i keep a diary

July, 2013

The July Roundup

Here are all the photos I took in July of 2013 that didn't end up in their own entry

Monday, July 1st

Went to the park to jump rope on Monday evening after work.
Cool to see the Sycamore's peely-camouflage bark start to flake off.
tree
Flowers blooming in the flower box down the block.
flower ˆ walking
Yeah, that's right. Dropping custom tail-glass on my champagne Maxima. NO ROOLZ at all, baby. (Especially when it comes to spelin)
best ˆ license plate

Wednesday, July 3rd

me
It's ok to post undie mirror selfies as long as you wait a few years, right? Good, cuz here's post-jumprope fitness photo. (I was never able to stick with running long enough for it to change my physique. Jumping rope is trickier to learn than running, but definitely changed my body much more quickly than running.)
mirror ˆ undies ˆ me
davo, meredith
After work, I played videogames with Davo and then Meredith came over for a hang!
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ davo ˆ meredith

Wednesday, July 3rd

Ended up at a random, crazy party late late Tuesday night and saw it through to sunrise. HOLY LION GOLDEN FATHER! I didn't take any photos except for this one of my Citibiking home up a totally empty Lafayatte Street at 6am.
biking ˆ nyc ˆ sunrise
Spent all of the 4th catching up on sleep. Headed out around 9pm...
4th of july ˆ fireworks ˆ walking
...to head out to Brooklyn...
4th of july ˆ roof
amanda
...and meet up with Amanda at Kostas' holiday BBQ.
4th of july ˆ amanda

Friday, July 5th

Morning juice. Mmmmm.
blueberries ˆ juice ˆ pineapple
Husky chilling in the dog park like.
best ˆ dog park ˆ dogs ˆ tompkins
Coffee and a croissant from the coffee shop downstairs.
coffee ˆ stairs
maddy
Conked out.
asleep ˆ maddy

Saturday, July 6th

maddy, meredith
On Saturday afternoon, Meredith came over to watch Maddy while I headed out of town for a night.
maddy ˆ meredith
She brought breakfast fruits.
food ˆ fruit ˆ mango ˆ watermelon
maddy, meredith
Buddies.
maddy ˆ meredith
I walked up to 25th street to pick up the Zipcar I'd reserved and had to climb over a sidewalk that looked like this! Haha.
broken ˆ construction ˆ sidewalk ˆ wtf
Passing through West Milford on my way to...
flag ˆ nj
jeff m, russ
...attend an awesome 4th of July BBQ at Scott & Erika's new house!
fence ˆ house ˆ jeff m ˆ russ
They have a massive backyard...
4th of july ˆ nj ˆ party
...complete with a huge pool!
4th of july ˆ pool
jeff m, scott
So good to spend time catching up with these guys! When we were in high school, the Little Toot, the boat you see in the background, was in the water at various marinas around NJ and upstate NY and we used to have sleepover parties on it.
boat ˆ little toot ˆ roxbury high school ˆ jeff m ˆ scott
dominic, jeff m, scott
The longer you party with people, the better you get at it. I've got at least 20 solid years under my belt with these guys.
4th of july ˆ bbq ˆ boat ˆ cooking ˆ little toot ˆ roxbury high school ˆ dominic ˆ jeff m ˆ scott
jeff m, scott
Here's to at least another twenty.
4th of july ˆ bbq ˆ best ˆ party ˆ jeff m ˆ scott
abbey
After BBQ, a bunch of different people played music. And then after a few songs, the musicians invited kids and anyone else who wanted to play music up to join them. I wish every party had this. It's so weird that we mostly listen to recorded music at parties instead of make it.
4th of july ˆ band ˆ best ˆ party ˆ abbey
In addition to the big lawn they also have...
dogs ˆ party
...a wooded area with a decent-sized pond and campfire! Where I promptly sat to drink beers and watch the sunset.
fire ˆ pond
View of the house from the pond. After the evening settled in a bit, it was time to walk up to the house to enjoy watching...
house ˆ nj
...everyone start playing with fireworks!
4th of july ˆ sparkler
Kate and sparklers.
4th of july ˆ sparkler
tim
Uncle Tim putting on a handheld roman candle show.
4th of july ˆ fireworks ˆ tim
Jeff started fire-twirling with sparklers...
fire ˆ twirl
...and all the kinds joined in.
fire
I love the drifting cloud of fragrant smoke that comes from lots of fireworks!
4th of july
reminay
After fireworks, we graduated to s'mores.
fire ˆ smores ˆ reminay
scott
After we'd exhausted all the flammables, we headed into the garage to play some late night pool.
garage ˆ scott
People kept hitting the hanging light over the table...
jeff m, scott
...so there was a time-out in playing in order to fix the light.
garage ˆ jeff m ˆ scott
Hot!
scott
Did some solid night-swimming...
scott
...and dried off in front of the fire. Excellent Fourth of July! Thanks for having me, Scott & Erika!
4th of july ˆ fire

Sunday, July 7th

I drove back from Scott & Erika's on Sunday afternoon and stopped by Meredith's new apartment to pick up this terror-beast.
maddy
All tuckered out from the heat!
car ˆ tired ˆ tongue ˆ maddy
I spent Sunday evening watching a documentary Davo sent me about a Dutch journalist interviewing Iggy Pop as he walks the interviewer around my neighborhood in 1993.
east village ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ meta ˆ movie
So cool to see all the stuff that's changed, and all the stuff that's mostly the same!
video

Tuesday, July 9th

davo, maddy
Davo came back to mine for a few days on Tuesday. We spent the afternoon designing fliers to try to get more people to come to our new weekly dance party....
e9th apt ˆ headphones ˆ living room ˆ davo ˆ maddy
...Bad Decisions! We tried to pick a flier image that represented...
bad decisions ˆ flyer
...the type of crowd we were hoping to draw. Haha.
bad decisions ˆ flyer
arm
Tried going for an evening run (but I never make it much further than 3 or 4 miles before my IT band says "No!")
run ˆ arm
davo
When I got back, Davo and I geeked out playing videogames for a while...
videogames ˆ davo
jon danovic, me
...before heading out late-night to meet up with Kim. On the way home, we randomly ran into Jon, who was into town from LA for one night!
jon danovic ˆ me

Thursday, July 11th

jared, jeet
On Thursday I received my invite to the upcoming Bassi-Piccone wedding! Verrrrry exciting!
mail ˆ wedding ˆ jared ˆ jeet
Then later that evening, I got a text from Pauly that three of his friends were in town from Canada. He told me they were out drinking and being rowdy and that I should go meet up with them.
I also invited Vin along who'd been out partying with some other friends. Turns out that drunk rowdy Vin doesn't mix well...
...with drunk rowdy Canadian girls. And a short while later...
vin
...HEY, WHY'D THOSE GIRLS LEAVE? WHAT THE FUCK?
drunk ˆ vin

Friday, July 12th

davo, me
Friday night drinks with Davo and Kim.
davo ˆ me

Saturday, July 13th

Gurj came over on Saturday evening and we had ourselves a feast from Organic Grill and a proper catch-up.
jeet, me
Such buddies.
best ˆ jeet ˆ me

Sunday, July 14th

I spend Sunday afternoon back up in Union Square for...
skylight
...my second day of class to learn reiki with Brian Brunius.
me
I was feeling all gunked-up inside after getting divorced and after trying a variety of things, someone suggested I try reiki. I wasn't very optimistic about it, but decided to give it a shot. I booked a session with Brian and was really amazed at his ability to rid my body of the feeling of "stuckness" I was holding. After a few really interesting sessions, he encouraged me to take his "first degree" reiki class.
best ˆ reiki ˆ me
me
Here are pictures Brian took of our class of five.
reiki ˆ me
me
From Brian's website page about Reiki First Degree:

The Reiki process is a simple method of hands-on healing as developed by Mikao Usui, a monk from Kyoto, Japan. After training, Reiki energy flows through the body to the hands of the Reiki healer and into the cells of the person being treated. The energy is used to normalize body functions. It helps to reestablish balance and harmony on the physical, emotional, and spiritual planes so that the natural function is restored. Reiki differs from other healing methods in that a specific attunement process is used to prepare students for the flow of healing energy. This protects them from either transmitting or absorbing any negative energetic patterns.

This is a 16 hours class taught over two days. The class is divided into four sections of about four hours. In each section of the class, students will receive an attunement from the instructor, increasing their access to the Reiki energy and boosting their power level. By the fourth and final attunement, the student will have permanent, life-long access to Reiki, as well as all the knowledge and skills to use it successfully on themselves and others.

(It's 2015 and I still regularly practice reiki on myself and others. If you're interested in a session, email me. Skeptics welcome, no belief required!
reiki ˆ me
maddy, meredith
Meredith spend the weekend hanging out with Maddy while I was away both days taking my class.
couch ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
meredith
Later that evening, I found she'd left me a cartoon on the fridge. "We grew as much as we could together and then, we grew apart." Awww, buddy!
cartoons ˆ drawing ˆ us ˆ meredith
maddy
Just me and you, kid!
maddy

Monday, July 15th

Lovely sunset over the East Village (with ceiling-light reflection as UFO!)
e9th apt ˆ east village ˆ nyc ˆ sunset ˆ twilight ˆ window
Cleaned up the apartment. Spend the evening going through lots of albums and putting together awesome playlists of dance-worthy jams...
e9th apt ˆ living room
davo
...for our first Bad Decisions on a Monday night. Despite our awesome fliers, we learned it's just not that easy to get people to come out to a bar and dance at 11:30pm on a Monday night than it is on a Sunday night!
bad decisions ˆ dj ˆ davo

Tuesday, July 16th

davo, jen p, me
On Tuesday afternoon I biked down to Chinatown to meet up with Davo and his friend Jen at a bakery. After picking out delicious goodies, we went next store to Magic Jewelry to get our photos of our "auras" taken with the Guy Coggins-designed AuraCam6000.
chinatown ˆ mirror ˆ davo ˆ jen p ˆ me
Here are our three "aura" Polaroids. From left to right: Jenny, Davo and me. We all went back to back so we were surprised to see such differences in our photos!

Before the film is exposed, you place your hands on two metal plates and the camera runs an small electrical current through your body. The device attached to the camera interprets the electrical resistance in various parts of your body and then "steps the wavelength of those high-frequency energy waves down several octaves from the electromagnetic spectrum, down to the their corresponding "colors" on the visible-light spectrum.
AuraCam6000 ˆ polaroid
Here is a representation of the human chakra system. Each color or "tone" represents a specific location in the body (related to an endocrine function) that is responsible for processing different emotional contents. Rather than let our various emotions go to the proper place in our body to be "processed," we turn all of our feelings into words and then trap that emotion energy in our minds where we "think about how we feel."

Reiki, acupuncture, etc - are all about helping people move the energy that's been trapped in their head and distribute it around the body.
me
Here's a close-up of my photo. After your picture develops, the woman there explains how the colors that appear in your photo relate to the things that you been thinking about and doing. I came and total skeptic and left dying to read more about how this thing works (I ended up visiting the house of the inventor when I was out in the Bay Area a few months later - but he was away at a conference!)
AuraCam6000 ˆ best ˆ polaroid ˆ me
davo
Afterwards, we adjourned to a nearby park to discuss our photos and enjoy exotic Chinese bakery-goods!
davo
vin
Later that night I biked over to Houston to meet up with Vin for an awesome cheap Indian dinner at the Punjabi cabstand on 1st Street.
east village ˆ indian food ˆ restaurant ˆ vin
me, vin
We went to the park across the street and chowed down! Just because it's one-hundred degrees doesn't mean you shouldn't eat piping hot, extra-spicy food!
food ˆ indian food ˆ sweaty ˆ me ˆ vin

Wednesday, July 17th

maddy
Took this one for a nice slow walk over to East River Park and let her go crazy seeking out pigeons...
pigeon ˆ maddy
maddy
...in every nook and cranny along the way.
maddy
dave g, liza, vin
Liza was in town from Berlin! Later that night we met up at C-Tav for an old-school catch-up!
cherry tavern ˆ dave g ˆ liza ˆ vin
vin
Adjourned with Vin to get a spinach burrito to counterbalance the C-Tav specials we'd consumed.
burrito ˆ food ˆ mexican ˆ vin
Spent the evening reading a few internet deconstructions of Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and then watched it for the first time.
movie
Follow the rainbow. (That painting hanging on the left is by Kubrick's wife and appears in multiple scenes)
movie ˆ painting ˆ xmas lights ˆ xmas tree

Thursday, July 18th

astra, naomi
On Thursday night, Naomi and I went over Astra's to sing her birthday songs and so that Naomi could give Astra her birthday gift....
birthday ˆ candles ˆ astra ˆ naomi
astra
...stick-on nipples! Astra likes to wear these OVER her clothes "because it makes people uncomfortable." Haha.
nipple ˆ astra
astra, me
Astra insisted I try them on, just so I could "see how they feel."
nipple ˆ astra ˆ me
astra
What the birthday girls wants, she gets! This is an interesting look, for sure; but I think I'll stick with the ones I've got. Happy birthday, Astra!
birthday ˆ lick ˆ nipple ˆ shock ˆ wtf ˆ astra
maddy
Stick-on nipples? I don't get it.
maddy

Friday, July 19th

Friday afternoon was SCORCHING hot! I rented a car...
maddy
...grabbed this little skadootch and drove down to DC...
maddy
amy b, brett
...to celebrate Amy's birthday and to play everyone's favorite bar-game: Guess Who's Five Months Pregnant!
best ˆ get a load of this guy ˆ preggo ˆ amy b ˆ brett

Saturday, July 20th

amy b, maddy, me
Brett snapped this pic of my sun-snoozing with my best-bud at 4pm after a long day of walking around in the heat.
asleep ˆ amy b ˆ maddy ˆ me
maddy
Totally tuckered.
sleepy ˆ sunbathing ˆ maddy
We had a Thai feast for dinner and watched From Russia, With Love
food ˆ movie ˆ thai food ˆ tv

Sunday, July 21st

brett
Had a relaxing Sunday catching up with this guy. We tried a Korean place in the neighborhood.
excited ˆ food ˆ korean food ˆ brett
me
Dumplings and an afternoon drinky-drink!
dumpling ˆ excited ˆ food ˆ korean food ˆ me
This every day.
bi bim bab ˆ food ˆ korean food
On our walk home, we stopped by the forboding Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
buildings ˆ masonic
I took a bunch of photos of some of the interesting symbolism - most of which comes down by way of the symbols of the Egyptian Mystery Schools; like this two-headed Masonic eagle (phoenix). The banner underneath says: DEUS MEUMQUE JUS ("God and my right.")
buildings ˆ masonic
Hooded sphinx
buildings ˆ hoodie ˆ masonic ˆ sphinx
Later on that evening after things had cooled down...
buildings
...we went for another long walk around, exploring DC.
statue ˆ washington dc
Foggy night and a full moon.
moon ˆ statue ˆ washington dc
My brother lives just a short walk from the White House. Neato to be able to just walk right up to it (sort of).
buildings ˆ moon ˆ washington dc ˆ white house
Like a Roman nightmare.
buildings ˆ washington dc
Regular garage entrance or secret CIA lair?
garage ˆ washington dc
We walked over to the Washington Monument to get a better look at....
obelisk ˆ washington dc
...it completely covered up in rennovation scaffolding.
moon ˆ obelisk ˆ washington dc
The scaffolding fit the shape of the building even at the top!
buildings ˆ masonic ˆ obelisk ˆ washington dc
On the walk home, my brother took me to a pizzeria where each slice...
pizza ˆ washington dc
...is a quarter of a pie!
pizza ˆ washington dc
teddy
Got home to find these guys all...
dogs ˆ teddy
maddy
...snuggled up.
dogs ˆ maddy

Monday, July 22nd

brett, me
On Monday afternoon, I said farewell to Brett and Amy...
best ˆ family ˆ sunglasses ˆ brett ˆ me
maddy
...put this little dingle in the car...
best ˆ dogs ˆ rental car ˆ maddy
...and started the long drive home.
bridge ˆ driving
maddy
Wiener is my co-pilot.
maddy

Wednesday, July 24th

On Wednesday afternoon, the massage table I'd purchased so I could practice reiki on people arrived.
reiki
Sea shell holding stand.
seashell

Friday, July 26th

Lotsa different stuff I put in my juicer on Friday.
juicer ˆ pineapple
me
More of my health self-portraits trying to document the effects of all my juicing and rope jumping.
me
maddy, meredith
Later that evening Meredith came over and let me practice reiki on her.
reiki ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
maddy
Maddy likes when I practice reiki on people and makes little crying noises until I lift her onto the table so she can nap between their legs while I work. Haha.
feet ˆ maddy
leigh
Later that night I went to an amazing dinner to celebrate...
birthday ˆ leigh
leigh
...Leigh's birthday!
birthday ˆ cake ˆ candles ˆ leigh
Late night cross-town cab...
taxi
davo
...to meet up with Kelly & Davo in the East Village.
davo

Saturday, July 27th

meredith
On Saturday afternoon I met up with Meredith in Chinatown for veggie dim sum! When you drink from the little tea cups there, it makes you look like a little piggy!
chinatown ˆ dim sum ˆ food ˆ restaurant ˆ tea ˆ meredith
me
Oink oink!
chinatown ˆ dim sum ˆ restaurant ˆ tea ˆ me
meredith
Afterwards, I took her over to Magic Jewelry ( 238 Canal St # 108, New York, NY 10013) to get our aura photos taken!
AuraCam6000 ˆ camera ˆ chinatown ˆ meredith
Crazy iridescent-rainbow clouds of the non-ROY G. BIV variety. Probably just water-vapor, tho. LOL.
clouds ˆ rainbow ˆ wtf

Sunday, July 28th

The Horsemen are drawing nearer
On leather steeds they ride
They've come to take your life
On through the dead of night
With the Four Horsemen ride
Or choose your fate and die
best ˆ graffiti
maddy
Spent the evening throwing various items down the hallway hundreds of times for this tiny terror...
maddy
caiti, me
...and then went over to the Bowery Hotel to meet up with Caiti...
caiti ˆ me
caiti, tyson
...and catch up with this handsome man who was in town for the night.
caiti ˆ tyson

Monday, July 29th

jared
On Monday morning Jared picked me up...
driving ˆ jared
...and we drove out to Sheepshead Bay...
jared, me
...to spend the afternoon....
driving ˆ excited ˆ happy ˆ jetski ˆ jared ˆ me
...renting waterskis and riding to Manhattan and back! I had so much fun doing this with Tyson in Meredith back in 2011, that I had to do it again.
boat ˆ jetski
Three-and-a-half hours later!
Classic and classy!
boat
jared
Back in the East Village, we celebrated our afternoon wave-jumping triumphs with an Odessa feast!
diner ˆ food ˆ odessa ˆ jared

Wednesday, July 31st

On Wednesday afternoon, Leigh and Randy came by to drop off this little visitor for a few weeks while they traveled! Happy July 2013!
edie