New York I love you but you're bringing me down.

     Some moments to share of my tumultuous love affair with New York City, and my propensity to divvy up said love affair with other cities of the Californian variety. 

     These days I've been full of furtive glances and ponderings; many being about our world full of solipsists and if life's different constraining forces are to be reckoned with or rather just cowered from. Well, we'll see about all of that, for now, here's all of the in-betweens. Happy Beginnings of Holidays. 

(Here)

Um, um, um. Ever since the Maison Martin Margiela opened up a few blocks down from me on Bleecker, I haven't been able to get their upcoming H&M collab out of my head. Not a good thing, since I didn't have very high hopes for the slashing of prices, and therefore, probable slashing of what makes Margiela, well, Margiela.

Albiet, I'm posting about the looks now, which is an obvious bow-of-head to the good that has come of this. Let me tell you what is genius to me. The sweater in the first, the coat in the third, and what I'll call the skort in the fourth. Oh, and the second takes my whole heart.

It's my favorite thing about brands that design fashion for fashion's sake. The house's ability to spew out the wittiest tailoring, in a humorous revolt against the sex and luxury of typical runway, but without actually losing the sex. Well, let me take that back, since I know for most of the public, there is nothing sexy about any of these looks. And when I start thinking about the mass, of which mostly shops at high street stores like H&M, lining up to buy the "the next it collab", and hopelessely finding these pieces which they can't even pretend to like, I start guffawing like crazy. 

Thank you Maison Martin Margiella for maintaining your sanctity, and therefore my own. For making my pupils dilate and tears develop. Guffaw, guffaw. 

Some photo-editing that has my fall-mind lingering in fallen leaves. Also realizing if I conjure up a moment for a snapshot, it always just ends up being covered in virtual iPhoto library dust, never again being seen by my human eye. Wherefore, I don't post very often, but Instagram really is superlative for fleeting moments, at least for those of us who have let our phones be the keys to our lives. 

Hmm...that sounded like a true tech-addict, merde! 

Actually, yesterday I realized I left my phone in my apt once I got to street level, and I didn't go back up to get. Totally redeeming right?

Well in other not so self-depleting news, I've been most enjoying meeting friends by happenstance and letting the romance of life carry us into long withstanding friendships. Not totally withstanding though, some temptations aren't meant to be resisted. 

I think these photos successfully echo the past month; peaking smiles and open-mouthed laughs while watching the season change from my caged bed and atop a bicycle at the piers. 

It has been most fun to continue the search for balance between my drive for organized success and free-spirited lofty sensibilities. I honestly think I have a split heart that aches for completely different lifestyles, but having kindred souls to laugh through the undeniable mistakes with is what I have come to think magic is all about.

Je fucking t'aime

      Such an incredible week orchestrated by my friends and family. Never felt so loved. Mom&Dad both flew in for my party that I of course didn't know about. The weather was a perfect medley of sun streaks and short stormy moments, and I spent more time dining than ever before. Now simply enjoying a week off before everything starts back up again, a whole lotta' time in bed, brunching, and Brooklyn.
     Danny has taken a likening to burning shit, and I haven't protested because it's actually really fun. Yes we are burning a photo in the picture down there, but it wasn't a self-soothing eating-a-pint-of-ben&jerrys-while-watching-a-movie type thing. It's rather just for the sake of the feeling that erupts when there's a fire lit in a dark brick room during summertime with nyc sounds outside; It's quite somethin'. 

Thank you all for the celebrations, loving texts, posts, and tweets included. 

Savoring the season of minimal clothing

      I find myself content in really stupefying places and positions. Especially in the summertime. Must be the heat, or my subconscious saying that I should enjoy lounging anywhere and everywhere before lounging is no more. I did this weird thing the other day where I went from my normal annoyance at the SF vs. NY question to trying to explain why it is so unnerving to me. Oh you moved because you hated it? Do you like New York better? If you liked it why'd you leave? 

     I can sympathize with people's need to understand something through comparison, but really only for like a second, and then I become extremely disagreeable. It's quite unflattering. 

     Striving for comfort has never been a mission of mine. Contentment, Yes. Comfort, No. I don't mean to be hubris and speak for all of human existence, I've just been a bystandard when comfortability has bred a stagnant and ironically unfulfilled life, and would rather fall on my ass into a bed of peonies than be served red roses on a silver platter everyday.

    You know, one door closes and another one opens. I just hop through doors more frequently than some people deem appropriate I guess. But then I ask, who ever says "ooOoOOooh I really want to be appropriate today"?

     

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays.

      Summer babies are the best. Sorry. And there's a lot of them. Or maybe I just surround myself with alike people? My housemate's was yesterday, and in true Danny form he wanted nothing to do with a celebration or even mention of it. I'm pretty indifferent to the celebration of birthdays. I will never deny an excuse to get together and laugh into the wee hours with friends, but then again it's kind of pathetic to need an excuse to do that. While having a late Saturday night dinner at our favorite neighborhood spot, Westville, eating the same meal, with our same waiter, I figured that the reason why I find excitement in birthdays is because it's a day to commemorate a person. All other "holidays" are all about, a historical event, dead people, a new year.....birthdays are a culmination of those; cheers-ing to an actual person that has somehow made enough of an impact or impression on you that you want to be there for their next birthday. So I lied, I'm not indifferent at all, I love them. But if you don't like them, and you're my friend, I'll try to subdue my excitement.
      I woke up on this beautiful birthday-filled day later than is really ever ok. Danny walked into my room and asked what my plans were by saying "the world is your oyster", in which i replied, "my bed is my oyster". We took that to heart, and curled up trying to elongate the quietest time in NYC, a Sunday morning.

      Happy Birthday Danny, Happy Birthday Ryane, Happy Birthday Destinee.

(& The image, nothing more than a Garance Doré illustration blowing you birthday babies kisses)

"J'ai embrassé l'aube d'été"

     I've been digitally dead to the world. It hasn't bothered me much. I actually went on an apartment wifi cleanse for three months- Only juuuuuust re-ordered it.
     I know everyone says that FB, Twitter, etc have made relationships artificial, and are the only premise, or reason for existence, of some of them. I mean, I agree. But I also think that they've changed the way we live our non-digital lives. I was thinking the other day about my move to NYC. Would I have just decided within 24hrs, while in Ethiopia, that I was going to re-route my flight to NYC if I didn't know that I could maintain a constant connection with my family and friends? Je ne pense pas.
     Now let me follow that up with the fact that I have been horrible at doing just that. Ryane, you made me shit my pants when you re-entered the United States and said "I feel like I know nothing about your life". AAAAH. C'est horrible. Having a phone call with everyone that I love, everyday, is just not physically possible. Probably because of the digital-heavy professional+educational life I chose to lead. It's my hope that I can successfully use what I love to keep connected to the people that I love. Then our conversations don't just have to be autobiographies of the previous days, and instead more intimate thoughts.
   
    This summer has been sooooo sweeet. Worked harder than I ever have, usually 60hrs/wk, and loved every moment of it. People who say "work can never be enjoyed when it turns into a job", or some reiteration of that, are stupid and probably need a career change.
     I spent half of my free time inside getting my new place together: A process that, for my roommate danny and I, will never end. Best put as "Eclectic Minimalism" (which really is a masked way of saying exceptionally picky flea market finds).
     The other 50% of my 108hrs/wk of not working, were infested with a slew of coffee shops, grassy areas, views of water, rooftops.... flâneur  flâneur  flâneur  flâneur  flâneur (Paisley this is your que to purchase a flight).

    I don't think this summer needs a much longer summary than that, because summaries are, well, boring.
    Let's not long for the days before the FB "like" button, or the 140 character limit, because as Rimbaud said, "Il faut être absolument moderne". We'll just remember to let the intimacy of words prevail through our relationships, both digital and not.

+Inclusive of pictures and my crazy video love notes. Because without those, who is Mekdela?