Free night with Fonta

Who says you can't have a good time in NYC on a Friday night for little to no money? Well, I have become quite the expert at finding the nooks and crannies of the cheapest eats and drinks in NYC. On this night, it all began with some delicious honey bourbon samples. Mikey likey. Me too.


At the next bar, I think I had more fun taking photos than playing the actual game. In this photo, the girl looks really weird and creepy, but I like what her hands are doing, all stretchy and skeletor looking. Things are just esthetically working in this photo.



I am easily amused by the streaking going on by the balls.





At the end of the night, Mike wanted to grab some grub at a diner and this is what i see right outside the window...a guy peeing right in the corner, classic. Of course, I had to have a photo of this idiot, did he not see people sitting right there? I think it came out very paparazzi and Weegee-like.

I can't believe this still happens

While reading the news this morning I came upon this news article that made me feel as though I was reading the obscene actions of yesteryear.

Somali woman stoned for adultery.

It's interesting to actually hear about this happening now. It puts a lot of theories about social behavior and progress into perspective. I recently went to a discussion on Darwinism relating to social media and how it is affecting the evolution of man. What really defines a more cultured and well behaved society? Well, for one, not stoning women to death after she gave birth to a still born baby.

In the discussion, the professor pointed out that 3rd world countries are just like us, but about 80 years ago. Does this excuse that kind of behavior? I guess doing and seeing wrong are in the eyes of the beholder. So they do things differently, who are we to judge? Who says that's it's the "wrong" way? We do...because burning and stoning people is inhumane and disgusting, right? What if you were brainwashed to think and believe something else? Somehow these people all gather around to watch this spectacle, so their society must not think that torturing a women over having sex with an UNMARRIED man.

That brainwashing happens everywhere, here in America, the main focus is politics and religion, church and state that has never been separated. Yet we are the more "evolved" society. Maybe everyone is wrong, but that's just speculation, an opinion, my free will exploring whatever my semi-brainwashed mind thinks.

Here is some of the article.

A 20-year-old woman divorcee accused of committing adultery in Somalia has been stoned to death by Islamists in front of a crowd of about 200 people.

A judge working for the militant group al-Shabab said she had had an affair with an unmarried 29-year-old man.

He said she gave birth to a still-born baby and was found guilty of adultery. Her boyfriend was given 100 lashes.

It is thought to be the second time a woman has been stoned to death for adultery by al-Shabab.

The group controls large swathes of southern Somalia where they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law which has been unpopular with many Somalis.

'Lenient'

According to reports from a small village near the town of Wajid, 250 miles (400km) north-west of the capital, Mogadishu, the woman was taken to the public grounds where she was buried up to her waist.

She was then stoned to death in front of the crowds on Tuesday afternoon.

The judge, Sheikh Ibrahim Abdirahman, said her unmarried boyfriend was given 100 lashes at the same venue.

Under al-Shabab's interpretation of Sharia law, anyone who has ever been married - even a divorcee - who has an affair is liable to be found guilty of adultery, punishable by stoning to death.

An unmarried person who has sex before marriage is liable to be given 100 lashes.

I wish

I wish people wouldn't put comments that were not productive or say anything important. The need to make a comment simply to say something is no necessary.

Sometimes they are TRUE

My horoscope for today. Someone made it pretty accurate today.

Your agenda for the day doesn't necessarily leave time for an emotional meltdown, so it's likely that you will attempt to keep your feelings all to yourself. Unfortunately, this strategy can fall apart if you encounter someone who involves you in the very same drama you are attempting to suppress. Instead of shooting the messenger, open your heart and mind to what the universe is trying to tell you.

About Meditation

One of the blogs that pops up on my google reader is the Wildmind Buddhist Mediation blog. Sometimes it really makes sense, completely relating to how I feel and think. Here is the part that spoke to me the most:

"We are accustomed to dealing with our problems by trying to find solutions to them, or by trying to escape them altogether. On the one hand, we stress, we worry, we plan and strategize, or we get more outside opinions. On the other hand, we turn on the television, take a drink, plan a party, shop, take a trip, surf the Internet. Even though neither approach seems to get us the results we hope for, we feel that we are at least doing something -– even if it’s just stressing about our problem."

If only I could take this advice...

My horoscope is sometimes accurate and today happens to be one of those days. I don't know what that means, but it must surely be a coincidence.

Thursday, October 1st, 2009-- You may have an inflated idea about what you can accomplish now. It's one thing to have goals so high that they give you a reason to push yourself. But it's not healthy if your destination is so unrealistic that you wonder if it's even worth the trouble trying to reach it. Instead of setting yourself up for failure with your lofty ambitions, strive to anchor your visions in a more practical manner.

What is a "more practical manner"?

"Stilleto Stoners"

Now this is something I want to see, a controversial topic in the morning, geared to all those running off to the 9-5 grind. The Today show had a great segment on successful business women who smoke marijuana, regularly. Instead of coming home and taking down an entire bottle of wine, in these stressful times, women are now smoking pot.

Check out the video. This is the first time I've seen a conversation about marijuana and not have someone opposing it.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/33087077#33087077

Personally, I think it's a very interesting topic and I'm happy to see that something as big and respected as The Today show is addressing it. Could this mean that perhaps we're heading towards a more mature outlook, a smarter economic plan... a better direction? I sure hope so. The Government could be taxing the people Even MORE! Maybe that will help repay some of that debt...

I hate you Task Manager

I hate you task manager, windows xp. You're suppose to stop the actions I tell you to, accessed by the magical cltr, alt, del, but instead you yourself Freeze up, not responding, rendering EVERYthing useless!! Nice back up plan PC, looks like you're competitor MAC is looking better and better.

Thanks for nothing stupid, newly fixed, completely restored computer that should work quickly and flawlessly as a useful tool. Instead i sit here staring at the frozen page and the spinning planet wondering how long I'll have to spin on this planet to load 1 picture!!! (i have a cosmos theme, so it's not a globe, a hand or a leaf.)

I'm still just burning photos from DVD to my computer and this crap is happening. The editing process is going to be a lot longer than i had originally thought, go figure.

New computer, from 2007

Just when you think you have it all customized to your liking, BAMM! Everything you've worked for, gone. Responsible is the machine you put all your trust into, the computer

How is it that we simply cannot live without machines and yet they always fail us? They are almost like people, but more helpful. It's like a bad relationship that you think is going to get better. You need it, you love it, but it rips your heart out and makes you cry, then running back for more.

Now it's time to rebuild and restart. It's like erasing a college paper when you're almost done and didn't press save, the end of the world. Yet, somehow, the paper gets written, and sometimes even better than before.

Now that i'm doing more photo stuff, I need this machine to work. They replaced my motherboard and hard rive, The heart and the brain of the computer. Now it's time to teach her again and hopefully this time we can keep the vitals going for more than 2 years.

On to uploading, downloading and upgrading.

Time is flying!

Since I've gotten my new camera, I have taken over 2,500 photos and have barley even looked at them. For the exception of Todd's party, I have not published any of my new photos. It's not that I don't want to, but time seems to be slipping, melting away in the summer heat. I guess all of the ideas, thoughts and planning are keeping my mind so busy, I can't even grasp how fast time is moving.

I have some really nice photos of waterfall from Bushkill Falls, which has been labeled the Niagara of Pennsylvania. I have been going there since I was a kid and it's still fascinates me. I have photos of my newly rearranged apartment, many headshot tests, 4th of July weekend, where I went to a racetrack for the first time and everything else i can snap photos of.

Only 33 days until my European Adventure! I can't even imagine how many photos I'll take then.

I also saw Gary Vaynerchuck at Vero!!! I was so excited, I pretended to take photos of my friend Nicole to get this long exposed shot, clearly him.

HAPPY!

I finally got a new camera, the next step up in my ghetto photo career, a digital SLR! A Canon XT1, born to a proud mommy, Reena, on June 19, 2009. Both are doing just great!

Canon just came out with this camera, which also shoots HD video! It's a beautiful, lightweight camera and my lenses fit from my 35mm outfit, so I'm extra excited. Also picked up a new Speedlite to get some great lighting going. Time to set up shop and start putting my degree to work.



This was the first photo taken with my new camera. Incidentally, it's my favorite model, MONKEE!



More photos to come...LOTS

First time at the Ballet!

I love all kinds of art including dance and performance, so when Max called me up and told me that him and Adam were taking me to the ballet, i was ecstatic! Adam teaches ballet and is almost at the end of his masters program, so I knew I had to be ready for some serious new information.

We arrive at Lincoln Center after having a great early dinner at Taim in the west village. There are well dressed people everywhere, getting ready to watch the newest production at the American Ballet Theater and I was getting more and more excited. This was so much better than So you think you can dance!



It was a great selection for my first experience because there were 3 different ballets in one, with an intermission between each. It was the premiere night and I felt very privileged to be able to witness art being formed right in front of me. The three ballets we saw were: Prodigal Son, Desir, and On the Dnieper, all with different styles, stories, and costumes. For someone like me that likes a little bit of everything, this was the perfect variety pack I was looking for.

Throughout the first performance, I don't think my mouth closed once. I couldn't believe that in my whole life, I have never gone to the ballet. Having lived in NYC my whole life, I was privileged to different shows, theater productions, and all kinds of expressive performance art. The ballet is something new, something I have just seen in movies or shows. Nothing can prepare you for how amazing this well crafted artistry is in person.

Adam was so full of knowledge and I was so happy to soak it all up. Next up: SWAN LAKE!!!

Adam

I knew about Adam long before I even met him, he is Max's boyfriend of 5 years. Max always spoke very highly of Adam, but I was not convinced until I met him. He has a great animated personality with a great self confidence about him which is refreshing to see.



(my first home made video ever)

I mostly appreciate people that have intelligence, knowledge and passion. Adam's passion is ballet, he happens to be highly skilled at critiquing, teaching and speaking of ballet. There is that long debate over whether you would rather know everything about something, or a little bit about everything. Adam is the person who knows everything about something, where as I am the one who knows a little bit about everything. Max is just plain old smart about everything.

Found this poem

It's simple and sweet and i don't know who wrote it. I found it in a collage of photos Jarrett sent me for inspiration. Sometimes a photographer can find inspiration in the words surrounding the photos.


Take it all back.
Life is boring, except for
flowers, sunshine,
your perfect legs.
A glass of cold water
when you are really thirsty.
The way bodies fit together.
Fresh and young and sweet.
Coffee in the morning.
These are just moments.
I struggle with the in-betweens.
I just never want to stop loving
like there is nothing else to do,
because what else is there to do?

Road to Shaolin

It's takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get 18 miles within NYC to get to my dad's house. From Manhattan to Staten Island on public transportation. The downfall is the amount of time it takes and quantity of transferring among the various forms of transportation. The plus point is that it only cost $2 and if you have an unlimited metro card, the city is your playground...

I thought this was appropriate reading material for the long ride.


I start out on the 6 train...


To the 4/5


To Bowling Green, the stop to catch the ferry.


I got there before the boat was going to leave, so I grab a pretzel from the ferry vendor to curb my hunger before eating a humongous meal. Normally, pretzels are not fried, but this was a new species, something I have never seen before. A fried pretzel? I shall call it a donutzel. It looked like a pretzel, but tasted like a donut. Gross.


Having taken the Staten Island Ferry a million times, I know the different types of boats. Since it was a nice day, I was really hoping for one of the outdoor ferries. YES!, I got on the best of the ferry fleet, with 3 levels and 2 out of the 3 are outdoors. This is what it looked like when i got on. Beautiful day for a boat ride with some great views.


This is my wonderful view of the Statue of Liberty from the top of the ferry. Good thing I've seen this scenic view enough to know what it looks like already because I would have felt a little claustrophobic. At least I got some shade....


Almost to the other side.


My little 1/2 bro, he's so cute!


High contrast + relaxing = nice skin! Lounging in the backyard...


On the way home, I take the express bus, which is $5 in change and enjoy the view.

Taking it back to photo school

My amazingly talented friend Jarrett is an awesome make up artist and invited me along to assist him at a photo class being held at the International Center of Photography. I took photos of Jarrett's work as it progressed. He had this idea right before we got there and it was inspiring to see his vision realized.

Stage 1, he used tape on top and bottom to get a straight line. nothing like the little details to make it look perfect.


Stage 2, out of the many color glitters, he makes his choice and even covers the rest of her face as not to get the glitter everywhere.


Stage 3, the lips. After peeling of the tape, there is a perfect edge on top and bottom of the design. The lips were done with magenta on the bottom red on top.


The finished product, HOT!


The artist and his creation.


Next, he did this older women and took 20 years off her face!


Complete with fake eyelashes, red lipstick and the beauty mark under the left eye.


WoW! It's like the TLC show, 10 years younger, but better.


There were suppose to be 3 models, but one didn't show up, so I was called to duty for modeling. Jarrett snapped some of these photos while the students were taking photos. Pure comedy, I have to say, i do have an animated face.













It was nice to be around the studio again, around aspiring photographers and see how much things have changed in only a short amount of time. The photo world has now gone fully digital.

Can zombies be possible?

Having a strong interest in science, I am often reading articles on how things work, how species live, and our newest advances in space. This morning I came across this article and was blown away. In all of my research and readings, I have never seen anything like this, killer ants turning into zombies by flies. Wasn't there a horror movie about this?

I always thought the idea of zombies was both fascinating and completely illogical. How can someone come back from the dead only fueled by the passion to eat brains? Well, maybe that original thought came from whoever discovered this much smaller, "Alien" like battle on Earth. The flies are like the facehuggers, implanting an their egg into the host, the ant until it takes over the body. Just like in the movie, the fly egg then beomes like a Chestburster, eating the brains of the ant, taking over it's body and then busting out of the host. This originally malicious red ant is now just an incubator, not even in control of it's own body. So this is the real zombies verses aliens. Is there a movie like that yet?

Ever since I was young, I was fascinated by the emotion: fear. Some hate it to feel it, and some love it. Horror movies, science fiction books, and the media...all things to induce fear and make our adrenaline pump faster. Roller coasters, driving fast, extreme sports and hearing bad news all give you that feeling, the hot that hits you quickly and travels from your head down your spine, shaking you to the core.

I guess when you know the source of the fear, it's easier to control. In controlled environments, the adrenaline excites you and gives you just enough to have fun, but still be a bit scared. Sometimes in phobia situations, people are so deeply disturbed by one specific thing that even their rational mind can't reason with them. I consider myself a rational person, so people turning into zombies didn't seem very reasonable to me. However, seeing that this CAN happen on a much smaller scale, right here on earth leads me to believe that even human zombies may be possible.

Maybe this is how to get a job

Here I was scrutinizing over my resume and cover letter wondering what would be the kicker that would land me that perfect job. I search everyday on job boards, forums, and websites on how to "make yourself stick out". I know I'm unique and have a lot of great qualities, but how do you make that come through a stack of papers (or emails rather) and make the employer even call you back?

After changing the format of my resume, writing long thought out cover letters, NOTHING. Years of not getting that job. Some of them, just a job, but a couple of them through the years have been a job I really wanted. However, I just couldn't get to the finish line.

This morning, as part of my daily ritual, I sit down with my coffee to search for jobs and now the additional research necessary to do on blogs and social media sites. These blogs offer something very valuable, almost priceless, for FREE! INFORMATION, real, unadulterated, and mostly honest info that everyone can use. If you have a problem, most likely someone out there has the same thing. These are real people speaking their mind, finally exercising their freedom of speech and making themselves heard. What a country!

Now on to the real issue at hand. On one of the blogs I read, unemploymentality, I saw an interested story on how a man got his dream job. Now, this was the advise I was looking for! Always getting excited about everything, so hopefully that it's going to work out, I dive into the article thinking, now i'm definitely going to get a job. After reading the article, it left me wondering what people are really doing these days to get work and how many of us are out there. (just 1/2 million jobs were lost in April ALONE) People are going to start to get desperate in their job hunt. So many people in need and so few jobs. Some people, like the man in the article may get cute and smart with just a touch of cunning with it, but what I'm worried about is what the people that aren't at the very top of the intellectual food chain will react.

I'm having trouble deciding whether I think what this man did to get the job was morally correct or not. The goal was achieved, he got the job. He did it with research and wit, but in doing so, he deceived some people, but it didn't hurt anyone. So all good right? In this day and age, we're back to survival of the fittest and the smart/strong will prevail, but it's a rough world out there. People will paint their faces to show you and the world as they secretly plot to step all over you. I only hope we remain a civil society in our economic downfall.

Lots of luck to the unemployed!

It's crisp

I woke up with the most delicious weather outside my window yesterday morning. The sun was finally back and the air felt crisp, clean and calm. That's why I don't mind the rain, even for days on end, because when it's over, it's as though the earth experiences a rebirth. It awakens fresher and with more life than before. A good day to start fresh again.

Traveling with pets

Maybe this is how diseases are spread.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090506-bird-smuggling-picture.html