Feb 6, 2017

I worked at Memorial for CST and had a pretty easy day of meetings. Good amount of downtime and the meeting before lunch ended really quickly so I got a long lunch with Becca to have our sloppy joe leftovers. After work I had my dentist appointment for my cleaning. I never have to wait to go in there. I was in, cleaned, and out really fast. Everyone there is nice too.

We headed to Blackbird later for an amazingly delicious slice of pizza and some wings. It was somehow the best slice of the spicy bbq that we've had yet. I could eat that pizza everyday to quote Becca.

We had some time before the show so we went to Prohibition and got a couple drinks. I had a pretty decent sour IPA and then we shared a Hoppy Lil' Hudson because we couldn't fit that much beer in after our heavy dinner.

We got over to Union Transfer to catch the last couple of songs of Nothing. They were very loud noise and I didn't care for it. We stood in the hallway to protect our ears. AFI came out to the crowd chanting and then went right into Girl's Not Grey.

They were awesome and Davey was as energetic and dramatic as usual. The set was a great mix of songs I knew well and ones I didn't but still could enjoy. The crowd wasn't even as crazy as I expected so I left without too many bruises.

Jan 14, 2017

I got up early and got a lot of little things done that I've been putting off. Becca wanted to go for a run so we met at Parvin. I ran the Black Oak trail for 4 miles. It felt good even though the temperature had dropped back to the normal cold. We walked a little after running separately then took off.

I felt like staying outside a little longer so I went to the park and ran 10 baskets, alternating 10 push-ups and 20 V sit-ups after each one. I played a decent game for being in a hurry.

I spent the afternoon packing, doing laundry, and taking it easy. Becca and I headed up to Philly early to meet up with Andrew to FINALLY get my MacBook Pro. We met at a Qdoba near Temple and made the exchange. I'm excited to have it, but it's frustrating to have a new thing and not be able to use it right away. We went to Blackbird and got delicious pizza and a sandwich then stopped at La Colombe for a cold brew.

We got to Union Transfer just as Hidden in Plain View was finishing up, but they sounded really good. The Early November played a full set of songs from The Mother, The Mechanic, The Path. It was a good mix of songs that I knew and some I didn't. The second set was worth the wait. It was full of all the songs I would want to hear including Fluxy! They ended on Every Night's Another Story which was an incredible end to a really fun and special night.

After the show we started driving North toward Watkins Glen. We drove about three hours, but it didn't feel like it because we chatted the whole time. We stopped at a rest area just over the New York border where we set up camp in the back of the car. It was cold and my sleeping pad sprung a leak so it wasn't very comfortable either, but I got to sleep.

Dec 13, 2016

I woke up earlier than I expected to coming off a couple of nights without a lot of sleep. I went to pick up Becca and got on the road to New York. We started off by stopping at Terri to pick up a chickpea melt and meatball sandwich along with the butterfinger milkshake that I haven't had in a long time. Definitely a good choice. We spent a while trying to find parking near the Brooklyn Bridge and sat there eating before walking out across the bridge. Becca had never done it and it was a gorgeous day. Lots of people on the walkway, but not the worst I've seen. It was a perfect day to walk around.

We planned on going to Torst, but we happened upon a little brewpub around the corner that caught our eye. I half expected it to be a bit boring, but it was such a great place! The bartender was super friendly, jovial, and energetic. There was '90s music on the radio, she was dancing, and, to my surprise, the beer was fantastic! They have an IPA that's amazing, a decent sour, and probably one of the best English bitters I've ever tried. Well done, Keg & Lantern Brewery. Thanks for giving us great beer and a place to sing Britney Spears and Savage Garden. As it turned out, Torst didn't have anything on the menu that seemed enticing for once so I'm glad we found it.

It was probably good that we didn't have more beer anyway because we had a pretty long rush-hour drive across the Queensboro Bridge to the west side of Manhattan. We stopped at Vinnie's Pizza first for dinner carbs that made us both a little sleepy. Still worth it. I got to the meeting place in Hell's Kitchen quite early so I could get all my gear set up and prepare my questions for the interview. Once I was satisfied we sat in the car while I played Battleship and crosswords on my phone until Lucinda arrived.

I met Lucinda at La Bergamote, a French cafe, where she had gotten me a coffee. She was amazingly sweet and we had a great little chat to get to know each other before we started filming. It was a perfect way to break the ice and calm the nerves on both sides. I want to integrate that into future interviews. Once that was out of the way we headed off to the secret location where we climbed 10 flights of stairs and set up the cameras in the stairwell because we needed the lighting. It was a little awkward, but I think we made it work.

The interview itself went really well for the most part. I felt like I could improve a bit by not sticking to my pre-planned questions as much and rolling with the conversation. Lucinda told some great stories and I think we got good stuff. After that we climbed up the ladder to the roof where she has done many photo shoots to get a nice view of the city and shoot a couple last things and talk about how we mysteriously ended up following each other on Snapchat. We descended the stairs, stopping to use the sink for hand washing at an apartment party along the way, and then said goodbye. It was a really fun time. Becca and I had a good drive back home, but I was ready to pass out in bed once we got back.

Mar 21, 2011

I spent most of the day in bed trying to feel better. I drank a lot of water and then decided I was going to leave the house. I met Christy at Pizza Hut for lunch. I figured pizza would make me feel better. I only at one slice. It was good though. Our waitress was much too chipper for the way I felt.

We went over to the park to walk around for a while and try to figure out the exercise equipment that had no labels. It was a nice day and the fresh air felt good. I was still coughing a lot though and that still didn't feel nice.

When I went back to Rowan I met Leah and had a smoothie that was not very good. Maybe it was just my taste being messed up. Weird. We hung out for a little while before I felt like I didn't want to really do much anymore.

I went to Prof's with her before I left so she could get food and I watched these guys jumping over each other while sitting in chairs. It was really amusing to watch. I showed this guy the picture and he told me to send it to him and then walked away..

While I felt much better than the day before, I was still not up to par when I went to bed.

Feb 10, 2011

I got up early in the morning and went to Lowe's to get some bright yellow paint. I think I picked a good shade. I met my friend from class at the studio and, after some coaching from her friend, she painted herself yellow while I photographed. I got some really good shots and the yellow and gray looked really good together.

This was the aftermath of the shoot. Nowhere near as crazy as the last one but that really worked out for this one. I'm hoping to do a whole series of these. I love the images I'm getting.

After cleaning up a little bit and looking over the images, I went to class, where we talked about some historical images and techniques before going down to the black room to see the large-scale camera obscura in operation. Basically, it's just a small hole in the wall, which transfer the images from outside to the dark room inside. If you want to know more, Google it.

I spent some time helping Alex with her lighting in the studio and then went to my next photo class. We looked at some images in the classroom and then came into the studio to do some lighting exercises. I had my last meal from the Mexican place on campus, as it's shutting down for renovations. It was delicious. I'll miss them. A few more hours of photo class ensued and then I was set free.

I got Brian and Alex and we headed over to Pizza Hut for our Gallery fundraiser. We get twenty percent of the profits during a three hour window today if people come in with our flyer. Apparently not many other people came but we were there to do something at least! Elaina and Christy came to join in the fun and annoy Brian by also wanting veggies on their pizza!

It was Alex's first time having stuffed crust pizza! Crazy talk. Ryan and Erika came as well to help support. I think they got stuffed crust also.. what else would one get at The Hut?

I went back to Westby for a little while and then hung out with Heather and Steph for a while before heading home extremely tired. Too much pizza, methinks.

Dec 16, 2010

I went to Rowan early to make my Power Point that I should have made last night and then help Shannon with her practical exam. I forgot to bring shorts this time so I got to wear her lovely pink ones. The exam was easy for me.. not so easy for her. Stress really makes things harder to remember.

We gave our presentations in Art Since 1945 and they took longer than planned, of course. There were some interesting artists being presented that I'd like to learn more about. My presentation went really well. I did Chris Jordan, whose work I really love. I had to leave before the speeches were over since class ran over and I had to meet Jenn for the one on one. We had a good conversation and she seemed happy with my work and praised me a lot in general. It felt good.

While waiting for Keith, Michelle and I decided to order a pizza and get someone to deliver it since it was snowing. It was delicious, as all I'd eaten was a dry bagel in the morning on the way to school. Alex came in and we hung out in the lab until Keith was ready to talk to us. He looked over my newest set of portrait shots and gave me some suggestions on how to improve them. Overall he was very happy with what I had shot though. He's always helpful.

We went to Melissa's opening and had some snacks and a little bit of wine. Alex and I made a trip to the bookstore, where we accidentally crashed a Chamber of Commerce party and I insulted a woman who had graduated Rowan as an art major by saying they didn't want me as part of their organization since I was "just an art major." She was really offended. I was just joking, lady, come on.

I spent the next few hours in the computer lab with Josh and Alex, listening to music and helping with whatever I could as she put together her packaging stuff for tomorrow.

I really like her design for these honey containers. There are a lot of references to the hexagonal shape of honeycombs and I like that the labels are clear so you can see the honey. It has a great natural color and it makes sense to use that.

Before I left I tried to help shooting some of her packaging in the studio on the scoop even though I had only used it once before. I think I might have helped a bit, but I need to get into the studio and shoot some products just so I have the experience.

After spending all day at Westby I finally came home. I really enjoyed myself there today, which is something I haven't done in way too long. Now I've stayed up much later than I should have and I need to get some sleep.

Sep 22, 2010

We had a critique on our first five type pieces in class this morning. It was supposed to be the finished products but everyone got suggestions so I guess that will not be the case. I have a hard time being creative with type it seems and one of the hardest things is figuring out where to place a text block on a blank page.

After class Brian, Matt and I went to Pizza Hut for lunch. We got this monster pizza for a good price. It was an excellent visit that satisfied the hunger we endured throughout our class.

Brian and I went out in front of Bunce to play some frisbee after eating. I was surprised at how well I was able to throw an ultimate frisbee after not playing for a while. I miss that game. It was pretty hot out but we ran around for quite a while.

Heather joined us after her class and we threw the disc around for a while longer before Brian left and we hung out for a bit.

I went home and met Ryan at the gym where we did 4-minute sets of seven exercises, mostly arm stuff. Basically, you do as many reps as you can and then rest 20 seconds and do as many as you can again, repeating that pattern until you get to 4 minutes or 60 reps. It works well and you can feel it.

I came home and did some laundry and watched Weeds and other new episodes.

Aug 1, 2010

I woke up around eleven but still felt strange because I went to bed so late. After having breakfast I decided to go to the gym so I wasn't completely lazy. I was putting up the big weights as you can see. I did some weights and ab exercises until the gym was closing so I had to go.

I went over to the course for a run and saw this egret just hanging out in the water around hole 1. I ran around the lake twice, taking some of the paths around the baskets to lengthen it a bit. I felt like I could go another time around but I stopped it there.

I came home and fell asleep again for a while. Weird sleep today. I went to Carissa's before it got dark to go for a swim. It was a little chilly out, hence her hesitance to get into her pool.

We got a Little Caesar's pizza and came back to watch some Shark Week programming. I never actually watch this even though everyone goes crazy about it. The pizza was good and the shows were good as well. The first one followed a shark photographer who took amazing shots and made me want to do that kind of work.

I came home with some leftover pizza and got to bed at a reasonable time, hoping to end the cycle of daytime sleeping.

Jun 18, 2010

Very happy it was Friday, I mostly enjoyed my day at Lakeside as a math teacher. I spent most of the time looking up information on hiking the Appalachian Trail and preparing for a half marathon while the students played math games in the computer lab.

After work I went to see my sister and Aiden and took him for a walk down by the river like I used to do with my grandfather. He seemed to have a good time. He can't quite skip rocks on the water yet but he's really good at throwing them in.

Ryan came over and we went up to Mullica Hill to meet Brian and a bunch of his friends for a game of ultimate frisbee. The game was great. It involved a lot of running. I don't have any action shots but there was plenty of action. I didn't play that well but I had a great time and made a few plays. Some players were better than others but everybody had fun. There was one great psych out where someone just screamed at the top of his lungs to distract Brian. Everyone was so busy laughing they didn't guard our team and we got the point.

Once it was too dark to see the frisbee we went to DJ's house to swim. The pool was big and it felt great to cool off.

Brian did some impressive flips off the diving board and this is him mid-flip. He looks like he's meditating in the air.

We hung out in the shallow end most of the time, watching someone do a flip (or a belly flop) and playing ring the swimmer with the tubes.

Oh yeah, it had waterfalls. I could wash my hair under this. It was salt water as well so it seemed strange.

I haven't used a diving board in a long time. They're always enjoyable. I've smacked my back on the water too many times to want to do a flip though.

We got out of the pool and hung around the fire ring trying to get warm but mostly just inhaled a lot of smoke.

We ordered six pizzas from Domino's since we were all starving after the game and swimming.

The pizza was amazing, as you can tell by the look on Brian's face. We hung out talking around the fire for a long time. I think this should happen a lot more this summer.

It was a great night but I could really feel all the sprinting I did in my legs. I hope to do it again soon. I had no trouble passing out when I got in bed.