nabbott blog

Maybe it started as bad as possible, with reminders and reactions. Or maybe it started better than I could have imagined. Certainly it continued down that road for some time, and if or when anything changed—every second a new form resolves in the fog as happens in moments of reflection and as happens in the brightest whirlwind of exploration. Marching feet in the fading light or the sound of an empty glass settling in an empty bar, or the feet shuffling around a lonely figure stopped at the center of a museum, and that rhythm of a train when at the moment you pass people feet away who may be the same and you can never know because the city somehow keeps time with each person, each place, each tempo, each experience as they fade in and out and somehow all these dimensions don’t crash into each other. This is life—each small passion spinning out of control from one moment to the next. It gets louder, quieter, faster, and more erratic and suddenly the focusing and building and matching momentum of these little pieces works together brilliantly. So it went—weeks spent walking through a foreign city, brief affairs of the heart, losses, threads of information clutched at and followed through time and space, bright bursts of empathy, quiet ignorance, probing strangers, caressing old friends, chances taken, walls thrown up and crushing feelings all come together whether for a minute or a week or just a couple of steps as the sun sets as if through a wide-angle lens, the miniature details of city and sky feeling fake as the shapes and colors and feelings pour out over my skin.

I’m tired of this and don't have any answers. And life's always changing. What have I been doing? What lessons have been learned? Am I happy? Am I successful? I don’t fucking know, so I’m gonna go hang out with my friends. See you all out there, if not tonight then next year. Love.

New Year's Eve, Greenpoint #1.

New Year's Eve, Greenpoint #2.

Posted by nmablog at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Seriously. Enough with all these good movies. In the past couple of months: In the Valley of Elah, No Country for Old Men, and Juno.

Now I just saw There Will Be Blood and it was jaw dropping. Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing. Did you see The Ballad of Jack and Rose? Okay, I just linked you to it on NetFlix, so add it to your queue already. And Paul Dano is in both! He's so creepy in the TWBB.

It's only showing in one theater in NY right now, but I think it opens across the country next week. It's violent and confrontational and challenging and the music is dark and classical and jittery. I've got so much to say about this, but you all should just go see it blind. Oh, just heard a good interview with DDL on NPR that you can check out here. Wow, and this is me when Gimme Coffee is closed and I've been off the caffeine for 3 days? Insane. Watch out tomorrow—I might just explode after I have me a Midnight Rider!

Walk in the park. 1.

Walk in the park. 2.

Walk in the park. 3.

Posted by nmablog at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's proof I'm not a total Grinch. I just choose not to travel over the holidayz. But I got a tree, and I read most of the book my Mom got for me about Richard Avedon's monumental portrait project "In the American West" undertaken during 7 summers of the 70s and 80s. Pretty sweet present—check out the amazing photos!

I also bought myself the gift of a season pass to Gossip Girl on ITunes. Perfect for watching out of the corner of my eye while I work on scanning photos and updating my website and portfolio. And so the cool guy rocker dad and his girlfriend reminisce about a trip to a town in Mexico called Sayulita. Seriously, perfect for me. Ex-oh, ex-oh.

Almost forgot the picture that bears out my Christmas Spirit: tree on the table.

Posted by nmablog at 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Incidentally, if one was to find themselves in Brooklyn on Christmas eve waiting for Santa to come down the (plugged) chimney and, being bored and a few beers deep already, had already watched and packaged for their return each of the four allotted Netflix DVDs, decided to visit www.quarterlife.com and watch all fourteen available episodes (webisodes?), it might be possible to sink away, lose your current surroundings and enjoy watching the the amusing musings and convoluted lives of a few people—more beautiful and interesting and invented and fake perhaps—going through life in a similar manner to yourself.

Posted by nmablog at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My friends took me to Vermont for a day of snowboarding which reminded me that I have fun slashing the edges of any trail. Good weather, good friends, some coffee and some food and back to Brooklyn.

Stratton, VT.

Pizza.

A 6-Pack lift has room for me to not sit next to them.

Mike's Way.

Pop Rox, taste the explosion!

Mike and Super Dave discussing why Super is taking a package of aforementioned Pop Rocks and putting them on his bedside table. I jest not. Oh, and yes, Mike is drinking Pop Rocks mixed with water.

Mike waiting outside the place with the frosted Santa Klaus sugar cookie that powered my drive all the way back to Brooklyn. So glad it was open.

And after a few sunny days in Colorado, I can't help but share this picture of a sunny winter day on the East Coast.

Posted by nmablog at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wanted to write a quick story about going back to Breckenridge, but I've got too many things going on. So you get the pictures now and a story in a few days. Check it.

First stop, top of the T-Bar, elevation: zero oxygen.

Ryan.

Lifts.

JJ Thomas times two.

Sunrise solo mission.

Destination: Coffee. Thanks Jo!

Call me Curt—lets have fun in New York.

Contest. (Kevin Pearce I think, but too lazy to look.)

Keir Dillon.

Shaun White. The Crying Tomato? I don’t know him, seems like a nice guy to me.

Madison.

Posted by nmablog at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm coming to Colorado and I want to hang out, say hi, drink coffee, go snowboarding, talk about books and art and music and (despite the link I'm about to write about) take some pictures. So, call me. I'll be in Boulder after noon and in Breckenridge by happy hour. Ok, awesome, now I'll hope my flights aren't cancelled since there's a big ass storm on the way and its already raining in Brooklyn.

So, this kid is gnarly. Very courageous in his editing and willingness to get to another side of the story. Even if his work is hidden by the layers of editing involved in mainstream American media. Here's the link, be aware, it's got some disturbing and violent images. Conscientious Blog Conversation with Peter Van Agtmael

Thought provoking work and interview. One quote, but the rest of the article is worth your time.

"A few days after finishing my first tour to Iraq, I picked up a copy of a very well known American magazine at the airport in Holland. I was flipping through it absently when I came upon a brutal picture I had taken of the aftermath of a suicide bombing, run across nearly a full page [see photo in article]. I called my parents to tell them the good news and they went out to buy a copy. In the U.S. edition, in place of my picture they found an image of a few helicopters taking off. I was pretty crushed." -Peter Van Agtmael

Posted by nmablog at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During book club, we got off on a political tangent, but someone put us onto another, less divisive tangent. But here's an article
(with a bunch of links) if you'd like an opinion and to learn about Habeas Corpus and Bush's lack of regard one of the fundamentals of our society.

Yeah, and I went to a bunch of movies, concerts, and read a lot of magazines and also went to a photography workshop and spent some time editing a new portfolio and working on a new website and some other stuff. Oh yeah, and there's a story about me in the Powder Magazine photo annual. But that's not my number. If you want to "call me" you can send me an e-mail.

Crowded at Webster Hall times two.

Traffic, from a cab on the Williamsburg Br.

Metal.

This is Valient Thorr .

You shouldn't go see them if you're afraid of having a good time and getting a little sweaty.

Polaroid upstairs at the Bowery Ballroom.

Posted by nmablog at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Nothing new or surprising about this one, but just reminded that there arre few ladies I'd rather have a torrid affair failed romance with than Jenny Lewis. I mean, well, if it worked out that'd be great, but that's a whole nother issue.

Silver Lining

Oh, the record label won't let me embed that video, so follow the link. And here's a video that makes me smile. If only they hadn't cheesed it the fuck up by making the dog's mouth move. Dog. Friend. Pioneer. Go forth you are a true symbol and hero of the united proletariat. Hahahaha. (Can you tell I'm tired?)

Posted by nmablog at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lots of happenings, not so much blogging. Beautiful snowy day in New York, and its been a couple of good days for working, watching movies and sipping tea. Feeling lucky.

From a song I listened to yesterday:
"Please don't let what was get in the way of whats next.
Don't forget that whats to come hasn't come yet." -Devendra Banhart

December 2, 2007. Greenpoint.

Sandy, Thanksgiving on the beach.

With two of my favorite people. (And the rest of my family too.)

Posted by nmablog at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)