| Movin' On
4 August 2003
One day sitting on the porch at dinner a couple
weeks ago in NJ, I let slip a "jersey vowel". You know
the one, "caugh-fee" instead of "coffee". My
aunt said, "you have to take a little New Jersey with you".
Well, we'll leave the vowels here, but I'll have plenty of memories
from New Jersey to take with me.
Sunsets, dinner and drinking on the patio, listening to the restlessness
of the horses, the millions of lightening bugs, the stars, the moon,
the stillness of the night, birds singing, the sun in the morning
as it creeps in through the bathroom window to spill out all over
the floor, naps on the living room couch, walks, painting outside
on the front lawn, and all the times I wanted to tape the caretakers
ugly dog Chico to the electric fence for barking and barking and
barking and barking.
I might leave that last one here... ;)
This past week has been busy, on Monday I saw two movies, Dirty
Pretty Things with Audrey Tautou and Nowhere in Africa about a German
Jewish family living in Kenya. Both excellent and recommended. I
also went to a place on Spring St called Rice to Riches. Think Basken
Robbins 31 flavors of rice pudding! Vanilla, Cinnamon Swirl, Cheesecake,
Maple, Chocolate and 20 more I can't remember. They encourage tasting
all the flavors before you choose the two for your bowl. A great
find.
On Tuesday I hung out with Christian, and we went to the Lithuanian
restaurant in Brooklyn for dinner. We had Kalnapalis beer, fried
black bread, beet soup, mushrooms stuffed with chicken, cepelenai
and potato pancakes. Delicious!
Wednesday I spent at the American Museum of Natural History. I had
already seen the Chocolate exhibit, but this time I went back for
the movies. I saw both Imax movies, Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey and Coral
Reef Adventure. Then I saw both planetarium movies, Passport to
the Universe and A Search for Life. And I had lunch at the Chocolate
Cafe where I had essentially a chocolate panini sandwich grilled
and filled with raspberries, banana, nuts and Nutella, and topped
off with whipped cream and raspberries. It was better than you can
even imagine. Of course I had it with skim milk!
In the afternoon I went up to Harlem to explore. I love it up there!
It was so interesting, the architecture was incredible, the people
were nice. I got some great photos. In the evening, I went to see
La Boheme in Central Park. Really it was just an excuse to drink
wine in the park and socialize.
Thursday, I went to the agency in the morning, and then met Aunt
Donna and went to the Ukrainian Institute and to the Met. She bought
me a photograph by a Russian photographer I like on 5th Ave. Then
we went back to NJ, and had our last family dinner. (Steven is in
West Milford this weekend and Kate is at the beach).
Friday was another busy day. I went into the agency in the morning,
and was there ALL day scanning pictures. At 5:30 I was finally done,
and then Carlo and I had a talk for nearly an hour. The verdict
is, he likes what I do, he says the only thing is that I'm "green"
but that the more I shoot the better I will get! He is impressed
that I haven't given up, though I haven't yet sold a photo through
him, but that I shot all summer and kept bringing in stories. He
says so many photographers will give up after only a short time.
He gave me some assignments already for LA, he has only one photographer
there that does only Red Carpet stuff... i.e. movie premieres. I
will be covering news and also cultural stuff like I did in NY.
As for Lithuania, we'll see what happens. He will check with his
foreign correspondents, agencies that is, to see what they could
need from the Baltic states. And we'll see where I end up, with
a newspaper, as a government photographer or whatever. In any case,
he is pleased with my work, thinks I will be successful and is excited
to be representing me.
Friday night, Valerie arrived and I went to stay with her in her
brand new empty apartment to sleep on the air mattress with her.
We had a great time hanging out, on Saturday we went to the City
Museum of New York to see exhibits on Harlem, Central Park and New
York Women in the 20's among other things. Then we went to the Whitney
to see an exhibit on how America is perceived by foreigners. It
consisted of works by 47 artists from over 30 countries and was
well worth seeing, though, I reccommend you take the tour. It will
make a lot more sense!
Then we went to the park to take pictures and then to shower before
going for pizza in Little Italy and out to a bar.
Valerie came back to NJ to watch Sex and the City and sleep in a
real bed last night. Her furniture arrived today and is no doubt
very busy arranging!
So now I'm nearly finished packing.
I will get a good night's sleep and then hit the road in the morning.
First stop Michigan.
I want to say thanks to my aunt and uncle for having me all summer.
I have really enjoyed being here. My experience this summer would
not have been nearly as good if I hadn't spent this time here with
them and the kids.
And I want to say thanks to Christian for giving me the keys to
his place in the city so I didn't have to do the NJ commute every
day!
I'll be in LA in about 10 days. More updates will come when I arrive! |
