It has been slow going, trying to get back into the swing of things since returning from vacay. Part of it probably has to do with the fact that I’m battling bronchitis. It is pretty pathetic the way that Reagan and I have been passing germs and viruses back and forth, for the past few months. I’m supposed to be running the NYC Marathon next weekend and I haven’t run since the Hartford Marathon. Yeah, almost a month. We are also supposed to be doing the Halloween thing this weekend. I have spent zero time on a costume. I have also been working from home for the past few days, to avoid freaking everyone out with the coughing. So, I’m rocking 2 day old 5 o’clock shadow. I did make it outside last night, though. I shot an event celebrating the launch of a new collaboration between Rag & Bone and Timberland boots.

It was pretty cool, stylistically. But from a literal temperature point of view, it was hot as hades inside. The weather yesterday was mid 70′s with rain on and off. It felt like a swamp. Two favorite things about the party (both pictured above): 1. The DJs were spinning real 45′s, instead of the usual macbook pro hooked up to the digital turntables; 2. Terry Kennedy made it out.

My third favorite thing, was the boot maker. There was a dude at the party actually building a pair of boots (Below).

Final thoughts for this post–

It’s finally official. Woot.

I had myself a pretty busy little evening, last night. But it ended up being well worth hiking all over the island in the rain. First stop was Chelsea, to shoot El Mac working on his mural for his solo exhibit “The Humble and Sublime,” which opened at the Joshua Liner Gallery last night. I have been a fan of Mac’s work since I discovered it. Now that I have seen it in person, and had a chance to chat with him, I like it even more. More on the show, over here.

Above:  detail from one of the pieces on exhibit.

I thought it was pretty awesome that Mac kept the paint in an ice chest.

The piece below is probably my favorite one at the show. It still blows my mind, what awesome handstyle Mac has, to be able to create all of those minute geometric patterns, the way he does.

Next, I headed back to the FiDi to cover a show at Cipriani. This was the first time I had ever been in this building. It is located on Wall St. The venue has 100 ft. ceilings. Hennessy is doing some sort of traveling art/music thing with Q-Tip and the Roots, and NYC was their last stop.

D-Nice was the DJ.

^—The Roots

^—Tip

^–D-Nice

More, over here.

We have plenty of other good stuff planned for the weekend, besides packing for our road trip to TN. We are going to try to do our family pics this weekend (if we don’t get rained out). Have an awesome weekend!

I had a blast shooting Thursday night. It is kind of weird, but when I first moved to NYC, I used to have a lot of dreams about being out, about wandering the streets and overwhelmed. In my dream, it was always night and overcast, with the city lights reflecting off of the clouds. The photo above is a pretty close approximation to the way things looked in my recurring dream. Isn’t weird how fast the city starts to seem super small after just a few months of living in it?

So, here are a couple of my favorite shots from the evening. I like the bike in the shot above.  I like the bottle in the shot below.  The DJ team had a bunch of sick remixes of contemporary rock and pop, that they had remixed with club beats. You can check them out and download their free sampler at stellasanddutches.com

We had a really good weekend. I was able to see Piper 3 times, which is a rarity. We spent some good times hanging out with friends, and the weather was great all weekend long. Of course that meant that Monday had to come with a vengeance. The shot above is a view from my floor of the harbor, this afternoon. It’s not exactly inspiring.

This is where I start talking about a bunch of random stuff that has been on my mind. First: Since we went sailing with our friends in SC, I have been mildly curious/obsessed (depending on the day) about buying a sailboat. After reading a feature on Boingboing a few weeks ago, about simplifying life and unloading possessions, I started thinking about it even more. How awesome would it be to just live on the boat? Realistically it is more than a pipe dream, given our current situation. But, how great would it be so just untie from the buoy and sail up to the cape for the weekend? Anyway, I went as far as looking into prices on CL. The image below is just one of several examples that I found priced well under $10k. $10K!! Cheaper than the price of a crappy used car.

Onto random topic number two: Because of the weather, I totally skipped my run this morning. I’m really really stressing out about it. I would probably cut myself some slack, except for the fact that my last two weeks of training have been less than satisfactory. So, I feel like I have a decent reason to be stressing. Then, I think back to a couple of articles that I have read recently. One of which appeared in Details, and was titled “Are you wasting away at the gym?”

The article basically talks about people who become so obsessed with working out, that it becomes their first priority, and they beat themselves up if they miss a workout. Here is an excerpt:

[...] a growing number of guys, it seems, think that missing one day of exercise, or even cutting short a workout, will suddenly make them frail or—far worse—fat. Among their ranks is the guy who can’t sleep nights because he’s too amped-up about the training he’s going to do at 5 a.m. If his trip to the gym isn’t up to snuff, he’ll log another in the evening, making excuses to blow off work or a date. And then there’s the guy who feels compelled to ride the stationary bike until he has burned off every last calorie from lunch (“You’re paying the price for that slice of pizza,” he tells himself). And if these workout junkies can’t exercise—if they spend a mere 24 hours away from the weight room—they plunge headlong into depression.

For the most part, the article doesn’t describe me, at all. But, as of late, some of it kind of does. I just hope that I can just have a good race at Hartford, then stop stressing so much. Ok, I guess that concludes my ranting for today.

The weather was awesome today. I was able to spend some time on Governor’s Island, this morning shooting some promo stuff for a boot company.

It was my first time back to Governor’s Island since the Clicquot event. The setup was at picnic point, on the north end of the island, and the catering crew used these awesome little jars to serve the drinks.

Reagan and I brought our bikes to the island, once. It was totally crowded. This time was a lot different than the other times I was there. It was completely empty, and awesome.

I am feeling a lot better today. Thanks for all of the get well wishes, BTW (It is totally working). But, I decided not to push it, and skipped my run. I can’t believe that tomorrow is already Friday. I’ll be spending the morning, snapping some shots of Piper in her swanky new threads.

Just when you thought that the Hudson River could not be anymore toxic, the red tide shows up and makes the water even more of a health hazard. Pardon the crappy b-berry cam photos (I’ll get to that later). I read some reports about red tide in Gothamist, yesterday. But, I didn’t realize how visible it would be. Again, these photos are pure crap, but can you sort of see the purplish areas in the water. It is even more obvious in real life. Anyway, it is the first time in my life that I have seen it, and I thought it was pretty cool.

One of the reasons that I’m only armed with the b-berry cam today, is because I packed light. The reason: I will be running home from work today. For whatever reason lately, I have been having a tough time getting motivated to put in the hours in the early morning. So I’m trying to come up with ways to keep myself interested in training. If I stick to the Hudson path the whole way, it is about 14 miles. I’m only slated to run 11 today. But, I figured that a few extra couldn’t hurt, especially since I skipped a 6 mile workout on Monday.

I have run home from work before. It isn’t the distance that makes it tough. It is the logistics. Last time I was wearing a backpack. I was so chaffed from it afterward that I’m not going to try that again. So, I’ll be going the fanny pack route this time, and just leave all of my work clothes locked in my office.  I’m excited to see how it goes.

Switching gears completely, I was hired by Burton to shoot the event above. I’m pretty freaking excited about it. Yeah, it is just an event, but Jake Burton is going to be there. That’s a big deal to me, since I have never met the godfather before. Afterward, we are going to hit the Bottega Veneta party, thanks to Reagan’s hookups. Not a bad way to kick off  fashion week. I’m still trying to schedule out the details for next week. But I should have some pretty good stuff to show for it, if everything goes as planned.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, I dropped back by the piece that Os Gemeos are working on. This time, I was able to chat with Gustavo (above) for a while in Portuguese. I can’t tel you how great it was to chat with a Brazilian that has a proper Paulista accent (not to mention that it was cool to chat with him regardless dialect). He said that they are going to try to wrap this piece up by the end of the week. So, I’ll be back by there, probably tomorrow to shoot the finished product. The image below shows the progress, as of Tuesday afternoon (Moody Blues, anyone?).

I’m still not feeling 100%, but I can’t really take much more of a break from running, and expect to stay sane. If it isn’t raining tonight, I plan to resume with the training sched.. I’m a bit nervous, after taking a full week off. Thankfully my long run, slated for Saturday is only 14 miles. I will have a week to get back into the groove (Madonna, anyone?), before my 20 mile run next weekend.

The part that I’m really looking forward to, about the next two long runs, is that Summer Streets is currently in full effect. So, instead of doing my usual out-and-back down the Hudson River path, I can do Park Avenue, instead. Should be a blast, and a much welcomed change of scenery.

But, the biggest thing on my mind/load off of my mind, is that all of the nerd-stuff that I have been chipping away at for the last week and a half is finally resolved. Everything is now back in a relatively maintenance free stasis (fingers-crossed). I feel like I can finally get back to real life, and it isn’t a day too soon, because I am super behind on EVERYTHING.

Reagan and I were doing it up Bklyn-style, last night and a Converse promo featuring Kid Cudi et al. It is kind of fun when I can bring Reagan along to gigs like those, because we always spend some time just goofing off. There are just a few more items that I have to knock out, today– then I can start packing for vacation! Woo Hoo. We worked it out, so that we can go visit PJ together tonight, before we fly out. I’m pretty amped about that (a’course). I’m so ready to finally be able to take advantage of the beach weather. Something tells me that my running regimen is going to suffer a bit over the next few days. Hehe.

A few more shots from last night:

Reagan and Kid Cudi (above); Kid Cudi and fandom (below)

Below–>  Reagan maxin’ and relaxin’ before the music started.

Also, I didn’t realize until I saw the flier in this shot that MIA is playing with Die Antwoord at Guv’s Island. Whaaaaa??????????????? And it’s going down the weekend that we are fuera, of course. Speaking of Die Antwoord, I hear a rumor that Yo Landi Visser might be cast in the Hollywood version of “Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.”

One more thing..  Reagan authored a guest post, that ran today on one of her favorite blogs. Apparently, she was asked to articulate what it is like, having to leave after visits with PJ. I think that Reagan did a pretty swell job. So, if you get a chance and are interested, feel free to pop over.

I hate to just bomb the bejeebus out of a post with endless photos, like this. But sometimes, you kinda have to. Here are a few more of my faves from Monday and Tues.

See if you can spot those who own Olympic medals, below (they all own winter-x titles). Extra points if you name them all.

I hate to say this, but I was kind of hoping that fedoras would die out by the fall. I thought we were headed that direction too, since I have seen them stacked 20 deep on the street vendor’s tables on Broadway in Soho– with tourists buying them up at 2 for $10. I liked them so much better when they were only rocked by really old dudes, rude boy/ska kids, and jazz musicians. I wonder if we could bring back the straw pork pie. Oh well. They make for a fun photo, when all lined up like this on a rack. Hehe

Even though the weekend hasn’t officially started yet, it feels like it for me. Today is my day off from running, and my calendar is empty for today! As busy as this week was, it was also super productive. Yesterday afternoon, I was able to shoot a sneak peak of the Fall and Winter stuff that DC is putting out this year (see above for a teaser). It was one of those jobs that I was as excited about shooting, as I was to see what they are coming out with, this year.

Moving on– I received a call from Piper’s social worker yesterday, that someone from a long term care facility was visiting Blythedale and met Piper. I wasn’t exactly sure how to read the call, since it may mean nothing, for now. But it was one of those painful reminders that Piper cannot stay at Blythedale indefinitely. More on that as it develops (hopefully not anytime soon).

This weekend– As usual, we have a pretty packed agenda. Here is the rundown-

1. Friday night: possibly deliver aquarium to a buyer. Sold Tina and some of the convicts this morning. It was really sad for me. But their new dad is as big of a fish nerd as me, so I know they will have a good home.
2. Forget about the double down, Reagan is going to attempt to make us burger melts (Reagan’s would be a veggie burger, of course):
3. Saturday morning: 16 Mile run, then visit Piper.
4. Saturday evening: Shoot inaugural opening of the Hole Gallery, which will be taking the place of the Deitch Project, in SoHo. Then, dinner date with Reagy B.
5. Sunday morning early: Trek to Governor’s Island for the Clicquot Classic Polo Match. The press check-in sheet said to bring a ladder and a long lens. I don’t have any ladders. Maybe I can borrow one from our super. Hahahaha. Should be interesting. It will be my first trip to Governor’s Island, this summer. I’m excited for it.
6. Sunday afternoon: Attend a KAWS exhibit opening at the Aldrich Gallery in CT (hopefully with Reagan). Then visit Piper again, on the way home.
7. Random additional item: I’m selling this Canon zoom lens. Email me if you are interested.

Pardon all of the list making that I have been doing lately. Sometimes it is the only way I can stay organized. Have a great weekend!!