9/21/2005

Cindy Sheehan Visits DC


I just happened to be mailing a bill near the White House when Cindy Sheehan's caravan pulled up. If you've forgotten who she is -- the outraged mother who lost her son, a Marine, in Iraq. Instead of sitting at home grieving, she hit the road to Crawford, Tx. to confront President Bush and question him about a war it seems most of the U.S. doesn't agree with. Usually when I'm asked about Sheehan I say that she is bringing attention to something that needs attention brought to it. But having been a Marine I also understand that when you sign on the dotted line, you may end up giving the ultimate sacrifice. A couple months ago I told my 71-year-old, cancer-fighting mom this. Mom didn't agree, "If you would have died over there [in Afghanistan] I would have killed someone!"

9/20/2005

Replacement Friend


This is a friend, Mike Esposito. An artist that I go to school with here in DC. Way back in high school in Illinois I met my first friend by that name. Of couse we called him Mickey (and we still do).

9/17/2005

Messianic Meeting


I was invited to Rockville by my new friend Charlie to document the ordination of four deacons at a congregation of Messianic Jews. Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the Messiah (similar to Christians). I was also able to witness a renewal of wedding vows, celebrating the couple's 10-year annivarsary. I even saw one of my classmates.

9/16/2005

Late Night Chinese


I went to eat with a bunch of my classmates. The Chinese place was closing so they gave us our stuff to go. However, we commandeered a table and managed to eat from out take-out bags before they locked the doors. Fortune Cookie- Wise man cools food in mouth for optimum consumption.

9/14/2005

Friendly Neighborhood Safeway


On the way home tonight I stopped at the Safeway on Corcoran St. I remembered I needed some toilet paper and paper towels. At the checkout the cashier set my two bags on the counter. I asked her if she could put my paper items in the bag too. "We don't have bags that big," she said. I stood there for a second and said, almost without thinking, "Can I use one of these carts?" She had one of the bag boys unlock the electronic wheel on the computerized cart and I wheeled it about 3/4 a mile up 16th St NW, and home. People avoid eye contact with you when you're pushing a shopping cart down the sidewalk. Thank you Safeway! Whole Foods would never do that. (p.s. i'll return it friday)

Metal Sculpture


To relieve some stress and blow off some hypothetical and actual steam I decided to take a welding class for metal sculpture this semester. Our instructor Clay shows the ideal acetylene flame before adding oxygen to the mixture. This class is will definitely be a release for me, and a break from my normal classes. However, I didn't realize how tired I would be after a 5-hour welding session in the basement of the Corcoran Gallery.

9/05/2005

Sore Winners


Me, Matt, Maris, and my three friends Andrew took off for RFK Stadium Sunday afternoon, to watch the Nationals spread the "PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESERS" a.k.a. the Phillies all over the field. The Nationals played superbly; Philadelphia played like a "runny CHEESE STEAK, running down my arm." Those "cheesey losers."

Gallery Trash


"Back of the bus, Back of the bus," the crowd control agents at the Conner Gallery smash everyone in to compensate for their lack of space. They know just how to treat people there. They harass me for a press credential and I never even intended to take the leather cap of my wide-angle lens. I guess you need to be a licensed artist in their pretentious space. I left yelling obscenities.

9/02/2005

Putting the "R" in Routine


Cutting my hair in an attempt to change my identity. Legs today, arms tomorrow.