Ralph

I wanted to write a wonderful post about my experience working on the Ralph Lauren underwear shoot, but it is now almost two weeks in my past. I will try to bring back a couple of highlights from my ever fading longterm memory.

The model was a hot blonde guy from Kansas. He had a great package, and it was a plentiful package the entire shoot. At times I found myself staring, but that ended when the stylist gently slapped my face and said "GET TO WORK!"

It was great to be surrounded by such laid back, yet productive people. We enjoyed ourselves the entire two days. When Kansas was forced to pose with the Polo underwear from Japan, we all had several laughs. One person in the studio said, "It is just like a cheap hotel, there is no ballroom."

The highlight of the shoot for me was at the beginning when we were testing the lighting. The photographer asked me to stand in for the model and be shirtless to see how the lighting would appear on skin. For a few minutes I was a model. The creative director said I could have been the model.... I think I have never been more flattered. I have attached two of my pics to this post.

I Am My Brother... Sort Of

I often think about who I am and where I am based upon my experiences growing up as an identical twin. Because of my parents' need to keep Trevor and I different, unique individuals, we were encouraged to foster different interests early on. I was inclined to creative forms of expression. He, on the otherhand, became an athelete of all sorts.

It really was not our fault that we became increasingly diverse in nature. We were not allowed to dress alike after the first grade. Anomalies were spotted early and drawn to everyone's attention on numerous occasions. We were the identical twins. We were the oddities... the conversation pieces.

"Travis has a mole on the right side of his nose, see." and Mom would jerk my head about showing the mole to the old women at church.

"His face is fatter, too." one of the elderly, toothless church witches would say. (this became a difference I was never quite fond of, and i began to deny it vehemently.)

Other characterizations included....

"Trevor plays sports. Travis plays the piano." We got this one a lot. Looking back, what people were really thinking when this was being said was, "Trevor is straight. Travis is the homo."

We were also compared to our older brothers.

I became the oldest brother Greg, because I had better grades in school, and I was not so smooth. We were both quiet, introverted and awkward. From what I can remember, Gregory never did have many friends growing up. Most of my friends were girls. In high school, my best friends were two girls.

Trevor was Kevin. The cooler of our two older brothers. The one that I wanted to be. The one we both looked up to and wanted to be. Kevin drove a white camero when it was THE MOST FUCKING AWESOME CAR TO DRIVE IN THE WORLD!!! He was also flanked by ladies and had tons of the coolest guy friends. Trevor never was flanked, but he played three sports, had tons of righteous dudes to hang out with and complete babe attention. I was such a dork. He was by far always more popular than me.

On Monday, 26 September, my shared embryo / Kevin clone, was shipped off to the navy. Especially now, he is all i can think about..... day in and day out... every other minute. What he is going through now, I can not even begin to imagine. Will he remember me after all the brainwashing? We are a tree whose trunk has abruptly split close to the base, and the branches continue to spread apart as far as the eye can see.

Sometimes people ask... "When you are in pain, does he feel it?" I have always answered this with a degree of incredulity and scepticism, but never denied it.

Honestly, i can say that there are the little things. Many little things like... since my brother has been away, I have not been able to sleep later than six in the morning. i go to bed at twelve. i wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats. i worry. i grow increasingly detached.

As he goes through this transition and looses himself to become a sailor, i wonder how much of myself i will loose. i wonder what his life, what our lives will become.

Mary J, Things Are Looking Up

photo assisting is beginning to look up. today, i was a film loader/ unloader for a photographer.
our assignment......... mary j. blige for women's wear daily.

there were about 10 girls running around the photographer's studio and apartment in korea town. we were a little cramped, especially with the 30 pairs of shoes and 40 or so outfits for Mary to choose from.

I managed my job without even breaking a sweat.

Mary was a diva. Of course we all know this. She said about four words during the entire photo shoot. She did not come across as a bitch. I am sure JLo would have been such a cunt.

Mare was divine.

She changed outfits twice and then was over it.... nine rolls of film later.

I managed to make for lunch at Mama's food shop and hang out in Thompkin's Square park with Adam Frank. That's the best way to spend a Monday.

Postcard from L.A.

One last look back to the good times that were my summer vacation in Los Angeles. Thank Dennis for the wonderful photography.

Recap of Los Angeles Events

I love love LOVE the west coast. Everyone here seems to be so much more laid back. Great weather just does something for the mood. New Yorkers need a weather machine to make all the crappy weather go away. Wouldn't it be great to walk outside in flip flops and a hoodie in February?!

My time in Los Angeles was CRAZY. The city totally blew me away. I had no idea that it would be so edgy and laid back. Dennis and I want to cover our bodies with palm tree tattoos. Brian and Dennis took me out for tons of gay fun in West Hollywood. Friday night, we went to Fubar and the best party of all called HOT DOG. It was such a hoot.

HOT DOG feature the best gogo / stage performance that I have ever seen at a gay party. New Yorkers please take note.... your go go standard of jock strap and tennis shoes no longer do it for me. There were male and female dancers. The theme was Wall Street, and the stage contained a desk and a large pad with flow charts drawn in marker. The men were wearing garters and suit jackets with hats and cigars. They were by far the cutest go go boys ever. The girls were hot too. They were swinging pointers and tits all over the place.

Ahhh.... all this was on Friday night. Saturday I was taken to the more like new york fag scene. We went to the ABBY which seemed to me to be too much like the park, except a bit more glamorous. Then we went to HERE where there were tons of men in tight T-shirts, and i felt like I had stumbled into a west coast chelsea bubble. No worries here.... i have muscles. However, the more dennis and brian forced me to drink, the wilder i became. I was tipping go go boys at Mickey's, then we returned to HERE for a second visit....

I have no idea what happened to me. Maybe it was all the boys.... perhaps it was the sun... or it could have been all the drinks. It was a crazy twisted reaction, BUT... i decided to drop my pants.... at least far enough down my legs to reveal all of the goods. A nice woman approached and told me to pull them up or the guards would throw me out. I turned and saw a wall of guys staring. I wanted to give them more.... then i knew it was time for me to go home to bed.

The next day, after i had forced down an Açai Supper Bowl at Robeks, my hangover began to leave me. My friend Steven and I decided to visit MoCA. While there we found the Gehry Disney Concert Hall. What a remarkable building. It was not difficult to miss. Then there was the MoCA show of Basquiat. I had attempted to venture to Brooklyn for the show, but did not make it. I always seem to miss things in New York. The paintings were what i had expected and known from my own private research. There were some surprises. I also noticed that the Brants and Broads owned a large majority of the best paintings in the show.

My last night in Los Angeles, I had dinner with Adam's mother. She then drove me around for a night time tour of the city. What a cool lady. After a few hours, i felt like i could tell her just about anything. The next morning, she drove me to LAX to catch my plane for San Francisco.

Now I am here in this amazing place, and all I want to do is sit around in pajamas and drink the ritual coffee and call this town my home. It has a New York feel in that there is mass transit and all things are accessible. The weather, however, is amazing. It feels like being trapped in a constant mild summer/autumn. My San Fran time has just begun, but I know i love life here.

Fixed Gear Gallery

I made it onto the fixed gear gallery. Check it out.

Blue Bicycle

I have a new bike. It does not have brakes, and it only has one gear. Biking is the best. I LOVE IT!