Shootin'

In keeping with my goal of trying new things, last week I embarked on a trip to New York City's only shooting range with a friend of mine.


Thanks to Living Social, we got a great deal on a visit to Westside Rifle & Pistol Range.  The two-hour session started with a thorough safety course where we were taught to load and shoot .22 caliber rifles (no one is allowed to shoot a hand gun in New York without a permit).  After that, we also actually got to load the bullets into the magazines before entering the range.

The range itself was a lot like you see in the movies, with the wooden dividers and the paper targets that we could wheel out and back in after shooting rounds.  And, of course, we got to wear the protective (and oh so stylish) goggles and earmuffs.

Shooting was just plain fun.  Contrary to what I was expecting, the rifles didn't have any recoil at all.  The surprising part, however, was how hot it got while we were shooting.  But not hot enough to dissuade us from buying a second round (another 50 bullets) to shoot...

While we did the shooting essentially on a whim, it was so much fun that I would actually consider going back.  Conveniently, with our deal we unexpectedly received 3-month memberships to the shooting range, so we're free to go at any time.

The other surprising thing about the shooting was how good it was for clearing the mind.  We of course joked ahead of time about who we might picture in our minds, but in reality I thought of nothing at all other than aiming and pulling the trigger.  It was honestly a pretty great escape from reality for a couple hours.

I have to say that I was impressed with my aim, as was my instructor.

So, go ahead, make my day... :)

So, I turned a year older and had my first art show...

Summer is in full swing here in The City.  For a while we were treated to beautiful weather and tolerable temperatures, but this week the heat started to creep in.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time until the sweltering humidity sets in for good.

A week and half ago I partook in my annual tradition of trying not to make a big deal of my birthday.  This year I opted to visit family down in Charleston, South Carolina.  Charleston really is a beautiful place, and if I had any desire whatsoever to live in the South, it would be at the top of my list.

I spent the afternoon of my birthday getting a tour of Charleston's harbor and waterways on my uncle's boat.  We stopped for a relaxing float on rafts, where I felt a million miles away from hectic city life.  We also got an up close view of Charleston harbor, where I was able to get some great shots of the historic houses along the Battery.

I've had my eye on one of these for over a year now.  It's going for a mere $10 million, so if someone wants to send a belated birthday gift or winning lottery ticket my way, I'll rethink that move to the South in a heart beat.

After showering off the salt water and sunscreen, we headed to downtown Charleston for my birthday dinner at Anson Restaurant.  The seafood here was utterly fantastic (I had an amazing barbecue glazed salmon).  If you ever find yourself in Charleston and want a nice meal, I highly recommend that you give it a try.

Not making a big deal out of a birthday is difficult when you have a younger cousin who is really into celebrating birthdays.  But when that means you get a cake like this, maybe making a big deal isn't such a bad thing:

On the 4th we enjoyed a fantastic fireworks display from the deck of a catamaran after a sunset tour of the harbor.  We had a perfect view of the Cooper River Bridge and the battleship where they launched the fireworks show.

A few days after I returned home from my southern adventure, I took part in my first art show.  

Now, I've had a couple pseudo-shows in the past -- two displays after classes I took and one "art show" hosted by my old law firm -- but this was the first time that any of my work has really ever been on display for the public to see.

The art show was at Breukelen Coffee House in Crown Heights on Saturday night.  The theme was Lost & Found, which was entirely open to artist interpretation.  I chose to show a few photos that I took in a cemetery on my recent visit to Warsaw.  The exhibit will be up until the end of August and all the work is for sale (although for now I'll settle for a showing; a sale would be icing on the cake).

All in all, the show went very well and I'm excited to have an exhibition under my belt, even if it was a small one.  I'm also incredibly grateful to my friends who came out to see the show and enjoy the free Budweiser cans (I still think it was an odd choice, but I wasn't in charge).  It meant so much to me to have support at what was hopefully my first of many showings.  You guys are the best.

And now to continue on with the summer of fun... :)