1982 A.D.

Green Nalgene

2009-07-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Riding the bus from the city to my place of work in nearby Palisades is still a new experience to me. I only ride it when my sister-in-law, Trish, is on vacation, which she is at present. When I started to recognize Palisades from the bus window, I hit the stop button above me. Previous bus-riding experience told me that my stop request should alert the driver to halt at the next bus stop, right? Wrong. He stopped right then and there. And in my shame I approached the bus's front. I explained that I simply wanted him to stop at the humble wooden bus shelter ahead. He mumbled something in a thick West African accent, shook his head, and drove on.

Now feeling the eyes of the other passengers on the back on my head, I stared out the windshield anxiously. The stop could not have come soon enough. When I exited, I pathetically said 'Thank you' and 'Sorry,' and walked out with my head down.

When I was two steps off the bus, I realized that my load was now lighter; I had left my trusty green Nalgene bottle on the confetti print seat next to me on the bus. The bus was still there; people were getting out behind me, but I couldn't even look back at the scene of my melee, let alone board the bus again to retrieve the beloved vessel.

That Nalgene bottle was one of my favorite things. It was even free from BPA leaching plastic, dammit! I found it almost exactly a year ago, when I still worked as a graveyard shift janitor at the Wilkinson Student Center on BYU campus. It was sitting on a wooden bench in the late June moonlight. It was sorrowful and alone. Back then it was practically brand new, without a scratch. It was mine. Finders keepers, losers weepers (though the loser would probably be dehydrated and unable to cry much because of it).

And now it's gone. Sent back into the karmic, poetic nothingness from whence it so quietly came. To find it again means waiting for a similar night in the crispness of late June, when the moon shines on green mountain trees and forgotten Nalgene bottles of the same hue. Or I may just check the lost and found at the George Washington Bus Terminal. It might be there, actually.

Last Weekend

2009-04-25T16:10:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I met up with Dan in Minneapolis to give a couple presentations with him at the National Art Educators Association convention. Seeing my buddy Danny B again was like eating a hot apple pie treat from McDonald's. Our presentations, which discussed some of the work we've done together over the years, went well. More importantly, there was plenty o' fun to be had...

This is Dan sorting through some Legos at Legoland in the Mall of America.

Our classy hotel, right above a Bail Bonds place, on 7th St. in Mpls. The decor of the place was like... imagine Cher throwing up on Celine Dion.

Dan was tired.

A kooky knife chandelier that made Dan and I think of one of Cass' paintings.

Dan was also cold.

My thanks to my good friend Jason for hanging out with me and driving me around. The two of us, with his fiance Amanda, went on as many rides as we physically could on Monday night at the amusement park in the Mall of America. Amazing.

Seeing your reflection in the faces of friends

2009-03-26T20:18:00.000-07:00

When I read The New Yorker I feel like I'm claiming my place amongst society's upper crust.

Scott Zuniga, Emilie Zuniga, Brenda Barrett. I love all of these people.

Snow falling on Sherman. The view from our old place.

This is from a photo taken aboard the Staten Island Ferry when Smitty was in town.

Intervention Volume II: Jonathan "Buddy" Martin

2009-03-02T15:46:00.000-08:00

HAS THE MAN GONE SOFT?

THE OFFENDER: Jonathan Martin

THE CRIME: Mushing up a previously hard-edged weblog

THE VERDICT: GUILTY

Buddy?!

(Shaking Head)

Buddy. Come on.

We know you want to pay homage to the amazing photographer that is myself, but doing it publicly just sissifies you. Buddy, ye who was the once the source of everything hard-hitting and risque (see: Seriously?, January 24, 2009), ye who was once a no-holds-barred filmmaker (see: Lemko Lemko, Bird Attack, etc.)... Now what films are you polluting with your sickening brand of neo-romance? A Meg Ryan biopic?

I tried to contact Jonathan regarding his newfound creamy center, but official representatives at the Martin compound had only this to say: "No Comment, Grungebag."

Buddy.

Come back to the dark side. No more footsie matches under the kitchen table of life. Embrace your true self. Return to seediness.

Brenda

2009-02-20T13:07:00.001-08:00

I love my wife Brenda. She is amazing! She makes great food from scratch including fajitas, minestrone soup, waffles, and black bean soup. She's great and she's so pretty.

Happy Valentine's Day 2009!

2009-02-14T09:44:00.000-08:00

COMIC-CON

2009-02-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

My first Comic-Con! Sweaty fanboys pawing over well-preserved first editions as far as the eye could see.
There was plenty of D & D slash Magic the Gathering going on.
Old Nintendo Systems I was drooling over. All for sale! Curse my dismal resources.
The closest I'll come to having an action figure of myself.
This guy gave me his 'x-rated' pose.

Awesome.

It looks like the Ghostbusters have really let themselves go over the years...

Probably the saddest shot of the day. Interesting how one line of dialogue can lead to a career on the convention circuit. As Hadleigh and Seth pointed out, the 'Autograph Area,' which included Peter Mayhew (the guy inside the Chewbacca suit), felt a little like the poignant autograph/merch scene in The Wrestler. It's the strange territory where pride and embarrassment overlap. The dream goes on...

For Buddy, Part II

2009-02-04T16:59:00.000-08:00

ELI WALLACH + DARREN HANLON

2009-01-22T22:25:00.001-08:00

I'm still not sure how it happened, but I spent most of yesterday with two of my idols: Hollywood legend Eli Wallach and Australian Singer/Songwriter Darren Hanlon.

It was a very good day.

Thanks, Buddy

2009-01-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, my friend John "Buddy" Martin gave me the new Rolling Stone "Cover to Cover" CD-Rom database. It's exactly what it sounds like: 40 years of the magazine, digitized, complete with ads.

Watching the Kids Grow Up

2009-01-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Feeling pressured by our parents, Brenda and I recently decided to bring a little bundle of joy into this dismal existance. His name is Little Rocker Jr., and he's our miracle.

He was born, extremely premature, on Christmas Day. Weighing only 1.2 ounces upon arrival, he has now grown a staggering 600%, just as the packaging promised. As you can see, he has his parents' ghastly white complexion. He is musically gifted, though we make him practice his guitar in the confines of a 2-liter soda bottle, so as not to upset the neighbors. He's got his mother's eyebrows, but his father gave him those striking baby blues. We love our Little Rocker Jr.

New York City, January 2009

2009-01-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

We've been back in the city since January 1st. Since then, as I alluded to in my last post, I've been applying for a lot of jobs. Other than that, Bren and I have been trying to watch all the movies we gave each other for Christmas. Probably the coolest thing we've done since then, though, was find a sweet pink plastic Christmas tree for $5 at the local Duane Reade. It helps give our apartment some much-needed kitsch.

Provo, Utah, December 2008

2009-01-07T15:57:00.001-08:00

On December 1st I returned to my old haunts in the Beehive State. Brenda and I had plans, of course, to come home for the holidays, but I figured I'd return a couple weeks early to 'make some sweet moolah.'

A little introduction...

Every December since I returned from my mission, I've worked with my good friends Nate and Clay at Nate's dad's yearly Christmas tree lot. It's really not a bad gig: there is a bit of heavy lifting and cold weather involved, but there is also a lot of time to sip hot cocoa in the comforts of a heated booth. Being the seasoned tree salesman that I am, I decided to give it one more go this year, seeing as how my CV has yet to swell since our move to NYC. And to be honest, I had a blast doing it. I was working outside in the fresh, Christmas-tree-scented air, listening to Yuletide ditties, and getting into the holiday spirit.

But it wasn't without a little trepidation that I once again took up peddling Tannenbaums. I am, after all, living in Manhattan with my wife, trying to nudge my way into the realm of professional photography. Going back to Provo for a month was a sidestep in whatever career I'm trying to form, but I'm grateful for it because of:

a) the money, and

b) the distance it gave me between me and my goals.

In the midst of my new pine friends, I became motivated to get things done in NY. I want to work more with Seth, even if it's on a volunteer basis. I want to work with Hadleigh to develop our ideas, to write screenplays, and to shoot them. I've been applying for jobs like mad, both in and outside of New York. In short, I just want to leave the house more.

A Room with a View

2008-11-26T06:04:00.000-08:00

2008-11-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

Here You Go, Brenda...

2008-11-10T21:55:00.000-08:00

10 years ago I was:

Learning to drive
Watching You've Got Mail for the first time
Maybe listening to Sublime?
Living in Minnesota
Striking out with the ladies (times have really changed)

5 things on today's to-do list:

Trim my beard
Interview downtown for a part-time job
Have lunch with Seth if he's around
Maybe go running
Pack for our trip to Europe
(today is not a normal day)

5 snacks I enjoy:

Oh boy...
Most Hostess products
Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Thin Cheese Pizzas
Good chocolate bars

5 places I have lived:

Here's the complete rundown, not counting my mission:
Fredericksburg, VA
Naperville, IL
Yardley, PA
Annandale, NJ
Ramsey, MN
Provo, UT
The Freaking Barrio, NYC

5 jobs I have had:

Floor Cleaner, Cub Foods
Cashier, K-Mart
Golf Cart Attendant
CD Salesman
Body Double for Bill Paxton

5 pet peeves:

Honestly I would probably have a hard time thinking of 5 things that don't drive me nuts.

5 things that bring me joy:

Candy of most sorts
Interesting books
Mint or near-mint records
Jacque-Henri Lartigue photographs
pancakes

5 people I tag:

I'm not sure 5 people will even read this.

The ZackMonster Will Return Shortly

2008-11-10T21:48:00.001-08:00

Pennsylvania/ New Jersey Trip

2008-10-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from a trip that Brenda and I took, along with my sister Melissa, to our old stomping grounds of PA and NJ the other week. Enjoy.

On 9/11

2008-09-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

I like September 11 because I like to be sad. I went down to Ground Zero today to see what was going on.

It was cloudy in Manhattan today and the cigarette smoke from the financial district blew all around me. I thought of the buildings that were once there, and how I saw them as a kid from across the Hudson River when my mom and I would pick my dad up from work in Newark. I thought of the lives that were lost there some seven years ago and I felt sad.

But more than that I thought about myself on that day years ago. I was 19 years old. I was eight weeks away from going to Europe on my mission. I was scared for the change, and on that day everyone else was scared too.

That's all for now.

Word Verification

2008-08-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Since when did 'word' verifications start looking like this?

Let's think of another name. 'Gobbeldy-Guuk Verification?'

Jesse James

2008-08-23T22:34:00.001-07:00

Still loving Nick Cave's soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It is so simple and uncluttered, but it's amazing how much sound sprawls out of the minimalism.

COCKROACHES

2008-08-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

Cockroaches come both big and small, and most of them come through our apartment. So far we've found them: on the wall, on the floor, by the front door waiting for us when we come home, in the sink, and in the stove. I kill them all with little remorse. How much pity can you take on a creature that can live for several weeks without its head?

Z

081808

2008-08-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Brenda and I now live in New York. More on that later. First, here are some pictures from my trip to Poland last month.

More to come,

Zack

Yard Sale!

2008-07-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

The Mrs. and I are discarding many beloved or once-beloved items as a prelude to our upcoming move to New York. Please come and show your love for all things second-hand. For sale will be a great deal of miscellany, including but not limited to:

records
old camera stuff
clothes
cassettes
CDs
a box of hair bleach (unused)
a tripod
a chair or two

Hope to see you there. Hugs and kisses, Zack

Here Are the Young Men

2008-07-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

OK, I know it's been a while. I lost my faith in blogging and I apologize. But in my defense I've been busy. I've spent the last few weeks working as a janitor in the middle of the night in the Wilkinson Student Center on campus. It was rough. My supervisor was a guy in his 30's who had worked there for 12 years, and he was really defensive about the job itself. He stressed upon his employees the fact that cleaning bathrooms at 2 in the morning was, in fact, a 'real job,' and demanded that we take it seriously and work our tails off.

So I quit. I baked a cake, which, if you attended NIGHTMUSIC, you've already seen.

Other than that, I've been watching movies like crazy because of a one month trial membership to Netflix. A while ago I watched Anton Corbijn's CONTROL, which is an Ian Curtis biopic. Since watching it I've been OBSESSED with Joy Division. Just today I watched the new self-titled documentary, which is full of great interviews by the remaining band members. The record label they were on, Factory, which housed New Order as well, is my favorite label of all time (next to Folkways). Everything they produced, whether it was a poster, a dance club, or a record, was assigned a Factory number. Even a bet between founder Tony Wilson and JD manager Rob Gretten was numbered (FAC 253). The last number ever assigned was Tony Wilson's coffin (FAC 501).

That's about it, except for a wonderful moment at the 4th of July parade here in Provo when a 15-foot monkey balloon came by and a little boy next to Bren and me explained that "Jesus is bigger than that- he's probably huge."

Anyways, I'll try to keep the posts coming.

N O O N E

2008-05-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

ever reads my blog. Consequently, no one ever sees awesome music videos like this:

Smart Cars

2008-05-17T07:21:00.001-07:00

I want a smart car. It is the only car I can think of that makes me sad to be living in big cities with public transit for the foreseeable future. Here in Utah, check them out at smartcenterlindon.com

When I was in Europe on my mission I saw them everywhere. They are three feet shorter than the modern mini coopers. They are like little puppies from hell.

The Return

2008-05-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry gang, it's been a while since I've updated. Let's catch up, shall we...?

After I graduated last month I went to Richmond, Virginia to shoot the widespread abandonment of the city's slums. I went because I got an ORCA grant to photograph the city and then hopefully get it published. Here are some photos. I forgot to turn them into sRGBs so they might be more desaturated than I'd like:

These are just digital shots. I shot about half digital and half film. I took a 4x5 (thanks Nicole) and my Brownie box panoramic camera which is currently my favorite camera in the world.

Here's some more:

It was a great time. I spent the days walking around the seedy areas of the city, and at night my sister-in-law Anne and I watched Scrubs and many, many delightfully bad movies.

I've been home from VA for a week now and I've been looking for a job and it's totally lame. I started working with a temp agency and I've worked one job thus far. That job, which entailed moving back-breaking boxes from one room to another all day, was in a place where telemarketers call people at home and try to get them to buy stuff they have absolutely no need for. The whole placed was soaked in caffeine and testosterone and I will never be a salesman for as long as I live.

Top Five Records for an April Afternoon

2008-04-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

1. New Order: Power, Corruption, and Lies
2. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited
3. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
4. Bright Eyes: I'm WIde Awake, It's Morning
5. Cat Power: The Greatest

BFA PROJECT

2008-03-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

I shot a handful of Ex-Cons last week. Yes, I was sick, but I had an appointment on Friday and as many of you know I've been desperate to shoot for this project, so I braved it and it was a great experience. Five people showed up in total, and we all had a great talk about life within our LDS culture. Here are some pics:

-Z

On Being Sick

2008-03-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

I've been sick for the past four days. I think it's strep, although I had a strep test three days ago and it came out negative. As a result of being ill, Brenda and I missed the Jonathan Richman concert at Kilby Court a few days ago. To understand why this makes me mad, watch the video:

More to come...

Z

more awesome.

2008-02-29T23:21:00.001-08:00

2008-02-27T22:01:00.001-08:00

Awesome.

2008-02-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

I don't really have anything to say. I just wanted to show everyone how great this is...

"What You Have Is A Seasickness on Dry Land."

2008-02-16T23:20:00.000-08:00

-Franz Kafka

Brenda and I just watched Sicko, which we enjoyed. It did, however, give us the urge to start a riot. Or move to Europe.

"Follow Your Bliss"

2008-02-10T23:04:00.000-08:00

-Joseph Campbell

A year ago, on February 10th, one of my best friends died. I miss him quite a bit. His name is Chase.

"The Doggy Bounce Bounce- It's a Phenomenon."

2008-02-10T02:21:00.000-08:00

-Tod

Brenda and I keep talking about how wonderful that last episode of Flight of the Conchords is. For as spotty as the series is at times, the episode with Tod, Demitri, and the Doggy Bounce is basically spot on. The success of the episode is due in no small part to Murray. "You saw what he could do on the bongos. He's great isn't he?... Is he?"

"Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?"

2008-02-10T02:11:00.000-08:00

-D. Boone

C C Q B

Here are a few pictures from CCQB's latest gig:

Thanks to all parties involved for their cooperation in the taking of the group photo.

Something to Blog About

2008-01-31T21:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a sneek peek at my BFA final project, Mormon Ex-Cons

That guy's name is Red. He's a friend of mine. He's the reason for the project. My purpose in

doing this is to see where ex-cons, especially Mormon ones, fit into their culture.

This guy's name is Gordon. He's Red's best friend. It must be noted that Gordon is NOT a Mormon, but has been in close contact with the church for many years. He told me that if he quit smoking, cut his hair, and became a Mormon, then maybe he'd be given a pickup truck...

That's all for now.

"There Is a Light and It Never Goes Out" -The Smiths

2008-01-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

Feeling in love with music, mixtapes, scratched records, memories of when I was 19, and journals. Thanks to Brenda for my wonderful Christmas homemade journal book, in which I write as much as possible.

...Take me out tonight....

Z

There Won't Be Blood

2008-01-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

When will P.T. Anderson's latest Opus finally make it to happy valley?

Long Fingernails

2008-01-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

About two years ago I quit biting my fingernails. I had always bit my nails. Always. When I was very young my mom would try to clip my fingernails and I would wince and cry during the whole experience.

I finally quit because my dentist told me I was ruining my teeth. Now the desire to preserve my pearly whites keeps me from chomping, though sometimes when I get nervous I get the urge...

"America I've given you all and now I'm nothing."

2007-12-11T20:43:00.001-08:00

-Allen Ginsberg

Here is a picture from Yankee stadium on scenic 165th street in the Bronx.

Let me say how lovely it is to be an official citizen of blogland.

-Zack