Fiddle-dee-dum

So I haven't abandoned this..

2010-02-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

But in the period of thesis-ing and my last semester at NYU, things have gotten quite busy. I've been doing a great deal of artwork as well, which I hope to post up soon, but for now - today's fling: saxophone covers of popular songs, brought to you by youtube. Oh you bet it, bitches.

First: ArtinSound. Aside from being somewhat schmaltsy, he's pretty good and has a solid tone. His arrangements are awesome, too. so props.

"If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys

he also does a mean Careless Whisper, but I just couldn't sit through it anymore.

to go along with my previous post of Michael Jackson stars:

Now that's what i call muzak! I could ride the elevator to this every day! He's got that nice raspy upper register

sound up in his high D-E-F (G!) range

I can't end my section on ArtinSound without a little Sade! That would be sacrilegious. He splices between alto and tenor! Sexy!

The master in smooth-sax/schmaltzy has to go to ladysmoothsax with Timbaland - Apologize. She didn't use any effects and she still got more scoops than a 2 gallon tub of Edy's Chocolate Chip Icecream!

Another contender in the sax cover youtube land is MrRoonEz, who has better feathered hair than any lesbian I know.

Time is Running Out - Muse. Not bad, little asian lesbian man! I like how this song sounds on sax.

SaxxKilla and XxKBaileyxX both are in the running for best cover of Beyonce's "If I Were a Boy". I will post SaxxKilla (cause I like the name) here and you can find your way to XxKBaileyxX

I also wanted to post SaxxKilla's because of the comment under the info section about it being his first time playing the song AND alto in a year. Wow!

I will post this Kelvin Bailey classic, though - the song is good, but what I love the most is that shower curtain! want!

Well, that's all until I start uploading sax ensemble pieces! Until then, the thesis and maybe working on an arrangment of "Tik Tok" for sax quartet. Of course.

Creative Grooming

2009-09-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I happened upon this: Creative Poodle Grooming. I've always thought about dying my cat with food coloring, but never thought to act on it. Apparently, there's a whole sub-culture of groomers that do just that. Perhaps even more fascinating than the grooming jobs themselves are the owners who dress to fit. Some even go so far as to create a whole set for the mere purpose of taking a sexy glamour shot with their prissed pooch.
Ex. A:
Sorry to those whom I may have just traumatized.

Maybe I won't feel so bad about dying my cat orange this Halloween...

Oops!

2009-08-31T16:12:00.000-07:00

So I have been home now for quite some time, but I haven't updated the blog on the final days in South Africa! Lots of fun, I had some days alone, during which I met up with some friends to take the cable car up Table Mountain. They climbed and then abseiled down - which looked like tons of fun! The day we went up was crystal clear, sunny, and warm. Couldn't have asked for a better day - in fact, I was up there for about five hours, so I got a bit of a sunburn. After that, we went to Hout's Bay and had some good seafood. I gotta say, I will miss the food of South Africa the most! The next day, I went to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. It was so gorgeous there - different views of Table Mountain and tons of different vegetation and flowers. The best was the King Protea - such a big bulb! I went on a few paths testing my luck for exploration. I got about half way up the path to Skeleton Gorge when I realized that it was way more of a hike than I was up for before flying home! I flew out later that day and arrived safe and sound home in NJ the next morning. Here are some well overdue pictures (most importantly, check out the pics from the hotel!):

coughin room stage frightouthouse lou rawls

resist temptationlong drop
atop table mountain: part II
Hout's bay
Bird of paradise
aloesmall protea
king protea
ruffled grouse.

Final Day and Cape Wine Tour

2009-08-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was the final day of volunteering. Paul and I decided to finish things up with whatever kids we saw by doing a group mural that could be put up. As it turns out, the teacher didn't expect us to be in and we had to remind her to bring us a group. She brought us one group and said she would bring another later on and never did. Because we probably saw the same kids once or twice, I didn't think termination would be as severe as if we had a consistant group. I definitely under-estimated the impact that we had on these kids. It was evident to me the day before working on the mural that we had really done something big for the kids, but the day after the teachers were talking about how the kids were raving about the mural. I could see the excitement in the kids' eyes that went as well. To me, it only took one really happy and appreciative kid to make the whole thing worth while. :)

After the final day, we had plans to go to Robben Island that got cancelled due to bad sea conditions. I figure, if these things keep cancelling, it must be some form of divine intervention - it is just not meant to be. We went to the waterfront and did some shopping, then went out to dinner with members of the other home base at The Africa Cafe - a place that brings around dishes for everyone to try for a flat fee. They also paint faces there and play music - it was pretty fun, but also pretty pricey. After that we went to Cape to Cuba, a Cuban influenced club, serving cuban themed tropical drinks mixed with natural cape drinks. We went out after that as well. It was a pretty long night, but heaps of fun.

If you couldn't tell by my short and simple phrasing now, It's pretty late now and I should get going to bed. Today we went on a Cape Wine Tour...of course, I didn't do any sampling, but I trusted the taste of my friends, so we shall see how their taste matches up :P. We stopped at three places - Fairview, Solms-Delta, and Tokara. There seem to be so many great wineries around here, I wouldn't know where to begin. If I were super into wine, I would probably have an absolute blast. We also stopped at a cheetah and eagle farm which was not very impressive (in fact, seeing them caged, having people pet them was kind of depressing). Needless to say, the sights were amazing as always, and I learned a great deal about wine and wine tasting.

Now I am staying at the Protea Fire & Ice, which is the ultimate in swank and is unlike any hotel I have ever stayed in. It is almost like a modern club turned into a hotel - with good, minimalist design and solid colors. The elevators are set up like shark cages, with images of sharks on the outside and rope lining a "cage" inside. I will have to take pictures and post them up. The internet is somewhat limited on this so I don't know if I can upload pics right now. I'll still give it a go. Goodnight allllll

-k

Mural Day

2009-08-20T11:44:00.001-07:00

Today was the ever-anticipated mural day, where we all worked on a collective mural with six members from each school, on a cape-town landscape themed mural at an orphanage (Nomzamo) in the township of Langa. Emily and I went to Mary Harding early to pick up our six troopers for the day - we weren't totally sure who we would have with us, because there have been a series of absentses lately. We ended up with a group of four boys and two girls. When we arrived at Nomzamo, it was pretty chaotic. I was immediately stressed, but we managed to move through the lines and get outside to where we were to paint. I expected that simple instructions to paint the outlined water, sky, and whale would be enough, but the students needed much more direction.

I had a lot of concerns and worries going into this day - not concerning the abilities of the children, but whether or not they would get along with others from other schools, since they have had a history of being teased because of where they go. By the end of the day, it was evident that nobody had been made fun of, and in fact, one of our boys got the number of a girl from another school (!) The first thing I noticed when I brought our group in was that they immediately found the room where the orphaned babies were and were fascinated. They seemed to have a natural instinct for taking care of something else.

Back to the mural - some of the kids needed constant redirection as to where to paint and how to paint. It was frustrating at times, and I found myself doing some things for them in attempts to model and still getting frustrated. I think that after they saw what the other kids were doing, they started picking up on it and got into the swing of things. Delegating jobs constantly to all members was also difficult - mainly because we had to judge skill level, height, and what would be the most gratifying for him/her. The part we had been assigned to do was part of an ocean scene, depicting the body of a whale. We decided to paint the whale bright orange and the group would be allowed to add different water-themed creatures after that. These kids love to paint. It seems evident to me that they never had enough time to fully explore all of their painting potentials, so when met with the option of a large canvas, they just wanted to paint whatever - we had kids starting to paint flowers above the ocean, hearts, and a HUGE flock of birds in one corner. I found myself asking the kids several times, "now, do you find flowers above the ocean?" I felt bad not letting them paint whatever they wanted, but maybe it was good to impose restrictions on them?

Either way, all of the kids seemed to be having an amazing time, although one of our girls went somewhere and started sleeping half-way through the day (questionable). By the end of the day, after we had seen a song and dance performance, been DJ'ed out, covered an extra wall with spontaneous joy, and eaten hamburgers, the kids were thoroughly satisfied. One boy couldn't stop saying thank-you :)

Tomorrow is our last day at placement. Tonight we had a dinner with everybody as a farewell sort of deal - it was preeettty good. Not going to lie, very tired. Missing everyone back home

goodnight, <3>

anwar

Twofer

2009-08-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hello for a two-day post. Tues. was a busy day - packed with events. Started out today feeling icky from the soup last night. My stomach really hated me. The weather was atrocious today - cold and monsooning all day, and by monsooning i mean monsooning! By the time we were done at placement, the parking lot had flooded about 4 inches, and water was covering the pathways in the school. I wonder what they do in the school when this kind of flooding occurs - do they let the kids walk through the water? The only problem we really saw in our wing was the power went out, leaving the room particularly dark for half of a session. The first group we saw was a good mix of vocal/non-vocal and different functioning levels. They were very fun though and incredibly creative! We got some great house pictures out of them, and a lot of them instinctually drew pictures of their families as well. As the rain poored down heavier and heavier, our second group came through and it was all boys, some returning students, some new ones. Although they were typical hyper-active boys, they managed to behave themselves pretty well and get a lot of work done. They conversed in English and Afrikaans, and one boy talked to me extensively about how Rands compare to the US Dollar and how many rand you would have to pay for things in the United States. I talked to some other NYU people about this and they said they had kids asking about money as well. It made me realize that when one is in a tight money situation, one tends to be hyper aware of how much everything costs.

After our sessions, we waded outside in about 4 inches of flooded rain waiting for the bus. At that point, parts of the school had flooded over and alternative routes had to be taken. We then went to the District Six museum, which is comprised of maps, signs, and pictures all from District Six before it was torn down by the government. It was amazing and depressing at the same time. It is almost like there was a perfect utopia that existed there since the 1700's that "had to be destroyed." People of all colors, creeds, and orientations lived together peacefully. I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have wanted to, but it was nice to get to see it. Apparently the museum is too much for some people that used to live in 6 to handle.

After we got home from the District 6 museum, Paul and I had a meeting with Ikuko and Toshiko (our supervisors) to review artwork and talk about what we have been doing. We brought a bunch of the butterflies, pictures from the catterpillar, and a bunch of the home paintings and drawings. We all noticed similarities in how high functioning and low functioning children react to color and form. Those with low-functioning capability often had the best use of color and painted the most abstract pictures (I thought they were the most brilliant!). The next level were those who would draw with the paint to make a form (a house). More often than not, this house would not be painted in. The next level would be those who would draw with pencil the image, then paint into it. The last level would be those who would draw with paint and fill it in (we only had one of these). We also noticed similarities in how African children treated drawings of houses and people - flat roof versus triangle pointed roof, the addition of the "globe" as central light, the placement of windows on the edges of the house, and bars on the windows. As far as the people go, they generally speaking have a boxy construction, and the women have wavy pig-tail like hair.

At night, the NYU group went out to dinner at a Thai place, but I had plans already to go out with Len and Betsy, close friends of Pavel, so I went out with them to The Green Dolphin - a famous jazz club at the waterfront in Cape Town! We had a great time, good music, and great food! They are in Cape Town for a few days before going out into the bush down at Krueger National.

TUESDAY. So today was a little less hectic. Yesterday as we were leaving we noticed a raunchy smell coming from the bathroom and asked them to fix it. Because of the flooding, nobody was able to fix it yesterday, so we had them fix it today. Because of this, we had to miss our first session, but it was for a good reason - we could not work in an unsanitary environment. In preparation for the mural project tomorrow, we picked our final group members, who are subject to change based on who is in class tomorrow. We ended up only having one group, another group of just boys. Although two or three would fight back and forth, they got on pretty well and were able to make some good conversation. Part way through the session, two boys, who were making very interesting detailed images, were taken out because apparently they were supposed to be at the principal's office. One was working on a picture unlike any I had seen yet - it was an inside view of a house, depicting two coffee mugs, windows, a heart-shaped light and a door. What a loving a homely environment! After the boys completed their paintings of houses and otherwise (some were rather hard to determine), we decided to do a new exercise with the boys. Earlier in the day, we found some origami instructions and made what I called an "origami managerie." So, we decided to make a butterfly that flaps its wings with the boys - it is by far the easiest to make, and a good use of the extra butterfly papers that we had. We figured they could make the butterflies and then color them in. Although one or two boys had a little bit of difficulty, all were able to make butterflies, and some made multiples! They seemed to really enjoy having mastery over the origami and enjoyed decorating them afterwards. We let them take with them one butterfly so they could have something of their own (after all, in the past, everything they had made they left in the room!)

After lunch, we went to the site of the mural and painted the bits that weren't white white and made the final plans. We will see how it works out tomorrow - I have my hopes.
Here are a few images from the last few days:

Cape Sunday and Monday Monday

2009-08-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday's trip was to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope - there were 15 of us in a 14 person van (don't ask how that worked out), and overspills and hangovers aside, we had a pretty good time! Along the way, we stopped at Camps Bay, then went to Houts Bay to catch a boat out to seal island. The smell at the Bay was pretty unbearable and the seas were very rough but the water is clear blue and beautiful. It was like a roller coaster! It was amazing how many seals could fit on that one island..and apparently there were bunches of sharks around that area too (I have no doubt). We then went to Chapman's Peak (a nice overlook) and took a group photo. From there we went to Simon's Town and Boulder Beach, where we ate lunch and looked at penguins. All along Boulder Beach there are jug-like houses set up for the penguins and literally hundreds of small African penguins colonize around there. It was pretty touristy and at 30R to enter the area, I was a little put off, but if it goes toward the preservation and rehabilitation of penguins, then I have no problem with paying.

From the penguins, we drove into the Cape Point national park and first to Cape Point. Cape Point is the furthest point south in SA, and we were able to take a tram up to the top, then climb a few steps up to a lighthouse - the highest point. We took lots of shots there, then moved to the Cape of Good Hope. The famous Cape of Good Hope, which was marvelous to look at, was a little dangerous to traverse around because of the infestation of baboons - which, although incredibly cute and human-like, are very violent and dangerous. We witnessed them attacking cars, jumping all over them, and even breaking into them! They are used to strange people feeding them food, even though they are not supposed to be fed. I put a video of this up on youtube and will link it here.

MONDAY: Today we started back at the school, and although we normally have two groups a day, to our surprise there was an assembly this morning, so we were stuck sitting around until 11 (not so fun, pretty tiring in fact). We were already prepared, so we didn't have to prepare anything new. When the teacher came around with the group, she warned us "if anyone misbehaves, feel free to kick them out." This disturbed me a little, A. because that meant the group was likely to be rowdy, although I'm glad she warned me and B. what happens to them when they get kicked out? I asked her the latter question, and apparently the principal patrols the school and picks up anyone that is in the halls. A rather daunting fate, i imagine.

The group came in, and although they were particularly giggly, and all boys and one girl, they were pretty manageable. We had them all paint pictures of houses. One boy, who was particularly hyper (and tired at the same time?), who I will call "R," was rather difficult to motivate. After they finished their houses, some of whom spent a lot of care and effort on theirs, they were asked to draw a person. "R" said he could not draw a person, so we looked for other alternatives - for example, they had been talking about their graffiti tags so we asked "R" to draw one of his tags. He did that quickly and then drew his dream car - a sleek looking pink sedan with red fire detailing. He later covered up his car with watercolors. All of the houses were very interesting from this group, and most of the boys numbered their houses based on their jersey numbers in soccer. When asked who would live in his/her house, one boy answered he and his sister, and "R" said he and two women. "R" also said he had the hots for teacher Emily. :o. In attempts to gain R's interest, I drew the outline of a head and asked him to make a face. He drew a man smoking a joint. Red flag. R was also very giggly and tired at the same time. Another Red flag. After the session, Paul shared with me that he thought a few of the boys may have been high. This makes sense - i don't know if they were, but the suspicion could be valid for 13-16 y/o boys.

Lucky for Paul and I, this group spoke a lot of English, and although most of their chatter was in Afrikaans, we could tell what they were talking about, and one boy would translate for us with no problem. We chose him as one to join the mural group because he seems very interested in art work, and the deputy informed us that he had a very tough past and would very much benefit from the activity. When it came to sharing time, the group almost lost it with the giggling. We redirected them reminding them to respect each other and not speak when someone else is speaking. I felt bad for the one girl, who was very interested in the art work and really could benefit from it, but was being teased by the boys and clearly seemed left out. This girl drew very interesting people - including herself as topless, without breasts. Tomorrow we will continue with watercolor houses and people, and will have to make final decisions on who will join us in the mural making.

Today after work we went to BBQ lunch in Langa, one of the townships. It was interesting, and the food was okay - afterwards we watched a play/song/dance in the same township. The voices of the players were amazing - very operatic. The play was about abuse in relationships - both male to female and female to male.

k
Video:

Some photos:

Table Mountain: Conquered!

2009-08-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a pretty awesome friday. We started out with our two groups: Two groups of kids that we have seen before - yay! I actually remembered some of their names, and all of their faces. The first group we saw was a mixture of groups that we saw before because some of the children were absent. This actually worked to our advantage, because one of the really hyperactive boys was set in a group of mainly girls, which made him calm down significantly. This boy, "E" is extremely creative and raw in his work.

The groups first worked on watercolor paintings yesterday, then drawings of their own using silky crayons and markers. The first group worked diligently and were for the most part quiet. We had them do jumping jacks in the beginning because it was so freezing cold in the room. We asked the group members if they could please draw a house first. The group responded well to the watercolors and made very interesting pictures - some of the girls painted rather defensive pictures of houses with flowers and clouds, and the boys either painted abstract pictures or pictures of cars.

The next group was very talkative, mainly in Afrikaans. I think they realized that their teachers do not understand Afrikaans, so that gives them the free basis to gossip as much as they want around us :). The group was quicker with their pictures, but they were able to open up with us a bit about how they hated going to Mary Harding because they were made fun of outside of school. They said that other kids call them "mad" (crazy) and that they are in Mary Harding because they are "stupid." One girl said that she was in MH because she worked a little slower, and that one day she hoped to work at ShopRite - a completely realistic and feasible goal!

Yesterday, we spent half of the day doing the most amazing and hard thing ever - climbed table mountain! I can't feel my legs so much today, but it was amazing at the top. The weather was perfect, and we climbed early afternoon, so that by the time we made it down, the sun was setting. I made it up in 1:30 and down in the same time. OK - time to start the day..shopping and touring
k

Challenge Day

2009-08-13T09:53:00.001-07:00

So, today was the advanced challenge day as far as working goes. We had two great groups today that presented more challenging opportunities. Our first group was severely cognitively impaired and required intense individual attention. All of the members are so creative and ambitious though! I find that these children seem to do the most expressive and unfiltered work. Fortunately for us, these children all understood and spoke english, so the communication, although limited, was fluid. We started the session by doing the butterflies with tissue paper. Unlike the previous day's work that utilized tissue paper in many different ways, this group was fairly limited, although one girl used the tissue paper to trace around the butterfly and another rolled bits into balls and glued them to the edges. This group also didn't seem to be terribly influenced by what one another was doing. The only repetition i saw was two girls who both did dots in the middle of their butterflies. After the completion of the butterflies, we helped them cut out the shapes. I found that the boy with high functioning downes syndrome (I am avoiding using names, not to de-humanize him) had the most difficulty cutting along the lines, but another girl who was very slow (and whom her peers thought needed most help) seemed to be able to cut along the lines with relative ease. After this, the children were given watercolor paper and watercolors and were asked to paint anything. The same boy mentioned before did the most expressive and creative piece I saw, and went about it with seemingly no trepidation.

After this first group, we felt pretty good. The children enjoyed themselves and were able to share their artwork and art making experience with each other and us. The next group presented a totally new challenge to us. Although we have had mainly Afrikaans speaking groups before, we have never had an entire group that does not speak or understand english. Never say never. In this group, one girl understood and spoke limited english, but was not at the cognitive level to translate our requests to the others. She was sweet and helpful as much as she could be, but we cannot expect or rely on a student to play translator. We tried to introduce the concept of filling in the butterfly with drawings or coloring by using hand signals. After we handed out the materials, mild panic came over as they all sat, silently, doing nothing. I then decided to work on one as well and started coloring. They took this as a cue to start and dove into it. Most of these kids influenced each other as about four of them ended up coloring their butterflies as one solid color. I think this is because they were uncomfortable with the situation and did not understand the task - after all, how stressful must it be to have a teacher (or therapist) that only speaks another language? After they finished their butterflies, we gave them painting materials - this was where they opened up. Through gestures and demonstration/modeling, we were able to teach them how to use the watercolor paints and they proceeded in making relatively expressive works. The whole session felt awkward and Paul and I seemed to have mutual sentiments about the comfort level being off. If we see this group again, we will have to discuss how to go about working with them. I will try and attach a picture or two to this, if my internet allows.

So after work, we all went to Bo-Kaap - an area of Cape Town settled by the Cape Malays, those from SE Asia and the islands who were enslaved by the Dutch East India Co. This area is very colorful as all the houses are painted bright colors. It's also very pricey $$$. We had Malay food, which was pretty spicy (i couldnt eat much) but seemed to be good. After exploring Bo-Kaap and taking copious amounts of photos, we went to the Slave Lodge, a museum devoted to the history of the slaves from the Dutch East India Co. up to the Apartheid and present day. It was pretty fascinating.

Here go some photos:
View from Bo-Kaap
ikuko and yesenia

-k

60% weather

2009-08-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

Today, Paul and I had a different two groups - one full of energy to the point that it felt out of control at times, and the other pretty passive, but we were able to learn a great deal about each group. I noticed that both times when we asked the children what the weather was like today (which was, PS very shitty, cold, and rainy) they said "60%." I've never heard that question answered with a percentage, it took me aback.

The first group of six that we had was very hyper active. They had a lot of trouble staying focused and the boys were constantly out of their seats and play fighting with each other. The language barrier was pretty strong with this group as well, as only one or two spoke English, even though most claimed to understand it. We had been told the previous day that the functioning level of these children would be lower, so we prepared a slightly different take on our already existing project - we decided to bring in tissue paper and colored paper for the children to tear up and attach to the butterflies. This tactile directive seemed to be good for lower functioning children, however, these kids were much higher functioning, and found it to be more of a play time. I felt like I had to go into "teacher mode" several times during this session, telling kids to take a seat, quit fighting, don't make fun, and share materials. One boy consistently tried to put glue in people's hair and started a wrestling and fart match with another boy. I even threatened to bring this boy to his teacher/the principal.

Ironically, this boy that caused so much trouble used a very interesting tactile technique on his butterfly. Most of the children in this group felt perfectly fine leaving the inside of their butterflies empty. I have noticed that with each class, the children heavily influence each other on how they will do their project. In this group, all used the tissue paper even though they were offered the markers and crayons, and several of them put messages inside the butterflies that read, " I love you" and "I miss you very much." There seems to be some sort of a sentimental connection with the butterflies.

The second group was much calmer, and after the excitement of the first group, Paul and I decided to start out with just drawing materials and then introduce the tissues. This seemed to work out better for them. This group, which was slightly lower functioning, resorted to coloring their butterflies first. This is interesting because the previous day, the lower functioning group also resorted to coloring. I wonder if they are habitually trained to color in the lines when they see an outline. The kids in this group mainly used large blocks of color and all used the pastel crayons. One girl and one boy continued on another butterfly, carefully using tissues. One part that irked me about this group was that certain boys of higher intellectual functioning seemed to make fun of those that are lower functioning. I know this is a common thing worldwide, but I don't know what to say to get the message through to them that making fun is not allowed in the art room. Creating a safe space is a challenge when we don't know how many kids understand our rules of respect.

Paul and I also finished hanging up our caterpillar in the school hall - it looks great! I still need to take pictures though. We saw a group doing an occupational therapy session. I think OT is fascinating and would like to learn more about it.

The rest of our day was free, so a few of us went into town and went up to UCT again. We went out to dinner and came back early - finally some time to relax! Tomorrow is another long day.

Here's a picture or two of some of today's work.
outside of Mary Harding today - gross!

Bye til tomorrow!

-k

Week 2: Exhausticated

2009-08-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning (and technically, almost the middle) of week two and I am EXHAUSTED. Today Paul and I returned to Mary Harding and found ourselves in a different situation. Instead of working with the teacher, it had been decided that we would work with smaller groups in a craft room in the vocational section of the school. Today we saw two groups of six, from the senior class. It became evident to us that the groups were organized according to cognitive ability.

We continued with our planned directive, a butterfly (outlined, photocopied) that would be filled in with the childrens' dreams and plans for their life later on. After the first group, I realized that the concept of "dreams" and the future is a very fuzzy subject for these children. Perhaps the hardest part about working with this children that I have to overcome is understanding and working with their limited creativity. Usually, in therapy, I use a bunch of open-ended questions to promote discussion that usually tells something about the clients. With these kids, open ended questions are possibly the hardest questions for them to answer. To adjust to this need, I began asking more and more yes/no questions, some gearing toward the feelings of the child and/or the butterfly he/she was coloring. I also often ask questions to the group that can get a number of responses and build group cohesion. I do this because I feel it is important that these kids know that they are not alone and totally different (even though we have been focusing on how special they are). An example of this type of question would be: Who wants to have a family when they are older? The power of suggestion is immense with these children, as whatever you ask them about, suggest, or mention can completely influence what they make. Today, I talked to a kid about what he wanted to do when he is older, if he wanted a family, car, and what he wanted to do as a job. He ended up drawing himself, a house, a car, and a computer. I noticed that the first group we had depicted more conceptual items in their butterflies. Some completed a body with a face, and included patterns inside and outside of the butterfly. The second group primarily focused on coloring in the butterfly using several different techniques. Most of them were able to complete their butterflies and cut them out. The second group was also considerably quieter in nature, most students being non-verbal or primarily Afrikaans-speaking.

Tomorrow we will be working with an even more developmentally delayed group and I think we will be using tissue paper or colored paper cutouts to glue onto the butterfly body. The tactile nature should be appealing for the children and also allow them a sense of mastery over something.

Tonight we went out to dinner at Mama Africa and saw a live band - Abavuki - it was amazing and so much fun! Tomorrow we have more free time, and I can't wait for it. Pictures take a very long time to upload, so I will try to get a few up for reference.

finished caterpmore conceptual first group
second group
band at Mama Africa

-k

No Shark Cages

2009-08-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day - we got up early because we thought we were going to go Shark Cage Diving (one of the big attractions here on the western cape). We drove out to the place that does shark cage diving and they said they had to cancel the trips today due to tumultuous seas. An hour prior to our arrival, the seas were good - but the group coming back was terribly ill and did not look so good. This was an hour and a half away from where we are staying. So we walked around, took some picutres, and decided to go to Hermanus, a nearby town that is famous for its whale sitings and whale celebrations. It is so beautiful there! I can't explain. We climbed all over the rocks, getting different views all around. We even saw a Southern Right Whale and a seal! Apparently you can see a few other species of whale out there from the bay. We were there for a while, then came back to the home base, exhausted.

To make up for the disappointment, we went to the waterfront and went shopping at an art and craft flea maket, where i got a bunch of things including a nice medium sized djembe! yay! We also obtained plenty of music.

Paul and I met today to discuss our plans for the week. We ran into the problem of too few materials to do the original butterfly that we had planned. Also, we were hoping that the children could use watercolors for this part, but the paper that we have simply will not suffice. We asked Toshiko, one of the supervisors, her advice while she taught us how to make origami frogs (so cool). I had suggested perhaps drawing out a butterfly that they could each individually do, and Toshiko also suggested that they can then cut out that butterfly as well (perfect, since that gives the kids a bit of a challenge, and makes them more proud and satisfied with their work). We made a few butterfly templates and plan on photocopying them in the morning. If possible, we want to buy some heavier grade paper to photocopy them onto so that the kids can use watercolors. We also need to start thinking about this mural project! so much to think about..

I am going to include one or two pictures from todays adventure, not so much because this takes forever and i am exhausted!

Safariiii

2009-08-09T10:13:00.001-07:00

So we got back from the safari earlier today and it was so amazing. We went to Inverdoorn, which is a game reserve, and we saw four out of five of the big five, including lions, rhinos, giraffes, and cape buffalo. We also saw a bunch of cheetahs, since this particular range specializes in rehabilitating cheetahs. The place itself had wonderful accomodations and great food - most of us had springbok for dinner! There was a pool (albiet freezing). TV Room, etc. We went on two safaris, and saw so many animals. It was so much fun! On the way back, we took the "scenic route" which was just that! We stopped at a Butterfly farm on the way back, which was a little sketchy, but I got to touch a marmoset. Some of the other people on our trip touched the cheetahs. Here are some photos from this amazing adventure:

this zebra was a few days old

the dots are insects

im tired. finish later.
-k

Short Entry

2009-08-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

Short entry for today because it's late and i'm absolutely exhausted. We saw two classes today and finished up the main part of the You Are Special Caterpillar. We stapled it together and it looks great (albiet long). Some kids still have to finish their parts. Next week Paul and I will be continuing with butterflies for each class.

We celebrated SA's Women's Day today at the school and received a special reception, filled with pastry treats, piano music, speeches, and free slippers/roses. It was great! They truly seem to celebrate women in this country (at least, on women's day they do).

After we got back we took a cab to the SA National Gallery, which was filled with native SA and African art. It was pretty nice, and the park area that it was in was beautiful. We spent copious amounts of time in the gardens after that, entertaining the extremely tame squirrels that would just walk up to you and ask for food. I literally beckoned one from 15 feet away by pretending to have food. I have a photo later to show of a woman we deemed "Snow White" because she was literally feeding all of the creatures out of her hand.

After that, we went to a great South African restaurant on Long Street and I had ostrich for the first time (let's see how that sets on me). Then we went to a pool hall down the street.

Safari tomorrow!

-k

Day 3 and UCT

2009-08-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

Today was hectic. We did four classes for the first time, and they were all younger kids (oldest being around 12-13). To our surprise, the kids finished their "You Are Special" circles much faster than anticipated based on yesterdays classes. In some classes, we had them do name cards and decorate them and in one class we even had them do cut out snowflakes. The kids seemed to appreciate any sort of activity and were willing to do anything and follow instructions. It still amazes me how well disciplined these children are and how excited they are about doing any sort of project. We are rarely met with any resistance, and usually any resistance is related to a lack of skill or understanding.

One thing that we encountered today that stressed me out was an entire class that did not speak English. There were maybe one or two children who spoke a bit of English, but most spoke Afrikaans. The stressful part was that the teacher, who sometimes translates for us, was out of the room for most of the class. We were able to communicate to most of the class and they did their projects, but they seemed to be more fascinated with teaching us Afrikaans :P. They laughed at me once when they asked me how to say "circle" in Afrikaans and I said I didn't know. Turns out it's the same as English :). They are always pleasantly surprised when we know a phrase or two in Afrikaans. I hope to learn more to try and keep up basic conversation with them, which shouldn't be too hard because Afrikaans is so similar sounding to English.

The images we saw today continued to be centered around family and the students. Some stereotypical images of cars from the boys and flowers from the girls were also seen, but that is to be expected. At least they were talking about what makes them happy and making good social interaction. I've never seen so many smiles! Which is ironic, actually, because several children have drawn pictures of people that are either crying, angry, scared, or injured. The children draw these images and explain them with a smile on their faces, as if the emotion pictured does not match the way they feel. Some may have problems matching visible emotions to feelings, and may be autistic, but I think a great deal of it has to do with how they are told to behave in class and in public. I believe they are taught to say they are "good" or "fine" when asked how they are...I could be wrong, but it's just a hunch.

I also took some pictures in the class today and the children loved it. They just love having their picture taken! Here are some:

After lunch, Paul and I went into Rondebosch and went up to the University of Cape Town. We found the free shuttle service easy to use, but the campus was a little confusing. It was so gorgeous though! Every part of campus has a beautiful view of the city of Cape Town on one side and Table Mountain on the other. Here are some shots of that (taken with my not so great point and shoot, so I plan to go back to take better photos):

-k

Day Two and Waterfront

2009-08-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

The second day at placement went rather smoothly. Last night, Paul, Emily and I brainstormed on a group activity that we could do with each level that would build up a sense of confidence and pride among the children (a goal that the teacher and the school also shares). After many failed ideas and plan A, B, and C's, we came up with the idea of a giant cumulative caterpillar and butterfly. The caterpillar's body would be split up into circles; each child would be asked to work in the circle on an image that describes what makes them SPECIAL (including who they love, what they are good at, what they are proud of, etc.). For some children this was an easier task than others, although in the end everyone completed something within their circles.

Most images centered around families, homes, self, mood, and soccer. The prevalence of family seems very strong to them and it could be culturally based as a sense of representation (if that makes sense). Fun story of the day, one of the 17 year old boys proposed to me and told me that he loved me. It amazes me how happy these children are that we are there with them and giving them special attention. There are the occasional class clowns, but even they are still very respectful. We also could not ask for a better teacher to work along with.

The second half of the caterpillar is the butterfly. The butterfly will be cut out as a puzzle and in each part the children will draw an image that represents their dreams for the future (what they want to do, who they want to be). I will keep updated on the project!

In other news, the second half of the day was a free day, so a bunch of us decided to go down to the V&A Waterfront. This is a beautiful area filled with restaurants, ships, a mall, and of course - the waterfront. I picked up some warm clothing because it is CHILLY here. I am talking chills all the time. Here are some images from the trip to the waterfront:

apparently i fell asleep before completing this entry. everything fell off the bed and my headphones broke...errr

k

First Day

2009-08-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of our placements. Emily, Paul, and I are at Mary Harding, a special ed school. We didn't know what to expect as far as the cognitive level of the children. We ended up doing three art classes, which was great! Normally we would do four, but apparently there was some sort of an assembly. It was a long day. The facility is amazing. These children have a pool, massages, and art available to them, among other things.

I guess the thing that surprised me the most (and it shouldn't have) was how little English most of these children spoke. Because they are developmentally delayed, most speak their mother tongue or the language of the schools, which is Afrikaans (dutch-based). Very few speak IsiXhosa (local original click language). The kids have a large range of cognitive abilities and range from medium functioning or learning disabled (dyslexic, etc.) to low functioning (downs syndrome, MR). They are ALL cute and full of energy and so excited that we are there to work with them!

For the most part they were very respectful to us, and although the teacher's word was final, they mostly listened to our directions. Today we worked on drawings, mainly as an introduction project and to see the children's functioning and imaginations! We saw everything from abstract images to soccer players and cars. The younger children seem much more open to drawing expressively, understandably. I found myself paying special attention to those in more need of attention. I also noticed how touchy-feely the children are. Nurturance is a key issue.

Hopefully soon I can provide an image of the area, and maybe the kids or their work. Tomorrow should be exciting. We have to make our plans now.

We also had our first language lessons today. Those learning Xhosa are going about clicking. I am learning Afrikaans, which is dutch based and pretty easy. I hope to be able to communicate with some of the children by next week (at least some simple phrases). That's it for today!

-K

Township Tours

2009-08-03T11:58:00.001-07:00

Today was township tour day part of the orientation. We discussed our placements and how to approach the project, which is going to be a group mural to be done on a giant wall by an orphanage for AIDs children. I will be working at Mary Harding, a special education school that has a tech room that will be used as the art room. It looks as though we will be doing rather consistant art therapy throughout the day.

Part of orientation today was a physical tour of some of the local townships. The main one that we toured was Langa, a black township. In South Africa, race is treated with much less political "correctness" as in the states. People state their race as black, coloured, white, asian, etc. etc. First we viewed District 6. I would explain in more detail what it is, but I think wikipedia does a pretty decent job. The only part that was really left was a chapel and a mosque.

I could not believe how close together the houses were and how people were living in such poor conditions. Literally there were shanty upon tin shanty..some concrete houses were constructed by the government. Women and children popped in and out from the corners..Literally, a million or so people live in these townships. It's really indescribable. I will show some pictures..because my words can't do it...it was seriously depressing.

smileys
view outside of Vicki's B&B
inside a school

-k

Orientatation.

2009-08-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of orientation, as well as a tour of some spots in Cape Town. As I'm writing this, Danielle is reading over my shoulder and laughing. Nice, not intimidating at all. Tomorrow is orientation as well, but we will be touring the Townships as well (which should be really interesting!!). Hopefully by the end of orientation we will be somewhat prepared to work at our placements. Currently, I have no idea what we will be doing.

On our brief tour today, we went to Signal Point, a cape beach, and Leerdam fort. Table mountain and lion's head peak can be viewed from all locations.

Fort

Parliament

atop signal peak

toilet bowl - world cup 2010

-k

Home Sweet...?

2009-08-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

Arrived at the home base, got the grand tour. Learned not to sit on the bean bags outside as they are filled with water. Will post pictures soon, as we are right outside table mountain. Going into Rodebosch later. Later gators!

-k

It won't stop

2009-08-01T00:30:00.001-07:00

Morning at the bed and breakfast. Eating some nice scrambled eggs, "Stars and Stripes Forever" comes on the radio. Seriously. SERIOUSLY?? If I had a dime for every time I had to play or hear that.

It follows me everywhere...

the patriotism...
doesn't..

stop.

Through the years: I always knew Isaac Mizrahi was a bear..

2009-07-31T13:02:00.001-07:00

Let's track the life of talented designer Isaac Mizrahi, since Mr. Color won't share with us his lovely youthful pictures. I think Mizrahi's photographic life-line can be metaphorically tracked through fictional horror characters:

First, the young Isaac, with his first bear crush, mr. wolverine (see also: Eddie Munster):
Isaac as we know him today:

Elder Mizrahi, going for the bald look, with even more of an eclectic fashion sense (see also, Uncle Fester):

nice.

-k

I felt the rain down in Africa

2009-07-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

I may not have blessed it, like Toto, but I certainly felt it! I've finally been here in Cape Town, South Africa for about 7 hours now, sleeping off the jet lag and watching South African television. On right now is the SA version of Total Request Live, which includes the cartoon Ed, Ed, and Eddy?? I didn't know that was still around. Needless to say, the programming has progressed from South African Sesame Street, Takalani Sesame (in which Elmo - Neno - remains a constant character, I blame that on Tickle-Me-Elmo) to Soap Operas to TRL.

Takalani Sesame is actually vitally important, because it's where HIV/AIDs awareness was first promoted among the Sesame Street world, starting in 2000. This of course was recieved poorly by the ever-ridiculous American Family Association because they took it that Takalani Sesame was promoting gays. Lord forbid, i mean... they have a problem with programming that helps educate the masses about a disease that is afflicting nearly 80% of the SA population and affecting everyone?

I'm staying at a B&B called Little Scotia, a pleasant little place with a lion-sized german shepherd (i will try and get a photo of him later, he's a sight to behold!). This place is located in the suburb Rondebosch, near the University at Cape Town.

Thinking of eating at the Hussar Grill, down the street, for dinner. They have top rated steak. We shall see.

Here are some shots of inside the B&B:

skeleton keys! yes!

there's a cute african tapestry hanging on the wall. That's it for now!

-k

In London

2009-07-30T04:02:00.001-07:00

And oh-so-chipper. Made minor changes to the layout of the blog to make it look more "African." Alas, what do you think of my stereotypical American-views-of-Africa changes? I tried to match the flag a bit, because clearly when traveling somewhere you must match the flag in order to assimilate yourself into the culture; which is clearly why in America, those who wear red white and blue are welcomed with open arms - in the South, and by motorcycle groups. Whatever. Maybe there's an African motorcycle gang anxiously awaiting my patriotic arrival.

On that rant, you may tell I got little to no sleep, so I'm going to watch "Fanboy" because itunes says i should. Netflix doesn't work overseas (balls). T-minus 7 hours to kill.

-k

On the Way to Africa

2009-07-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

So embarks my first post on my journey to south africa. I will be there for about a month, doing art therapy with special ed school children. I'm currently waiting in the stormy weather at JFK International. Hopefully my plane should leave at like 10:30PM, leaving me in London by 10am, then off to cape town at 7:30pm, getting in the next day (31st) by about 8am.

Watching Itty Bitty Titty Committee. It's not that great, but it's entertaining and cute.

later gators

k

Cat Show

2009-07-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, I went to a cat show in Somerset, NJ..works of the CFA (Cat Fancier's Association) and Garden State Cat Club. Cat shows are always a treat. My favourite part, aside from all the crazy cat people, has to be the decorated cages that the owners put their cats on display in. You'll see what I mean in photos below. I took two rolls of film and a bunch of digital...the developing of the film is sub-par, but I guess I couldn't expect much better from Walgreens. With the exception of PhotoZone in parsippany and Chester Camera, there are pretty much no camera stores in the Morris County area anymore.

clones
1 disinterested cat
cat being fed babyfood
winner
2 disinterested cat
a man and his cage
interested cats, disinterested owner
harry potter
more babyfood
primp time
fit for a king
3 disinterested cat
excessively primped
if you look closely, you can see this little gremlin of a cat
pretty kitty
Hawaiian kitty
like owner, like cat
hello
baldy
mutually interested
hello, sir
wooden cage
cat in the bag?
pep talk
uhh...
Under da seaaaa
aww
hello pretty kitty
fluffy
fluffy
flying fluffy

-k

Poll of the Day

2009-07-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

D.A.R.E. Lion - really buff or really gay? I personally think he's a pair of jean cut-offs shy of the Village People.

Stomach and Kidney

2009-07-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of continuing my "body" process, I have made a stomach and am working on kidneys. The stomach still needs to be fixed up on the edges, it was my first time using encaustic (lots of gross fun!). The inside of the stomach is a detailed nasty fiery pit, complete with garbage disposal parts. The kidneys are complete with various filters, including parts of water filters (Thanks, BRITA). I'm excited to do the rest of the torso - i have parts for lungs and panels for other parts...can't wait for the spleeeen.

el estomago
kidney bean

No

2009-07-19T15:36:00.001-07:00

although i appreciate the natural irony of cutting a beaver out of a tree, this shouldn't happen.

Maltian

2009-07-13T15:40:00.001-07:00

so cute!

Jay Brannan at Maxwell's

2009-07-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy seeing my favorite singer-songwriter, Jay Brannan. This time I saw him at Maxwell's in Hoboken, Jay's second time being in NJ, first time headlining. He played a bunch of covers that he just put out on his new cover's CD ("In Living Cover"). Check it out on itunes! Also, check out his videos on youtube (search: jaybrannan).

Prospect Park Zoo!

2009-07-13T15:00:00.001-07:00

So, michele, sabrina, and I ventured to the Prospect Park Zoo in search of the elusive Pallas' Cat.
This super-furry feline looks like a cross-breed between Garfield the cat and an Ewok. Although we did end up finding one, he was rather elusive and doing the typical "zoo cat" thing, hiding up in a corner. Kind of a let down for the Pallas' Cat venture, but the zoo itself did not let us down. For $7, we saw quite a healthy bunch of beasts that were, for the most part, active. The sea lions were def my favourite. Yay city zoos!
Here's some glamour shots of our fav's at the zoo:

tired red panda
so thirsty!
The elusive Pallas' Cat
Flock of Seagulls hair
Eh!
The Ring meerkat
Even meerkats are homeless sometimes.
Crazy eyes!

So Old-School it Hurts

2009-07-13T14:56:00.001-07:00

If this were made of stone, it would totally be in the Flinstones.
Compliments of www.craphound.com

Couple of Dicks

2009-07-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, Kevin Smith has been filming his newest film, "Couple of Dicks" in my neighborhood this past weekend. It stars Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis, and also features Michelle Trachtenberg. Some late-night car race scenes were filmed in my hood in Greenpoint, as hoards of Polish people gathered in awe (big Hollywood productions don't make their way up to our neighborhood very often). Car chases and gunshots ensued. Will Kevin Smith get out of his rutt of mediocre to lifeless movies? We shall see. Watch for greenpoint!

Pre-recording mayhem.

Mechanical Heart

2009-07-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Steampunk heart done on four 1.5"x1.5" canvases, in paint marker.

City on Fire!

2009-07-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

A much delayed happy fourth of july, brought to you by the burning city:
Happy birthday, Mr. Hudson! We lit a barge on fire for you.

photo taken from my rooftop in Greenpoint.

-k

MJ Dirge Part II: The Massacres

2009-07-01T14:51:00.001-07:00

So yesterday, I spent a lot of time providing my best picks for Michael Jackson's "Acoustic Dirge." Some were pretty humorous, but didn't qualify for today's catergory: The Massacre. These people, although their efforts are valiant, would make the King of Pop roll in his grave (wherever that may be).

1. Matt Enriquez - You Are Not Alone

At least you're consistently flat, sweetie.

2. Jackie Barber - You Are Not Alone

Do people just love fucking this song up? The backup music is probably the most tasteless. That triangle makes my teeth hurt. And she cries!

3. Polo - Beat It

I always wondered what Michael Jackson would sound like with a European accent. Very Whitesnake.

4. Luigi - Man in the Mirror

This video is filled with blatant images of starving in Africa, Nazis, the KKK, and Civil Rights Movement. Cheery! I don't know who Luigi is, but he should go back

to being pals with Mario, and learn the rules of dynamics. Move closer to the microphone, it gets louder, further away - quiet.

5. Jason - Rock With You

This kid might have a good voice, but he just doesn't know the words! There are like..20 of them, come on...he keeps looking at a screen for reference.

PS too much melisma & vibrato = i don't know the pitch.

6. Laurence - Billie Jean

Just no. Singing higher than the pitch does not make it artistic. This is not american idol.

7. Matthew Jordan - Smooth Criminal

Yes, this guy makes this list too. Leave bon jovi to bon jovi.

8. Clark Westfield - Black or White

I don't care how cool or famous this guy thinks he is, he is way off pitch and has poor vocal technique. Could be good, though.

9. Juke - Billie Jean

A grunge version! Bush lives! I am da one! Who knew this song could be so depressing??

10. Tyler Weinrich - Black or White

Then there's this dingleberry. I just don't have words for him.

11. stellacat - Will You Be There

What's a music video without orca whales????? She's just not cutting it as the next Tegan or Sara.

12. Theaerozepellin - You are Not Alone

Give him a break, he's still recovering from swine flu!

13. sillylexa - I Want You Back

This just makes me LOLz! pasted away! (that's one way of explaining his skin pigmentation..)

On a somewhat related note, this guy is actually awesome in that he sings in the range and on pitch and is just a delight, but sometimes i can't help but LOL .Either way, check it out:

Well, that's enough of this shit for one day, kittens.

-k

Acoustic Dirge

2009-06-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

So, in the advent of Michael Jackson's death (may he rest in peace) comes the whirlwind of acoustic tribute covers being uploaded feverishly onto youtube. Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, i give you my top youtube acoustic tributes to michael jackson:

1. Terra Naomi - You Are Not Alone

2. Chris Dallman - Human Nature

3. Jay Brannan - Man in the Mirror

4. J.R. Aquino - Thriller

See also: Emily Elbert - Thriller (done prior to death)

5. Amanda Palmer - Billie Jean

6. Ch1ld pr0digy - The Way You Make Me Feel

7. Matthew Jordan - Smooth Criminal (i had to put this here, he's too much of a great mix of musical theatre and jon bon jovi)

ps. annie is not okay after this cover.

8. Kelly Rose - I'll Be There (i don't know about this girl's backup singing, but granted theres only one of her..)

9. Jake Coco - Will You Be There

10. Sarah LaMantia - Heal The World

and the biggest honor, "I'll Be There" on Ukulele. This kid is seriously talented on the uke, im jel.

..and they keep coming.

-k

ARR UBA

2009-06-26T12:56:00.001-07:00

Arr ye maties! It's been a while since I updated this. I went to the wonderful Caribbean paradise called Aruba, and here are some lovely photos from the venture. I rode wave runners, horses, paragliders, wakeboarded, kneeboarded, jeeps and just about wore myself out. It was awesome. I totally recommend people to vacation to Aruba, although a few things I noticed:
1. The food is all imported so its insanely expensive.
2. It is Jersey Shore II. (ie, pretty much everyone from NJ and Queens goes there)
3. They have THE cleanest water in the world.
4. Sharks are on the North Side, they feed them there to keep them from going to the other side.
5. The Radisson has the best beach on Palm Beach.
6. Everyone is fat. At least, all the males are, and the women are generally trashy.
7. Spanish is spoken the most, then english, dutch, and the native island language.
8. If you like to drink, this is THE place.
9. There's a plant there that has 2 inch prickers on it. It is rightfully named the "Fucker."
10. Jewelry dealers are worse than those on Canal Street. Watch out.
11. Every other person there is on a honey moon. Watch out for the pool water, especially late at night. (ick)

:view from the room:
:view at night with party boat:
:bird fight:
:paper mall:
:casino ceiling:
:museums:
:US Mail?:
:hacienda:
:boats:
:desert:
:iguanas:
:hey there big guy:
:caves:
:the fucker:
:california lighthouse:

-k

Piaggio dreams

2009-06-01T15:18:00.001-07:00

It's been a week since I've posted (i know, lame). So here's some updates. I'm on the path to getting my motorcycle license, because I have acquired a new Piaggio FLY 150. 150cc engine, 61mph top speed, and 70-75 miles per gallon. Not a highway rider, but great for the streets. Piaggio is the company that makes the ever-famous VESPA scooter. Although this is the VESPA's more chic modern brother, it comes at half the price (dollasss). Anyway, it's a cute little bugger.

Speaking of cute little buggers, meet Yo-Yo, my friend and peer Yesenia's pet Yorkie. He is so cute and def. deserves the name "Yo-Yo."

Yo-Yo chasing Ikuko's 20 year old cat, Hannibal.

-k

Kirstin's Bday on the Roof

2009-05-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

So we celebrated Kirstin's birthday on her roof in Prospect Heights. Great views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and even a bit of Queens! Check it out (ps i dont know why this is underlined):

Ben on the roof, stretching.

Still light out.

Kirstin and friend (blurry)

Watertowers.

Manhattan

Views of everything :)

-k

God of Carnage

2009-05-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

I just saw 'God of Carnage' today and let me say, that play is going to win major Tony's. The cast is major hollywood actors (Gandolfini, Daniels, Harden, Davis) and they were all stellar. My hat went off to Marcia Gay Harden, who was beyond hysterical. The play is very emotionally and physically cathartic, with no intermission, so expect to be tired after seeing it! I am amazed that these actors can maintain all of that physical and emotional release so many times a week. If you have the chance at all to see it before Tony's week, which is pretty soon, I suggest going - its going to be sold out afterwards. Great direction, great play, great actors. GREAT GREAT GREAT. blah blah blah.

Raising Jonah

2009-05-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

So I thought I'd share some illustrations for a book I made for my Child Art Therapy class this past spring called "Raising Jonah." It's basically about a little kangaroo, Jonah, who is in an abusive family and gets taken away by Child Protective Services and put into a foster home with two loggerhead turtles. Not exactly light material, but I've been told it's pretty thorough. The book is about 23-24 pages long and includes info in the back about child abuse, reporting child abuse and foster care info. All illustrations are done first in ink, then scanned and colored digitally. The order is reversed so the beginning of the book is at the bottom. these are only some of the images.

happy family

playing soccer

therapy

new parents

at the foster care agency

moving

the straw that broke the camel's back

abused

-k

Awk Family Photos

2009-05-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

A new personal favorite, compliments of Jamie:

Awkward Family Photos

who doesn't love a nice awkward family photo?

My contribution:

the ventriloquist

-k

Marie From the Bronx

2009-05-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's hard to walk through the Union Square subway station without noticing the stubbly fingers of Marie from the Bronx reaching out toward you. Marie from the Bronx had parts of her fingers amputated because of damage they incurred from her smoking habit.

Ladies and Gentleman, Marie from the Bronx. Effective scare-tactic ad campaign or just plain scary? Thoughts?

-k

This is what happens when Danielle Salta takes my camera.

2009-05-11T09:35:00.001-07:00

{Not appropriate for children under 18}

Hooray for the end of year one!

-kfid

From DUMBO

2009-05-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I did a photoshoot in DUMBO for my friend Jon. Here are some of the results:

Overexposed, but I like the look. Looks like theres four of the same kid. Animated effect.
Manhattan Bridge.

Jon himself

Power-up!

2009-05-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

I finally took pictures of the sweet OS Mario Kicks i made for Sabrina. They are PUMA First Round's.

check it out (keep in mind, blogger kinda eff's up the colors):

click for full image. -k

..and this is swine flu.

2009-05-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

My mom sent me this. Her former boss sent it to her. loves it.

This is Burlesque

2009-05-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

No...THIS is Burlesque. I saw "This is Burlesque" an "off off off off OFF broadway show" as host Murray Hill put it, last night at Corio in SoHo. There were three bachelorette parties there (phew) and I think more for the next showing. Aside from the stunning amount of chicks there, the show was AMAZING. Host Murray Hill (the drag King of Comedy) had us laughing our little asses off the entire night (not to mention I got to chat with him behind the scenes...he's hysterical! and so amiable). All of the acts were incredibly talented and titillating to watch (pun intended!). Peekaboo Pointe's tassle-twirling skills were superb, and the world-famous Pontani sisters offered synchronized vintage camp that would make a gay man hard. Little Miss Lyxx and Little Brooklyn also performed last night: Lyxx as the "20 year old" with an act to match the fascination of the viewer to a younger, innocent, and less-experienced burlesque artist (even though she was clearly very experienced) and Little Brooklyn, who I think brought it home with her campy clown strip-tease and King Kong act. Never have I ever thought I would see a woman dressed half in a gorilla costume, using the gorilla hand to strip herself down to pasties and a thong on the other side - all in front of the empire state building. Amazing show. Everyone should go. It's worth the $25 and two drinks (in fact, I'm sure its even better drunk).

Poster by Murray Hill.

Does this mean this is where the abortionist is?..

2009-04-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hanging Babies, DUMBO, Brooklyn 4/09

Queens vs. Bronx

2009-04-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

So here are some hot pics from the Queens of Pain vs Bronx Gridlock Roller Derby game last night! It was exciting. I won't lie, I was cheering for the Bronx, and the Gridlock pulled through overshooting Queens by about 30 points. Queens started out in the lead and then the Gridlock put the pressure on, ending the first half 30 points in the lead. In the second half, Queens started off again on a good start, scoring back about 15 points, but then lacking the endurance to keep up with Bronx's lightning fast moves. Unfortunately, Slay didn't play this time, but Ani Dispanko got some good time in to work on her defensive skills. On the Queen's of Pain, Suzy Hotrod gave Bonnie Thunders a run for her money and Hyper Lynx put the pressure on (when she wasn't in the penalty seats!). Overall, a great game! Here are some shots: