Happy Cows for 2009! · 25 January 2009, 16:28
I didn’t really intend for my first post of the year to be during Chinese New Year, but at least I’ve squeaked in under the wire for January.
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Chinese New Year. It’s the Year of the Ox, and celebrations are going on all week here in NYC! I’m hoping to go out to Flushing for the big parade on Saturday morning. I’ve never been to the Flushing parade, and it’ll probably be slightly less of a madhouse than the Manhattan parade on Sunday. (Plus on Sunday I’ll be busy making chili for the Superbowl.) The parade starts at 11 a.m. and is centered around Main Street and the Flushing library. Hopefully we’ll be able to score some delicious dumplings and noodles, too. Drop me a line if you’d like to come!
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Beer. Went to a fun Brooklyn Brewery event last night at Bar Great Harry on Smith St. I got to try the 2001 Saison de Brooklyn, which was light and bright, with a flinty bite to it and a lemony pucker. It tasted of the cold early spring sunshine I’ve been craving. Lovely! The Cuvée D’Chouffe, a collaboration between Brooklyn Brewery and Brasserie D’Achouffe, was okay; it tasted like LaChouffe with some American hops mixed in. Meh, would rather drink the original Chouffes! Sadly, the bar was just as crowded as any big night at the Blind Tiger, but their $3/12oz glasses by far made up for any jostling! I’ve never been to quite such an evangelical beer event; when Garrett Oliver stood up to give his talk, the hardcore foodie/beer nerds around me were hollering out “Y-YEAH!” and “AMEN!” and I started to wonder when they were going to bring in the baptismal font full of Brooklyn Lager. Also, Garrett Oliver wore a cowboy shirt embroidered with hops, which was nerdy and awesome!
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Sausages-inna-Bun. Mandler’s, on 17th St, W of Union Square has become DOGMATIC, with a very slick new interior and a shortened menu of high-quality sausages served with a choice of sauces on very good crusty mini-baguettes. The chicken sausage with chimichurri and the Italian pork sausage with truffle gruyere were both exceptionally delicious. I do very much miss Mandler’s mouthwatering fried zucchini, but overall this is a huge improvement.
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Work. Continues apace. I had my annual performance review yesterday, and my boss is very happy with my ever-improving design work, the boost in my confidence and communication skills (I’ve stopped being a shy stammerer when questioned about my projects!), and my handling of the extra workload resulting from November’s round of layoffs. His main complaint is that I’m slow with the conceptualization stage, before actually churning projects out. Sigh, I do know that. But besides that, high marks all around. As expected, not even a penny raise or bonus, as we’re in a company-wide freeze right now. (Thanks a bunch, Economy.) Not that my company is all that great with the remuneration even in boom times, mind you. :P
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Obsessed. Little Big Planet, the game that looks like Craft and Make magazines have exploded into a world of puzzles. Narrated by Stephen Fry. It’s as if someone decided to design a game specially for me. “She loves platformers, design and knitting, eh?” Yes, yes I do. And I’m not the only designer to fall for this game: Print Mazine had a big feature on it. So far I have reached the very end of the Serpent Shrine in the official Story levels, have played very few of the user-created levels (would love recommendations for good ones!), and have yet to start figuring out how to create my own!
And yes, I am knitting my own little Sack Girl. How could I resist??
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Weddings! Attended the rocking wedding of Cindy & Matt down in Maryland! Which was so well-organized that the bride even had time to cook a chill breakfast for all her friends on the morning of her own wedding, and from there the rest of the day carried on without a hitch. (Except the GETTING HITCHED part!) In a grand gesture of faith, Cindy asked me to be her official event photographer for the pre-wedding and ceremony, despite that I’ve never done real event photography before. (In fact, I almost never take photos during wedding ceremonies because I’m usually too busy getting weepy!) I was really, really glad Cindy’s friend Dave was there as backup, because he’s got a steadier hand than I do, and plus it’s always good having 2 people shooting from different angles. Between us I think we got a great batch of shots! Here are mine:
CINDY & MATT GET HITCHED! | Slideshow
I totally spazzed out during the actual ceremony, due to a combination of an unsteady hand, being nervous about shooting in front of the congregation and trying not to annoy the minister or the family who were in the front rows, accidentally hitting the auto-timer button at a couple of bad moments (seriously, that button is WAY too easy to trigger on the Rebel!!), and wishing I had rented a high-quality zoom lens after all. I had 4 lenses with me, and none of them were quite right for the task. Still I did get a lot of shots I’m proud of, even in spite of some blur issues at key action moments. And I’m very glad there was an actual hired photographer to take care of the formal portraits and the reception, so I could put on my dancing shoes and kick back! (And keep shooting, just with less anxiety!)
Spazzing aside, there was a lot about this that I did love. It meant I got to share in the entire day, as an adjunct to the wedding party. It was a joy to be able to participate! I love weddings, and it turns out I love being involved behind the scenes even more, especially when it’s the wedding of such a good friend. Enormous hugs to Cindy for letting me play along!
And besides that, it was a great learning experience. For next time (if there IS a next time given that I don’t think I could handle the pressure of shooting weddings professionally), I have a better idea of what kind of lenses I’ll want and what kind of gear to pack. I know what stresses me out and what I really delight in. The getting-ready portion of the day was pure joy, for example, and I really love catching all the close, personal moments. I gravitate towards the expressive and detailed shots. I need to get much better at handling the fast action scenes, and at managing my light.
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Obamapalooza. Because of the wedding, I was in D.C. the day before the Inauguration. Mostly I was interested in revisiting some old haunts — I snooped around my high school (which has since been reconverted into fancy townhouses) and had a fun photowalk through surrounding Kalorama/Adams-Morgan/Dupont Circle, taking a visual inventory of what had changed and what hadn’t. We had a great lunch at Kramerbooks, which is still as tasty and as much of a scene as I remembered it being (note: it’s better to try to score a spot at the bar than wait an hour for the cafe!). And then we headed down to the Mall to get a taste of the Inauguration festivities. It was the fierce calm before the hurricane hit!
I have never experienced such excitement in D.C. before. So many smiling faces, on tourists and natives alike! So many young people feeling so intense about a political event! (In particular, D.C.-ites are normally so jaded about this sort of thing that it really highlighted the specialness of the occasion.) The energy was uplifting and inspiring. The national pride was so vibrant and alive and tangible, and it was hard not to get caught up in it.
Even though I’m not sorry to have missed the brunt of the crowds, I have to say, I was still wishing we could have stayed for the main event.
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