This test is an anomaly I have nowhere near the capability of explaining. Pulsating shapes are presented, and you’re asked to personify them and judge them simultaneously. Half the questions seem absurdly unrelated. How this translates into a personality profile of the test-taker seems random. Or pure genius.

from the Very Short List - April 4th, 2011:

At first glance, the Pierley/Redford personality test seems too vague to tell you anything accurate or interesting about your actual personality: “Which of these circles is angry?” it asks (and provides two abstract and gauzy illustrations). Or “Which position is diseased?”

But the pictures are pretty, and weirdly disturbing, and so you find yourself clicking through all 20 questions. When you’re done, you get a short, specific thumbnail sketch of your personality type. That’s where the real fun begins: What did those questions mean, and add up to? And how did they get so far under your skin? You can take the test multiple times, clicking quickly and intuitively, or slowing way down to puzzle out the “correct” answers. Either way, you’ll end up wondering: Is it a pretty parlor trick? Or a real window into your deeper, darker self?

One of my favorite photographers, Chase Jarvis, captured 4 hours of my afternoon yesterday as he hosted the NYC band We Are Augustines on Chase Jarvis: LIVE.

Part 1 of the show consisted of conversation about creativity, art, and how the band writes music interspersed with in-studio performances of the band’s songs.

In Part 2, Chase allowed the internet to watch how he works. I was giddy with glee seeing his crew working in unison, getting a glimpse of the gear and setups, and listening as Chase explained his creative intentions and pre-planning process. It was such a treat to see how Chase interacted with the band as his subjects, how he conceptualized shooting them, and how he matched his art with film and digital technology.

For any photographer, the whole session was a tasty gem. I couldn’t get enough and stuck around to digest the complete session. Witnessing that magic moment where weeks of preparation and creative vision materialized inspired me to pick up my camera and just shoot.

Now only if I had a crack studio staff, a tethering system, and awesome group of musicians.

Check out the original blog post announcing the band’s stop at the Chase Jarvis Studio. I’m sure video of the interview and live concert with be at Chase’s website soon!

• Went to a great show at the Masquerade last month.
• Took this video of the final song from the side of the stage.
• Totally forgot about it.
• Then found it.
• Decided to share it.

It’s Tokyo Police Club & Two Door Cinema Club performing a little bit of The Strokes.

8:00 AM. My phone alarm ignites. For reasons having to do with my random obsessiveness, the first thing I hear every day is the musical stylings of these guys. Whoo-hoo for custom ringtones.

I sit up on the edge of my bed. I ready myself to dash to the bathroom in order to brush my teeth, as per the usual routine. However, there’s a difference. Aches and pains shoot through every muscle in my body, including through the miraculous new muscles I never knew of before. On top of that, my sore throat can’t seem to contain the endless heaves and coughs that I heard only briefly the night before.

My head hits the pile of sad, limp pillows as my hand blindly searches for the snooze button. This two-step dance repeats every 30 minutes for the next three hours.

Honestly, I couldn’t find much within the depths of my soul to encourage any type of productivity. So along with sleeping off the impending flu most of the day, I found just enough energy to cut together some footage from my Thanksgiving holiday.

On my last pilgrimage home, I was fortunate enough to receive an early present – a new Nikon D7000. So between the main and final course of our Turkey Day dinner, I had decided to test out my new camera’s capabilities. Shot randomly and with not the steadiest of hands, I just caught a few moments in between. Those always tend to be the best.

So here’s what I have to show for my sick day. A rough cut on Thanksgiving at Casa de Makepeace.

While Franco easily makes the favorites shortlist, I gotta give props to Monsieur Cassel for his impressive Astaire moves.

Can you guess what classic film moment our modern stars are channeling? (Or at least what obvious angry obscenities Matt Damon is yelling?)

French photographer Alain Delorme spent a couple of his residencies in Shanghai documenting the towers of goods couriered around the city by migrant pedal-pushers. The result is a series of images entitled ‘Totems.’

They’re bright and flat (obviously there was some post-processing done), almost graphic. Yet they remain wonderfully journalistic, a perfect observation on what often gets lost in a country with the highest population in the world. I’ve always admired these hardworking men (sometimes women) hauling heavy loads of the most random objects – my favorite being live chickens. Nothing is quite apropos of China today than piles of product being tugged around on simple tricycles.

All images © Alain Delorme

Unplanned, I stayed up last night until an ungodly hour playing around with the design of this thing. Considering where my blogging has started – in Senegal where I would without hesitation trade my breakfast money for five-minutes of a dial-up internet connection – it’s nice to make the peacemaker attempted look pretty and clean.

It’s an ongoing process, so things may change in the next few weeks. However, I thought I should get my writing chops back in order and just throw up some posts here and there to get the ball rolling.

So here it is!

And what is it about? Why, comedy of course! And who better than Tina Fey getting The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize!

The whole event aired on PBS, which I have at the end of this post. The lineup is a who’s-who of SNL notables, including Steve Martin, Jon Hamm, Jimmy Fallon, Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Betty White, and Lorne Michaels. Since that’s over an hour long, and you might want to economize your time in smarter ways, do check out this clip of her acceptance speech. It’s witty, brilliant, and gracious.

Here’s the link to the full show. Definitely worth watching if you have nothing better to do tonight.

Watch Tina Fey: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize on PBS.

This needs an update. And some serious thought as to its future direction.

Either way, changes are a-coming. Look out for some awesome very soon.

Check out my travel blog where I’ll be spending most of my time until the summer.

What?! No...I'm not stereotyping.

1) I’ve been super busy – aka, packing for a four-month long USA-hiatus

2) Had some family problems – dad was in the hospital for a while. Thanks, by the way, to everyone who kept him and the whole heart attack situation in your prayers.

3) I was too excited about Christmas and the holidays, that I just needed some trial separation time with technology.