"What do you think of the name, uh, Lyric?"

I frowned, "Aneeric?" That's how the spelling looked in my head.

"No," the high-school bank teller leaned closer with her hand folded under her chin, "Lyric."

I stared.

"No? Okay, you don't like it," she went back to processing my info.

"No...no, it's just that I can't see that as being a first name," I said...while thinking It doesn't even sound pretty. I stared at her, because I was afraid to ask her why she was interested in the name.

This whole conversation started with her question, "How do you pronounce your first name?". Usually, when people ask, it's because they see it as a puzzle and intuit that they can't say what they see. That's true, but I get all kinds of pronunciations when people "try it out", and I'd rather answer a question rather than inject a correction.

"Yeah...Lyric, that's interesting," I continue, because I wanna know!

"My friend asked me what I thought about that name the other day, because she wants to use it. I want to know what people think. I like it. I think it's pretty. I think I might steal it."

I stare at her mid-section. Is she in dire need of a name now?

"Huh...now I'm wondering where it comes from. Is it Latin or French..." I trail off, because I'm confused and in my head I'm screaming For why are you conducting this survey?

There is nothing wrong with picking baby names when you're 15. My friends and I did it...I'm pretty sure. This teen could have possibly been the really outgoing extroverted type teen who thought it was perfectly fine testing out baby names for her future(?) child on adult strangers. But, it felt a little awkward, even more so when I realized that she saw my name written and considered taking that too. I wanted to snatch it out of her mind. It's weird being possessive over an intangible yet public thing, like your name. Let's just say that in a decade or so, it'll be weird running into a little one named Hernease Lyric Fantasia Birmingham...or something close to that.

Bon Bastille et Joyeux Quatorze Juillet

I am not French, but my first name is. So, from my first name to you, Happy Bastille!

Today, my first name celebrated France's sorta kinda independence day. Philly had its own Jour de la Bastille on Saturday, with the beloved Eastern State Penitentiary serving as La Bastille. I went with my friend Judy, and we witnessed the 14th annual reenactment of Marie Antoinette's beheading. Yes, that had nothing to do with the actual storming of the Bastille...which was kind of lack luster (but significant!) compared to someone's head being chopped off for saying things like "Let them eat cake."

In Philly, though, they eat Tastykakes.

So, in the reenactment (please go next year if you've never been), "Marie Antoinette" is sitting at the top of "La Bastille", far removed from the reality of the "peasants" below, who stood outside reading their grievances about Karl Rove-s-pierre, John Street standing in line for an iPhone, the lack of a star 76er.... So, she's sitting up top, drinking her champagne, and when the peasants cry, "The people have no bread," she screams, "Let them eat Tastykakes!" Then 2000 packages of Tastykakes are thrown from the tower onto Fairmount Ave. Then, she's brought down with cries of "We want the Queen!" The unmemorized scripted reenactment continued at the real live guillotine (in Philly, we pronounce those l's) in the middle of the street in front of "La Bastille". This Marie Antoinette, while dodging the Tastykake missiles being thrown from a disturbingly genuinely angry Philly/French crowd, sweet talks her way out of getting the chop. Instead, the executioner slices some watermelons to appease the crowd who just kind of wanted to see things sliced by a big ol' knife. I know I did.

As for pics...I took my medium format film camera (Holga!) and I'm having the film developed. So, as soon as I get that back, (hopefully I got something...I'm a little iffy with the Holga) I'll post. Until then, à bientôt (laters).

Fleet Foxes: It was pretty hot tonight...

I went to an incredible concert tonight at the First Unitarian Church in Center City Philadelphia.  If you don't know about this venue, there is excellent music going through there almost every day. I had the pleasure of attending another concert there last night for a band a friend introduced me to called Fleet Foxes.  It was wonderful, and I wish I could explain what a privilege it always is to hear such tight vocal harmony along with great musicianship...live (i.e. Dave Matthews Band...most times).  And, to let you know, I would have taken pictures, but the room we were in was so gosh darn hot, it was all I could do to enjoy the music, concentrate on staying conscious and hydrated...yeah.  I bought the last $1 bottle of water.  I felt bad...'cause it was stupid hot.  It's funny, though, the band was so good, I don't think anyone cared. We all stayed an extra 20-30 minutes for an encore...and probably would've stayed for another one if they hadn't turned the lights on.

Well then, here's a late night insomnia music post because I cannot get these songs out of my head.  A studio recording, however, does not do their sound justice...like that of my beloved Dave Matthews Band.  But, here you go...an attempt to progress towards sleep. I hope you enjoy these selections, which are the last song performed before their encores, the last encore, and the 1st encore...my favorite. 

Night Portrait Session 3

I have really enjoyed doing these night portraits. The best part has been being able to hang out with great friends who are so patient and excited. It's also been nice to work in some ghostly stuff, and with this latest session, it really did start to feel like a dance. I had the pleasure of working with four great women. From left to right, we have Shavaugn, Gonza, Shreya and Ja'Dell (my little sister).

Ha! Electric President

It's time for another music post.  I hope you enjoy this tune by Electric President.  It's a song I stumbled upon while working on my night shots.  The title, then, is both amusing and eerily appropriate.  Plus, I am a sucker for weird beats, wispy voiced lead singers, and dramatic chords.  I hope you like all of that too. 

Anyway, stay tuned for more "Insomnia" posts. 

Until then,  I'll let you in on what's in the works right now. I had the opportunity to photograph four beautiful women in the park as a part of my ongoing night portrait series.  I will be posting a couple of my favorites from that session soon...very soon...I promise.