Some Loud Thunder

On January 30th, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah officially releases their sophomore album, Some Loud Thunder. You can listen to it first, by clicking on my little link to the right.

It's good stuff so far.

Life, 007 style

Once again, it has been a while between posts, and I apologize. It is strange, I don't know it 'adult' life [postcollege] is more boring in comparison or what, but it just seems like I don't have much to 'blog' about anymore. Maybe I never really had much to 'blog' about and I am just now realizing that I should quit wasting peoples time.

Anyways, I have now been up here in NYC for over 6 months, and soon I will be moving into a new, yet to be defined, space. I've been looking for an apartment rather intensely the past week or so, with no fruit to display. I toil away at work all day and make phone calls to see apartments after work that inevietably end up being rather lackluster and only continue to discourage me in my hunt for a new dwelling.

I guess that raises another question, one that I and several of my colleagues have researched rather extensively; when I find a new apartment will I actually dwell there? So far, I have never really felt like I could call my current arrangement a home, it has just really been space that I have occupied. It could be due to a lack of interest in my part to engage my current space, or just a premenition that I knew I would not be here long, but I have always felt so temporary here. Could it even be that I feel that I am not going to be in New York for a while and that it is not my home? I have never intended on living here permenantly and have always thought of New York as a city for the young and engaging, as it is not a place that I could see myself raising a family. But I do plan on staying here for a while, and hopefully this next apartment that I inhabit will actually be one that I can live in long enough to be able to dwell in.

In other, more light-heated news, today was the first day the snow was spotted in New York this season, even if it was only a brief few minutes of flurries. It has been an unseasonably mild winter thusfar; this past weekend it was over 70 degrees!

I have been quite busy with work, and I feel very fortunate to have found a job that I enjoy going to every day. I have been involved in all aspects of the profession so far; for example today I did everything from redlining shop drawings, arrange tech support for our plotter to a site meeting w/contractors, clients and engineers. I feel that I am gaining very valuable experience at my firm and have nothing but good things to say about working here.

Over Christmas I went back to Kansas City and got to see several friends that I had not seen in a while, and missed a chance to see several that I would have liked to see. I had a nice relaxing time back, and strangely it didn't really seem as ackward as I thought that it was going to; I know that upon my return from England, where I had been away a similar time length, I had lots of adjusting to do.

One thing that I have noticed over the past seven months since graduation is the lack of critical investigation that occurs outside of the field of education. I have seen it in others and have even noticed it a little in myself, and it has begum to alarm me. The only thing that we have to negotiate this world is our intellect, and I feel that the working week and the consumer lifestyle that accomodate it are very quickly draining our last crucial resource from within. America once thrived on its individualism and ingenuity, and now it it suffocating on the smoke of its own burning flesh. Where we once used to solve problems, now we only create them. Instead of creating and thinking in our free time, we now only seem to dissolve into a puddle of our own cellulite, drowning the television remote at the base of our recliners in the process. We must remain committed to engaging the world around us and to keeping an active and sharp mind so that we can live life to its fullest, never wasting a day. I have seen too many tragedies this past year to stand idle on the sidelines, and feel that there is still so much out there to experience...

Ok, wow, sorry about that, that just sort of shot out.

Anyways, here are some pics of the past while:

A project my firm has almost completed:


A job site that I visit weekly:


A view of Manhattan from 53rd and Lex:


Crazy cloud/fog formation on the Hudson River seen from my office desk:


A little part of Astoria that I've been known to frequent:


What happens when you let women throw a party:

One Week...

It seems like this past week has been more like a month. I had friends visiting last weekend and staying at my place, something that always seems to drain a host, no matter how much they enjoyed their company. I have also been looking at several apartments for my rapidly approaching move, something that really takes away any free time that one might have. On Monday afternoon I flew down to Virginia Beach, VA to go to the funeral of my sadly departed cousin. I still don't think that it had seemed real until I got to my aunts house and saw the vast amount of pain that everyone was in. To see my aunt, a very strong and independent woman, on the verge of breaking because she was in so much pain was almost more than I could take. I loved my cousin and and deeply saddened by her death, but the thing that always gets me at funerals is having to see my friends and family and those that were close to the departed, so desperate. Death is a natural process, no matter how unnaturally it occurs, but the grieving of my family is was really shakes me up. To see my cousin, shaking so uncontrollably because a jealous and controlling boyfriend took her sisters life really hits me at the heart.

Events like this really make me realize how important my family is. I have been living on the East Coast for six months now, and I have yet to visit my family who lives in Boston and VA. I have always said that I will go and visit, but due to one thing or another I have always put it off. Now I realize that I must go and visit, because death can come at any time and I may never get to say what I want to say to my family because I have been 'too busy' to go and see them. I guess growing up I have always guarded my emotions, I don't know if it is because I am a male adhearing to society's rules of stoicism, or because I just don't know how to express them, but I think that the guardedness[word?] of my heart has caused me to close myself off to certain people in my life. Hopefully, this event can help me to break down these walls that I have built around myself and really grow in my relationships with others. I love my family and hate to see them go through so much pain and agony, and want to be there for them to help in their suffering.

Ok, enough depression. I basically have a two day work week, starting tomorrow. I fly back to JoCo in the KC MO on Thursday, and will be there until the Wednesday after Christmas. Wednesday afternoon we have our office holiday party, where we will be bowling and drinking beer and eating catered food. Strange combination. Wednesday morning I have my weekly site meeting, so I will really only be working in the office on Monday and Tuesday. Hooray for the holidays! A year-end bonus or a raise would be nice to ;) ;)

And now, I must schlep all of my clothes up to the corner and do laundry. :sigh:

Perspective

Late Friday night, as I was in a cab zooming down 3rd Ave on my way to a bar with some visiting friends, I was painfully told by my sister that my cousin had just been murdered by her ex-boyfriend, who then pointed the still smoking barrel towards his own head and ended yet another tragic life.

Upon hearing the news, I was in complete shock. No one can prepare themself for an event of this magnitude, for a story so unbelievable it feels like you are watching and episode of Law and Order. Friday night an atrocity against human kind was committed, one of thousands that happens each year. How could someone be so selfish and so full of hate that they could destroy something that is so beautiful? Life is so delicate and tender that it must be held with the softest of hands. Its grandeur and joy should be respected and admired, not brutally thrown on the floor to be shattered into a million pieces.

I only saw Claire once a year [on the most celebrated of Loring family holidays, Thanksgiving]. I still enjoyed my time with her, whether it was listening to her and my brother get into discussions about politics, or recalling the now infamous time in which her and my brother thought that they were cavemen and she decided to call him 'Bellyache,' a name that still sticks with him to this day, or listening to her updates on her most recent performance of jazz singing.

You never really know what you have until it's gone, something that particularly applies to your family. Family can so easily be taken for granted, and when something as unspeakable as this happens it can really bring you back down to earth and force you to realize how much they really mean to you. Even though I only see some of them once a year, I always look forward to Thanksgiving and being together with them. As our numbers now decrease by one, I know that from this point forward I will have a profoundly different outlook on this time of year and will attach a new significance to 'spending quality time with the fam'. While you may always be stuck with your family, you will also always be blessed with them, something that has now become so apparent to me.

[re]location?

Well, I just found out yesterday that I have until February 1 to find a new place to live. My landlord works long and odd hours and with a two hour commute to work, he said that he needed a place to crash during the week while he was in the city, so he's kicking me out. He will give me two months security deposit back as well as half of my brokers fee, and will help me find a place, which is nice but still, I'm upset that I have to relocate. I am not sure where I'm going to look, but I still have two months. Anyone know anyone who needs a roommate in NYC?

An Update

Well, it's been awhile [as usual, it seems].

It's hard to believe that it's Thanksgiving already, it seems like just yesterday I was starting my first day of work. I guess this is what happens when one gets older, the days don't seem as long due to your relative frame of reference to them. Tomorrow morning I head to La Guardia Airport and hop on Midwest flight YX80 to head back to Kansas City for 5 days of R and R with the family. It will be quite interesting to return to suburbia, as I have been nowhere near it for the past 5 months. I have a feeling it will be similar to how I felt upon returning from my studies in London, where I was for 5 months as well. I felt quite a bit of culture shock upon my return, and I am wondering if it will be the same thing tomorrow. It will feel strange to be in a passenger car that is not a cab [have been in one once in the past 5 months], and it will be quite a shift having to drive everywhere instead of walking. I am going to have to bum rides from my parents or borrow their car, another thing I have not done in a long time [drive].

I am acclimating to the city more and more every day, now at times I don't feel out of place at all and just go about my business.

Today, when leaving the office, my boss joked about me heading to KC and not coming back. I can assure him that is not the case.

In the spirit of fellow blogger Corbeano, I am going to post albums that I have not been able to get enough of this past month or so.

Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Beach House - Beach House [ambient indie rock]
The Knife - Silent Shout [had it for about a year, but can't seem to get enough of it; see post below for video]
Rock Central Plaza - Are We Not Horses [If you like Neutral Milk Hotel, you'll love these guys]

New York has not gotten as cold as I had assumed it was going to get, I feel like this time of year in Kansas it is much colder than what I am currently experiencing; however, I do expect, and am externally assured, that the mercury will continue to plummet until I am cursing myself for typing this paragraph of arrogance.

I need a decent camera so that I can take good pictures and post them here. Oh well, there's always Xmas.

Now, it is time to pack. In honor of my return, I will now throw on some horribly awesome Tech N9ne.

We Share Our Mothers Health

Awesome video by an awesome band that I just found:
The Knife - We Share Our Mothers Health

Why I <3 NY

It has been quite some time since my previous post, and for that, I apologize. Things have been very busy for me recently, my weeks just seem to fly by. I'm up to my ears in laundry and still cannot find the time to go and get it done.

It has now been just over four months since I have moved to New York City, and while I feel that I have learned and seen a great deal since moving here, I know that I have not yet begun to even scratch the surface. A recent conversation in which I proclaimed that New York was the greatest city in America has caused me to step back and really critique why I feel this. Every morning when I hop on the subway, still bleary-eyed from my resistant acclimation to the working week, I feel a nervous, raw energy as all of the people rush on and clamor to their seats. As I bounce around on the train, fading in and out of consciousness, I feel the continual movement of people getting on and off, and up and down, carrying out their daily routine. Arriving at the station I ascend the stairs onto Canal Street and enter into the flow of pedestrians darting in and out of taxicabs on their way to the jobs that they proclaim to hate. Crossing 6th Ave I am always struck with awe at the sheer amount of people moving about the city, many with cups of coffee, and many stylishly dressed in the latest designer duds, all doing the same thing that I am doing. I do not feel alone.

Arriving at work I am greeting with a cheerful good morning from the two principals of my firm who happen to sit right next to me, and enter into a sarcastic conversation about how the organizer of the most recent office pool fixed it so that she would win [she came in dead last]. In passing I am told that there are pastries from a local 'magic-bakery' down the street, world renown for their delicacies. I cross onto the other side of the office to the water cooler where I say hello to two Asians, one German, one Irish, one Panamanian, and one Cacuasian, many of whom went to prestigious schools such as Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Throughout the morning I work on various tasks, ranging from building a 3-d model of a space high above midtown that I have visited over a dozen times [the view is stunning], calling a furniture rep regarding a particular type of veneered finish to be applied to their workstations, or field pushy emails from an extremely rich and famous client who has surprising good taste.

Lunch will occur sometime around 1:30 when my entire office will head down to the local market where one can get a plethora of goods ranging from sandwiches, soup, sushi, fruits and vegetables, etc. Or, sometimes we will head to a more specialized restaurant, one that has been featured in the NY Times for its fabulous pulled, slow-roasted pork and cabbage, or a cheap, delicious northern Chinese sandwich joint that has great atmosphere. There are times even when the principals will buy the whole office lunch, and once recently we ate at Brassiere, a very famous restaurant in the basement of the Segrams building, recently redesigned by Diller and Scofidio. [Of course, we were the only people in there critiquing the space.] I will sit with my coworkers and absorb all of the things that they talk about, many of which I never knew existed until I moved to this vast new city [Ernest Sewn jeans, the Zaha Hadid exhibit at the Guggenheim, and the free concerts at McCarren Park pool, to name a few].

Work will continue on until around 7 or so and I will make the hourly trek back to Astoria. The change between Tribeca and Astoria is quite noticeable, as when I return home I am greeted by the smells of fried chicken, falafel, and pizza. Sometimes I will stop in to a local Mexican joint that is run by a Chinese family and will grab my two #8's and one #4, or I will cross the street and will be greeted by a thick Queens accent asking me if I want my greasy two slices 'here or ta go'

And while some of these new experiences can get to be annoying and extremely irritating, I enjoy every last minute of them. I think that the reason I feel that New York is the greatest city in America is because of the people who live in it and the opportunities that are granted to me. While the people can be excruciating cold-hearted on the outside, once you get to know them you find quite the opposite. With so much diversity , from the insanely wealthy Upper East Side, to the fashionista queens of Chelsea, to the hipper than hip Williamsburg-ites, to the ethnic meccas of Astoria and Flushing, there really is a little bit [or a whole lot!] of everything in this city. I can find anything I want and a lot of stuff I have never heard of, and the experiences are so rich thus far that they are like nothing else I have ever experienced in any American city. No where else could I live where my co-workers would be able would be able to scribe the names of Meier, I.M. Pei, and Tschumi on their resumes. And with people paying exuberant amounts of money to live in tiny apartments where dishwashers and laundry facilities are the luxuries of the rich, I have found that I am not alone. I am not alone. In New York, you are never alone and there is always more to learn.

I cannot believe this

Seriously, how ignorant can one be?

If you listen to indie rock you will smoke weed

Remember Buck O'Neil

Sadly, a perennial Kansas City favorite, Buck O'Neil, passed away today. He did so much for the sport of baseball and for the city of Kansas City and he will be missed by many, many people. After injustly being bypassed for the Hall of Fame, Buck just smiled and just took it in stride like the true man of class that he was.

Hardcore

I found this amusing.

Russians smuggle vodka via mile-long tunnel

24

No, not the tv show. I turned 24 today, yippee me!

After a search of not so suitable images, I came up with these:

Some Friends

Well, I found a great memorable photo of some friends that I thought I'd share.

and [five] years go by

9/11/2001-9/11/2006

lest we never forger

P.rovidence

Well, here are a few pics from my recent schlep up to Providence to visit Mr. Wedel. All taken by him, as I forgot my camera.

Mr. Wedel was a very benevolent host all throughout my trip, that is for sure.


Mr. Wedel also has a loft about three times the size[x,y,z] of mine, for about the same cost. Oh the joys of NYC living!


Stomping divots at the polo match after the third chukka!


Ok, ok...me showing showing my exhibitionist side at the pizza shop.

New Yorker

Well, while I wait for Wedel to send me photos of our time in Providence [I brilliantly left my camera in NYC], I will share with my beloved readers a little bit about my slow conversion to becoming a New Yorker.

I have been up here just over two months and I have been quite surprised with the speed at which I have begun to assymilate into the routine and lifestyle of New York. One thing that really opened my eyes to this fact is a recent dinner I had with a very distant relative who lives in Jersey City, NJ. We had been making plans for several weeks to have dinner, and finally last I made the laborious trek on the exhausted PATH train to Jersey City. Having never been to Jersey, I was quite surprised at how extremely different it was from Manhattan/New York. I remember in my second year of architecture school I read LeCorbusier's book, Towards a New Architecture in which he talked of modern cities that would have 'towers in the park' where pedestrians would congregate and automobile traffic arteries would line the edges. Of course, nowadays this notion of urban planning has been completely discredited, except in Jersey City. Upon arrival I walked out of the PATH station and was greeted by very tall skyscrapers, a few cars, and a line of pedestrians filing into residential apartment complexes in the sky, ending their 30 minute commute from bustling Manhattan. I was shocked at how empty and lifeless the city felt in comparison to Manhattan. Nowhere were there street vendors, tourists, stores with people bustling in and out, or cabs barreling down the streets. It was dead, and I was shocked as to why anyone would want to live in this sterile enviornment. Sure, the view was nice from the apartment, but even that would soon be gone due to an impeding development of parking garages.

After gathering my senses back, I made my way to the apartment where I was greeted by elevators that were out of service because of an in-progress fire alarm. I took the stairs. I arrived at the appointed, hotel-style door and entered to meet my 'long-lost' relative and her two roommates, where I was quizzed on my background and how I found city life. All three of the roommates worked in Jersey and from what I gathered rarely made it into the city, something that completely shocked me. If you were going to live in the metro area, what other reason would you live there than to work and be in the city? My only reason for moving to the tri-state area was to live and work in NYC and I had never even thought about moving here to work in the suburbs. They all drove their cars to work, which seemed crazy to me. And of course, they thought it was crazy that I lived and worked in such a hectic place. There really are two types of people who live up here.

Anyways, another thing that I have noticed in my assymilation was when I was returning from my visit to Providence. As soon as the bus entered NYC I could feel a dramatic difference in the way that I felt. Sure, it was great to get up to P.town and visit my friend and I really enjoyed the city, but as soon as we hit the pavement of northern Manhattan I could feel the excitement level turned up a couple of notches. There was a buzz and an energy that just couldn't be rivaled by most any other city. All of the people on the streets, tourists snapping photos, children playing football, WASPS coming out of Gucci with their arms full of shopping bags, hipsters smoking cigarettes. It truly was an electric feeling, one which jumpstarted my soul. New York is alive, like no other city.

Wedel!

The office is closed Friday and Monday for Labor Day, so I'm off to Providence, RI for a weekend of celebration and polo watching w/Mr. Kyle Wedel. Pics upon return!!

Papa's got a brand new bag!

Well, bike actually. I just picked up a mide 80's Peugeot 12 speed road bike that I am planning on converting to a fixed gear. She's got a long way to go, especially since I don't have any tools with me in NYC, but thy will be done!

New post

I know, it's long overdue, but I've been pretty busy the past few weeks now that I have a job and all. I usually get home around 8pm, which leaves a few hours for relaxing, reading,etc. However, this past week I have been sick and I am not sure if it is due to stress or to some bug that I caught.

Things have been very stressful for me this past week, after learning some some potentially painful news about a good friend of mine. This person has been sick for a while and has recently had to go to many doctors to figure out what is wrong, and no one can seem to produce any sort of an answer. Many different kinds of drugs have failed, and now they are running out of options before they diagnose a much more serious illness. Sorry to be so vague, but that's life, right? Anyways, I've been stressed out a lot by all of this news, which I think has caused me to become sick. Swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, fever, etc. This weekend is going to be a nice relaxing one where I can catch up on sleep [not much last weekend], and do some reading of my current book, The Brothers Karamazov. It is a fantastic book so far and I'm having a hard time putting it down.

TTFN

Photos of the weekend [and beyond]

Some random photos I finally got off of my camera...short desciption following each.


ConEd attempting to return power. Key word 'attempting.'


A pair of hipster shoes.


This is about as athletic has hipsters get. Shooting hoops w/Apollo Sunshine.


The heart of the hipster scene...internally rocking out to Deerhoof.


Hipster Converse...oh wait, those are mine!!!