I learned a valuable lesson yesterday.

Before I go into it, I should give a quick update of my life post-Florence.  I came back to the states in great head-space.  I spent about a month at home getting sun burnt, painting, and spending time with my family.  Re-entry proved to be an interesting factor during that time, but I'll save that for another post.  Now I am in DC for the summer.  I have an internship at the Washington Project for the Arts (see link @ left).  I love my job, the people I work with, the location, and of course, the art.

Today after work, everyone at the office (by everyone, I mean the 3 people that work there) including myself, went back to art-o-matic, a huge art event that took place from May 9-June 15.  The show was coming to a close, and we had to pack up some of our things that were over there and bring them back to the office.  Mid-way through packing up the car, we realized that one of us had accidentally locked the keys in the car.  For some, panic ensued because there were places to be and people to see.  For others, this was a period of amusement and ultimately hilarity.

As we stood outside holding up our cell phones to the car doors in an attempt to send remote control car key waves to unlock the vehicle, the weather did a 180.  The weather that was once picture perfect, lemonade-stand-worthy, rapidly turned into a cliched Dorothy-in-Kansas storm.  And then, all of a sudden the immediate area that I was in, turned into this surreal, Michel Gondry "science of sleep" like montage...

The sky changed to an erie greenish-grey, releasing raindrops that fell ever so lightly, they looked like snow flakes falling during a quiet winter night / artists mopily trudged slowly in and out of the rain packing up their cars with their artwork that didn't sell / a vibrantly colored, double-arched rainbow appeared over a gigantic construction site / thick black clouds of smoke from a fire rose up over the elevated train tracks / while 4 people surrounding a silver mini van, each at a different window, peered in to catch a glimpse of the keys that would take them home.

It was after this sudden shift in weather and chain of surreal events that made me realize my mistake:  i left my camera in the car.  the locked car.

Lesson learned:  bring camera everywhere.  always.

I was standing in line waiting to check out at a department store a couple of days ago, when low-and-behold, the woman standing in front of me was sporting a purse with a 3-dimensional squirrel on it.  Of course, I managed to snap the shot, but even more impressive was the fact that I gave it a nice little petting.

Thoughts on bag:  borders between being totally awesome and totally lame...I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Gotcha, ya little shit

The subject matter of the two photos that I posted on May 28th might not be all that easy to identify because I did not include much context within the frame.  The photos capture the steal beams of a section of a bridge against the backdrop of the sky.  I like these photos for many reasons and when I was thinking about them, I realized that in a way, these photos suggest a social change and maybe even a dilemma:  looking up.  I hate to make generalizations but, nobody does it anymore; nobody looks up!  Sure, you can go the route of "we're busy Americans, we live a fast-paced lifestyle, and we don't have enough time to appreciate our surroundings because we are too busy thinking about what to order at Starbucks," but I would also like to take another approach to this dilemma:  height.  I live in large city with a beautiful skyline of architectural wonder.  Yet, I just came back from a 5-month stay in Florence, where the tallest occupied building is probably only about 4 stories.  In Italy, before, during, and after the Renaissance, architecture has always been a highly respected form of art that represents the genius of the architect and the reflection of society.  I think this idea flows into the present as well, but the significant increase in height of present day structures completely inhibits the warm, intimate feeling one gets with the buildings that were constructed at eye-level or a little higher like in Florence.  I am not trying to say that the current appreciation of architecture has diminished, but the increased height of buildings and skyscrapers makes it much more challenging to get an idea of the structure as a whole.

I took the Chicago River Architecture tour the other day and with all of this jibber-jabber in mind, I got some cool shots of some of the buildings that are near or that line the river.  Enjoy.

(wherever you live in the world, take 30 seconds out of your day to look UP at the building you are walking by.  It might be worth it.)

It's a given that food quality is the most essential aspect of dining out, but I have always been in the school of thought that the atmosphere and overall interior decor of an eating establishment can make or break the dining experience.

At Bentwood Tavern in New Buffalo, Michigan, I experienced ribs that had more fat than meat, fries that were too salty, coleslaw with cilantro (!?), and lemonade that was diluted with ice.  Yet, this disappointing meal was countered by the pleasingly elegant, yet simple modern interior of the restaurant (pictured above), which in turn made my meal significantly more enjoyable.

One of the coolest celebrity snapshots that I've seen in a long time.

(Eric Gaillard for Reuters)  click to enlarge.

Shifting Art-Gears: From the Street to The Theater

Every year my improv group at Bates, The Strange Bedfellows, performs a Holiday Show.  What differentiates the Holiday Show from our normal shows is that the Holiday Show consists mainly of sketch comedy, where our other shows are built around improvisation.

I recently stumbled upon the video from this past December's Holiday Show, in which we included monologues that acted as transitional pieces from sketch to sketch.  Below are two of the monologues from the show, mine and Lily's.  I'm not sure about Lil, but when I performed my monologue, it was the first time that I truly felt IN character for the entire time I was on stage.

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blu

I saw this video on Wooster Collective.  It's by far one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  There is so much that I want to say about it, but I want people to form their own opinions and watch it with an open mind.

Some brief info:  the video was created by an artist called Blu and it was shot in Buenos Aires and Baden.

This is street art at its best, folks.  Enjoy!

on blogging

I have been thinking a lot about blogging lately.

If you've been reading since my first post (or if you are new to the blog, simply read the first post), then you will know that I was hesitant to start this thing from the beginning.

I think the blog world is bizarre...anybody can have one and anybody can read one.  There are a lot of different types of blogs; there are the big-time blogs that are associated with professions, like the Sartorialist, and then there are the small-time blogs, like this one.  This post mainly concerns the small-time blogs.

Whenever I find myself reading someone's blog, I feel like I am reading a diary.  A lot of personal blogs are just that, personal.  People blog about the weirdest shit like the name they chose for their one-thousandth cat or the cute new Christmas socks that they got for little Tommy.  But I just don't understand who would want to read about that...why share that information with the rest of the world?  If I wanted to talk about the new kind of cereal that I tried this morning or which level the treadmill was at during my workout-for god-knows-what-reason...therapy maybe-then I could just purchase a nice little journal; one with flowers and butterflies on the cover that's lined with lace and other frilly shit (sounds like a piece of lingerie).  I'm getting off track.  My point is that, blogging is not meant to be private; people who BLOG do it to be seen and heard.

My Mom keeps telling me that she has been giving my blog address to "everybody."  Well, what does that mean...that my first grade teacher is reading this thing?  Well what does my first grade teacher think of me when I use the word FUCK or PENIS?  Huh, Mrs. Bailey?  Blogs don't have privacy settings or locked profiles like Facebook.  Should I be concerned with censoring myself?

I also think that a significant factor about blogging is that one such "blogger" is able to see how many viewers have been on their site (or the technological savvy term, "hits").  My friend Jordan wrote an interesting post about this.  He said that,

"For a very long time my family were the only viewers.  I started sending shameless plugs to friends.  Reader numbers increased.  This is when everything changed.  Then I started posting links whenever I made an appearance at an online function or gathering.  Reader numbers increased.  Now I watch my stat counts like a girl watches the phone hoping johnny football star will call."

Sure it's nice to know that people are actually reading your blog, but the strange thing is that ANYBODY can be reading.  When you think it's just your friends and family, it's not.  It's strangers too.  So what do strangers think about what I have to say?  They could be harsh critics like me, or they could really relate to what they read.  I mean shit, the chick that wrote the screenplay for "Juno" was discovered from her BLOG and she is now famous and making millions.  People work lifetimes for opportunities like that!  The internet can do wonders for people yet it is also shared by the creeps, pedophiles, and stalkers that lurk in the deep-dark-underground-depths of chat rooms and internet porn.

It wasn't until nytimes.com wrote an article called "So You Want to Be a Blogging Star?" that justified some of my thoughts about blogging.  Read the article, it's good.  If you are too lazy, here are some quotes that I think sum up the main points of the article:

"whether a person blogs to make a little money, to influence opinion or just for sheer ego gratification, amassing a large audience is the goal"

"write about what you want to write about, in your own voice...blog about your passions.  Don't blog about what you think your audience wants.  Post because you have something you are dying to write about"

"the hurdle that stops many would-be bloggers is fear of clicking the 'Publish' button.  'Don't bottle up your ideas forever believing you have hit the same kind of mature, complete, perfect point as you would with a magazine or newspaper article...blogs are always in progress'"

I haven't come to any concrete conclusions about any of this.  In fact, I don't really think there needs to be any answers, but it's fun to think about and it's even more entertaining to really dive into the blog world and browse all of the different types that are out there.

I have been undecided about whether or not to continue this blog.  I started it essentially so that my friends and family could stay connected with me while I studied abroad for the semester.  Yet, I never really used this blog to write about my travels or other cultural experiences that I was having.  Instead, this blog became more of a general chronicle of things that interest me like art, music, and other random things.  Obviously, I decided to keep at it...why?

Struggling to overcome jet-lag, I woke up at 6:30 AM this morning.  The good thing about getting out of the house at an early hour is that you can beat the rush of people that are trying to do the same thing.  The bad thing about getting out early is that some stores don't open until 10:00, like Borders Books and Music, which is where I was headed.

It was raining this morning.  I stood outside under a viaduct and waited for Borders to open.  Waiting as well was a middle-aged woman with a terrible haircut who was wearing a corduroy-lined jacket and a completely A.D.D. man who made the lamest jokes in the world.  Seriously.  They were so awful that I felt bad if I didn't laugh.

Then I thought to myself, "these characters would make such a great blog entry."  This is what made me realize that the reason I was unsure of whether or not to continue blogging was because I didn't have any inspiration!  Italy was coming to an end, but a new adventure is beginning...hence, a new chapter to this blog.

P.S.  I was the first one in the store.  Woop.

wak

Everyone has his or her internet routine.  For me the Wooster Collective never goes unchecked (http://www.woostercollective.com).  It's one of my favorite sites (props to karp).  Wooster is a site dedicated to the celebration of street art around the world.  It's updated often with photos/videos of graffiti, stencils, installations, protests, etc.

During internet time today, Wooster presented me with a really kewl artist that I wanted to plug on my blog.  Zak Smith is his name.  Everyday, Zak uploads a new image from his sketchbook to his site.  The thing that I really resonate with in his images is his narrative of contemporary life...whether politically driven, sexually themed, or purely imaginative, he captures the status quo in a colorful and psychedelic way.

http://www.zaxart.com/sketchbook

The fam came to Flo for a visit last week.  It was a phenomenal time.  Here is part of a fantastically funny email from my bro about the plane ride back to the states:

"I sat next to a total bitch, she was the meanest person I've encountered in a while and she wouldn't stop COUGHING!  At first I thought she was faking it so that I would move to another seat so I was like "fuck it, cough all you want, I'm not leaving witch."  But then she was screaming at the flight attendant for cough drops:  "COUGH DROPS!  TO HELP ME FROM NOT COUGHING!!!"  I wanted to take my headphones and put them in her bitchy ears when she slept and blast Wagner or something.  I hope it was the flu along with the mono that I tried to give her...

kontest

I have decided to enter a photo contest.  The contest is being offered by Glimpse, a National Geographic publication.  It is limited to students who are currently studying abroad or to anyone who has ever lived or traveled overseas.  Contestants are allowed to submit 2 photos of this year's subject matter, which is "street performers."  The cool thing about the contest is not that the first-place winner will receive a $500 travel credit voucher and see his/her photo on the cover of the 2009 Glimpse Calendar, or that the eleven runners-up will see their photos included in the 2009 Glimpse Calendar, BUT... that the photography is going to be evaluated by National Geographic photographers!

I have been taking my camera with me around Florence for the last couple of weeks and got some fun shots.  I am having a bit of trouble deciding on the final two shots that I want to submit, though.  Here is what I have narrowed it down to so far...Email me or leave a comment if you prefer one shot to another (you can click on the photo for an enlarged view).