the wall in cambridge

time to start stealing
Originally uploaded by florajasmine

here's a shot from my visit to the wall in cambridge, right off of mass ave. over the past few weeks a ton of local and non-local artists have come by and put up their work courtesy of an art guy (www.not-rocket-science.com/) and a restaurant guy (www.enormous.tv). awesome move to take street art and make it accessible, legal, and collaborative.

i only found that this event was even occurring due to my random contacts on flickr. other street artist and street art fans all collecting and sharing their work over there. i saw a flyer for it listed on someone else's page. coincidence that i was even in boston this weekend. after a weekend of eagles, celtics and sox games, i finally got my butt in gear and made it over to the location. i could not convince any of my friends to go with me. so sad. why are none of my friends into graffiti? i need to find a few street art friendly friends.

so yeah. it was kinda chilly but the sun was shining brightly. i got to spend a while taking it all in, cos it was definitely overwhelming at first. the work of over 20 artists all piled on top of each other. the alley where the art was is under a canopy of colored plates which added a different layer onto the already brightly decorated wall.

while i was there some of the artists were hanging out, adding some finishing touches and pasting up a few more layers. of course, because i'm a loser, i didn't talk to anyone. i just walked around taking pictures and soaking it up. it was fun to have the work of all these guys and girls that i spot around boston all showing up in a single place. the city does really need to have more installations like this. san antonio too. i think san antonio does a big show every couple years whereas boston is definitely lacking, but this was a good step forward. if i ever get my act together i'd definitely love to help organize something like this. of course, then i'd really have a reason to talk to the artists and say something more intelligent than, 'awesome piece, dude!'

because the alley is a main walkway in central square, lots of people encountered the work on there way to somewhere else. retired couples, families, businessmen and street kids all walked through the alley while i was there. and at least half of them stopped to take a closer look or snap a picture with their cellphone. beyond satisfying street art junkies like me, this is why i love exhibitions- it helps other people encounter and appreciate street art that they might otherwise not stop to pay attention to. i saw a little boy staring with his mouth wide open and then tracing his finger along one stencil. an older woman walking with her husband stopped to rub her hand over a pasteup, getting a real 'feel' for the art as it was hung. it all made me happy.

many thanks to the organizers and artists who participated in this exhibition. it was totally awesome and definitely a highlight to my weekend. even though time wise, much of my weekend was spent hanging out with great friends watching sporting events, the 30 minutes or less i spent alone in an alley staring at paint dry - that was probably my favorite. i'm just weird that way.

UPDATE: ok. so the boston red sox winning the world series around midnight. also a favorite part of my weekend. for sure. yay sox!!! my fan-dom has definitely increased since the last one back in my college days. phenomenal.

how i roll

how i roll
Originally uploaded by florajasmine

a little pic from this past weekend. it's a self portrait, if you will. a little pic can tell you a lot. if u know how to read it...

chucks always. and i was trying a new thing with my already skinny jeans that day.

the fold over and roll technique. i definitely used to rock this in like 3rd grade. it's awesome. i'm going to working on bring it back.

who needs sexyback when you can have jeanrollback?

ok. that's not funny. i'll stop now...

how they do it down south

so. while i still spend my work days in boston, i am officially part of the austin office.

today was a training session for people from the dallas and austin offices of my company. it was my first time meeting any one from texas offices. i was nervous about the whole 'walk into a giant room where you know no one' thing. but i've done it before. and of course, all these people were texans, so it was easy to sit down and find people to talk to right off the bat. i know that i work for a huge, global company and everytime i meet people from different places i'm amazed at how similar our work experiences are. and the whole 'it's a small world' piece of it also. it's awesome when i meet someone who knows someone else i know.

so anyways. we went over a series of situations that can come up at work, on the client site, and how to approach them. the seminar's faculty gave advice on how to take ownership of our careers and make sure we continue to develop our skill sets. so you know... some good stuff. general people and client management stuff that can definitely yield results going forward.

but the one thing that stuck out to me the most today- which is not particularly career focused but is definitely related - was the percentage of married people in attendance. this company function was focused on people at my level, who for the most part are mid to late twenties. and i would say that at least 90% were wearing wedding rings.

obviously, i'm used to senior level people in my company being married. but seeing people my age - all married off, it's weird. things just aren't like that in boston. yes, there are definitely young people in boston that are married. i friends with a few. and a few engaged people here and there. but it's definitely not the majority.

i ate lunch with three women and a large part of our conversation involved, 'my husband this...' or 'my in-laws that...' then they turned to me, "flora- are you married?" um. no! boyfriend? still no... cue awkward silence.

it's weird feeling so out of place due to my marital status. my non-existent marital status.

yes, of course i would like to find a nice guy to date. that'd be awesome. i'm generally open to meeting new people and i'd love to find a boy.

but come on now. seriously? i could not possibly see marriage in my near future. at all. i'm such a kid. focused on me, myself and i. and sometimes the world as a whole. but mostly- me.

these texans. already all married off by the age of 25. i don't get it. i'm not fitting in. also every single person i met today besides the two foreigners (UK and France) went to college in texas and lived here for most of their adult lives. UT, TAMU, baylor, SMU, texas state, UNT. also, so not me. i was the only weirdo who'd wandered off for college, and then was crazy/smart/dumb enough to return to the homeland. at least people had heard of boston college. of course, i know our recent success in football is a factor in my school's brand recognition.

however. they did all say, y'all regularly. and there was almost an aggie/horn throwdown which was thouroughly entertaining. and they all know where grapevine mills is and the awesomeness of chick-fil-a and have visited san antonio beyond the rivewalk. texans. i love them. i am them. kind of.

novel distribution

i've downloaded the new radiohead album, in rainbows. i've only been able to listen to a bit of it so far on borrowed headphones because i left my own back at the hotel.

a dinner with the work crew tonight which means i wont get to listen to it then either...

so it seems that the big in rainbows listening experience will be postponed until tomorrow.

no big deal, i suppose. i'm not even the hugest of radiohead fans. really, the only reason i have these tracks on their release date is because i wanted to take part in the great economic experiment that is going on at inrainbows.com. pay what you want for the download. it's interesting. yes, there is the boxed set at a standard price which you can purchase which is very like the old system. and i see how some could say this 10.10 release is just an opportunity for the band to make a few bucks and a lot of marketing ground off an advance leak that silly patrons pay for instead of downloading.

but really- letting the market set their price- it's cool. it's new. it's different.

all the economist and marketers (and i'm betting record labels) are eager to get their arms around all sorts of data like how many people bought and how much did they actually pay when there was no bar and no supervision. 1 pence or 100 pounds, whatever you like, even nothing. people are paying at different rates based on their individual valuation of the goods. i'd love to see this data and analysis as well. i'm a nerd. i know. but it could be the start of a change in music distribution. i mean, I paid for it... where usually i'd just download it or copy from a friend. so they got my pound-forty-five, which is 100% more than i would have normally given to thom and crew...

now. if only i could listen to all that i paid for... though i can confess from the first few tracks- i'm digging it. and i've heard its a grower.

so... i'm still alive and other things

wow. i haven't written here in a bit, eh? considering i go some periods with 1 or more updates each day... having nothing to say to the internet for a whole 2 weeks. like, whoa dude. :p

probably havent posted lately due to the fact that most of my waking hours are spent: at the office, in a car, at the airport, eating unhealthy foods, outside with my family, inside with my friends, or laid out with eyes half open trying to watch the new season of some show on the tele...

yeah. living la vida loca, that's me.

um. no. not quite.

work is still ok-ish. might be getting better, hopefully wont take a turn for the worse. i'm actually interested in what i'm starting on now and i think this is definitely related to something i can work with long term. more than developer code and data tables. only, weird thing is... that stuff is still sometimes cool to me. i'm so strange.

traveling sucks. straight up. the back and forth is long and i get delays and missed flights and random nights spent not where i'd prefer... during the next month i'm cutting my flights down to every other week so it'll be alot better for my sanity and a little better for the earth. i really feel so bad about all the flights i'm taking and all the trees i'm killing. (yes. environmental guilt. i'm full of it.)

however. seeing the family every weekend has been fantastic. i love it. i love them all and this is why i asked for the transfer and why i am ok with the delays and long hours spent in airports. cos at the end of it i get to see the most important people a lot more often. so cutting back on the flights is going to kinda suck cos it means i'm cutting back on this texas family time i'm just sinking my teeth into... hmm. boo.

but. i am saving money. which now... two years into the working world i'm actually putting an effort towards. mostly cos i have a goal of buying a house asap. i feel like i need a big investment. and real estate property is it. living with my mommy lets me save money at a faster rate then when i flushed it down the toilet every month living in boston, aka paid rent.

living at home with the fam is good. i know a lot of kids my age say they couldn't handle being en casa with their parentals again after leaving the nest only a few years ago. maybe i'm different since i havent really lived home-home full time since i was 16. dunno. i like it. they're nice to me, they love me, they feed me, they let me take naps when i want- it's a good arrangement for now. we do have our squabbles where we yell or cry or i pinch them to show my displeasure. but then we get over it and make up. it's all very normal i think. only apparently this child/parent relationship i've got going on is abnormal compared to the scenes of my peers... hmm. don't get it.

so yeah.

i'm in boston or san antonio or somewhere in between 100% of my time. looks to be the ongoing plan for the next few months. i can handle it. i can make it fun. i can make it enjoyable. i can.

tomorrow night: san antonio heat and southtown's first friday with my bro. we have to do some surveying of the scene/ market research for my other big goal i'm working on/saving for... to be announced.