Yesterday evening, when walking back to the PATH, I saw a restaurant with a kitten in the window, pining for attention. Above him, taped to the window, was a sign that said “SORRY! No pets inside the restaurant as required by the NYC Board of Health.” Apparently the owners’ pets are okay, but customers’ pets are not. In the picture you can see the kitten, sign and me. Apologies for the poor photo. Like a dolt, I didn’t have my CF card for my camera, so this picture was taken on a camera phone.
Mark Khaisman Packing Tape Art
The things people do with tape nowadays…
A little while ago, i posted some examples of the Scotch Tape People by Mark Jenkins. Well, now, take a look at the works crafted from packing tape by Ukraine-born, Philadelphia-based artist Mark Khaisman. These large archetypal images are made from layer upon layer of translucent packing tape, applied to plexiglass and then placed in front of a light box to give the image shadow and depth. Read more
Adventures in Small Business Banking
In an effort to consolidate and grow my businesses, our shareholders made the decision to pull up the stakes of our satellite offices and to re-locate everything to the New York City area—Hoboken, to be concise. Amid the discussions with lawyers, attorneys, shareholders, clients, employees and contractors, one of the tasks at hand was re-evaluating our banking situation.
When the company first surfaced in 2001, we had the intention of providing payroll to the engagement managers and fulltime employees and then sending wires or direct deposits to each contractor in the network. Our first choice was Fleet, which was bought by Bank One in 1999 and slowly became its successor in 2002-03 (and then Bank of America in 2004). We moved to Chase, as they have branches in cities of our satellite offices and this made it easier to provide direct deposits to employees all over the globe. The decision was made out of necessity and mediocre benefit before due diligence was executed and, though Chase treated us well, they treated our pocketbooks like a large business.
The consolidation that is now underway brought back the opportunity to rethink some of our initial decisions to see what was best for the company. Armed by seven new years of experience in small business management, I approached almost all the banks in Hoboken and did my own due diligence. Read more
New Original Crossword Puzzle
I just finished a new original crossword puzzle called Missing “Papa” (PDF). It’s about a “Tuesday” in terms of the New York Times Difficulty Rating System (read: easy). I hope you like it. Comments are always welcome.
High Dynamic Range Imaging
I saw the work of Pablo Marques a long time ago and was blown away by his photography. Each photo had a crispness and palette that put the whole of my personal collection to shame. I would sit and stare at his work for hours.
Thankfully, through the good people at QBN, my ego was re-vitalized by learning that the photography of Pablo Marques was generated using something called High Dynamic Range Imaging. This, coupled with patience, an eye and raw talent, can help even the most neophytic photographers to produce equally amazing pieces.
Extreme Beerpong
How to Put an Animal Down
Things have changed. They’re no longer what they used to be.
An eager smile with nonjudgmental eyes.
Unflinching devotion and unconditional love.
It’s quite common, they say. Time can do that.
Everything that is so reliable.
Everything that’s safe.
Simply, plainly: Given enough of it,
time will take it all away.
But how do you know things cannot return to what they were.
The stability begins to falter, but you react with reassurance.
Shrug off the incidents with disbelief.
(Optimism is a good thing, you’re reminded)
But the defensive wounds begin to show.
And you know.
When it’s time, it will painfully come back to you.
Crawl across the aluminum table while life slips silently away.
To lay beside you and rest its head on your arm.
Struggle to find your face in darkness, if only to say,
It’s all right. Everything will be all right.
When it’s all over, time will have momentarily gotten its fill.
To leave you with nothing but scars on your hands and over your heart
and be better for it all.