What People Want
I find it comforting to know that popular searches that lead to my blog are Montauk Monster and squirrel porn. Even more comforting to know that there are actually other websites that come up before mine under squirrel porn.
The Great Camera Debate
Went to B&H with my pops today. Didn't realize it closed at 7. Jeeze. Still can't decide between the Canon and the Nikon. Through all my research, I've learned that one brand isn't really better than another, just whatever your preference is. So I tried to hold each brand and get a feel for them but they were on opposite sides of the floor so I couldn't really do a side by side comparison. Then even if I narrowed it down to the Canon, couldn't decide between the very new Rebel Xti that's technically considered an amateur camera vs. the 30D that's older but considered "pro amateur." I'm going to hit up Adorama during lunch even though the guys there are sort of mean. Basically everyone's telling me to flip a coin. Hard to do when you're about to drop around $600-800.
Cupcakes Continued
Why yes, I did have a cupcake for dinner. I wanted to sweeten myself up for my yoga teacher cause I know that's what she likes. Forshiizzzzle.
Boobies, Burlesque and Cupcakes?
Went to a Bust party at the South Street Seaport at the invite of a friend. I thought, what the hell, this could be interesting. Could have sworn seeing a reference on the invite to cupcakes, but alas we could find none. In place of cupcakes, there were lots of lesbians. Not lipstick lesbians. Well.. okay, some. But yeah, the excitement of being surrounded by flannel-clad lesbians just doesn't compare to the excitement of free cupcakes. Was a hiccup in my cupcake dreams..
A text transcript from the night:
ME: I am surrounded by lesbians and burlesque dancers.
BOY #1: You take wandering and pondering to a whole new level!!
BOY #2: Can I go? Yo, new phone, who is this so I can save the #?
ME to Boy #2: The one and only ...
BOY #2: Haha, who else but you has such luck. Make me proud.
ME: They ain't no lipstick lesbians. Boobies and flannel.
Coffee Shop Hair
It's almost like I'm twittering. I had an absolutely lovely evening having coffee and a cookie with a new friend. But now my hair smells like coffee. Coffee = pleasant smell. In the hair = not so much.
Mind is Wandering and I'm Pondering
As usual, my spinning class has pumped a significant amount of adrenaline through my veins making it hard for me to even think about sleep at the moment. Because I couldn't find any jigzone.com puzzles I liked to entertain me and quiet my mind and haven't really gotten into "Emma" yet, I'm left stressing about the things I always stress about. Okay, here it goes. Here's when my blog is less of a source of entertainment for some, and more of an actual journal for me. This part = kind of scary because while I'm a fairly open, extroverted person, I don't always feel comfortable broadcasting the not so funny, what's really on my mind.
1. Must decide between taking an uber expensive class at School of Visual Arts or International Center of Photography.
2. Must figure out how I'm going to afford to pay for this class plus an $800 DSLR.
3. Must finally get into the habit of bringing in my lunch everyday and living on $10 or less a day.
4. And.. I start getting inspired and going in all types of directions. I thank god for my varied interests and dare I say, talents, but sometimes needing to focus on just one can be quite a burden. In fact, the stress of trying to figure out which one to pick usually leaves me focusing on non of them.
5. Exploring number 4- I'd like to get into writing. Maybe take a class. Maybe finally purchase an actual desk in order to facilitate such writing. While using my laptop on my bed may seem comfy, it's not conducive to actually working. But such class will not be taken until after my fall photography course. And I continue to stress and question. Should I get my Masters? In what? I miss school. But then we come back to big issue always on my mind. MONEY. I'm still trying to financially recover from 18 months of being semi-employed and paying out of pocket health insurance in addition to student loans. Many people live with some serious school loans and debt but I'm determined to pay it off. At the moment, I don't see getting a Masters as a means to increase my pay or further my career. Oh yeah, and learning how to create a website would be cool. And maybe learning how to play guitar.
Okay, so now you see how my mind wanders. It's funny. When you're a kid, your parents and teachers try to get you to explore all different activities, hoping you'll find one you love. I loved them all. I'm eternally grateful to my parents. They gave me ice skating lessons. Arts and crafts, drawing, encouraged me to play sports, perform in musicals and sing in the choir. And now I miss creating jewelry (don't have the space), would love to be in a musical if I had the time but now you've sort of got to be a professional, always wondered if I do actually have a good voice, and constantly wonder if I should have used my drawing skills more directly in my job.
Yeah. So I have a tendency to over think things. Good night!
Friday Night Pictures
Some pics I took on Friday night while on the Brooklyn Promenade. Coincidentally, I spent a lot of time near the East River this weekend. Saturday afternoon I took a short jog along the river from around East 10th street to the Williamsburg Bridge. At some point I stopped at the water and contemplated how hard it would be to kayak or canoe in the East River, not to mention gross. Then on Saturday night, after having dinner with friends, we walked to the park on 86th street and sat on the benches, talking and looking at the river. I suppose I should take a quick run to the river right now to round out my weekend. Or to some it up, I spent a significant amount of time WANDERING and PONDERING near the East River.
Instead of more East River adventures, I saw "Mama Mia" today with a friend- movie with lots of water and walked home in the rain. I 'm sure there's some of the East River in the rain right? It was obviously a campy, cheesy movie. You need to be with that to enjoy it. Hell yeah, I enjoyed it. I also found it somewhat empowering to women- that it was okay she slept with three guys within a few days. Hey, sometimes you can just be on fire right? And happen to meet a few "right guys" within a short time period. For the record, I have not done this but I suppose if I were to have a Greek island adventure and happen to meet 3 handsome guys that all swept me off my feet.. I'd um, use a condom! Also loved the lyrics to ABBA's Dancing Queen. Never really listened to them but could relate to just wanting to dance. Anyone will do.. it's all about dancing. I am a dancing queen and once in the groove, it's not about who I'm dancing with. It's about dancing with people who can keep up and definitely not a means to hook up with that person.
So that sums up my slightly adventurous, slightly lazy weekend. Was going to drag my laptop to a cafe and start writing my novel.. but couldn't resist taking a short nap while there was finally a cold breeze coming through my window. Short nap turned into an hour. Which turned into dinner time. Which turned into 7pm on a Sunday hard to convince myself to leave my apartment..
Music I'm Currently Obsessed With
Dana Parish - Got an advanced copy of her album at the last Symphonics Live and her CD isn't long enough!
Just downloaded two albums by José González and I can't stop listening to them- "In Out Nature" and "Veneer." He also played with Zero 7 on "The Garden." If I actually smoked week, these would be the perfect CDs to listen. He's very mellow, melodic, beautiful, simple guitar and perfect for listening to while at work, browsing photographers.
I also threw on all my old Dave Matthews into a playlist and have Lauryn Hill but it pains me that she hasn't produced another album.
And I'll always love Indie.Arie and pretty much all of Alicia Keys. Also can't wait to see Rufus Wainwright in concert again although I have no idea when that will be. Honestly, one of the reasons I got home to my parent's house in NJ is so I can drive, blast music and sing in the car. I need an outlet for my singing. I'd love to go to a party where people sit around, sing and play guitar like in "Once." Singing with my iPod while walking in the city just doesn't cut it for me. Can't be looking like a crazy person.
Camping.. Day 2 Part Two
So where was I? Got off on a tangent about the contradictions of camping and the modern world. Presidency here I come.
After a full day of paddling and enjoying the sites on the second day, we realized we'd better get a camp site fast before they filled up. Fortunately, we got the last open site. If we had missed it, we would have had to paddle to the end- only another hour but we were barely able to move our arms. Anywho, we got the most ghetto camp site ever. I now know what makes a good site and what's bad. It was on a fairly small island and had absolutely no privacy. There were no paths to go off and deal with mother nature and if I wanted to change, I ended up either flashing the two guys I was with, or giving the kayakers a show. On the bright side, since we were on an island, we could rest peacefully knowing we wouldn't be attacked by bears.
Once again, we had to haul the canoe and kayak up a treacherously steep, muddy incline. We rested both on a patch of grass and tied them to some large, dead trees. Then spent the next hour building a fire and eating way too much food. I still don't know whose idea it was to tear into 2 freeze dried dinners and some Shop-Rite canned pasta totaling enough food for 10 people. Needless to say my stomach was not happy and I soon learned why I could never eat to excess if I lived out in the woods. However, an hour later, my stomach recovered for campfire roasted marsh mellows. Yes, there will always be room for those. In fact, my friend and I attacked the already hung up food bag, like bears, to access the puff balls of sugar.
Back to another night of tossing, turning and trying to block out the sounds with my bad ear. Every time I fell asleep, my friend woke up, sat up and told us all to hush, and that he heard something in the woods. My response was that you might as well go to sleep and ignore it cause it wasn't like you could do anything. I'm sort of sad I missed it and tuned out cause his impression the next day of the curious creature outside our tent was an interesting mix of the alien from Signs and a large affectionate cat.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of our harrowing night. Around 3:30 am, all awake from the mysterious creature outside, it started to thunder and lightening. It could have been 3am, but ever since "Paranormal State," I refuse to look at the clock if I think it's 3am (dead hour) when all the spirits come out. Then it started to POUR. I vowed never again to love summer thunder storms and to wish they'd last longer. We all realized that the impact of the torrential rain on our boats security and started praying they wouldn't slide into the river. That was the longest 45 minutes in recent memory and I think I was either counting the seconds or praying 90% of the time. The lightening illuminating the tent was a perfect scene out of a horror movie and my friend was kind enough to relay a horror movie type story before we went to bed that night. Okay, so I have a wild imagination. My prayers were answered. The rain stopped, our boats remained secure and there were no ax murderers outside our tent.
The next morning we woke up early and hit the water before most people were up. I think the last hour of our journey was the most relaxing, beautiful part of the trip. The perfectly calm water reflected the sky and surrounding trees. At times, it looked like we were paddling into the sky. And just like that, my three day adventure was over.
Camping / Kayaking/ Canoing Trip Day 2
Pictures won't be for a while. I can't be bringing my digital camera into the wilderness and I ain't got enough dough for some fancy iPhone...
It was amazing how after one night, the river looked very different. There was a beautiful, misty fog making the river and camp site picturesque. The muddy waters from the storm seemed to have cleared and the water level lowered, allowing us an easier route to the river. I was at this point, more afraid of our friend the bear than ever but so no evidence of his company. Although I ain't no tracker.
For some reason, the second day seemed more enjoyable. Perhaps we seemed further away from civilization and the roads. We paddled through the section of the river that curves, passing beautiful cliffs, islands, very light rapids, and perfectly quiet open expanses of the river. I felt like I was finally taking in all the nature around me. But also had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I wasn't sure if I could handle another night in the woods fearing the bears and dealing with the calls of nature, out in nature. On the other hand, I wanted to push myself to the limits. Be on a mini vacation, away from the comforts of home.
I noticed the irony of paying a company so that we can have an outdoor experience. So we can experience how people have lived for thousands of years. But how on the other hand, we had some fairly high tech, expensive equipment from our water proof bags, to our self inflating sleeping mats, and our freeze dried dinners. I noticed the irony of our instant oatmeal taking 40 minutes to make after building a fire and boiling water. Or how when doing your natural business, you think you're giving back to nature until you realize that you've consumed more preservatives and chemicals on the trip through countless energy bars, canned and bagged food than you probably would in the comforts of your own home. And that nowadays, even knowing about survival techniques and frequently camping, is an expensive "hobby" that only those with the time and money can afford. Everything is completely backwards. And supposedly it's liberal to want to conserve our environment?
Well for one, you certainly can't indulge in the American culture of excess while out in the woods. Whether it's the issue of having to carry everything you eat and your garbage, or the total inconvenience of ridding yourself of what you eat- definitely can't over indulge.
Gotta get out of the house. Have the sniffles and feel like crap but might as well get some fresh air. More to come tonight about day two and an even scarier night in the woods.
Camping/Canoeing/Kayaking Trip Recap Day 1
This morning I got back from a three days and two night camping/canoeing and kayaking trip down the Delaware. Check out Adventure Sport if you're ever interested. Basically you drop your car off at the Delaware Water Gap which is only about an hour and a half West of NYC from Route 80. After making sure you have all your gear, etc., you're driven up in a van to your drop off point. Our trip in the van took about an hour including stops to pick up other passengers. We started off about 33 miles north of the gap. Our driver gave us minimal information, i.e. feet up first and if you see a bear, you're screwed. We were also given a rudimentary map featuring various camping sites and "landmarks" along the river. The three of us were all novices but I guess it doesn't take much to learn how to paddle. Fortunately, my friend had checked out some instructional videos. And as far as outdoor safety, I was all set. One guy was a camp counsel for many years and has gone camping his whole life. Another guy is NOLS certified (National Outdoor Leadership School) and if that wasn't enough, spent 3-4 months biking across the country. So I felt pretty safe- a little nervous about being the only girl but yeah, I'm now definitely one of the guys.
So interesting fact about canoeing/kayaking - that shit takes work yo. It's quite the interesting and unique experience to realize your body and physical energy is the thing that will power you along your journey for 33 miles. Yes, obviously I have experienced the power of movement through running, biking, walking, etc. but each stroke gets you at tops, I believe 3-4 miles per hour. We were fortunate that last week's storm left the river moving faster than normal but yeah, I'm diesel now. The kayak was a bit easier to maneuver except of course, when I nearly got caught up in a tree, stuck in the water while going backwards. My friend claims I was an inch from flipping. Even so, I preferred it because the movement seemed more natural, distributing equal work between both arms. I never quite got the hang of the canoe- whether it was learning the subtle art of being the rudder or the vigorous, switching from side to side action as the motor.
On the first night, we set up camp on a site that according the map, was closed. We figured it had something to do with the high water level and the intense incline from river to land but their was actually no sign saying it was closed. After some serious lifting, dragging the canoe and kayak up the steep, muddy incline, we were finally able to set up camp. Our site was very remote. Seemed to be the only camp site open within that area- perhaps the nearest open site was not for another mile. Our fire pit overlooked a small cliff and offered us some serious seclusion.
After a hearty meal, raising our food bag high above our heads away from our tent, and realizing we were all too tired from our 6am wake up and lengthy trip to even speak coherently, we hit the sack. It was still light out- only around 8:30 but we were out like a light. Well at least one of us was. Let me tell you, in the woods, all types of things go bump in the night. And apparently there are bears yo. Fortunately, I gotz my bad ear. If I sleep on my good ear (my right side) everything is muffled. This comes in handy when trying to ignore the many nightly sounds, loud neighbors or buzz of the air conditioner. Not so handy when people make fun of me under their breath, or I'm trying to have an awkward bar/ phone conversation. Haven't figured out why I naturally hold the phone to my bad ear either.
Anyway, during the night, I could have 100% that at least 1 or both of my boyz had left the tent to pee. There was definitely some serious movement going on either inside or outside the tent and I was too afraid to listen and analyze whether or not it was just tossing and turning, or if we had a visitor. So the most part, I pushed my good ear firmly to my towel pillow, avoiding the sounds. The next morning we all woke up early and I asked if either had left the tent, and alas, both were too afraid of being mauled by a bear to venture outside. Hmm... to be continued..
Pondering While My Imagination Wanders
Just saw P.S. I Love You. Another sappy romance. I don't get the appeal of Hilary Swank. She's too skinny and looks kind of manly. But more importantly, that movie had some serious eye candy. Gerard Butler, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Harry Connick Jr. OH MY. For the life of me, I couldn't tell you who I want more between Butler and Morgan.. Those boys are fine! Okay, leaning towards Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And on that note, sweet dreams.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
After a quick, and depressing google image search, I found these.
Check Out NASA Scientists Congressional Testimony on Global Warming
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-james-hansen/twenty-years-later-tippin_b_108766.html
The Part of Finance I Don't Trust
From an article in the latest issue of New York Magazine about David Einhorn. He, like a certain breed of financial whizzes, never fully trusted the complicated and shady financial products like CDO's, etc. related to our current financial crisis. This quote below is exactly why I never got why certain people were making an insane amount of money. And slightly related- it's also why I probably wouldn't go into the modern art world. Both areas are based on speculation and perceived value with an esoteric set of qualifications.
"In the larger Wall Street community, however, the view of Einhorn is somewhat less fawning, owing in part to the fact that he has established himself as a critic of contemporary investment-banking practices. “The investment banks outmaneuvered the watchdogs,” he said at Grant’s Spring Investment Conference in April. “With no one watching, the managements of the investment banks did exactly what they were incentivized to do: maximize employee compensation. Investment banks pay out 50 percent of revenues as compensation. So more leverage means more revenues which means more compensation.”
http://nymag.com/news/businessfinance/47844/
The Decisive Moment
Today at work I was sort of taking a break from what I was doing and stumbled upon this website- http://blog.photoshelter.com/ I honestly can't remember for the life of me how I found it. Definitely my new favorite photography blog and makes me want to sign up for a photo class in the fall despite not yet having a DSLR. Then I thought, oh, I should check out Photoshelter.com because some times, I feel like we've exhausted our selection of stock images. So I checked out the site, realized I signed up a long while ago, and emailed their contact to find out more about it. A half hour later, I receive a call from a sales associate who gives me the scoop, and invites me to a party they happen to be having starting a half hour from then, that happens to be near my apt. Wow. everything is near my apartment. Everything cool at least. So torn.
Anyway, I get to the party and notice that the event photography looks familiar so I go say hello. Of course he went to my college and was in a very popular acapella group. Dude, I need to capitalize on my ability to remember a face. Any ideas? I'm so used to running into people I know where ever I go. I can't imagine moving to another city and starting all over again. But at the same time, I'm worried about getting too comfortable and not being able to leave. Wow, I think too much. So I thought the whole think was very serendipitous. And to all those coincidence, "everything happens for a reason" haters, that don't believe in the law of attraction or a higher power, I present that story. Only unfortunate part about the night was that I ate my weight in pizza instead of going to a spinning class.
Pure Genius?
I recently purchased a Sigg bottle that I'm very happy with. However, I just came across this site for the new Kor One reusable water bottle and I'm very impressed. Check out their site. The product is very cool and I particularly like the no screw cap which I can imagine would come in handy during my spinning class when we only have a few seconds to drink water or towel off. Buying bottled water is no longer cool. This is. Even if you recycle your water bottles, they don't all get recycled. On top of that producing and shipping uses up some serious energy (water's heavy) and contributes to CO2 emissions. So in the spirit of having a healthy body by drinking water, why not also contribute to a healthier planet.
How Could I Ever Leave the Village?
okay.. so I was reminded of how wonderful the Village/Union Square area is. But despite the 5 votes, I think I'm going to still look towards moving to the Upper East Side mainly cause I'd like to be closer to the park and I think it's unlikely I'd be able to find something within my budget in the Village. Although after the free concert, I walked down University which was completely congested and was reminded slightly of what I don't like about the area. Decisions, decisions. Once I get an idea into my head, it's hard to get it out.
Slowest Trends
According to my coworker, this may only be funny to those who are trendy. Today I was about to get on the elevator at work, when the oldest man ever, s - l - o - w - l - y got out of the elevator... and to my delight, he was carrying a UNIQLO bag. I guess that store is so, like, over.
I Guess I'm Officially A New Yorker
Despite living on a street that possibly defines the East Village for the last 2 1/2 years, walking everywhere, seeing Mr. Big, having neighborhood spots- my bar, my cafe, etc. none of these facts have made me feel like I can truly call myself a New Yorker. Until Now.
Apparently hair spray is not a good substitution for Raid but it certainly slowed him down. I almost feel bad for letting him die a painful, slow, and agonizing death but honestly, I couldn't figure out what object I wanted to sacrifice in order to give him a quick, swift death. In the end, I settled on hair spray, and when he was moving a bit slower, ran to get the raid. Then slid him into an old Victoria's Secret catalogue which is now his final resting place. I take comfort in knowing he's possibly smashed up in between Giselle's buxom , tan, bikini clad breasts.
Air conditioner broken. Heat wave signaling some serious global warming. Ginormous cock roach. Seriously? What more could I possibly ask for. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to yak.