Mar 30, 2014

I didn't sleep very well, but I actually felt a little better in the morning. I got up and made breakfast then got my stuff all ready to get up to Philly by 7 to shoot the Love Run. It took me forever to find parking and then I had to bike down to the museum to meet Charles. Sure enough it rained for the entire race. I shot at Logan Circle for the beginning and my hands were already frozen.

I came back to the finish line for the last two hours of the race to catch all the finishers. It was a little better there at first, but then it got worse and the rain started coming down really hard for a long time. I was completely soaked and cold. I was shaking and my arm was hurting from my heavy lens. After I was cleared to leave I still had to bike back to my car, where I crawled in the back and quickly changed into my dry clothes.

That was the most miserable I've been in a long time. I couldn't feel my feet for a while. I didn't think it would be that cold. Why such bad luck for outdoor activities? The weather sucks here. I came home and returned to my bed for a nap through the afternoon. I didn't do much besides watching Arrested Development and editing some photos.

Mar 27, 2014

I had to go down to the AC Convention Center to shoot video at the Eastern Concrete booth at the Atlantic Builders Convention. Very exciting stuff. Everyone that was working there was really nice, even if 2/3 of them were camera shy. I got some good video of them interacting with customers and then did some quick interviews.

I kept thinking I should have kept my sub job as I wouldn't have made much less and I wouldn't have had to drive down there. Overall it was a pretty quick and easy job though. I was happy to be done and on my way home.

Alex, Tyler, and I went to the TLA for The Ataris' So Long, Astoria reunion show. The crowd was pretty stagnant for the first few songs, which made no sense to me since everyone was there to see them yet they didn't seem interested. A big group of big dudes came up front a few songs in and got things going and the rest of the show was great after that. They played the full album, which I forget how much I love sometimes. Kris played a couple of acoustic songs and then the band came out for one last song for the encore. At one point a pick Kris threw landed directly on my shoulder. Score.

Mar 4, 2014

The day started out well as we got a 2 hour delayed opening because of the poor road conditions. I didn't think it would be that bad, but a lot of roads were indeed still icy. Since the school day was delayed some meetings were canceled and I ended up only working for an hour! Things just kept getting better from there.

I was now able to drop off my car for an oil change at BJ's so I walked over to Starbucks while I waited. Bree was working so she kept me company and made me a triple venti black and white mocha. I think that's what it was called anyway. Whatever. It was really good. So I sat there talking with her for a while until I got my call that my car was done.

By that point though, Jeff texted me to say he was coming down from Philly and wanted to hang. So we hung out at Starbucks for a while catching up and then ran some errands together. I went to Michael's and Wal*Mart for some things I needed. It was good to hang out and chat for a while. We made plans to hang out again soon, but, well, we will see about that.

Another stroke of luck: Brenda left work early so we were able to head up to the rock gym sooner than planned. I did a few routes I was struggling with Sunday. I made it up one of them, but the one yellow route under the lip I just couldn't do. Brenda made progress and finished two that she hadn't done before.

I asked the employees there if they would mind if I set up my lighting and take some photos in their party room. They seemed cool with it. It's good to make friends with people. So I set up my makeshift studio and got everything ready then we waited for Eddie.

This saved him a trip heading farther south from where he lives to meet me, however I don't know how he felt after getting totally lost trying to find the gym. I understand the feeling since that place is terribly hard to find. Once he did show up we got some good shots of his products and design work. It was fun and a good end to a great day.

Mar 1, 2014

Kate and I went up to Iron Hill for their Barrel Bourbon and Bugs event. They had brewed small batches of twelve beers. Six wild ales and six bourbon barrel-aged dark beers. We got both samplers and dove in. So many delicious beers were in there. My favorite was the Flemish Red (no big surprise there.) The Saison Wood was great as well in the wild set. The Bourbon Wee Heavy was great, and the Bourbon 2 Logan TJ was just perfect for the style.

Jamie and Matt met us there after we had started and we got food to go with our many beers. I got a glass of the F. Red because I so rarely get to have sour beers. The place was really busy, and I'm not surprised. I hope they have more of these events in the future.

I headed to Williamstown where I was shooting a 70th birthday party for DaVonne's grandmother. I got there on time, which turned out to be really early. So I took some shots of the setup and then just wandered around and talked to people, shooting groups when they came in.

Once the guest of honor arrived they did their surprise and then got down to dinner shortly after. I got to have some of the great food and take a break to eat with DaVonne. After dinner they gave some really touching speeches about how she has affected all of their lives. It was pretty awesome to see such a happy family and hear some of the amazing stories. It was a great event and I had a really good time working it.

Later I went to Ryan's and we had a long walk around the neighborhood and then came back to his house to play some Mario Wii. 

Feb 14, 2014

I began my day driving up to Montgomery County to do a photo shoot at a legal aid firm. I did head shots and office shots. It all went pretty smoothly and easily. I was happy with the library head shot I did for the guy that was being honored at an award ceremony in the near future. Everyone was very friendly there.

I went for a short walk around the area after leaving the office to get some shots of the court house and some other local building. The giant piles of snow everywhere didn't help me getting around. I was parked on top of a mound of snow already so I was hoping I could get off of it back to the road.

I did, indeed, get back on the road and drove up to North Jersey to pick up Alex for our Valentine's Day date. We went to Montclair to Mesob Ethiopian. We ordered our food and caught up on the many, many things we hadn't gotten to talk about. It was nice seeing her again. She was also working on a photo project so she had her little tripod set up on the table, shooting photos once in a while as we sat.

The food was amazing, of course. It was served just like it has been in the past. The spicy lentils might have been my favorite. Or the cheese. It was all fantastic though. The set menu came with a dessert and tea as well so we were very full when we left there.

Next stop was the Upstairs Bar. It was really fancy and somehow we lucked upon two open seats at the bar. There were fun lights and mirrors everywhere. I really liked the design of the bar.

The main reason I wanted to go there was because they were supposed to have great cocktails. We both got a couple and were happy with them. I got that night's signature cocktail which came with pink peppercorns on top. It was great. I drink too fast to get expensive cocktails though so I switched to beer.

  

I talked to the bartender for a while about beer and he's interested in joining NJCB. I got Elysian's Split Shot espresso stout which was amazingly delicious! I also tried a Pilsner by Palm that was surprisingly great. We had a great night out, but it had to end eventually. I was set up on the couch in Alex's basement where I fell asleep with ease.

Feb 7, 2014

I got to sleep in a bit today because I wasn't subbing. I had to be in Philly by 1 to get ready for Temple University's winter graduation. I got a nice free parking spot and met Derrick, NaTaza, and the new guy whose name I've forgotten now. We got set up, I went to do PR shots in the garage and then ran in to get ready to shoot the degree/handshake. The president and the other hand-shaker were annoyingly moving around the whole time making it so hard for me to get my shot right. They totally ignored their marks on the floor and kept getting in my way. Come on!

After finishing work I came home, packed up all my ski stuff in a short time, and went to Ryan's to head to Vermont. After getting snacks we headed north. We didn't hit much traffic through Jersey so that was nice. It was also nice not driving. We did take a weird back road route to get there, but we did eventually make it to our hotel. We were happy to lie down and get to sleep once we got there.

Jan 12, 2014

I was up early and on my way to the Legacy office in Bridgeport while I ate pizza for breakfast. I was the first one there so I checked all the equipment until Katie and NaTaza got there. We double checked that we had everything and loaded into Katie's car for our ride to Albright University in Reading. It was a good time.

When we got there and found out where the ceremony actually was (it was moved because of being postponed from December) we got in and set up, facing the next set of challenges over where were should set up our degree/handshake shots. After some tests we made a decision and then went to shoot the graduates getting ready and processing (proceeding?) down to the gymnasium.

The rest was just like usual; photos of people talking, singing, then photos of every graduate shaking hands with the president, getting confused about where to walk next, smiling at me after I already took the picture, and then waiting, waiting, waiting until we can pack up and leave. And then we got food at Wawa and headed back to the office, where Dave surprised us (not really) by coming to go over the photos with us. Surprisingly, we got almost all positive feedback. He's actually pretty nice, just very good at running a business. I think.

Once I got home it was still early, but it felt late so I was ready to zone out watching shows. New episodes of Girls helped with that, but unfortunately I was too tired to watch the new Sherlock. Just putting off the sad end to the three episode season that we all waited sooo long for. 

Dec 28, 2013

I had a wedding shoot less than a mile from my house in the morning. It was a nice change to not have to account for the two hour drive to get where I was going. I met the bride and groom for the first time at the church, and they had me wait until they were ready which was about ten minutes before the ceremony started. It was an easy pre-wedding shoot.

The ceremony was nice and pretty short. I couldn't go directly up front to shoot, but I got most of what I needed from the back and sides anyway. We did some awkward group shots in the front of the church before we left.

The reception was at the American Legion two blocks away. Also nice. There were video games set up to play and SNES cartridges on each table as part of the centerpiece. It was pretty sweet. The DJ wasn't sure what was going on and I became the conduit between the mother in charge and him. At least that gave me something to do. It was a pretty boring and forced reception.

No one danced. Pretty much at all. The video game area was well-used at least. I was pretty bored for most of the night and there wasn't much I could do. It was easy and should make for an easy edit, but damn. I could have danced.

I was already dressed for it so I met Gaby at Italian Affair in Glassboro once I was done with the reception. I knew what I was getting before I looked at the menu, so I just practiced my Italian, which is really bad. I ordered the Gnocchi formaggi di Spinaci. I think that's close at least. It was as delicious as I remember it being.

At some point while discussing dessert and my inability to eat anymore there came a piece of cake with a candle in it and I joked that they knew it was my birthday. Until they put it on the table I really had no idea or expectation that it was really for me. I guess when I went to the restroom Gaby had told them. It was a nice surprise.

We wanted to do something after dinner so we went to Pitman and had a walk down the storefronts and beyond. After walking around some of the houses with lights we sat in the park near the miniature recreation of Pitman in lights for a while. There were kids being weird, but otherwise it was a really nice night.

Dec 21, 2013

I went over to Kim and Chester's in the morning to meet their new human, Courtney. Clearly, she took to me right away.. ladies. But seriously, she was cute and pretty much slept the whole time I was there shooting.

As per uszjh, we did some ridiculous photos with farm things. I took pictures of them on tractors, near corn cribs (which I didn't know was a thing until this morning,) and of course, with the cows. I need to bring some city people out here to take some photos just to see what they do.

I met Jess in Philly at Spring Garden School No. 1, an abandoned elementary school north of downtown. We easily gained access through an open window in the back and were soon quietly creeping up the stairs and through the mess of hallways.

We heard someone on the second floor so I said hello and a guy came out, said hi, and then moved on. I felt the threat had been neutralized. I could tell he was a nice dude, so I wasn't worried anymore about a homeless guy with a broken bottle coming to stab us. All good. We went up to the roof and shot some photos of reflections and the skyline, enjoying the view.

The cage on top is a cool, unique feature. We slowly made our way down the floors, checking out the different rooms. Few were picturesque, but it was certainly interesting to see what had become of the school. I was surprised there were so many books still all over the building. We encountered our friend again, who was taking wiring or pipes out of the walls to sell, I presume. We exited through the basement, giving instructions to several girls who were just making their way inside. We checked out another building nearby, but we couldn't find an obvious way in so we called it a day.

I went over to Sedgley, where there was a tournament going on and a ton of people playing because the weather was so nice. I chose to come to The Abbaye instead. I got a Fullers ESB, which was perfection, and the seitan cheesesteak. I chatted with a guy at the end of the bar until Jordan and Phil showed up to hang with me. We had a good time talking and Jordan really liked the Sweet Baby Jesus! Food and drinks and friends was good.

Joanna met us there and hung out for a while before going to The Foodery and then Soy Cafe, where I got a green tea coffee or something like that. It was cold. And it was pretty good. We spent an hour or so there before it was time to head over to the show.

We went over to Union Transfer and waited for a while near annoying people until The Early November came out. They played through The Room's Too Cold in full, which was awesome almost all of the time. The last track didn't really play well live, but the rest of it was fantastic.

Ace said something like, "Oh we forgot to turn on these Christmas lights during that whole set.. If you guy hang around we might come back and play another one." And then they did. They played a decent amount of songs from their other albums. The new songs all sound so good live.

They closed with "Every Night's Another Story" of course. It was a great ending to an awesome show. The crowd was great; everyone was having a good time and being cool. Ace was as grateful and happy as always and I left with a big smile on my face. I love those guys. I didn't miss missing the Brand New show at all. This band never disappoints.

Dec 16, 2013

I ended up getting up and ready very early to go work at Vineland High School. I don't have a good idea of exactly how long it takes to get there yet. I went in for Child Study Team meetings and got my schedule then proceeded to sit in the teacher's lounge watching Burn Notice on the school WiFi that my new sub friend gave me the password for. She was very chatty but nice. I ended up only covering two classes the whole day and I was out an hour or so early. Pretty sweet deal.

I came home to eat and relax for a short while before leaving for West Chester's graduate studies graduation. I got there a little late, but I still managed to be the second person of the four of us to show up. No big surprise I guess, but I like being on time. We did our setup, but we added a spot for shooting because Masters program graduates get hooded. I got to shoot the hooding since it was something I hadn't done yet.

It was not hard really, but the timing had to be precise, and some people were not cooperative. One of the dignitaries would always whisper something congratulatory into the grad's ear and they would end up looking to the left in all the photos. Another dignitary always took a huge step to the left when he put their hood on so he was always out of frame. Those things were just annoying.

Once we finished, cleaned up, and said goobye I was off to a coffee shop downtown near the Iron Hill we ate at yesterday. I met Jess, who was walking down the street with a slew of Santas behind her. I asked the barista for a suggestion and she mentioned some caramel thing that sounded fantastic so I went with that. She made a good choice. We sat in there enjoying our beverages while we talked about travel plans and working for Cirque again sometime.

After the somewhat long drive home I went to Johanna's to finally watch Live Free or Die Hard. I wanted to wait to watch it for her, but she was renovating her space and that took a long time. We watched and had a few beers. We did more talking than watching, but the movie itself seemed hard to follow anyway. I guess I'll need to watch it again while I'm paying attention, but I think it wasn't that good. It was fun hanging out with her again though and now we need to plan to watch the other ones in the series again.

Dec 15, 2013

The drive to West Chester was nice since there is very little traffic early on a Sunday. I listened to a few episodes of The Moth podcast and I was there before I knew it. And before anyone else. Once the others got there we set up our flag backdrops, got our cameras together and I started shooting PR. That just means I go around shooting everyone I can for bonus photos until the ceremony begins and then I have to shoot everyone who walks up to the podium and award things. It wasn't too bad, but the commencement speaker went on for way too long. At least he was funny.

We hid our stuff away quickly and headed to Iron Hill Brewery for lunch. They happened to have a sour called Funkadelphia on tap so I immediately decided to get that. I was not disappointed. It is a fantastic beer, and it made me wish I could find sours more often. We got an appetizer and I got this awesome quinoa salad. It was a rejuvenating lunch to set me up for the rest of the job.

The next grad was definitely easier since I didn't have to do PR. I sat in back waiting until the graduates walked to do their posed flag pictures and then I was done. Nice and easy. On my way home I stopped to drop off DVDs from the Thanksgiving dinner I filmed. It was well-received and they plan to use me for future jobs so all good! I came home and couldn't decide for a while if I wanted to nap. When Ryan asked about going for a walk I had my answer. He brought Anya over and we walked around my neighborhood. It was a chilly but nice night, and that woke me up just enough to keep me up longer than I wanted to be.