Celebrating 30 Years of Rockin' the Pocket!

I remember wearing and LOVING KangaROOS when I was a kid.

So I was psyched when I was approached by them last fall...

They sent me a few pairs of shoes, a Lomo camera, and 10 rolls of film.

"Document your life for three weeks!" they said.

So I did, along with a handful of other photographers from around the world.

And as I'm typing this, I'm wearing my favorite pair. YOU can get 'em at endless.com and dsw.com!

Here is some of what came out of it...

Rules to live by!


The main photo here is me. The bottom left is one I took in Malaysia.


The middle one on the left is me.


And here is my favorite pair:




I'll try to post some of my other Lomo photos soon!

:)

Check out treas Sunday night @ Sidewalk Cafe!

My friend Andre is playing with his band Sunday night. Check it out, if you have a chance....





treas -- two acoustics, an upright bass and soulful female vocals.

LIVE at the sidewalk cafe, sunday august 3rd, 8:30pm.

sidewalk cafe, avenue A, north east corner at 6 street -- here's how to get there!

NO COVER - two drinks minimum!

Joe McGinty's Piano Parlour

Check it out! My photo, all spruced up... :)



Googie's Lounge at the Living Room

154 Ludlow Street

New York, NY 10002

http://www.livingroomny.com/

Photos from LA

I was in LA from July 9-16. I spent lots of time having fun with Rick and Sean. Also managed to see my friends Lori and Donald and Sam!

See photos here!

Stuff I did:
Ate super yummy mexican food, sushi & pastrami & bacon & ice cream and fancy coffee and stuff.
Griffith Observatory
Hollywood Forever Cemetery screening
Sci-fi burlesque at El Cid
Hiking at Temescal Canyon
The Lotus Festival
Museum of Jurassic Technology
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Getty
Royal T

Los Angeles: Phase 2

Sean & Elizabeth:


Cupcakes:


Me & Rick:


Santa Monica:

Los Angeles: Phase 1

Day 1:
I arrived in LA late Wednesday afternoon.

My friend Sean picked me up at the airport. After settling in, we walked to The Farmers Market for some dinner. Yummy tacos and guac. I love Mexican food and try to get as much of it as possible when I come to Cali. Yummy!

A couple photos from our walk:




I managed to stay awake until 10pm, but by then I'd had a 21 hour day and was completely exhausted!

Day 2:
Sean and I had breakfast at Bloom. Their water had cucumber in it. That made me happy.

Here I am in the very photogenic restroom:


After breakfast, we went for a walk/hike on the Temescal Ridge/Canyon Loop in Topanga State Park. It was a nice hike - saw quite a few people, but it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded. I forgot what it's like walking up hills! ;)

Some photos:






After our walk, we were pretty exhausted. And thirsty! So we grabbed a beer and a snack at The Library Alehouse in Santa Monica.

Back to Sean's to relax for a while before evening plans - dinner at Campanile and sci fi burlesque at El Cid!

Since I'm not often in a car, I took advantage of the situation by doing some traffic light shots along the way.








Day 3:
Had coffee at Intelligentsia and sampled a little cheese at the shop next door - The Cheesestore of Silverlake. Yum! Also tried their caramel - so delicious.

For lunch we had sushi at one of Sean's favorite spots - Azami. The owner, Niki, prepared our food and chatted with us. Lucky we went when we did, as she sold the restaurant and tomorrow is her last day before taking some time off.

Here is Niki and some of our food:




Great trip so far! Stay tuned for more...

Missed flight. Not so bad.

This morning I got up at 4:45 for a 7:50 flight from JFK to Burbank.

I decided to take the subway to the other subway to the AirTrain.



I arrived at the terminal 25 minutes before takeoff. The gentleman at the counter called the gate and learned that the door to the plane was already closed. I'd have to wait until the next flight at 1:35pm. Choices: pay $100 for a guaranteed seat or risk it and do standby. I chose standby.

Too early to go to the gate, though. I was told I'd have to wait until 10:30am.

I could have raised a stink, maybe. But that's not the kind of thing I like to spend my energy on. LA will still be there this afternoon. I'm not on a tight schedule.

I did call the 800 number, though, to ask if there were any roundabout routes that might land me there sooner. No luck, but the woman on the phone was very nice.

In fact, all the JetBlue employees I encountered were great. My first flight on JetBlue ever! I think. Maybe once to Burlington, VT years ago?

Sat at a table, twiddled thumbs, people-watched, twittered, played with photos, received phone call from Rick in Cali who should have been sleeping, drank Dunkin Donuts coffee and ate a gazillion calorie muffin.

Then my friend/old co-worker Francine told me that in the terminal there is an Oasis Day Spa. I went to the ticket counter to check my bag and see if I could find this spa.

---

I told the guy at the ticket counter that I was flying standby.

Him: The flight is pretty full. You might not get a seat if it fills up. I just have to tell you the rules.

Me: Okay.

(He looks at my info in the computer.)

Him: You missed your flight?

Me: Yes.

Him: When did you get here?

Me: About 25 minutes before it took off.

(He gives me a sympathetic look.)

Him: You probably got up really early for that too. Did you take the subway to get here?

Me: Yes.

Him: Yeah. Never take the subway.

(We smile at each other.)

Me: How many more flights are there to Burbank today?

Him: Three. But don't worry. You'll get on this flight.

Me: Thank you.

---

So things were looking up. Time to check out the spa.

They do just about everything there, it seems. I was hoping for a mani/pedi. But I just couldn't justify $25 for a manicure and $45 for a pedicure. Or even one of the two. I took a price list and briefly considered all the other possibilities.

Walked around to find a seat, thinking I probably wouldn't find an outlet to charge my stuff. And knowing I wouldn't get free wifi.

But I found an outlet in a nice, quiet spot. And hooray for JetBlue's free wifi. I am probably the last to know!

It is now 11am. I can board in just two short hours. YAY!

Here I am, waiting:


Cross your fingers for me on the 1:35 flight!

My friend Bill just called me after seeing my Facebook status message. Re: the next flight he said "Don't f*@k this one up, Hilary."

:D

One MILLION views!

Forgot to mention this on my blog... I hit one million page views on Flickr.

Not too shabby, eh? :) Yay!

Feeling all bunny-like.

Shoot Outtakes

Matt M. reminded me that he was on Doug's photo shoot too. :)

Pretending he can play:


Jumping in front of a pink Cabriolet:


Me about to get a wet willy:


Oh, and as I was looking to decide whether to spell it "willy" or "willie", I came across this on wikipedia.

See how fun photo shoots can be?

Shoot with Doug Lee

On Saturday I hit Red Hook with Doug Lee to take some promotional shots.

Check him out on his website and keep a lookout for his new album.

Here are some shots - see the full set here.

Wine & America the Beautiful at Duvet Lounge

I won't be showing this photo at Duvet Lounge, but it's what came up when I did a tag search for "red white blue" on my Flickr stream. :)



But I WILL be showing photos!! You should come check it out. I, along with two other photographers, will show my work at this event at Duvet Lounge.

Sign up to attend here!

Here are the basics:


Wine and America the Beautiful
Friday, July 18, 2008 @ 6:30pm

Duvet Lounge
45 W 21st St
New York, NY 10010

$11 advanced admission or $15 at the door gets you "free" appetizers (an assortment of international cheeses), as well as discounted wine AND the opportunity to check out the photo exhibit!

Wine with detailed descriptions will be sold by the discounted price of $7
One featured bottle beer $5
Also mixed drinks $8

It's a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet lots of wine and photo enthusiasts.

Hope to see you there!

Artists Wanted: My photos shown at Dubai Brooklyn Event

Okay, people have been asking for an update! I've been a bit busy and behind on my blogging!

But here we go.

On Saturday, June 28th, six of my photos were projected at a party/event at Dubai Brooklyn in Bushwick. It was a perk from being one of the top 20 chosen in the "people's choice" portion of the Artists Wanted Exposure competition. Thank you to all of you who voted!! And to Matt M. for telling me about the competition.

I was able to choose two photos in addition to the original four I entered. The party started at 11pm and went until sunrise. I brought my friends Andre and Sara with me as my two special guests. Both are fantastic photographers.

It was thrilling to see my photos projected onto the wall - so big and vibrant! And the ones I'd chosen for the competition were based partially on the fact that I thought they'd look pretty good projected onto brick. I think it worked out well.

Here are a few photos from the night...

The line to get into the event:


Me and Andre:


Sara:


My name in lights:


One of my photos projected. (Thanks to Matt S. who first pointed out the potential for this projected photo while we were walking towards Central Park to see Hamlet. And to Rick, who I thought of while composing it.) There were places to stand where nothing was obstructing the view. But I kind of liked the fact that people were making art here during the event.


A couple more scenes from inside the club:




And outside the club before we left: