I Did This Because.

I did this because sometimes I wonder.

I haven’t written in a while. A lot has happened but I’m not here to keep you updated on all that. No one reads those silly long-winded posts anyway. I’m just checking in to let you all know I’m alive and kickin’. My first semester of law school is almost over…finals start next Wednesday. I’m kind of nervous, but I don’t think that’s unusual. 

So what am I wondering about…that’s a great question, and I’d love to tell you…but it’s such a mash up of different things that I don’t think I can. I haven’t been driven to write like this since high school, and my brain was about ready to explode back then, so I guess I’m pretty overwhelmed.

Some of it is good, some of it is bad…but I’m happy, I’m healthy…I have nothing to really complain about. Just some first world problem stuff I guess…I’ll be over it in the morning. But right now…right now I’m in it. and I don’t really mind that. 

I think I’m just gonna crack another beer and see where it takes me. (yep, drinkin’ on a Monday night…this is law school, ladies and gentlemen.) Just gotta calm the nerves and ride the wave. 

So what the hell does all of this have to do with this picture? It really doesn’t. If you want me to get all analytical on you, I can tell you that this picture is from this past August in Cape Cod and the sunset reminds me of happier, calmer times. And maybe that’s what I’m longing for right now with finals looming over my head…I’m not too sure. 

Maybe I’ll check back in again soon…maybe I won’t. Guess you’ll just have to wait and find out!

I did this because I love experimenting in new locations.

I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Maine this weekend with some friends to a family lake house. The area was so quiet and beautiful during the day, but the real show started after the sun went down. 

The above photograph shows the view that my friends and I had from the back porch. There was almost no artificial light whatsoever, and I stupidly left my tripod in Boston. I found a sturdy location, propped my dslr up, and fiddled with the settings until I found a sufficient exposure. I wasn’t prepared for how difficult it was going to be with literally zero lighting assistance.

The end result, though, was something I’m very happy with. 

So. Many. Stars.

The short of it is, the view was spectacular, and I’m quite glad that I get to share it with all of you! 

I did this because at least I got to see something.

So I had an awesome 4th of July, but because of miscommunication about delays and weather, I actually missed the entire fire works display, save for the last 35 seconds of the finale. On the plus side, though, while I was waiting on a rooftop for everything to start, I got some great shots of the approaching lightning storm with Stuvi II in the foreground.

So for all of you potential BU-attendees who aren’t used to the Northeast weather…get ready. This is what you can expect at random. 

I did this because I’ve been trying to be where you are. 

You know that space in your heart that seems to be perpetually empty? Mine just happens to be 3,074 miles across. Some days, it feels even bigger than that. 

I did this because the proof is in the pudding. 

I attended the New York International Auto Show this past weekend for the first time in a couple years. Being that I go to school up in Boston, it’s hard for me to find time around this time of year to get down for the event. This year I was spending Easter with my brother in NJ, so it was a perfect opportunity for us to take the train into the city and check out the show. 

First of all, you still have time to attend this show if you haven’t already and I must tell you up front GO GO GO. This year is an EXCELLENT year to check out what the automakers are pushing because there are a lot of amazing concepts that have been unveiled specifically for the NY Autoshow and you can get a first look, up close and personally! This includes the 2013 Dodge Viper and the new Acura NSX Concept. 

Now, both of these cars are amazing, and so are many others that were on display, including the Lamborghini Aventador, Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, and several Aston Martins. But I have chosen to display this photograph. Why you ask? Well let me explain. 

One of the most important parts of an auto show is being able to interact with the vehicles. While many of the higher-end ones are roped off, the consumer-friendly models that aren’t still in the concept phase are almost always open to the public to sit in, touch, sit on, whatever. (Yes, I saw two jackasses jump onto the trunk of a Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 ///AMG that was on the floor. It’s amazing to me what some people consider to be a “good idea.”)

One of the vehicles that was available for interaction was the new Scion FR-S, which was co-designed with the new Subaru BRZ. These vehicles have been receiving a lot of hype in the automotive community because of their bang-for-buck value. I was hoping for the best when I climbed into the cockpit of the FR-S, despite the fact that a scion representative approached me offering to answer all of the questions I had, and then failed to give a knowledgeable response to any of them. 

I was severely disappointed. 

The problem with creating a bang-for-buck vehicle, particularly when the company is Japanese (sorry to my fellow JDM drivers), is that when corners need to be cut, the designers don’t just cut them, they hack them off. Everything I touched in the interior was some sort of cheap-feeling plastic, and while the seats were very nicely bolstered, they felt about as cheap as one of my friend’s STI’s from ‘06, and that’s a 6 year old car. The paddle shifters looked and felt like they’d snap if I used them in any sort of aggressive driving and I just wasn’t very comfortable overall. 

Yes there was a nice big headunit, and all of the things you’d get in a car that is miles above the FR-S’s price range were there, but they weren’t executed well, and that bothers me. The car has RWD and a LSD which is awesome, and a powerplant that is extremely tuneable, but what about those of use that want something nice out of the box? 

I probably should have disclosed upfront that I am a Euro driver myself. As the proud owner of an APR Stage II+ mkv GTI, I eat, sleep, and breath Euros, but that doesn’t mean I have a dislike for other makes and models. I drool over my friend’s sti, and all of her friends’ stis as well. I know to stay away from primered civics for fear of a complete and total ass-whooping and I recognize that some of the greatest cars ever made came from just across the Pacific Ocean. But for some reason, these consumer-friendly JDM vehicles, in my eyes, can’t shake the stigma associated with their cost-cutting practices. 

Shortly after my experience with the FR-S, I hopped into the vehicle pictured above; the Fiat 500 Abarth. I cannot begin to describe to you how different the experience was. I was cradled in a very comfortable leather seat, the controls were all user friendly, and I was approached by a representative that not only knew everything about the car, but had actually driven it himself. It was as though I’d gotten on a plane that took me on a direct flight from Tokyo to Maranello, and I was enjoying every minute of it.

This Abarth is smaller, lighter, and more economical with its hatch. It is out-of-the-box fun for everyone, and for those interested in more, the rep was happy to report that factory-supported tunes and mods are on the way as he walked me over to the Mopar-modified model that they had on display across the floor. Yes it is front wheel drive, and it doesn’t have an LSD; but are these things that are needed for everyday driving? Some would argue yes, but I would happily sacrifice them for the comfort that comes with the almost perfectly designed interior of the Abarth and the knowledge that I won’t be gluing my dashboard back together after I hit a few of New Jersey’s infamous pot holes. 

I love this little car, probably more than Jeremy Clarkson does. You can watch his test drive here: http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/take-abarth#commentsListTop

I’m sure the Subaru crowd will be showing up any minute now complaining about my lack of discussion of the BRZ. I must admit that I did not get over to the Subaru booth so I cannot give an objective opinion on it, so as it stands, L’Abarth e` il massimo. 

I did this because I don’t understand how it is meteorologically possible.

I don’t even think Meteorological is a word, but I’m making it one. I love Boston to death, I truly do. I mean, look at the photograph I took above with the 14mm f/2.8 I rented out from BU’s College of Communication. You cannot deny that this city has some gorgeous views and tons of fun things to offer.

It’s downfall, though, is the weather. Now, I spent a great deal talking about the weather and how quickly it changes in this city two posts ago, but the one weather pattern I didn’t talk about, the one that is stagnant, is the wind. It is ALWAYS windy, especially on Commonwealth avenue, which is one gigantic wind tunnel. And it’s not even as though you can just turn around and have the wind at your back. No. On my ride to class, I’m pedaling into 45 mph winds. On my ride home in the opposite direction, I’m biking into the same winds. Even if I hadn’t had class in between, it still blows both ways, uphill and downhill, at the same time. All the time. 

I Love you Boston, but I hate you. But I love you. 

I did this because you’ve got to have faith.

It’s been a while, followers, but I’m sure you’re used to my extended absences by now. This time I have a pretty legitimate excuse though. I’ll preface it by saying my life hasn’t been the best recently, but I’ll follow that by saying that you shouldn’t consider this a depressing post.

A few weeks ago my girlfriend broke up with me, and shortly after that I was involved in a cycling accident that broke my collar bone, fractured my skull, and temporarily eliminated the hearing from my right ear. Because of the accident, I was unable to compete in regionals for Mock Trial; something I’ve been preparing for all year. My team was eliminated from competition, thus ending my Senior year on a less than stellar note. In the cycling accident, my camera and laptop were smashed to pieces, rendering me incapable of completing any assignments for my photojournalism classes this semester and putting me behind quite a bit. 

It’s been a rough one, guys. But I’m here to tell you that when things get bad, the important thing isn’t to focus on the negatives. What’s important is seeing yourself through. I’ve had friends and family come through like never before and support me in every way possible, and I want to dedicate this post to them. I want them to know what it meant to me.

Dad, who actually told the judge in the middle of court that he needed a continuance so that he could come see me in the hospital. Mom, who dropped everything and took a train to Boston so that she could cook for me, do laundry, and make sure I was comfortable. Frank and Rachel for checking in every step of the way. Rachel even came to visit! Everyone who came to see me in the hospital (Gaby (grocery shopped, cooked, and picked up dry cleaning!), Diana, Liz, Lauren, Eli, Jacqui, Maggi,Trish (sorry if I forgot anyone, my memory is hazy from that day)), a special thank you to Ruth who actually got in the fricken ambulance. The rest of my housemates, Charlie, annaliese, and Karen (and Karen’s mom and her delicious cooking) for all of your help around the house and for putting up with my complaining. Jill and Gaby (again), thank you for literally everything. Lauren, for reaching out and checking in.

And there were some positive events recently as well. I’ve been accepted to 8 law schools so far, and they’re still rolling in. I’ve been making a pretty good recovery and no longer am wearing my sling as much as I used to. Insurance cut a check for my camera, and my laptop is undergoing repairs back at Sony. I’ve at least started communications with my ex, and, well, it’s a work in progress.

The bottom line is that you have to appreciate what you have and not get caught up in the bad things that get thrown your way. Everyone faces curve balls, and some are worse than others. By comparison to other adversities in my life, this past month has been pretty bad, but when compared to everything that is going on in the world, I’m doing pretty damn well if I do say so myself.

So flip on Faith by George Michael like I did this morning. It motivated me to don my first dress shirt and tie since the accident (tied it all by myself, thank you very much!) and let me tell you, I look pretty damn good today. It’s a nice change from the gross hoodies I’ve been wearing, and maybe it’ll bring back some of that confidence I’ve been lacking recently. 

Smile, live your life, and be a god damned shark. Because sharks are winners. They don’t look back because they have no necks. Necks are for sheep. 

I did this because it was such a nice surprise.

Every once in a while, things just work out unexpectedly. I mean, this sort of thing is extremely rare for me, so when it happened on Saturday, I was quite the happy camper. 

I had a photo assignment to do with a partner for our multimedia photojournalism class, so we decided to walk through a park and look for some good settings to photograph one another for our profiles. We were just wandering aimlessly when we happened upon a corner of the park where a pro inline skater was practicing with his brother. I couldn’t believe it. Not only would I be able to shoot my multimedia photoj pictures, but I stumbled upon a perfect story for my advanced photojournalism class that is due Wednesday. I was able to kill 2 birds with one stone, get some awesome shots in of something I’ve never been able to photograph before, and I met some very cool people in the process.

It really did bring a smile to my face at the end of a week that has been shaky, at best. And I couldn’t even tell her about it. 

I did this because it was mine for the taking.

The northeast is a weird place to live. Now, I grew up in New Jersey so I’ve experienced the randomness of seasons, but Boston sometimes pushes it to a whole new level. When I first got to BU, the best piece of information I got about the city was, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes.”

It’s true. We’re on the first day of February here, and it was 56 degrees today. This makes no sense based on science, the internet, and I don’t have a third thing to put in this list. I decided to take advantage of the moment because, well, it was there for the taking. I hopped on my bike at 4:30pm with all of my camera equipment and took a nice ride through the city. Wind in my hair, skyscrapers rising from the sidewalks around me, and the fun that comes with challenging motor vehicles for the road while riding a Schwinn all added to a perfect evening. 

After shooting down by the water front for a bit, it started to rain. I quickly packed up my equipment and ran for cover, but it was useless. 5 minutes later, the rain had stopped. 

I got back on my bike and rode to the Boston Public Garden where I took this shot. This little suspension bridge, in my opinion, is one of the coolest fixtures in the entire city. It actually used to be the world’s shortest suspension bridge, but was converted a couple decades ago so that the suspension is now only decorative. 

I eventually got home, relaxed, and now I’m winding down and getting ready to head to bed. I’ve been so busy recently with my school work, my job, and mock trial that I haven’t had any “me” time. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that this was a nice treat. I hope that all of my followers took advantage of the warm weather as well!

I did this because I realized I take things for granted.

We all have moments of realization sometimes. You may call them epiphanies or moments of clarity. Whatever the label, they all bring to light something that you never quite considered before. 

I hosted a party at my house last night. About 40 or so good friends came over, we had a good time, and things ended at around 3am. I was in bed by 3:30, intent on sleeping in to my hearts content, without any inclination that I’d have more than one awakening later that morning. 

It was about 7am when I heard the sirens. Being that I live in a city, it’s not unusual for the Boston Police and Fire Departments to make their presence heard at all times of the day and night. This morning, though, the noises were coming from right outside my window. Combined with the sunlight pouring through my inadequate blinds set-up, I knew that this was clearly the end of my scheduled sleep-in, just 3 1/2 hours after it had begun. I climbed out of bed and peaked through the window to see 3 fire trucks idling in the middle of the narrow residential street, lights flashing, but not very many fire fighters. They seemed to be further down the street, out of my line of sight. It didn’t seem serious, so I went back in bed.

After 20 minutes or so, I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and wandered down the hallway to a window that would give me a better vantage point. I was not prepared for what I saw. 

Massive clouds of smoke were billowing out of the area where a house used to be visible just 3 doors down from my place of residence. “Holy sh*t” I shouted, and I ran into my room to grab my camera, my slippers, and my coat. It’s moments like these that remind me that I truly am passionate about photography and photojournalism. I had one thing on my mind, and that was to document this event to the best of my ability. I knew I was probably one of the few capable photographers in the area with the proper equipment, and it was up to me to preserve this moment for newspapers that may be interested. 

I stumbled down the stairs in my pajamas, threw my coat on, and ran out into the snow. The massive headache that was attempting to exact revenge on me for the drinking from the night before was neither here nor there. I was a man on a mission. I shot from as many angles as I could, but didn’t get in the way of the 60 or so firefighters and EMS on the scene. The whole house was engulfed in smoke and the BFD was attempting to quell the disaster with multiple hoses on both sides. After shooting what I could, I went inside to see if I could find out any information. 

I learned that the house had 7 residents, all of which were currently hospitalized. Two of them were forced to jump from a second story window before emergency responders arrived on the scene, and one of them was in critical condition from the fall. I later learned that one of the jumpers called their mother before even calling the authorities. This scares me into thinking that this person probably thought they were going to die, and felt it more important to call their loved ones, rather than make a feeble attempt at calling for help. 

All of this didn’t truly hit home until I went over to the house later in the day with one of my housemates. The fire had long since been put out, and some contractors had arrived to board up the windows. I wanted to grab some shots of the aftermath before everything was closed up, so I brought my camera along for the trip. The basement was flooded with at least 2 feet of water from the hours spent hosing the blaze. Mini fridges and kegs could be seen floating around aimlessly. The first floor was charred from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Not a single piece of furniture remained, with the exception of a desk in one of the street-facing bedrooms. This desk was almost completely untouched, with some partially burned textbooks and an unscathed Macbook sitting among the rubble. The third floor was gone. Before leaving the area, my housemate pointed out the house next door, where all of the vinyl siding was sagging and charred from the extreme heat of the flames. 

The whole neighborhood is very shaken up. We don’t often see such sights up close and personally, and I don’t think we appreciate the gravity of a situation where lives could have been lost. It wasn’t until I saw the burnt out shell that stands where that house used to that I came to realization that these BU students probably lost everything. Clothes, computers, cameras, food, shelter. It was all gone. In the blink of an eye, everything that they held near and dear was taken from them by a force that not even 60 trained fire fighters could stop. Luckily, BU is providing housing and meals to the students until the situation is sorted out. 

I am genuinely sorry for the people that had to experience this. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but regardless of the situation, no one deserves to decide between jumping out of a second story window or burning to death. I implore everyone who reads my blog to check their smoke alarms and plan an escape route in the event of a fire. God forbid something like this should ever happen to you, you’ll be thankful you planned ahead.