel like I don't need to justify. She even asked "[edit out]?" like being a friend of mine on some level was a prerequisite of who I choose to photograph.

It is not a "who Adam thinks is pretty" thing, although it might seem as much. There are deeper conscious and unconscious reasons on who I choose to photograph so far, which I will not go into because that will just lead to huge arguments.

It's gotten to the point now where people are waiting/expecting me to want to photograph them or they get mad at me because I don't (and then they think I don't they they are pretty). Another person asked me if I thought [x] was prettier than them, which is so wrong on so many levels I can't even begin to de-construct it. I obviously can't say "no", and I wouldn't. I said "of course you are" and she doesn't believe me. Can't win. Don't want to deal with this, or let it get in the way of what I want to eventually do when I know what I want to do with this, so I am not using any more girls from that set. But I still reserve the right to, and if I do, I will not answer other people's answers of "why?".

To tell you the truth, so far I choose who I choose because at some point, an image of them in a certain way pops into my head and I wanted to capture that. That is the sole reason why I choose who I have so far. That's how the whole "white dress" thing started. I originally had also wanted a straw hat on them on the beach, but I haven't been able to find the one I saw in my head yet.

I have also been asked when photos of dudes are coming. I do have a person in mind to take photographs of, but I haven't been able to schedule anything with him yet.

Discussions with me on this post would be greatly appreciated.

I <3 The L

The production staff went out to lunch with me today to celebrate my new position. We went to a bar/grill called Superfine. It was pretty good. We pretty much stayed out and drank after that all afternoon and never went back to the office. Did I tell you how much I love my new job?

I was talking to Mike (music editor) about something at one point and said "you can see it when we get back to the office" and he replies, "if we ever get back to the office".

He then told me how when they had lunch for Edith (the assistant editor) a month ago, they never made it back to the office. They went from Superfine to 68 Jay St bar to Pedro's. I was like "oh shit!".

We stayed at Superfine for a while and played pool. Man, do I SUCK after a month and a half without playing. Jonny (editor in chief) killed everyone. Edith is okay at it. She plays semi regularly. But I was really ashamed at my performance, especially after I told them I had my own stick, which I only used once (thanks Paul). I told Jonny that we're having a rematch in a month. So I'm going to get my ass to the pool hall and practice, by myself if I have to- when I have free time.

After Superfine, we were walking back to the office and stopped at 68 Jay. Jonny sorta stopped for a sec and opened the door, so we went in. This place is one of the cheapest places to drink in the city. $2 Ying Yeling, $3 Stella and Brooklyn, $4 Guiness, $5 well drinks. At one point, we were talking about interns and the current one- Eli. We decided to call him down, so Mike called the office and told him to come. He told them we told him to come to an "important meeting".

A few people left a bit later, and a half and hour after that, Scott (publisher) and Nick (Assistant publisher) came! No doubt, they heard from the people who went back to the office about our where abouts. Scott bought everyone a round.

Before I knew it, it was 6pm. I had to leave to go meet up with Rosemary and Tina for drinks. We had drinks at Phoebes for a while. Jackie also came out. It was the longest drinking day I've had in a while. And I got paid for it!

Late, Very Late

Man, I choose a bad week to start at the L. We basically just closed the biggest issue of the year (Best of NY issue) and I didn't get home until like 4.45AM. That and Peter was having his "leaving NY" party at Union Pool. It was also Ming's birthday. Missed so much stuff last night.

It's actually pretty rare that we stay that late on closing nights. Cecilia said to expect to be out by 2AM most of the time. This time was different because it's a big issue, I'm new. The assistant editor Edith is new (her second issue). The film editor is semi-new, and the other 2 editors took a day off last week. So we were also behind a bit.

Sus.

How will Susannah fare against TEH NINA? Only time will tell.

The rest on Flickr.

+/-

I'm loving my new job. Yes, I can actually say I like going to work. The people are great. But there are some drawbacks, mainly me having to pay for food now.

Food is expensive! Ugg, this sucks. Today I burnt my upper mouth eating pizza. Not good pizza like Grimaldis either (they don't sell by the slice). But some very average Brooklyn slices from a joint across the street from Peas and Pickles.

That's all really, everything else is dandy!

Surprise! Nina Lands Me on Explore

After 746 photos uploaded on Flickr so far, I finally have one on Explore, and not very surprisingly, it's Nina! Explore measures a photo's "interestingness". Don't ask me how they calculate it, because I see a lot of close up of flowers on explore, and I hate that shit.

Click on the "explore" tab on Flickr to see other "interesting" photos. By the way, this photo of Nina is now my most "everythinged". Top viewed- 384. favorite- 9 people, most commented on, and most interesting.

There are some awesome photos to come, but go Nina!

Weekend Update 7/22/07

Went to Siren Music Festival at Coney Island yesterday with Liz. I didn't know most of the lineup this year so I wasn't really interested in staying to hear most of it. We did sit on the (nasty) beach drinking beer for a while. Wow Coney Island sand <<<< Cape Cod sand. Well, duh. Plus the water is nasty. Large clouds of sand in the waves and shit. Eww.

Then we went to Plum beach. And I realized that it was a bay, and there were no waves. And during low tide, the water is so shallow that you can walk out very far and still only be knee deep in water. Then I got really pissed that I forgot to bring my camera to photograph Liz and another person was photographic a girl a ways down from where we were.

So next time. Trust me, these photos are going to be awesome. I already have them all envisioned somewhat. I love this beach. Even though it's known to be a gay hook up spot after dark and some gay man from Ikea was tricked into going there and got robbed and hit by a car last year and died.

I'm also pretty much out of girls I know that I want to photograph, so if anyone knows any girls that wants to model, tell them to contact me. "Pretty" people only please. Yes I know it's shallow. Or guys, but I'm a lot more picky about who I want to photograph with guys.

Training Days

I went to the L today for 2 hours to get situated. Conrad went over the Daily section with me, which will be a large part of my job. I was a bit nervous before I got there but as we went over it, it wasn't so bad. There weren't anything I didn't know so...

You don't know how good it feels to be surrounded by creative types on a daily basis again! Just sitting there for two hours made me smile being around everyone. I can't wait to start.

Cape Cod Part 2

Modge's view outside of her studio building

After the beach on Orleans, we drove up to Wellfleet. Modge has a studio space there.



Of course Sara just had to go into the marsh.



Then we went to a beach in Wellfleet with dunes. This was actually near the end of the dunes. Modge made a wrong turn and we ended up here instead of the larger ones.

After that we went back to Modge's house for dinner with her parents. Modge's dad is a clammer so we had a TON of steamers, along with swordfish, corn and vegetables. They grew all of their vegetables in their yard. It was a very good dinner.

I wish we stayed a bit longer, but it wasn't meant to be. I can see myself here for a a week just exploring and really taking some good scenic photographs, but I had no time at all for that. I also would have liked to visit Provincetown (it looks a bit like Booty Bay in WoW!) but again, not enough time to drive up. I am so making Cape Cod a yearly visit. Thanks Modge!

Cape Cod

07.13.07 - 07.15.07
Cape Cod, MA



Went to Cape Cod this weekend with Colleen, Ashley and Sara to visit Erika. We hit the worst traffic ever on the drive up. What should have been a 5 1/2 hour-6 hour drive ended up being like 9 HOURS. We left my house at 11AM and didn't get there till 8PM. It was the worst, but didn't seem like that long because we were all having fun (I think). It didn't feel like 9 hours to me. I've definitely had worst rides going up to Alfred.



Modge made us pancakes on her piece of land (it's not really a fenced in yard per say...). Her house is actually behind us in the above shot. That barn thing you see in the back is where her brother is living and where she is moving into next month.

After breakfast we went to the beach in Orleans (the town she lives in). We went to the private beach where only residents of Orleans can go. VIP!



Of course we couldn't help but do anything but lay in the sand! Silly artists.


Sawah the Mermaid


Modge being...Modge



I can't actually swim, so yeah. That's me going to splash in the water.



Ashley and Sara did though.



The girls also decided to do handstands. Visit here to see it.

Part two: We go to visit Modge's studio in Wellfleet. Post to follow.

Das Beergarden

07.12.07
the Beer Garden!
Astoria, Queens

I hope Alex doesn't read that title, it's probably a total insult on his language

I love this place. When I think back to the summer of '07, it's going to be all Beer Garden.








SHAME on Ashley for not focusing properly!!!





Where are you, Heather??

OH LOOK who we ran into by accident!


Eric Pier. We also ran into that Chinese fellow that is at Alfred. I totally forgot his name but he's ceramics I think. He's teaching Foundation next semester. Two totally random Alfred encounters at the Beer Garden! Made my night.

Ashley!

The lighting turned out a lot better than I thought it would. After some post processing, these pics look great, if I do say so myself. Cloudy lighting is the best! Too bad it went away before I could take some more photos.

Nina!

The rest are on Flickr

Massive.

Massive update of photos coming up on Monday. I've been hosting 3 girls this entire week and haven't had time to do much editing, although I have been taking tons of photos. Going to Cape Cod this weekend to visit Modge.

Don't really have much expectations, except for seafood, and lots of it. Kind of thinking what else there is to do there besides lay on a beach. I guess I will find out.

See you Monday.

Then and Now

Look what I dug up!

Prom 2002:


Plum Beach 2007:


Not much change other than emo glasses and a few streak of highlights.

Jill

Jill at Plum Beach
Brooklyn












Gotta love that 50mm lens! Flickr for the rest.

This set almost makes me feel better about missing out on Coney Island a month ago. But that was different lighting and a different girl. A very important girl that I will probably never have the chance to photograph again.