Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Birthday...a little late on this one I know
So obviously it is December and my birthday falls on November 10th each year, but well things are busy and I'm just now getting around to working on some of the photos that I took on and around my B day.
Fortunately this year I had to work on my birthday. Odd you might say. Who wants to work on their birthday? Oh, me, me, me... :)
I spent the day packing for a trip to Las Palmas in the Grand Canary Islands and sipping champagne on a first class only airline. Not too shabby gotta say.
The day was lovely and the flight I worked from Paris to Las Palmas went well. It was followed up by four days of R&R on the beach and in the mountains of Las Palmas.
Here are some images that I captured on the trip. If you want to see more, the really amazing ones that is, check out my Flickr page.
Fortunately this year I had to work on my birthday. Odd you might say. Who wants to work on their birthday? Oh, me, me, me... :)
I spent the day packing for a trip to Las Palmas in the Grand Canary Islands and sipping champagne on a first class only airline. Not too shabby gotta say.
The day was lovely and the flight I worked from Paris to Las Palmas went well. It was followed up by four days of R&R on the beach and in the mountains of Las Palmas.
Here are some images that I captured on the trip. If you want to see more, the really amazing ones that is, check out my Flickr page.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Yearly Firsts
So this year has a ton of these. So many in fact that I've decided to start the blog early and just add to it as the lists are lying around everywhere and I need one central location for all of this :)
Food:
clove chewing gum
Local brews from London, Bath, Manchester
Bangers and Mash, fish n chips, smashed peas
Fried feta cheese
Kiwi ice cream, fresh coconut & melon on the beach in Las Palmas, shrimp sandwich, apple juice and gin cocktail, chicken in chocolate sauce with cranberries, black currant juice
St. Germain liquor
Spent more than a day in London.
Got to great a friend on their first day in a new country.
Saw/Visited:
Picadilly Circus, Salsbury Cathedral, the city of Bath and the ancient Roman baths, Stonehenge, saw the home of Nick Cage in Bath, Trafalger Square, New Paltz NY, Greece, Grand Canary Island of Las Palmas
Stood on London Bridge & Tower Bridge, Visited Tower of London, Saw biggest diamond I've ever remembered seeing (532 carrots)
Got the hang of the tube
Now able to speak NY Subway (it really is another language)
Met a woman who has people give her pelvic exams all day for a living.
Met a sex worker - have a sex worker as a friend - took pics of a sex worker
Lived in artist colony/commune/insane asylum
Lived in the projects in NY.
Got acupuncture
Saw David Burn in concert
Finally get to work with French speakers/ get to use/practice French on a regular basis.
Swam in the Mediterranean.
Attended my first private party at a club in NY.
Dressed up as Debbie Harry for Halloween.
Shot my first gig over seas.
Shot my first wedding where I was the primary shooter.
Bought art and paid the artist to destroy it/ help me destroy it with a sledge hammer.
Posed as a model for a professional photographer in NYC.
Worked as an assistant for a NY photographer.
Attended several rooftop parties in Brooklyn.
Went to a Gypsy Punk Club in LES.
Learned about/used gender neutral pronouns to describe friends.
Painted my room lilac machiato.
Printed one of my images on foam core.
Learned how to say thank you in Swedish - Tak! :)
Wrote restaurant reviews/did photography for a food website.
Sun bathed nude on a beach in the med. and partially nude on a roof top in Brooklyn.
Finally helped my Mother travel to EU - something I've wanted to do my whole life! :)
Rented and drove a Vespa.
Bought a red bathing suit.
Found the perfect secluded beach in Greece.
Saw Depeche Mode play for the first time without X husband. Saw DM play at Madison Square Gardens.
Stepped foot on a volcano in Las Palmas Tajeda.
Read all of the trashy vampire series Twilight.
Worked a charter flight.
Took a hydra ferry from Athens to Spetses Greece.
Smoked Greek cigarettes - now know I don't like them.
Survived a summer in Brooklyn without A/C.
Stood under a Boeing 757 to get luggage being handed out of the hold by two guys standing on a truck :)
Swung on a swing that was hanging over a bar.
Went to several new gay bars in Paris.
Food:
clove chewing gum
Local brews from London, Bath, Manchester
Bangers and Mash, fish n chips, smashed peas
Fried feta cheese
Kiwi ice cream, fresh coconut & melon on the beach in Las Palmas, shrimp sandwich, apple juice and gin cocktail, chicken in chocolate sauce with cranberries, black currant juice
St. Germain liquor
Spent more than a day in London.
Got to great a friend on their first day in a new country.
Saw/Visited:
Picadilly Circus, Salsbury Cathedral, the city of Bath and the ancient Roman baths, Stonehenge, saw the home of Nick Cage in Bath, Trafalger Square, New Paltz NY, Greece, Grand Canary Island of Las Palmas
Stood on London Bridge & Tower Bridge, Visited Tower of London, Saw biggest diamond I've ever remembered seeing (532 carrots)
Got the hang of the tube
Now able to speak NY Subway (it really is another language)
Met a woman who has people give her pelvic exams all day for a living.
Met a sex worker - have a sex worker as a friend - took pics of a sex worker
Lived in artist colony/commune/insane asylum
Lived in the projects in NY.
Got acupuncture
Saw David Burn in concert
Finally get to work with French speakers/ get to use/practice French on a regular basis.
Swam in the Mediterranean.
Attended my first private party at a club in NY.
Dressed up as Debbie Harry for Halloween.
Shot my first gig over seas.
Shot my first wedding where I was the primary shooter.
Bought art and paid the artist to destroy it/ help me destroy it with a sledge hammer.
Posed as a model for a professional photographer in NYC.
Worked as an assistant for a NY photographer.
Attended several rooftop parties in Brooklyn.
Went to a Gypsy Punk Club in LES.
Learned about/used gender neutral pronouns to describe friends.
Painted my room lilac machiato.
Printed one of my images on foam core.
Learned how to say thank you in Swedish - Tak! :)
Wrote restaurant reviews/did photography for a food website.
Sun bathed nude on a beach in the med. and partially nude on a roof top in Brooklyn.
Finally helped my Mother travel to EU - something I've wanted to do my whole life! :)
Rented and drove a Vespa.
Bought a red bathing suit.
Found the perfect secluded beach in Greece.
Saw Depeche Mode play for the first time without X husband. Saw DM play at Madison Square Gardens.
Stepped foot on a volcano in Las Palmas Tajeda.
Read all of the trashy vampire series Twilight.
Worked a charter flight.
Took a hydra ferry from Athens to Spetses Greece.
Smoked Greek cigarettes - now know I don't like them.
Survived a summer in Brooklyn without A/C.
Stood under a Boeing 757 to get luggage being handed out of the hold by two guys standing on a truck :)
Swung on a swing that was hanging over a bar.
Went to several new gay bars in Paris.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
My wonderful Mother
It is not often that I have a new memory spring up so I thought this warranted a blog entry.
My cool roommate Emily put on a record this evening that made me pause the Eddie Izzard stand up playing in the background on my computer.
I would call the music "kitchen music." I came up with this nick name because I always think of my mother playing this type of music in the kitchen while she and I made something delicious.
Of course dancing around like happy fools with whatever kitchen utensil serving as a microphone.
This evening I danced around just like that in my kitchen. Then one particular song came on and brought back a memory. The song is Goodnight, well it's time to go by Chuck Berry.
She used to sing it to me when it was time to go to bed, complete with the perfect "bum bum bum bum" in silly base. Of course I never wanted to go to bed and only begrudgingly smiled back at her when she started this ritual, but now I look back on it with genuine affection.
In short that song and all "kitchen music" will always remind me of my fantastically cool mother and what joy she brought to my childhood.
She and I still get down in case you were wondering ;) We did so most recently on Thanksgiving. It was a blast and this time I have a video to help me remember the occasion in years to come (can't post it though, we are in our pre-coffee splendor and I'm sure she wouldn't want that on the web).
I will however add this link to the song that made me smile this evening...
My cool roommate Emily put on a record this evening that made me pause the Eddie Izzard stand up playing in the background on my computer.
I would call the music "kitchen music." I came up with this nick name because I always think of my mother playing this type of music in the kitchen while she and I made something delicious.
Of course dancing around like happy fools with whatever kitchen utensil serving as a microphone.
This evening I danced around just like that in my kitchen. Then one particular song came on and brought back a memory. The song is Goodnight, well it's time to go by Chuck Berry.
She used to sing it to me when it was time to go to bed, complete with the perfect "bum bum bum bum" in silly base. Of course I never wanted to go to bed and only begrudgingly smiled back at her when she started this ritual, but now I look back on it with genuine affection.
In short that song and all "kitchen music" will always remind me of my fantastically cool mother and what joy she brought to my childhood.
She and I still get down in case you were wondering ;) We did so most recently on Thanksgiving. It was a blast and this time I have a video to help me remember the occasion in years to come (can't post it though, we are in our pre-coffee splendor and I'm sure she wouldn't want that on the web).
I will however add this link to the song that made me smile this evening...
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Closure
It is huge. Something that doesn't often get talked about anymore I have found, but for me and for many I believe it is on the must haves list in life.
Tonight I got a bit of unexpected closure and it felt great. Having the chance to say ones piece and be heard is essential for mental health I feel.
Even if a situation is sad beyond belief and hurts and feels terrible in the extreme, having that last conversation, even one that might lead to other conversations (this being unknown, but an unknown that one can actually swallow as opposed to not knowing in general i.e. no closure) is so healing and helpful to the mind and thus the body.
I felt instantly better and though the situation is still sticky and not at all what I ideally would have wanted, it is at least something that I can wrap my head around after tonight.
Why is it so important that we have the chance to be heard? Why is it so essential that we get to express those feelings to that one person, not just venting to friends, talking with loved ones about the ins and outs of the whole business, but that one person - the one you have had conflict with that really matters? I'm not sure what the answer is, but I know in my core that it is necessary and I am thankful that I had that chance.
Tonight I got a bit of unexpected closure and it felt great. Having the chance to say ones piece and be heard is essential for mental health I feel.
Even if a situation is sad beyond belief and hurts and feels terrible in the extreme, having that last conversation, even one that might lead to other conversations (this being unknown, but an unknown that one can actually swallow as opposed to not knowing in general i.e. no closure) is so healing and helpful to the mind and thus the body.
I felt instantly better and though the situation is still sticky and not at all what I ideally would have wanted, it is at least something that I can wrap my head around after tonight.
Why is it so important that we have the chance to be heard? Why is it so essential that we get to express those feelings to that one person, not just venting to friends, talking with loved ones about the ins and outs of the whole business, but that one person - the one you have had conflict with that really matters? I'm not sure what the answer is, but I know in my core that it is necessary and I am thankful that I had that chance.
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