right. so this site’s design changed. it’s for the best, and will work best with the other site/project. hopefully you’ll like it and say ‘ahhhhhh, nice’ or something to that effect. problem is we’re all busy working on getting the other one launched right now, so all the messiness and tweaking we need to do to this one… so click around, read some stuff and forgive another mess I’ve begun before cleaning up the previous one. there’s a new TwT coming as soon as I can figure this new stuff out, as well as some other amazing entries. I don’t know that for sure, but Tara will definitely be up soon. please don’t leave. this is just evolution. it will be worth it. people can change. things will be better. etc.

love, aric.

hang tight.

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things are going to be a bit quiet here for the next month or so.

I hope you understand.

it’s early in the morning and my little bag is as packed as much as a little bag can be packed.

there’s less clothes, more toys.

hopefully, this will all make sense soon.

so, until then – if you’ll excuse me…

I’m off to go make something beautiful.

a

oh man, I wish I could just come out and tell you what’s been going on here – why not a lot has been posted as of late.

can you trust me it’s something special? ’cause it is.

in the midst of the beautiful haze that is a newcomer’s experience living and working and breathing in new york fuckin’ city, a lot has been going on behind the curtain.

see, a long time ago I had an idea. and then last year I had a lunch with someone who helped me with this idea. and for the past 5 months, this idea has been slowing being created by people much smarter than me.

some people here. some people not here. it’s a bit of a gamble, but that’s what makes it kind of exciting.

uuuuggggghhhh. more soon. more soon. soon.

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are up here.

and what a fine town it was to shoot.

more soon on the 206, but if you ever have a chance to visit during summer [read: not too rainy time], do it.

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shame on me. oh my god, I’m sorry. look at what I’ve done. a thousand apologies. etc and et al.

I’ve been busy here in the land of good seafood and passive-agressive judgementation.

but it’s been an adventure.

I leave Seattle in a few days back for the post-apocalyptic earthquake-surviving NYC and gosh, I do hope everything is back to mid-normal.

me? I’ve had an adventure.

spent a lot of time in a town I’ve never spent a lot of time in.

met superheros.

took a roadtrip of 1000+ miles to pay homage to one television series, one movie and 6 friends.

I smell of good beer and shocklingly fantastic weather.

got some videos and photos and stories and opinions and all sorts of stuff.

so I’m checking in to say ‘hello’ and stuff.

how are you?

good, I hope.

more soon.

much, much more soon. there’s a lot been happening.

a

p.s. the ebook looks amazing and will be up on Amazon, along with the finalized version of the hard copy, in a few weeks. and then it will be official – I will be completely and utterly up my own ass.

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well, thanks, little nephew of mine.

it’s been a helluva year, since my last birthday…

let’s see:

- Josie and I spent my 34th cruising on Absurdity in the South of England, if you learn to sail, you can have her [boat].

- after that, I went to go see Nico [he'll be a quasi-uncle to you] in Paris and had the time in Paris that everyone wants.

- but I got into a little bit of trouble with the U.K. government, and had 30 days to leave.

- so, naturally, I dragged Josie to Vietnam. to live.

- we stayed there for a few months, but ended up going our separate ways. she to Australia to work. me to Oregon to finish a book.

- a few months into my stay in Bend, I finally got to meet you. and that very day, I started writing another book.

- a month of so after that, I flew to Perth to see Josie for her birthday. we took a campervan around wine country. it was fun.

- a few months later, I left Bend for a month in Oklahoma and the promotional run of the book would be released. it sold out.

- a few weeks after that, I got the call that I never thought I’d get – I was about to take a job in New York fuckin City! I’ve now been here a little more than 4 months and it’s been amazing. I’ve been sending you little postcards and stuff, hopefully one day you’ll be able to check them out.

- my birthday was spent with a lot of friends. which, considering how short I’ve been here, should tell you how lucky I am.

… so there you go, nephew – it’s been a fun 34th year. you just started walking and by the time my 36th [ugh] rolls around, you might even be able to talk with me on the phone a little bit. a lot of your and my birthdays will be spent on the phone, but I’ll try and make that up to you.

so, thanks for the card and the cheeky little grin. I showed this to a lot of people here and they all thought you were amazing.

and I think so too.

love,

Uncle Aric

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anyone who’s followed this little blog for a while can testify to my complete addiction to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. this was my 4th time to go and it keeps getting better. hands down, the creepiest and most wonderful manmade place in all of the States, and one of my top 10 places ever. you can find out about this gem online, but it doesn’t do it justice. for a taste, revisit this scene in 12 Monkeys, as it was filmed inside here. Steve Buscemi gives the audio tour. and it’s amazing. to date, I’ve shot it on the Leica and now on my iPhone.

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… for many, many more shots, click here. and, again – go see it.

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… are up here, but there’s only a handful. a large amount of little piccies from Eastern State Penitentiary are on the way. I hope you like them, because I like you.

every time I go to write something, I usually don’t write something because writing takes effort. and I’m trying to enjoy the downtime between this book being officially released [read: on Amazon in the next few weeks, ebooks, etc.] and the next one starting. it’s a collection of short stories between Dec ’08-present. I’m looking forward to starting it, and I’m looking even more forward to being done with the first one. did you know I’ve never even read it? it’s sitting right next to me, as I had to reference it for a slight design change, but I’ve never picked it up. I should though, it’s a good book. but I digress…

this shall be the most random of catch-ups. I’m doing it more for me than you, but that shouldn’t come as a shock:

- it’s a shame we lost in the final minutes of the Women’s World Cup. it’s a shame we don’t give a shit. but well-played [for the first 108 minutes, at least], girls. you actually made female professional sports exciting. weird.

- the Vespa Saga continues. that actually deserves its own post and I will – as soon as I’m official – post the entire headache. if I do it now, I’ll just be annoyed.

- speaking of annoyed. I can no longer hide my insane jealousy for Mel and Nick’s choice to put their stuff in storage, quit their [very successful] careers and took off sailing the world for a few years. the only thing that outdoes my envy is my intrigue. and respect.

- this has been a favorite summer song for some time, and it is again this summer. hey, you should make it one of yours.

- oh! the second day in Philly I wanted to tell you about? the crazy castle [yes, castle. see below] we went to, built by the eccentric tile-maker James Mercer? one of the coolest places in the States, I kid you not. the website doesn’t do it justice. well worth a day trip from Philly. no photos allowed inside, but I got a few of the exterior.

- the hair stylist convinced me to get something called a ‘keratin blowout’ done to my locks. I’m still confused to what happened.

- the ’101 best sandwich’ attempt died out [shocking!], as they were all a] more than $10 and b] beginning to not be within walking distance from my office.

- my office is in the exact area the term ’23 skidoo’ was coined. good band as well.

- I haven’t picked up my Leica once since moving to NYC. this hipstamatic stuff is brilliant.

- ah. yes. photos and NYC – that reminds me. took a shot of this the other week and made a point of going back when it was open. one of the coolest shops I’ve ever been in. worth a trip to Park Slope. am pretty sure it’s a Dave Eggers project.

- speaking of iStuff. if you have an iPad, download this. Brother Scott did the music for it and it’s been charting for weeks now on Apple.

- while I’ve always been mildly interested in the occult, reading ‘The Serpent and The Rainbow’ has elevated my curiousity in voodoo and black magic to a point of virtual hopelessness. I’m obsessed. have never seen the film, but have it downloaded for when I’m done.

- speaking of things to watch, I get about 40 minutes a week of time to do it, but Californication is one of the smartest shows ever to come out of the States. season 5 especially.

- this also looks amazing.

- NYC is a fucking fun town. has anyone ever said that before?

- Brother Ben [remember Brother Ben?] has a new project he’s working on and needs help. am hoping to interview him before the deadline, but if not, try and wrap your head around this.

- I rarely drink beer these days. if you email me, I’ll let you in on the best kept secret in the wine world. I’m buying it by the case and would love to say ‘and I’m even dropping some weight in the process’, but no. it is good, though. and cheap.

- please stop using photos of your child for your profile picture on Facebook. Brother Cohn wrote last year that ‘I’m friends with you, not your child’ and it caused a shitstorm. why? I don’t know. photos of your kids on Facebook? of course! photos of you + your kids in your Facebook profile? sure! photos of your kids as your profile photo? no. stop it. it’s weird.

- this little blog is about to have some major changes happen to it. I’m kind of excited. I hope you like it. it’s cool. and exciting… thus, the excitement.

- a copy of my book was handed to Annie Clark [St. Vincent]. I’m totally keeping an eye out for her next album to see if I’m mentioned.

- I’m turning 35 in a few weeks and change. please don’t forget.

- this is a fun town.

- see ya later.

I’m late in writing this and now the moment’s past. but I do want to draw attention – even if it’s lazily putting up shots – to the town of Riverton, NJ. most have never heard of this place, a 20-minute train ride from Philly, but should you find yourself in the exact situation I did – a decade without an Independence Day, then spend a few nights here. there’s not a lot to do, some cafes and boutique restaurants, but what you will do is walk the streets. never have I been in a town that takes patriotic imaging to such heights. old rocking chairs on even older porches, the red-white-and-blue hanging on every possible corner. grease poll contest and box car derbies. and a parade. don’t go for the bar scene, thinking you might meet someone, you won’t. but it’s good to re-introduce yourself to the place you came from. [more shots here]

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look.

pennslavania’s a fucking weird place.

I suppose that’s why I like it so much…

but seriously:

• the Amish
• the Philly Experiment*
• the Mutter Museum
• Centralia
• Eagle’s/Philles fans
• et al

there’s just an odd feel about the place – not a bad feel, nor a good feel, just an odd feel.

and I do love it.

so when my pals down in the 215 mentioned we were going to see some ‘quirk’, I was beyond excited.

day 01

this wasn’t as much odd as it was cool – but for the sake of acting like the dozen of people who read this will care, we’ll bunch ‘em all together.

first stop was the tower.

built in 1929.

in the middle of the woods.

we’ve all been up in towers, but for this one to have been built the same year Wall Street crashed [1st one], in the middle of nowhere with suberb views of the winding river and only a few bucks to climb up into, it’s well worth a stop off on a road trip through the state.

at this point I’m just trying to fill in this white space so the photo looks right.

I’m not a travel writer or this part would be interesting.

speaking of the Delaware, next up was the spot where Washington crossed. nothing to see, but something to bore children with in later years.

last stop was the town of New Hope. think Nimbin-meets-Eureka Springs. cute town, funky shops and a dangerous unguarded train depot. across the water to Jersey is the even cuter town of Lambertville. old churches, dusty book stores [one of which initiated my new obsession with Haitian vodun], but sadly, no bars [?].

combine the two and you have a good 5-6 hours. but no more.

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day 02 took me away from my favorite place in all of the U.S. and introduced me to something new that rivaled that…

more tomorrow.

[*well worth a watch]

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p.s. for the record, I do not like the layout of this post. it does not speak to me of design brilliance. I also spent about an hour on it yesterday. but I do not like it. I’m also hungover. this will be posted on a Sunday so hopefully you don’t mind. I’m sorry.

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… I’m a horrible human being, taking this long to post photos of nyc + my long weekend in pa. I have some stories for you as well, along with a few tips. and another story about a castle in pa. and haitian voodoo. and nyc. and all sorts of stuff. it’s busy, these days – what with a real job and a lot of other exciting [mostly] things going on. maybe I’ll be able to tell you about them soon? until then, enjoy the photos. they’re pretty good.