Fourth of July journaling from the east coast!
Not sure how I’m feeling about this holiday, to be honest. State of the country and the world not withstanding, even on a personal level, our Fourth left a lot to be desires. I chronicled our travel woes in my last two blogs posts, so I won’t beat that dead horse. Now sets in the family factor, attempting to get along with one another and failing miserably by day three. It’s that romanticized few weeks leading up to a trip and having thoughts of the grandparents and great-grandparents laughing and having fun. Smash cut to the reality of politics, racial slurs and in-fighting amongst family members, and that’s when I check out.
It wasn’t all bad. I just needed a few minutes to vent. @vermillionfox and I needed an entire day to recover after two days at the airport with a five year old. Again, @moony was our MVP making so many trips to and from the airport to drop us off, pick us up, and again, drop us off. We had a nice day at Adezzo coffee shop in Scranton, PA. We made time to eat at my favorite restaurant in the world. The following day we had to prepare for a big shoot with my long time friend, Ryan Ashley Malarkey, the winner of season 8 of Spike’s Inkmaster.
I’ve shared photos of Ryan in previous blogs here on Steemit in my previous post “Exclusive Steemit set w/ Inkmaster winner Ryan Ashley!”. Each time we shoot, it’s an endless struggle to outdo our previous collaboration, and this one was on relatively short notice. The shoot ended up being outstanding and I do feel we set a new personal best. @vermillionfox shot some remarkable BTS footage which she’ll be posting shortly. You can follow her @vermillionfox for more from this shoot. Here’s a super early Steemit sneak peak of this haunting shot of Ryan from yesterday.
We also got to see fireworks, albeit at volunteer firefighters bazaar. I did manage to hunt down an authentic Mediterranean food truck for a killer chicken gyro and the sacred white birch beer soda that I long for when in Minneapolis. The fireworks mentioned are presented by this crazy guy here in Scranton, PA known as “Pizza Paul”. He owns a chain of pizza shops that do very well and every year he spends an absurd amount of his own money on fireworks that’ll beat or match anything you’ll find in the country.
@vermillionfox and I took a few sparkler photos just to cheer up our holiday […which you saw at the top of the post]. Fourth now come and gone, I’m looking forward to a relaxing week that’ll afford me the time to catch up on edits from Viva Las Vegas and the anticipated Steemit video project we shot recently. I’ve got two big shoots in NYC next Monday so I’m praying this starts to feel like a vacation.
Thanks for reading. For more photography, art, illustration and thoughts on life, please follow me here at @kommienezuspadt! Happy Fourth to you all.
Excellent shots, very beautiful. UpVoted n followed.
Thanks very much @oceancoinz!
You are most welcome!
Happy independence Day! A good read about your feelings and the day. They finally legalized the purchase of fireworks here in IOWA. I guess Iowa is slower than the rest of the USA LOL Thanks for your post.
Wait a minute so you are telling me you have only now just been allowed to legally buy fireworks in Iowa but you can walk into a Walmart and purchase a firearm? Wow things are weird in the States.
That is true. For years we have had to go to Missouri to buy fireworks and shoot them in Iowa. This year we can legally buy them in Iowa.. Please note they are still much cheaper in Missouri. LOL
So you are allowed to set them off, just not buy them? What if you get caught smuggling them across state lines? Do they throw you in prison? 😜
It is legal this year to buy them in Iowa only during certain dates and times. In past years everyone bought them in Missouri and smuggled them into Iowa. I have not heard of going to prison, however you may need to apply for a licence to legally use them.
You're in Iowa, @enjoywithtroy? We're neighbors [kinda]. In Minnesota, every one goes over the border and buys them in Wisconsin :P
So many folks are surprised that buying fireworks require crossing state lines. As if we are going to get in trouble for that. That has been our norm for years. My cousin lives in Burnsville and once had an aunt and uncle in Apple Valley. Been through Fairmont and rochester many times. Blessings - Troy
Family get togethers can always be difficult, I think there are internal politics in every family, you are not alone.
I'm excited to see more from that photoshoot with Ryan, your sneak peek photo looked excellent. I had to do a quick Google of her too since you said she had won inkmasters, some of her work is incredible.
Anyways, bye for now and happy Independence Day from Scotland.
She's brilliant @munchell. She's done all my tattoos and she did them freehand, not even a stencil. I got a chance to look through the shoot and there's a lot of incredible shots. Thanks for the comment!
Freehand tattooing is a serious skill. I doubt many people could actually do it. So that is even more impressive.
Glad your shots came out well. That is always a bonus.
Great post!
Thanks @rtdcs!
Nice post. 4th of juli must be something special in the US. I plan to go there in year 2019 ( see blog if interested). So if I have the chance I have to be there on 4th of july?
It's a big deal, although I'm feeling less and less patriotic. I'm sure you'll find much to love when you visit @rival. My favorite cities are NYC, Boston, Minneapolis and New Orleans.
Yeah thats Nice . But i only take west coast😭
Thank you for sharing! Great post!
Thanks @michaelstobiersk! That means a lot!
Oh man I love ryans work
gorgeous shoot as well
She's brilliant @saywha! Thanks for kind words!
Relaxed photos appropriate to the celebration mood @kommienezuspadt. But the high standards are yet there! Upvoted, resteemed & DPS.
Thanks so much @photo-trail! Just trying to get through this trip. @vermillionfox has been really patient and supportive with all the bullshit we've gone through in the last few days. A DPS feature definitely takes the edge off of a bad trip. Silver lining! Thanks, my friend!
Great post, and goodness me, that shot up top. Beautiful model and photo.
Hope you at least had a little fun. I remember family trips like that as a child... Maybe still being single at this age isn't all bad :-)