Reality Bites

Reality Bites...when you get too comfortable.

It has been over 4 years in Las Vegas since I’ve had to “look for work” but with the nosedive the recent real estate market has endured people have held off of booking photography for their events often electing to do it on their own. Couple this with the recent sales of our 2 largest clients to different companies – we are faced with heading into a holiday season with no work and little prospect of new work coming in for the next few months. Poor planning on my part for sure…so here I go pounding the pavement once again. There are some wonderful, wonderful advantages of being self employed but the prospect of success and failure fall to you and you alone. Market conditions and the human factor can impact your world greatly so planning is critical…without sounding negative, you do have to plan for a rainy day…and it’s sort of raining right now. I am realistic about my situation and know that this is a temporary bump and we’ll bounce out of this in 6 months. We’re already planning for 2009, which is great but we didn’t plan for the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008, we had anticipated our bookings to remain constant as they had been in the past few years. I’ll pick up something soon…

Winter Days in Vancouver…part 1

Planning on traveling to Vancouver this winter? I have some recommendations from my previous trips. As you can see from my previous posts, I am a huge fan of the West End district in Vancouver so I’ll start there.
West End
Bordered by Stanley Park, downtown, Yaletown and the Pacific Ocean – The West End is definitely one of the most scenic and interesting areas in you can visit. The stroll along seawall in English Bay is fantastic, views everywhere (when the days are clear!). The West End is Vancouver’s gay neighbourhood and hosts many events throughout the year in support of this vibrant community. The area is both pedestrian and cycle friendly – there are multiple places to rent bikes for trips to Stanley Park and most intersections along Denman street have a traffic light or crosswalk. Vancouver boasts close to 300+ days per year with some sort of measurable precipitation, but don’t let this deter you from going out and enjoying a stroll in the mild temperatures. Bring an umbrella, comfortable shoes, warm dry outerwear and an optimistic outlook. Even Christmas Day morning, normally quiet with people recovering from excessive meals is busy with day-walkers, joggers, cyclists and strollers.
There are plenty of restaurants and coffee shops for warming up, one of my favorites to visit is Central located on Denman (1072 Denman St.) and you can visit them online at www.centralbistro.com. The food is great, well priced and the staff is always friendly. There are two walls of windows to people watch along with a fireplace in the back of the room to warm you up.
Granville Island
Another gem in this great city is Granville Island (also written about previously here). Accessible by car, bike or Aquabus (various locations located in False Creek), Granville Island market is open 7 days a week 9am-6pm, with 3hours of free parking available for you to stroll in and out of the various artisan shops, restaurants. The market boasts some of the freshest and most eclectic mix of foods available in Vancouver. Local produce and offerings from small farms is displayed on tables, stalls and side by side. The international comforts available here will amaze and satisfy every visitors’ palate. There is a rich arts scene and vibrant restaurants. You’ll find something for everyone on Granville Island. The Muffin Granny is excellent for morning coffee and muffins and Crepes de Paris offers a wide range of sweet and savory fillings to get you started on your day. The views offered from the glass enclosed solarium style seating area will make you slow and take pause as the boats go by and the people stroll along the wooden walkways. Seagulls and pigeons abound waiting for fallen scraps or small pieces of bread often provided by children both young and old. The breeze off the water is what my Father refers to as a “lazy wind - it doesn’t go around you, it goes right through you”. Bring gloves, a hat and scarves on those chilly days – for those less adventurous there is a Starbucks on the entrance to the island, although the locals’ favorite is “JJ Bean for caffeine”

Allergies

See that big red dot? That's my apparent allergic reaction to soy!!! Of all the things to be allergic to...I was told to cut out soy sauce and tofu...2 staples in my diet. I loooooooove Sushi, and Chinese...I've also found tofu to be an easy protein source for me. After receiving the order to get tested for allergies I just never thought soy would be one of them...now don't get me wrong I don't suffer from severe swelling and my throat doesn't close up but I guess I'm allergic enough to warrant a change in diet.
Things aren't so bad though...I'll probably save a bundle each month by staying away from Sushi Mon and Dim Sum at Changs.

That's all for now.

Pre- Season Clean-up

Things are starting to slow down as we prepare for the onslaught of the holiday parties, festivals, conventions and travel- the first 3 involve work and the last, travel, will involve work and play. In the next 90 days we are looking to finalise a Spring line for Arrogant Apparel, launch the new online shop, sponsor the LA Rock Fest, attend 2 conferences and have some fun. We will be adding new content to the MegaPixelCafe.com site, shooting new content and attending multiple events. We'll also be travelling to Philadelphia, Vancouver and possibly Europe before the end of the year, settling 2 insurance claims and buying a new home...:-)

So I need to clean up some things before I get way too far behind...I am a hopeless procrastinator when it comes to writing some of my travel tales. I have a few stories I need to get done and will endeavor to catch up this week.

Back soon,

AP

October Road in the Desert

This time of year brings some fantastic weather as well - dry breezy days help the temperature fluctuate as much as 20F in a given day. T-shirt weather for sure and great for a stroll in the mornings, afternoons and evenings. It's funny to hear the local weather personalities telling viewers to "bundle-up" as temperatures may hit the upper 50s :-)

Living in Las Vegas is a very different experience from other cities I've lived in - I find myself dreading the Summers and looking forward to the Fall because of the extreme heat...totally opposite from most other places where I would desperately long for Summer as I would stare out of my school window and later, my office cubicles.

Happy days ahead.

Arrogant Apparel

It's been a long journey to get the clothing line started. I've had a few starts and stops in the process. Things are coming together.
After months of correspondence we have secured a supplier I am happy with and have actually had some interest from some clients in providing lines for them...all before we've even printed a single shirt. I was concerned about rushing to market with only a few designs and not being able to supply our customers with an appealing and vibrant product to keep them coming back. So before we launched I ensured I took some time to learn as much as I could about the business - attending conventions, speaking with designers, suppliers, retailers and manufacturers. I have aligned myself with a great designer in Las Vegas and photographer in the Los Angeles area. We have come up with a plan that will ensure vertical growth coupled with a broad range of designs and 5 different lines - Couture, Sports, Novelty, Fight Wear, Charity. Another revenue stream will come from supplying small companies, events, bands with their own lines and designs.
I've got an awesome girl helping me with the biz plan and I've managed to convince the boss that it'll fly - I've got seed money and a credit card...:-)

It's an aggressive start but I thought "What the F*ck...Go Big or Go Home" I've seen people my age simply give up on starting something new dismissing it as too risky or foolhardy.

I have my supporters and detractors...more importantly I have my gut feeling and the feeling is good. Time will tell.