My Friends are Seriously Beautiful

While I was at Cosm, my friend Jonny's girlfriend who I had just met was talking with me about how, the last time I was there I had made a promise to myself during the New Year's Intentions Ceremony- to start taking photography more seriously. She asked me what I like to take pictures of. I answered; my friends. They are all so exceptionally beautiful! Here are some of my favorite pictures taken of my favorite people this year. In order from top to bottom: Rosalie at Cosm, Kryssi dressed as a mermaid for Halloween, Monika, Steve and I, Rosalie again, Brandon, Katrina, Monika, James in California, James at Cosm, Monika- Joe- and Rosalie on the train.

Cosm

For my birthday, this year and last year as well- I celebrated by taking a little trip to Cosm, The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York state. It's Alex Grey's property which he uses as a sort of bed and breakfast- but it's also much more than that. Cosm is a place where great minds, artists, and musicians come together. They hold something called Art Church on Sundays, along with many different art related events, classes, full moon gatherings, and solstice/equinox parties. I love the space, the art, the people. It inspires me. My long time friend Jonny works for the Greys, which is cool because I get to learn about the art and meet people in a way that I would not otherwise be able to on my own. Here are some of the pictures I took while I was there.

Katrina In Red

Monika Magik

Rosalie Reading Tarot Cards

Composition

I am pretty proud of this pic. It is my study on composition.

According to Wikipedia:

The various visual elements, known as elements of design, formal elements, or elements of art, are the vocabulary with which the visual artist composes. These elements in the overall design usually relate to each other and to the whole art work.

The elements of design are:

• Line — the visual path that enables the eye to move within the piece
• Shape — areas defined by edges within the piece, whether geometric or organic
• Colour — hues with their various values and intensities
• Texture — surface qualities which translate into tactile illusions
• Tone — Shading used to emphasize form
• Form — 3-D length, width, or depth
• Space — the space taken up by (positive) or in between (negative) objects
• Depth — perceived distance from the observer, separated in foreground, background, and optionally middle ground

Sunny San Diego California

I've been back from my San Diego trip for a while now and neglected to update my blog with pics and stories from my trip!

It was a major relief to leave Boston for a portion of what was to become the snowiest season on record in the past 21 years - for one of the only places in the US with a temperature above 50s, and it was SUNNY!

I got a full dose of vitamin D every day that we were there. This did wonders for my skin, which up until the trip had been breaking out in hives on and off. Relaxation probably helped too.

We did a lot in seven days, covering most of the tourist hot-spots such as La Jolla, Balboa Park, Old Town, Whaley House, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, a vineyard, and a few of the local beaches as well.

Most of the time we were with his mom and aunt, taking in the sights and eating at lots of great restaurants.

On the last night James and I decided to have a date night and hit the downtown area of San Diego. We made a few pit-stops at a local brewery called Ballast Point, and a hookah bar in La Jolla before heading down to the area of San Diego known as the Gas Lamp Quarter; which is best known for it's lively nightlife. This was my favorite night by far.

Barcelona

At the end of our trip, we spent 3 days in Barcelona. This city is known for it's art, architecture, and Catalan style food. It has a unique population of poets, writers, artists, and it exudes an all around bohemian atmosphere. This was the city I was most looking forward to.

In retrospect, we all felt that we should have done this city first. By the time that we got to the city of dreams, we were all pretty exhausted and broke. I was tired, but had a boost from the prednisone shot that I acquired in Valencia. More than that I was pumped up on the excitement of finally being there. So the first night in the city was of course, an epic disaster.

We had the idea of going out dancing but didn't know where. I called my friend who knew the city well, and got a recommendation from him. Knowing that the nightlife begins in the wee hours of the morning, we got some alcohol to bring back to the hotel to drink while we waited for the proper hour to go out. We thought this was smart, since we were saving money this way. After polishing off a bottle of whiskey between the 3 of us, we set out in a cab for some club on the waterfront that was supposedly the place to be on a Thursday night to hear some drum n' bass.

We got to the bar around 3 am, and what we found was not dance music, but "Anti Karaoke"- which was basically a bunch of punk rock kids, singing karaoke to famous American rock songs on stage. To one side of the stage was a large naked man wearing a leash around his neck, sitting by a doggie bowl. He then got onto the stage, and acted...um, dog like....

Shea and I got onstage and did a hideously drunk rendition of Queen's "We Are the Champions"...and then I think Katrina sang something too. There were videos. They were destroyed.

The rest of that night is kind of a blur. We ran around the city looking for someplace to go and dance. I made a friend from California. I couldn't remember his name, and so I called him California.

California asked us all over to his house the next night. The girls were way too hung over to accept his offer so I went by myself. He was having a Catalan style dinner party, with every sort of shell fish known to man  (and some snails), wine, bread, and a bunch of other natives- as well as a few nice lads from France. I ate snails, drank, talked, sang with my new friends, and then California called me a cab to get back to the hotel. This by far was my favorite night.

Here are the snails that I tried!                                                    Here is a Lladro piece I saw, it's fine                                                                                                         porcelain. This one only costs two grand!                                                         

                   This was my point of reference on my solo journey to California's dinner party. Apparently they call it the "dildo of Barcelona". It's hard not to giggle the first time you see it.

 This was a Dali piece that we passed by in Montserrat:

This is the church of La Sagrada Familia. It has been work a work in progress since 1882. Many architects have worked on it through the years, including the famous Gaudi, who also designed the building below;

Montserrat: a journey up into the clouds

Montserrat is a jagged mountain range about 45 minutes outside the city of Barcelona. There you will find awesome views of mountains, mist and the Catalonian country side below. Montserrat is home to a Benedictine Abbey which hosts the "Virgin of Montserrat"- a black Madonna statue which attracts many devout pilgrims. She holds in her lap a baby Jesus, and you can touch her hand through a hole in her encasement.

The journey to the Abbey is almost as beautiful as the destination itself. We kept climbing higher and higher into the mountains, hugging cliffs with our enormous bus, which made me a little uneasy. Finally we were up in the clouds...and it felt like a dream.

While I am not a religious person, I can say I had a very spiritual experience here. One look at the photos can give you some idea of how special a place this is. Even before the abbey was built- in pre christian times, the mountain itself was of religious significance when the Romans built a temple there to honor Venus. As we approached the abbey, I started to feel a little woozy. I am not sure if it was the altitude, or the energy surrounding it all. 

Millions of people have prayed here, lit candles, and touched the hand of "The Little Dark One". We followed suit, and did all of these things. Lit our candles, prayed, touched her hand, and marveled at the extreme beauty of the building and it's surroundings.

Valencia

Oh Valencia. This city had the potential to be kind of boring. It's best know for it's delicious oranges, but I had no idea what else was there. I certainly wasn't as excited about it like I was for Barcelona. That is, until we got to Madrid. On day one at the welcome briefing, our tour director Andreas told us that we were very lucky, because for the four days that we would be in Valencia, there was a crazy fire festival going on. It was called Las Fallas Festival, (pronounced fye-yas) and it happens every year for four days in March. We had perfect timing! When Andreas explained the festival to us, I don't think that it prepared us at all
for the days that were to come. Las Fallas is proclaimed by Valencians to be "the biggest party in the world"...and they are not kidding around. This thing is HUGE>

I don't know that my ranting and raving, or even my pics will do it justice so here is a link to check it out as well:

http://www.lasfallas.net/

From the minute we approached the edge of the city, we heard the popping noises of fire crackers and fireworks. This did not stop for one minute of the four days we were there. Constant noise. The loudest being a sonic boom that shook the whole city every day at 2pm. They actually warned pregnant women to stay away from the city center at this time of day. That is how loud it was.

On each corner of every block, there was a giant colorful paper-machet sculpture. Each one took a year to create; only to be admired for a few days, and then burned down on the last day of the festival. Some were as big as houses.

So... of course it was here, in the craziest place I've ever been to in my life, that I had an emergency situation which would land me in the hospital. The "rash" that had been appearing on and off for a few weeks prior, was not just any rash. It turns out that it was hives. Hives that became so bad that when we got to Valencia I was afraid my throat would close up and cause me to suffocate. When I finally decided to go to the hospital, my little crew, all three of them did not let me down. They were all there for every excruciating minute. Finding the hospital, making me laugh, bringing me food, helping to translate what the Dr's were saying, holding my hand. It was an intense EIGHT hour ordeal. After a shot of prednisone, and a script for the pill form, I was sent off  to "relax" in my hotel room, which sounded like it was smack dab in the middle of a war-zone.

The day after the prednisone shot the hives cleared significantly, and I was ready to get out and join the party. Katrina and I rode a huge ferris wheel that gave us a great view of the city for miles. The next day was the day that the statues were lit up; the grand finale. Before each one was lit, they would set off fire works as a signal that it was about to be lit. Here is a huge Indiana Jones masterpiece in progress:

There was also this huge lite brite like set up, called The Illumination. It went was about 5 blocks long from beginning to end. Inside, it was like a market place with lots of, vendors selling various things like food, booze, candy, jewelry, home goods and of course, fire crackers.

The next day, we said good bye to the craziness of Valencia, and headed to Barcelona. The city of my dreams,

Segovia

Katrina and I took an optional tour to the city of Segovia. It is famous for both The Roman Aqueduct and The Alcazar. It was such a neat place. It's full of ancient history, and it looks like it is right out of a story book.

This lovely statue is of Romulus and Remus. If you don't know who that is, look it up. It's from a famous Greek myth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus

The Aqueduct is almost 2,000 years old. It is still in perfect condition. I touched it though- so it probably won't be that way for much longer. 

The Alcazar is a huge castle, which is said to be the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disney World. It's extremely photogenic. I got some good shots of it looking all fairy tale like from afar. Inside, however- it's a different story. It's full of creepy paintings and old furniture. There is one painting, in particular that I loved. All of the people have black holes for eyes. Super creepy.

Madrid

 It hadn't hit me that we were going to be in Spain for two weeks until we started driving into Madrid from the airport. Up to that moment I had been stressed out about a number of things and hadn't even had time to be excited. I'd worked every single day for weeks prior to our departure. I also had a passport problem that was resolved just days before we left, and on top of that, a strange rash that was appearing on my face had gotten worse on the plane.
When it finally hit me, I was riding in the van from the airport into Madrid. The highway was completely covered along the side walls with bold, colorful graffiti- for miles. I'd never seen anything like it. A rush of energy came over me. It was that familiar feeling that I only get in a fresh new place. It was welling up in my stomach and making my heart beat faster. Something like falling in love... but better. Suddenly, I was in the moment, and nowhere else.

We checked into our hotel which was right in the city center and got ready to explore. Madrid has lots of giant buildings, and statues, with extreme attention to the smallest detail. A cool March breeze blew through the streets which were dotted with beautiful lights, and gorgeous people. Everywhere you looked there were signs for "cerveca" and "tapas". We ducked into a bohemian looking bar with lots of couches and comfy pillows. The bartender spoke some English, and after we excitedly exclaimed that we just got to Spain that day; he made us some impressive cocktails on the house. Before we left, we tipped him...a large tip. Our first mistake. This was considered a social faux pas. In the US, if a bartender hooks you up, you give a generous tip. In Spain however, it's  kind of an insult. He mentioned this when we questioned the bewildered look on his face. We all felt kind of stupid, and vowed not to do that again. This however, proved to be easier said than done. As it turns out, tipping is a hard habit to break.

On the second night, Shea's friend Dominic met up with us. He was living in Spain as an English teacher but he was from California. He's super nice, and not to mention, adorable. A happy addition to our little crew. Not only did he speak Spanish better than us, but we all felt a little safer with him around. Dom was only supposed to visit with us for one night, but at breakfast the next day we all begged him to follow us to Valencia...which he did, and then afterwards to Barcelona as well.

I wish that I'd had more time/money for museums and things like that but I guess I will just have to visit again sometime! We basically spent all of our time in Madrid walking around, eating good food, drinking wine, and one night we even tried to go dancing. This was kind of difficult because in Spain, they don't start the dance parties until THREE am. We did make it to one place but I don't think that any of us remember it all too well.

Our last night in Madrid before heading to Valencia, we sat in a hookah bar for almost 4 hours, drinking mojitos, telling stories, and reading Tarot. I think we were all a little wiped out from trying to hang with the Spaniards the night before. Though it was mostly uneventful, it was one of my favorite memories of the trip- because we all just got along so well.