Looking up, not down

Today I noticed that a lot of people in this city don't like to make eye contact. It's beginning to make sense though I guess, seeing as though the second you make eye contact with someone you have to acknowledge their presence, meaning you have to either, A; move out of their way, B; smile back, or C; listen to the bum yell at you/ask for "change."

So to assimilate into this culture of sunglasses and headphones I decided to do both, with a little variation I call the "star gazer." If it looks like someone is either going to ask me to sign a petition, or anything that would come close to interpersonal communication of any kind, I look strait up into the sky. I mean what says, "don't ask me shit!" better than some guy with Ray Bans, Boss headphones, and eyes that are preoccupied with visions of clouds and assailant pigeons?

I say this only in jest... well kind of, but today, as I walked and got lost all over the city I realized that one of this towns most endearing qualities is it's height. In orange county/LA everything seems to be less than two stories high, leaving every one's eyes roaming at, well, eye level. So as I peered upward from brownstone to brownstone so went my camera. I actually only shot about thirty frames today, mainly because I was so caught up in the pure magnitude of everything that I forgot that I had my camera.

Just to keep everyone updated here are a few other things that happened today: WE GOT OUR FUCKING PLACE (more info to come soon with pictures and such). I ran into a photographer for Reuters; literally ran into him, and then we had coffee and I'm sending him some of my work and he said he would seriously consider talking to his bosses if my work is up to par. Went to Parsons photography department/exhibit where I was super impressed with some work, and completely blown away by others; I guess I'm going to have to work my ass off out here to make my name as a photog. And finally, I learned that if you know where you are in relation to 5th ave. at all times, it's pretty difficult to get lost in the jungle.

Oh yeah, while I do miss the shit out of everyone I've left behind, the forewarned "home sickness" has not yet kicked in. I feel like a little kid who's been running around the house for hours on a massive sugar high and hasn't realized his parents have left to go get drunk at the neighbors house. So I think once I have a job out here, and I'm not running around at mach 10 all day, you all will be receiving drunk dials with me on the other end sobbing and asking how the paper is.