(no subject)
Leaving for France in a few hours...or, at least, we're leaving for the airport in a few hours. When we actually begin flying is up for speculation.
It's all very stupid, the security issues.
My argument is this: if they, the FAA, plan on relaxing the bans on liquids over the next few weeks, eventually returning things back to a semblance of normalcy, why impose the bans in the first place? Do they really think that any remaining terrorists from "the plot" are going to try to execute while the ban is in place? What they're saying is, "just give us a month to piss everyone off, then you can explode our planes."
Anyways.
I've been home for the past few days; since Saturday, basically. What's nice is that a lot of people have just come home from New York, London, wherever, so it's been a good couple of days of seeing people and catching up on our summers. Of course, as happens every summer, I go with my family on vacation at the very worst time; that is, when people are actually around. For the second year in a row a few people are leaving while I'm out of the country, so we don't really get our proper see-you's. But I'm far more excited to go away this summer than I was last summer, when I was angry at the world and didn't want to do very much at all. Right now I'm very much looking forward to relaxing on the beach with French people for 10 days.
So it should be nice.
I sold my car on Sunday. It's gone. I'm happy about that. I don't like driving, especially city driving, or errand driving (the only type of driving I don't mind is long, road-trip kind of driving, like to New York), and I have friends nice enough to pick me up if necessary. If I'm home next summer, which I'd rather not be, but if I am, I'll probably buy an old beater pickup to drive around for a few months. Something about that is very appealing to me, even though I think my personality does not lend to that type of car in any way.
But we'll see.
The week before I came home Matthu had three shoots that I went to, one fashion, two magazine. The fashion one was in a professional studio, with rented equipment and all of that. Also, professional lighting and digital assistants were there so I had very little to do other than watch and absorb.
The two magazine shoots were in a mansion in Brooklyn and this guy's apartment. The magazine is Me Magazine (it's somewhere online, if you're interested), the format of which is that each issue someone is profiled through interviews (and portraits) of their friends. The next "Me" is a friend of Matthu's, so he's doing all the portraits of this singer Anthony's friends. The mansion shoot was of this actress, and the apartment shoot was of this film director who also designs ties. The sort of people that aren't so much famous as just "in the know" when it comes to the art/film world. A while ago Zack, who knows this world far better than I, said that it was interesting how all of the people he met that were somehow famous or infamous were all just regular, stupid people. And even in my limited exposure to that world, I'm beginning to understand what he meant. There's a circle of people, maybe 500, and they all know each other to some extent, and they're all working in fashion or photography, or they're painters, or they curate a gallery, or whatever. They all do these particular things, and because of that everybody sees them as better, or something, but 90% of the time they're just like everybody else. And I think there's probably a fair amount of mutual ego masturbation within the group, but for the most part, they just kind of hang out and do their thing, and think very little of it, and they're basically just friends.
I don't think I'm making any sense, but the point is that the people I've met have all been incredibly humble and incredibly nice to me, which I appreciate. I think they all see me as a dopey, stupid kid, and maybe they're only nice because they feel bad for me, but either way, I'm enjoying all of it very much.
It's all very stupid, the security issues.
My argument is this: if they, the FAA, plan on relaxing the bans on liquids over the next few weeks, eventually returning things back to a semblance of normalcy, why impose the bans in the first place? Do they really think that any remaining terrorists from "the plot" are going to try to execute while the ban is in place? What they're saying is, "just give us a month to piss everyone off, then you can explode our planes."
Anyways.
I've been home for the past few days; since Saturday, basically. What's nice is that a lot of people have just come home from New York, London, wherever, so it's been a good couple of days of seeing people and catching up on our summers. Of course, as happens every summer, I go with my family on vacation at the very worst time; that is, when people are actually around. For the second year in a row a few people are leaving while I'm out of the country, so we don't really get our proper see-you's. But I'm far more excited to go away this summer than I was last summer, when I was angry at the world and didn't want to do very much at all. Right now I'm very much looking forward to relaxing on the beach with French people for 10 days.
So it should be nice.
I sold my car on Sunday. It's gone. I'm happy about that. I don't like driving, especially city driving, or errand driving (the only type of driving I don't mind is long, road-trip kind of driving, like to New York), and I have friends nice enough to pick me up if necessary. If I'm home next summer, which I'd rather not be, but if I am, I'll probably buy an old beater pickup to drive around for a few months. Something about that is very appealing to me, even though I think my personality does not lend to that type of car in any way.
But we'll see.
The week before I came home Matthu had three shoots that I went to, one fashion, two magazine. The fashion one was in a professional studio, with rented equipment and all of that. Also, professional lighting and digital assistants were there so I had very little to do other than watch and absorb.
The two magazine shoots were in a mansion in Brooklyn and this guy's apartment. The magazine is Me Magazine (it's somewhere online, if you're interested), the format of which is that each issue someone is profiled through interviews (and portraits) of their friends. The next "Me" is a friend of Matthu's, so he's doing all the portraits of this singer Anthony's friends. The mansion shoot was of this actress, and the apartment shoot was of this film director who also designs ties. The sort of people that aren't so much famous as just "in the know" when it comes to the art/film world. A while ago Zack, who knows this world far better than I, said that it was interesting how all of the people he met that were somehow famous or infamous were all just regular, stupid people. And even in my limited exposure to that world, I'm beginning to understand what he meant. There's a circle of people, maybe 500, and they all know each other to some extent, and they're all working in fashion or photography, or they're painters, or they curate a gallery, or whatever. They all do these particular things, and because of that everybody sees them as better, or something, but 90% of the time they're just like everybody else. And I think there's probably a fair amount of mutual ego masturbation within the group, but for the most part, they just kind of hang out and do their thing, and think very little of it, and they're basically just friends.
I don't think I'm making any sense, but the point is that the people I've met have all been incredibly humble and incredibly nice to me, which I appreciate. I think they all see me as a dopey, stupid kid, and maybe they're only nice because they feel bad for me, but either way, I'm enjoying all of it very much.