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Listening to: Sunset West – I Can’t Think Straight
Ok, so a lots been going on lately. I think the most effective way to cover stuff is just going to be to post random photos and write a little about them. Soo……

I was in Century 21, an excellent discount department store the other day buying socks etc, and got to see security tackle and beat the crap out of this guy who bolted for the door.. it was a pretty intense situation, especially since the place was packed, and the guy was struggling a lot…

Last week, Jeff, Genna and I went out to meet some of Genna’s friends for karaoke in Little Italy.. its was fun, and kind of weird… the bar we were in was apparently some sort of historical landmark, and had all these pictures of Italian gangsters etc hanging out there over 90 years ago. And there we were, drinking PBR and singing karaoke on plasma screens.. I bet nobody in the 30’s expected their beloved hangout to stoop to such levels for our fleeting amusement. But i guess business is business, and they did seem to have a pretty decent crown in there. In this photo, as you can see, Julie and I are singing along to 5th Dimensions “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In”, a deceptively complicated song from the late 60’s.

Moving on…
Ah yes, Jacob is now in Switzerland. The other day Sarah, Jacob and Charles came into the city to enjoy the rain etc… we ended up going to the natural history museum for a few hours, which was incredibly cool, as usual. I always love going to that place, especially the dinosaur area and the mineral hall.. they have a couple super cool pieces of Amazonite and Rodocrosite (although not as cool as the star specimen in the Coors Mineral hall in Denver, CO). Also, in meteor area, they have a neat display talking about how atmospheric resistance on entry causes the dimple like pattern on the outside of the meteorites….its cool cause they look almost exactly like the dimples on a golf ball…coincidence? I think not. (Perhaps i shouldn’t be so fascinated with this since i graduated the 3rd grade a number of years ago.. but whatever, its still cool). Also on display is a super neato Ventifact from Antarctica, the highest, coldest, windiest, harshest continent on earth. A ventifact, as the name implies, is a rock that’s been carved and eroded by wind.

The next morning, after kicking Sarah, Jacob and Charles out of my apartment(we had gone drinking after the museum the day before), I was picked up by Jill and Jesse and the three of us drove out to Barton Orchards to do some apple picking. When we got there, not only did we pick delicious apples, but we also took fun pictures, took a hay ride, ate doughnuts, and listened to the incredible musical talents of THE HOT ROD BAND! Also, there were all sorts of cool apple crates everywhere, which I really liked taking pictures of.. I don’t know what it is about these crates, but I like them. I found similarly cool apple crates the week before while apple picking in Ohio.
Ok, Gilles Peterson. Incredible. As I was coming home from dinner with a friend, I passed Canal Room and remembered that my favorite DJ in the whole world, Gilles Peterson was playing there, and that the party was sponsored by my old record label. So I called up Mimi (whom I used to work with) and she came out and brought me through the huge line and into the club immediately. Its good to have connections. Anyway, Gilles’ set was AMAZING, and the whole place was packed. And I might have even danced. A little. Maybe. To give you an idea of the atmosphere, check out this VIDEO CLIP. Its dark and the audio clips, but its better than nothing.

And finally, Wonderwoman. Last Sunday Charles and I hit up the Digital Life convention at the Javits Center. Its an annual convention for consumer electronics.. more of a showcase than convention.. its always fun to go check out what’s new and stuff. Anyway, Charles and I were standing on line waiting to get tickets, when both Flash Gordon and Wonderwoman came up to us. Naturally, we focused on wonderwoman, and she was truly wonderful. We chatted for a second, and then i was lucky enough to get a novelty style photo with her. Yadda Yadda, she’s in a rock band and is really cool.

So that’s pretty much what’s been going on lately. Now, amidst all this, you might wonder how i am funding all this and what I’m doing during the day. The answers are I don’t know and Nothing. Since moving to the oh-so-posh west village, I’ve been paying incredible amounts of rent etc. I think the going out to eat for every single meal has something to do with it too. Also, I’m in the process of job hunting. I stopped working at Giant Step a month ago. This was actually an extremely hard decision to make. They weren’t really paying me very much there, and I felt like my job was kind of an intern type job, but with nowhere to move within the company any time soon. However, Giant Step happens to be one of the coolest companies I’ve ever worked for… their market, music, and most importantly employees are top notch and super cool… so it was always fun and excitement working there, its just that the money I was paid for the amount of time I spent there just wasn’t cutting it. So I’ve been hunting around for a while now, and currently, I’m planning on diving into the real estate industry. I feel excited about it, and have a good deal of backing from my family and friends… and some in-family experience to help me along. Presently, I’m considering two different job offers, and I hope to make my decision and start work sometime next week. But its still going to be a sketchy operation. The way this whole real estate brokerage industry works is on commission. That means that I will have no salary, I’ll only get paid when I make a deal. I’ve been told to expect to make absolutely nothing in at least my first year.. scary, but the potential reward its intense, so I hope its worth it.

Whew, long post, but I needed to get all that done. Thanks so much for reading all the way to the bottom, and please please, leave me a comment!