Back on the Rail(s)

My senior year of high school, I worked at a local publication called the Brooklyn Rail (www.brooklynrail.org). I was lucky enough to return to Brooklyn after graduation and find that the Rail still had a place for me.

When I mentioned I had developed an interest in photography, the publisher of the Rail dug up a book of Rudy Burckhardt's work from his immense library. In all honesty, it had been a while since I had taken any photographs, but looking through Burckhardt's book has encouraged me to start looking at the city differently and to be sure to always have a camera on me.

It's the simplicity of his work that I find most compelling: the textures of the sidewalk or reflections in puddles that are so easy to miss during the daily bustle. It's photos like Burckhardt's that remind me to slow down once in awhile and to really look at the city in which I've been engulfed, especially as it changes so rapidly.

Rudy Burckhardt, "Pair of Siamese Standpipes, New York City", 1939, from www.uesjournal.com

Some of my own stuff coming soon...

Back up and running

I've decided to start updating my blog again, but it's going to be a little different. I want to share with people the things that inspire me that I come across from day to day, starting today.

I read Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers" for my Craft of the Short Story class today. It's incredible. You need to read the whole thing, I think, to understand just why it's so amazing. Here's a link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6547255/Ernest-Hemingway-The-Killers

For me, it's the last line (preceded, of course, by the rest of the story) that makes it so powerful. Take a look if you have the time!

ZMG

It's been awhile...

It's been a long time since my last post, and that is because I have been traveling throughout different countries in Europe.

Tomorrow will begin a series of entries about my travels - one city per day, starting with Milan. Stay tuned.

7 Cities, 16 Days: An Accelerated EuroTrip

Tomorrow I embark on the most spectacular adventure of my life: 7 European cities in 16 days. Of course, my excitement is overwhelming, but so is my nervousness. I've never taken on a such an endeavor as this, but I am confident that all will go well and that I will certainly have the experience of a lifetime. I will either update occasionally on my trip, or there will be one (very) long entry when I return. The latter is more probable. I'm off to get some rest before a big day of travel tomorrow! (Stop #1, Milan!)

P.S. Saw an INCREDIBLE performance of Waiting for Godot tonight. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen had the most incredible chemistry on stage. They looked like they were having a fantastic time together. The performance was superbly acted, wonderfully directed, and entertaining to the last moment. I'm simply astounded by Samuel Beckett's writing. Perhaps more of a review to come later.

All the best to everyone in your part of the world. For now, "Nothing to be done." I'm off to bed.

Confiscated Bus Pass

The bus pass that I've been using since I arrived in Norwich in September was confiscated today by a bus driver because she believed the 9 in 2009 in the expiry date looked like an 8. Not cool.