Remixed, Re-imagined...Part 2

NYC, redux!

Remixed, Re-imagined...Part 1

I made some changes to the blog, ones I hope will help better showcase the photographs and project a less-cluttered image of self out into the universe. The hope is that, maybe, some of these streamlined representations will transfer over into my daily, non-Internet life and I will finally get around to cleaning out that hall closet and finding a place for those limitless odds and ends that threaten to take over my apartment. Or maybe not...

In either case, I hope you like (or come to like!) the new layout. I also promise to revert to using better quality photographs rather than relying mostly on my ever-present iPhone! Until then, here are some old photographs from my time in NYC (remixed and re-imagined, as it were).

Obsessed

Be here now. By Mason Jennings.

Be here now, no other place to be
Or just sit there dreaming of how life would be
If we were somewhere better
Somewhere far away from all worries
Well, here we are

You are the love of my life

Be here now now, no other place to be
All the doubts that linger, just set them free
And let good things happen
And let the future come into each moment
Like a rising sun

You are the love of my life
You are the love of my life
Yeah, you know you are

Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again

And it's all new today
All we have to say
Is be here now

Be here now, no other place to be
This whole world keeps changing, come change with me
Everything that's happened, all that's yet to come
Is here inside this moment, it's the only one

You are the love of my life
You are the love of my life
Yeah, you know you are

Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again
Sun comes up and we start again

It's all new today
All we have to say
Is be here now

Heard Mason Jennings play this song at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Great show. Get the song!

Style Me San Francisco

While I try to include my own photos in most of the posts on this blog, I couldn't resist re-posting these six pictures from Refinery 29's new SF section. The style in San Francisco is definitely different than in New York, in terms of what you see people wearing out and about on the street. Lots more color (obviously hah), and a little more relaxed / messy. I like it. I think looks 4 and 5 are my favorite, but if I had to choose...I would go with 5.

Look 1 

  Look 2

Look 3

Look 4

Look 5

Look 6

You can find the originals here.

Warm City Nights

Thinking of New York tonight.



Pics from last 4th of July, Lower Manhattan.

Wait...did that just happen?

Maybe I'm just being prudish, but it seems to me that there are a lot more...interesting characters out and about in San Francisco than in New York. Actually, let me rephrase that: It seems to me that I've come across an entirely different cast of characters roaming the streets of San Francisco than I came across in New York. For instance, I wasn't ever yelled at and harassed by a cross-dressing prostitute in NYC. How do I know she (he?) was a...lady of the night? Because she hollered after me for two blocks that she was tired of being a hooker and she used to work for Ike and Tina Turner (...wait, what??) and now she has to chase down men on this street corner so I'd better get out of there! How I ended up in that spot is another interesting observation about San Francisco. One minute I was enjoying Thai food in a reputable establishment, the next minute I made a wrong turn and ended up in 1970's New York. Which brings me to another uncomfortable San Francisco situation: never in New York did I look up to find two people openly...fornicating under a streetlamp. Uhhh...excuse me...let me just slip by you here... AWKWARD CITY!! People who know me (which is probably anyone reading this haha) know that I get embarrassed taking the free samples at Whole Foods, so you can only imagine how mortifying that experience was for me. But people like public nudity here, I guess.

When I first got to San Francisco, I was walking down Market Street when I noticed that three men holding protest signs were causing quite a stir. When they got close enough that camera phones weren't blocking my view, I could see why. I have no idea what they were protesting, but my guess was clothes because all they were wearing was sunglasses. In another incident on Market Street, I was, again, walking along, minding my own business and not making eye contact when a...disturbed individual came up right behind me (I mean thisclose) and let out the most terrifying, animalistic scream I've ever heard. Normally, I don't get too freaked out by mumbling sidewalk dwellers, but that guy caught me by surprise, and I'm pretty sure I screamed back. Anyway, I guess there are undesirable elements to contend with in any city. For the most part, people seem to be much less bizarre here in general - sometimes verging on boring (a little crazy on the morning Muni might help wake me up before work) - and much happier about where they are. I even saw one homeless guy drawing flowers and a lawn on his cardboard sleeping unit. I've also gotten more smiles in the last four months than I did in 24 months in New York, and after readjusting to my old California self (Why is that weirdo smiling at me?? Oh, good morning Mom...) things have been just fine.

Friends

I've really been missing my friends in New York a lot lately, and I'm not just saying that because I'm going to need a place to stay when I visit this summer... Good times, good times.

The last pic was taken by the amazing Judy of ShakeThatBoody.blogspot.com, aka the woman I look up to in all things photography and baking and pester for camera tips every chance I get.

Things Like That

As you may have gathered from my first post below, I've relocated from New York to California. That is to say, I've moved back to California and into a lovely apartment in San Francisco. Leaving NYC was a tough decision, but I think I'm going to really like it here. The fact that it's February and I have the windows and doors open to let in the breeze doesn't hurt, but overall it was just one of those things you know in your gut is right for you. Anyway, I hope this blog can be a fun place where I can post interesting discoveries about the city and share cool pictures and funny stories...like the time I was introduced to the marketing director of the Golden State Warriors and, wanting to make conversation, asked him if that was a professional team. Things like that. Welcome to my life.

Transition

San Francisco is different than New York, and I like that.

Sometimes I notice similarities, though. I like that, too.