Emily August

Rory was burning data off of all these old laptops, 3.5" floppy disks, and CDs we had been hanging on to. (He's sending all this technology to GreenDisk, which is a company that recycles technology.) I can't believe he found photos I had no idea existed.

I'm a pretty sentimental person and I hang on to everything (literally, metaphorically). I tend to hang on to relationships, cassette tapes, piles of writing that is neither useful nor enjoyable to read, you name it. Being such an aesthetically-motivated person, I also usuallly remember a great deal of images. So, I was surprised to find I didn't remember these photos at all and it took me a long time to try and remember when and how they came about.

These were from college, I guess, but at the very end. This was that last semester when I was working a full-time job, taking a poetry class, and finishing my thesis project on Bob Dylan while going slightly crazy. This is when I was writing zines, interviewing bands a lot, hosting shows in my parents' backyard, and trying to keep my head above water. After the job at the law school, but before the job on Wall Street. Yep. There you have it.

I thought I wasn't going to do a self-portrait post this week, but the universe went ahead and practically did this for me. I'm feeling so emo now.

From the PhotoJoJo newsletter:

Admit it: You desperately want to post photos of yourself, but you’re afraid to look vain.... Today, Tumblr users rock the self-portrait with Gratuitous Picture of Yourself Wednesday (GPOYW). GPOWY is an internet-wide wave for self-portraits... It’s okay to post a picture of yourself. On Wednesdays.





Why these me's? Neither of these photos is retouched, and both were taken on Mac Photobooth. I guess its kind of a weightloss theme this week, via my Flickr archives. Visible are both my comfy workout gear, and my sort of awkward arm band I wear to track my exertion levels and calories spent... its great, and I forget I'm wearing it, plus it looks like I am in some sort of anarchist movement sometimes if all you see is the black elastic. March onward into March, we'll see you next week!

Speaking of Flickr, if you are a Jersey City resident, join my group on Flickr!

From the PhotoJoJo newsletter:

Admit it: You desperately want to post photos of yourself, but you’re afraid to look vain.... Today, Tumblr users rock the self-portrait with Gratuitous Picture of Yourself Wednesday (GPOYW). GPOWY is an internet-wide wave for self-portraits... It’s okay to post a picture of yourself. On Wednesdays.





Why these me's? Neither of these photos was taken with a proper camera, but an old cell phone and a Mac Photobooth application, and both are focused on the eyes. Both retouched using the Picnik app on Flickr.

Speaking of Flickr, if you are a Jersey City resident, join my group on Flickr!

This was one of my favorite creepy movies when I was a kid. It was one of those rare Disney creations that had the guts to creep you out and leave story lines a bit loose, so that even if the movie made no sense, you still enjoyed it. I love the fashion and hair in this movie, plus all the scenes that take place in the woods. I also love that the little sister kind of becomes possessed and talks in a monotone voice at one point, while writing backwards on a dusty window. Ah, childhood!

Happy Halloween from VampirEmily (sans fangs).



Is there a ghost in my house? referencing the song (wow major beard)



Happy Halloween from Groovy GhouliEmily



Happy Halloween from Fever Ray I mean me.



I got the power!

These were all taken on MacBook PhotoBooth with no retouching. That halo of soft light is just the overcast day outside coupled with our semi-yellow kitchen bulbs. Loving the light in our kitchen today! It makes me think of oldschool photos and magazine shoots.

Just a quick little post to tell you not to worry. I'm still alive and kicking, and I've been working very hard behind the scenes to develop a new web site, as well as a photography portal to share my photo work with clients. Its become quite necessary to put a process in place so that I can quickly process my creative work in a consumable way, and I've struggled with how to keep the casual feeling of my go go distro blog.




Here's the lowdown:

You don't have to change any RSS feeds whatsoever, and you'll still be able to read my blog on Blogger, or you can hop on over to emilyaugust.com and subscribe to the new RSS feed there. It will essentially be replicating exactly what I put into Blogger, so if you are comfortable here, please stay. I like that I can keep all of the social linking aspects tied to Google and Blogger while trying out my grownup blog on Wordpress. This whole process has been a learning experience and I would be happy to consult with other bloggers looking for help on this topic!

I must say a big Thank You to Rory Nugent for helping me figure this out!

I'm also restructuring my flickr pages and images to make that more navigable and as a result, I'm breaking image links left and right! If there are any images you can't see in my blog posts, or if you've linked to one of my images in the past and now find it missing, please let me know. Thanks, as always, for reading. It means a lot to me to hear from family and friends (and awesome strangers) alike.

I have been brain dead for almost a week, now. Something happened last week, after a few days of lost sleep and intense work productivity, my brain SNAPPED SHUT and hasn't reopened for business since.



We had a whirlwind weekend of a wedding and a craft fair... and in the midst of that I pulled a muscle in my neck (loading craft fair stuff to the car, I think), lost my wallet with everything important inside, and generally fell to pieces. I would say I need a holiday but I have spent enough time sleeping this off to say that maybe even a holiday wouldn't work. I guess its the natural ebb and flow of things to sometimes be up and sometimes be down. I'm feeling like this low is nothing short of comical with the amount of trouble I'm having just doing normal things. Words are jumping out at me and rearranging themselves into other words. I'm mishearing the English language, forgetting to eat lunch, and totally blanking on people's names. I wonder if this what its like to be senile, or maybe I should be on an episode of House.



Tonight we are going to see Benoît Pioulard at Le Poisson Rouge. He has been a favorite in our apartment for a long time. Rory has some polaroids from him. I can't wait for the show.

With the change of seasons, I've found respite in life away from the Internet. I'm trying to force myself back to Earth, but relishing in a change of pace in the meantime. I have a lot of work to do for the upcoming Craft Mafia event this weekend, and Rory and I have also been trying to get out and explore the Great Outdoors. Just this weekend, Rory and I went for a jog in 80-degree sunshine in Liberty State Park, grabbed delicious Indian food in Journal Square, and spent more time than we meant to with friends. I missed a few of my obligations because we timed things poorly, but it was still really nice to spend the weekend together.

I am feeling great lately. This is such a nice change from the consistently cold, miserable weather we've had otherwise!



At work, we are finishing a few big projects and I'm tackling a change of guard in a few key areas of our business development. Everything has been ramping up and taking off, and our hard work is paying off. Its a really nice feeling all around.

The photo above was taken from my new Blackberry Storm. Those are my coworkers, Scout and Mausen, relaxing on some shipping materials from print materials I designed. Having a Blackberry is a totally new experience for me, and it is contributing to my overall sense of "having it together". I love it!

The Influx of Things We Can Do Without



Typically when I tell friends that I sell on ETSY, presuming they know what ETSY is, they have one of two reactions:


They say:

1. Oh, that's great! What do you sell?

-or-

2. Oh. Yeah, I've been on that site. There's a lot of... interesting... stuff...



Stuff. Meaning junk so offensively poorly made and/or poorly presented that you wouldn't buy it from your own grandmother if she was having a yard sale to raise funds for her prescription meds. Inwardly I always cringe at that second response. I hope you don't think I'm being mean by saying so but it is really easy to spot those trying to make a quick buck from something that they've put no time or effort into perfecting. Try to think of your art as something requiring discipline and attention. Take the time to craft an image and a story behind what you're doing. Pick your schtick and stick to it until you are proud of it, then ask yourself if you would want to buy what you are uploading. But, like, seriously. Would you really?

Now, please don't take that last sentiment as discouragement. I want you to challenge yourself to actually create, authentically create! Learn your craft and do it well. Seek some help from a friend with great photos to figure out how they do it (I owe this to one friend who is asking me and I can't wait to go help as soon as I can). Become a cleaner knitter. Learn to finish the raw edges in your garments. Take the time to do something other than the easy way out.


BE AUTHENTIC

Another trend is blogging for advertising dollars, instead of putting a real love and attention to detail into content. It sounds like a fundamental truth of keeping a blog, to be yourself, but I'm sure we've all gotten the comments on blogs from those just fishing for comments on their own posts.

Instead, stand out and Be Authentic. It is so important to your personal brand and establishes a level of trust with your audience immediately. I favor authenticity and new perspectives, and Hikaru's shop was the perfect example for me to express that.




Now, I say this as I know I have work to do on my own shop! How about you?