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Spring got off to a nice start in Denver.  Bayardo swung by on his way from Washington state back to North Carolina.  His first day it was 80° with not a cloud in the sky and he was ecstatic after spending a cold gray winter in Tacoma.

[16th St Mall]

If you haven't read a lot of this blog, Bayardo is a former photo classmate of mine and we have traveled together quite a few times.  It's always nice to photograph with a fellow photographer.  Nice camaraderie. Geek side note: the root of that word is the same as 'camera.'

[Bayardo in downtown Denver]

Having guests always makes a place feel more like 'home.'  I know I talked about that a bit when Nick (another photo classmate) came to visit me in Tübingen.  Plus, it's an excuse to go out to eat and get drinks.  =)

B's stay was pleasant despite the tiny apartment.  I wish I had my other bike put together, so we could ride together, but I wasn't expecting the weather to instantly go from 40-something to 70-something.  Note to self for next year: be ready to grab spring by the horns!

[Garden of the Gods]

I even managed to wake my friend up at 4 in the morning to drive down to Colorado Springs for sunrise at Garden of the Gods.  I refuse to go there at any other time.  It is exponentially more beautiful when the red light of daybreak hits those red rocks.

All in all, what a way for spring to start!  I feel energized not only from getting a visit from a friend, but also getting out with another photographer.  Let's get this party hoppin'!

community and new beginnings

TJ, a co-worker from the hardware store, lost his job there shortly after I did. His solution: instead of fixing bikes for someone else, do it for yourself.

Denver is now graced with the underground bike shop, literally under the ground, in TJ's basement. He'll pick up whatever you've got, give it a solid tune and also restores any vintage wheels he can find. When I heard the news, I offered to photograph his work on the classics.  Objects are so much easier than people!

Check out the webpage, support a local business.  I can't wait 'til we can round up a few friends and shoot these beauties riding around town!

February

First happening this month: my portable hard drive shows signs that it might crash soon. Panic. I unplugged the thing and hid it away until I could afford to buy something to (hopefully) transfer the files.

One thing I definitely appreciate about learning traditional black and white before getting into digital is that you are exposed to utter devastation very early. Spending the hour or so it takes to load reels, mix chemicals and slosh around everything in a tank, not to mention whatever hard work was done in the prep for the photo shoot or the meticulous care in using an analog camera, only to find that your entire roll is blank, thin, bulletproof, shows a light leak... What do you do after? Pick up your camera and shoot some more.

I've started an album with random photos around Denver. There are definitely lots of quirky little things around a city and especially out into the urban sprawl.

So, the wait for a new storage device is unknown.  I had just dropped $400 on a new lens.  Really, though.  I can be patient and salvage the bits leftover on my CF cards, using itty bitty thumb drives.  My new baby is the big boy on the far left.

Yup, 100mm macro!  Now I photograph pointless things and everybody will think it looks cool.

No, really, it will also be acting as my portrait lens.  I was paid for a photo shoot with a roll of white seamless backdrop paper and now I've unpacked and arranged my new little apartment enough to hang that 9' sucker.  Now I just have to convince my friends that I won't make them look fat and get some more portraits up on this blog!

Dim Sum for the new year

For the Chinese New Year, my co-worker Ana suggested that we eat at Denver's Dim Sum hot spot, King's Land Chinese Seafood.  The place is huge and usually busy for Sunday brunch, but this day in particular it was packed to the gills.  So, 10 people sitting at a round table typically for 8 results in lots of bumping elbows and dropping chop sticks on the floor.  The first half hour consisted of repeated asking for more chop sticks until the staff probably thought we were trying to cram even more people at our table!

Next to the cheap and delicious food, the biggest reason we came here for the New Year celebration was the dragons that would be parading through the restaurant.  The latecomer of our group this morning, Charles, had insisted that he went as fast as his Ducati (and the law) would allow him and went on to mention parking directly in front of the building so he could hurry in to us.  Well, we had almost finished dinner when we began wondering about the dragons and if they would be there this year.  Ana ran into the Chinese friend who introduced her to the restaurant two years ago and asked about the festivities.  Apparently some one had blocked the entrance with their motorcycle.  Charles, also Chinese, slipped away from our table to 'investigate' the coming of the dragons and returned to inform us that the staff said they would appear shortly.  We played along for a little bit before giving him a hard time for delaying the fun.  X-D

Enter: the dragons

The tradition is to put money in a little red envelope and feed the dragons for good luck in the new year.  Charles recommending pretending that we didn't know the proper cultural etiquette and saving ourselves a few bucks.  The dragons weaved through the tables and danced around like mongoose, playfully entertaining that they might be 'hungry,' scaring a lot of the smaller shy children.

This parent apparently wants his kid to grow up bad ass and thrust the poor thing into the dragon's face.  It was handled pretty well, I think.  With parents shoving his hand into a mouth the size of his body, the baby may have flinched but he looked the dragon in the eyes and didn't let go of the envelope.  He must have disagreed with the amount taken out of his college fund just to feed a dragon.

So, muchas gracias to Ana for planning an awesome time with some co-workers and friends!  It's always fun celebrating a holiday more than once AND within other cultural contexts.

2012

Resolution #1: Have a post for every month.

What a great start to the new year!  I moved into a little studio apartment in a historical building downtown and got a job five blocks away.  I'm also pleased with my first photos of the year.  Here's a small portrait session with my friend Chris.  He's a drummer from Louisianna, relocated to Denver and making a name for himself out west.  Check out his sound at Reverbnation.

earlybird solo excursion

Things still seem to be moving slow, but I often forget that I'm super excited about EVERYthing and therefore become very anxious if I'm not doing anything. So, one morning I decided that I would wake up early enough to catch the sunrise at Garden of the Gods.

[morning at Garden of the Gods]

It was nice to get back on the road again. After the trip out here, going to Alabama with Katie and that horrible ordeal after Thanksgiving, I think I might have been having a bit of roadtrip withdrawal. =)

[going down into Royal Gorge]

Sunrise doesn't last forever, so I was done with that by 8am. It was supposed to rain/snow after 3pm, so I decided I had time to keep going south to Royal Gorge. Found a little ma-n-pa place with a Sunday buffet (delicioso!) and got to the gorge just as it was opening at 10am.

Bummer that the sky started getting blanket-like overcast. I managed to get that interesting photo with the halo cloud on the incline lift. Haha, definitely more crude than the inclines in Pittsburgh or Japan. Check out the cage contraption in the album.

[Phantom Canyon Rd, aka CO67]

I love Colorado! Two lane roads are 65mph, interstates 75mph and there are official unpaved state highways. Took an alternate route on the way home, winding along a historic byway that was formerly a railroad during the gold rush

I think my car hates me now. It was well over 30 miles of unpaved, one lane road with ample curves and incline, no guardrails and several areas covered in packed snow. I didn't crawl through it, either. ;)

[snowcaps somewhere by Cripple Creek]

I popped out the other side of the canyon with an open view of Pikes Peak and a line of snowcapped mountains. Oh boy, I never get sick of that sight!

Going this way added an extra hour or so to my way home, of which I stopped and napped in a Burger King parking lot for an hour before reaching Colorado Springs and there were snow flurries when I got back to Denver. Oh, the adventures to come!

from 252 to 303

Welp, Iza fianly dun gahn n gradgeeated raht foor Krissymas.

Sorry about the lack of writing. It took a lot out of me to finish that last semester. I didn't photograph for almost two months after graduation. Rachael and Erin finally forced me to go on a photo-shoot with them. I suppose it made for a nice last-glimpse-of-Greenville moment.

[the Dickenson Ave train]

And so commenced the change of home base. Found someone looking for a roommate on CouchSurfing, half-packed my Bug, drank some coffee and made it Kansas in a day.

[Mount Airy looking like a nipple at dusk]

I drove through Tennessee at night again, was well on the west side of St. Louis by the morning rush hour, drove through mild snow and didn't get a break in the clouds until Kansas City.

[The Arch at dawn]

After so many hours of muddled low-visibility, Kansas City downtown was a bit of shock. I just blinked and thought, Where the hell am I?! I thought that my years in college were a limbo. No. I was fucking depressed as shit. ALL the time. From Winston-Salem to Kansas City was limbo. There my eyes finally opened. I had a goal in sight.

[First sight of the Continental Divide]

I know I've talked about 'home' a whole lot in this blog. I beat around the bush whenever I describe myself, my values and whatnot, but let's face it. My 'home' is being on the move. I may seem chill, sometimes too much, but the core of who I am is super dynamic. I'm not afraid of what I don't know, so I'm eager to try out a variety of things and if I don't have a steady fix of new and fresh, I go into a huge roller-coaster ride of carnal anger and mental self-mutilation.

Damn, I'm glad to get out of all that. Instead of Luke's 'itusedtobeme,' I get say 'itstherealme.'

Hello, Life. Glad I finally got to meet you.

wieder die Schwierigkeiten

well, it's been crazy readjusting. then add the factor that i'm working on my senior show. gah!

quick spit about my last month in Germany: apologies to Anderson. i totally forgot to include swinging by Köln again at the end of the Pfingsten holiday. we did lovely things like cook together, afternoons in the park and salsa dancing until 5am. thanks for coming to Tübingen for my birthday as well, my friend!

came home to three-week-old coffee that was growing mold. oh yeah, and my birthday party was a blast. absolutely no pictures on my part. lame. i know. it was definitely a blast, though! like i always say, "freut mich, wenn ihr aber da seid." =) screw photos, time spent with friends deserves my undivided attention.

so, i've added lots of stuff to my miscellaneous Tübingen album. there's some interesting compositions with my in-room dryer (eg: socks and underwear hanging EVERYwhere).

a totally random night with an awesome Baltic band playing in the streets, complete with being shooed away by the cops. look at the crowd they had!

then i did a short little Ja!-product study. cheers, Francino. ;)

did a little hiking excursion with Andrew and his tandem, Konstantin. Bad Urach is always a beautiful place. we had lots of lovely conversations as well (outside all the World Cup craziness).

[Andrew und Konstantin]

made a few going-away photos with the Lustnauers.

[Ya-En und Ondřej]

have a few from our art show as well. aw man, makes me feel nice and special inside. officially exhibited in another country!

[Philip und Herr Weckworth]

then i handed the camera over to Grégory on my last night. what fun! it was the best last night i could have possibly had! right after a somewhat embarrassing moment with the Hausmeister while only wearing a towel, Grég and i headed straight to the grocery store that afternoon for a case (20 half litre bottles) of beer and promptly sat ourselves on the church steps like normal.

[mit Guy und Boris auf den Treppen]

i miss drinking in Germany. not being an alcoholic, but the attitude about it is a lot different. people look at you carrying a case of beer and, instead of scowling at 'you hooligans with your beer,' they smile and say, "Oh, what are you celebrating?" then i would explain that i had been studying abroad and tonight was my last night. it sparked several conversations about Tübingen with random people that brought a warm sense of familiarity.

the next morning i was woken up at around 4am from a violent thunderstorm. had coffee with Grég as usual. it slowed up, but rained the whole way to the train station as if Tübingen was crying. the conductor said 'adele' (very southern german dialect) as he handed my ticket back. the trains were packed, but me and a group of punks helped people get on an off despite the mess, just to make things easier on everyone. it was a wonderful last day; so wonderful, that i was too pleasantly happy to cry about leaving. couldn't have had a better ending. (pause for thought)

and so... here i am again. i miss Germany a lot, of course. i've exchanged tons of letters and emails. chat on Skype a bit. finished the book Francesco recommended. still savoring Nik's german rapseed honey. it's not the same, though. it's been real tough filling in the huge hole left by that other life i made. I MADE. it was a treat getting my clothes and books back in the mail. i'll speak german when i'm talking to myself in the mirror about useless things, earnestly in anticipation for the unknown day that it's again a part of my everyday life. been working relentlessly on my senior show. haven't made digital photos for months. i just keep plodding along; patiently, head held high, dreams tucked away in a box that waits for it's Pandora.

shout out to my Tübingers

hab die Sachen gepackt und sitze jetzt im ganz leeren Zimmer. Schade, oder? was macht man denn? naja, könnte es allein nicht. nicht gleich, wenn ohne die Freunden. cheers!

euch kennenzulernen freute mich sehr, aber wir sind kaum fertig! also, wir kennen uns, sind Freunden und so weiter, aber ich weiß ja wie oft es passierte, dass ich alles nicht klar verstanden hatte und eine dumme Antwort gab oder wie ich immer vergaß und euch mir was ZIGmal wiiiiieder gesagt hattet. habt Geduld, bitte. trotz der Langsamkeit bin ich echt =S und bitte, kennt gut: mir scheißegal, wo ich genau bin oder inwieweit die Zukunft geht. ich hab immer Lust uns wieder zu treffen. bzw, bleibt in Kontakt! bin auf Facebook und wenn das nicht ihr Ding ist, sagt mal ihre Postadresse (weil jeder möchte etwas anders als Rechnungen) oder schickt mir was via spunktkuratomiangmailpunktcom.

danke danke danke für ein schönes Jahr!!

Hamburg, ich bin verliebt!

in the semester break i had passed through the Hamburg train station and something about it made me add this city to my list for the Pfingsten holiday. it just felt right.

[Hamburg Hauptbahnhof]

and so i fell in love. the lack of a blue-collar scene in Tübingen had been nagging me for ages and even still, i felt there to be a clash in other cities as well. here in Hamburg everything felt alive, like a mass of crazy different-sized gears turning and clicking together, well oiled. no matter if they were big and slow-moving or tiny and whirring like hummingbirds. serenity.

[Deichtorhallen House of Photography]

it was also my first experience seeing a port city in full swing. you could not escape from the port atmosphere. most cities, it just lies along the body of water, but here there was water in every nook and cranny. everywhere i walked, there were canals and ships and cranes. and yet, Hamburg is just on a river. it blew my mind!

[Sandtorhafen]

there was also a strong sense of aesthetic in the city. maybe the nature of design grows naturally from an area based highly on function. you know my practical side. Hamburg gave me a home. oh, and then there's all the St. Pauli-ness. remind anyone of the Steelers?

[neuer Teil vom Sandtorhafen]

when i live in Germany again, i hope to be in Hamburg. between all the photo institutions and a huge art community and an age old international scene, i'm sold. my CouchSurfing hosts Karen and Martin were an amazing older couple. i got to meet their daughter's best friend, who also happens to be an art major, plus two other guests as well. aufwiederseh'n? sicherlich!