top ten of '06 - this list is making me not so depressed already!
10. the kate nelson show at continental. i think this girl is awesome. and i love her. and think she's super ballsy. she did a cast of me in february, which was one of the most surreal experiences ever. i felt like one of those plasticized bodies at the science place. i think she totally has it going on and look forward to working with her more in the future and seeing what else she has in store for us all.
9. roy and laura's wedding. it was my favorite event to shoot all year. i think they make a lovely couple and were so authentic in their vow exchange. plus, it was straight-up fun with catering by kalachanjiis.
8. yaris works. it was a ton of work but such a great thing to put on the resume. it was fun coming up with all the ideas with andrea and then seeing if they would work or not. and not on our dime! the only drawback? er, it was august and in texas. that was just dumb. check out the tah-dahs video that we shot as a community at good records using a ton of disposable video cameras. youmans did the editing.
7. primer. getting my hands on a 10,000 sq foot warehouse and putting on a multi-media art event was effing awesome. the artists were tim stokes, kate nelson, john holt, nevada hill, and ron radwanski. the band? an experimental noise ensemble called zanzibar snails. i thought they were genius live, albeit a little loud. eric sachs projected old 16 mm footage behind the band and dj sober played between sets. budweiser ponied up the booze and a few hundred people filled the space out the the max. the best part? it was my birthday that night.
6. travels with the family. this summer we went to visit my mother in missouri and brought home a new kitten. and in september, we went to my favorite place in planet earth... my grandmother's ranch in south texas. eva and jiri are always my favorite subjects to shoot. they're gorgeous.
5. parties at my house. there's nothing more wonderful than having people over. from paul's surprize party, to the off-the-hook halloween party and everything in between. i must have been martha stewart in another lifetime.
4. full moon croquet. what started as a lark in aug 05, turned out to be a super fun monthly gathering of assorted characters. dec 06 marked the last one... oi, i'm nostalgic already. the set is off my porch and it already looks a little lonely now. hmm. perhaps full moon scrabble? or baci ball? anyone? anyone?
3. art con II. holy crap. i don't know how we pulled that thing off. i still haven't dealt with the pictures i took. it's way too overwhelming. but allison v. smith took some photos that were absolutely stellar. over 1000 people crammed into the longhorn ballroom and literally FREAKING OUT about buying art. so much so that the poor bands didn't get much attention. i've never seen anything like it. as event producer and art coordinator, i was a non-eating, non-sleeping mess until it was over. it never would have been pulled off though without the slew of hard working volunteers and artists and musicians. a bow to jason roberts, my partner in crime on that deal. here's to art con III next year, dude.
2. la reunion. yeah, one year ago i had no idea that this thing would be off the ground and gearing up for an amazing year of programming in 07. it's really exciting to be a part of it and wonderful to have such great community support. it hasn't been easy in some instances, but it has been unimaginably satisfying. it's great to be throwing myself into something i believe in. not only are we forming an artist residency, but it'll be as green and off-grid as possible once built. the land is beautiful and all the people involved have been amazing.
1. living in dallas. this is such a great place to be right now. as tempting as it would be to move and reinvent ourselves, it's way cooler be able to head out any night of the week and catch a great band featuring personal friends. or check out an awesome art exhibit. or eat for cheap at one of the many veggie places we frequent. i'm thankful for all the blessings of 2006 and for paul and the kids who put up with me unconditionally.
