Too Darn Hot

The heat cut my weekly trip to Ithaca short. By noon, the heat got to me--and this is after drinking more than enough water--and decided to hightail it home.

Rather than drive into the city and pull my hair out trying to find a parking space, I parked at the Cayuga Medical Center's visitors parking lot, and took the bus in. My first stop was at the Workforce office, then Kelly Services (both are in the same building). Then I dodged the heat at Gimme! Coffee, and later purchased a one pound bag of their Hartmann Honey blend, which is very expensive, but gave off a nice aroma as I drove back.

Then I stopped off at that room that I wanted to check out. The room itself isn't bad (in need of a few repairs), but the house is occupied by older people, has no cooking quarters, and reeked of stale cigarettes. I'll keep looking...maybe. Usually, I stay in Ithaca until about 1:30 or 2, but as I mentioned, I left after checking out the room. I got a ice cream Flurry on the way home, and did a walk at the lakefront later.

Earlier tonight, I e-mailed three local car dealerships about doing driveaway service for them. My uncle does this when he's here in the summer. I want to do more traveling anyway, so why not combine work and pleasure? I might have to be careful, but it might be a lot more fun than staying in an office all day, or worse, doing customer service!

I'm also giving a lot of thought to putting together a web series. After seeing both of Lena Dunham's web shows, and I'm competent I can do something like this. I'm still planning on doing the documentary (In fact, I'm reading through one of her poetry collections now), but doing a web show will allow me to dive into narrative filmmaking without being overwhelmed with the tasks of feature filmmaking.

The Houghton House: A Photoplay

I've spent the evening packing for my trip, and putting some finshing touches on my itinerary. This afternoon I drove around and took some pictures.

Here's the pier at the Geneva Lakefront. This picture doesn't have the best composition, but in better weather, people walk out on their pier and fish.

Here's another view of the pier from the side:

Yesterday I went out to The Houghton House. I always pass by it as South Main Street turns into Route 14, and I always wanted to go into the building once I got my license. Yesterday was my lucky day! This is a view of the main house:

Behind the house is yard with a sunken garden. Here are several views of the garden, which I'm sure would look much better on a nicer day:

The Houghton House hosts Hobart & William Smith's Art Department. There were many student works of art on display, especially in this alcove pictured below:

I also spent a substantial amount of time shooting video inside the house as well. It's beautiful, and I think it would make for a great location someday.

Ithaca: Another Photoplay

Yesterday I scored 22/28 on the census test. You only needed to have 10 questions right to pass. After I passed, they gave me a brochure which explains "what happens now".

Today I went back to Ithaca, for two reasons: 1.) Because I wanted to go one more time before I went to Austin, and 2.) Now that Spring will be here sooner rather than later, I wanted to get accustomed to driving distances again.

At 10am, I had a waxing appointment at the same Beauty Shop of the Woman who kicked me out last December. She waxed my chin and eyebrows, and the whole thing cost me $54. $22 for the eyebrows, and $16 each for the upper chin and the lower chin. She showed me price list, so she wasn't overcharging me out of anger. I'll never patronize her business again.

Other than getting stiffed, my day went very well. I went to the library, dropped off one book, picked up another. Then I walked around and took some pictures:

This is the office for The Ithaca Times, Ithaca's "alternative" paper. Last fall, I wrote them, offering to write movie reviews. Maybe they don't need me, but they couldn't have sent a "Thanks, but no thanks" letter. After all, I go to festivals and stay on top of that stuff. It's a shitty time for newspapers all around, but still.

A few years ago, someone tried to launch another alternative paper, but alas, that didn't happen. Which is a shame, because Ithaca could use an edgier publication. The Ithaca Times, IMO, is every bit as alternative as Lawrence Welk.

The above are all pictures I took at the Cascadilla Gorge. (A couple of the files are listed as "Fall Creek"; I only noticed the mistake after I uploaded them to Photobucket, and PB doesn't allow me to rename them.) It may be March, and while we haven't had a serious snowfall in awhile, as you can see that much of the Gorge is still embedded with ice. With the temperatures going up, I'm sure it will start to melt soon.

I passed this RV on the walk back from the Fall Creek Gorge. (One of the pictures will appear on the cover of the zine.) For awhile now, I've sort of fantasized about living out of an RV while I work on future projects and continue to travel to festivals. It would sure save money on rent, but I know my family would be very concerned about my safety (and rightfully so). I don't this RV is up for sale, though.

Bush may be out of office, but I think the blue bumper sticker is still funny.

On my way back, I stopped in Interlaken, where a '85 Ford Econoline Van was up for sale. It has 345,000 miles on it, and it's being offered for $1650. It looked intriguing to me because it had a lot of camper amenities, would satiate my desire for travel. Unfortunately, I have no job to pay for it, and I have no idea how much the insurance will cost.

The weather was in the upper 40s/low 50s most of the day, so I wore my sweatshirt on top of my long sleeves. Tomorrow, they're talking about it going into the '50s, so I guess it's back to the lakefront for another walk!

No FLFF for Me!

There was no I couldn't go out there--I got out to Route 14 and had to turn around. It was too dark, I was too nervous, and I'm a little fatigued (I've been going to bed fairly early). It's hard to feel your foot on the accelerator with your boots on. My mother had told me that if she had known I'd be nervous, she would've gone out there with me.

Maybe another time.

Back to work...man, I hate parking.

Had it! Had it! Had it!

Earlier tonight, I tried to back my father's truck out of the very narrow driveway, and almost broke the mirror on the passenger side door. I'm going to try and get the truck out again tomorrow. I wrote a note to the people who owned the station wagon next to it...hopefully, I'll get them to back their car out so I can back mine. I'm going back to my mother's house and staying overnight to get a few things because...

I started my job on Wednesday. I came in Monday, packed to stay until Thursday, and found out Tuesday afternoon that they wanted me the next day. I had to do laundry after I got back Wednesday. Otherwise, I really like my job so far. My supervisor is a very nice guy, and asked me about my filmmaking. I think it's a very good opportunity for me get an opportunity to use my Computer Art Degree...five years after I recieved it.

But back to my truck. I'm sick of having to take the truck back & forth and panic every time I go to park it. I told both my parents that I don't want to drive it anymore. Pray to God I hope I can get out there without an accident.

Meanwhile, my fundraiser has started. Donate what you can!