Vessel

bob suren, christopher davis, travelogues, vessel

The Travelogues – First Friday 2

In Event, The Travelogues on May 7, 2013 at 3:43 am

A travel meeting occurred last Friday, May 3rd, including stories from Egypt and the National Parks. Bob Suren shared his experiences from a trip to Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt in August 2012, and Christopher Davis shared stories from the last fifteen years he’s spent working in National Parks such as Bryce, Glacier, and Mesa Verde. There were plenty of amazing photographs, numerous laughable situations described, and many familiar faces in attendance. There are recordings below of both speakers’ presentations. If you’re adventurous, wanting to be adventurous, and/or want to travel to a country where you don’t speak the language, listen to Bob’s stories. If you want to try a new life for a while and/or see our country’s natural beauty, listen to Chris’ stories. Either way, there’s so much packed into last week’s Travelogue, it’d be a shame not to take away what attendees that night were able to take away: beauty, community, and the world in another’s light.

*Note: James and Julie Branaman’s presentation has been moved to Fri. June 7th. They’re local photographers, and are going to share photos and stories from the artist-in-residency programs they worked on with Rocky Mountain and Everglades National Park.

[Click below for the full event highlights]

Meredith’s Words

In Interview on April 30, 2013 at 1:04 am

Meredith is a new friend of mine, and what I’ve learned about her so far is that she’s accepting, very positive, and very driven. She’s willing to be the catalyst to make the changes she wants to see within herself and her community happen. She moved back to Tampa within the last few years after having spent three years in New York building her experience in documentary production. She’ll be speaking at a New York story themed Travelogue in July. Here are her words.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a million things. I wanted to be an author, lawyer, historian, journalist, biologist, stand-up comedian, environmental engineer, politician, television writer, anthropologist, and I wanted to have every job there is to be had in filmmaking. Even now as a somewhat grown up, I still want to be all of those things. I want to tell stories, learn about new things, and help promote changes that will make life better for us all. Ultimately, that is why I fell in love with documentary filmmaking. It allows you to be involved in anything you want to be involved in.

What’s your biggest fear?
Fear is something I have a long standing relationship with. I have fears about not reaching my goals, making the wrong decisions, and not being the person I want to be. However, my biggest fear is having missed opportunities. That goes for every aspect in my life, not just in a strictly professional sense. I fear that the distractions of my day to day life result in missing out on doing things I should have done.

What do you tell yourself when things get difficult?

When things get difficult I remind myself that difficult times happen. They are a part of life and this time will not be the last time things get that way. It is important to me to reevaluate the situation and figure out what happened that made things difficult, but it is not going to help if I pick apart my mistakes and beat myself up for making them. I’ll become a stronger person and eventually things get better. If you are a person who never experiences bad times, then you are not a person who has many experiences.

Please describe New York in one sentence.
NYC is everything you think it is, while also being completely different.

One word?
Nonstop.

If you could pick one, what would be your quintessential New York story?

First off, I should say what makes a ‘Quintessential New York Story’. For me, those stories come from the days when I went to bed thinking, “I had no idea any of that was going to happen when I woke up this morning.” What will always be the great thing about NYC is you never know where you’ll end up or what will happen to you. This is just one story of many. The first time I remember going to bed still unable to comprehend the day was after the second shoot I worked on in the city. I had just gotten a job working for a production studio and for many of our shoots I had the unglamorous job of working as a teleprompter operator. On this particular day, I walked into the studio to set up, but immediately stopped when I realized William H. Macy was sitting in the middle of the room playing a ukulele. He asked, “Are you running teleprompter?” I nervously answered “Yes”, and he waved me over. The two of us sat in the studio while he sang songs and I typed them up. After the shoot, I called my mom and all I could say was, “I can’t explain what just happened.”

What are you hoping to share in July?

While New York City is full of wonderful moments and great stories, it is often put on a pedestal it should not be on. Before moving there, I was definitely one of those people who put it on the pedestal. I thought I was moving to the center of the universe and it would be full of the life, culture, and diversity I craved. Eventually, I came to realize it is just a city, it has problems, and it isn’t the city for me. I learned a lot living there, but the biggest thing I took away was understanding what is really important to me.

[Click below for the full interview]

The Travelogues – First Friday 1

In Event, The Travelogues on April 10, 2013 at 3:12 am

Local travel enthusiasts gathered at Cafe Hey last Friday evening to hear firsthand accounts of Italy and Japan. Julie Garisto shared what it’s like to be first generation Italian-American (you don’t feel entirely like either one) and Victoria Hawley shared her experience of protesting the capture and harm done to dolphins in Taiji, Japan (Protesting is a rare and non-occurrence for Japanese and those that participate are likely to be shunned.)

What we learned:

1. Italians mix the sauce into the pasta right before it’s fully cooked, instead of fully cooking the pasta and then laying the sauce on top as we do.

2. There is a specific way that you begin dating someone, and the way that begins is by going out in a group first. If you go out as just the two of you instead and come home late, your traditional aunt may lock you out of the house.

3. Perfectly shaped fruit is cherished and often given as a gift in Japan, therefore you may be paying $50 for a perfectly shaped watermelon if you wander to the fruit shop rather than a more casual fruit stand.

4. Mount Fuji is one of the top ten most dangerous mountains to climb, so you’d better bring the right shoes or you could lose up to three toes– sorry, toenails.

P.S. The most apologies for the reasons why Julie’s photos are blacker than night. It’s difficult to take photos and click through a PowerPoint at the same time, however this is the first and last time this will happen. Please check out her slides that are however as bright as the sun in the photos.