Shame, Shame

Sometimes I wonder how people my age have social lives. Is it just me or is this whole working full-time from 9 to 5 every day thing exhausting? All I want to do after work is go home and bum around for a few hours before I fall asleep and repeat the process all over again. I rarely have enough energy or motivation to cook anything or be social or do much of anything productive with my free time on weekdays. Which is a shame, because I'm spending all of this money to live in the greatest city in the world and I should be taking more advantage of it.

Wall Street

To commemorate my job's move to their new office on Wall Street, I'd like to be paid the salary of the 1%, please.

Sorry. That was stupid.

In all seriousness though, I'm going to miss working on 150th street. Harlem, I'll miss your personality, your endless amount of bodegas, and your dead cats.

Just Dust

On Friday morning around 1 AM, Andrew and Nicole's Jersey City apartment caught on fire after it spread from a nearby farmer's market. Thankfully they made it out safely by climbing down the fire escape after they woke up to the smell of smoke, but their entire 3rd floor apartment was completely engulfed in flames only 20 minutes later. I was on the phone with Andrew when they first saw flames exploding from their window, and it was so heartbreaking to hear their reactions. They ended up losing everything except the clothes on their back.

I created a fundraiser online to try and raise some money to get them back on their feet, and was completely blown away by everyone's generosity. Within the first 12 hours, the fundraiser was shared over 180 times and a total of $7,000 was raised. A day later, the total was close to $10,000.

I can't even begin to express my gratitude for everyone's generosity and support. We received an outpour of donations from family, friends, colleagues, former classmates, friends of friends, grandmas of friends, and even complete strangers. Countless people offered clothing, furniture, shelter, gifts, and their heartfelt messages as well. Andrew and Nicole are so incredibly thankful, and I appreciate everyone's help in spreading the word! It's truly a beautiful thing when everyone can come together in love and support at times like these.

If you're interested in donating, please visit the fundraiser at http://www.gofundme.com/7vhklc.

Celebrating Nothing

This is my 100th post!

Also, I just found out that I've been accepted to a free 10-week photography class! It's offered by Our Moments, a non-profit that provides free, high-quality photography education. Apparently they received hundreds of applications but only accept 15 people into their program. Too bad I didn't bother to look at a calendar before I applied, since it turns out I have scheduling conflicts with most classes and hence need to forfeit my spot. Ah well, it's still flattering to know I got accepted, right?

Festival

This year's Governor's Ball lineup has officially been announced! To celebrate, I decided to rank the music festivals I've attended over the last few years.

5. Virgin Mobile Freefest 2011

I was lucky enough to swipe some tickets to this free festival back when I lived in Baltimore, and a bunch of us ended up going. It was a lot of fun, but I didn't really see that many artists and I think I was completely sober the whole time.

Artists: Cut Copy, Empire of the Sun, Okkervil River, and Ghostland Observatory.

4. The Governor's Ball 2011

I went to the inagural Governor's Ball in 2011, where I heard Miami Horror for the first time and where I saw my first and favorite Empire of the Sun performance to date. This was back when the festival was actually on Governor's Island. Definitely a memorable experience, although it only lasted one day.

Artists: Miami Horror, Empire of the Sun, Neon Indian, Reptar, Girl Talk, Big Boi.

3. Governors Ball 2013

This is probably my favorite lineup of any festival I've attended. However, I paid for all three days but only got to experience two days of actual performances due to the torrential downpour that flooded Randall's Island on Friday and turned it into an island of mud. This weekend would've scored higher if the weather wasn't so terrible. Fuck that mud.

Artists: Deerhunter, Portugal. The Man, Cut Copy, Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, Yeasayer, Japandroids, Paper Diamond, Thievery Company, Kanye West, and Kendrick Lamar.

2. Pitchfork Music Festival 2012 

This was a really fun weekend. It was my first time to Chicago so I got to explore the city and see a lot of great acts as well. Vampire Weekend was unbelievably awesome, Flying Lotus and Hot Chip had me dancing in ways I didn't know possible, and I got to see Beach House for the first time just as the sun was setting, which was a really cool moment.

Artists: Vampire Weekend, Beach House, Hot Chip, Real Estate, Atlas Sound, Lotus Plaza, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Cloud Nothings, Grimes, Sleigh Bells, Flying Lotus, and Araabmuzik.

1. Bonnaroo 2013

Paul Fucking McCartney. Do I need to say more? In hindsight, I didn't see as many bands at this festival as I did at other festivals, but the quality of the shows outweighed the quantity. Plus the roadtrip, camping, food, and overall experienced made for an amazing time that I'll never forget. Nothing can compete with Bonnaroo.

Artists: Paul McCartney, Tame Impala, Beach House, DIIV (x2), Purity Ring, Reptar, Wild Nothing, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Empire of the Sun, Local Natives, Weird Al, Tom Petty, Twenty One Pilots, and Holy Ghost!