Category: General

Categories
Chicago Design General

Johalla Projects Presents: ‘POCKET CHANGE’

I’m usually not one to blog about other people’s events, but I truly believe that my friend Anna and Johalla Projects are up to good things here.

‘POCKET CHANGE’ is a collaboration art/music series with The Empty Bottle. The event is being held to raise money to fund public arts projects throughout Chicago.

This Thursday, Feb 20, 2014, at 9 P.M. ‘POCKET CHANGE’ will feature the work of Ryan Duggan entitled ‘LAST CALL O-MATIC.’ Ryan will install a modified vending machine that will dispense “last call” pick up lines and fake phone numbers.

Additionally, the event will feature a DJ set by Heather Gabel. Heather is a fantastic artist in her own right, probably best known for her work with the band Alkaline Trio.

Admission is $5 and includes a complimentary Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The last of these events was in October and featured the work of Heather Gabel and Matt Skiba at which I shot this image as part of my Impossible Year project:

Heather Gabel, Anna Cerniglia, and Matt Skiba at the Empty Bottle

So come on down and enjoy great art, listen to great music, and help make Chicago more interesting. All while enjoying everyone’s favorite low-brow brew. What’s not to like?

I’ll be there for sure. Hope to see you there!

Check out the event on Facebook

Categories
Chicago General

Grateful for You

A Polaroid of some of my friends, including Matt Ryd.

I often say that the most important thing in my life is my friends.

And I’m pretty fortunate to have many friends in many different places.

A few months back, I lost a dear friend, Matt Ryd, when he took his own life. Someone who I was close with but regret not being even closer with.

Since moving to Chicago in 2007, I’ve found myself in a beautiful community of nerds, artists, comedians, and musicians.

One of the central figures of this community was Matt. We met through mutual friends, he welcomed me in with open arms, and we became friends. I’d look forward to seeing him at his shows or other ones in the community.

Now, suddenly he’s gone.

Since he left, our quirky little community has banded together around his loss. We’ve put together three concerts in his name to raise money and awareness for causes he found dear.

Even departed, he still sits in the center. In losing Matt, I’ve discovered a lot about myself and found some great new friends in the process. And I don’t think I’m alone in this. While I’d give anything to have him back, this is proof that every cloud has a silver lining.

Thanksgiving was a few days ago, and various friends of mine were posting the things they were grateful for in their Facebook statuses.

I simply posted:

“I’m grateful for you.”

I mean it. Especially you though, Matt.

Thank you.

Categories
General Photography

An Event Apart Chicago 2012

Categories
General

ILD Bike MS: Tour De Farms 2012

I should have posted this much sooner, but I’ve been busy. Perhaps too busy, but it’s never too late:

This weekend I will be riding, with my good friend Laura, in the ILD Bike MS: Tour De Farms 2012 to raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis.

MS is a cause that is very important to me. Growing up, I saw the disease devastate, and eventually take the life of, my “Aunt” Kathy, my mother’s best friend.

I’ve set a small goal of $400, but I’d like to blow it out of the water; if you’re interested in helping out, you can donate here. It is tax-deductible and goes to a very good cause.

Thanks.

Categories
General Travels

Whatever happened to that trip you were taking?

It’s been a little while since I’ve updated, and my apologies for that. I’m at a bit of a crossroads for Subism.com. I want to revamp the site to add a store, but I also want to integrate a responsive web design layout. Unfortunately, things require learning a lot, and I’ve been pre-occupied.

As you may recall, or if you scroll down two entries, late last year, I was working on a social media travel experiment. The gist of it was that I was backpacking through Europe via train. Along the way, I was taking people’s suggestions and recommendations via social media about where to go and what to do. The intention was to report it here and share the total findings at this year’s SXSW interactive festival.

For a while, I was posting daily; then, it crept down to posting once per city, and then finally, I found out that the SXSW panel was rejected. While that took a lot of the wind out of my sails, I intended to keep going regardless. I kept collecting data and working on it daily, just the same. I have a Moleskine notebook filled with notes, a ton of “starred” Tweets, and gigabytes of photos to share. However, the issue that remains is what to do with it all. Without the panel as a destination, how the data is presented requires dramatic rethinking. I will compile it with conclusions at some point, but right now, I’m unsure exactly what that will look like.

Aside from the SXSW rejection, my trip was abruptly cut short due to a death in my family. Despite my abrupt return to the states, I had still planned to head back out towards Asia and Oceania. However, after a little while, it became clear that it simply wasn’t the right time for me to do so.

All that said, I’ve been busy since my return. I’m working on a few different projects that I will hope to share sometime soon. I’ve also been spending a lot more time over on my Tumblr.

One of the things I will elaborate on very soon is something I’m calling The Impossible Year. Feel free to check it out ahead of time if you wish.

Cheers!

PS – The book is still on sale!