Really? These are the kind of job offers my undergrad sends their graduates?
Thanks guys, I mean, I always knew my BA in English & Creative Writing was somewhat of useless degree. Thank God I’m so close to finishing my MA in English literature at Arcadia!
Just think, in three more weeks, I’ll be able to get job offers from Denny’s! Hooray!
It’s strange, the things you learn about your family members once they’re gone.
My grandmother passed away quite suddenly last week, following after my grandfather who left us just months ago. When my grandfather died, my family had no choice but to put my grandmother in a nursing home, as her mental condition was quickly deteriorating. She’d confuse us for strangers, other people, sometimes forget us completely…
What else can you do, except try and smile and poke fun at the situation? At least, that’s the way I try to deal with almost every serious happening in my life. Smile, make a joke, laugh it off, and just try to make the best of things, no matter how sad things are.
My grandfather worked as a detective in Elizabeth, NJ for many many years and when he grew too old to walk the beat, became a security guard to keep himself busy. Despite his passion for the law, he adored mob stories, reading crime novellas by the bucketful. When he retired, his security guard job found him, ironically, running security for a gang of union workers that were most definitely in the mob, who would often let him in on poker games, letting him have a slice of that daydream of his.
He worked long hours during his time as both a detective and a security guard, and didn’t get to see my grandmother as much as he wanted, occasionally missing birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, and the like.
This past weekend, I learned how he made up for it. How he made the best of things.
When I arrived home to NJ from Philadelphia, there was a mass stack of notes sitting on the kitchen table in my parents’ home. My mom had discovered them under my grandmother’s bed. A collection of poems, written on absolutely anything my grandfather could find, to my grandmother, spanning nearly sixty five years of marriage.
Sixty fives years! No one stays married that long anymore. People these days seem lucky they last sixty five DAYS.
Anniversary notes written on dry cleaning tickets. Birthday cards written on paper plates. Valentine’s Day letters scribbled across old parking violations. Needless to say, I was incredibly moved.
I’ve uploaded a handful of these notes, most of which are from the 80’s, to my Flickr account since they can’t all be in the possession of my various family members. Unlike the love between my grandparents, paper doesn’t last forever, so I’m hoping to preserve these notes somewhere on the interweb and through photos. Maybe you’ll be inspired to tell someone how much you love them. My grandpop did, whenever he could, in the sweetest, simplest of ways.
I’ll be taking more when I go home next. I’ll miss them both terribly.
My friends all ask me how I do it. How do I attend the wedding of an ex-girlfriend, without losing my mind or falling into a horrible depression. Really, it isn’t all that hard. As many of you know, I’ve certainly done it before, and in that one case, I was one of the groomsmen in the actual wedding ceremony.
1. Show up. Seriously, you were lucky enough to be invited. Don’t be cliche and throw away the invitation. Make sure you RSVP (I forgot) and, if you can, bring a date! Also, be sure to have some sort of notepad on hand, so you can be absolutely certain your future wedding is just as awesome, if not better.
With the case of Christina and Josh’s wedding, it might be hard to top. They had a beautiful ceremony and a really nice reception. Bravo.
2. During speeches about the bride’s past, don’t punch the people that look at you. Shut up Glen. Yeah, you’re one of those crappy relationships. Just deal with it. Don’t be that guy who makes a scene. Resist the urge to punch Glen Tickle, Stephanie Rath, Jency Thomas, Nick Solomon your caring and affectionate friends in the face. They mean well, and admit it, it’s pretty damn funny. If you aren’t ready to laugh at yourself, you probably shouldn’t be there.
3. Buy an awesome present. Let’s face it, you’re the ex-boyfriend, so chances are, you’ve got several years of horrible gifts to make up for. Remember all those stuffed animals you thought were awesome at the time? Well, they weren’t. Now is your chance to make things right.
That being said, my gift didn’t show up in time for the wedding. Classic.
4. Loosen up. Have a few drinks, especially if the bride and groom have their own custom martinis (Christini and Josh’s Juice). This will help you relax and enable you to dance to Living On A Prayer by Bon Jovi in a “small asian child having a seizure after watching too much pokemon” kind of way.
Everyone likes the Jersey guy who does that.
Everyone.
5. Say hi to the family. Remember the father who was incredibly scary and intimidating? Guess what! He still is! Be a good man, say hello, and shake hands. You can spend the rest of the day dodging them out of sheer fear and terror, with the knowledge that hey, if he does decide to cut you with a knife, at least you tried.
6. Be happy you’re still friends. Cause seriously, if you weren’t still buddies, you’d be missing out. Plus you probably wouldn’t be able to take sweet pictures like this one.
Congrats Christina. I expect to see you at me and Heather’s wedding in three years.
Few more pictures after the jump and a ton over on the ol’ Facebook.
On January 12th, 2008, at around 4AM, Scott Hasbrouck of the local New Jersey band, Belafonte, passed away in a car accident. I did some photo work with the Belafonte guys, the singer Zachary West being one of my close friends, and I can’t even imagine what they are going through right now.
Scott was a great guy who I had the pleasure of meeting during a photo shoot. We talked on AIM now and again, and the conversations were your usual bro-dude convos, lasting a few minutes, discussing music, girls, and how I had to get my ass to a Belafonte show / how they had to come play in Philadelphia.
When the away messages and text messages started flying around that something had happened to Scott, I IMed his screen name, which had been idle for a few hours. It breaks my heart to know that, at 20 years old, he’s gone, and far too young.
He was fortunate to have some amazing people in his life. The guys in Belafonte, Zach, Chris, Bobby, Kevin, and their old drummer Steve… I can’t even express how fun, genuine, and kind these guys are.
They’ll be playing a benefit show on January 18th, at a small venue in Red Bank, New Jersey. All proceeds are going towards Scott’s family. If you’re a scene kid (there is a huge chance you are if you’re visiting my website) and happen to be from New Jersey, make it out to the show, and show some support.
Stay strong Belafonte, and stay afloat like the ship you named your band after. You’re in my thoughts.
It is an awesome feeling, seeing good friends achieving some serious success. I’ve seen it happen before, and I’ve been witnessing it lately with my pals in Houston Calls.
I met these dudes during my junior year at Ramapo College, when they were still a ska band by the name of Face First. When their saxophone player had to get his wisdom teeth removed, they dropped me a line, and asked if I’d come fill in for him for a couple of shows. We played some fun shows (and beer pong) with Hidden In Plain View around the area. It was a good time.
After an awesome full length and excellent EP, they decided to reform as Houston Calls, releasing two independent EPs before signing with the giant indie label Drive Thru Records.
They toured like mad in support of their album, A Collection Of Short Stories. They’ve since visited Australia twice, once with Yellowcard and another time with MXPX. They toured the UK with the Plain White Ts. They’ve traveled through out the states with groups like HelloGoodbye, Paramore, and The Junior Varsity. Needless to say, I’m proud of these guys, and it’s always a thrill to work with them.
The guys needed some quick shots for their MySpace. Nothing serious, just something fast, since they have a new guitarist and their old press shots just weren’t doing it anymore. We took some silly ones in my apartment, and some really artsy ones backstage at The Troc. The artsy ones came out horrible, and no one will ever see them. Ever. Don’t ask! Afterwards, we drank some beers and played some serious Nintendo Wii.
Go give them a listen, and fall in love with some good old fashioned pop punk, a blend of Motion City Soundtrack and New Found Glory.
Houston Calls
www.houstoncalls.com
www.myspace.com/houstoncalls
www.purevolume.com/houstoncalls
So, I’ve had off from school the past three weeks and this past week, I took off from work. I spent my vacation time in three cities. Philadelphia (mostly playing Bioshock), New Jersey (causing ruckus with friends and family), and in Albany with the little lady and our grandchildren.
And by grandchildren, I mean baby bunnies.
Adorable. They’re all quite precious, even the little angry brown bunny who likes to bite absolutely everything. The black and white speckled one is my personal favorite.
This all black bun is The Dark Lord and will be coming home with me to Philadelphia, to be adopted by my friends Tim and Megan.
I also spent a good portion of my time playing fetch with these two crazy puppies, running up and down a huge field of lush, bright green alfalfa, taking in all the fresh air I could while scoping out some seriously beautiful mountain scenery.
And of course, spent lots of time with this beautiful girl.
Semester starts soon. Writing Fiction Workshop (yay!), The History of Rhetoric (ugh), and Medieval Literature (yay!). Should be an interesting semester. Just one more after this, and I’ll have my MFA. Where does the time go?
One of the great things about living in Philadelphia is the absolute wealth of history that surrounds me everyday. I can walk five blocks down the street and find myself at the Liberty Bell. A block further, Independence Hall. Ben Franklin’s grave is six blocks away, where dumb people throw pennies on it. The man said “a penny saved is a penny earned”. SAVE your pennies, stop throwing them on him. Plus Abe Lincoln is on the penny. Want to do him justice? Throw some hundred dollah bills on him. K? Thnx.
This weekend I went to New Jersey to spend time with good friends from my former college. My pal Jon happens to live in Haddonfield, and will be moving to Philadelphia in September. The great thing about Haddonfield, is that a TON of New Jersey history resides there.
The Indian King Tavern is where, in 1777, New Jersey officially became a state. While the state’s capital, Trenton, was full of battling troops, the Council and General Assembly ratified the state’s constitution. The site happens to be the very first official historic site in New Jersey. Check out the sweet plaque on the front door and the sign hanging outside…
They were missing the U’s when the sign was made. Good thing they noticed the similiar shapes between V and U. If things got really bad, they also could have replaced S with 5.
However, hidden within the town of Haddonfield, lies another important historical discovery, that unfortunately gets overlooked by most passerbys.
The very first dinosaur discovered in North America was found here in New Jersey. The monument is pretty weak, just that little sign and a rock with a plaque describing the dinosaur (a Hadrosaurus). You can see this beast on display at Philadelphia’s Academy of Arts & Sciences (I’ll be hitting that up tomorrow). Despite how lame the monument may be, it is certainly endearing, due to the little display put on by the town’s children…
These toy dinos sit all lined up on a bench near the monument. Aw.
Read up some more on New Jersey history in your local library on Wikipedia. I will mention that Billy Crystal’s character Harry from When Harry Met Sally happens to be from Haddonfield, NJ. Awesome.
Today my uncle and aunt surprised me with a lovely visit and breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market, and when they asked me how long I’d been in Philly, I was shocked when I said six months. That’s half a year! Back in junior high, if you were dating someone for six months, you were practically married. And while I’m not necessarily married to this city yet, I’m definitely having one amazing relationship with it.
I moved here for graduate school back in January, terrified about leaving my beloved garden state. I found myself stuck with two strange roommates who burned everything they cooked and ate everything I bought (after burning it). I discovered I was being ripped off for rent and that the neighborhood I lived in wasn’t the best, so I packed up my things and moved out. The semester was taking a toll on me, it was snowy, cold, and I had to walk almost 12 blocks to the train and about a mile to school once I got to Glenside. I considered leaving.
I moved to Rittenhouse Square. It was insanely expensive, but there was a Rita’s near by. Suddenly I lost my New Jersey lingo and start calling Italian Ice “Water Ice”. I still firmly believe that it is Italian Ice, however I don’t want to argue with the Rita’s people anymore. I discovered the overpriced joys of Walnut St and explored Old City. I found historical homes galore, stumbled across sweet side streets with oil burning streetlights, and found my favorite place to write, a cafe called Last Drop.
I landed an awesome job in an office filled with wonderful people, who suddenly made this city feel less lonely. Rather then awkward conversation with my introverted roommate, I was surrounded by people who shared my interests. Music, movies, a passion for mosaics involving video games… things just got better. I had people to go out to get drinks with and at the same time, teach me how to work in a professional environment. I even learned with a 401k was.
I moved into Center City, and found myself living with two wonderful people. Jordan, who is an amazingly talented artist, and Tess, his fun-loving, cursing-while-playing-Mario-Kart-64 girlfriend. We spend all day surrounded by two kittens, a bunny, and a beta fish that gets neglected.
I met some talented writers in the city, some excellent artists, and a handful of bands. I got to hang out with two of my close New Jersey friends, Saray and Tim, who moved to Philadelphia while I was still back home. I spent time with my pal from Kean, Eric Hoover, who up and left this past month (you jerk!), but never-the-less, got to bond with a great friend who I missed out on during my undergrad.
In terms of my creative side, during my time here I went on tour with some awesome bands, Forever The Sickest Kids (Universal / Motown), Farewell (Epitaph), and my BFFs, Upper Class Trash (School Night Records). I starred in a sweet music video for a band called Silverstein. I also finished my novel, which is being edited right now. I’ve already started on a second one.
My dream girl and I took the leap and decided to make what we have work. And it’s working. Living in a city with an endless amount of things to do definitely makes it easier when she comes down for weekend visits too.
I also have an XBox 360 and a Nintendo Wii. This doesn’t seem like such a big deal for some, but for someone who grew up collecting aluminum cans around his neighborhood so he could save up and buy crappy budget title SNES games, being able to own such small luxuries is a HUGE deal.
With a year of graduate school finished, a tour, a music video, an amazing girlfriend, a sweet living situation, a fun job, a bunny, two kittens, a beta fish, video games, awesome friends from home and new ones from here, I’m loving this city that has become my home.
Here’s to six more months.
So last week I photographed a whole mess of bands and a model in the course of one week, while working a 40 hour week at my job and attending my summer grad course, as well as spending a weekend with my goddess of a girlfriend.
Whew!
So here are a couple previews of some of the band shots.
This is More Like The Moon. They’re a really great local band from the Philadelphia area who found me on myspace and definitely deserve a listen. They’ve been slotted as openers on a lot of the big shows here in area, playing with groups like Valencia (I-Surrender Records), Zolof The Rock & Roll Destroyer, and All Time Low (Hopeless Records).
When they were at my apartment, they played a stellar acoustic cover of Hey Ya by Outkast for me and my girlfriend. It was ever so romantical. Give these guys a listen.
www.myspace.com/areyoumorelikethemoon
Respond are a group from New Jersey who took a little trip to Philly to do a quick shoot with me, and we had a lot of fun exploring the scary-as-hell basement in my apartment building, of which I will have a separate photo set soon. I knew Mike from his previous projects. They just recorded with the famed Jesse Cannon, who has worked with groups like Head Automatica and Saves The Day. Give them a listen too!
And here’s a random photo of Ash and Aurora. Best friends forever. OMGBFFLOL.
With that, I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Reading: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Listening: Moneen and Days Away
Watching: Trailers for Transformers. Again and again.
A popular question amongst my group of friends back home, and even the new ones I’ve been meeting in this city, is “How do you like living in Philadelphia?”
After this past weekend, I can answer that question easily.
Whether it is running up the Rocky steps with my friends from New Jersey, checking out the Waterworks, pretending to be beached whales in the fountain in Logan Square, or just sitting in the living room of my apartment, laughing and talking about high school…
Philadelphia is absolutely wonderful.
