Steph Takes Pics

I am 25, a native New Yorker still pumping away by Manhattan. I go to a lot of shows, eat out a lot, enjoy films and love to shop. My blog will revolce around pics I take and my thoughts. Most of the time this will be pure randomness though most of my pics/thoughts will pertain to music and food. Enjoy and comment if the spirit moves you!

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Sun Apr 5
I’m really proud of my little sister. She’s quite the little warrior. Aside from my lil sister finally recieving her Shodan belt (ie. 1st dan black belt) and her being a punching bag for other black belts (and for her last belt, moi) the rest of my weekend was filled with deep fried shrimp, white rice, penne alfredo and Honey Nut Cherrios. Tomorrow I’m catching The Rakes & The Dig at Bowery Ballroom. Probably alone since the one Rakes fan that I know (whom I would actually enjoy seeing them with) is traveling in Germany for 2 weeks as it is her motherland. Kinda random, but I’m going through a lot of personal strife. With my heart and with the health of loved ones around me. If anyone reads this please keep us in your prayers as sometimes the good vibes of perfect strangers can be beneficial with enough faith. Regardless of who we pray with it’s a sad thing that faigh is almost non-existant these days…and is there even such a thing as a perfect stranger. If so, leave a comment - lol. Word of the day: Arigato

I’m really proud of my little sister. She’s quite the little warrior. Aside from my lil sister finally recieving her Shodan belt (ie. 1st dan black belt) and her being a punching bag for other black belts (and for her last belt, moi) the rest of my weekend was filled with deep fried shrimp, white rice, penne alfredo and Honey Nut Cherrios.

Tomorrow I’m catching The Rakes & The Dig at Bowery Ballroom. Probably alone since the one Rakes fan that I know (whom I would actually enjoy seeing them with) is traveling in Germany for 2 weeks as it is her motherland.

Kinda random, but I’m going through a lot of personal strife. With my heart and with the health of loved ones around me. If anyone reads this please keep us in your prayers as sometimes the good vibes of perfect strangers can be beneficial with enough faith. Regardless of who we pray with it’s a sad thing that faigh is almost non-existant these days…and is there even such a thing as a perfect stranger. If so, leave a comment - lol.

Word of the day: Arigato

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Tue Mar 31
So last weekend the company I work at celebrated a milestone. One I’m supposed to keep under wraps and so I will. Our celebration involved reliving the 80s (I was a super “zeek” but ya’ll can “kiss my grits” - according to wikipedia those are examples of 80s slang), lots of pizza, Jack Daniel shots in little soy sauce dishes and karaoke in K-town (for you non-NYCers that’s short for “Korea Town” which is Manhattan around 32nd btwn 5th & 6th avenues). That whole weekend for me was a colorful blur. I remember bits and pieces regarding things like Strawberry Stoli, my singing Metallica, dancing on a chair, performing some Eminem rap song with a stranger who apparently thought I was the authority in rap performance and going to some internet cafe after with a co-worker who was thouroughly annoyed that her phone needed charging. Oh, and cheese balls. I remember there being lots of cheese balls and popcorn. On an unrelated note - I hate when people randomly laugh crazily while sitting at their computers. Now, I don’t mean an escaping chuckle, I’m super guilty of that one…especially when viewing celebrity gossip blogs or facebook or whatever. But I mean when people are sitting there for like 10 minutes making a loud racket with their annoying Mickey Mouse-like laughter just waiting for someone to ask, “what’s so funny?” or “what are you looking at?”.  I’m even more annoyed when someone does fall into the trap and it’s something sooo not funny that the asker is immediately like, “um…ok”.  All in the time span of 20 minutes. 20 wasted minutes. 20 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back. Kinda like the 20 minutes it’s taking me to write this and multi task as I “process affiliate applications” at work. I dub these folks “laughter attention whores” and “time stealers”. I have no clue where any of the above came from except that I’m half way through my Brawndo energy drink and a similar scene just played out beside me. I love my office though cuz co-workers rarely fall into the asking trap…and the owner of the annoying laugher is a really nice guy. I’m just feeling rather bitchy I guess. Late of the Pier (and The Whip) tomorrow @ Bowery Ballroom. Can’t waitttttttt. Word of the Day: Barracuda

So last weekend the company I work at celebrated a milestone. One I’m supposed to keep under wraps and so I will. Our celebration involved reliving the 80s (I was a super “zeek” but ya’ll can “kiss my grits” - according to wikipedia those are examples of 80s slang), lots of pizza, Jack Daniel shots in little soy sauce dishes and karaoke in K-town (for you non-NYCers that’s short for “Korea Town” which is Manhattan around 32nd btwn 5th & 6th avenues). That whole weekend for me was a colorful blur. I remember bits and pieces regarding things like Strawberry Stoli, my singing Metallica, dancing on a chair, performing some Eminem rap song with a stranger who apparently thought I was the authority in rap performance and going to some internet cafe after with a co-worker who was thouroughly annoyed that her phone needed charging. Oh, and cheese balls. I remember there being lots of cheese balls and popcorn.

On an unrelated note - I hate when people randomly laugh crazily while sitting at their computers. Now, I don’t mean an escaping chuckle, I’m super guilty of that one…especially when viewing celebrity gossip blogs or facebook or whatever. But I mean when people are sitting there for like 10 minutes making a loud racket with their annoying Mickey Mouse-like laughter just waiting for someone to ask, “what’s so funny?” or “what are you looking at?”.  I’m even more annoyed when someone does fall into the trap and it’s something sooo not funny that the asker is immediately like, “um…ok”.  All in the time span of 20 minutes. 20 wasted minutes. 20 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back. Kinda like the 20 minutes it’s taking me to write this and multi task as I “process affiliate applications” at work. I dub these folks “laughter attention whores” and “time stealers”. I have no clue where any of the above came from except that I’m half way through my Brawndo energy drink and a similar scene just played out beside me. I love my office though cuz co-workers rarely fall into the asking trap…and the owner of the annoying laugher is a really nice guy. I’m just feeling rather bitchy I guess.

Late of the Pier (and The Whip) tomorrow @ Bowery Ballroom. Can’t waitttttttt.

Word of the Day: Barracuda

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Wed Mar 25
Saw Bloc Party and Longwave at Terminal 5 (nyc) last night with a friend. Lots of pushing, shoving, elbowing, “ass fighting”, head butting, sweating, random fondling. I had an awesome time, hah. I took many pictures because I have a tendency (much to the annoyance of people around me sometimes as I tend to take pictures of anything, anytime, anywhere…) to treat shows as full blown photoshoots - why this pic is here…well it’s my fave of all the Longwave pics I took. They’re not a bad band - typicalish Brooklynite independent rock. I quite enjoy their music (though some of their tunes are a bit vanilla, they’re last album released last year was pretty catchy) and they all play their respective instruments quite proper (lead singer is creative with the whammy bar, pedals and I’m always up for growling deep quitar “riffs”) - however their live performance leaves something lacking. Not sure what really, but my heart wasn’t racing and my hips weren’t gyrating. My hips don’t lie. If they’re not gyrating then you’re doing something wrong. When playing….music. Gosh, wtf was that stream of thought all about. That wasn’t me, it was the red bull I had awhile ago. I now have wings. Oh…and I got home last night at like 2am and was too lazy to process my sweet ass Bloc Party pics and only got around to 9 Longwave ones because I tend to tackle pictures in the order I take them. Word of the Day: Lightbulb

Saw Bloc Party and Longwave at Terminal 5 (nyc) last night with a friend. Lots of pushing, shoving, elbowing, “ass fighting”, head butting, sweating, random fondling. I had an awesome time, hah.

I took many pictures because I have a tendency (much to the annoyance of people around me sometimes as I tend to take pictures of anything, anytime, anywhere…) to treat shows as full blown photoshoots - why this pic is here…well it’s my fave of all the Longwave pics I took.

They’re not a bad band - typicalish Brooklynite independent rock. I quite enjoy their music (though some of their tunes are a bit vanilla, they’re last album released last year was pretty catchy) and they all play their respective instruments quite proper (lead singer is creative with the whammy bar, pedals and I’m always up for growling deep quitar “riffs”) - however their live performance leaves something lacking. Not sure what really, but my heart wasn’t racing and my hips weren’t gyrating. My hips don’t lie. If they’re not gyrating then you’re doing something wrong. When playing….music. Gosh, wtf was that stream of thought all about. That wasn’t me, it was the red bull I had awhile ago. I now have wings.

Oh…and I got home last night at like 2am and was too lazy to process my sweet ass Bloc Party pics and only got around to 9 Longwave ones because I tend to tackle pictures in the order I take them.

Word of the Day: Lightbulb

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Fri Mar 20
Chili cook-off at work was fun. As fun as it gets for someone like myself who doesn’t enjoy anything about chili other than its aroma. My mom and I made rice with beans and veggies and “relleno de papas” with meat. Meat I didn’t eat because it was Friday and I’m trying to be a “good” girl….mmmm…arrgh, whatevs. Lunch was bean and cheese tortillas. Two of em. Plenty of sour cream. Mmmm…sour cream. I wonder why they call it that. Sour cream. It’s not sour. The bowl 4th from L-R was the winning recipe, the Texas Simple. Word of the day: Cheddar

Chili cook-off at work was fun. As fun as it gets for someone like myself who doesn’t enjoy anything about chili other than its aroma. My mom and I made rice with beans and veggies and “relleno de papas” with meat. Meat I didn’t eat because it was Friday and I’m trying to be a “good” girl….mmmm…arrgh, whatevs. Lunch was bean and cheese tortillas. Two of em. Plenty of sour cream. Mmmm…sour cream.

I wonder why they call it that. Sour cream. It’s not sour.

The bowl 4th from L-R was the winning recipe, the Texas Simple.

Word of the day: Cheddar

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Sun Feb 22
Canada is a very, very cold place full of very friendly people. Too friendly. They make me wonder. No one can possibly be that friendly. Where does all that pent up anger or frustration go? Maybe it’s just my New York state of mind and folks from other countries are just friendly. Or maybe they’re just crazy. Anywhoo, I had a blast and am full of stories involving purple lips, crazy celsius temperatures, awesome donuts and incorrect reservations that almost led to my sleeping on the cold streets of Ontario - but luckily everything worked out well and I got a few margaritas (and my first ‘blue iceberg’) out of our random trip to Niagra Falls. I’d love to go back when they are sans glacial ice and with greenery, foliage and the waters are more blue than whitish-gray. Word of the day: Celsius

Canada is a very, very cold place full of very friendly people. Too friendly. They make me wonder. No one can possibly be that friendly. Where does all that pent up anger or frustration go? Maybe it’s just my New York state of mind and folks from other countries are just friendly. Or maybe they’re just crazy. Anywhoo, I had a blast and am full of stories involving purple lips, crazy celsius temperatures, awesome donuts and incorrect reservations that almost led to my sleeping on the cold streets of Ontario - but luckily everything worked out well and I got a few margaritas (and my first ‘blue iceberg’) out of our random trip to Niagra Falls. I’d love to go back when they are sans glacial ice and with greenery, foliage and the waters are more blue than whitish-gray. Word of the day: Celsius

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Wed Feb 18
Pictured above is New York City’s faux waterfalls thing as viewed from the Staten Island Ferry and photographed by moi. Keep reading for my inspiration for posting this old-ish picture… So I was out briefly this morning doing some last minutes errands as I prepared for a mini-trip with my mom and sister to Niagra Falls. I’ve never been and the reason we decided to with barely 24 hours notice stems from a discussion I had with my mom about how we never do anything spontaneous and my time off is soon coming to an end. A conversation soon transpired in which I was told to pick a place. First place that came to mind was London…or Australia…or Italy…however my beginning a new job on Monday, not having enough time to take in those locales and my realistically not wanting to go anywhere that required a plane I decided a bus trip would be fun. MegaBus was the bus I took to Boston when I went with my girls last summer, so naturally it was the first bus line that came to mind. Niagra Falls stood out to me and I was still being skeptical about my mother’s willingness to go far away-ish without planning it. Now I have a small bag packed with my passport, mittens, my fuzzy hat and my long shapeless coat out and all because of my big mouth. I find it ironic that last night I was running around my house searching for my warmest things while my last trip I was looking for my fave shorts, flip flops and sun tan lotion. Yay! I can’t wait. Word of the day: rapids

Pictured above is New York City’s faux waterfalls thing as viewed from the Staten Island Ferry and photographed by moi. Keep reading for my inspiration for posting this old-ish picture… So I was out briefly this morning doing some last minutes errands as I prepared for a mini-trip with my mom and sister to Niagra Falls. I’ve never been and the reason we decided to with barely 24 hours notice stems from a discussion I had with my mom about how we never do anything spontaneous and my time off is soon coming to an end. A conversation soon transpired in which I was told to pick a place. First place that came to mind was London…or Australia…or Italy…however my beginning a new job on Monday, not having enough time to take in those locales and my realistically not wanting to go anywhere that required a plane I decided a bus trip would be fun. MegaBus was the bus I took to Boston when I went with my girls last summer, so naturally it was the first bus line that came to mind. Niagra Falls stood out to me and I was still being skeptical about my mother’s willingness to go far away-ish without planning it. Now I have a small bag packed with my passport, mittens, my fuzzy hat and my long shapeless coat out and all because of my big mouth. I find it ironic that last night I was running around my house searching for my warmest things while my last trip I was looking for my fave shorts, flip flops and sun tan lotion. Yay! I can’t wait. Word of the day: rapids

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Sun Feb 15
I took my favorite Valentine’s date for an excellent lunch on Sunday afternoon. My little sister and I split this beauty after our entrees. Definitely one of the highlights of my Valentine’s Weekend. This Red velvet from one of my fave restaurants. One Fish, Two Fish on 97th & Madison. We had the penne with alfredo sauce and shrimp. It was divine and it was a tough decision to choose between which pic to post - I chose this one because….because I felt like it. Mmm. Word of the day: Velvet

I took my favorite Valentine’s date for an excellent lunch on Sunday afternoon. My little sister and I split this beauty after our entrees. Definitely one of the highlights of my Valentine’s Weekend.

This Red velvet from one of my fave restaurants. One Fish, Two Fish on 97th & Madison. We had the penne with alfredo sauce and shrimp. It was divine and it was a tough decision to choose between which pic to post - I chose this one because….because I felt like it. Mmm.

Word of the day: Velvet

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Wed Feb 11
Went to see Lily Allen at Bowery Ballroom for free last week courtesy of MySpace & Turbo Tax. Matt & Kim (and Trouble Andrew who is one of those unique, yet confused, untalented bands that manage to suprise me…in an unfortunate way) opened up for her and I had a good time. Alex, my camera, almost got hurt and so did some kid who decided to mosh during Matt & Kim. Namely because of my turning around and demanding that the teeny bopper girls behind me move back and not hold this fool up, he then fell to the floor. Wasn’t hurt or anything - just wanted to teach him a lesson. My lesson was dance with your feet on the ground and avoid kicking the latin woman with the expensive camera in the front or she will make you fall for her. Lol. Whatever, I got a great show for free with a free t-shirt, sweet poster and a few stickers. All in a days work. Trouble Andrew: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephrocks/sets/72157613634104871/ Matt & Kim: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephrocks/sets/72157613679979196/ Lily Allen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephrocks/sets/72157613674352253/ Word of the day: Smile

Went to see Lily Allen at Bowery Ballroom for free last week courtesy of MySpace & Turbo Tax. Matt & Kim (and Trouble Andrew who is one of those unique, yet confused, untalented bands that manage to suprise me…in an unfortunate way) opened up for her and I had a good time. Alex, my camera, almost got hurt and so did some kid who decided to mosh during Matt & Kim.
Namely because of my turning around and demanding that the teeny bopper girls behind me move back and not hold this fool up, he then fell to the floor. Wasn’t hurt or anything - just wanted to teach him a lesson. My lesson was dance with your feet on the ground and avoid kicking the latin woman with the expensive camera in the front or she will make you fall for her. Lol. Whatever, I got a great show for free with a free t-shirt, sweet poster and a few stickers. All in a days work.

Trouble Andrew: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephrocks/sets/72157613634104871/

Matt & Kim: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephrocks/sets/72157613679979196/

Lily Allen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephrocks/sets/72157613674352253/

Word of the day: Smile

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Mon Feb 2
This was me last week in Puerto Rico. Now I’m back in NYC and it’s cold…ish. All I ate was homemade ice cream from a mom & pop ice cream shop, piraguas, potato/egg/chicken empanadas and beer….seriously, empanadas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, oh wait - there was that one day where I had rice, beans, mac n’ cheese, a small burrito, 2 hard shell tacos and pasta - damn buffets! Word of the day: empanada

This was me last week in Puerto Rico. Now I’m back in NYC and it’s cold…ish. All I ate was homemade ice cream from a mom & pop ice cream shop, piraguas, potato/egg/chicken empanadas and beer….seriously, empanadas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, oh wait - there was that one day where I had rice, beans, mac n’ cheese, a small burrito, 2 hard shell tacos and pasta - damn buffets!

Word of the day: empanada

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