It's All in the Content, Apparently

Dudes, we need to talk...

Writing a blog is tricky.

I've noticed this... thing... about my blog posts.  Some receive more views than others.  This sounds extremely obvious and elementary, but there's more.   There's always more. Some receive far more views than others.   As in, way, way, way, way, wayyyy more.  For the past few years, basically since I started this blog, which I have a difficult time accepting was more than two years ago, yet, it's a cold, hard fact, so let's move on, I have been attempting to figure out why the heck that is the case.  Why do people like some of my content, and ignore other bits of it?  Why are certain posts essentially avoided like the plague while other ones are viewed by fifty people within the first four hours?  You won't get the plague from them.  You don't even require a creepy bird mask for safety purposes.

I have discovered the answer: content.  Duh, right?  It seems that I am not at your intelligence level, unfortunately, because this took me a few years to solidify from beyond the realm of intangible, unnamable concept into usable data.  Congratulations on your smartness.  We're all very pleased with you.  Proud, too.  Snaps.  I am not as intelligent, or perceptive, or something, as you are, because this has only now really installed itself in my brain.  The world there is most likely meant to be "instilled" but I thoroughly enjoy the idea of something being installed in your brain like it is in your computer.  Imagine... if you could say, "I'm going to install back handspring today" or "I'm going to install super stick fighting abilities, downloading, estimated completion time 20 minutes".  That would be so obnoxiously rad.  What a fun moment in which one could relish the wonders of technology.  Science, kids.  Science!  

Science!!!!

If these Google glasses ever take off, because, oh yes, Google glasses are now a patented thing... 

If there's a way to connect them to your brain and download TED talks, I will figure it out.  This shall be deciphered!  Okay, so, maybe I am as smart as you are... just in slightly different and nerdier ways.  Possibly less useful ones that involve science fiction style devices, back handsprings and stickfighting instead of basic problem-solving skills...

But, I digress.

Back to content.  You guys like it when I actually have something to say.  Once again, this probably sounds blatantly obvious and kind of stupid, but I'm blonde, so just bear with me.  I've put up a lot of articles here where, frankly, I was just trying to think of something to post.  This happens to me often.  Honestly, almost daily.   I'll be scrolling through photographs, looking at what I have, and grasping at straws.  Some days, I go in to this ritual with an idea.  There's a story on my mind, I'm fixated on something that happened earlier in the day, or perhaps I'm bothered by something, since our world is certainly not a perfect happyland of bunnies, cotton candy, and rainbows.  Many things are right, but many things are wrong here.  That's another post.

Other days, I've got nothing.  I'm sitting there, staring at a bunch of seemingly unrelated, artistic, but uninteresting photographs. There will be a lot of posts of flowers, or street art.  There always are.  Those happen often because flowers are pretty, thus, they attract my attention and I have a tendency to photograph them, and I live in New York City, so, when I'm meandering around snapping away, graffiti and murals are generally some of the most vibrant and eye-catching sights in view, or, some of the most ignored.  Both of those cases attract my fancy, and my lens. So, I will be scrolling through my files, staring, bewildered, at all of these flowers, spray-painted gang signs and stickers, pick a bunch of them that were all taken in the same place, and crank out some mediocre post about how flowers are really nice, or, oh, aren't I so edgy and modern because look, it's graffiti!  

No, I'm not a hipster.  I just live in Brooklyn and am attempting to prove to you that graffiti and property defacement are valid forms of decorating the world.  These concepts are unrelated.

Point made, hipster cat, point made.

My point, though?  The posts like that... they suck.  They really do.  Let's not mince words.  I wrote them, and I think they suck.  Occasionally, I'll have one that's a zinger, but when I don't know what I'm writing about, the result is almost consistently boring.  Sometimes, a good photograph or two will save my sorry, lazy, uninspired butt, but, usually, I'm just making a last ditch effort to produce an article because somewhere, in my mind, I harbor this feeling of adult responsibility to post here as often as possible.  Preferably, daily.  I'm never sure if I feel this for my readers or for myself, because, let's be real here, there aren't that many of you readers.  That is one of the reasons I thank you all so often- you are really the vanguard, putting yourselves on the line for me, all ten of you.  Okay, so, there are more than ten of you, but frankly,  you are mighty, but a mighty few.  

HOWEVER.  When I do have something to say... this place explodes.  It's like 11pm or midnight when the club blows up and people actually start dancing.  Tiesto is pumping and the roof is on fire.  Hands are up in the air.  Drinks are on the house.  Everyone is weeping tears of joy as they dance their worries away- especially me.  

Not going to lie, when one of my articles becomes very popular, there's this wonderful feeling of gratification, partly because something I've done has reached many people, validating my existence, but also because the posts about which I feel the best are also the ones upon which I worked the hardest.  The soul-dumping, heart-baring posts are the ones you lovely reader people seem to like the most.  This is awesome, because it gives me a little bit more freedom to do what I want.  It's also taxing because, well, I feel like I have to deliver more.  I've put up a few of the more "sucky" type of posts over the past few weeks after sharing a bunch of really good articles lately, and I was very disappointed in them.  

Wow, screw the past tense, I still am disappointed in them.  They are out there, on the internet, being all mediocre and stuff.  I could have done so much better if I had simply taken twenty minutes out of my day, and riffed on something I care about instead of "ooh, pretty flowers, spray paint, woohooooo!!" (That's not a direct quote, but you get the picture).

So, um, yeah. Expect some decent content, for three main reasons: 

1.  It's more fun for me to write, and for you to read.  

2. I avoided this for a while, but, I'm a nerd, and you seem to enjoy this.  Cool.

3. I'm so sick of writing posts that are lame- I might explode.

 This new, awesome content is not going to come every day.  I'm too busy for that.  Sorry.  I know, I know.  You can't really experience life until you've had your morning coffee and Travel and Toile.  I get it.  I feel similarly.  But, I'm going to try to bring the ruckus, and the good, no, freaking fantastic content.

Cheers, all.  Let's see how this goes.

Thanks!

Best,

Emily

Sundresses, Horses, Puppies, Balloons, Sunshine, Shakespeare, and Other Awesomeness

On nice days, you see a strange, wonderful migtation in New York City:  everyone emerges from their apartments, offices, and cracks in the sidewalk to hang out in the parks.  Park culture is amazing here in NYC.  Considering the majority of the limits are composed of a crazy concrete jungle, it's nice to get a little green in your life, instead of the concrete, asphault, brick and brownstone.  In some parks, including parts of Prospect Park, Van Cortland Park and Central Park, you actually cannot see any buildings.  This gives you the illusion that maybe you are actually in a forest, but really, you're smack dab in the middle of one of the world's largest cities. 

I love the parks, and on nice days, I especially love people watching in them.  There is this fantastic phenomenon that my boyfriend and some of the guys he works with have dubbed "sundress day".  It's basically a holiday, and like Easter, it floats.  Sundress Day is the first gorgeous, warm, and not windy day of spring, when all of the women of New York whip out their favourite sundress, be it new or the one they have been dreaming about repeating since last September.  Then, they all sit in the park and flaunt how awesome they feel in said sundress.  Guys all over the city then also flock to the park, and try to look as excellent as possible to impress all of the fabulously dressed ladies.  It is quite a show, and in smaller parks like Union Square and Washington Square, it can actually be difficult to get a bench seat. 

These photos were not taken on sundress day- I was unfortunately working when it happened.  But, they were all taken during sundress season- the week or so after sundress day when all the girls are still excited, and wearing summery stuff.  And, all of them are from Central Park!

First, we have the delightfully chill hipster chick, relaxing on a bench with her banana snack, looking like she just doesn't care.  Hip- like a hipster.

Then, we have this criminally adorable little puppy.  Going to the park does NOT help my dog-lust.  Ever.  Parks are fully of dogs, and I want a dog so badly... and that's bad.  I can't care for a dog right now- I have no backyard and barely any budget.  Plus, I'm thinking about going to grad school in a different country.  It's not time for a dog... but this one is so cute!

I titled this photograph "The Horse and His Boy".  It seems to make sense to me.  The horse and his carriage driver look like they are having a conversation to me.  The horse is asking for something, and his bowler-becked buddy is saying "Whadya want?" in a stereotypical Brooklyn awesome accent.  The horse sounds like Mr. Ed, because he is the only talking horse from pop culture that comes to mind at the moment.

This photograph is titled "Think True Love Acted Simple Modesty," which is a quote from one of Juliet's monologues in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  This statue is in front of the Delacorte Theatre, where Shakespeare in the Park is performed.  My boyfriend is working on the shows this year, so hopefully, I'll be around there quite a bit.  I love the area surrounding the theatre- the statues of the Shakespeare characters, the Shakespeare Garden, full of beautiful flowers and plaques with quotes from the Bard's plays and sonnets, the Belvedere Castle atop the cliff.  It's gorgeous. I'm not sure if this statue is meant to be Romeo and Juliet... I'll have to read the plaque another time.  But, the quote seemed to fit.  This dip is so elegantly romantic, I feel a bit swoony.  In a great kind of way. 

This next photograph makes me giggle.  This man was making and selling balloon animals and swords for children outside of the Central Park zoo.  However, at this moment, his placement of some of the swords is, well, kind of hilariously awesome.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Kitsch Me Up and Urban My Outfitters

Call me a hipster, call me what you like... but I really love Urban Outfitters.  True, they sometimes stock some bizarre things, but they offer delightfully trendy and fairly high-quality clothing for decent prices.  Their sales are fantastic.  And, the bizarre things they stock are just... awesome.  They're awesome.  Urban has some really nifty stuff.

I've gotten some excellent pieces of clothing there, and I plan to get many more in the future.  Beyond clothing though, this place has delightful homewares.  Like the company's higher end/ mori girl shop Anthropologie, there are a lot of home goods at Urban that are really lovely and unique.  Little figurines, pretty shaped candles, cups, plates, etc.  We have a neat plum-coloured, tiered side table from them in our apartment that I got for like $35.

  Unlike Anthropologie, they also stock a lot of sassy and "inappropriate" stuff, like party banners with curse words raunchy sayings, sex books, and well, just other tchotchkes that some might deem inappropriate.  This collection of stuff is always fun to look through, just to see what kinds of wacky things they can sell!  Though, you do find a few artistic gems from time to time that aren't really mainstream enough to sell anywhere else.  They also sell cute and funny kitschy items from old cartoons and such, which are generally fun to look at too!

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Hipsters on a Roof

Well, the content of this post is pretty much exactly what the title suggests.

Here are some photos.  Of hipsters... on a roof.

Where did I see these hipsters of glory?  And, how did I get an aerial shot of them on a roof?  Skill, my friends.  I learned how to fly the other day. Okay, that's a lie, obviously.  But, I really did shoot them from above.  I was on a bridge.  The Manhattan Bridge, to be exact.  This man and woman were on a rooftop below, on the Brooklyn side.  There were a few shockingly warm days in the middle of this week, and I decided to take advantage of my thursday by actually walking home from Manhattan.  Yes, this is an insanely long walk, and yes, I did bail once I got to the Atlantic-Pacific Station, about a half an hour away from my apartment.  However, I did make it over the bridge.  It was beautiful... but, more about that in tomorrow's post!

Seriously, though.  Check out this guy's glasses!  Both pairs...

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Sittin in a Tree

So, here are Danny, Rob, and me.  Hanging out in a tree in Prospect park on a cool November morning.  

It's times like these that I seriously think about whether I might have become a hipster.

I spend way too much of my time bashing on hipsters, how annoying they are, how ironic their ironicness has become, how they wear tooo much American Apparel, too many silly hats.... and then I go and do a shoot like this, and I start to question it.

What if... I am one?  The classic sign that you are a hispter is that you deny that you are one.  I deny that I am a hipster... if I start to claim that I am one, will it, by negation, cause me to not be one?  Is that how I can avoid this terrible fate?  Or, maybe I should just stop doing ironic photoshoots with my friends in Prospect Park.  But, I really don't think this is ironic.  I think it looks cool.  Maybe we look kind of cool too.  I'd like to think that.  Honestly, I think I look a bit chubby in these photos, but, ah well.   I had to wear a hat because my hair looked awful that day.  Boo hiss.

In any case, we had fun.  Which is what it's all about.

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA