to be

good friday, arahova

i've got good friday from arahova done, easter sunday will make it in the same directory if i get a chance to finish (start) the workprints. these images took priority because i had snapped a photo of an elderly lady that had passed away, the family wanted a copy of the photo. unfortunately i still can't seem to pick out the right lady.

the images however are fairly good from that night. a funeral bier was carried by around the town by each of the churches everyone came out to greet them. this was my first night photographing in arahova so people still didn't quite figure out who i was and i still need to put together the pieces of how holy week in greece worked.

flashback: june 24

so many years ago, i walked down avery fisher hall and graduated high school. i was 17 years old, heading to a university where none of my friends were going, trying to get away from the generic nyu experience.

that day was just a calm sunny day. the ceremony was in the morning. i don't remember what i did in the afternoon. i think we might have headed to m-guydrive's place afterwards, the details are fuzzy. that was before photography for me so i don't even have any pictures from that time -- not that i wanted any.

looking back, i had so much potential, i could have been anything i wanted and am i very lucky to be on the track i am still on.

this morning, i spent time outside a police line on eldridge. 17 year old killed by gunshot this morning at 2am.

perl threads

life as a programmer. it's not just the day job but often i have fun programming this or that. i haven't been keeping up as much as i like, the photography and travel take the place off going through random downloads to learn new languages or object oriented concepts.

for the past week and a half. i've been playing with perl threads. fun stuff, how it compares with threads from other languages and system (posix, java green, win32, etc.) minutia that maybe only a few dozen people in new york will even think about.

unfortunately, my main server is closing in on ten years old. i've always been on the clotting edge of technology. and twice during these experiments my machine crashed, probably due to lack of memory or processor power. to make the matter worst my server is somewhere in jersey so i have to wait a friend to hit the reset button. *sigh*.

that's what i'm doing right now... waiting for my main box to reboot. *sigh*

southern italy

the april section of italy would become my vacation from my vacation. i flew back into rome from israel. and it felt comfortable. third time i stayed in the yellow hostel for the trip. i decided to be more social than i was the two previous stays. it turned into an alcohol fueled party every night affair. in the day i would wander various neighborhoods through rome, tired of the run of the mill tourist site. i did end up staying an extra day to go to the vatican.

from rome i headed to naples. i loved naples. it reminded me of a pre gulliani new york city. trash strewn around. everyone bustling at a feverish pace. the food was good. if i didn't have so many nostalgic moments around a new york city slice, i would swear that they had the best pizza in the world.

fromt here to the amalfi coast for a few days of hiking. salerno for an animation festival which i stumbled on. and then eastwards to matera.

during the entire time, the hulking 645 camera laid at the bottom of the pack. didn't really concern myself too much with taking too many pictures. handful of rolls, just printed a dozen from the "real" camera more from the point and shoot.

now to print up the hard stuff... *oye*

flashback: june 17, 2002

new york, new york

i wasn't working at this time. sept 11th caused a tail spin in the freelance consulting world for about a year, at least for me. instead i was spending time working on my photography dropping by icp as much as i could.

with the free time i got to enjoy more of summer in the city. i love summer in the city, free entertainment everywhere. on that 17th bryant park movies opened up with on the town the gene kelly, frank sintra classic. so at 4:30 in the afternoon i stormed the field with my blanket. i remember remarking on manhattan henge, the phenomena of the sun setting perfectly between the cross streets of manhattan. but i don't really recall too much else.

the days of storming the field are over for me. pretty much everyone who used to go has moved out to the sticks. i still manage to sneak into the end of the movie and get a seat on the side of the grass. last night, playing at the park was dr. no. got there in time as ursula andress, the original bond girl, made her famous entrance from the ocean.

the namesake

at work, playing through my headphones isn't top 40 or cheesy 80s music -- not recently at least. i've been taking to audiobooks. i don't have to pay as much attention as i do listening to npr. more rewarding that listening the other radio stations. its waxes poetic most of the time. often i try to catch up on the classics that i should have finished years ago. because i have no commute, i am not very well read.

today, i just finished the namesake by jhumpa lahiri. it caught my attention through a trailer for the movie based on the book. kal penn, of harold and kumar fame, plays one of the lead roles. both the book and the movie trace an immigrant bengali couple and american born children through their experiences in the states.

i've always been a sucker for movies dealing with immigration. something about struggling to keep identity in a foreign place gets me going. the movie was great, just too short i felt like there would be so much more in the book. so i took to it.

i've always believed that the immigrant experience (at least within the states) is pretty similar. that is part of the reason i volunteer at the maes when everything says i should be at moca. "reading" the book the beliefs are reinforced.

within the book they mention groups of indian families going on road trips together getting lost, eating samosas, the kids calling their parents friends auntie and uncle. over the weekend, my friends and i got together for a bbq. on the grill were various meats, marinated with lee kum kee sauces. my friends kids would call me suk suk, uncle, on day they will figure out that they have absolutely no relationship to me.

next audiobook, i should pickup a cyndi lauper biography. but i think it might be founding brothers, something i started years ago. hopefully i'll be done before july 4th.

bbqs and rain

in the apple store on 59th and 5th dodging the rain. the goal is to get to columbus and 83rd street for the second bbq of the day. figure i should load a roll of film in here to get the deluge going
 
 
 
  Later (Aug, 15, 2008)....

israel

tick one set of pictures off of the mountain of work prints i still have to produce.

israel was suppose to be my vacation from my vacation spend a week chilling out going to parties, seeing old friends. and it was partially that, for a good chunk of the time i just focused on eating seeing sites. telaviv was a short version of new york in my head. everyone spoke english. it was all too easy i would walk from shop to shop, drinking coffee or sit by the beach when i got a free moment.

jerulsalem was different, my free moments were spent on via dolorosa -- the final steps of jesus before he was crucified. so there i was, with a camera shooting three or four rolls a day of it, also knowing i would be back some year to get spend a good month there for holy week rituals.

i finally did get to relax when i got back to italy and made my way towards corfu -- but that is a different set of images.

flashback: june 10, 2004

the burrens, ireland.

western ireland, 50km from shannon lies a windswept barren landscape. small fissures across the stony ground. i hiked it alone. at one point missing my turn for about a mile and a half. hiking alone, with the jagged outcroppings, i imagined what it would be like to sprain my ankle and lay there in the wasteland. i hadn't seen another person since i got off the bus. i didn't fortunately (though i turned it about once) i also took the precaution of telling the hostel where i would be and to send the dogs out if i didn't return.

it rained in the afternoon, i took refuge in a derelict stone building while it past. made it all the way back, too late for the original bus i wanted to take. too early for the next bus. so i stopped off in a pub having two pints to relax my sore muscles before heading back to doolin.

if i ever go back, there is suppose to be good caving in the area.

swelter

seems like for the past 5 years i've been going to a a wedding saturday in the month of june (ala stevie wonder). it also seems that every wedding is either in torrential downpour or super hot and super humid

today, family wedding. and of course swelter. but i guess it is good to see the clan.

[scanned contact sheet coming monday]

camera phone

for many many years, i would bring a little notepad with me into museums to take quick sketches. of paintings or photos that i liked. unfortunately for me, i have no drawing skills.

this past trip, during one of my museum jaunts i discovered i've got a camera phone on me. and snapped a photo or two of things just to have a quick mental record of them. sure i always carry a camera with me, but i couldn't deal with processing and printing out the image.

with the camera phone i took a handful of random pictures as well. the quality on that phone is HORRIBLE. at least it is something.

maybe it is time to get myself an all purpose iphone i thought along the way.

then again maybe i should just learn how to draw just a bit better.

flashback: june 3, 2006

sevilla, spain -> new york, usa.

two days earlier returning to spain from morocco via ferry. waiting for the ferry i had what i presume to be a bad glass of "fresh" orange juice. later that afternoon heading to cadiz my stomach was gurgling -- i even paid to use the bathroom at the bus station. an hour later, going through a photo exhibit i tunnel visioned and needed a sleep. i retreated back to the hotel room unable to hold down any food.

the next day day somehow we made it back to seville, there i decided to stay bed ridden. with all the traveling that i've done, i know that i am going to get sick. the difference, i usually just play right through what ever ailments i have, this time is i gave up. i stayed in the hotel for the majority of that day going out for only dinner. fortunately, there was music videos online -- i miss spanish music videos.

the reason i gave up -- on the third i as going home after two and a half months abroad.

i took an immodium in prep. survived the flight to madrid. decided not to sleep through the five hour layover. when my mind was not occupied i would get nausea, so i made i through with the help of a national geographic. i was so happy that i changed my flight so i wouldn't have to go back through heathrow.

made it all the the way to jfk. new york was overcast, forecast for rain for the next week. missed the sunshine. but for me it was home.

summertime, and the livin is easy

new york, usa. i love summer in the city, there is always so much to do and all for free. tonight is taste of times square, where restaurants offer up free eats -- i will probably drop by there before heading to the darkroom.

shakespeare in the park is already going. just found out from eb that her new roommate is in the costume department for the production. so maybe this will be the first time in watching it for 10+ years that i won't have to wait on line for tickets.

got the summerstage program in the mail this weekend. julieta venegas is coming in july.

mermaid parade the 22nd, puerto rican day parade already next week.

its going to be a good summer.