what's going on

hi faithful blog readers!

i apologize for the recent lack of updates...i've had a crazy couple of weeks and the crazy just keeps coming. i wrote a little while back about how awesome it was to be at game six of the alcs when the yankees won.  little did i know at the time that i would be at the world series game 6 when the yankees WON. it was crazy and amazing and i will have a huge post about it soon.

i also finally saw the world premiere of the dessner brothers' the long count at bam last week and it was incredible. gorgeous music and imagery, an amazing orchestra, and guest appearances by shara worden, the deal sisters, and matt berninger..,you can't go wrong. i saw sufjan stevens in the lobby before the performance (swoon) and then as i was walking out, i realized i was walking right next to lou reed and laurie anderson. by the time i realized that it was lou's leather jacket that was rubbing against my hand, i got so excited that i fell down the stairs in front of them. awesome.

i went back to my old stomping grounds in d.c. last weekend for the wedding of two very dear friends. it was such a blast to see so many old friends in one place at one time and it was a wonderful wedding. that's me with the beautiful bride shannon above. i wish you guys all the best!!!

it's also been a very busy time at work...next weekend i'll be back in d.c. for a whirlwind trip for the nea opera honors event and the opera america board meeting. last year at the nea opera honors, the amazing and legendary leontyne price was honored. i was too nervous to even speak to her, so i had a colleague take a photo of me standing near her. here it is :)

thanks again to those of you who have bought my artwork. if you're thinking about ordering prints for holiday gifts, please order earlier rather than later. it takes two weeks for me to order the prints and then send them to you, so if you would like one in time for the holidays, please order by december 10.

stay tuned for posts about the yankees game and the rest of the awesome bands i saw at nyctaper's cmj showcase. as always, thanks for reading!

k

dodgeball!

a few weeks ago my friend ann decided to rent out a field at chelsea piers so that she could celebrate her birthday by playing dodgeball with her friends. i bowed out, prefering to capture it all for posterity. and i'm so glad that i did! how many times do you get to see eighteen 30+ fools running around and throwing nerf balls at each other like it's their job?  priceless!

it was awesome. and hilarious. after, we went to the frying pan which is one of the best spots in nyc (if you can stomach drinking beer while on a huge boat).

it was one of the best days that i've had in nyc.

k

what's going on

happy tuesday, everyone!

i just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone who has been reading my blog. i’m still trying to find the right voice and picture/story and personal/work balance, so i appreciate you all hanging in there while i figure it out.

recently, several people have inquired about purchasing my work.  perhaps it isn’t clear (my fault!) but not only is my site a blog – it’s also a portfolio of my work and you can actually buy prints right off the site. all of my collages have paypal links and some of my photographs do. if you are interested in purchasing a photograph that doesn’t have a paypal link, simply send me a message and i’ll add it so that you can buy it from the site. i’m not quite finished with the portfolio sections of my site and the paypal links are the last thing left to do. i promise that it will be finished soon. many thanks to all who have purchased my work.  i can’t tell you what a huge compliment it is and how touched i am.

anyway......

i apologize for the recent lack of posts – this is my busiest time of year at work. i just approved the proof for OPERA America’s Making Connections series brochure…if you’re in nyc and an opera fan/artist, you should definitely come and check out our events.  dawn upshaw, harolyn blackwell, bill burden, joyce didonato, john conklin, darren k. woods, and martina arroyo are all scheduled in this year’s amazing lineup (i am so exited to take pictures of these opera legends!) and that’s not even everyone! you can see the whole schedule here.  i also just put the finishing touches on the fall education-focused issue of Opera America magazine and am about to start on a brand new oa publication which is going to be a really big endeavor but also a really exciting project. more on that to come soon.

i’m also working on a super awesome freelance project.  my college roommate and dear friend nikki is opening a vintage clothing store in buffalo and has asked me to create the marketing materials, package design, and signage.  this project is AWESOME. It is really so different from anything that i’ve ever done before and i’m having a blast trying out new ideas and stretching my creativity.  here’s a sneak peak at the front of the business card. stay tuned for the rest!

i’ve also been keeping busy in my personal life.  two weekends ago, i had guests in from out of town and we went to spike lee’s michael jackson birthday party in prospect park which was incredible – there were so many different types of people dancing and singing and celebrating together. and then my roommate and i threw our own michael jackson pajama party that night. it was so much fun. here’s a picture from the party taken by my super talented friend, marisa. there is a story behind the dustbuster…i’ll share that someday.

then this past weekend, my roommate lisa and i decided to abandon the city for a well-deserved long weekend in cape cod. everything about it was perfect and i’ll be posting pictures and stories from the trip soon.  tomorrow night i am headed to the miller theater at columbia university for a concert by nico muhly, sam amidon, and doveman as part of one of my favorite things in new york, the wordless music series. if you haven’t heard of any of these artists (or the wordless music series, for that matter) start googling now. they are all such incredibly talented musicians. this weekend my brunch group (most of whom are pictured below) is celebrating september birthdays (three out of eight of us – including me – were born in september).

sunday is another of my favorite new york activities, the brooklyn book festival. here are a couple of pictures that i took at the festival a couple of years ago of some of my all-time favorite writers, chuck klosterman, rob sheffield and ed park with a crazy woman who just walked up onto the stage and started eating dollar bills that she pulled from her sock. brooklyn performance art at its finest :)

oh, and speaking of klosterman, you've got to read this.  too funny for words.

i also just bought my ticket to the world premiere of the dessner brothers’ (of the national fame) new piece called “the long count” at bam (another favorite).  go to the website and read about it – it’s going to be amazing. i promise a full report after the show at the end of october. and as i alluded to in a previous post, i’m shooting two amazing concerts next week and i can’t wait!

i have recently discovered two sites that have made me really happy and thought that they just might make your day, too:

BLACK CAB SESSIONS: be prepared to waste at least an entire day here. seriously.

YELLOW BIRD PROJECT: oh, how i love interesting people who care about important issues and also make cool stuff.

and here's an article that is just about the cutest damn thing that i have ever read. children + the beatles = awesome.

happy fall!

k

a view from a balcony

last night i was supposed to go see and take pictures of polvo and obits at the south street seaport. the forecast was calling for several inches of rain and massive thunderstorms and by the time i left my office, i knew the show was going to be a no-go. and sure enough, it was cancelled. it was too bad, but thankfully i had an excellent plan b which involved dinner and wine at my friend's tribeca apartment. by the time i got there, i got an update on my phone that the show had not been cancelled, but instead had been moved indoors in brooklyn, but it was too late for me. good friends, good food, and good wine were all i was interested in by then.

after pouring for about an hour straight, the rain suddenly stopped and the most amazing sunset i have ever seen appeared. it looked like the sky was on fire. so we all moved outside to the very high balcony and i got my camera out and took a bunch of pictures. i only manipulated the sunset pictures by upping the contrast a tiny bit. i hope you enjoy them.

 thanks for an awesome evening, ladies!