bassline

My friends, Rebecca and Mike, held their annual Halloween party this past Saturday. It was pretty well-attended and a great time was had by all. I I'm sure there's a photo or two of me in costume floating around out in the world, but I didn't get anyone to take any with my camera.

More shots here

My costume came together as a last-minute thing, as is usually the case. I like dressing up for Halloween, but I can never come up with any costume ideas that far beforehand. This year, I came up with a character that was basically a demon who tortured the souls of...chickens. I was demoted to one of the lowest levels of soul-torturers because of some departmental reshuffling in Hell headquaters. My costume? Black hood with eyeholes, all black clothes, rubber chicken with fake blood, and a plastic hatchet with fake blood. It was effective. People were mystified and a little scared. Mission accomplished.
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E went along reluctantly. We didn't come up with anything for her to wear. In fact, she was going to stay home when I came home from work on Saturday, but I convinced her to go anyway. She had never been to a Halloween party since it isn't celebrated in Australia. There were a few other people who weren't in costume, so she wasn't alone in that department. I think she had a decent time anyway.

Tonight, we went out to see the kids and parents going around Trick or Treating. It was a great night out, weatherwise and a lot of people were out on thier stoops handing out candy to passers-by. I was kind of surprised by this, because I remember going around as a kid and having to knock on doors and ring bells to possibly get a response. Tonight, there were whole blocks having Halloween parties outdoors. E mentioned that there was something of a village-like feeling to the neighborhood and she was right; people were out just having a good time wih the kids with houses decorated and the streets lit up. Most Halloweens I'm either working or getting off from work and hurrying straight to a party, so I never see any of this going on. We've decided that we have to really dress up next year and if we have our own house, have a party.
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Tomorrow, we're heading up to New York. E is due for some jewelry-making supplies and we're going to see some art: MoMa for the Martin Puryear retrospective and The International Center for Photography to see Other Weapons:Photography and Print Culture During the Spanish Civil War.

Twists

Treetops in sepia.

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Whoa...I definitely overdid it the other night at xionin's party. Had waaaayy too much wine and got sick yesterday. On top of that, I had to work. I was fine before I left for work, but my stomach went on a rebellion, making me spend more time staring into the porcelain throne than working. I did feel better after the third time of emptying the contents of my stomach.

I left early, came home and just slept. It took a while, but I was able to eat some soup and later, some pasta. I'm feeling much better today, thankfully...

Happy New Year!!

Ah, the new year is here and it's off to a rainy start in Philly. I was going to take E to the Mummers Parade, but it was scrapped because of the crappy weather. Rain date is next weekend. Not a worry, though, since the real fun was had last night by the bunch of us at a big house in West Philly...



More shots right here: Juicy Crew New Year

First breakfast of 2007: scrambled eggs with cheddar and parmesan (with a touch of garlic granules on mine), buttered toast, pineapple juice, and tea.

Yum!!

E and I brought in 2007 with the (un)usual suspects at a house party in West Philly where a certain red shoe was the mascot of the year. There was the bottle-poacher who was flagged by E near the end of the night. He went in and out a couple of times and E noticed that he'd been putting bottles of left-over booze down the back of his pants and taking them to his car. He was summarily dismissed by one of the hosts...

Pics soon...

(click on photos for larger sizes. more here


This past Saturday night, my friends and I had an 'end of summer' party. It was a much-needed release for me since I've not been as socially active over the past few months as usual. Anyway, it was a great night of carousing, eating, and drinking . I don't know what time it was when I decided to leave, but three of us were going to catch a cab when my phone rang. It was *E*.

I guess you couldn't call it 'drunk calling', since she called me...

We were still in party-mode when I was speaking to her and the thought hit me to pass the phone off to my other two close friends so she could 'meet' them. I've been anxious for *E* to meet my friends, so every time we're on the phone and someone else is around, I'm always subjecting her to the disembodied voices of my friends she's never met, but have seen photos of. While this was going on, my friend, Bagel, got a call from his new girlfriend who is soon to move to Philly from another state. She also made the phone rounds, lol.


I've been told by a few people and have heard second-hand from others that I'm smiling a lot more these days. They aren't far off the mark. Smiles do come much more easily to me whenever I think of *E* and the possibilities that lay ahead. I've noticed the difference, too. It's a good thing, when on what feels like the worst day ever, you find a reason to smile. For me, that's *E*

Last weekend, a friend's mom opened her basement for a good, old-fashioned house party. This time, there was no raiding the parent's stash, no worrying about whether mom and dad were going to come home early from the weekend trip, and the only reason there were wallflowers was because of the amount of bodies in a small space. Of course, I had to capture some of the evidence...

The vibe was funky, people sweaty, and everything was good

This was one of my, "I don't really feel like going out tonight, so I'll put off taking a shower as long as I can by taking some photos" pics. I didn't do any socializing this week and almost didn't go out last night. However, fellow artists, Rebecca and Mike, were hosting a party at their place, which they don't do often. Plus, they're expectant parents, which means this was probably the last party they would have for a while. Things were pretty mellow but that didn't mean it was boring. My friends, Tet and Erica were there and we managed to get a few laughs going. There's always trouble whenever any of my friends and I get together. Erica and I got into a spontaneous and improvised conversation that had some people turning their heads. For fun, we started having a conversation like a couple who were being a little 'TMI' about their personal life. You should have seen the faces of some of the other people there, many of whom I knew. We made sure to let them know after a while that it was all improvised, that we weren't together, but some weren't convinced, which means we did a pretty good job. I had friend who used to be out with his girlfriend and they would do something similar. He'd tell her to walk ahead of him on the street or she'd find a place to sit down and he would try to talk to her and get her number. I witnessed them doing it one time and it was hilarious. He was trowing out every bad line he could come up with and she'd pay him no mind or pretend to get indignant. They'd get some attention and wind up walking off together arm in arm and leave passers-by scratching their heads and arching eyebrows.

I had a fairly good weekend. The weather was fantastic on Saturday and a good hint of spring. I didn't do a lot, but I did get outside to enjoy some of the 60 degree temps, which was the bigger concern. My friend, Tet, had a small party at his place Saturday night where a bunch of us came up with a theme for our Myspace profile pics, using a rather sylish hat our friend, Bagel has been sporting lately.




Yours truly

( See more pimpin' here )


A little while ago, someone tagged me with a list meme there also. I don't like doing list memes, in fact, I rarely participate in them at all. The idea behind this one was to list 6 habits you have that no one else knows about. I listed my habits, but didn't pass it on by tagging anyone else. I don't like perpetuating these things. However, I liked this one enough to cross-post it here on lj.

The thing that surprised me is that I really had to think about what my 'odd' habits were. So much of what we do habitually becomes so ingrained in our personalities and everyday routines, that we barely notice them. Of course, it usually takes someone else to point out something before we become concsious of what we're doing. For example, my friend, K-C categorizes almost everyone he knows by their zodiac sign. If he's telling you a story about someone, it might start off like this: " I was out with Kevin the other night and you know Kevin's an Aries, so..."

Anyway, I had to think hard about what some of my habits were, but I managed to come up with a few:

1. Most of the week, I'm carrying two sets of keys: one for work and one for home. At the beginning of my days off, I never feel right until I've gotten home and have taken my work keys off of my ring. No matter what's in my hands, the absolute first thing I must do is toss the work keys onto the dresser. Only then do I begin to relax

2. I don't like nuts in my ice cream. Period. Don't ask ;)

3. Sunday New York Times reading hierarchy: front page, Metro section, Week In Review, Sunday Styles, Arts and Leisure, and lastly, the Magazine. If I happen to read one section out of my order, I feel weird. I don't know why, it's just that way.

4. Writing pens: Black ink, medium point, retractable. No gel, no blue ink, no fumbling with tops.

5. I won't wear generic, white Fruit of the Looms. They remind me too much of when I was a kid, which I'm far from now. Don't get me wrong, the kid is still inside me, but his taste in underwear have matured, *lol* I like colors, muted patterns and briefs or boxer briefs only, please...

6. For some reason, I've developed this habit of wanting new music to listen to before I start my days in the studio. My days off from my job begin on Thursdays most weeks, so before I start painting, I'll head over to A.K.A. Music on Second Street in Old City to find something new or old to listen to...as long as I haven't heard it before...