Recently in Photography Category

Rather than beat myself up for spending all of yesterday reading Blogher updates and being totally unfocused today, I chose to go to the bookstore.  I often peruse the writing section, hoping to find something that isn't completely full of crap.  I picked up Stephen King's On Writing  and read one of the first lines:

"This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit."

Sold.

I'm halfway through and it's had me laughing out loud and even a little teary eyed.  For those who are weary of Stephen King, it's not what you think. 

What's so different?  It's not only a helpful book about writing, but a look back into where he came from.  The writing is conversational and forward.  It's a peek in to Mr. King's personality which I find surprisingly friendly and relatable.

If you're at all interested in the art of writing, Stephen King or just a good read, you have to get this.  I am an insanely picky reader and don't recommend lightly.  Nothing gets me more excited than a book I enjoy so much that I can read it in one sitting. For my multitasking mind, this is zen.

I also picked up a couple Richard Matheson books. I'm a gigantic fan of his.  If you've only seen the movie I Am Legend and haven't read the book yet, I highly suggest you do so. It's brilliant.  

How about you? Any great recommendations?  I'd love to hear them. Always looking for something new!

Originally uploaded by RGP

Sometimes I see a photograph and everything just falls into place. Thousands of other times this is not the case.

Sometimes there is so much going on in my head that I have to just sit back and listen to my thoughts. A lot of the time it's just the Girl from Ipanema.

Sometimes when I don't feel like writing, I just start to type. Then, all of the sudden, it's the only thing I want to do and I can't stop and then I have to go back and edit all the run on sentences, and commas.

Sometimes I use the eraser too much when I'm drawing and I have to pull back and refocus. Every now and then something great happens but usually I just end up covered in eraser bits.

Sometimes I go to the kitchen and I step in cat vomit.

I have something to confess. This is what I want to do. 

It's hard to admit that.  Especially in a world where just about anyone can write a blog and be noticed. So what makes me so special?

I'm not a mommy blogger, nor do I ever intend to be. I'm not a total tech geek, though sometimes I wish I was, and I'm not selling anything fancy, not yet at least. 

In fact, this has sort of been my problem all along.  I'm not one of those lucky people who was born with a particular passion in life. I mean sure, I want to write, but what about?  I'm more of a passionate dabbler. I find that I actually learn the most from other people's obsessions.

When I meet someone so into with what they do, I can't help but latch on to the energy.  Their love makes me want to know more.  And it's all about meeting them. I can't just read it in a book, see it online or hanging on a wall.  I need to feel the emotion up close, hear the excitement in their voice.

For example, recently I was invited to an art opening over in the village.  It was a small gallery and as I suspected,  mostly filled with art that made me think "Really?  Can't my cat do that?" In fact, I was with Gypsy at the time and I do believe his direct quote was, "Is that a cat toy?"

So we're joking around under our breath when suddenly we were introduced to one of the artists.  This was his first exhibit in New York and he was so excited.  I mean beaming!  His attitude completely turned me around and on to his work.  I even told him that if I had the (ridiculous) $5,000, I would buy his installment.

You know what? I totally meant it.  I would have bought it not because I thought it was this remarkable piece of work, but because of the impression he left on me.  His attitude stands out in a world where most ooze a sense of entitlement. In my mind, this is the mark of true passion.

So where does this leave me?  Well after some deep thought it has become clear that I am passionate about finding my passion.  I may not know exactly what it is yet but I do know that I want to find it.  So this is my goal.

I guess that's been the idea behind this whole life changing experience in the first place.  It just took me this long to really start piecing it together.

Here's to one more step forward.

So, what's your passion?

I took the photo above at Prospect Park in Brooklyn.  In this post it represents a moment of reflection because I am profound like that.

Originally uploaded by RGP

I am feeling some major Blogher envy tonight as I read all the twits and blogs of the attendees. I hope I can attend next year. For now I'm getting myself ready to watch the podcasts and maybe even take a rare trip into Second Life for some of those events.

My latest in the 365 Daily Doodle Project/100 Things (Silence and Questioning):

Some are old. Some are new. Some are barely touched. Some are full to the last page. Some are missing. Some are gone forever.  All of them are me.

Sometimes I have to look back in order to see what's ahead more clearly.  Today I looked back in the best way I know how. My journals.

I went in with the intention of finding some inspiration today. I guess you could say I got it in spades.  I found my entry for September 10, 2001.  I didn't even know I had written anything that day. 

It's nothing substantial really, except for the date.  I was sitting at an outdoor cafe before work, drinking coffee and watching early morning Manhattan pass me by.   I had just moved there days before and was on my first big NYC theater job.

When I read it, I wanted to reach out and tell that person they'll never be the same.  I wanted to tell her when she gets to work the next day, she'll be growing up fast. She'll gain a new outlook on life.  Everything will seem much shorter and most importantly, completely different.

Then I really start to think about it. Every journal feels like the beginning and end of a different side of me. The only constant is that I still write about it.  I always write about it.  I wouldn't really call it an escape like some do, it's more like a bunch of little 'come to jesus' meetings with my future self.  Reminding me who I was, what I do, who I wanted to be and who I've become. 

Today I am reminded that I am whoever I want to be, so long as I keep learning, keep writing and keep exploring.

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." - James Dean

So, how about you? Ever take a look back at yourself and find something surprising?

I have finally taken the next big step as a blogger. They told me this day would come.

The fella gave me grief about something over the phone. I threatened to blog about it. It's like a new super power.

For now I give you this picture. Enjoy!

Originally uploaded by RGP

I've been rather hard on myself lately, trying not to think things like "I suck" but as you know, being a human being, this is no small feat.  So I am reminding myself of the little moments that made me feel...kinda good about myself.

Back in college I was forced to take acting classes in order to finish out my major, Arts Management. A secret part of me loved this but the rest of me absolutely hated the idea.  In one particular class, we were told to get into groups, sit in a circle and tell the others what we thought about them. Lucky me, I got stuck in a group with a girl I absolutely hated. I mean hated. Top to bottom. Left to right. Big boobs and all, I couldn't stand her.  We had this ridiculous fight about a guy when she first arrived at the school as a freshman.  I didn't know her at all except that she was trying to steal my man of the week.

So here I am, sitting on the floor of the theater staring at a group of my peers... and this girl,  and we're told to tell everyone in the pow-wow what we thought of them when we met.

Of course my brain said: "Hmm, let me think, when I first saw you I wanted to rip out your little blond hairs one by one, kick you in the boobs and throw a football at your button nose just like in the Brady Bunch. Was that Jan or Marsha? Doesn't matter 'cause you look like Cindy."

But I didn't get to go first, she did.

And what did she say about me?

"You intimidate me."

I would have fallen over from the impact if I wasn't already sitting on the floor. 

At first I was pissed. How dare you call out my badassedness in front of all these...peers.  Then I chewed on it for a second and realized, I loved it. It was the best thing anyone could have ever said.  Beneath this hard exterior of mine, I'm just as much of a wuss as everyone else and of course would love a little validation. Well, I got it.  I mean, she went ahead and juiced up my ego with about a gallon of Red Bull.

I quietly rejoiced, checked my face to make sure I wasn't showing it on the outside and then made up a little dance that I would do later in the privacy of my dorm room.

Then, naturally, reality came rushing back.  Now I have to say something nice about her.

Sorry to disappoint, but honestly, I don't remember what I said that day. I do know this, we eventually became friends. I know, big surprise, I made up with the girl who (I was convinced) pretty much worshiped the ground I walked on cause, y'know, I'd intimidated her into submission.

Oh, and she eventually came out of the closet which was a double victory because that guy I was seeing earlier in this story? I got rid of him and now she would have nothing to do with him either. Oh the hilarity.

How about you? Ever become friends with someone you hated at first? Or more specifically, because they made you feel like a badass?

I believe in signs. Well, I believe that when you notice a theme popping up in your every day life, it's usually a pretty good idea to pay attention to it and assess the situation.  (Do you hear Dane Cook in your head when you read "assess the situation? If so, we are insta-friends.)

I've had a few lately but the most obvious of all is distraction. Holy crap am I distracted. Today I even sat and stared at nothing. Nothing distracts me! 

Seriously. It started when I was watching a film the other day about a writer who locks himself in his apartment without his television or stereo, etc. It works and he gets his script written. Oh, he also dies but that's beside the point.

The point is, it got me thinking.  As I turned on another movie I thought "Hey, maybe I am distracting myself too much."  I don't even know what the next movie I watched was because I was too distracted about being distracted. I wish I was kidding.

So I left my little office, cleaned off the kitchen table and sat myself out there for awhile with my sketchbook.  The walls are nice in there. I hung some flowers there awhile ago and they're all dried out and crispy.  Maybe I should take those down. You know what? I don't think we need all these placemats on the table. Maybe I should stack them up in a neat pile.  That's better.  Man this table really needs to be wiped down...

SHIT!

I was going to tell you about that photograph up there but I got...y'know. It's a geode my cousin gave me for my birthday.  I just found out today that it's actually meant, spirtually speaking, to cleanse the mind, relax and bring on the creativity.  Also happens to be a Gemini crystal.  Seriously folks, signs. They're everywhere.

 What about you? Had any signs lately? Or perhaps some serious distractions?

For those of you who may be unaware, my other half has been gone since May 1st.  He has a job down south that keeps him away for the 4 months of summer.  Sometimes I go with him, other times I say "No freakin' way am I going back there ever again!"  Then I make him feel guilty for "leaving me behind".

I know, that's really girly of me but I never pretended to be a full time tomboy.

So as with all long distance relationships, which I don't really consider us to be, we're more of a "What? I get 4 months to myself and no nagging?" kind of couple (we see the positive in everything), all communications are via cell phone.

Have I ever mentioned here just how much I hate phone "conversations"?  We all know there's rarely any conversing going on, it's usually one person who won't shut up and another person trying to make excuses.  I come from the school of short-and-sweet.  Who is this? Why did you call? My response. End conversation.  Unless you're my mom, oh the poor woman, she has the patience of Buddha when I call her.

The boy is actually pretty good about understanding my loathing of the phone.  He usually keeps it short unless I've decided to go off on some tirade about nothing important or to tease him with all the great shows I've been watching and he can't because he doesn't have cable down there and "Gee, I'll try to keep it on the Tivo until you return." *delete*

But Saturdays, they're my penance for being the impatient girlfriend that I am.  Saturdays are his day off. Saturdays, he gets his drink on.  We'll usually start the day with a quick call telling each other what we're up to and how we plan to spend the day. Then maybe another call or text just to say hello, but by the end of the day?  It's all over and I am given the ultimate test of my patience.  How many slurred stories with minute long pauses can I endure before my patience runs out?

When I really think about it, If I was dating me, every day might be Drunk Dial Day and to be honest, half of the time I'm convinced he's just messing with me.  He knows he gets real "southern" when he drinks.  Me being a born and bred New Englander, well, you know how we can be.  Have you ever heard a conversation between a true blue yankee (just to be clear, Let's Go Mets) and a stereotypical southerner?  It's kinda like someone keeps playing with the fast forward and slow-mo buttons during a wrestling match.

So a typical Saturday conversation where I genuinely give it my all to listen:

Me: "Hey hon, did you have a good day?"

Him: ".........................Yeah!"

Me: "Awesome, what did you do?"

Him: "........I floated around...............around in the water."

Me: "Cool!"

Him:"............................................."

Me: "Hello?"

Him: "Yeah, yeah.....I'm here................................................"

Me: "Anything else?"

Him: "Nope, that's about it........................................"

Me: "Oh, okay, well I..."

Him: "Except for the crab incident........................"

Me: "............................"

Him: "........................"

Me: " Crab incide...."

Him: "Yeah, crabs..."

And so on. No seriously.

With all that having been said, the most important thing you need to know is how much I do love the boy.  He's about the only one willing to put up with me and the only person I've ever been willing to test my patience with....for now.

Since I am such an enormous fan of Flickr, I figured it was high time I jumped on the flickr meme bandwagon I've been seeing around the blogosphere.  The idea is to answer a list of 12 questions in the search field at flickr. Choose a photo in the first group that comes up, and create a mosaic over at BigHugeLabs. The questions are:

1.  What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. Choose one word to describe you?
12. Your Flickr name?

1. Ry, 2. La vegan pizza del diavolo, 3. zach in action 2, 4. black.sky, 5. Bruce Campbell, 6. coffee & the city, 7. A witness of time, 8. Strawberry Shortcake, 9. one would., 10. Quiet, 11. cappuccette rosse, 12. one pissed off pussycat

Last night I craved a blueberry muffin. That's exactly what I got.

Next time I'm going to look for the blueberries muffins.

Originally uploaded by RGP

Let me start by saying that I don't believe in superstitions but I do believe in traditions. This is particularly unusual because I work in theater where we have a plethora of superstitions. In fact, part of my job is pretending I care because some actors are so into it that it will ruin their show if you cross a superstitious line. Seriously.

"Rabbit Rabbit" has somehow stuck with me throughout the years and although I don't necessarily believe it will actually provide me with good luck, I feel like I've broken tradition if I don't say it first thing on the 1st of the month. However, most of the time I just plain forget.

Annie mentioned last night that she was curious about the origin so I thought I would look it up. Unfortunately it's not certain when exactly it started, but there are "some reports" that it began as early as the 1200s. Of course, this is just a sentence I read somewhere (*cough* Wiki) and could be total bogus but on the other hand, it's not all that surprising.

Naturally, with every tradition (superstition), there's a zillion ways to say it and just as many different consequences. Ours is pretty simple, saying "Rabbit Rabbit" first thing on the 1st = good luck for the month. Some say it three times, others say "White Rabbit".

Then there's the before and afters like saying "Tibbar Tibbar" before you go to bed and then "Rabbit Rabbit" when you get up. There is also saying "Rabbit Rabbit" to another person before they say it to you and you get all of their luck as well, leaving them with nothing. I kinda like that one, it's harsh and I'm always up for a challenge.

So the basic idea of the whole thing? You are hopping forward into the new month or year and yada yada yada, good luck.

Like I said, I don't believe in superstition but I surely do believe in the power of the mind. I think that if someone believes whole-heartedly in something, it will most certainly effect them.  So me, I just try to stay as positive as I can.  Wow, that was hard to type with a straight face.

So, how do you say it?

For the last month or so I've been having  a little sleep problem. No, it's not insomnia, sleep apnea, RLS (although I have that but don't admit it anymore since they gave it a name) or any of that. No, what I suffer from is wake-up calls I never asked for.  The primary cause has been the phone. I now turn them off but occasionally I forget and of course on those days, it always rings.

Then there's those special days where I'm woken up by sounds you really only get woken up to in Brooklyn like the domino players across the street.

You should know that it's not really a street I live on, it's a court.  This is not your usual country court with a roundabout at one end and a decent amount of space between houses. It's more of a driveway that just ends against a brick wall with about 20, 3 apartment brownstones all crammed against eachother. Romantic and kinda pretty at first glance, until you realize you can see and hear everything that everyone does.

The domino guys? Now that was pretty cool for the first few weeks. I thought "Oh cool, just like the movies." You know what though? They play all day, every single day, and into the night.  Some people get birds, others trains and some the "chirp chirp" of crickets and peepers. Me? I get the sound of dominoes being shaken in a bag, violently I might add, every 10 minutes or so. Oh, and did you know when you play a domino, apparently you have to SLAM IT THE HELL DOWN on the table? Seriously, every domino. You gotta SLAM it!

One morning, the day before my birthday, it was fireworks coming from the apartment complex down the street. Seriously, fireworks.

This morning? Well, the phone is what woke me which is what makes the guy not seen in the photo above, a very very lucky man. If it wasn't for the phone, I might have jumped out the window, onto his head and started beating him with dominoes, because I am convinced that even those laid back fellas would have helped me.  Apparently, it's neither impolite or unreasonable to GRIND METAL off the window below my bedroom at 9:30am on a Saturday.  Sure!  Why not?

I miss the winter when all of our windows were closed and people didn't do stuff outside.

There's a fantastic new group on flickr that I can't get enough of. It's called Duets and the concept is so wonderful that I'm shocked no one has done it before.

The idea is to collaborate with another flickr member and between you, come up with a theme. Take photos that go along with the theme and then create a diptych! It was obvious to me what my first one needed to be and here it is.

Of course the gal on the left is the beautiful Darla (aka zoo_gal) and the image on the right is my original drawing.

Check out the group if you have a moment. It's really fascinating. I especially enjoy the combos that span the continents.

Well it's over. Finally. I am now officially taking a 2 month break from "real life" to concentrate on...fake life?  We closed the show last night to a packed house and it was a great run but man are we thrilled it's done.

Now here I am, stuck in a rut. It's not the normal kind of rut, it's the kind where there are so many things swimming around in my head I'm not entirely sure what to concentrate on. I'm drawing every day and getting my photographic groove back and trying trying trying to come up with something to write (other than a blog that is). Now, I know I am capable of handling all this but I can't help but worry I've been off the radar for so long that I'm starting from scratch. I worked so hard from  January to the end of April and them WHAMMO, everything was set on hold while I ran that damn show.

I am thankful for it in a way because it opened up my eyes even wider to my goals. I genuinely want to spend every day writing, drawing, photo..ging? and all sorts of other creativey things.  Look, I'm even making up words! What a wild and crazy imagination I have!

I am surrounded by lists of ideas, dreams, hopes and groceries. Okay, that's a lie. I never make grocery lists. I'm one of those picky sales shoppers who wanders every aisle. This is reason #1 why the boy and I no longer go food shopping together. Yes, there are more reasons that involve unnecessary fighting over sales, generic v. name brand and "really? another frozen pizza?" but I digress.

So on to the next step in my life. We shall call it.....PHASE TWO! Muuuuhahahaha.

Originally uploaded by RGP

Okay, so I haven't blogged all week. Let me explain myself.

So my "day job" as you may already know, is being a theater technician. This used to mean load ins (putting up the set for a show) or load outs (taking down a set) and the occasional show to run. In the last two years I have been lucky enough to work for a venue rather than as a freelancer. This means that they keep me around as their "Deck Carpenter" to run shows backstage. I am ever so grateful because one of the hardest parts to being a theater tech are those weeks or months of no work at all. Now I'm fairly confident that every few months I'll be on a new show.

There is a lot to getting a show viewable for an audience, and this is by far the hardest part of any technicians job. Of course, the very first step doesn't involve me (unless I'm a stage manager which I do as well at times) which is the rehearsal process. This usually means the cast, director and stage managers are in a rehearsal hall somewhere, learning the script, blocking and choreographing while the set is being loaded into the theater. The next step to any show's life is the hardest, whether it lasts a day or a week. It's called "tech". Often referred to as hell week.

When running a regular, equity show, we can have up to 5 "10 out of 12s). Well, the 10 really only applies to the actors because they are under a certain contract where their time is limited. However, the techies often come in hours in advance to take care of notes and cleaning before the tech rehearsal begins.

What is technical rehearsal? It's when all the actors, designers, directors, stage managers and technicians join together for the first time and start to add all the technical elements to the show. What are the technical elements? Lights, sound, props, set pieces, costumes and sometimes pyrotechnics, sfx and a band. We pick up from the top of the show and usually hold every new pose the actors make for what seems like ages while the designers get all the lights right, sounds right, etc.

As an example, this current show I'm working on, Act I took 4 days and Act II took 2. We had 5 days of 10 out of 12s which meant we left at 1130. Then after that, we worked mostly the same hours but had to be released at 10pm

So as you can see....long days. From May 1st to today, we worked every day (except Monday) all day. I left my apartment around 10 every morning and got home around 1230am. It is truly exhausting and all we can do is hope and pray that audiences actually appreciate and enjoy the show we put so much time, love and drama into. Yeah, drama, I won't even bother getting into that now.

Just don't forget that all of us are in pretty tight quarters and forced to be around each other all day, every day except when we're home sleeping. Naturally there will always be someone who doesn't get along with someone else, then add the exhaustion/stress factor.

So anyhow, this is why every now and then, for about a week or maybe more, I completely fall of the radar. I do bring my computer with me to work which does allow me to do things like flickr, blog, etc, however, we all often find ourselves either waiting for a cue all day which means you can't get distracted, or so tired that doing something like typing up a blog entry sounds like climbing Mt. Everest.

So please forgive me every few months when I have to disappear like this. Granted, not every show is as difficult as this one, but most techs are just a pain in the ass, no matter how simple the show.

We're done with tech rehearsals now and had our first audiences this weekend for previews. BUT... until we open the show in June, we still have rehearsal every single day. So I'll still be at work every day, however it should be far less hectic.

Whew.

Oh, and check out the photo above to learn more!

I know I haven't been very active lately but it's been a very long week. Seriously, one of the longest weeks ever.

First of all, that job I was worrying about? I got it! So for once I can rest a little easier when it comes to my income for the summer.  The pay isn't amazing but it's more about the freedom of the job.  I can basically do it while I blog, draw, flickr...whatever!  I'll tell you more about that some other time.

Other big news this week, my fella (seen above) left for 4 months today. Loooong time. It sucks but at the same time, it's really just part of our lives.  We both work in theater and know that sometimes that means we have to go wherever the job takes us. In this case, it's down south to the Lost Colony where he's worked 22 seasons.  He grew up down there so he's been in the show off and on since he was 11 years old. 

Good news is, he finally got a cell phone. In past years where he's gone down there, I had to wait for him to call me from his office, which meant scheduled phone calls basically.  I hate the phone and the only thing I hate more than the phone is scheduling a conversation on one. Just ew.

AND in other news, the tech rehearsal portion of my next show has begun.  I am currently working on Saved the Musical.  It's based off the film Saved and so far, from what I've seen of it, it's going to be a blast.  I think it's a definite hit!  

Back to work! More later when my brain has rolled back into normal land.

Originally uploaded by RGP

I'm going though one of those obsessed phases I seem to go through every few weeks or so and man it's driving me nuts. Never have I been more aware of myself.

Here I am, trying to take photographs, blog and get drawings done, but instead my brain is completely preoccupied with a potential job opportunity. Before you get all crazy, it's really not that major but the job fits me so perfectly that I will surely overreact if I don't get it. Said job will give me more freedom to do what I'm doing now by providing a second income AND it's super relaxed and done right here from home. So I won't have to take any hours away from my....photographs, blogging and drawing. You know, like I have in the last two days while I wait for a response.

So, as much patience I have learned in the last few years of my life, it's not kicking in right now and I really need it to. Every time I start to distract myself with my work here, I think 'Well, maybe I should check my email for the millionth time to see if I got a response in the last second."

I am fully aware of how ridiculous I am being, and yet I can't help myself! I guess no matter how hard you try, there are always going to be parts of yourself that you just can't make go away.

If only I would take a hint from the meerkat.
 

Just wanted to take a moment to share with everyone that I was featured on Gothamist.com again!  It's always a treat to know someone is looking and appreciating what I'm doing. Especially in this time of creative growth for me. 

Did I just say creative growth?  Creative gross!  How smarmy could I get?  Did I just get to use the word smarmy?  Man! This is a great night!

Oh and incase the shot is no longer on the front page at Gothamist, you can see it here! 

Originally uploaded by RGP

You should know, along with not being fair, life is bizarre as well.

First point of business, my water was out when I woke up this morning. Thanks be to brita and it's lovely ability to hold enough water to make my coffee in the a.m., no one lost their lives. Called landlord. Landlord was frazzled but friendly. Water main out. Down the street. Whole block without water. End scene.

Then it came back on and we raced (and by raced I mean I called dibs on the bathroom because I was the first one awake this morning and I'm the girl and all this means "back off punks") to use the, um, potty.

The boy and I decided to head into town for lunch together. On the way in, we heard a little yelling going on in the subway car. This is pretty normal so we completely ignored it...until I looked up and a bunch of people were kind of giggling and looking oddly worried, etc. 

Originally uploaded by RGP

Happy Earth Day everyone! Did you do anything special? I did!

Well to be honest, I had every intention of going to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens today regardless of what holiday it was, just happened to be extra special! Tuesdays are free too by the way. (It just took all my power not to type BTW there. This proves to me I have too much chat speak in my life these days).

So anyhow, earth day. What a beautiful day. It was 70 degrees, clear as a bell and breezy. I mean seriously, perfect conditions for wandering around the gardens. And to be honest with you, I am a terrible Brooklynite, this is the first time I have ever been. I have no excuse other than pure laziness but this new project I've been working on (this thing where I'm being all creative and finding my inner self and all that...stuff) has genuinely motivated me and opened up my eyes to all the things I could be missing out on.

You know why I hate sleeping? Of course you don't, you didn't know that. It's because ever since I can remember, I always felt like I was missing out on something. I mean, I don't really HATE sleeping, but when I first lay my head down on the pillow, I think about every single thing I could be doing, should have done that day, need to do tomorrow...anything other than actually falling asleep. For awhile there (the last 5 years or so?) I was just worrying about bills and all that boring adult crap that no one should ever worry about. Now I'm excited again and can't sleep because I can't wait for tomorrow and what I might get myself into...and I smack myself on the forehead for the things i missed out on (Silent Rave? Damn it!)

Right.

Anyhow, I was really proud of myself for getting off my ass, walking out the door and enjoying the gardens for a few hours today. It was a mad house to be perfectly honest, people everywhere. However, this actually really touched me. It's wonderful to see so many people gathering together to do one thing....view nature and all it's beauty. I mean, there's nothing else to do there. How often do you see a bunch of hoodlums hanging out in the Botanical Gardens? It is truly one of the few places to actually get away from the city and all it's muck. 

I charged my camera, slipped on my headphones, put on my walkin' shoes and had a wonderful afternoon. If you want to see some of what I saw, check out my flickr page. I posted a few shots today and will put up some more tomorrow.

Yeah, that's me up there with Chewie.  Chewbacca to you!  This weekend was the NYC Comic Con, a gigantic convention for....comics.  I love this stuff.  So many photo ops, so many strange things to see.  I even managed to sneak into the main floor itself.  I would have happily bought a ticket if weekends weren't my busiest time of the week (damn you theatre!) but I only had about a 2.5 hour time slot where I could walk down and check out the goings on.  My friend/coworker came along with me and we pulled the old walk in with a large crowd trick.  It was a total blast.

I haven't been around much in the last few days mainly because of a nasty sinus infection I've had.  I just can't think straight when I have them and my ear gets all plugged and I just want to bleh.  Y'know?  Thankfully, it's almost gone now.

Tonight we close the show I'm currently working on which leads me into a nice week off before I start the next one.  I can't wait to get some much needed rest and also have plenty of time to sort of set up a schedule for this blogging thing.  I hate missing more than a day or two between posts.  It really weighs on me. 

So, starting tomorrow, I'll get all my drawings scanned, get some more posts up, work on the group and generally just feel better about myself.  Word is, it's supposed to rain. This is very good news.

Originally uploaded by RGP

So my head feels a little like this photo these days. In a rush to get somewhere but so many things are keeping me from getting there on time. But you know what? It's okay.

I'm insanely behind on my doodles a day for a year. I have become okay with this because my intention is good. I'm still taking photographs every day (which is quickly becoming my true love) and I am still doodling every day, I just haven't come around to sharing it.

Where is my time going? Well I'm really concentrated on this community we're trying to build. When I'm not taking photographs or doodling or watching the hour of tv that I seem to have got myself down to these days, I am inviting people to join our group.

So far we're up to 34 people and the amount of visits at www.coffeerooms.com is definitely picking up. These are all very good things! The hard part is getting people to talk. I haven't figured out this art yet. I know that even though it's the internets and we can "hide" ourselves, people are still a little shy. So what's the secret? Persistence? Do I keep writing in discussions and this blog even though no one is responding out loud? Will they one day? Or am I doomed to talk to myself...like I do when I'm doing the dishes?

I guess only time will tell!

Now that I wrote this blog entry, I can take one of those cars out of the traffic jam. Well, maybe half a car.

Okay, for those of you who haven't visited my photostream on flickr lately,  this Elmo shot has just recently hit the "big time".  It all started when we (the boy, a coworker and myself) took a walk between the matinée and evening performance.  The goal was to head over to Best Buy and browse around, but as luck would have it, for some reason they, and the giant Circuit City were closed that day.   Granted it was Easter, but this is NYC. I've never heard of such a thing.  So rather than wander around BB, we headed over to Bryant Park.  And to think, we would have missed this.

This is a shot taken from my subway platform.  There is a ton of graffiti lining the wall across the tracks but this one, for obvious reasons, sticks out.  It's all alone and rather big.  Apparently Pilot Spag is actually two graffiti artists and they're known for tagging over other people's work.  Clearly that wasn't the case here. My cousin Todd gave me this information.  I can't seem to find it on Google but my searches have been, admittedly, half assed.  Maybe you can find something more on "Pilot Spag". 

I found a fun photoshop technique last night which I used on this photo.  I'm not entirely sure I got the exact effect they described but I have to say, I love the look on this.  THe original now looks like a washed out, crappy photo I took on the fly.  With this effect, I was able to give it a lot more depth and feeling.  I look forward to trying it out on a few more of my "so so" shots. 

In other news,

So I wrote an entire entry for about 2 hours before MovableType ate it up, never to return.  At first I was pissed.  Really pissed. But then I realized that I hated that post anyway and it was probably going to take me another hour to read it over and over and edit it until I decided I still hated it and never posted it anyway.  So, thanks MT!  You read my future and made it good!

All I really wanted to say is how I'm learning something new and terrifying about my artisitc self.  Although I am completely and 100% against censorship, I am totally doing it to myself.  I have some how cut off a part of me that, I feel, makes up who I am as an artist/writer/photographer and all because I......care what other people think. Eeeeeew!

I've been back at work lately. That photo was taken from the roof of my workplace.  It's interesting because I really thought my world would collapse when I went back to work. I thought I would give up on my projects, give up on my dreams and give in to the work day taking over my life.  Thankfully, I was totally wrong.  I bring my sketchbook, laptop, camera and any other implements of destruction with me that I can stuff in a bag and still manage to carry.  I am super lucky because I happen to have a job where most of my time is spent waiting around.  I actually hate this, with the fiery passion of 1000 suns, but I am able to do more at work for personal gain than most people.  I have to count this as a blessing.  Even though I do get this time to do my work while... at work.... I still get so frustrated when they don't use me for hours and hours.  It's the stubborn side of me.

Joey relaxing in a ray of sun after killing his mousey.  Sid is jealous and looks on (can you see his shadow?)

Tags: photograph, cats

We finally got our first real snow the other day. It didn't last very long but while it did, I decided to go out and enjoy it. I went into town and wandered around Union Square for awhile. It was really relaxing. There was hardly anyone out due to weather (and those weirdos with day jobs had to, y'know, work n stuff) so I got to see a rare side of a normally hustling and bustling park in the city.

I took a ton of photos and some of them are up on my flickr page, but this one is my favorite. The original is really bleh. There wasn't enough light for my camera to really grab the feel. I've been practicing with photoshop for awhile so I decided to fix it up. This is the end result and I really, really love it.

tags: photography

I took this shot in Chinatown, NYC during an amazing performance in front of a fantastic store called Pearl River Mart (Another flickr user referred to it as the "asian kmart". I couldn't agree more). We missed the actual parade but this was well worth the trip!

Click on the photo to see the rest of the set.

tags: chinesenewyear, photograph, inspiration