BYT Pool Party

Furcafe

What a weekend!

Last weekend was quite busy, in only the best of ways, let's jump right in.

.....By 4:30 pm I was tipsy, still dancing (now in an apartment) and drinking Hoegaarden on the roofdeck. Friday afternoon was AWESOME.
Despite wanting to continue hanging out until the sun came up, I had to bike home, upload pictures, and get ready for Friday night. When I looked at my watch and realized that the weekend 'proper' had not even begun yet, was a very WHOA experience.

By 6:30 pm I was running late for a baseball game, Nationals Vs Orioles. The weather was beautiful and I had a free ticket as the "date" of a friend whose office was having a baseball outing.
Despite the fact that this two teams that I have grown to love, I still do not care much for this American sport. We left around the 7th inning to head back to Columbia Heights.

I had a schedule to keep. I went straight to the grocery store to pick up a six pack, I decided on getting a old favorite: Mickey's malt liquor 'grenades' (which have word puzzles under the caps.) I was also starting to sober up since I could only afford to buy one drink at the baseball game, so I figured that normal beer just wouldn't cut it.
I took the six pack about 4 blocks to my friend's house, who was having a party that I was just on time for.


The party was awesome. People continued coming, I ran into a few people that I knew randomly, other acquaintances that I hadn't seen in a while. I told people about my Art show the following night, I hung out with my friend having the party, and I drank Mickey's and was merry. To top it off, I got into a conversation about hemp with someone that works for the EPA in the pesticide division, and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.
On Fridays and Saturday's, I play the role of a combination between Cinderella and Spiderman. I must run off into the night hail a pumpkin colored cab, and transform into party machine with a camera attached. While I may prefer a house party, Peter Parker must leave the party and go to an exclusive nightclub on Friday nights.




I didn't come home until about 3:30am on Friday. I had a long day ahead of me: after barely enough sleep to metabolize the alcohol, I had to wake up and bike to the office to print business cards and make other preparations for my art show. I had less than 8 hours until the doors would open, and every minute was precious.
This weekend, to be continued.....

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.