Sloan's
When I was little and my parents took me shopping at Sloan's furniture store, I came along only begrudgingly. The store's intense clutter sent shivers up my spine and and the unheated, dimly lit, cavernous space made me long to be back at home. Who knew what could be lurking behind the broken down wardrobes and mountains of filthy knickknacks? After spending what would seem like an eternity picking out just the right piece of rickety furniture, my parents would finally leave and I would breathe a sigh of relief.
Now, when I return to Sloan's more than ten years later, I go far less reluctantly. As I've accrued a taste for vintage furniture and one-of-a-kind pieces, it has morphed from an obsessive child's nightmare into a veritable cave of wonders. Every time I enter the nearly unmarked four-story brick building in Buffalo's dilapidated East Side, I have to control the urge to poop my pants from excitement. I could spend hours in this store and never get bored. I would say that going in there is like embarking on a treasure hunt except that everything in there is like gold to me. As I sift through piles of old animal skins and rows of framed photographs, the mental list of Things-I-Want-To-Buy becomes overwhelmingly overloaded. The last time I visited, I pretty much wanted to walk away with the entire store hitched onto the back of my car. Due to my continuous lack of money, though, this was impossible. I did walk away with a pretty snazzy green chair from the 50s, an old American Flag, and a few other fun things, though.
July 25, 2010 at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Concrete Central
Last Saturday, my father took Russell and I on a car ride through two Buffalo neighborhoods: The Hydraulics and The Valley. Nearby, we stumbled across a pretty amazing public park. The park, hidden at the end of a residential block, overlooked the water and was surrounded by railroad bridges, factories, and grain elevators. It resembled a sculpture park with industrial structures instead of Jeff Koons sculptures. I pretty much pooped my pants when I saw it. I'm pretty convinced that it has to be one of Buffalo's best kept secrets.
I was so in love with the park that the very next day, I had Russell, Kat, and Kat's sister Erin come back there with me to do a little photo shoot. In addition to exploring the park (I still have yet to learn its name), we ventured across a railroad bridge and into one of the surrounding complexes, Concrete Central. I had never been inside one of Buffalo's industrial buildings before and it was pretty amazing. The entire first floor was covered almost completely with graffiti. A fair distance away from any houses or people, it was a secluded little paradise for picture taking.
June 23, 2010 at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Kaisertown
I'm home in Buffalo for the month of June to take a French course at Buffalo State College. While I've been here, I've been making good on my resolution to ride my bike. A lot. I ride my bike to school every morning and I've been trying my best to attend Buffalo's weekly (and AMAZING) midnight bike ride every Sunday. Last Thursday, Aaron and I went on a little exploratory jaunt to Kaisertown, which is quickly becoming my favorite Buffalo neighborhood. I took some photos of the area last summer, but this time, we journeyed off of the main drag to check out some of the houses. I'm a little bit in love with these homes, many of which are covered in pastel-colored shingles and sport perfectly manicured squares of grass in front.
June 13, 2010 at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
I'm not dead
For the one person that actually reads this blog (AKA my mom), you can sleep soundly. I have not died. I have just not really had the time/interest/patience for blogging over the past few months. For a while, I had this sort of superstitious/OCD thing where I would have to update my blog at least once a month. This year, I couldn't even do that. I'm embarrassed to say that my New Year's resolutions are still completely visible on the main page of this blog. So, because people have had to stare at those for the last five months, let's just start with those.
I've actually done amazingly well with my resolutions so far, at least with the ones that matter most to me. First off, I did get my bike fixed and I did ride it! In fact, I've been riding it to and from work every day. Check that off my list of things to do! I also purchased a point-and-shoot camera, something I've been wanting to do ever since my old one broke nearly three years ago. I used to take SO many photographs, but that's just so difficult to do when you have to carry around an enormous DSLR with you everywhere you go. My new Canon G11 is much better for that.
I've been making much more conscious attempts to give myself some relaxation time. Sometimes, this can hinder at my ability to do school work, because any time I relax is also simultaneously procrastination time. But still. It's progress.
I've been cooking! A little bit. I am sadly not gifted at all in the kitchen, but fortunately for me, I live with somebody who is (Shannon!). From time to time, I will buy food for both Shannon and myself and she will cook it for both of us. Through this process, I've been able to learn to cook. Like one thing. But, still. Again, progress.
Out of all of my resolutions for this year, though, the most important thing to me has been changing my problem with focusing and paying attention. And so far, I've been extremely active in trying to change this. At the beginning of the year, I started seeing a therapist, something I've continued to do on a weekly basis. I've also started to see a psychiatrist. Up until this point, I'd been a bit hesitant about taking medication. First off, because drugs in general just terrify me. Secondly, I'm terrified of doctors and getting the labwork required for medication would require me to see one. Thirdly, I just wasn't sure if I actually wanted to change. Luckily, I got over all of these things.
Through working with both my therapist and psychiatrist, I (we) have come to the conclusion that a lot of my difficulty focusing stems from my obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety problems. Trust me, it's really difficult to sit down and read a book when you have the nagging urge to reread the same page over and over again. Or clean your entire apartment instead.
I'm not going to say that I'm one-hundred percent better, but since I started taking the medication and working with my therapist, I've been feeling a lot more calm. I'm also worrying a lot less. I still have anxiety, but it has overall been significantly diminished. I'm still having trouble focusing and being completely lucid, but I feel like I've at least started to make a change. And that's important.
My summer break started last week and it's been kind of bitter sweet. I'm so happy that I am finally done with all of the projects and papers that had been piling up the entire semester. Still, I really enjoyed all of my classes this year and I'm sad that I won't be able to continue going to them. Right now, I'm just letting my mind and body unwind a bit before I go home for June to take a French course to prepare for grad school. The entire grad school process (including applying and taking the GRE) has sort of been at the back of my mind until now. What with that and the six (OMG) classes I'm taking this fall, I'm really happy to have a break right now. Let's hope I can keep up on this blogging thing now that I have (some) free time.
May 21, 2010 at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Palindrome
Last weekend, I did a shoot with my friend Lauren who was in need of a lookbook for her art direction portfolio. Lauren, who essentially planned out the entire look and theme of the shoot, chose to shoot the clothing line of Pratt fashion student, Hannah Peyser. Drawing inspiration from the line's name, Palindrome, Lauren opted for a sophisticated, mysterious feeling. Lauren, who is basically a twenty-one year old girl scout, was incredibly prepared for this shoot, and it was wonderful working with somebody who knew precisely what she wanted, right down to the lighting and the types of poses. We originally planned to shoot the images with a grey backdrop, but after testing it for several minutes, I quickly rolled it up and exchanged it for a black one. I'd never shot with a black backdrop before, but I think the results are pretty stunning.
Model: Yasemin Kececioglu
Art Direction: Lauren Festine
Hair: Tracy Pairis
Makeup: Lauren Festine
Assistant: Abbey Powell
Clothing: Palindrome
April 3, 2010 at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)