I think the phrase “magnetic zero” is absolutely genius, particularly as a band name. Not self-deprecating as much as just… owning your shit. After spending a few years strongly involved with the music industry, either through touring, or promoting, or actually getting paid to work in it, the phrase really resonates with what I’ve observed, seeing a full range of folks on the spectrum of artist vs. entrepreneur. Now, I’m not implying that an artist isn’t an entrepreneur. In my brain, a utopian world exists where artistry and entrepreneurship, instead of often being polarized on a spectrum, would coexist, happily together always. It does for some, but not nearly enough for me to sleep well at night.

Anyway. I could write about this forever but I’d rather just post some fun photos of a show I attended recently.

AB & The Sea, The Watson Twins, & Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.

At the end of their set, E.Sharpe invited a crowd of folks on stage. I was expecting an epic dance party to ensue. Instead, he had everyone (several hundred folk) in the ENTIRE venue sit down (amazingly, everyone complied). He then sang us a lullaby. What a way to end one of the most epic stage performances I have EVER seen.

I know I’m long overdue for some posts. More is on the way!

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So this week’s project was to take 25 photos of complete strangers. Since I did something similar for last week’s “A Day in the Life” project, I wanted to make this set particularly unique. What better way than to do my assignment at the Folsom Street Fair.

I’m particularly proud of this set. I’m not used to shooting people, and it still makes me nervous, but I see myself getting better at it, and I’m excited to share these.

I will warn you now – if you are easily offended by all that is unfamiliar to you, just don’t view this blog. Okay? Okay.

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Another day in my not-so-normal life.

I was voluntarily kidnapped on Saturday and taken to a few places I would have never otherwise found, including a random bulb of waterfront land in Berkeley, and a middle school.

I tagged along to this bulb of note with friends Mark and Cherry. It was a bit of a drive, then a bit of a hike. I ended up losing them along the way, as I was too distracted by the surrounding plant life to pay attention to anything else. Eventually I found them, and subsequently found myself in the middle of what appeared to be a waterfront pirate birthday party.

Fast forward. I’m in a middle school on a Saturday night. Also normal?

I am here as a spectator for a juggling and unicycling festival, hosted by Frank Oliver. One of their finale shows happens to take place within this middle school. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but while watching the rehearsals, I found myself quite emotionally invested in the efforts of many young performers who seemed to be debuting their tricks on this stage tonight. Many of them were attempting a new, more difficult trick for the first time, failing over and over in their rehearsal attempts, but sticking with their intent in hopes that for the final performance, they will pull it off that one time.

The show itself was full of surprises and hilarious entertainment. The performers were so creative and talented! I now find myself a fan of juggling and unicycling and all things related.

I finished the night off lurking the middle school grounds with Mark + Alex Kelly, playing around with the lighting.. and here’s what we came up with:

And so ends another normal Saturday.

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