Like Fire Island After Labor Day ~OVER (Skinny Jeans)

I hate to say it, but skinny jeans are a mass market fad now, which means it's over. What was once a defining staple of the hipsters are now being sold at mid-range retailers such as the GAP and UNIQLO. I'm seeing everyone and their mom (literally) wearing them now. Ghetto girls, Madison Aveune soccer moms, bandwagon hoppers, etc.

I was with Colleen at UNIQLO the other day and this girl was trying them on and her mom's like, "They look good on you and they're super trendy right now".

That's when you know its done.

Colleen and Modge don't be offended by this. I love yous!

(this is part satire, so don't get all up in ma grill, yo)

thé ADORE

Today during lunch I went down to Union Square to give something to Liz and decided to go to Joe's to get an ice mocha. Every time I go, I pass by this little bakery place called thé ADORE and I never went in. They always have some cute Asian girls working. And I notice every time that I pass by it when it is mid afternoon, the have sign posted on the window that says "sold out of sandwiches".

Today I passed and thought "why not", so I went in and looked at their menu and bought a Turkey sandwich. I don't even like Turkey. The Asian (Japanese?) woman at the counter was sooo soft spoken (how stereotype) that I couldn't hear what she was asking me. I just kept nodding. This entire French bakery has Asian girls workin in it. Sooo odd.

After I paid $6 for the sandwich I went to Joe's. The barista I have a crush on was there but I couldn't muster the courage to introduce myself to her. She knows who I am, I go in often enough. I feel something goin on, but then again, it might all be in my head.

The sandwich was okay. It was certainly not "6 dollar" good. It was the cheapest of the sandwiches. They had some others at $6.50 and still more at $7. Next time I'll look more carefully at the menu, and maybe pick up a pastry, which Colleen says is "really good".

Girls in Sunglasses

Jackie's Dinner Party

Jackie's (moms) apartment
Upper East Side
3/24/07

Jackie finally had her dinner party. It was a great weekend to do so too, because Colleen, Erika, and Nina all came to NYC this weekend. We had a great time! Mad props to Jackie for hosting and the good food!










































FLICKR FOR THE REST.

ChikaLicious

I took Colleen and Modge to ChikaLicious last night. The stuff we got was 10 times better than when Ashley and I went two weeks ago (and that was great too!). Colleen had the cheesecake as her main course. I had a taste of it and it was heaven in my mouth. You don't even know. It didn't even look like cheesecake, It looked like a ball of ice cream. It was the softest, lightest cheesecake EVER.



Modge had some sort of cheese with espresso stuff. I really can't remember the names of the stuff we ordered. I didn't get it because I thought "I don't want to eat cheese" but all paradigms I had of what cheese could look and taste like was thrown out the fucking window when I tried it.



I had this thing above, which was almond ice cream (I think) on a thin layer of like caramilized almond thing with some other stuff below it. I really can't remember the names of the stuff in this, but it was AMAZING. I am taking everyone that comes to NY from now on to this place. It will blow and change your perceptions of what "dessert" is capable of.

Almost As Bad as TINA

liz: whats with this eliza business?
liz: thats not my name yo
otheradam: you dont like it??
liz: no

This is almost as bad as the Tina/Justine thing. Not really. Fine I'll call you LIZ.

Weekend Update 3/17/07

It was really warm on Wednesday/Thursday. Warm enough for Eliza and I to get Mr Frosty and eat it at Union Square Park. Then it snowed on Friday. And then my dad made me shovel around our house. You don't understand, we live on a corner lot. That means I have an entire side of the street to fricken shovel. Not the 10 feet front side like everyone else.

I got quite a workout from it, now it's Monday and I'm still sore. That's what happens when you sit at a desk all day and don't work out much. I lost my abs. Yeah, I had them at one point. I think I'll start working out again.

Oh yeah, last Tuesday, I beat Paul at pool for my first legitimate win against him. Ever. And it wasn't hyped or high pressure. I think that's why it happened. I've come close a few times before but couldn't sink the eight.

So back to this weekend, I had a wonderful dinner with my girls ELiza, Ashley and Jackie at a Italian place called Soto Cinque on the Upper East Side. It was St Patricks day, and seeing the streets filled with Bros and the skanks who love them all over the Upper East Side really caught me off guard. I was walking to Ashley's apartment and it was like I was back in college. The stench of cheap beers like KEYSTONE LITE filled the air all around. It was the most disgusting thing ever. I honestly don't know how I dealt with all that shit in college. I guess I just blocked it all out and was with good company, even on a Thursday night at Alex's. I think back now and can't for the life of me know why I was there so much on Thursday nights at one point. I never even drank that shit beer they had for mug night. I always got a railbender or something.

I'm not even a beer snob, I just don't drink cheap shitty beer like those calorie conscious bros. Anyway, we had dinner at that Italian place, which was mediocre, but the wine was good. Then we went to the Royal Oak in Williamsburg.

It you didn't know better, St Patrick's day was nonexistent in Williamsburg. Because today, instead of BLUE striped button shirts, all the bros were wearing GREEN striped button shirts. Ahhhhhh. None of that shit at the Royal oak. Everyone was dressed like always- hipster. You know, sometimes the hipsters are alright. Too cool for that shit. No green beer either, which no one one seemed to mind, care about or ask for.

I was wearing my LRG jacket (why?) and my keys fell out of my jacket pocket at Royal Oak.
Those keys were attached to a purple Alfred University lanyard that has a lot of sentimental value to me. It was Colleen's. I'll probably call them to see if they have it soon. Otherwise, Colleen will have to buy a new one and use it till she comes this week so it will be "broken into" and not new. I didn't realize I lost them till I was at Union Square, because I had my arm around Jackie the entire time we walked to the L train. Ugg, is that ironic?

Was supposed to meet up with David, but he didn't even get to Williamsburg till 3AM. Maybe next week.

FM2n

Yay, got my FM2n in the mail from ebay. It was kinda dirty but I cleaned it up.

New Cameras On The Way

I gotta stop looking on ebay because now I have a Nikon N80 and FM2n on the way. At least film cameras are (relatively) cheap now.

Going into the DSLR world suddenly REALLY made me realize just how dead film is. I didn't notice it in Alfred because, A. Alfred is a bubble in it's own dimension and B. Alfred doesn't move as fast with technology in the photography front as fast as say...RIT (which is a good thing in my opinion). From what I understand, the photo department in Alfred is real poor right now anyway. But right before I graduated expanded media bought a slew of Rebel XT or XTi's so....

Nikon had already announced early last year that they were going to stop all film camera production except for the F100 or F6 (can't remember which model) and FM10. I give it 1-2 more years before they stop producing film cameras completely. For all intent and purposes, film cameras are dead in the consumer and professional market. The only people that are still using it are artist.

I'm already imagining 10 years from now when film cameras will be ancient history and developing and printing will cost and arm and a leg and become a specialized, niche art form. I'll be holding onto my film cameras forever. The classics will retain or go up in value, the others, not so much.

My Favourite Photos Vol 2

Another great image from Italy. This one was taken in Sienna, Italy. It was the first time that it has snowed there in a really long time and people didn't know how to deal with it. Our group was going to see some churches and I got ahead of everyone on the steps leading up and snapped this shot of Peter and Corey.

A Quote From Bryan

Here's a great quote from tortured artist, my friend Bryan-

"Just like people romanticize the 1920's, or the civil war, or other countrys, we can also do it to people, and then our vision of them is screwed"

More unfinished thoughts and bits of wittings from my unsent outbox. Probably more to come soon.

Emoface

A unsent draft in my inbox dated 11/05/06-

"I hate what is going on in my life right now. There are two people who I've recently felt like I've lost as friends and it saddens me. But I know they no longer care for me or what I have to say, and that hurts me the most. It's not up to me to make it clear to them of this fact if they don't care to hear it anymore.

I no longer want to linger on the past like this. Value the times spent with friends the way the are. If they change, there is nothing I can do about it, only they can change themselves for their own reasons. The past month has really matured my interaction, relationships, and perspective on human interactions and why we are they way we are, and the way we act. I really, really appreciate and value the few people I know that truly care about me, and like me for who I am.

What I've learned in the private conversations with people who trusted me enough to share with me is that everyone has problems, and a lot more people are in therapy than one would think. Our public faces are never the true ones. It always surprised me when they told me this, because I don't see them needing therapy. Well, now I think I need therapy. Isn't that ironic? I can't deal with this shit on my own anymore. It didn't work before"

Still feel the same way for the most part, other than the therapy for me part.

Dessert Dessert

On Saturday night, Ashley and I went to a dessert bar called ChikaLicious in the East Village. This is how I described the place to my friend Paul-

"$12 pre-fix per person. You get an appetizer dessert, a main course dessert and a dessert dessert"

For an additional 7 dollars, you can get a dessert wine that is paired for the main dessert that you choose. This place is serious.

We're going next weekend, Colleen.

Revisting Coney Island Part II

Went to Coney Island again, now with more people!












My new wallpaper:

This is a crop a of larger photo. It was not digitally manipulated in any way.

The bokeh on the Tamron 17-50mm gets real weird and painterly. It looks really nice blown up.

My Favourite Photos Vol 1

Welcome to a new column where I examine an "old" photo of mine that has some sort of higher value to me (sentimental, compositional, colour, etc).

This week's photo


Why it's so great:
This photo was taken at one of the girl's apartment in Florence, Italy when I was abroad there Spring 2005. I set this up with my digital point and shoot Canon on a tripod and fired it off a few times. I like how the expressions on everyone's faces are so modest. It really does capture a certain "family feel". Everyone looks like they are sharing the same insider secret and I dare to say, genuinely happy to be there at that point in time. Too bad PETER was late to the it and missed out on this shot.

It's Been Too Long...

...Since we've had a dinner party of any sorts. Goddamn. The photos speak for themselves.



Most of these are with the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 lens. Because I love it so much.

Fun with Photography & Lighting

Ashley and I had a photo shoot at my house! What does that mean? New profile pics!


I love my Nikkor 50mm 1.4

Revisiting Coney Island (now in color)

Ashley and I went to Coney Island yesterday to take pictures. She needed to do the act of photography and I wanted to play with my D80 and see how the place would look in color. It's so different to me. My senior show was shot in black and white and medium format. Now I'm going back to shot in color and 35mm.



It was weird adjusting to the wider frame. I tried to take some photos the exact same way I did it with my Yashica (like the two above).




Ashley with her Hasselblad



They took out the broken phone post that was in near this wall. I noticed a lot of little differences when I was there. Like the sand level being higher on one of the lamp post I took a shot of last year. The also tore down some of the amusement areas since the buyout of some of the space there. The mini golf, go-kart and baseball cage were all tore down. It's going to be really different in Coney Island this summer.


Ashley says "bye!"