Love, Peace, and Freedom

The image says it all. I love New York.

Change and Growth: Individual, Friends, Community

New York City will never be complete. There will always be the endless cycle of construction, demolition, reconstruction, renovation, and then demolition over and over again. In this way, the city ensures that it keeps its self alive. It is ever changing, and constantly able to keep up with its people and its time.

People change in this way, as well. Taking a look back at the person I was five years ago reveals a drastically different identity from the one I hold now. Is that bad, though? I've been changed by both positive and negative influences over the past few years, but it's not the change of the individual that concerns me, right now. I've noticed that my friends and I changed together. We all developed as almost a cohesive unit. It's strange, I think. It shows how much influence people have over each other.

Think back to five years ago. What kind of person were you? Were you the same as you are, now? Are your friends from then the same friends you have, today? If so, what are they like? If not, have you found new friends who better compliment your changed persona? This group mentality intrigues me. It's showing me the extreme difficulty which comes with trying to really be one's self.

Manhattan NY, and the Auto Show

I went to the NY Auto Show, this Saturday, with a couple of grease monkey friends of mine. As per usual, there were some nice cars set up, but this was not nearly as enjoyable as last year's. The weather was odd, that day, with a mix of rain and sun, but the clear moments made for some nice photo ops. I like the pictures I was able to take, outside of the show, more than the ones of the cars themselves. Here's one I took while walking back to the cars (that we drove there), from the Javitz Center.

It's a beautiful day!

The weather, today, was amazing! Despite a misty start, the rest of the day cleared up and made for a really fun trip to the city. Carrie gave me a nice tour of the lower east side, which I really needed since I've never really explored below 14th street. Thai food and mojitos rounded out the day, and I picked up a new book, World War Z. Should make for an interesting read. Sorry this is such a poorly written post. I'm trying to cook and type at the same time. A terrible idea, in retrospect.

This is my Milwaukee

My Family Tree. If you have no idea wtf I'm talking about, sorry! I'll be back to making sense tomorrow.

Women, and why I don't understand them.

A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around so much. She sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, "You're a really nice guy, but I don't like you in that way." This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying, "You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired."

-I have no idea whose words they are, but they ring a pitch of perfect truth. Just felt I'd put that out there. Picture: COMPLETELY unrelated, as it is my dessert. I knew what I wanted.

Almost ready to move on...

So I'm almost ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. In June I graduate from Kingsborough (not like this is a huge accomplishment, but I'm still proud of myself) and get to decide where I go, next. I've applied to a handfull of CUNY four-year colleges, of which I'm hoping most to get into John Jay. It looks like I'm going to be going into Criminal Justice, after all. I'll be taking the NYPD Police Academy Entrance Exam soon, and depdneding on how I do with that, I'll have to decide if I want to go for my BA, or go straight to the academy. It's a big decision, and I'll have to think it over thoroughly before I choose my path. Attached is a picture I took with my iPhone of the Eastern shore of Kingsborough's campus. I was between sections of the CPE (CUNY's graduation exam) and spotted the scene. I really wish I had had my camera.

So, it's been a while.

Hello, Blog! Sorry I've been gone for so long. The start of the new semester has been really hectic, and I've just been completely swamped with work. I'm here now, though! I promise! To show you how much I care, here's a picture from this weekend. It's not artistic, but it's of my friends. Sadly not everyone who I would have liked to attend was able to make it out to Jersey with us, but Megan's birthday was still a blast. Granted ... I missed out on the very end of it, but that's a different story all together.

American Museum of Natural History

Hello, readers! Today I went into Manhattan to go to the American Museum of Natural History with my friend, Paola. I haven't seen her in over a year, so it was very nice to catch up on things. I had employee passes, and we were able to access the entire museum, and most of the shows, for free. Our first stop was the Butterfly Exhibit, a 90-degree indoor tent, packed with flowers, plants, and butterflies. It was quite a nice sight, and I got most of the day's photos while there. If anything, this has increased my interest in outdoor / wildlife photography. Once the rain and cold weather let up, hopefully I can explore this field more in the parks, zoos, and gardens around the city.

Next!

So, this whole dating thing is pretty fun, once you decide not to take things too seriously. Going out when ever I have a free evening just to have a good time- not necessarily looking for a relationship, but just looking to have fun, is awesome. Why I didn't do this before is beyond me. I guess I didn't really know what I was looking for.
Any way, less about my personal life, more about photography! I've been taking my camera with me to school, recently, since the weather isn't incredibly cold. This is a shot out one of the windows of the academic cluster at KCC, looking out across the water. There's actually a beach back there, behind the trees, and under all that snow. Yes, there's a beach on my school's campus. Awesome, no?

Load up on guns, bring your friends...

Oh New York, I love you so much. I went out today, with no real purpose, simply to get out of the house. I didn't meet up with anyone I knew, I just went out on my own. I was walking down Madison Avenue when I realized how much I love this city. No matter how down I'm feeling, whenever I just go out for a walk through Manhattan, I feel like I'm so at home that nothing else matters. I live and breathe New York. This city is what keeps me alive. In the past I've thought about going away to college, and with my transfer coming up next semester I was seriously considering it. But, you know what? I couldn't do it. I know I wouldn't be happy. I love New York, and simply can't see myself living anywhere else now.
I do, however, need to fix this complete boring life I've been having. I need a partner in crime, a sidekick, or even an apprentice. Someone to come with me for my little adventures. Sure, I have a few really good friends, but even if they'd like to, they can't be around very much. I could also use a girlfriend. Speaking of which, that hunt is going pretty poorly. Someone told me my standards are too high, but I doubt that, and I refuse to lower them.
Sadly, I don't have a picture to attach here. I wish I had some nice night shots of the city, but I haven't taken any yet. It's been too cold. Today would have been perfect, but of course I didn't think to bring my camera downtown with me. Oh, well. It's going to rain tomorrow. I guess I'll try for the weekend.
Goodnight, readers. Adieu.

[This post brought to you during Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit]

I have to be productive.

Tomorrow is my first *true* day off, for the mid-winter break. Honestly, this is making me feel like high school is here all over, again. Any way, I HAVE to be productive, this week, and I think I've figured out how.

Monday I'm paying a visit to the American Museum of Natural History, and taking my camera along, to try and get some shots of the awesome exhibits, there. While I'm in the city, I may take a look around for somewhere else to shoot, as well.

Tuesday is Mardi Gras, and that night a coworker of mine is having a benefit celebration at The_Underscore on 89th & 1st. It's a $30 cover fee, but from 7-10 there is free food and an open bar. Bands will be playing till 1:00. This should be a good chance for me to get some nice indoor shots, and some shots of the bands.

Wednesday is the first day of the week Woolman Rink is open until 10:00. I think I'll use that chance to take some shots of the skaters, as Wednesday is also going to be an awesomely beautiful day.

The second half of the week? Who knows!? I haven't planned that far ahead, just yet. So, now, here's where this whole blogging thing REALLY becomes Web2.0. For the 3-4 people who actually read this thing, and the 1-2 who sometimes comment here, want to tag along with me for any of my fun little adventures? Have any suggestions for activities to set up during the second half of the week? Drop a comment and let me know!

Friday in a Nutshell

Yesterday the old crew from Hunter College was united. I met these two within my first few weeks of Freshman year, and we used to hang out almost every day. Since then, we've all switched schools, and Victoria has moved upstate, with her boyfriend. It's nice having the whole group together, again.

Nighttime Entertainment

Here's a bit of my night time entertainment. I fall asleep almost every night, with my book and my laptop by my side. Currently, I'm reading the Zombie Survival Guide, which I bought the last time I went out with Carrie. I have to say that this, plus my previous experience with the undead through movies and video games has me pretty prepared for Z-Day. I'm confident that I could survive anything up to and probably including a Class-2 outbreak, with ease, and with a little luck and a lot more preparation, I can definitely survive a Class-3 as well. Although saving my friends is not part of my survival plan, there are definitely a few people who I am very close to, who I'd be willing to risk my life to rescue. You know who you are!

Any way, time to lay down and get comfy. Until tomorrow, Blogger!

Insomniac

I've got three hours of sleep in the past two days. It's crunch time, for finals, and school is killing me. Of course, during my breaks between books and essays I'm taking time to pick up my camera and fiddle around with it. I don't want there ever to be a day that goes by where I don't take a picture. Even if I don't keep it, I want at least one snapshot every day. Here's today's. It's me. For some reason I felt the shot was obligatory.

My Block

Here's a simple shot down the block that runs in front of my house, in the Bronx. The car in the picture is our family's vehicle. My house is just off to the right, outside of the frame. It's a very quiet, upper-middle class residential area, just North East of the Bronx Zoo. It's a nice area to walk around, especially on warmer days, with a lot of small food stores, bakeries, and pizzerias around to stop in. The Bronx generally has a bad rep, but once people give it a shot, and see that some areas really are not bad, they tend to like it. Honestly, my area reminds me of Brooklyn, only quieter. I'll try to put in a shot of my house, one day. It's four bedrooms, two bath, a full living room, separate dining room, and a kitchen. Pretty big for New York.

Go Ask Alice

I had my eye on this item, all night, at the Auction. It was a fully illustrated, gold trimmed, hard cover version of BOTH Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. The starting bid was $25, which I have absolutely no problem paying for such an awesome book. Five minutes before the auction, though, someone placed a $100 bid on it. The minimum increment for bidding was $25, so I would have had to drop $125 for the book, had I wanted to keep going for it. That's almost all of what I was getting paid for the evening. I may be a HUGE Alice fan, but I'm not about to spend an entire paycheck on any book. Sorry, Alice, looks like that's one looking glass adventure you'll have to make without me.

Recapping the 14th

Valentine's day was pretty good for me, this year, although it was far from conventional. I did not get to go out with my valentine and have a wonderful evening / night with her as I would have liked, but I did really enjoy myself at work. I helped set up and mediate a silent auction from roughly 8:30 in the morning until 11:00 at night. It was a grueling day, but the last few hours made the entire thing worth it! Excellent wine, great food, and great company made the night tons of fun.

Nikon d60 DSLR

I finally got it! I finally got my new camera! After months of waiting I picked up the Nikon d60 from Best Buy, today. As soon as I got home I started to charge the battery, and as soon as that was good to go I headed out to take some photos. Here's an awesome one I got in my house. Somehow, the lighting came out perfectly. I also think this is an awesome valentine's shot. Click the image to view its enlarged version. It came out perfectly.

Also, to my Valentine: Happy Valentine's Day~

Jason & Jason

While we were driving back from the Catskills last week, we went to pick up baby Jason from his mother's house. About half an hour through the car ride back down from CT to NYC, the baby fell asleep, ten minutes later, my cousin did as well. I couldn't get a decent shot with my iPhone because of the light coming through the windows, so this was the best I could do. I don't think it came out too badly, and everyone in the family seems to love the shot. But... c'mon, who doesn't love babies (especially when they're asleep)?

Hunter College

I took this picture last year, off of the 7th floor skywalk between the East and West buildings of Hunter College. This is one of the best views in the city. It's facing South down Lexington Ave. I could easily sit there for hours upon end, watching the people and the traffic below me. Currently, I'm a student down in Brooklyn at Kingsborough Community College. The campus here is beautiful, and I need to take some pictures of this area, as well. I think I'll try to grab some with my iPhone, once the spring semester starts up, since I don't think I'll be bringing the SLR out here, once I get it. I'm posting this from my MacBook, in the middle of class, by the way.

Mac Books and Zombies.

So, I just ordered my new laptop. I'm getting the 13inch white Mac Book. I decided on a Mac for a change of OS. I'm using Vista (which I love) on my main PC, and XP on my spare. The laptop should get here right around my birthday (Feb6). This should fall in well with the time I get my new camera. Hopefully I'll be able to familiarize myself with all of Apple's neat photo editing / manipulating software.
On a completely unrelated note, I came across this picture a while back and fell in love with it. I've got what's probably an unhealthy obsession with zombies, and the zombie apocalypse, and have made myself very prepared to take on anything that might happen. Weather it's the slow-moving "shambler" zombies or the sprinting "rage" zombies, I'm ready for anything.

"Sometimes I wish the zombie apocalypse would happen,
because I think I could make it.
And I think I could save you.
Maybe we could find a cure and save the world,
or maybe we'd just fall in love."

From Bad To Worse

I need to throw another update on here, to remind you that I haven't forgotten about you, my little Blog. I've seem to have come across a stop in my quest to reenter the world of photography. The camera that I use is an old model, and because of that many of its replacement parts are hard to find. Apparently these rarities include its battery, which has died, and I have been completely unable to repurchase. Living in New York City, you would think that were would be a camera store somewhere that would sell one of these things. Apparently, though, the only place I can find a new battery is the great series of tubes known as the internets. In this case, though, the shipping charges on the purchase almost double the cost of the actual battery its self. This seems insane, and so I've hesitated to make the purchase.
On a more personal note, school is going well. I'm entering my third week with no real complaints except for those concerning my peers in some of my classes. Sitting among those who can hardly read, write, or even think has shown me how much I hate my school and must work to get out of it. Relationship wise, I'm going nowhere fast. I've been advised to back away from the dating scene, and enjoy the single life for a while. Although I can probably do that, the opportunity ahead of me seems too great to pass up. I've met a wonderful, hard working, and head strong individual whom I think I could have a really amazing time with. We seem to be two rather opposite people in my aspects, though. Maybe this will turn out to be a positive thing. Won't know till I try, though. Wish me luck, reader(s)!

Gaps in Updates

No, my little blog, I have not forgotten about you. School's winter session has just started, and that means a whole lot less free time Mon-Thurs. Hopefully I'll also be spending some weekend time with my lady-friend, so that leaves... not a lot of time for you. Hopefully I'll find a better iPhone app so I can do my updates on the fly. I need to get a new battery for this camera so I can get more shots up. That should be coming soon.

Closing Comments of Day Two

I'm Happy with the way some of these photos came out, today. Granted, I'm only happy with about a quarter of all the shots I took, but I suppose that's not bad. I also toasted about five of my shots, by accident. I forgot that I took the auto-rewind off of the camera, and when I got to the end of the roll, I popped the film door open. That exposed the unwound film to the light and completely whited out a good number of shots.

I need to buy a new battery, tomorrow, but apparently CVS doesn't carry the type I need any more. I'm thinking of heading downtown to J&R to see if I can find a new one, there. Wish me luck!

Speed

Speed
Originally uploaded by FrozenGlory

There is something VERY wrong with this picture. I noticed it right away, but I have absolutely no idea how things got like that. It's actually rather creepy. Maybe my camera is haunted and it has its own sense of time and reality? Any way... I wanted this to be a shot of the car in focus, and the world spinning by around it. It almost worked, then another car passed in front of it. made for some rather strange results. I think I should have adjusted the shutter speed, some, and I definitely have to work on keeping my hands steady.

Coke on the counter.

BWRCoke
Originally uploaded by FrozenGlory

Coke on the counter, add no, it's not in lines. I could make a long post about how the fading of the household and the emboldening of the cola can represent the rise of consumerism in the American household, and how we are starting to put more and more importance on brand-name items. I could write about how anywhere in the world, if you say the word Coca-Cola, people will know what you mean. I could write about how (according to many conspiracy theorists) Coca-Cola has links to the devil.

I won't, though. I'll just criticize the picture for being blurry, even after I edited it.

MaryNight

MaryNight
Originally uploaded by FrozenGlory

I'm keeping a note of this photograph less because of its content, and more because of what photoshop was able to do with it. The original shot was rather bright, and I didn't care for it, but with a little editing I've managed to fake some low-light conditions, similar to a sunrise or sunset on a clear day.

The Back Alley

BWAlley
Originally uploaded by FrozenGlory

The back alley behind a furniture store on Williamsbridge Rd. The place always struck me as a little creepy, and to be honest it's a walk I avoid at night. So when I was walking past it, I couldn't help but stop and snap a photo. Now I have the urge to sneak back there and look around.

Morris Park

I got home a little while ago from walking around my neighborhood, eating through a 12 exposure roll of film. I dropped that roll, and yesterday's roll of shots in my kitchen, off at CVS to get them developed. I'm getting them put on CD as well. I'm just testing prices, and I want to see how the quality is. I'm not sure if I'll get my future prints on gloss and then scan them onto my PC for uploading to my albums, or if I'll have them put right on to CDs.

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Setting up at Night

Setting up at Night
Originally uploaded by FrozenGlory

So this is my camera, that I will be taking my 35mm photos with. It's an old Canon AE-1 SLR. It was a gift from my father, his old camera which he used (before I was born) to take some amazing photographs around New York City. Hopefully, I'll be doing some of the same. To the right is the newly repaired detachable flash and some Kodak / Fuji 400 12exposure film.

Also- beer mug pajamas.

The Beginning

Beginning with a simple post from my iPhone. I don't know what I've been waiting for, with all this. I set up a Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/frozenglory) probably around a year ago, and I've been wanting to start a photo blog ever since. Finally, at the start of 2009, here we are. I'll be using this blog to write more detailed descriptions of my Flickr hosted photos, as well as keep up on my life story. So, I suppose that makes this less of a photo blog, and more of a personal one? I know, let's call it a hybrid.

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