A Miracle So-Called NYC

Do yourself a favor. Ride a bike.

2012-01-07T17:00:00.002-05:00

Created by: Healthcare Management Degree

2012: A Golden Year

2011-12-26T21:43:00.000-05:00

"Bah! Humbug!"

I'm in a Dickens phase. It's just coincidental timing with the Holidays that I happen to plunge into Dickens now. I haven't tried any Charles Dickens since he was required reading in High School. I treated myself to a special purchase of books for my birthday, five books by Dickens. The first two I am reading simultaneously, "Pickwick Papers" and "Christmas Books". And I'm really loving them.

I've been hard at work architecting since the first week of December and haven't had a chance to work on any more collages since then, but I will get back to it sometime in January. My New Year's Resolution is to start using gold foiling in my artwork. So many of my books here at home have gold foiling in one form or another and because of my reading habits all of this shimmering gold is constantly in my face, and I love it. It's so warm, for lack of a more poetic word. Fake gold doesn't cut it. Only the real stuff has the magic. I think it would really add a striking touch to my art. And I figure it's a very realistic resolution to have. And a sensible one. And an enjoyable one.

After all, there's no such perfect a kiss as a kiss wrapped in gold.

FINIS

2011-12-06T20:00:00.001-05:00

Finally finished my latest collage, a little self-portrait of the court jester.

Aging Teeth

2011-12-05T13:17:00.001-05:00

I turn 35 today. So I spent the weekend celebrating. Friday night we all went and drank way too much at our favorite haunting spot, Billymark's West, over on 29th and 9th. Then Saturday my friend Jim took me to see Tori Amos at the Beacon Theatre, marking the 10-year anniversary of the first night I ever saw Tori play live, which also happened to be at the Beacon. Of course, we went out drinking again afterwards at a little dive gay bar around the corner from the theatre, where an intimidating drag queen proceeded to accost me. Then on Sunday I headed out to Long Island to spend some time with my Nana. We spent a good couple of hours watching the Spanish channel together, which is a bit strange as neither one of us speaks Spanish. But it was on when I arrived, and she didn't seem to want me to change it, so I let it be.

Needless to say I am still a bit green and achy from the weekend. I can't even bear the thought of whiskey right now. Today I am back at my latest collage, which I haven't touched since last week. Here's a detail shot of a small section of it:

Yes, those are teeth. Aren't they quite beautiful? I wish mine were that sparkly. The collage is coming along nicely, I hope to be done with it by mid week.

Bag of Bones

2011-12-02T10:42:00.000-05:00

This next collage is taking forever! More like a mosaic than a collage. And like I already said it's sort of a round-about self portrait. Kind of. But that's all I'm saying about it. Will hopefully be done with it this weekend sometime...

In the meantime, here's a hint:

I Love You Ms. Mosshart

2011-11-21T18:06:00.000-05:00

I've started working on a new collage. The last several collages I made over the past couple of weeks have all been the same size, 8"x10". So I decided to step it up with this next one, 11"x14". Mostly because I want to go a different direction with this one. I want to steer away from all the strange sci-fi dreamscapes and do something a bit more... head-on. A self-portrait, in a sense. But not literally.

Today I'm obsessing with the voice of the beautiful bombshell Alison Mosshart, lead singer of two great bands, The Dead Weather and The Kills. I'm letting that seductive voice of hers guide me along the colorful stripped-away pieces of this next collage. For her sake I hope it doesn't turn out to be a flop. If it does, I may not be able to listen to her voice ever again.

Goddess of Night

2011-11-17T22:25:00.001-05:00

Today's collage- Nyx in her adyton, preparing to give her next oracle.

It's Architecture. Can't you tell?

2011-11-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

Two more collages from my college years. Two of the first collages I ever made. One of these may be a re-post... sorry if it is.

Equus Ferus

2011-11-10T11:36:00.001-05:00

They're wild. They're horses. And I even think they've got their own planet.

She's Queen of the Universe

2011-11-10T07:30:00.001-05:00

She's intense. She's everywhere. Her lazer-look can turn you to lava. But really, underneath it all, her heart is a jewel-rose, warm and bright, and at the end of the day she's just a pussycat. She's the Queen.

Attention Etsy shoppers!!

2011-11-08T12:18:00.000-05:00

I just put my own storefront up on Etsy. I was going to wait until I had more pieces available that I'd be willing to sell to the general public, but I got antsy. Antsy for Etsy.
So, here it is. Go buy something:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Bonescribe

Now I have to get going on some more collages. Check back soon- I should have at least 2 more done by the end of this week.

A Horse Is A Horse

2011-11-06T11:58:00.002-05:00

Just a little collage I made as a birthday gift for a friend. All the pretty horses...

A Catskill Weekend

2011-11-06T07:23:00.000-05:00

This weekend my family and I headed up to Potter Hollow, way up in the Catskills, to tend to untended family business.

It was such a beautiful day, the sun was warm, the hills were all autumn-rainbows upon unbelievable carpets of green, all capped underneath a cloudless dome of blue. Every time I go up there, all I think is, "I could live here! I want to live here.." But beautiful landscapes and charming farmhouses aside, there's just not much going on up there. If I had a career writing & illustrating children's stories, maybe. But as a starving architect? No.

And finally, finally, after two hectic life-altering years, we finally planted Dad's headstone in the ground, next to Oma and Opa in the picture-perfect Potter Hollow Cemetery at the base of the mountain upon which our family house sits. Our house... which we are desperately trying to sell, in an unsellable market.

College Collage

2011-11-02T13:27:00.000-04:00

In lieu of my traumatic life-flashed-before-my-eyes-bicycle-car crash this morning (I'm ok, I think...), I've decided to post some random collages I made way back in my college years, over 10 years ago. Some of these I think are pretty cool, others I think are... eh, ok. But I like that I'm finally getting back into it, and without the pressure of hovering art class teachers (even though the ones I had were pretty damn cool). Some of these creations were just random esoteric we-think-too-much-because-we're-architecture-students type sci-fi environments, and others were actually used as presentation renderings for a few of my design projects in the architecture studio. My favorite is the little guy in the second collage. He's such a looker. I like to think that he is me.

Monday's collage

2011-11-01T18:27:00.003-04:00

Here's yesterday's collage. I kinda like it.

Friday's collage

2011-11-01T18:19:00.009-04:00

I've decided to bury my sanity in mixed medium. Get ready to see a ton of this shit coming from me over the next several weeks. Like it or dislike it, you might also find me trying to sell it on Etsy. And if you're smart, and a tiny bit cultured, you'll buy a piece or two.

Billymark's West

2010-11-06T08:32:00.002-04:00

Furloughed??! Yup. Oh, so so depressing. It was a sad, sad Tuesday, when it happened. Wednesday made it somewhat brighter, especially when we all went drinking after work at Billymark's West, where I found a "WHY?" written with a black sharpie on the urninal flusher in the men's room. For some reason, seeing that there on that night cheered me up, don't ask me why.

But it did.

Call Me Ishmael

2010-10-18T07:31:00.006-04:00

I'm finally able to take a small break from work soon, which is great. Starting Wednesday I have 5 days off, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm just staying put. Well actually, I'm going whaling.

Figuratively, anyway. I'm going to spend my 5 days off reading Moby-Dick.

I'm suddenly obsessed with whales. Not only obsessed with their size, their beauty, their age, and their intelligence, but also with their horrific un-chosen marriage with the human race.

I'm almost done reading an amazing book by Philip Hoare, called Leviathan: or, The Whale. This book traces our relationship with the whale from the dawn of time until now. It's a heart-wrenching account, a saddening, depressing and enraging read. Hoare's book also examines Melville's Moby-Dick, which is the main reason why I started reading Leviathan to begin with.

I'm about 100 pages into Moby-Dick right now, and the remaining chunk of the book will be my focus during my time off from work. I feel like Moby-Dick is becoming my second Bible, right next to Les Misérables.

Cetaceans are immensely intelligent; the world's largest brain belongs to the sperm whale. Elder whales teach younger whales how to survive, whale groups have culture, they seem to have feeling and emotion, and most impressively, memory. (if an old whale teaches his young whale where the best feeding waters are, is he also teaching his youth how the evil man has hunted him and slaughtered him for hundreds of years? -Probably.) We've just begun to scrape the surface of understanding what really goes on in those massive heads, and we have a long way to go, yet may never get the chance we want because many species of cetaceans stand a good chance of becoming extinct sooner than we can imagine.

I want to get involved with cetacean activism somehow, but I have no idea where to get started. I guess that's my next big task..

Real Books

2010-09-25T16:26:00.003-04:00

Maybe I've reached the point in my life where I start being "old fashioned". If I had children, they would probably be embarrassed by my backwards, yesteryear ways. I would be so uncool in their eyes.

But here's the solid honest-to-God truth: Life as we know it is just becoming too damn "virtual". Too many real things are being replaced by fake impostors, electronic representations of authenticity. That, combined with the lack of procreation control, defines the end of Humanity, and the end of the planet we live on, but let's scrape this iceberg away a millimeter at a time.

Today I'm bitching about present-day literature, actual, physical BOOKS, and ... "things" (for lack of a better word) like the Nook and the iPad.

The book is becoming a virtual thing. I never thought I would live to see it happen in my very own lifetime, but here it is, becoming. It's sad, it's pathetic, it's predictable, it's a crime against Humanity.

And it's ruining the publishing industry. It's ruining our education. It's ruining our intellect. It's ruining everything related to books, reading, and learning.

And all I really wanted to do was blog about To Kill A Mockingbird!! Here's what I get for drinking before 4:00pm.

Anyway, as anyone with half a brain knows, nothing significantly worth reading has been published in quite a very long time. The plague that brought the recording industry to its death has finally found it's sleazy way to the publishing company. Anyone can write. Anyone can publish. Anyone can read. (careful, Kurt, careful...)

What am I trying to say? What I am trying to say is... Nothing beats real paper. Nothing beats real binding. You can't hold an electronic device that's a rough 1/4" thick and expect to experience Les Miserables the way anyone who's read the actualy physical BOOK has read it. Its very weight as an object ads to the experience. The process of printing, the font, the cover design (no, you cannot judge a book by it's cover - but yes, you can appreciate fine art craftsmanship!), the kind of paper, the texture of the paper, the quality of the binding itself, none of this you get in a Nook-like device. There is most definitely something to be said for a beautifully made BOOK. When you read an amazing story that feels amazing in your hands and beholds amazingly in your eyes, nothing else matters!

OK??

There's something in all of this that I'm just not able to communicate here. But if you have half a brain then you should be able to piece all this together and guess what I am getting at.

I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird right now. I haven't read it since that grade school class a very long time ago, when I was required to read it. Now that I am not required to read it, now that I've got more life in me and more brain cells filled up and wasted, I can finally appreciate this book for what it is - pure genius.

What can I say? I'm not articulate and I am lazy. But walk into any bookstore right now and all you see are teenage vampires, two dimensional crime mysteries and a whole lotta crap. I can't remember the last new piece of fiction I read and thought, "This is destined to become a classic."

And maybe my memory just sucks. But that's how I feel.

So I've decided to stop all this nonsense, and go back to all the classics. In these books, in these REAL BOOKS, written by REAL AUTHORS, with REAL PURPOSE, I find my own REAL HUMANITY.

Leather binding. Black ink on white paper. The smell. The touch. The weight. The story. The imagination. For now on, only the classics for me. I am a hard core bibliophile, and proud of it.

First Tri Over and Done

2010-08-01T17:16:00.009-04:00

Got out of bed this morning at 3:30am to get ready for my first triathlon, the NY Road Runners 2010 Sprint Triathlon at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

We left home around 4:20am and got to the park around 5:45am, got everything all set up in the transition area, got suited up, numbered, and ready to race.

I probably jumped into the pool around 7:20ish, and an hour and twenty minutes later I crossed the finish line. It was a 400m swim, 13 mile bike ride, and 5K run.

My swim was good, the ride was ok, and the run was super slow. But, all in all it took me about as long as I estimated. Out of the grand total of 434 triathletes I placed 68th, and in my age group (30-34) I placed 10th out of 51 triathletes. All in all, not bad for my first race. A lot could have been better, a lot could have been worse, but most importantly I finished, and I finished running.

I've spent the remainder of today horizontal and resting in front of the TV, overcome with fatigue, aches and pains. But the weirdest part is I actually want to do it all again.

Happy July 5th!

2010-07-05T16:55:00.005-04:00

Am I alive? I think so. Yesterday is a mad blur, a smudge on my otherwise-faultless memory. I made my infamous mojitos for everyone who came by, and from that point on, the moment the sinful concoction touched my lips, I don't really remember one goshdarn thing. Today I pay the price, with bottomless cups of coffee, cold water, and aspirin.

Needless to say I basically took yesterday and today off from my tri training. I actually intended to head to the pool for an easy swim this afternoon, but I think the Y is actually closed today. I'll have to make up for it over the next couple of days, combining daily workouts double-time to make up for the loss. My poor achy body!

My apartment is also finally back to normal since Will moved in last weekend. I was having my doubts, but after a solid week of unpacking and rearranging everything, it does actually seem like this might work out. Anyone who'd walk into this place today would think we've been living together forever. And it actually even feels that way to me, but in a good way.

I drove up to Potter Hollow on Tuesday, on the one-year anniversary of my Dad's passing. It was a pretty intense day and I don't want to write about it, but while I was up there I spent some time at our family house, which was recently put on the market. We aren't very satisfied with the photos the realtor took, so I took my own and sent them off to my Mom, who will in turn forward them to the realtor for use on their website. Once the photos get on there I'll spread the link around to see if it can catch more interest from potential buyers. But for now, here's a couple of the photos I took. It was a beautiful, perfect summer day, and the photos required very little retouching to bring out just how perfect a day it was, and how amazing the property really is. For my Mom's sake, I hope the estate sells soon, and I hope it gets bought by good people.

I blog??

2010-06-20T13:57:00.003-04:00

Well, I haven't blogged since Easter weekend. Why? 1) Because I'm usually too busy/lazy to, and 2) no one reads this anyway, so why bother?

Regardless, I'm blogging today for the sheer heck of it.
I've decided to kill myself. Well, not really, not exactly. But pretty darn close. I've decided to take a stab at triathlons. It's about time. I've been talking about doing them for years now, and I always said I would give it a go some time in my 30's. I was always saying that in my 20's, but now I'm 33 and I can't really put it off anymore. I feel like I was too young and too undisciplined to make this kind of physical (and financial) commitment in my 20's. I can't really say I'm all that much more disciplined and financially well-off now than I was in my 20's, but if I put this off any longer I'll be a white-haired old man riding around in a speedo on a bike. And that would just be embarrassing (I think).
So, I bought myself a hot new tri bike, some super-hero-looking outfits, and a really helpful super-cool tri coach. And I went ahead and signed up for the NYRR Sprint Triathlon on August 1st, 2010. I was going to train for a year before trying any races, but I realized, along with Lisa'a prodding, that I really am already in good enough shape to start doing sprint triathlons. Do I ever want to do Ironman? I don't think so. It just seems so bad on the body, like running the NYC Marathon. Just ask any doctor how bad it actually is for you. No, no. I think my goal will be to get good enough to compete in Olympic-distance triathlons: 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run. What I'll be doing on August 1st will just be a mere tiny little 400 m swim, 12 mile bike, and 5 k run.

Oops.. time to change buses. Will write more later.. (maybe)

Happy Colorful Egg Day!

2010-04-04T23:22:00.002-04:00

Dream Hood

2010-03-28T16:33:00.006-04:00

I guess it was perhaps three weekends ago that Jamie, Will and I went for a stroll through a warm, sunny Forest Hills over in Queens. I go there once or twice a year. I've got family there we usually see on Christmas. I've always loved Forest Hills, and if money weren't an issue I'd move there in a heart beat. Maybe one day I will. Who knows. It's just really, really beautiful. The houses are old and amazing, the streets are clean and perfect, the trees are big, the grass is green, and the best part is that it's such a beautiful neighborhood that's really close to Manhattan. But that, combined with just how amazing the houses are, is what makes it such an expensive place to live. One day...

A guy can dream, can't he?

That's it for now. Hmm... maybe I'll actually have the TIME to blog again sometime during this week??

Pants On Fire!

2010-03-20T21:39:00.002-04:00

OK, I lied. No blog last weekend. And no real one this weekend either. Unless I get an hour of free time sometime tomorrow night before Monday begins, which I highly doubt.

I go from having all the free time in the world to none in 0 seconds. It's all a whirlwind, yo. Don't ever start a blog right before starting a new job! It just ... won't... work.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

2010-03-10T23:03:00.002-05:00

WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK!!!!!!

Sorry. No free time makes Kurt a dull Blog Boy. But employment is such a welcome treat.

Alas, I shall blog THIS WEEKEND.

Ah, Moon... Arkhitekton!

2010-02-28T21:22:00.002-05:00

!- WISH ME LUCK TOMORROW -!

A Black-Feathered Frost

2010-02-27T10:54:00.004-05:00

I admit I was never a fan of Robert Frost. But then, I seemed never to care much for any of the writers who were required reading in grade school. It may have been because it just wasn't 'cool' to actually like your required readings. Or maybe it was because Frost was just too close to home? Maybe I always thought that nothing that takes place (or took place) within a 20 mile radius of my New Hampshire childhood house could possibly be worth any real interest? But I just realized that I never gave poor Mr. Frost a second chance, since grade school, to win me over.

And here I am, 33 years old, in one of the largest, busiest cities in the world, 5 hours away from New England, 240 miles away from that simple, beautiful Robert Frost Farm in Derry NH. Here I am, homesick for New England. Here I am, claiming to have a thing for poetry.

And I've never given him a second chance.

We just got buried up to our necks in one of the biggest snowfalls I've seen in a very, very long time. I was sitting all bundled up on the subway last night, drunk, on my way home from a night out with my friend Roger, and I looked up on the wall of the subway car and noticed a poem (part of the MTA's 'Poetry In Motion' project), and I read the lines and immediately felt incredibly touched, emotional, and I instantly longed for New England. And then I looked to see who the writer is, and I was surprised to see that it's Robert Frost! And then I re-read the poem a few times, and I thought to myself, "Well duh. Of course it's him. Who else would end a poem with the words '...of a day I had rued'?" And so now, one of my new tasks is to rediscover Robert Frost.

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Ghost Poem

2010-02-25T18:01:00.005-05:00

There are poems that never make it anywhere. They don't get thrown away, they don't get burned, they don't make it to heaven or hell. They are bound to me, haunting me, reminding me of my quirky unstable emotional wardrobe.

A bunch of years ago, some friends and I got together and made a book. It's called 'Ghost On The Highway". In a nutshell, it contains a short story about Alice, the one everyone knows about in Wonderland. But it's about her AFTER she got beheaded.

The story was written by my dear friend, Heather Hutsell. It's a pretty interesting tale, and interlaced within that tale from start to finish are random-but-not-so-random poems, sort of like little seizures, or strokes, which were written by me and two others- Ed Walters and Roxanne Nihiline. Each poem, and each chapter, are conceptual 'exits' off of the highway of the tale. And that's basically the only structure, however random, of the book.

I have no idea how many people know about that book, or have bought it, or have read it, or whatever. I don't really care, either. Our goal was to share with our friends something joyous that we all have in common- that being writing. We don't claim to be any good. We just claim to be a bit nuts. You can check it out by clicking here.

Anyway, here's one of my ghost poems. It was one of a few poems I wrote specifically with Hutsell's tale in my mind, but it actually didn't make it into the book. It, like so many others, is a reject, thus making it a ghost poem, haunting my mind.

Red Cap & Beard

2010-02-24T19:12:00.005-05:00

ok ok OK! I've been slacking!

I'm feeling like "Gnomes" by Rien Poortvliet and Wil Huygen should be required reading for all. Why?? Because gnomes are perfect citizens!

They don't destroy the world around them, they live in perfect harmony with nature, they co-exist with all animals, they keep to themselves and don't bother anybody, they're really super smart and super talented, they make everything by hand, they don't over-populate the world, they live super simple lives, and on top of all that, they're cute as a button.

All this "Green" stuff we're trying to do now? They've been doing it, since the beginning. All this poverty and war nonsense we're addicted to? Not even an issue in the world of the Gnome. They may only be 6" tall, but they're way larger than we'll ever be- in terms of love, compassion, harmony, respect and balance. They're a perfect role model for Humanity.

All kidding aside, if you've never read this book, you HAVE TO. You will be inspired. I guarantee it.

The End of A Six Month Depression

2010-02-19T23:56:00.002-05:00

Indeed, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! It's a JOB, and it's all mine..

The Next of Kin

2010-02-17T14:25:00.008-05:00

I get frustrated whenever I think about just how much computers do in our world. And no matter how many different angles I approach it from, I can't help but think that our computers, our technology, will inevitably be our downfall.

Maybe I'm just bitter because the architecture industry, the industry I'm trying to make it in, is completely overrun with computers. No one drafts by hand anymore. 'Blueprints' don't exist. You don't even need to know how to draw by hand anymore. Which in a nutshell means that you really don't even need the ability to think in three dimensions to be an architect. Why? Because today we're letting the computers do all the thinking (and drawing) for us!

Go take a stroll around Manhattan, look at all the new buildings that have been built within the last twenty years or so. Do they look more like they were designed by humans? Or do they actually look more like they were designed by... dare I say... computers?!

Computers were invented to make life easier for us. But it's all gotten to the point that not only do they make our lives easier, but they also do our thinking for us. What does this mean for the future? We know what's next: Androids. Computers that not only think like us, but also look like us. But- Will they be good?

Or will they be bad?

And will they completely replace us all together? Or exist as our slaves?

Is a race really a race if it was created by humans? Or can a race only be a race if it was created by Mother Nature? And will that new man-made race have rights? Or, are we simply heading towards a future of new slavery? And will that lead us to war with our own creations?

Better yet- Will we know when to draw the line for computers? Will we have enough control to prevent ourselves from being wiped out by whatever we create??

Is the human so lazy that our extinction will be brought about by our laziness?
I think about that every single time I open up this damn Revit program on my computer.

A Miracle So-Called 'Battlestar Galactica'

2010-02-15T18:28:00.009-05:00

I can't NOT blog about this. I just can't. I've been obsessively watching "Battlestar Galactica" for months now. I can't stop! Why? Because. Simply, it's one of the most brilliant, intense, poetic, rich, humanistic, genius series ever put on television. That's why. I dare say it's right up there neck-to-neck with the genius of Gene Rodenberry's 'Star Trek'.

It transcends its genre, "Sci-Fi". It's so much more than that. It's intense drama, pure and simple. It examines the human condition, and the path we've taken as an evolutionary technological race. It is great art in its purest form, it is creative story-telling at its best. It is a bold mirror, held up to the face of Us.

It offers a fresh take on terrorism, religion, gender, abortion, civil liberty, democracy and corporatization and how it all affects society as a whole. It's symbolic, obviously, of everything we are living through today, even though thr storyline takes place in a futuristic context. It is the future, yes, but a very NEAR and BELIEVABLE future. It is a political allegory. It is a bold statement of love, pain, redemption, salvation, and hope.

It's about real people, flawed people, who are all suddenly forced into extreme situations where everyone must do whatever they can to rise above their own demons in order to survive and help everyone around them survive, so that the human race can continue.

And of course, it's about the very point of existence, the meaning of life. It's about what makes us all Human. Battlestar Galactica's concept, it's mission statement, is a tough one, damn near impossible, almost unachievable. But it measures up, and more. It not only delivers the Human Condition, it over-delivers. It gives you what any great television series should- It gives you mind-food. And that's why you don't even have to be a sci-fi geek to love it.

If you haven't given it a shot, you're definitely missing out big-time. That's all I can say.

I'm leaving you today with a piece from the series soundtrack, which, by itself, is every bit as amazing as the series it was composed for- composed by the incredibly talented Bear McCreary:

Be Mine

2010-02-14T17:46:00.004-05:00

It's the day of love.. and here's a poem I wrote this morning for MY true love-

The Two

A bloom of red, a bright singing touch,

A timeline, a life, a movement

Bipolar energy. The neutron and the cosmic

Universe, the 'you and I'

Of the two.

The magnetic field of two stray cats

Never betraying the orbital dance

The coldest winter streets are the warmest

Heart beats,

Between the two,

Between the two.

The independent halves of a greater whole,

The gravity, the chaos, the blood-red soul,

The purring embryonic pathway

Of a feline dream.

The orbital, the negative, the positive

A painted bloodstream

Together they burn

The electric charge,

The ending undone

Burning so brightly,

Together as one.

This is 'Romeo and Juliet' by Frank Bernard Dicksee.

Don't I look good in green??

Architecture On Life Support

2010-02-12T17:13:00.005-05:00

It seems to me like the most out-of-work industry in America right now is the architecture industry. Apparently it's a small field of only a couple of hundred thousand people at best, and among them, an estimated 50,000 are out of work. According to the New York Times, the architecture industry as a whole is facing over 40% unemployment. But I'm willing to bet that here in New York City, it's a lot more like 60%.

As my friend Roger always likes to say to me, "See that homeless guy over there? He used to be an architect."

When is it all gonna turn around? Soon, I hope. Or else I'm gonna have to start asking for change.

Alexander The Great

2010-02-11T13:25:00.005-05:00

I don't quite know how to do a blogospheric 'moment of silence', but.. well, I just want to somehow insert a moment of silence here for Alexander McQueen, who just committed suicide.

I personally think he was one of the greatest fashion designers who ever existed. I've never been a big fashion person. And if my boyfriend himself wasn't a fashion designer, I definitely wouldn't pay it as much attention as I do today.

But in all honesty, it was Alexander McQueen, and Alexander McQueen alone, who made me think that Fashion was worth any of my attention. He had a brilliant, genius way of completely redefining the human being in an insane, artistic, creative, organic, cosmic, animalistic, ethereal, gutsy way. There's really no way to say it, other than... When you saw his creations, no matter who you are, no matter what industry you are in, no matter where your interests lie, if you saw an Alexander McQueen creation, you immediately stopped whatever you were doing, physically and mentally, and just..... stared at it. And thought, "Wow. This is a human being. I had no idea.." His creations were timeless, iconic. There was something God-like and anciently monumental about what he made. You see a McQueen creation, and you want to get down on your hands and knees and.. I don't know what- pray, perhaps? Sing? Scream? Cry? Rejoice? Gasp? All of the above?

Well, he's gone, and he's never coming back.
Fashion Industry, be still. Be silent. You're all alone now.

Inspiration

2010-02-10T16:44:00.004-05:00

Every now and then I'll let one of my pictures influence / inspire one of my poems. And vise versa too. Here's an example:
The poem is very abstract, as it is meant to be. One of my favorite places in the whole wide world is the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I have a whole series that I shot in that cemetery, and one of them is this image below:

It's hard to figure out what that is, but it's actually a headstone. Not your traditional design, obviously. It was made out of metal, probably aluminum. It was very sculptural and I stood there moving about it for a good many minutes before shooting it. And if you look closely at the picture, you'll see that it's actually an abstracted doorway, partially open. Now, if you want, go back and reread my poem, and see how I let this image inspire me. And now the poem may also not seem so abstract, but rather a lot more literal.

Cemeteries always put me in a pleasant, relaxed mood. I don't find them depressing at all. Or sad. I just find them amazingly peaceful, beautiful, timeless. If you like to haunt cemeteries like I do, I fully recommend a trek to Mount Auburn Cemetery! You can learn more about it here on Wikipedia.

I haven't written a whole lot of poetry over the past two years, because a lot of other things have been going on inside my head that don't particularly translate well to poetry. But there are other things I want to try out, and soon you may... MAY start seeing/hearing some of those things here on this blog.

That's it for now. I'll close with a photo I took outside my house this morning during the beginning of this massive snow storm we're getting here today in Brooklyn:

Oh, Bones!

2010-02-09T18:31:00.009-05:00

I'm in what feels like an eternal job hunt. This economy is a sick dog that doesn't seem to be recovering very quickly. There are prospects, but none of them are immediate. It's a waiting process. I'm standing in a long line, awaiting my turn, and it's about nearly as aggravating as waiting in line during Christmas shopping!

I've been joking with my friends, saying that I'm considering placing myself into cryogenic stasis until the economy becomes well again. And that, of course, got me started thinking about what it would actually be like to BE in cryogenic stasis. It's almost like being a mummy, but a living mummy. And that's really cool! And then that of course got me thinking about mummies, and tombs, and all the Religious implications of all of that (including the obvious Religious implications of cryogenic stasis), and THAT all got me thinking about. . . . .

The Capuchin Crypt!!

If you've never heard of it before, the Capuchin Crypt is underneath the Capuchin Church in Rome, and is the final resting place for over 4,000 Capuchin friars who died between 1528 and 1870, as well as several poor Romans.The soil in the crypt was brought over from Jerusalem. The thing that's so freakin' fascinating about this crypt is that every inch of it is completely decorated with bones! And THAT is another thing that connects my interest to the Capuchin Crypt- in a certain way, it is "bone architecture". Cool, right? Yes, right! Just look at this stuff:

Even the chandeliers are made from bones!

And check out this dude on the ceiling:

I wonder if they got to pick what to wear for eternity?

This one picture is my favorite one of them all, but I can't seem to find a hi-res version anywhere:

It just amazes me. Eventually sometime before I die I will make it to Rome, and while I am there I will definitely stop by the Capuchin Crypt to say "Hi!" to all the friars there. Nathaniel Hawthorne apparently favored the place- so much that he even set a climactic scene in The Marble Farm in the Cemetery of the Capuchins. And if it's cool enough for Hawthorne, it's cool enough for me.

Marcel Breuer

2010-02-08T15:45:00.023-05:00

"Avatar" was definitely breathlessly amazing! It didn't feel like I was watching a movie. It felt more like I was experiencing... something. I can't nail it down. But it was definitely worth seeing! I think everyone needs to see it, even if sci-fi ain't your thing. James Cameron created another world, literally. It deserves the highest praise ever.

OK. ..

I have Marcel Breuer on my mind today. He's one of my favorite architects. And here he is. Ain't he dashing??

I suppose here in New York he's most well-known for the Whitney Museum:

His furniture designs are extremely popular, but I personally prefer his buildings. Very few architects were true masters of concrete. And he was one of them. Check this out- Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota:

And anyone who's traveled back and forth between New England and New York on a regular basis will recognize this unique object in New Haven Connecticut, the Armstrong Building, now owned (and defaced) by the satan-on-earth company, IKEA:

And finally, another local gem here in NYC (and one of my top 10 favorite buildings ever), Begrisch Hall at Bronx Community College:

The Golden Boy

2010-02-06T22:10:00.011-05:00

OK. Today's blog is really, really pointless. But, what can I say? Today was a pointless day.

With 9 Oscar nominations, I have finally decided it's time to go see "Avatar". I really hated "Titanic" with a passion, for my own solid reasons which anyone who's ever talked to me about movies knows about. I am fully expecting "Avatar" to be worth ALL the hype. And if it doesn't measure up, I'm going to throw in the towel on James Cameron. I am, after all, a complete sci-fi snob. My standards are super SKY-HIGH.

Tomorrow is also Superbowl Sunday, so I suppose it's also an appropriate day for a big blockbuster movie like "Avatar".

And then....... on March 5th is...... "Alice In Wonderland"!!

I don't worship many people, but Tim Burton is one of the few on my list who I do worship.

(that, above, is how I feel quite often.)

Invisible

2010-02-05T23:35:00.003-05:00

Maybe I shouldn't be blogging right now. It's late. I'm tipsy. And I'm a little perturbed. All an artist wants is to be noticed, right? What aggravates an artist the most? Invisibility? I'm willing to bet on that.

Invisibility. That's what I'm feeling tonight. And I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.

I just want to be seen. Noticed. Acknowledged. You feel me? Good.

I'm going to bed now. And you should too. Here's some awesome Peaches to tuck you in tight.

Time Travel

2010-02-04T16:58:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking of my family a lot since last weekend. My father, in particular. He passed away back in July. As I exist now, trying to find work, trying to repair my career and my life, there are many moments when I wish I could call him up on the phone and ask him for his advice. Lori and I talked about it last week. She said it's like he's on a long vacation or something, and doesn't have a phone with him. It's torture, feeling like he's out there, somewhere, but no matter what I do, there's no way to reach him.

He had a long battle with cancer. It all began back in 2004. Over the past five or so years there've been countless treatments, countless in's-and-out's at the hospital, countless scares, countless me-hopping-on-a-bus-and-rushing-up-to-NH-as-soon-as-possible. It was always frustrating and hard for me, being 5 hours away, but my home is here, in NYC. My life is here. My career is/was here. My boyfriend and all of my friends are here. I always refused to feel guilty about living this far from him. But those mad dashes up there all the time really had a way of drawing out every single little emergency that he had. -made each event seem a lot longer than it really was.

Anyway, I recently dug up a poem I wrote back in 2008. I actually hadn't read it over again since way back before he died. So, reading it now, postmortem... well, it just sort of put it all in a new perspective for me.

Anyway, here it is:
That's it. Quick blog for today.

Beautiful Neighbors

2010-02-03T10:20:00.017-05:00

I have many favorite buildings here in the area where I live in Brooklyn. These are two of my favorites- The first is the famous Broken Angel House, on 4/6 Downing Street near Quincy. Broken Angel House used to be a lot bigger and bolder, but even as a ruin, you still get a sense of its beauty:

Click here to read about the amazing history of Broken Angel House on Wikipedia.

This next house is just 3 blocks away from Broken Angel House, on Saint James Pl. I wish I knew who the architect was, but just look at the incredible details & craftsmanship here! So, so stunning, and impeccably maintained:

Just look at those door hinges!

Two buildings to the left of it (not shown) are sister houses and are practically identical to it, but their condition is not nearly as great as that of 183.

It appears as though the basement level is one living unit, with the upper three floors as another whole separate unit. How I would love to see the interior! I drool every time I look at this house. Haha!

Everyone's A Photographer

2010-02-02T09:45:00.013-05:00

Photographers, like lawyers, like architects, like graphic designers, are a dime a dozen these days. Anyone can take a picture, mess around with it in Photoshop, and proclaim themselves a professional. I myself do that. At first I wasn't going to let this blog be about my photography, but, well, shoot.. I'm damn proud of what I do! So there. Pride. It will always be my downfall. So this morning right here right now I'm going to show you a few personal favorites of mine. I'm really only doing this to remind myself that I've got a photography book on the back burner that I am SUPPOSED to be finishing up in all this down-time I have, and if I am not careful, it will fall by the wayside and never get done.

Anyway, these first two are detail shots I took while hiking near a friend's house at Lake Tahoe about two years ago.
This one I took during a visit to Alcatraz:

I took this next one while on a lengthy tour of California with my friend Sascha- the Watts Towers in Los Angeles, by Sabato Rodia:

While on that same tour, we also made a stop at Malibu. I took this shot from the pier:

And now, back to New York. These next three are from a few fashion shoots I did for Will McLeod's Spring/Summer 2010 clothing line:

And finally, a little teaser for the book I'm working on:

Lick My Legs

2010-02-01T20:53:00.000-05:00

This here is a quicky today, just because I haven't been at the computer much and my brain hasn't been able to focus on any specific topics worth blogging about. And it didn't help much that today felt more like a Sunday than a Monday. As a rule I don't blog on Sundays, and all day long I kept thinking, "Nice that I don't have to blog today!" But then, I kept remembering what day it REALLY was. Blonde moment on repeat, I guess.

But... speaking of repeat, PJ Harvey has been popping up in my ipod shuffle a lot today, so why not pay her a lil' tribute here? I have no choice. Girl's on my mind!

Here's a really great video of her playing on Leno way back in 1993 when her "Rid of Me" album just came out:

Look how young she is here! In a way, her youthful & somewhat innocent appearance just adds to the intensity of that performance. To this day, "Rid of Me" is still one of my top favorite songs.

And another great PJ song, "A Perfect Day Elise":

And finally, just because she is so fracking incredible, here's "Man-Size":

That's all folks. Enjoy your evenings. And see you tomorrow - I promise it will be worth your while!

The Afterlife

2010-01-30T13:21:00.002-05:00

I think about the afterlife a lot. What happens to us when we die? Do we vanish into oblivion? Or do we continue, in some other form?

Recently seeing these pictures of Donatella Versace at a beach instantly made me think of Damien Hirst. Just imagine what he could do with her! Both before and after death! If she was smart, she'd get in with him now while there's still time. I mean, just look at her. He'd have a field day!

Still not convinced? Not reminded of anything? Hmm...

OK, got it? I mean, yuck. Just look at her. All she needs is her own big tub of formaldehyde. And with Hirst's name on the tag, she'd be worth a heck of a lot more than she is right now. -much like his "For The Love of God", below, which sold for $100,000,000:

And if no one wants to spend that much on Ms. Versace (I sure the heck wouldn't), maybe that popular traveling show we all know about would want her? I just have a bad feeling that she'll look even worse with all that sagging orange leathery skin off.

I somehow doubt Jacques Fabien Gautier d'Agoty would have touched Donatella with a 10 foot pole, though. Because no matter how much work she gets done, no matter how brilliant Damien Hurst could make her, she'll never, ever be THIS beautiful:

A Few Random Things

2010-01-29T09:11:00.012-05:00

I went to see the Bauhaus exhibit at MoMA a couple of days ago, which made me dig up this old sketch I did almost 10 years ago of The Bauhaus by Walter Gropius:
Here's something by Gareth Pugh, who's my favorite menswear designer:

And keeping with my being random, here's something incredible by Robert Beatty called 'artwork for Burning Star Core, Challenger 1p, back':

And finally, today, here's one of my collages. It's unnamed, but that doesn't mean I never loved it:
Oh, and really finally, a really cool video for Alexander McQueen's Spring-Summer 2010 Mens Presentation, directed by David Sims, a British fashion photographer:

The Bandwagon

2010-01-28T22:26:00.010-05:00

Finally, just enough people have encouraged me to do this. Finally, I have started my own blog. Personally I think all blogs are incredibly silly, no matter how serious they may appear. A blog is a blog, which means that anyone can publish anything they want. Anyway, you know what I'm getting at. There's no filtering system. Which I guess is good, as far as freedom of speech is concerned. But it's also bad, because there's a whole lotta nonsense out there.

Anywhoo, here's a few things I felt like showing you. They make me feel good. They inspire me. When I look at them, somewhere inside each of them I find an echo of a little bloody reflection of me. And that, I like.

Harry Clarke's 'Upon The Bed'

The Old Town Bar near Union Square

Pierre Auguste Cot's 'Springtime'

The Standard Hotel in New York City by Todd Schliemann of Polshek Partnership Architects

Odilon Redon 'The Smiling Spider'