economic struggles make for good fires

Jack and I made a fire last sunday before finals week began. There is something about making and sitting around a fire that is really relaxing for me. It was nice to set my work aside for a second and enjoy the fire. Plus the smell of campfire on your clothes afterwords is one of my favorite smells of all time next to new car and lucky number 6 perfume.

these photos were taken in the past week.
the last was taken by my roommate andy poland.

last night in nyc

I went out with my dad tonight to celebrate the end of my internship and to see each other one last time before I leave for home. We went to this great sushi restaurant in tribeca called megu. Even I was surprised at my confidence in trying all the different sushi's and raw fish. Two years ago you couldn't have paid me to eat at a sushi restaurant. Things change pretty quickly in life. In two weeks I will start my junior year of college. I can't believe it's all gone by so fast.

Had an exciting last weekend in nyc. On saturday my dad and I spent the day with his best friend john. I asked john if he would show me the ropes of making a traditional homemade italian dinner. So we spent the entire day preparing, cooking, and eating the meal. John grew up in hell's kitchen always helping his mother make food for their big family. He took us over to where he grew up and we went to the market to buy meat and other stuff for the sauce(which he calls gravy). John is the loudest, most outgoing person I have ever met. It's almost hard for me to be around him at first because my personality is so different, but he's got such a way with people. He puts a smile on the faces of everyone surrounding him. I know his friendship means a lot to my dad so I try and cherish the time that I get to spend with him.

On friday i was able to get a few shots of a protest that was taking place on 42nd st. These people were protesting the actions of the Chinese government against Tibet. They are calling the Beijing Games the "Genocide Olympics." Seeing this group of people protesting for this cause sparked a lot of thought from me in the past few days. It's hard to imagine living in a place where the truth cannot be spoken because of fear of the government.

the last two weeks have gone by in a blur. i've sort of neglected some of the shows I could have gone to, but i have spent more time with my dad and more time enjoying the company of friends. most of the photos are from last weekend, but the ticket is from last nights viewing of the dark knight on imax. i always have this bad habit of chewing on movie tickets for some reason, i can't remember how it got started but i've chewed through quite a few tickets in my day.

so i've got 3 more weeks at MTV and then i'll make the 9 hour trek back to the homeland for a week in hilliard and then another school year in athens. i can't talk about it enough, i am so excited to get back to athens and live in my own place. time is flying by, I only hope I can keep up

So I successfully made it through another week in the big apple. Although I have never spent as much money on food or transportaion in any other city I am constantly amazed at the amount of opportunities I have had to see great bands here for free. On Thursday I saw The Fiery Furnaces at East River Park with my new found friend Annemarie and yesterday I saw The Dodos, Times New Viking, Islands, and Broken Social Scene at the Siren Music Festival. All four bands I listed were spectacular. I was especially excited to see The Dodos, I've been listening to them a lot for the past two weeks. I also had a great time just enjoying Coney Island at the festival yesterday. The place is absolutely amazing. I can't believe its going to be replaced by condos, its such a tragedy. Even Kevin Drew, who was spending his first day there discussed his sadness to see it go. Can you imagine how the people that have been going there every weekend of the summer for the past 20 years feel?
Even after the long day at Coney and the 2 hour commute home last night I still managed to drag myself out to Brooklyn today to see Liars and fuck buttons at McCarren Pool and I'm so glad I did. The show was really great, I was very surprised at the performance that Liars gave. They were as catchy as The Pixies, as unconventional as Animal Collective, and at times as heavy as Rage Against the Machine . McCarren Pool is a great venue, its actually a enormous drained pool that has been converted into a hotspot for great indie music in brooklyn.
I'm sure I'll have more concert photos next week. Akron/Family comes into town on Thursday and MGMT is performing at McCarren Pool next Sunday. Its been fun running all over the city to see concerts and friends, but I will be glad to return to Athens at the end of August. I am excited to see what this next school year will bring.