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March 31, 2005
Azmina on Fifth
Posted by quickness at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2005
Migrating
I have just migrated from Typepad to Movable Type... well... I'm not sure if I could actually say that - I am still migrating to MT. My Typepad account is still active, and would be for another month, since I was silly enough not to export my blog to my computer before the trial period ended.
I have no experience in html but I like to think that I could do this sort of stuff if I put my mind to it. And since I had become a little familiar to the interface in Typepad, I told myself, why not.
The first thing that I asked myself when creating the most simple of layout was, "What the hell is CSS, and why can't its code be used for the RSS? And what's RSS anyway????".
A day and few hours into setting things up, I am starting to wonder if I've made the right decision.
Posted by quickness at 10:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 22, 2005
Purple Tuesday
Out of the seven days in a week, Tuesdays are my least favourite. Mondays are okay - most of us are still figuring out the week. Even if you stayed up all night on Sunday, the following Tuesday would invariably be worst than Monday. The next weekend could seem 6 million weeks away.
But when you are leaving the apartment with this image in your head, who needs meds?
Posted by quickness at 10:05 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 21, 2005
Parking Lot Graffiti
Posted by quickness at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2005
Officially Spring
Today is the official first day of spring, and New Yorkers were greeted by cold rain.
I sensed there was calm however; maybe because people were beginning to believe that the winter was finally over. With everybody else in the apartment still asleep, I went out to take in this peace and managed to stop by a camera shop in West 18th Street to get a battery for my camera.
Posted by quickness at 10:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 19, 2005
Hootchy-Kootchy Raks Sharki
There is just something about belly dancers that I can't really explain. Simply, they are UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLY hypnotic. More so to me than your average person. You know.. hip-hip, shaky-shaky hip-hip... hip-shake, hip-shake, shaky-shaky hip-hip...
Everytime I go to such a place (which is not very often... really), I could somehow imagine the devil himself appearing every second or so in the dark background, horned, with all of its red glistening skin glory, smiling in the shadows. The belly dancer would have the same powers as Lady Sylvia in Lair of the White Worm. The place, wherever it is, would have aura of the TT Twister inn in "From Dusk Till Dawn". Do I turn myself away from such places? Did the people in Lair of the White Worm and the TT Twister go to their homes and watch reruns of Seinfeld when the party's just begun? I didn't think so.
In a restaurant in Jersey tonight, while celebrating a birthday, again my guard went down to its minimum, my mind busy computing non-sensical thoughts, my body in a state of stupor. After coaxing friends around the table to take turns to dance with her, the belly dancer turned to me. Pressured by all those thoughts and the memory of a time when I completely froze in a similar situation 3 years ago, I was hypnotised into getting up. I had such high hopes of moving to the tune of the furious drum beats. And I told myself I could do this; I reminded myself that I didn't have model looks and was always skint as a student but I nevertheless had my share of luck, ergo, I had game. BUT NOOOO!!!! It appeared that my dance was UNIQUE and SPECIAL. I prayed for James Brown's legs, but it was way too late... and apparently, my soul was sold the moment I stepped into the place.
After much more music and dance, the night finally came to an end, my soul was returned with the check, and we drank for long-life, health, happiness and ever-flexible hips.
N, if you're reading this, I tell ya, I have to be exposed to these devil things more often - you should understand... I need it to up my defences.
Posted by quickness at 03:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 17, 2005
BBoys on 5th
The New York Times ran an article a few weeks ago on "issei" or japanese immigrants, who have found their place in the Big Apple. One of the persons featured was 26 year-old Kumi Naito from Nagoya, Japan, pictured above in the red jump suit, known simply as Q in the Float Committee crew.
I have always wondered if I could have been succesful if I was born in a different time, or in another place. I imagine a place where brawn is an essential quality. Or a situation where I've lost everything, including the memory and that piece of paper that says I have an education. Every time I witness a glimpse of a different life, I wonder if I could have done the same under similar circumstances. I wonder if I have the courage to gamble the clothes on my back for something more.
Not that it has been easy for me to get here, nor was it impossible. My grandfather led a nomadic life till he married my grandmother. My grandmother was born to parents who left their homeland in search of a better life. So far, I am lucky enough for not having to make a decision that could drastically change my life. Everything seemed natural enough. Even not staying in the same postal address for more than 2 years at a time since I was 16 seemed natural.
Until that time when I face and pass that test that would require me to make such jump, I'll continue to admire people like members in the Float Committee, for their zest, their energy and their attitude towards life.
Posted by quickness at 03:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 16, 2005
Sammy
Posted by quickness at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2005
Tape Loop
I was listening to Frou Frou's "Let Go" all day yesterday. My iTunes registered 173 plays for that song alone.
I think we get some sort of satisfaction with having loops. Start one, hope it gets going. If it doesnt, then a complete loop is good loop. Move on to other loops.
There is calm and comfort in predictability I seek. There is no anxiety in knowing if you're well-prepared.
Posted by quickness at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2005
Sticky Matter
Not another post about The Gates.
Well, it's not. Even though what you see above is the material that was used.
This post is about the camera that I'm using now. I have lost numerous shots... hundreds maybe; because of what I think might be a sticky shutter. The camera works fine 90% of the time, but the other 10%, it gives totally black images, or cuts off the lower and upper quarters with black borders. Most occur outside in the winter cold.
I'd switch the camera off and on, only to be faced with the same situation in a few seconds, or if I am lucky, in a few minutes. I would also get an "Err99" message. I've contemplated sending it to Canon, but I am sure that they would find fault on the fact that I've previously dropped the camera a few months ago, cracking the LCD screen in 17 places. And I'd be camera-less in the mean time for nearly a month, before receiving a bill for no less than a few hundred dollars.
Posted by quickness at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2005
Gates 4
Posted by quickness at 05:38 PM
March 01, 2005
Lesson in Blue Gum
No matter how bored you are sitting alone at work, NEVER even think of playing around with blue coloured chewing gum by sticking it on your front teeth.
You WILL forget that little bits of blue gum WILL decide to stay ON and BETWEEN your teeth.
Someone who you’d want to have high regards of yourself WILL come along and say hi and start a long conversation.
Posted by quickness at 07:27 PM | Comments (1)