Tag Archives: Unique Experiences

Winter Sunset at the Hudson River Park

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It’s been far too long since I’ve posted anything on my blog.  Making the move to NYC has been fun and work has been a huge time commitment, but I’m loving it.  I get to do what I love, live in the city of my dreams, and in the end that makes the crazy hours and high stress lifestyle more than worth it.  But more on that in the next few weeks.

One of my favorite activities to do in the city is walk.  I put in my headphones, put on some music, and just walk.  Lately I’ve been taking Friday afternoon and walking from my office on 51st and Broadway down to the tip of Manhattan and the Financial District.  It’s a rather long walk, but it’s more than worth it.  For someone who spent a large portion of his college summers traveling, it’s a reminder that living in NYC is like living in hundred  different places while never moving more than 10 miles.  Three blocks and you can move from a Asian metropolis to a Russian enclave.  It’s seriously that diverse.

Last week before our quick snow, I was walking down the Hudson River Park on the west side of Manhattan.  Near the end of my walk, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to capture this spectacular winter sunset over New Jersey.  I keep forgetting my trusty Nikon D300, but luckily the iPhone 4 has a pretty amazing camera built into it…  Like the adage says, it’s not the camera, it’s the photographer and the moment.

http://www.briandavidjoyner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/NYC-Hudson-Park.jpeg

 

Hello New York City. Yes, You’re My New Home

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So yes, it is official.  I accepted a job offer and now live/work in the Big Apple.  So as a way to celebrate, I decided to take advantage of the amazing weather and walk from Central Park to Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge.  I was even asked to take a couple’s picture as they started on the bridge.  Turns out 5 minutes later at the top, they got engaged.  I don’t have access to my iMac and Photoshop yet, so these are extremely raw.  Still, they came out excellent.  Enjoy.  Click on the photo below for the set.

Empire State Building

Eagle Scout Project

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It’s been almost 7 years since I planned and built my Eagle Scout Project while a member of Troop 45 in Chapel Hill.  I thought I would go visit it earlier today (and finally take a few good pictures) and see how it is doing.  Just for a little background info, the project is located in Camp Chestnut Ridge and was completed in 2004.  If you are interested in the write up, it’s here and in PDF.  The base plans (we modified them somewhat for the project) can be found here.

And a few from when we were building it.

Not Getting the Job, but Making the Right Connection

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The business world is a tough place.  And if you think it’s going to get better in the near future, let me introduce you to this novel concept called reality.  It’s something that the governments of the world are currently being introduced to (If you are unfamiliar with Marx’s Das Kapital; it’s a long, often difficult to understand set of works discussing the functions of capitalism, the history of capitalism, and most importantly, Marx’s famed view on capitalism’s diminishing rate of profit.  Like I said, it’s not an easy read.  Nor is it what I call uplifting).

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today.  I wanted to talk about the value of being rejected by a potential employer.

Like I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m currently in a purgatory like state of employment/unemployment.  I’m in that fickle and highly stressful stage of life between my undergraduate degree and my graduate degree.  Yes I graduated from a top tier university with a true liberal arts degree (I could of graduated in 2.5 years… I studied 4) and a work ethic that most employers would kill for, but the fact remains that I’m also competing in a world that is in all honesty a wash of “cheap” undergraduate degrees.  (Notice how I did not describe the undergraduate as inexpensive.  They are anything but inexpensive).

But I do not let that detour me.  Doing so seems in my eyes unproductive as worrying about things that you can’t do anything about is simular to travelling via rocking chair: you expend a lot of energy, but you don’t move anywhere.

What I can do (and I encourage others to do) is continue forward progress.  It may seem like you are constantly being pushed back 4 steps, but if you make 5 forward steps, that’s still a net gain of 1 step.  It’s not a huge gain, but with the college football season coming up (and my string of productive Saturdays about to start disappearing), a gain is a gain.  It’s not a touchdown, but neither are most plays in a game.

And that brings me to my point.  When you get rejected by a potential employer, take it for all it’s worth.  Make a connection with the people at the company, make a solid impression, and initiate a relationship.  It’s not a job, but it’s forward progress.

That being said, I want to leave this post by re-visiting an old idea (the SaySomethingNice initiative) that I was reminded of by a recent (and non related) Improve Everywhere Campaign.  On a side note, Charlie Todd, the founder of Improve Everywhere is also a UNC alum and one smart guy.

 

Early Spring at Duke Gardens

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I’m starting to find myself having more in common with former NY State gubernatorial candidate Jimmy McMillan, whose total campaign was based on the fact that the rent in NYC is “too damn high.”  I totally agree, but then again, free market economics is kinda hard to argue with: location, location, location.  I’ve spent time in a 10th floor Upper East Side apartment overlooking Central Park.  $3000/month for that view… I have no question in my mind why people say that was a steal.  Yes I know all about rent stabilization and rent control, but I seriously doubt it plays a huge role in the Manhattan rent game.  But back to my point: Jimmy has found a new “cause” to lend his talents too… weather.

So here in the southland, it appears winter is over.  The plants are already showing the signs of an early spring.  And to celebrate the fact, I loaded up my iPod, put a 4 GB card into my trusty D300, and made the 10 mile trip to Duke’s Sarah P. Duke Gardens to see what’s happening in the plant world.  Turns out I was a little early to this year’s spring fling, but there were a few early arrivals.  The fact that the sky was a deep Carolina Blue, the temperature was 60 some degrees Fahrenheit, and UNC and DOOK battle today in what looks like a classic match-up… I wasn’t really complaining.  Well enough of my banter, click the picture for a small gallery.

 

Revisiting Europe

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While I was doing a little re-organizing of my massive collection of digital photos (A gigabyte is chunk change for me) I pleasantly found an old lost set of photos from my time in Europe.  So I decided to do a little revisit of my time in Europe.  All of these are circa 2008… I think.  Click on the image below for a gallery!