i am now for sale!
Actually, my work is the only thing for sale. Sorry to get your hopes up. 
 I have finally uploaded some photos to sell at imagekind. You can buy anything from framed prints to greeting cards with my photographs on it. The choice is yours. *cough*framed prints *cough*
There is a lot of hate for the new Big Love opening, and  I’m not sure why. Sure, I loved the ice skating and the Beach Boys song, but it wasn’t anything mind blowing. The new intro is eye-catching and blends beautifully with the new music (“Home” by the Engineers). I know I’m a sucker for good visuals+music, but that’s not the only reason why I’m drawn to it. I think it’s cool that they created a new opening that reflected the turn of events on the show. A lot of intense stuff happened last season, and seeing the new opening made me excited to see what was going to happen this time around.
There will be more posts to come in ‘10! 
I didn’t mention this before, but the launch of my new site , fotogirl.net, (yes, I’m plugging it again), was extra special because it happened on my 30th birthday. I felt it was only fitting then to have my first online mixtape reflect my journey into adulthood. I decided to put up the songs that most reminded me of being a youngin’. The mixtape is subtitled, “stuff my mommy played all the time”, because that’s really what it is!
In the days before cds, mp3s, and ipods, we had good ole fashioned records and tapes. There were certain albums and songs that my mom used to play into the ground, so now whenever I hear them, I get nostalgic.
The song that hits home for me the most is the Wayne Shorter/Milton Nascimiento song, “Ponta de Areia”. My mom said that she used to put it on and start dancing with me and my brother.When I got old enough for a record player, I would play the album in my room contstantly. I still have said album.
Eliane Elias was/is another Watson favorite. We had a few of her albums, and they were constantly on repeat…which, in the days of records and tapes, meant actually getting up and turning the record/ tape over. *shudder* I now have her music on my ipod even though I still can’t pronounce her name correctly .
.I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I did listen to actual children’s music as well! I loved Carole King’s, “Really Rosie”, album. I have the original tape, but eventually had to get it for my ipod. I still listen to it frequently, and take pride in knowing all the words to, “Alligators all around”. The Al Jarreau song is actually from a Sesame Street album called, “In Harmony”. It’s a great album with special guests like James Taylor (my mom LOVES James Taylor), Bette Midler, and George Benson. And yes, I still have that album, too.
I loved Angela Winbush’s, ” Your Smile” so much that, apparently, mom had to tape it multiple times in a row so I could listen to it back to back. I don’t know why that song appealed to a 6 yr old, but it did. What can I say? I’m an old soul.
Overall, the mixtape shows the musical foundation that I had growing up, and I believe those songs and others laid the groundwork for my current eclectic taste in music. Thanks, mom.
- go to fotogirl radio
In my last post I quickly mentioned one of the new sections on my site, fotogirl.net. The section is called “radio”, and it is an online mixtape that will be the home to ever changing playlists that you can check out and (hopefully) enjoy. I added this section for several reasons. One, I’m a music addict. No, really. I don’t know what I would do without it. Probably cry. At any rate, I got jealous the musicians who got to have music playing on their website, so I decided I was gonna put some on mine! Over the years, I’ve gotten compliments about my music selections, so I decided to take it a step further.
Two, I loved Muxtape. For those who didn’t know Muxtape, it was a site that allowed you to make online “mixtapes” and share them with others. You weren’t able to download anything. You were only allowed to stream it. It was a great way to share music, as well as discover new music. Unfortunately, the RIAA had some beef with the site and took it down. It’s back up now, but it’s not the same. People may say that sites like that cause musicians to lose money, but I disagree. Because of Muxtape, I discovered the band Grizzly Bear. I later ended up purchasing their album, the album of their sideband, and bought two tickets to see them in concert. All because of one person’s mix. Anyhoo, after mMxtape went kaput, someone else came out with Opentape. It’s basically like Muxtape, but it’s hosted on your own site. You aren’t able to easily discover anyone else mixes anymore, but it’s still cool.
Lastly, I created this page to put the songs that couldn’t go directly on my website. I try to find calming, mellow songs for my site so as not to scare anyone off lol. But, there are times when I’d love to throw Bjork ,Nine Inch Nails, or Plaid up on it and I can’t. So…now I have a place to put it all.
I’m not gonna proclaim to change it at specific intervals. I will keep a mix up until I feel the need to change it. That could be once a week, or once a month. I will write a corresponding post about it though, so people know when it’s up.
Let me just start off by saying…YAY! I am pleased to announce the relaunch of my portfolio site, fotogirl.net. Why the new site? Well, it was just time for a change. I loved my old site, but over the years I’ve learned, I’ve grown, and I’ve discovered new features. I felt it was time for my site to reflect all of that. The site now has links to this blog, as well as my new mixtape page (see next post), and it features a new shop section that will be up and running soon.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. I wanted to launch LAST year! That obviously didn’t happen . The up and downside to being able to design my own website is that I can do whatever I want. It is very satisfying, yet extremely overwhelming. I tried hard to come up with an idea I liked, and for a while I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I eventually came to the realization that it would come to me when it was supposed to. Sure enough, a few months ago, the idea popped into my head while I was taking a nap. I woke up and fleshed it out, and then I finally had something that I was excited about. Flash forward to today, and I am finally able to write a blog post about my new site! You have no idea how happy I am to have it up. It’s been in my head for the last year, so now I can start thinking about something else! Anyways, please check it out and let me know what you think. I hope you like it!
I know, I know, it’s been a minute since I’ve written anything. My bad.  Months have just flown by in a snap. Now it’s April, and seeing as how this is my birthday month, I figured now was as good of a time as any to get back on track. Over the last month or so, I’ve been watching quite a few animated movies. I was going to blog about them separately, but I thought it would be more interesting to make this a super post. So here goes.
WATCHMEN
Ok, so the first movie up at bat isn’t an animated film at all, but it contains computer graphics, so I’ll allow it. I wrote a blog a while back about the awesomeness of the trailer, and I was counting down the days until the release of the movie. At the time of that post, I had yet to read the graphic novel but I was intrigued enough by the trailer to do so. I ended up loving it and reading it twice. If you haven’t read it, I would highly suggest you do so. It is a richly layered story that is both engaging and thought provoking.
ANYWAY, back to the movie. I went on opening night with the fanboys and got to see it again a few days later on IMAX. Overall, I thought that Zack Snyder did a very good job given the extremely dense text. He stayed pretty faithful to the comic, both in storyline and visuals. There were some scenes in the movie that were ripped straight out of the graphic novel, and I thought that was a nice touch.
Funny enough, the very thing that I loved about the trailer is what I hated about the actual movie: The music. I found the music choices to be extremely jarring and distracting. Some of the song choices were too iconic (“Hallelujah”, “All Along the Watchtower”). Technically they fit perfectly within their respective scenes, and that is what ruined it for me. The songs seemed TOO obvious and at times made the movie feel campy. I understand that some of these songs were from the time period, but I didn’t feel like it was necessary do that. I also know some songs like, “All Along the Watchtower”, were taken from references within the graphic novel, but I still didn’t like it in the actual film. Bottom line: Watchmen was very good, but I probably would have liked it even more if it was as successful as meshing the music and visuals together as well as the trailer.
CORALINE
I’m usually good about keeping up with upcoming animated films, but I only found out about this movie after reading a behind-the-scenes article in Wired magazine. The amount of detail and patience that goes into stop motion films never ceases to amaze me. From tiny, hand-knit sweaters, to tree blossoms fashioned out of painted popcorn, Coraline is visually stunning.
What made the movie even cooler was seeing it in 3D. I’ve seen 3D movies before. The effect is usually cool for a few minutes until you start getting a headache, and then it just gets old. There is now a new 3D technique being used called, “RealD” , which is a LOT more successful. First off, previous so-called 3d movies were not all in 3D. Usually there was only 20 minutes or so of 3D effects, and the rest of the movie was normal. An icon would pop up telling you when to put your 3D glasses on or take them off during certain scenes. It did not make for a seamless movie going experience. On the flip side, I watched Coraline with my 3D glasses on the entire time. The effects looked more natural and realistic, and it never hurt my eyes. I was very impressed.
Oh yeah, and the story is great, too. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s about a girl who feels neglected by her parents and comes to discover an alternate world where she finds the perfect version of her parents. Or so she thinks. It may be too late to see it in 3D, but I would highly recommend checking it out when it comes out on DVD. In the meantime, visit the film’s official YouTube page for interesting vids about the process.
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
Seeing Coraline in 3D impressed me so much, that I was curious to see another film using the same technology. It was just as cool. I went to see the movie on a night when I was in a crappy mood. I was hoping it would be a pick-me-up, and it did the trick. It’s a cute film that’s entertaining and funny, and the animation was very well done. It also comes with the message, “be comfortable with who you are”, so you can’t go wrong with that.
WALL-E
I, like most other sane people, am in love with Pixar films. They are extremely well crafted and usually become instant classics. That being said, I had NO desire to see WALL-E in the theater when it first came out. The trailer looked boring, and I didn’t think Wall-E was that cute. I knew that as a Pixar film it had to be good, but that still didn’t pique my interest. It was only after I started hearing everyone rave about it that I decided to give it a chance. I tried to catch it in the theater but never got around to it. Then, there was a huge wait on Netflix, so that delayed me from seeing it even more. Finally, I broke down and bought it last week during Virgin Megastore’s “going out of business” sale. I’m really sad about that….but, I digress.
Yes, I LOVED Wall-E. I was in yet another crappy mood (I had a rough week lol), so this made for a perfect calming evening. I turned all my lights off, curled up in a blanket and watched a robot love story. I was worried that the repetitive cries of “Wall-E” and “Eva” would get on my nerves after a while, but it didn’t bother me. In fact, I was amazed that a movie with minimal dialog (and minimal action in some parts) could keep from being boring. The animation was gorgeous. I definitely regretted missing it in the theater, but I bought it on blu-ray, so that was a good runner-up. I’m very happy to have it as part of my DVD collection.
BOLT
I actually did want to see this movie in the theater, but I never got around to it. I wish I had, because I found out it was in 3D, as well. It turned out to be a sad, yet adorable movie. It is about a dog who believes, with every fiber of his being ,that the tv show he’s a part of is real. He then gets let loose into the real world by accident, and he thinks he’s still a crime fighting dog with super powers. Watching the poor, delusional dog try to figure out why he no longer has heat-vision will make you laugh and break your heart lol. And if you watch it for no other reason, Rhino the hamster is hilarious!
So, there you have it folks. It’s my mega movie blitz in a nutshell. Oh, and in case you think I’ve been sitting on my butt, watching movies all day, I’m about to launch a few websites…so stay tuned. One of them will be a relaunch of my site, Fotogirl.net, on my 30th birthday!
I am not big on politics. Let me just put that out there. I try my best to keep up so as not to look like a complete imbecile, but I’m not usually itching to get into a discussion about it. Goodness knows, watching a debate is horribally painful for me. So, imagine my surprise when I eagerly dvr’d the Palin/Biden debate, as well as countless other Obama ones. I had a friend text me McCain’s VP choice when it was announced, and I thought, “when has my friend ever texted me about something political”? I thought it was awesome. I loved seeing my friend’s comments and status messages on Facebook during debates and interviews. No matter who you wanted to win, the beauty of this whole election process was that it made a lot of people care and get involved.
I wanted Obama to win though, so I’m very happy with the outcome. That day really is a moment I hope to share with my future children. I was prepared to be up late watching the poll predictions trickle in. My brother decided to make steaks, so I bought a bottle of wine. I was getting comfortable with glass in hand and CNNHD on screen when the words “President Elect Obama” popped on screen. My bro and I stood there in disbelief for a second, and then started screaming. We both ran to the terrace to listen to the revelers at the bar across the street, and celebrated with fellow terrace shouters.
It was then that we decided to head to Times Square, camera in hand. I’ve never been to the New Year’s Celebration, but that moment is what I’m sure it ususally feels like. Thousands of people were packed together, giddy and excited. Eyes were glued to the jumbotron’s and chants of “Obama” broke out every few minutes. It was awesome in the true sense of the word. My bro and I called up our parents, as well as all four of our grandparents, whom I was thankful were still alive to witness this insane moment in history. It was something I will never forget, and I’m so happy I was able to be a part of it.
I’ve been fascinated by the High Line for some years now. I mean, who doesn’t love abandoned train tracks? There’s been only one issue standing in the way of my decrepit mecca: it’s not open to the general public. There are plans to turn it into a public space…but then it wouldn’t be abandoned, now would it?? Sadly, no.  Fortunately, my friend and fellow lover of all things crumbly and deserted let me know about Open House NY. One weekend a year, people get access to buildings, landmarks, and other establishments that are usually off limits or restricted. I was delighted to find the High Line was on that list.
I was discouraged to find that a ton of other people were delighted as well. There were so many delighted people, a lottery had to created to determine who was eligible for the tour. My friend and I both signed up and kept our fingers crossed, and sure enough I recieved a lovely email saying, “Congratulations! Out of 5,000 people who entered the lottery for High Line tours during openhousenewyork weekend, you have received one of 700 tour slots.” SWEET!
The tour only lasted a 1/2 hour, but my friend and I made the most of our time and got some cool shots of the area. We were surprised that we were pretty much the only ones wielding a camera. Some people actually wanted to go JUST for the tour. Go figure. I wish they gave us more time to wander around the area, but I’m just happy we were lucky enough to check it out before it becomes a park. Not that a park wouldn’t be nice…
When I was younger, I used to listen to a Sesame Street album, “Let Your Feelings Show”, which featured Grover singing a tune called, “Proud of Me”. It was a delightful little tune about feeling self confident and loving yourself, yadda yadda yadda , and it always stuck with me. Now I’m about to let you in on a little secret…to this day, sometimes when I’ve accomplished something cool (or at times, even when I haven’t) the song will pop into my head, and I will silently start singing it. I do the same thing with Sharon, Lois, and Bram’s, “I am Slowly Going Crazy” when I’m super stressed out…but, I digress.
The point is, the other day, I decided to try to find the song online as I only have a copy on vinyl. I came up empty handed at the time, but discovered something even cooler. I stumbled upon a box set of classic Sesame Street tunes called, “Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music”. I rediscovered songs long forgotten, and I was hit with waves of nostalgia and overall giddiness. Aside from all of that, listening with a more “mature” ear gave me a deeper appreciation for the music, and Sesame Street as a whole.
While the show was obviously created for children, it maintains a level of sophistication that makes it enjoyable for everyone. Unlike other kid shows, it doesn’t feel the need to produce trite, sugary sweet songs or characters (ok, maybe Elmo ruined some of that…but that’s another conversation). The reason why the show has continually been successful for the last 39 odd years is because it doesn’t underestimate a kid’s intelligence. Story lines and songs are presented in a way that make it easy for a kid to digest, yet it’s done without “dumbing it down” (to borrow from Lupe Fiasco). Just the fact that they tackled death with the passing of Mr. Hooper showed that they weren’t afraid to take chances that other shows wouldn’t.
This applies to the music as well. The creators made the songs catchy and easy to learn and did so using a vast variety of musical styles. Established musicians of all kinds have lent their talents to the show, which has made for numerous memorable moments. I just discovered a duet with Diane Schuur and Elmo. What I love most about Sesame Street is that it continues to stay current. This season includes Feist doing an adorable rendition of “1,2,3,4″, as well as a spoof called “30 Rocks” which features a bonfide Liz “Lemon”. My future children will be raised on Sesame Street. Barney will be banned.
Feist’s “1,2,3,4″
*Bonus- My friend reminded me of Ray Charles’ awesome version of “Bein’ Green”.
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