tag/poty
2024.01.01
Open Photo Gallery: Best of 2023
Open Photo Gallery: 2023 Visuals
Open Photo Gallery: 2023 Memories
2023.01.02
Open Photo Gallery: Best of 2022
Open Photo Gallery: 2022 Visuals
Open Photo Gallery: 2022 Memories
2022.01.03
I've tried to be more mindful about not letting my "One Second Everyday" video clips interfere too much with my regular photography... so this year I started doing a regular reminder to check my phone for interesting images from the week that I might want to post.
Open Photo Gallery: Best of 2021
Dean in Arlington
Ducks in Lower Mystic Lake
Heron in Worcester
Swan at Mystic River
Gulls at Ocean Grove
Kellie at Arboretum
Girls in Medford
Girls in Arlington playground
Maile in Vermont
Charlo's retirement in Watertown
Melissa and Gull in Ocean Grove
Dean in chair
As usual I've noticed a two-axis aspect; images that are striking for me visually, in an abstract or objective way, and images that are more emotionally resonate, with the "best" images hitting high in both. But for my "second best" galleries, I realized I could use that split as an excuse to make two galleries, the first more purely visual:
Open Photo Gallery: 2021 Visuals
And the other gallery of more personal ones. (But I guess all of these have a pretty decent visual aspect as well)
Open Photo Gallery: 2021 Memories
2021.01.02
Open Photo Gallery
"No War in Iran" protest in January
Cora upsidedown...
Melissa outside the deCordova...
Cora at Not Your Average Joe's
Buildings reflected at Lechmere Canal.
In April I did a series of shots of the kitty Dean...
Swans near Watch City May 31
Counter rally against alt-right jerks.
Underwater foliage at the Burlingame Park on a July 4th bit of distanced floaty rafting.
Melissa and Deborah the Inflatable
Sweet Gum pod near Jamaica Pond.
Sea Gull at Dawn over Ocean Grove NJ.
Mom on the Ocean Grove New Jersey Shore.
2020.01.04
Open Photo Gallery
CarGuru's holiday party featured Snoop Dogg.
Dave at his Bowl Haven Birthday Party
JP Honk at the docks by the Jamaica Pond Boathouse
At the Mt Auburn Cemetary
Alien Fun at PRONK!
At the Boston Public Garden
Fooz on a wintery excursion with friends
New Orleans cemetary
Liz of Leftist Marching Band gives me a solo
Ezequiel of JP Honk
An abbreviated JP Honk crew leading a pet costume parade.
2020.01.03
Open Photo Gallery
Trumpeteer Kenneth Terry, from our trip to NOLA
Dave bowling on his birthday at Saco's Bowl Haven.
Petal near work near the Cambridgeside Galleria.
Cora and Mama C outside of School of Honk
Johnny "Boom Boom" at the Sam Adams brewery during an arts fundraiser event.
Melissa underwater, probably at Wright's Pond.
Melissa's family
Performers and dancing audience at PRONK festival. JP Honk going there was a highlight of the year.
Bourbon Street, New Orleans
The Young Fellaz
at the Audubon Butterfly Garden And Insectarium
Hog during one of those New Orleans swamp tours.
2019.01.06
Open Photo Gallery
Moonlight Kayaking with Essex River Basin Adventures in September led to this sunset beauty...
Jon Batiste (from Colbert's Late Show, and much more) was playing the Sinclair in Harvard Square, and a small group from School of Honk decided to "crash" between sets, playing "I'm From Kenner", a song from one of his bands that we play - turned into an invite to come in and meet him and then close out his second set with him, making a parade out the door.
Big rainbow at Union Square
Just horsing around at the Jodoin's photography studio.
Played some funerals and weddings this year with New Magnolia
Melissa got me, for the first time in my life, to get up early to go catch the over-ocean sunrise in Ocean Grove
A goofy mid-parade selfie to figure out "oh, just how badly is my underlip bleeding?"
Melissa works a few floors down and made up a surprise message for me...
Haven't skinny dipped for decades - but I have posed for pretentious artsy shots more recently!
That last one and this was at Lake George, perfect lake trip with Dylan...
...and with Sarah
Finally back to Ocean Grove, I really liked this shot with just a bit of Melissa in it...
2019.01.05
Open Photo Gallery
I love the inverse-rain-shadow my tuba made - unfortunately you have to look closely to see it.
I was fascinated by the criss-cross light at Cora's watertable.
Dramatic shadows at the office.
Lego Giraffe at Assembly Row
Tubas in Texas
Melissa's Best Little Buddy
Valentine's offering. Somehow it's the texture of the cloth that makes that one.
Big sky at Asbury Park
Somerville tends to run its Trum Fields fireworks a week early, and you can see them from our windows.
This photo rocks.
My horn Scheiny and a little friend.
The world in Melissa's shades...
2019.01.04
Open Photo Gallery
Butterfly. Dig the texture!
Not 100% I took this photo at Cambridge RiverSing but I should have...
BABAM Boogying at Pride with Elizabeth Warren!
Boozy photo by Candace...
I am bad at eating pickles.
Cora looks skeptical.
Always fun looking through art with a beloved one.
Row of horns from HONK!Tx
Pretty leaf...
Big horn, little person.
Lots of dots.
Cozy Christmas!
2017.06.05
Open Photo Gallery
Cora
Wall in Austin during HONK!TX
Sunset over Lake Winnipesaukee
Built Benny's Spaceship Spaceship SPACESHIP with Melissa.
Not positive where I took this
In a Malaysian Temple.
Loved the Spock from the old Jumptap/Millennial Media/AOL days.
Outside the Batu Cave.
Dublin.
Art at Fort Point Bridge
.jpeg)
Mop at an Arlington Church
Kristin in shades.
2017.06.04
Open Photo Gallery
At the Charles Riverfest
Cora
Chet at JP Honk practice
Shot of Kristin as I fooled around with my "good camera" at a double birthday party...
My old apartment building felt armor clad when it was having insulation added
Once in a photography class this woman (with a great Irish accent) commented on my phtos "ya like boogs, doncha?" Not sure why I tried to deny it.
Bird drinking from the sky.
A pier in George Town in Penang.
I snuck a photo on my way to comics writing class because I liked how these folks clothing was paired, but then realized they were probably having some kind of sad breakup
gimmicky photo in Dublin
Flooded street outside of Aeronaut Brewery.
More casual times.
2017.06.03
I suspect my dedication to "One Second Everyday" taps some of my still photography mojo.
Open Photo Gallery
Aunt Susan and Cora
I think other people like this shot more than I do. I'm really not in need of sweaterly consolation, just posing.
.jpeg)
My boot, at a Bread and Puppet rehearsal at Mass College of Art.
HONK!TX, at it again with the white vans
Also from HONK!TX - another blurred shot but I love the camaraderie.
I forgot it at the time but now I love the mellow colors of this turkey and window shot.
Melissa parasailing over Ocean Grove New Jersey
You don't have to go far from home for good goofy selfie.
Cora at my unbirthday
Batu Cave in Malaysia... probably the most strking shot of the trip.
One of our best tourist selfies ever.
Melancholy Malaysian Monkey
2016.08.15
Open Photo Gallery
Liyuan was kind of amazing at the teambuilding event at Brooklyn Boulders!
Just another Honkband practice.
I often have this trio of robots at my work desk: Invid Scout on the left, Iron Giant on right, some Fisher Price transformer in the middle. I kind of see them as my mom, my dad, and myself with characteristics of both, in that order
JP Honk event - Marie, Tom, and bubbles.
EBB2 looking pretty artsy.
This is either a screen capture or a misclick of my One Second Everyday video. But a fun one innertubing!
Early date with Melissa, going to see the fireworks on the Charles via Kayak. I like the elegance of her gesture.
Honkin' at the Hatch.
Beercan Art.
Shadowy Tuba Player.
A treat seeing my comic "So, You're Going to Die" at Million Year Picnic...
Panorama of Ocean Grove beach
2016.08.14
Open Photo Gallery
I'd done book purges before, but this was one significantly deeper - really getting to the Kondo-esque pleasure of having bookshelves of books I love, no filler. Presided over by Daidai, whom I was catsitting for.
or my "One Second Everyday" I take too many shots of reflections in puddles, but I find them fascinating. As a kid I used to wonder if they might be insights into mirror universes...
Mama C and Cora.
My "sexy cop onesie" (from Garment District) for JP Honk, taken around that year's Wake Up The Earth.
EBB2, with EBB1 peeking behind.
JZ and MZ got married, and dang me if them and their family don't look like they should be stock photography for something.
My go-to profile shot, a selfie taken in my hallway. I think I did a good job framing my head with the sunlight.
Just last week we had the repeat of HONK-style bands playing at the Hatch Shell with the Landmarks Orchestra... for the first event I wandered in and got a photo of the city looking out from the Hatch.
Fisheye lens view from work... This 8th floor in Seaport is definitely in the top 3 "views from my office" I've enjoyed, maybe even the top.
Melissa and Me selfie, at Weirs Beach.
Melissa and I took a trip to Montreal. I didn't get as many fantastic photos as I might have guessed (it was just a few days) but the Notre-Dame Basilica was amazing. I was a little surprised how many times they told us it was where Celine Dion got married.
Set up a holiday shot with my Mom and Aunt.
2016.08.13
Open Photo Gallery
Another shot of Kay, handsome devil.
Young Entrepreneur + GF.
Escalator, alligator!
Rain on the glass ceiling at Copley T.
"Power Surge" at Old Orchard Beach, Maine.
Me riding "Power Surge" at Old Orchard Beach, Maine.
Snail.
The view from the road between WTC and the BCEC.
Northern Outdoors Penobscot River Rafting is excellent. Went with some coworkers including Motvi (behind) and Liyuan (front and off-center)
Presiding over construction of the hoop bannner.
Trampoline date at Sky Zone (experimenting with that 'make a first date something adrenaline pumping' idea)
At EB's.... POOING BEARS EATING PEARS what more needs to be said?
2016.08.12
Open Photo Gallery
Kay has an enviable look. (Haven't talked about cameras in a while... some of the shots from the end of last year and this one were with a new Canon Rebel T3, a DSLR larger than the PowerShots, and feeling more like a "real" camera overall.)
Had an all-night "Hack-A-Thon" at work, this is Seaport District at dawn.
EBB2 and EBB1 at a playground.
Googly Monster Fingerpuppet. I think this might have been an accidental photo shot when going to take video for "One Second Everyday" - 1SED is great, but probably makes me less thoughtful, or at least less frequent (which leads to the same results) about static photos.
Bar scene, being taken by hunter. There subtle emotional play going on here.
Me in Zero-G, on one of those "vomit-comet" type planes - a 40th birthday gift to myself.
Me and my Super-Niece Cora, about 2 months old here. I have a similar shot from the day after she was born, but I like how she looks like she's puzzling something out here.
I didn't take it but this is about my favorite early photo of Cora.
Photo by David F Parmenter - a glitchy panorama of the JP Honk Band at Haley House that I Printed and put above my bedroom door.
Cora at rest with her Mama K.
EB and I collaborated on designing and making the "hoop banner" for JP Honk.
Finally, my tuba "Beauty" and I dressed up as skeletons for Halloween.
2016.08.11
Open Photo Gallery
Trio out for a drink.
Ocean Grove after Sandy.
Everyone needs a Totoro hoody.
Spy Pond, Arlington.
Trumpeter from Balkan Brass at (sigh) Johnny D's. (Small point of pride for me is that in late 2014 I got to 'play' Johnny D's backing Chandler Travis' Trombone Choir.)
Different homebrew JP Honk drum.
My tuba "Beauty" waiting before the HONK! Parade.
Young entrepreneur Hunter.
My Ever Lovin' Mom.
I was taking some drawing classes. I wanted to see if could improve my usual 'doodle' style of art, but I admit being able to freely look deeply at an uncovered body was a pleasure, and relatively rare for me.
A+T in Salem.
Another view of the broken pier (sans Fishing Shack) in Ocean Grove.
Rainbow over Memorial Drive
BONUS: selfie @ Harvard Sq Panera, showing a new pair of glasses.
2016.08.09
Open Photo Gallery
Ah, sweet New Hampshire fireworks, from a July 4th at Kimball Castle
Kimball Castle at sunset.
David and Hunter.
The boat on Lake Winnipesaukee (that David and Hunter are on). A dinner cruise with Lobster, I think.
One of my early band favorite photos of me, at "Circle the City". I didn't have my "sex cop onesie" yet. I really like how I was decorating my bell then, getting the name of the band there but not covering up the nice reflective curves of the bell.
Detail of Tom Parmenter's drum.
Instagram detail of my dad's typewriter.
Snuck a shot on the train. Man, that guy is ASLEEP.
Cherry pickers outside the BCEC.
At this point the owners wanted to sell the apartment I had found with Amber (and subsequently invited Miller in as a housemate) and this is a Halloween party in the new place.
David, MELAS, Mary
The pier in Ocean Grove, again. Last year's Runner-Up album has a shot of MELAS where there's still a fishing house at the end, but this is after Hurricane Sandy.
2016.08.08
Open Photo Gallery
Project photo! Over the years, "cheap, funky watches" were my go to gift for my mom, being about the only jewelry-like little bit of fun she was allowed to get away with when in uniform. This year I went all out and got her a dozen, to be opened one per month. Each month got its own icon reflecting the season or the watchface or both.
<geektime>This book on Java EJBs is actually a callback to, like, 2002. "EJB encourages collaboration of more than six different parties." It's almost unclear if they're talking people or components, but I think people... anyway, the first generation of EJB was where I first encountered a technology that was achieving huge popularity despite what to me was clear and egregious over-engineering, high complexity, and poor transparency. Anyway, like I said in 2001-- EJB - the technology to allow you to scale your application across many servers... and the performance to make sure that you'll need to"</geektime>
Still too fond of shadows, they're kind of a fallback for "One Second Everyday" B-roll footage.
Google Image search tells me this is the Old Patent Office Building (from my DC trip.)
Old Abe from the Lincoln Memorial. I was holding the camera up so the shot was a bit less "up the nostrils" than usual.
JZ and I went to a DC United soccer match. I lost my sunglasses at the tailgating.
EBB2 + EBB1 on the Harbor Islands.
Smokey, my Uncle Bill's loyal companion.
MELAS at the shore.
My Sousaphone, "Beauty". I like how she seems to be plaintively looking out the window here. (As if she's looking for a band to be in, which will happen next year.)
Arlington had a crazy "microburst" in the evening... trees were uprooted everywhere. I think I had been on the subway at the time, walking through the aftermath was surreal enough, not sure what it would have been like to have been there in person!
Kjersten and Raia.
2016.08.07
Open Photo Gallery
2012 - The year I discovered Instagram filters, apparently! I do like how they got people thinking more about image presentation for a while, and the square crop format is pretty hip.
New Year's "Cherry Japanese Things" (according to my journal entry) at Erica + Todd's
EBB2 on ice, with EB and EBB1 behind.
Got a Nintendo-themed racetrack for my birthday - never had an electric racetrack growing up! Also this shows off my book collection of the time. I don't really regret "Kondo"-izing it, since it is a pleasure having book shelves of just books I love, but sometimes I miss how smart I thought it made me look.
Lake near Lake Champlain from the Burlington VT side.
Took a little weekend jaunt to Washington DC with JZ. I liked the atrium in the National Portrait Gallery.
Emma was a sassy cat. After Amber left I took care of her, though she aged out half a year later. (Supposedly she was once a fat cat but I only knew her skinny.)
Amber by the shore.
Kirk under the shore. Waterproof cameras and underwater cell phone cases are fun.
Gummy-bear cubicle prank @ Alleyoop. It started with the giant gummy bear and an unfulfilled wager about whether it could be consumed... turning it into Gulliver's Travels (Gummiver's Travels?) was genius.
Toy Robot at Magnolia Park in Arlington. And the discovery of Instagram filters.
Lego Spaceman and EBB1.
Spy Pond in Arlington. #nofilter #justkidding #somefilterclearly
2016.08.06
Open Photo Gallery
JZ in one the Pax East hallways.
Kjersten.
For ten years, I attended (and sometimes ran) a 'covenant group' at my UU church - this is the crew at its height, I'd say
Spider web on Cannon Mountain.
Amber's brother did some bike racing. STOP GUYS! You're going too fast.
EBB2.
The Cleveland Natural History museum has this board of Beetles, but one of them is special.
Karaoke night with some Alleyoopers at Limelight.
MELAS (My Ever Lovin' Aunt Susan)
At the MFA, "Endlessly Repeating Twentieth Century Modernism"
I'm known for making this face in photos, but usually at the camera not at the person I'm with.
My dad's folk art Christmas Tree, and his typewriter. (It was an antique when he got it, he wasn't THAT old.)
2016.08.04
Open Photo Gallery
Interior wall outside the MFA's (then new-ish) Art of the Americas wing.
Spotlighted cellist at Harvard Station.
View from the patio of our Air B+B in Paris. Honestly my favorite memory and meal of the trip was baguette and cheese and fruit and good cheap table wine on that balcony.
St. Paul's Cathedral, across the Thames from the Tate Modern. (What was that I was saying about liking oddly cropped shots with too much sky?)
Amber's dad, I think on the Cannon Mountain Tramway in NH. I wonder if those who know him will agree this is like the most Amber's dad photo ever.
My second annual return to parasailing over Belmar and Ocean Grove.
My team of Alleyoop-ers for a run around near Faneuil Hall photo scavenger hunt.
Sunset at Rocky River Park near Cleveland.
The Broken Piers at Cleveland Edgewater Park.
Amber and her bestie Sam, who is wearing a dinosaur mask I had just bought at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
View from my work, near Newbury Street.
Some "vandal" added perfect makeup to a Paul Revere portrait poster for the MFA (the portrait that was the basis for the Sam Adams brewer, patriot bottle art.)
2016.08.03
Open Photo Gallery
Amber finds machines viscerally appealing (hence her tolerance of Transformers movie) and I was always curious so we went to a Monster Truck Rally. Man are those things LOUD - bring earplugs or be ready to buy them there.
I was working at a consultant place, with a gig in the Financial District.
Deconstruction near Malden.
On a trip to Cleveland we took a sidetrip to Niagara falls. I persuaded Amber to try this ferris wheel - it was scary for her, but going ahead with it calmed her down about driving over bridges - it's this general feel of stuff not being under you...
Once in Cleveland I took a sidetrip to my dad's grave at the Bakersville Cemetery, and let myself grieve.
New job at Pearson; their cafeteria has a swell view over Newbury Street.
The pier at Ocean Grove (still with the fishing shack). I'm inordinately fond of oddly cropped shots that show more sky or landscape than thing.
Err, flowers. (Nikko Blue hydrangea, maybe? I think from the walking part of commute in Arlington.)
Side of a Redline Car, great wabi-sabi.
EB's baby, EBB2... looks to be about the same age as EBB1 in that shot from 2007.
EB Birthday.
Amber spied through a rock sculpture at the deCordova sculpture park.
2016.08.02
Open Photo Gallery
With R+D we made a legion of homemade peeps and then puffed Totoros.
Ariana at the shore.
Amber with strawberries.
4th of July kayak.
Jane at Old Orchard Beach in Maine.
Me at Old Orchard Beach in Maine.
Spy Pond.
Amber at ICA.
Rockport Gull.
Jack O' Lanterns at Sarah's.
Steampunk Ariana.
Christmas loot.
Bonus: haunting child from Cozy Coupe box.
2016.07.31
Open Photo Gallery
The woman JZ was dating worked high up in an office overlooking the Boston Common. New Years 2009 was brutally cold and windy and so they launched the fireworks from there surprisingly low - for many we were looking down on them.
Took a train to DC with my Aunt and Uncle, this is NYC along the way.
Spotlight on a Slug on my mom's patio in Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon the estate had some livestock. I like this attendant's casualness with her charge.
I started dating Amber, shown here at Spy Pond. There's something poignant in her expression here, but she says mostly she just had a cold.
Karen and Chas got married!
A boy and his dog.
Portugal - The Lisbon Oceanarium (where my gracious host Johnny had worked) I had forgotten this shot, but man, now I REALLY love it.
Two riders of the Lisbon subway. I just saw something so friendly, gracious, and relaxed in their mirrored body language that this shot has stuck with me for a long time.
"Elevador da Bica", where the nightlife spills into the steep street - at midnight my old AFS brother Marcos and I went to see his friends who were having a meal at home, then we hit the bars. At like 2 or 3 it's generally time to look for another bar. At 4 you stumble home via the bakeries that are just putting out the freshest greatest stuff.
Uncle Bill and Aunt Susan at the Union Oyster House.
Fire with Michi, outside Ariana's Steampunk Ball.
2016.07.29
Open Photo Gallery
highlight was a 2-week trip Japan
Josh took me to see the Kamakura Daibutsu, "The Giant Buddha of Kamakura". It's a bit reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, albeit not quite as tall - but you can go inside of it and look around.
This image is my current Desktop wallpaper. Originally oddly cropped in order to get the moon and a hawk in the frame at once, I call it "Peek-a-Buddha"
Weekends were stuff close to Tokyo with Josh, but during the week days I would travel on my own. This is the "A-Bomb Dome" in Hiroshima; originally "The Product Exhibition Hall building" and one of the few structures not to be flattened by the blast and ensuing fires.
Back in Tokyo; Shinjuku district, I believe.
View from the bullet train. (There's a great national rail pass that only tourists can get, and the adherence to the posted arrival times was remarkable. Also remarkable was the weather variation you could see as you travelled; most of time it was very Spring-like March, but then I caught this scene out of the window.) I like it's soft focus and happenstance composition.
Back in Boston; my friend JZ. We met at Enpocket/Nokia (the Refresh job only lasted a year because of budgetary reasons.) These were enjoyable "bachelor boy" days, spending a lot of time walking around and playing video games.
I had dinner at Legal Seafoods with my Uncle Bill and a server was walking around showing this behemoth.
Family reunion in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
The cousins did some boogie boarding at the shore.
Sarah throws an annual Jack-O-Lantern making party. Mine is the Astronaut helmet one, fifth from the left... maybe a little too abstract?
Miller threw a halloween party, here's Ariana doing her best "Wicked" pose.
Nice family shot of EB and his family as I helped them select a Christmas tree.
2016.07.28
Open Photo Gallery
Took a photography class this year, and had trips to Florida and Chicago.Ksenia and I broke up at the end of the previous year, but we were still in each other's life a little bit.
From the Florida trip to visit John and Cordelia. Here he is doing a Hamlet with a coconut, I think.
EB enlisted me as cheap unskilled labor in refurbing a house. He was a big fan of coveralls. We enjoy the oddly "Beastie Boys" nature of this shot.
EB's baby (EBB)
I was on my belly at the Boston Public Garden for this shot. My buddy JZ said "I envy you". I thought he was being sarcastic, but know, he kind of admired having a hobby like that, with the Canon PowerShot always in my pocket.
At Six Flags. Love the soaring nature of this.
I was back in Chicago, for Michi and Jesse's wedding... pretty town!
Pretty Ariana, at the wedding. She's not usually quite so Nixon-ish.
EBB in the air.
https://blog.xkcd.com/2007/10/01/the-meetup/ - there was an xkcd meetup, inspired by the details of a specific comic, I attended with Rebekah and Derek. A beautiful gathering of nerdly types!
Ksenia modeled for me for a photography class I was taking, and we used a video projector to put images on her. She is an artist, and had an experience as an assitant at the Russian edition of Cosmo, so some cool images resulted.
Also for the class, self-portrait in security mirror at Alewife Station.
.
My Mom, Uncle, and Aunt at Thanksgiving at our cousins'
2016.07.27
Open Photo Gallery
Surprising jump in the ratio of things and places to portraits of people...
At the end of 2005 I took a new job with a small company called "Refresh Software" that had me travelling quite a bit - this photo is from Addison, TX. (I'll remember the name because the town's street signs proclaimed "Addison!", like it was a musical.)
I think this photo is from Georgetown, on another business trip, this one to DC.
Took a minibreak to NYC; here's the Guggenheim interior.
Ksenia at the Boston Museum of Science
Rainy day at work.
I think this is the first year I discovered going Kayaking on the Charles to see the fireworks... to this day I'm sort of bummed when a kayaking trip doesn't have a big spectacle at the end.
Beetle at work. Canons had good macro functions!
Flower in the garden of the Deerhill in Vermont
Went to the Aquarium before doing some whale watching... they had a great jellyfish exhibit (if scary, as these brainless geniuses are poised to take over the oceans as they warm up.)
I was a somewhat early adopter of car GPS; this photo is because this GPS model had a high-score like "Max Speed" feature - 2492 mph! Not bad for a little Scion xA... probably bad mileage though.
As the story went: My coworker Rob's son James sold this original art to his dad. The original asking price had been a dollar and ten cents. During the negotiations, dismayed at his dad's lowball offer of a quarter, young James pointed out "but look at all that action!". (The final agreed upon price was a dollar.) It is a lot of action!
With Jane in Portland Maine... amazing year-end long shadows there.
2016.07.26
Open Photo Gallery
It's been kind of therapeutic going going through years past this way; it's been a nice way of reviewing the past and lengthening my sense of the chronological space without being stuck there.
Not quite see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, but along those lines.
I started dating Ksenia in late 2004, at some point she was helping friends and relatives arrange flowers, I liked this photo.
At one point most of her family went skiing, and I stayed with her and her grandfather. During a blizzard. Snow was above my car's windows...
Alex and Tonya's wedding. I always liked the intimacy shown in this one.
EB vs Sponge Bob Pinata.
Coworker Noor enjoying my office toy Hulk Hands.
Ksenia and I hiked Monadnock - April was a bit early for the path we were taking with friends. Andy is in this photo as well.
Ksenia joined me on a work trip to Chicago.
We got kind of lost in Chicago, and were tired.
The Lynn shore. The light was kind of amazing.
Coworker prank - they used my hoody to make a "virtual me" when I was out with a hurt back. "Works on my machine" is such a great catchphrase for the developer.
Another winter, more snow shoveling.
2005 Bonus Images!
Ksenia and Me in the Chicago's Cloud Gate sculpture.
Another shot from that sunset at the Lynn shore.
Ksenia - same shore, different day. I love how the clouds mirrored on the sands looks about the same as in the sky.
Erin over an Alien Bill birthday cake
2016.07.25
Open Photo Gallery
The pier at the Ocean Grove NJ boardwalk. I think the fishing house at the end had been rebuilt after the Blizzard of '96, and then got destroyed again during Hurricane Sandy.
I guess the last photo of Mo in "Best of" is this one of her at Home Depot, as we got the house ready for sale.
I released JoustPong at Philly Classic that year (note the custom T-Shirt, a giveaway with the first batch of carts) and shared the AtariAge booth with Howard Scott Warshaw - creator of the Atari game Yar's Revenge and, more infamously, the rushed version of "E.T." that "caused" the Great Video Crash of 1983.
For some reason I had to stop by Mo's new apartment at Davis, and we took turns doing portraits with her new fancy Rebel camera. I feel like this is one of my best pre-beard portraits of me.
EB helping me patch the crumbling concrete of the front stairs of the house. (Actually it's funny how much time I'd spend waiting for him at Home Depot, as he enlisted me as unskilled labor getting his new place into shape.)
My favorite Professor at Tufts, Alva Couch, speaking at some department alumni thing.
EB and I went through a phase of playing darts at Flat Top Johnny's where we met this pair. Nothing more than goofy half-flirting happened, I just find this photo amusing. (Also I was amazed that one time when EB+I inadvertently skipped the check at FTJ's, the staff immediately told us when we came in next time. I think my face blindness would be a handicap in that kind of job.)
EB and I on a tandem ride of the "Skycoaster" at Six Flags.
Jane outside of work - we'd go toss a football in the parking lot sometimes.
And Jane at a restaurant, near work. She was a big supportive help that year, though her advice to get me out of the big jeans I would wear all the time kept me in nothing but khakis for the better part of a decade.
I visited Mike in Cleveland, and for his birthday his friends subjected him to a kind of prank mystery car ride.
Cousins in motion at the Family Reunion.
BONUS!
BONUS BONUS! Months after assembling the photos, I couldn't remember why this one didn't make the cut.
2016.07.24
Open Photo Gallery
There was a little park and playground right across from our house in Waltham.
Yi, at my job in Salem.
Mo and her dad. Folder information suggests this is around her brother Dan's thesis concert.
We travelled to Europe that spring, in part to attend Veronika and Volker's wedding in Germany. The German guests thought I was being charmingly euphemistic when I told them Veronika and I "dated" in high school. Also I learned, don't try and keep up with German guests when there's free red wine being poured.
The kid of one of V+V's friends. I learned two things playing Pictionary (in English) with Germans: one, the German's view of Aladdin's Lamp is more upright, like a vase. Two, in English (or at least the UK flavor?) technically, a frown is an expression of the brows, not of the mouth.
We visited my mom who was working in London those years. I've always liked this shot of Mo on the London Eye, Europe's tallest ferris wheel.
Jane and Julia. Sometimes Jane and I felt like the only liberals at that place, it was a bit square.
The family reunion was in Belmont that year, here's a little soccer action.
An in-progress shot of my project for that year, JoustPong for the Atari 2600. I don't want to mix up cause and effect, but sometimes I wonder about if I had put as much focus on Mo's project of getting a house as I had on my own technical endeavor.
I do enjoy this shot from EB's wedding.
Halloween Pac-Danger, at the "Paper Source" near Porter.
Flapper Jane dancing at a masquerade ball Mo and I threw. Sometimes that feels like the last hurrah for me and her and that place and that time; she had realized her interests lay elsewhere.
BONUS: A few months later I made this composite shot of the park, and called it "Ghost of a Snowman"
2016.07.23
Open Photo Gallery
Another Brooke Party shot from the stairway up from her kitchen, since kitchens are were all respectable parties end up.
A walkway light in the snow, in Burlington, outside of the offices of Gale.
2001 was the first year I renewed a lease on an apartment, but Mo and I bought a house this year. Househunting was more a project of her and her mom with me supporting them from the edges; probably a harbinger, in retrospect. Anyway, Mo in a this mighty chair she had brought into the relationship, on moving day.
I went to Philly Classic, a classic/retro video games convention. Here is a man in a homebrew Atari 2600 Pitfall Cartridge costume.
My Father-in-Law's birthday, in the dining room of the new house.
A one-year-anniversary trip to Ogunquit.
Our friends Lee and Michelle got married.
Cousin at a family reunion.
At this point I'm working in Salem (the dot com crash was the roughest patch for me job-wise, but wasn't too awful.) You get a nice view of the Canon PowerShot I was using then.
Mo recreating that famous James Dean look.
The year before we had adopted Denali as company for Murphy. This was one end of the "great room" in our new house, probably the house's single best feature.
View from inside a Jack-O-Lantern
2016.07.22
Open Photo Gallery
Camera-wise, I think this year I started my long relationship with Canon PowerShots. They were truly pocketable cameras that took nice shots, and I kept one with me all the time for years (PalmPilot, Camera, Wallet, Keys, Sunglasses) - in fact there's still usually one in my courier bag, but it doesn't get much action.
Though actually, I think this is the only "Best of" photo taken with the Kodak PalmPix, a clip-on camera for the PalmPilot. Not a good camera in general, but has an interesting winter wonderland effect here.
Again, Brooke threw some good parties, like this Angel/Devil themed one.
Angel from the Angel/Devil party.
I've always loved this picture of Greg's kid, the whole "stop fooling around with a camera and get me more to drink" of it.
One of the few photos here not taken with my equipment; our wedding was professionally photographed, but this shot of the dancing after was done with a plastic toy camera. Two young people who didn't know what they were doing, but were trying to look cool doing it, I guess. We had a giant framed print of this one on the wall for a while.
Honeymoon in Mexico. It was a photogenic place, but I had surprisingly few great shots.
Aunt Susan and Uncle Bill on the stoop at Wigglesworth.
Mo and I and the Tufts band lemmings went Apple Picking...
Goddess of Apples.
Jen the Juggler.
Apple Strongman.
My best highschool buddy Mike was fond of road trips, including this one to Boston with his pal Dave. I guess this was pre-Big Dig, when there was still an elevated highway there.
2016.07.21
Open Photo Gallery
Clearly we survived Y2K without much hassle. I was kind of uptight about in 1997-8 or so, but then calmed down a bit as systems failed to collapse, even ones that had to look ahead.
My friend (and former coworker from my first job) Habib, from Morocco.
Mo and I got engaged on Valentine's Day. (She had been a little frustrated that I hadn't punctuated a promise made early in dating that I wouldn't propose before 2000 by popping the question on the stroke of Y2K.)
This photo here as a reminder for me of my biggest "dot com" play, "Event Zero".
For an only child, I have a lot of cousins-once-removed or whatever it is.
Beloved English Teacher Judith McLaughlin, who died a year or two ago. I would call on her every visit back to Cleveland - it's a hoot to do some day drinking with your funny and gracious high school teacher.
After the wedding of Wendy, with Mike Witczak--
We visited Veronika in Germany that fall... here we are at Uni-Marburg... and I thought Tufts had a big hill, it ain't a patch on Uni-Marburg.
Me in Wurzburg.
Back at work - Giant Spider! Lowering from the Monster.com blimp. (A bit of office tom-foolery)
Another year, another new apartment. And a little peck from Dylan.
Brooke threw a lot of fun parties these years.
Mo's friend and then-(uh)-future-maid-of-honor Lee. For some reason I think I remember she's around to help Mo try on wedding dresses (We had a year and a half engagement.)
2000 BONUS
2016.07.20
Open Photo Gallery
At some point I got an Olympus C-900 Zoom, so there's a notable improvement in image resolution and clarity. I think the colors tended to be a little flat, though, but I loved how well-protected its lens was when you closed it up - great design.Anyway, another year, another new apartment - a tiny, tiny 1 BR with Mo, with her figuring it was time for us to grow up and have our own space... I think the size (and relative cheapness) of it kind of represented training wheels.
Mo with Murphy, in that new apartment, which she decided to paint herself, in order to more deeply claim it.
Bjorn with a camera-shy Lena at Walden Pond.
Kyle Parrish, a friend from Tufts, and a much better poet than I. Me. I.
Fake knuckle tattoos.
Sarah at Lake George, again with Wacky Noodles.
Sarah at Lake George, but in a more contemplative mood.
A photo from the fountain at NYC's World Trade Center, taken 9/11/1999 - two years before, to the day. (That fountain had a great optical illusion only viewable from up the towers, with a circular edge that seemed to be eternally contracting, because of the "wake" of the water flowing over it.)
The WTC photo was during a trip to NYC to meet up with Veronika and some of her friends, as they travelled from Germany. This is Mo, Veronika, and a "B2"
Veronika had a way of melting with guys she really liked, here with her boyfriend on top of the Empire State Building.
Karla Goo, a fellow alum of sQ!, here after a concert of the group.
Lisa, a fellow Tufts Band Lemming, had a halloween party. Besides this dance move she and I would re-enact the Blues Brothers dance at odd intervals.
Back at the shore, I think again with Lena and Bjorn, one of whom took this shot. That might be the first in a series of green hoodies I've enjoyed over the years.
1999 Bonus: Two images (Dylan and his mom Linda, and Mo on a fence at Tufts) that came close but didn't quite make the cut...__p4250006.jpg)
1999 Extra Bonus: years later I got into "flat color pix" - basically single-image rotoscoping, aka "tracing".
2016.07.19
Open Photo Gallery
Some of these were taken with the Kodak DC25, which took about identical shots to its minimalist sibling but had a flash and a screen (for reviewing shots after they were taken, still a regular viewfinder for composing them.)Looking at the photos... as I can see in the "Rainbow Warrior Carla" photo halfway through the year I moved into the "Big Yellow House" with about 6 or 7 people including Mo (who loved the woodwork... we technically had separate bedrooms but that didn't last for long.) Despite having to share bathrooms and showers, it was terrific always having a N64 and people around for a game of Mario Kart or Smash Brothers.
Apparently I was going through a "tucking in my shirt" phase. Also, I changed jobs and started working near the Cambridge Galleria.
Mo at Inman's 1369 coffee house. It was nice living across the street from there.
My mom had an apartment in NYC these years (my technical residence during college was my own micro-studio apartment that overlooked Broadway! I wasn't down in the city nearly enough), here we are at the Guggenheim during an NYC trip.
The first of what is to be many photos of the shore of Ocean Grove, NJ. Here are shadows including Lena and Bjorn.
My hot dog has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R. For some reason I remember this photo was taken by my Aunt Ruth and Grandma.
Dylan, Mandy, and me kayaking the Charles. Afterwards we went to Friendly's where Dylan sketched out my "I WANT TO DIE" adventure kayaking across the path of an oncoming boat.
Sarah at Lake George. One is truly never alone with a wacky noodle.
Rainbow warrior Carla, prepping for Pride. Interesting (I hadn't noticed that "Equality" sticker before. I remember being slow to identify it as a pro-gay symbol, years later.)
From my dad's side of the family... cousins John, me, Scott, Chip, Brian, and then Grandma.
My old boss Diane looks fierce in this one.
For many years this photo of me leading a pep band cheer, and its inverted version, was my "go to" photo. I like it's propaganda feel.
From that same outing (we were at Tufts' Homecoming game), Mo.
Someone made a "meme" version of this that's the first Google Image match for "MOAR MOAR MOAR". I was surprised when I ran across that online. 1998 Bonus... years later I turned that one headshot into this:
And this is the inverse version I liked so much, for its sci-fi vibe.
1998 Extra Bonus: When selecting the dozen, I shied away from having too much Sarah, lest I seem like some confused stalker, but damn if she isn't one photogenic selfie-pioneer here:
2016.07.18
Open Photo Gallery
I moved to Cambridge's Inman Square that fall, splitting an apartment with my cousin Llara.
Dylan and Sarah, in the kitchen at Waltham.
sQ's Stacy on the piano.
This was one of my first "man I really like how this photo came out" - Daddy-O's red lighting and Rebekah's expression.
R again.
Austin at an sQ rehearsal.
Me at sQ. I may have been doing my "senior solo" of Cake's "The Distance".
I sometimes get to go with Dylan to his family's cabin on Lake George. Beefcake, anyone?
I reconnected with Mo, my college drinking buddy, who also happened to have moved to Inman Square... we ran into each other at the S+S. Dylan said she seemed really happy to see me - I think this photo is from a small dinner party she threw in the fall.
I hosted a holiday party that year, apparently semi-fancy-dress.
Mo gesturing in the kitchen. (Overall I wasn't taking many photos these years, and so sometimes there's less variety in subject...)
The day after the party, E. hung out. With a dinosaur on her head. Just because.
Mo again, the days after the party.
2016.07.17
1996 marked my graduation from college, and my first apartment - in Waltham, where Dylan subletted from me for a while.
My first camera was the Kodak DC20. It had a beautiful minimalism; no screen, no flash, just a cut-out viewfinder. Like getting good old film developed at the drug store, you couldn't see what picture you had taken 'til later.
So, the best of 1996:
Open Photo Gallery
I think Dylan took this one. Hey, remember giant racks of CDs? And that Papasan chair saw me through college... it was kind of a big draw.
Dylan's self-portrait... you can see the DC20 in question.
I still have this golem, named Fish for reasons unclear to me now. He doesn't have the cyberpunk shades any more, but wears the glasses with clip-ons I was wearing at this time.
Dan Lipton!
Rebekah!
Lily, beloved kitty of R.
Bonus: a very early "Photoshop" I did.
