PHOTOS: MPP Gala

Rep. Steve Cohen, Tennessee, Great Guy. Gave me a shoutout.
Former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson. He's Republican, Libertarian, and may even run for President
Cheech and Chong. Kicking off a New Comedy show this Spring.
This is why, this is why, this is why my pictures are hot.
I sat practically next to these guys.

I cannot decide what is better, being a hemp lobbyist or being a photographer.

Here's an article that puts them together, published in the Examiner.

Reform Conference

Today was my first day of my first Drug Policy Conference

Tomorrow morning I'm going to go even harder! (redux)

Well,

This week could be one of the best weeks of my life. This could be the busiest week of my life. Well, maybe not the ABSOLUTE busiest.

Back when there were finals with due dates, everything set with timelines already made, (whether or not I chose to accept it).
I would never have meetings with important people. They were professors, who, like friends, did not carry the same weight of institutional authority. I would go late to class, would do assignments at the last minute, get 4 hours of sleep every night, work the 4am shift every week... It was hard work!
I would find myself completely 'overbooked', nearly all the time, yet I somehow also went out, a lot. I was only a head of the game a few times- usually the first two weeks of a semester. I would do all the readings, and then see how far I got until I started lagging behind. I don't think I ever lasted more than a month.
Reading
In Elementary school I read everything that was assigned to me by the School standards, which was 25 books per year, as logged. Then, in Middle school, the 25 book standard still existed, but I substituted all text books as "recreational" reading, so ended up making the cut by shaving any book that I could write a short book report about.
In High School, my advanced English classes required lots of reading, most of which I did not do. For better or for worse, I have completely stopped reading books. I never considered myself a reader, nor did I ever read more books than anyone else I knew.
In highschool, I got addicted to the internet. I had gotten a computer with my bar-mitzvah money, and when I got it, was absolutely addicted.
For example, long before Wikipedia ever existed (although not before the idea was conceived) I had the three disk Microsoft Encarta. I used to spend hours and hours, engaging in wiki 1.0.
I also edited a couple skateboard videos.
Anyways, I stopped reading books and started reading things on the screen.



Or, it could be like a wee

New Job

Last Friday, I found out that I will only be able to work part time as a lobbyist. At first I was very disappointed that I know longer have a full time job. But, when I thought about it, it was just what I wanted. Now, I have more time to do other things, like make money.

My freelance photography will certainly come in handy. I shot an event last week, and am currently in the process of setting something up with a freelance model and a T-shirt/apparel company. Hopefully I'll start making bank for photos.

But last Friday, there was an interesting twist to it all.

I am now a Sales Rep for at least two different companies.

Livity Outernational makes some PIMP shit like fedoras and "jah-sport" backpacks. Very trendy, very cool, very hemp.

Jungmaven makes the softest hemp clothes on the market. Hemp viscose is like a natural microfiber, and you will be speechless when you feel one of these 100% Hemp shirts. Blank shirts or printed Ts are the specialty, but, there are also lots of accessories and other goodies.

Check out the sites, send me an email. If I place your order, I'll give you 15% off of retail price.

New Years Party!

So today was Yom Kippur, the most important Jewish holiday of the year. It's a time when we are supposed to reflect on the mistakes we've made over the year and create a new self for the coming year. And we're not allowed to eat.

Since my biggest flaw is being [more] lazy and unproductive [than I should be], I decided to wake up at 8 am and start sending emails. By 10 am I was already hungry, and by 11 I wondered how much longer I could go.

So I walked to Shul (a yiddish word for synagogue), to go to services. Save for a 10 minute sermon, I had trouble really repenting on a year's worth of wrongs.

After the service, I saw a friend that essentially preached to me for a half hour, the importance of yom kippor, observance, and repentance. She stressed that today, I needed to take the rest of the day off and reflect, rather than act on anything.

What she did not know is that this is inherently my fatal flaw; in the time to act, I am busy reflecting. My regrets from the year stem primarily from reflecting when I should have been acting. To right this wrong, I had to act.

The second I left synagogue I checked my email from my phone and realized that I had, while 'praying' received a few emails that I could reply to immediately. I read and replied as I walked to Rite Aid, where I bought office supplies (labeled as school supplies) for 75% off. I was breaking several religious mores simultaneously.

I went back to the office and tried to repent. It's really hard to repent. Instead, I sent emails and G-chatted.

I came back to my house and watched an episode of Mad Men and took a nap. I woke up SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hungry. Why, of all days, would today be my busy day?

I got ready to go out. I was planning on going to breakfast at Moishe House and from there, straight to 9:30 club to shoot an event for BYT.

All went as planned. I got a nice Jewish girl's phone number, took a bus to the show, and watched "The Big Lebowski" on the big screen. I met up with (and had a free ticket for) my friend Robyn, a freelance journalist and awesome person. She had gotten to the club via Moped.

Afterwards, we had a few drinks at another bar, I met a few people who I'm sure are very cool but all I really know about them were their names" John (head of Bocce DC) Sigmund, and Kim, and Carter.

The clincher of the story.... is how I got home. I convinced Robyn to take me home on the back of her moped. Sure, it was designed for one. She had never tried it with two.

I held on to her tight as we sped down the streets. I leaned with her turns. I was exhilarated and daring. Despite the wind, our proximinity allowed us to talk to one another. Tears streaked across my cheeks as the cold air released pure adrenaline.

IT WAS AWESOME.

Getting Awesome

Since no one actually reads this, I figure I can get personal.
In place of an unwritten entry, I'll just talk briefly about how I randomly spend two days in Baltimore. I missed my train, went to the ladies night, stayed up till 4am, and hung out the next day with MAD homies. It was awesome and I love charm city.

But yesterday made me love DC.

I'm at the office, sending emails and wondering what else I should do. Then I get a draft of the Vote Hemp weekly update, which happens to be practically entirely about me. I was flattered, then nervous, so I started drafting an email asking to not actually have a personal bio about me. My parents explained to me that having a bio written is a actually a good thing, and I should not avoid it.

Then, while I'm talking to my Mom, Dakota calls me. He reminds me about the Rattler show at the Rock and Roll Hotel.




The show was AWESOME to say the least.

Plus, I got the most EPIC photos EVER. Here's a couple, in case you don't believe me.




Rattler is a good old fashioned rock band. They drink copious amounts of beer on stage (3 cases actually, I asked the groupie in a miniskirt) and make sure there is a healthy sized mosh pit going, being fueled by the copious amounts of beer that they pour right in the middle of it. Their songs deal with themes of the rock and roll experience- doing nothing and drinking beer, and having sex with many women in an exploitative manner. They asked, "who's shitfaced tonight?!" to cheers, followed by "who's getting laid tonight?!" to just as many cheers but, I doubt everyone that cheered actually followed through on their 'Yay'.

After the show, I was astounded that I had taken such amazing pictures. Naturally, I used my fresh pictures as a networking tool to meet people and not seem awkward since Libby and Svetlana had already left.
I met a girl named Maggie that works in the local music scene, and her friend Erin Aiken who I bought the rest of her beer from for $3.25. Both thought they were VERY cool, as Maggie said, "I'm no joke". My crave to network was far from satisfied.
I randomly took a picture of a guy with cool glasses and an attractive woman laughing. They turned out to be a couple and he just so happened to be a professional fashion photographer. I chatted with Toni and Maya, ultimately trying to get a job with Toni. Whether that pans out or not, I made sealed a good impression when I showed Toni my lens case- a beer cozy.

I decided that I should start impressing the ladies with my pictures. The girl who before was grabbing my dick was now making out with someone else, so I decided just to walk up to people and ask for a lighter (which I actually did use. bad idea though, WAY to many cigarettes). The band came with a group of groupies whereing miniskirts, who it was assumed, submitted themselves to band gangbangs that many other girls in the concert were jealous of. I started talking to one of them, and showed her some pictures. I guess she thought I was cool, but, I would say that she was out of my league considering she had probably fucked the lead singer of the band right before they went on. She did pseudo-invite me to an 'afterparty' at velvet lounge, but my insatiable craving to meet more people held me back. As a cocky networker, I go up to the lead singer of the band, and show him the pictures. Not having heard of him before that night probably made it easier for me to shake his hand, as some people in the crowd would have probably eaten a beer bottle to do the same.

I decide to go upstairs and order a beer, and there is a legitimate dance party going on.
The bartender refuses to give me free drinks, but a band member has drink tickets. I tell him I'm a photographer and show him some of my pictures. He offers to buy me a drink, but I awkwardly don't know what he's doing and I actually already paid for two.

I bought a beer, but realized that a hot girl next to me was doing shots, so, I bought a shot to do with her. Our ephemeral friendship for the night was cemented, and I later met her friends and danced with her. We tried to go to an afterparty together, but by 3:30 am, there was no afterparty to attend. We loitered outside a church talking about what we might do, maybe go back to the one guy's house in VA. We are still flirting and agree that we are attracted to each other.
Due to my systematic avoidance of sexual encounter, decide that I have better things to do, like walk the dog or clean my room. So, instead of continuing the adventure, I agree to buy a girl Joanna (pronounced Yo-Hannah) a jumbo slice for a ride to AdMo.
Oops, I did it again! I made you believe... that we would hook-up... oh baby baby. Oops I fucked up again... I had such a chance, and then squandered it.
I'm sorry to the hot girl that I should have hooked up with. For the future hot girl who thinks I'm cool - prepare yourself for a great night.

Last Weekend

Last Weekend was Ridiculously eventful.

I rented a car and hit three cities in three days.

I started in DC, where I shot the last BYT pool party. I drove straight from the pool to Philadelphia, where I went to see my brother on his last day in the States. He was left for Israel the next day. Fortunately and coincidentally, it was also his girlfriend's birthday, so we all got to spend time with him in his last few hours.
When I said my final goodbye, I drove straight to Baltimore to see my alma-mater and my old friends.

I got to see so many friends, the Athenaeum, Fall Into Goucher day, more friends, my old room Freshman year, ..... I went on a good weekend because the next evening my friend had a cocktail party that ended up being a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, I drank too much too fast, and had to stay about 4 hours later than I had planned on. I drove home tired and hungry, so I pulled over three separate times to get fast food. When I finally got home, I crashed. I had a big week ahead of me.