Yes, I'm a journalist
On October 1 and 6, I returned to the place I left 24 years ago when my father joined the army: New York City. Technically, I am from Queens, but I only visited Manhattan. What spurred on this trip was that I attended the New York Film Festival, my second vacation centering around cinema. But what was different from that trip is that I could only stay in town for a day (Have you seen the prices for hotel rooms and parking these days?). So I made the most out of them.
In short, I watched L’Heure d’ete, attended a concert by Black Kids and took awesome photos, visited MoMa to see Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, trekked 40 blocks on Madison Avenue to take store window photos, felt slightly out of place at a Young Friends of Film party but relieved after chatting with film producers and Spaniards, and was trapped in a crowded bar to see Raphael Saadiq perform.
It was a nice trip, but no matter where I went, I got the stare, the question, the stereotype, “Are you a professional photo? Are you a journalist?” No matter if I’m on vacation, I’m still a journalist. Then again, it didn’t help that I have a gigantic shoulder bag filled with two cameras, a notebook, three lenses, four lens filters, a cleaning kit and a book. At least I didn’t look like a tourist.
Added: For the next two weeks, I will upload a photo to Cartophobic about the trip as well as post items on my Flickr photostream.
permalink | Comment | travel | 10/08/2008
Year in cities
My former college classmate started this last year, and I’m just keeping up with tradition. Last year, I was more adventurous because I had more time to travel, but this year has been more like staying in place. Next year will be different, I hope. Here’s the list:
Atlanta, GA*
Augusta, GA
Roanoke, VA
Williamsburg, VA
Durham, NC
Greensboro, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
Raleigh, NC
*cities visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.
permalink | Comment [1] | travel | 12/27/2006
Inventory
After seeing Zach, Kotte and Megan’s list, I figured that I should do my own list of cities in order of appearance:
Charlotte, NC*
Augusta, GA
Thomson, GA
Winston-Salem, NC
Durham, NC*
Norfolk, VA
Sussex, VA*
Charlottesville, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
Arlington, VA
Washington, DC
Chapel Hill, NC
Raleigh, NC
Boston, MA
Cambridge, MA
New Haven, CT
McDonough, GA
Barnesville, GA
*cities visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.
permalink | Comment | travel | 01/14/2006
Sonic
I took a vacation day Thursday to travel to North Carolina. According to old math or new math, I have either spent most of my life there or in Georgia. On paper, it’s Georgia; in person, it’s N.C. Yet, I still hold onto my NYC native card for dear life.
Nevertheless, it was a great overall trip. The highlights involved music, lots of music. As I have previously mentioned, I hate the radio selection I have in my current dwelling. At my chosen destination, the Triangle, I heard all my favorite radio stations and listened to obscure 10-minute Rick James songs and heard Junior Senior’s “Move Your Feet” in the morning! There was much dancing in the car done by yours truly for several miles.
There were two moments that I will never forget. While dining on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, I heard someone blasting out of their car “The Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show. The other was finding Euramix by Yuka Honda. It sounds so great and I had been trying to find it for seven months. You just can’t get these things where I live.
permalink | Comment [1] | travel | 10/14/2005
Trek
I have finally gotten around to posting a travel page on the college reunion trip. Just click on the ‘TRAVEL’ header and find photos from some of Washington’s monuments and the plants at the Botanical Gardens. More photos are on Flickr.
I have two trips left for the year. Sometime in October, I’m traveling back to North Carolina in the Triangle to see my grandmother and do other things. The last one is big because I’m going to New England. I haven’t been north of Baltimore in over 14 years. Despite being a native New Yorker, I haven’t been to the Empire State since the summer of 1991. I almost went two years ago to my paternal grandfather’s funeral, but things fell apart.
Details will come later.
