Untitled Rival Photo

I'm choosing to say nothing about this photo. In my heart it speaks volumes and I think it's best to leave it at that. What I will say is that it is part of my six word memoir obsession and is one of few that I have written myself.

Untitled Horror Movie Thought

"Everyone's entitled to one good scare."

I have never really been a fan of horror films. Specifically those that are so sick and disgusting you want to run away and vomit. I am however, a fan of the ones that are "can't sleep at night" scary. Movies that do not require any serious gore to terrify me. These were the movies that I would never forget.

I was twelve years old when I saw Halloween for the first time. It was the summer of seventh grade when my friends and I thought it was a great idea to rent this movie. We thought we were playing it safe by watching it during the day little did I know that some of the film's creepiest moments took place in broad daylight. It was a film that was set in a typical suburban town, where evil was lurking in the most non threatening domestic spaces. Growing up in a similar suburb, I was paralyzed with fear. Once the movie was over I walked the block and a half home, looking over my shoulders and inspecting each shrub for any one who may try to jump me.

At the ripe old age of twenty, Halloween left quite an imprint on me. If you ask me, that's impressive. The fact that a movie could be so timeless and affect its audience whether it was in 1978 or 1998, is just remarkable. Of course this movie owes a lot to the films of Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho being most obvious. Hitchcock and Carpenter reminded us that horror does not have to exist in a gothic castle with vampires and werewolves. They took horror and put it into modern settings with everyday problems. This is why I believe these films are so effective and are still watched and studied today.

In honor of October I'll be watching nothing but horror movies, Halloween and Psycho being amongst many. Tonight I will start it off with Friday The 13th, a Halloween knock off that became successful with it's own style and technique.

My only problem is that there are so many films to choose from and not nearly enough time to watch them all. But I will certainly try.

Untitled Diner Photo

"Adam and Eve on a raft and wreck 'em!"

Ever since I was a kid I have been in love with the nostalgia of the 1950's diner. This was the result from years of watching I Love Lucy reruns and any black and white movie I could find. As an 80's/90's child, I don't know much in terms of what diner's were actually like in the 1950's but I am intrigued. Wimpy's and Johnny Rockets are two such big name establishments you will commonly stumble across, both of which I've been a frequent customer of.

Whenever I enter one of these places I am so drawn to the art on the walls. The old Coke ads are some of my favorite. They remind me of how awesome Coke in a glass bottle is. I cannot stress how much I love Coke in a bottle. I believe that pop tastes ten times better when it comes from a glass bottle. But that's just me. And speaking of Coke, there's nothing I like more than a good float. The classic float is usually made with Root Beer but I'm not really a fan so I go with Coke. It's the more expensive beverage on the menu but I think it's worth it. It suits the atmosphere perfectly.

While I enjoy eating at these places they clearly are a tad off on the details of 1950's popular culture. The last time I ate at a Johnny Rockets I heard "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gee's several times. In fact, the jukebox at our table had many classic hits of the 70's, 80's, and 90's mixed in with the oldies. Some places I've been to don't even have any 50's music options which presents quite the question mark in my head. I don't really need to hear a No Doubt song while I eat my hamburger. I want to hear some Chuck Berry or The Temptations.

While a lot of fake 50's diner's have a bizarre mixture of modern and retro elements, it might be why I like them so much. It's a black and white world with splashes of color.

Updated Fire Alarm Photo

So I was unable to leave this photo alone today (big shock). The fact that it didn't feel quite right was driving me crazy. Now I have but one issue. That damn red square. Being the only unfilled space, I feel it needs something. However whatever I put in there seems to be pushing it too far. So I'm torn as to what to do with it. I like it a lot more since I made the small changes but I'm still going to wonderful about that square.

Untitled Fire Alarm Photo

Leonardo da Vinci once said "Art is never finished, only abandoned". I agree with this because you can keep picking at the things you don't like about your art until you die. It can become a vicious cycle that you'll never get out of. I think it's best to make note of these "mistakes" and keep it in mind when you begin you're next piece. The best you can hope for is to learn from past experience and move forward.

Having said all this, I'm not sure if this piece is done. I feel as though it's missing something yet I can't figure out what it is. That's the most frustrating part of the creative process. Outside of the annoyance of starting something new is finishing it. How do we know when art is done? With other pieces it was just a feeling in my stomach of not being able to go any further with it. In this case however, I feel like there are a couple more steps I can take but I'm blind to them.

Perhaps I've been staring at it too much. Andy Warhol once said "...if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning". So I shall leave it here and go about my business. We'll see what happens.

Untitled Red Bull Photo

"If it weren't for caffeine I'd have no personality whatsoever!"

Caffeine is a very important element in everyone's world. Whatever your poison, we all crave the jolt that starts off our day on a good note. We all joke about the fact that we can't function without that morning coffee but of course we know we can. It's just not much fun.

There are some mornings where I just don't feel like having coffee but an hour into work I find myself yawning uncontrollably. So I give in to the caffeine. Now that it is so integrated into my morning routine, it is very difficult when I decide to skip it. I try to think of the time before I drank coffee and wondered how I ever got by but then I realized that I've never been caffeine free. Before coffee was Red Bull. It was my drink of choice in University for late night studying and last minute essays. When I think back to amount I use to drink it almost makes me sick. I'm sure twenty years down the road I will experience some weird long term effect of drinking too much. Oh well!

THE POINT IS:

We all have personalities outside of caffeine, we just choose to ignore them.

Untitled Walk Thought

"MAKE YOUR FEET YOUR FRIEND."

After another painfully boring day I arrived home only to discover I had left my blackberry at work. I had already changed into some incredibly comfortable pajama's and was making myself some dinner. On top of this was the fact that it had been raining so you can imagine how unenthusiastic I was to get dressed and go outside again. But I figured I'd bring my camera so this walk wouldn't go to waste. After picking up my phone I journeyed down my favorite street to find I wonderful array of fall colors. There was just such a rich array of yellows and oranges both in the leaves and the street lights. I had to stop and take a couple pictures. Recently I've been in a black and white mood since I've been unable to find anything worthy of using color, but tonight I went back. The few pictures I took have me really excited for fall and all of the interesting things I will capture.