The other day while passing there with Alex, I pointed out the fact that it was the building from Ghostbusters. Alexs face lit up and the next couple of minutes were spent standing in the cold while he tried to capture the massive structures appeal into his tiny phone. The next day we went back with notebooks, pens, paper, and tiny scissors. We spent the day in the library drawing and writing on top of 100 year old thick wooded tables, trying to restrain laughter, and following helpful hand drawn maps to simply find the restrooms.

I love finding places in the middle of such a loud and congested city that are a safe haven for high ceilings, bright sunshine, temperature control, and silence. I love replacing memories of defeat with better ones.

Someday I want to make a list of all the things I’ve failed at, and try them again. Its hard to think of how different my life would be if I gave up after I first felt defeated by:

• chopsticks
• photoshop
• understanding the appeal of Sade

I love giving things in life a second chance. Heres some other things I love in my life, right now:

Bun-less burgers

Putting things down on paper before saying it

Old comic book covers

Top left to bottom Right: Running around in my brand new Converse high tops after two years of wearing nothing but Doc Martens and high heels; Cute tupperware, Posing like Lionel; ridiculously bendy straws

Being aware enough to know when I’m hungry, that my eyes are always bigger than my stomach

Visually organized collections of things

Double double protein style burger from In N Out. Jesus Christ!

When someone sits in a way that I can see the soles of their shoes

Riding bikes and neglecting the seat as much as possible, to imagine what it would feel like if I could fly with absolutely other purpose than to be able glide

My label maker. Pushing the trigger to imprint every letter is SO satisfying

Blaming my hair for unimportant mistakes of which I don’t care to explain

Honorable Mentions:

• Dog dreaming noises
• The crackling loop of a record
• When Alex refers to me in diminutives
• Tove Janssons Moominpappa characters
• Debilitatingly good back rubs
• Pouring hot water directly onto a tea bag
• Getting under newly washed sheets and freshly shaved legs
• Being luck enough to see Refused play in San Francisco and New York within the same week
• The taste of something healthy after you’ve eaten far too many sweets
• The first day in a new bra
• Warm poptarts
• Going to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the theater
• Single serving ice creams with those cute yet unusable spoons
• LP’s that come with mp3 downloads
• Having some of my photos up for sale on Zerofriends!
• Imagining how much more fun it would be if the Occupy movement was more like the fight to keep the community center in Breakin’ 2
• A dry sponge in the sink just waiting to be expanded by the hot suddsy water that I’m inevitably about to feed it
• Alexs grandma for calling me a “skinny little thing” and putting a snake in a choke hold
• Singing the Jigglypuff song
• Getting film back from my favorite developing place in the city
• Saying the words “hiccup” and “cherry coke”

While I was telling Alex about my admiration for water, he blew my mind by telling me about these parks that are filled with them!

So the other week, we decided to fly from our respective homes, meeting in Las Vegas and going on a road trip in search of a water park.

We were told about a place about 2 hours west of Vegas called Lake Dolores. The drive was easy enough, it just took a little back peddling off of the highway to get to and it was SO worth it to go on an off season, like we did.

We found a great parking spot

and walked up to see that they had changed the name of the place.

There was a huge lack of staffing, which we assumed was probably due to the bad economy. Undeterred by this fact, and the unusual appearance, we entered.

The best part of going to a water park on an off season is that there are no lines!

It was so much fun in the park that I almost didn’t realize that there was almost no water…

While we were there, Alex and I played some video games and even made a new friend who lived in a near by bog!

at first, our new friend seems a little…timid

but after he warmed up to us a bit, I guess you could say he had a pretty good sense of humor.

I had a great trip to Lake Dolores and didn’t want to leave but Alex and I are planning a trip back to have water park picnic real soon.

I don’t know how I lucked into covering such a high end ordeal, because I would consider my “style” a cross between a bum, a grandfather, and a degenerate from 1995 but I’m going to go ahead and embrace that mix as I frolic through tents and buildings for the next seven days.

If you happen to see me and my camera out and about and want to say hi and give me high fives, heres what I may be wearing!

My hat was made for me last Christmas by Reggie. It was specially made, in black, for our loveably big headed friend Handroll. I loved it so much that I asked for one of my own, but its so big, that its now usually held onto m head with a slew of bobby pins.

I got my sweater for a buck from some crazy old man who was selling a garbage bag full of clothes in front of a Rite Aid in the upper west side. I cut up a Black Flag shirt that I’ve worn to the point of no return, through out the years, and attached it to my sweater with some thread and safety pins

After my personal struggles with my favorite English shoes now being made in China, I finally caved and bought a new pair of Docs. Although the leather is a little weaker and the eyelets are made of plastic and not metal, I can get behind the fact that they cost half the price. Also, I broke them in within a week without bleeding from my heel!

It was a windy 20 degrees, when I put the self timer on a pile of abandon Christmas trees and shot these photos and although I don’t wear a winter jacket, heres the secret to how I kept myself warm.

I’m excited to see how other people plan on keeping themselves warm while showing off their fancy outfits, this week!