But Call Me Betsy

While Dan is attending Luke's holiest of holy communions today at the Saint Christ's Church of the Apostles of the Cathedral Within the Body of the Lord, I'm sitting in the Small World Coffee in the heart of Princeton (Padhraig refers to it as Third World Coffee). Not much happening here--a few academics arguing, a guy reading a book and cleaning his glasses, an obnoxious three year old boy who's talking too loud, and no visible places to plug in the laptop, so I just watch helplessly as the power drains out of the computer. Luke's ceremony has just started, so I have an hour or more to kill and then we'll got out for breakfast with Dan's mom and aunt. Luke's mom is throwing him a communion party at her house. I will not be attending. Dan is bringing a video camera to capture the memories. I'm very curious about what it will be like. Here is my current view: Later, we will have Luke and probably go eat at Whole Foods and maybe rent a movie from t...

Sadly, Easter is over, but the decorations still live on. Stay tuned for Memorial Day and hundreds of flags to come. This cat reminds me of Ernesto. He is totally enamored of a bird on the wire above him. Dogs in windows. We went to Gettysburg last weekend and I took a total of three photos. I am not much into the history of the Civil War. Multiply this view by 100 and you've seen all of Gettysburg. Here is a real life Civil War re-enactor. We got into a little bit of trouble for listening to him, because, as this blond woman explained, it was a paid tour and we hadn't paid. I took this picture yesterday of a window near my neighborhood that just happens to look like everything we saw in Gettysburg. The Christmas-all-year-round house. Penn gave city-dwelling staff trees as part of their sustainable effort. Isn't that amazing? I got a dogwood. Dan and I have since ripped out the lattice work in the backyard and the tree has leaves. Not a very thr...

Liz happened on my blog recently and said she wasn't sure what I was doing with all of these subway photos of people. I haven't yet had the chance to let her know that I was doing it in part for my art history class, which is now over. I turned my paper in on Tuesday. I think that it possibly sucked. I also gave him a few samples of the subway photos. I think I might keep doing it, because I actually enjoy being a voyeur in this way. Here are some more for you to creep out over. This girl is actually using an eyelash curler on the subway.  She's with it. There is just no way this guy doesn't play some kind of horn. I think I've seen this woman on the subway before. She looks sad to me. Paper. They can't know I'm taking their picture though, right? These kind of photos really appeal to me for some reason. Obligatory shot of my own shoes, as is done by every 16 year old with a new camera.

We saw a man get on the trolley today who looked like he had just done a Picasso before breakfast by searing off his ear with a butter knife and then patching it up with what appears to be a brown grocery bag. The man nearest him had a birth mark on his neck. I wondered if he knew about it (probably) and how much it bothered him to know it was there (hopefully not much. I found it to be endearing. I like a little physical vulnerability in men. A little--I don't want to beat them in an arm wrestling match or anything). I did, however, have a great urge to tuck in his sweater tag. The long view. We saw this man too and Dan said, Oh, look, he's reading the letter (in reference to my project on Sophie Calle's Take Care of Yourself, where all of her photographs are of women reading a break-up email letter she received). I can't wait to include this in my final portfolio.

Everyone is always listening to something on the subway or looking at their phones or somehow multi-tasking and checking out. I do the same thing. I like a man who blushes (or is it just a sunburn? Hard to say). Blurry. He's looking right at me, right? I always duck to the back side so that I don't have to walk with so many people and feel like I'm going to accidentally be pushed off onto the tracks. I see this couple all the time. They're very affectionate, always kiss goodbye at this juncture where she goes toward the trolley and he heads up the stairs. I believe I caught this photo in mid hair flip. All of our faces look like this early in the week during the morning commute; slightly sad and sleepy.  Trolley on its way. One more week left in my art history class. I didn't show anyone these photos when I had my presentation, because I figured that it would come across as even flakier than usual. I did almost have a panic attack when I reali...

Got an email from my mom today, reminding me that it has been over a week since I've posted a blog entry. Maybe that's because we have a new official work blog that I've been managing and so I don't have much energy to think of creative entries. But, I do have subway photos from last week, so there's really no excuse not to just put those up. I also had my presentation of Sophie Calle last night. I was slated to go third in line. I started to feel really uncomfortable when I realized that the two women in front of me had typed up pages...Both of them read fairly finished, polished papers. Meanwhile, I had a PowerPoint with some notes and photographs. NOT a finished piece. I started fantasizing about running from the room and then just dropping the class or asking the teacher if I could go another day. But, when it came time for me to go, I explained that my presentation was going to be more conversational, and he said it was fine. He was actually very supportive of ...

Not necessarily in the above order. Here is a link to my latest writing column in Philadelphia Stories . It's about being more aware of using place/setting in your stories. You will heart it! And more subway photos from this morning's commute. Ponytail. Tired traveler. I like his bag though. This is what the subway looks like pulling into the station. And here it is before. A man walking by me. A crabby woman sitting next to me. She kept looking over at me and frowning. Maybe she knew I was photographing her and it didn't make her happy. People on the subway rarely smile. Totally stylish. This man is hailing the subway. Thank God, or it might have gone right by. I feel like I've taken her picture before. Was she the one reading The Informationist ? Not sure. He had a giant diamond earring and drank an energy drink. It's what he's in the process of pulling out of his bag in this photo. I like these boots, though I would never be abl...