Photo Journal!
Folks at a message board I go to decided to do a photo journal day. The idea is that you take at least one picture an hour and explain what your day was like. As always, I took a crapload of pictures.
If you like any of these or just want to take a closer look, you can view the Flickr Gallery at the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewblasi/sets/499930/
9:14 AM - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Today I'm starting with a cup of Bryer's low-fat yogurt. It tastes better than it looks... but not much.
I'm trying to get into a little bit better shape, so I rented this ab workout video from Netflix. I hate how chipper the instructer is, but the chicks working out with him are kinda cute.
10:01 AM - I decided that I'd try to make my photo journal interesting by giving you a bicycle tour of the town I live in. Since the temperature was supposed to get up to about 93° today, I decided I should get started early. This is my ride.
And this is an artsy shot of my ride's front wheel. Hey, there's my car in the background!
First stop: Town Liquors & Delicatessen. I worked here for a few months after I graduated from college. My brother still works here, though not today.
This is part of the Towne Deli Crew. That's Dave in the front, two newer kids that I don't know behind him, and Anthony in the back. See those meat slicers in the foreground? My brother cut off the tip of his thumb cleaning one of those once. When the doctor sewed it back on, he did so upside-down. My brother has a very unusual thumb print.
As I was riding to our next stop, I saw this doe just hanging out on a front lawn, not 15 feet away from me. NJ has a deer overpopulation problem.
This is my old elementary school, Franklin. Not much to say about it, really.
Summit Hospital. This is a mental health facility. There's a story somewhere in Something Awful's Comedy Goldmine section where a former patient talks about his experiences here. I'm too lazy to look for it though.
Every summer, the city puts a car totaled by a drunk driver on the lawn in front of the middle school. I love when they do this.
This is Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School. Lawton Johnson is a man who has worked at the middle school for close to 50 years. He's done so much for it that they decided this year to name the school for him. My ex-girlfriend works at this school, so I sort of got to know Lawton a little bit, and he's a very nice man. He's currently in the hospital, though. I hope he gets out soon.
If you look closely, you'll see that that letters above the door actually say "Summit High School" this building used to be both the high and junior high schools for Summit. The old junior high entrance is on the opposite side of the building. The current, middle school entrance is on a third side of the building, but it's much less interesting to look at.
The other reason I chose to take a picture of this side of the building was these guys. We have gargoyles on our middle school. How cool is that? Each of these dudes represents some facet of education. There are more gargoyles inside the towers on either side of the entrance.
This is our memorial green, which is just about at the center of town. In the back you can see a memorial that lists the names of local veterans who died in various wars.
This is the downtown area of Summit. I guess this is sort of our best shot at a Main Street. I like riding my bike around here. It's a clean, flat, attractive area with lots to look at.
Hey, this is where I get my hair cut! Yeah, it's a salon. Fuck you. Let's look inside!
Let's be honest, my haircuts aren't so complicated that I couldn't just go to any old barber shop. The reason I come here is because Pierre is a great guy and he knows what I like. That's him with the scissors, obviously. The girl at the desk is Mara. She works with him, and today she told me I have nice eyes. I don't know who the dude in the chair is, but he let me take his picture, so he's cool in my book.
This building is called the Summit Opera House, because apparently it used to be an opera house. Now it's a pretty good restaurant with a church on the upper levels.
Here's our local train station. It looks better from the outside than the inside, so let's not go in.
11:01 AM - I had been out for about an hour so far, and I was in the mood for an icy beverage (93°, remember?) so I stopped at this little coffee shop. There's a Starbucks right across from the train station, but I think this place has better drinks and food. Since the Starbucks first came to town, this is the third small coffee shop to open up in this space. This shop is one one corner of the block, and Starbucks is on the other. Starbucks has successfully put the last two out of business, but this place just might be good enough to survive. The owners did a smart thing by operating it as a sit-down turkish restaurant in the evenings.
Also, their blended drinks are much better than Starbucks'.
This is the view from my table at Café Mavi. Compare this to...
...The scene outside of Starbucks. Yech. It's like they're not even trying! Support your local coffee shops, kids!
New Jersey is known for its diners, and Summit is known for this one. This place is a dump. It's a little greasy-spoon hole in the wall, but we love it. The Summit Diner has been on the corner of Union Place and Summit Avenue since 1929. In the nineties, a bunch of Japanese business men tried to buy the diner to have it dismantled, shipped to Japan piece by piece, and reassembled there. Crazy.
There's this cool old horse trough right next to the Summit Diner. I just wanted to get a shot of it because I think it's neat.
Scotti's is a small chain with stores in several towns in the area. Like most independent record stores, they're having a tough time with competition from big chains like Target and Walmart. This has lead to new policies. See that sign in the window that says "LOAD YOUR IPOD!!"? They are actually encouraging customers to buy albums, rip them, and then sell them back to the store for 70% of the purchase price. I think that they're currently staying in business based primarily on their used album sales. Their prices are ridiculously low. Most new albums are sold for under $10. I doubt that my shopping habits are really helping them all that much, but I will take advantage of the deals while they last. Today I picked up Ben Folds Five's "Whatever and Ever Amen" for $12.
Yeah, the employees look like your typical indie music snobs, but they're actually pretty nice. When I went to the counter with my purchase, they started making fun of the kid who was just ahead of me in line because he was acting like a spoiled music snob. I feel like I should dislike these guys, but I don't. They've always been friendly to me.
Here's the local Fire Headquarters! Cool! The engines are out!
I'm such a little kid. A shiny red fire engine still manages to get me all worked up. I just love that look.
This is our City Hall. I had to poop, so I tried to go inside, but it was Saturday, so the doors were locked. Here's the most valuable thing I've learned as an appraiser. If you need to use a public restroom, look for a municipal building. Unless you're in a big city, their bathrooms are almost always clean.
This is the building where I work. Actually let me rephrase that: this is the building in which I am employed. I try to avoid doing any actual work.
Hey, guys! This is where I went to high school. Well, sort of. The year after I graduated they started some major renovations, and actually, you can't even seen the part of the school where I had my classes in this photo. This is all new construction from within the last 6 or 7 years.
Great! My chain slipped off the gear! Swell!
Not to worry, it was an easy fix, and I was back on my way in moments.
This is probably how the bike tour should have started, but instead we'll end with it. This is the entrance to my driveway.
From the entrance, the driveway curves around to this.
And there's the front door to my house. Don't ask why the lights are on at 12:00 in the afternoon.
Hey! Here's my dog Sprocket, welcoming me home!
12:03 PM - Yeah, I was pretty sweaty and disgusting after that 2 hour ride. Shower time!
I know that some of you are dying to see my fleshy sack, but my camera isn't waterproof, so you're out of luck. But here's a photo that leaves plenty to the imagination:
Squeaky Clean!
1:19 PM - Once my shower was done, I got on the computer and started labeling and commenting the photos I took. I knew I'd never be able to remember everything I wanted to say later.
So I guess this is my desk and computer set-up. Most of it, anyway.
I got really caught up in labeling photos. Before I knew it, it was 2:30 and I still hadn't eaten lunch! Time to make a sandwich!
Aw, man! Gross! The rolls are moldy!
Instead I made myself a turkey & cheddar sandwich on a multigrain english muffin. You'll have to trust me when I say it tastes better than it looks.
At around 4:00, I took Sprocket out to play for a little bit. He's a fast little bugger.
Look at 'im go!
5:05 PM - A little later, my ex called up and said she needed to go to Costco. Since she doesn't have a card, I have offered to go with her when she needs to.
8:21 PM - After Costco, several hours passed with nothing much happening. Here's a picture of me being bored out of my mind (please note that I'm not usually this shiny). I couldn't take it. I had to get out of the house, but I didn't really know where to go.
Ah, screw it, I'm going for a drive. This is my car. It's a Silver Jetta. When I'm feeling frisky, I refer to her as the Silver Moose.
This is what always happens. I leave the house and I come to this intersection where I have to stop and think about where it is I'm going and what the best way to get there is. My choices are right and left. At this moment, I decided to go right, towards Route 22.
This is a crappy picture of the Moose's dashboard, but I like it for some reason.
Route 22! The portion of the highway I'm driving on tonight was rated one of the most dangerous in the United States. Route 22 is basically the world's largest strip mall.
As I was driving, I decided that the plan was to go to Best Buy and pick up some relatively DVD to watch. The contents of said DVD would have to be something that didn't require very much thinking. I didn't know what I wanted, but I had a feeling I'd find it in the action, horror, or sci-fi section of the DVD asile.
Bingo!
These were also top contenders, particularly The Never-Ending Story, since, even though I've seen it 17 times, I still can't figure out what's going on in this movie.
Made a quick stop at Checker's to get some dinner.
On the drive home I took some pictures of myself singing along to my car stereo, but a friend convinced me that these were too embarassing to show to you guys. I might be convinced otherwise, though.
9:38 PM - When I got back home, I lay my feast before me, turned on Superman, and fell asleep within' the first hour. I don't know why I was so tired, but I guess that brought an end to my day.[/quote]
If you like any of these or just want to take a closer look, you can view the Flickr Gallery at the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewblasi/sets/499930/
9:14 AM - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Today I'm starting with a cup of Bryer's low-fat yogurt. It tastes better than it looks... but not much.
I'm trying to get into a little bit better shape, so I rented this ab workout video from Netflix. I hate how chipper the instructer is, but the chicks working out with him are kinda cute.
10:01 AM - I decided that I'd try to make my photo journal interesting by giving you a bicycle tour of the town I live in. Since the temperature was supposed to get up to about 93° today, I decided I should get started early. This is my ride.
And this is an artsy shot of my ride's front wheel. Hey, there's my car in the background!
First stop: Town Liquors & Delicatessen. I worked here for a few months after I graduated from college. My brother still works here, though not today.
This is part of the Towne Deli Crew. That's Dave in the front, two newer kids that I don't know behind him, and Anthony in the back. See those meat slicers in the foreground? My brother cut off the tip of his thumb cleaning one of those once. When the doctor sewed it back on, he did so upside-down. My brother has a very unusual thumb print.
As I was riding to our next stop, I saw this doe just hanging out on a front lawn, not 15 feet away from me. NJ has a deer overpopulation problem.
This is my old elementary school, Franklin. Not much to say about it, really.
Summit Hospital. This is a mental health facility. There's a story somewhere in Something Awful's Comedy Goldmine section where a former patient talks about his experiences here. I'm too lazy to look for it though.
Every summer, the city puts a car totaled by a drunk driver on the lawn in front of the middle school. I love when they do this.
This is Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School. Lawton Johnson is a man who has worked at the middle school for close to 50 years. He's done so much for it that they decided this year to name the school for him. My ex-girlfriend works at this school, so I sort of got to know Lawton a little bit, and he's a very nice man. He's currently in the hospital, though. I hope he gets out soon.
If you look closely, you'll see that that letters above the door actually say "Summit High School" this building used to be both the high and junior high schools for Summit. The old junior high entrance is on the opposite side of the building. The current, middle school entrance is on a third side of the building, but it's much less interesting to look at.
The other reason I chose to take a picture of this side of the building was these guys. We have gargoyles on our middle school. How cool is that? Each of these dudes represents some facet of education. There are more gargoyles inside the towers on either side of the entrance.
This is our memorial green, which is just about at the center of town. In the back you can see a memorial that lists the names of local veterans who died in various wars.
This is the downtown area of Summit. I guess this is sort of our best shot at a Main Street. I like riding my bike around here. It's a clean, flat, attractive area with lots to look at.
Hey, this is where I get my hair cut! Yeah, it's a salon. Fuck you. Let's look inside!
Let's be honest, my haircuts aren't so complicated that I couldn't just go to any old barber shop. The reason I come here is because Pierre is a great guy and he knows what I like. That's him with the scissors, obviously. The girl at the desk is Mara. She works with him, and today she told me I have nice eyes. I don't know who the dude in the chair is, but he let me take his picture, so he's cool in my book.
This building is called the Summit Opera House, because apparently it used to be an opera house. Now it's a pretty good restaurant with a church on the upper levels.
Here's our local train station. It looks better from the outside than the inside, so let's not go in.
11:01 AM - I had been out for about an hour so far, and I was in the mood for an icy beverage (93°, remember?) so I stopped at this little coffee shop. There's a Starbucks right across from the train station, but I think this place has better drinks and food. Since the Starbucks first came to town, this is the third small coffee shop to open up in this space. This shop is one one corner of the block, and Starbucks is on the other. Starbucks has successfully put the last two out of business, but this place just might be good enough to survive. The owners did a smart thing by operating it as a sit-down turkish restaurant in the evenings.
Also, their blended drinks are much better than Starbucks'.
This is the view from my table at Café Mavi. Compare this to...
...The scene outside of Starbucks. Yech. It's like they're not even trying! Support your local coffee shops, kids!
New Jersey is known for its diners, and Summit is known for this one. This place is a dump. It's a little greasy-spoon hole in the wall, but we love it. The Summit Diner has been on the corner of Union Place and Summit Avenue since 1929. In the nineties, a bunch of Japanese business men tried to buy the diner to have it dismantled, shipped to Japan piece by piece, and reassembled there. Crazy.
There's this cool old horse trough right next to the Summit Diner. I just wanted to get a shot of it because I think it's neat.
Scotti's is a small chain with stores in several towns in the area. Like most independent record stores, they're having a tough time with competition from big chains like Target and Walmart. This has lead to new policies. See that sign in the window that says "LOAD YOUR IPOD!!"? They are actually encouraging customers to buy albums, rip them, and then sell them back to the store for 70% of the purchase price. I think that they're currently staying in business based primarily on their used album sales. Their prices are ridiculously low. Most new albums are sold for under $10. I doubt that my shopping habits are really helping them all that much, but I will take advantage of the deals while they last. Today I picked up Ben Folds Five's "Whatever and Ever Amen" for $12.
Yeah, the employees look like your typical indie music snobs, but they're actually pretty nice. When I went to the counter with my purchase, they started making fun of the kid who was just ahead of me in line because he was acting like a spoiled music snob. I feel like I should dislike these guys, but I don't. They've always been friendly to me.
Here's the local Fire Headquarters! Cool! The engines are out!
I'm such a little kid. A shiny red fire engine still manages to get me all worked up. I just love that look.
This is our City Hall. I had to poop, so I tried to go inside, but it was Saturday, so the doors were locked. Here's the most valuable thing I've learned as an appraiser. If you need to use a public restroom, look for a municipal building. Unless you're in a big city, their bathrooms are almost always clean.
This is the building where I work. Actually let me rephrase that: this is the building in which I am employed. I try to avoid doing any actual work.
Hey, guys! This is where I went to high school. Well, sort of. The year after I graduated they started some major renovations, and actually, you can't even seen the part of the school where I had my classes in this photo. This is all new construction from within the last 6 or 7 years.
Great! My chain slipped off the gear! Swell!
Not to worry, it was an easy fix, and I was back on my way in moments.
This is probably how the bike tour should have started, but instead we'll end with it. This is the entrance to my driveway.
From the entrance, the driveway curves around to this.
And there's the front door to my house. Don't ask why the lights are on at 12:00 in the afternoon.
Hey! Here's my dog Sprocket, welcoming me home!
12:03 PM - Yeah, I was pretty sweaty and disgusting after that 2 hour ride. Shower time!
I know that some of you are dying to see my fleshy sack, but my camera isn't waterproof, so you're out of luck. But here's a photo that leaves plenty to the imagination:
Squeaky Clean!
1:19 PM - Once my shower was done, I got on the computer and started labeling and commenting the photos I took. I knew I'd never be able to remember everything I wanted to say later.
So I guess this is my desk and computer set-up. Most of it, anyway.
I got really caught up in labeling photos. Before I knew it, it was 2:30 and I still hadn't eaten lunch! Time to make a sandwich!
Aw, man! Gross! The rolls are moldy!
Instead I made myself a turkey & cheddar sandwich on a multigrain english muffin. You'll have to trust me when I say it tastes better than it looks.
At around 4:00, I took Sprocket out to play for a little bit. He's a fast little bugger.
Look at 'im go!
5:05 PM - A little later, my ex called up and said she needed to go to Costco. Since she doesn't have a card, I have offered to go with her when she needs to.
8:21 PM - After Costco, several hours passed with nothing much happening. Here's a picture of me being bored out of my mind (please note that I'm not usually this shiny). I couldn't take it. I had to get out of the house, but I didn't really know where to go.
Ah, screw it, I'm going for a drive. This is my car. It's a Silver Jetta. When I'm feeling frisky, I refer to her as the Silver Moose.
This is what always happens. I leave the house and I come to this intersection where I have to stop and think about where it is I'm going and what the best way to get there is. My choices are right and left. At this moment, I decided to go right, towards Route 22.
This is a crappy picture of the Moose's dashboard, but I like it for some reason.
Route 22! The portion of the highway I'm driving on tonight was rated one of the most dangerous in the United States. Route 22 is basically the world's largest strip mall.
As I was driving, I decided that the plan was to go to Best Buy and pick up some relatively DVD to watch. The contents of said DVD would have to be something that didn't require very much thinking. I didn't know what I wanted, but I had a feeling I'd find it in the action, horror, or sci-fi section of the DVD asile.
Bingo!
These were also top contenders, particularly The Never-Ending Story, since, even though I've seen it 17 times, I still can't figure out what's going on in this movie.
Made a quick stop at Checker's to get some dinner.
On the drive home I took some pictures of myself singing along to my car stereo, but a friend convinced me that these were too embarassing to show to you guys. I might be convinced otherwise, though.
9:38 PM - When I got back home, I lay my feast before me, turned on Superman, and fell asleep within' the first hour. I don't know why I was so tired, but I guess that brought an end to my day.[/quote]
posted by matthew at 4:31 PM
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