Hibernation - a temporary change of pace

My room has turned into a cave. Deep in the ghettos of Brooklyn. Take the 4 train as far as you can go, past the sky scrapers and hot pretzel carts. Walk a bit, go up the stairs, and enter my new domain.

Thanks to a designer friend with failed plans at creating an in home studio I've acquired long black curtains for the windows in my room. My land lord had complained to me that the towels I had stolen from equinox to hang in my windows were unattractive and that I needed to replace them with actual curtains. I contacted anyone I knew who played with fabric and while many people referred me to fabric shops one guy had curtains he had never used and now my room is a dark cave in Brooklyn highlighted soley by the light from my laptops ancient screen.

Perhaps its the weather or perhaps its time in the city but the more people I meet the less optimistic I am that I'll leave this city with many I'll remain in contact with. So with the outcome already forseen what is the point to seek real acquaintances? The industry I'm a pawn in requires friendliness and for that I accept conforming to the blatant plague of fakeness which already suffocates this city but in the past year I've been here my perception has gone from awe to distaste.

The other day when I was coming down the stairs at Union Square Station a herd of people were headed my way after getting off the train and as the crowd dispersed I noticed an old man laying on the ground struggling to get up. I ran to him and stuck my hand under his face to show him that he could use me to get up. He rose and thanked me. Why the fuck didn't anyone else help him up? Too much in a rush to get to their jobs or lives that a loss of 20 seconds to effortlessly help someone out was unfathomable? Priceless.

Alas, my cave has turned to my refuge. This may be temporary as a bear hibernates for only so long though the nights of passing out with the TV on and mornings exuding into afternoons is an accepted change of pace.

Arrojo Hair Shoot

Working at the gay bar has caused some stress for the times when I have needed to look presentable on weekends. For my big hair shoot which began on a Sunday I knew it was inevitable that I'd be in rough shape upon arrival though had no idea that the Saturday before the shoot I'd be working til 4 am and drinking for the next hour after that. Fortunately Frank, one of the bartenders at the bar allowed me to crash at his place 20 minutes away from my bar rather than having to trek the hour and 20 minutes to my place.

My host graciously set out a pillow and blanket as I set my phone to its charger. We sort of joked about how I drunkenly went to my last shoot hung over with less than 3 hours of sleep and how I was gross for not showering beforehand and how it was sort of funny in a twisted way how I'd be repeating the same procedure for my shoot which was to begin in a few hours. I gave my sincerest thank you to Frank for his generous hospitality and set multiple alarms on my phone to assure my lack of tardiness at my shoot. My efforts prevailed and I, in my drunken sloth like manner managed to jump the 3 train and get to the hair school 5 minutes early.

Breakfast was to be served at 8:30 according to the days itinerary. "Breakfast" consisted of a platter of bagels, muffins, and croissants. Not the healthiest of options but never the less I splurged and had a croissant and some water. I met the other models, two females and discovered that the second one to arrive was one of the models I had walked in a runway show just earlier in the week.

The ladies were addressed first getting their make up done and hair cut. This provided me the opportunity to take advantage of an uncomfortable (comfortable to the hung over) bench in a large room which was full of salon chairs and mirrors. I managed to sleep til about noon and felt somewhat better than I had upon my arrival that morning.

I was summoned by the owner of the schools assistant and was told that I'd be shot on camera with Nick (the man in charge) explaining what he'd be doing to my, at this point mess of a hair style. My amazement to the size of this establishment continued as my passage through more unseen rooms brought me to the studio where I'd be introduced and eventually would receive my "trendy hairstyle".

Nick Arrojo is an older guy with a keen sense of humor and laid back style. Everyone who he interacts with has a smile from his jokes or reverent fear of his words. Being that I was his subject to display his work on he treated me as a friendly business partner. On camera his intellect in the field he was blatant and if I were into hair styling I'd be honored to be selected to be one of his students.

After my brief introduction on camera and having told the audience what he'd be doing to my hair, Nick introduced James. James would be the one who'd be dealing with the coloring (highlights) of my hair. He told the viewers that he'd be adding some color where if my hair was naturally down the highlights would be barely noticeable but if styled up the hair color would stand out. After his stint on camera James brought me to where I had taken my nap that morning and gave me my highlights.

By the time my hair was colored lunch was delivered and I indulged in a few half sandwiches. Lunch wrapped up quickly and I was back in the studio with the cameras. Nick then proceeded to cut my hair while being filmed as he vocalized each step of the process to the potential students who would be watching the film. After about an hour my cut had be completed and I was finished for the day.