Blog — Here Say

Iceland Road Trip Day 1: Keflavik to Heimaey

Well hello. Long time no see. Probably because I've been very busy with work and also with wrapping up planning on the Iceland 2.0 2016 road trip, which I am currently on. I'm almost live blogging (2 days later)! Technology has come so far!

Iceland day 1 was kind of like 3 days. It started off in Baltimore with a flight on Icelandic airline WOW Air, and some celebratory Icelandic Gull beer and American Pringles. Roughly five hours later we touched down in Keflavik to begin our adventure.

The Colors of Grand Central Market

When I have time for a lunch or coffee break in the middle of my work day and no errands to complete, I often find myself gravitating towards Grand Central, especially in cold weather. I inevitably end up stalking up and down the market aisle, doing the food equivalent of window shopping; looking and looking and staring excessively and maybe drooling a little bit but hardly ever buying, because these foods are too perfect to be consumed, and everything in Grand Central Market is perfect. The breads and baked goods, the shiny fruit, the fresh pasta in delicate coils, the glistening fish on ice. If food were art, this would be The Met.

PhotosAlison GrassoFebruary 8, 2016food, art, colors, photos, grand central, market, shopping, groceries, nonsense, rambling, prose, nyc, new york city, new york, midtownComment

Washington Square Park Distilled

Back in November, I teamed up with Chris Littler (who is apparently my muse) and Ellen Winter of Chamber Band to shoot a music video for their insanely amazing song, "Love Left."

We got up early as hell and traipsed all over New York City, from Times Square to the East Village, with a good amount of gear, several outfit changes, and of course a selfie stick in tow. The original idea was to cut a video made exclusively of iPhone footage from the selfie stick, but once we saw this incredible slow-motion single take of Ellen passing through Washington Square Park, this was the only way to do the video. It has everything. Skateboarders, a live jazz band, massive soap bubbles, and of course, pigeon man, all shot at 96 fps.

VideoAlison GrassoFebruary 3, 2016video, music video, shooting, directing, editing, slow motion, nyc, new york city, greenwich village, pigeon man, nyuComment

Days Like Today

Days when winter breaks and you can go outside unencumbered by your gigantic coat and hat and heavy bag and walk down the street with nothing in your hands and be free. And you could probably walk forever because you are so light, and so happy to be alive, and the wind's in your hair and it feels good and nothing else matters. And the city is quiet and your head is quiet with no sounds in your ears except for these words that need to escape and go somewhere, because not every day is a day like today.

StoriesAlison GrassoJanuary 31, 2016miscellaneous, rambling, nyc, new york city, veteran, life, nonsense Comments

Winter Storm Jonas in New York City

Yesterday, winter storm (blizzard? Nor'easter? Snowpocalypse?) Jonas battered the northeastern United States from Maryland up to New York, dumping more than 27 inches of snow over the course of 24 hours. With crazy snowfall, intense winds, and freezing temperatures, even typically unstoppable NYC came to a bit of a standstill with suspended public transportation and businesses closing midday in the interest of public safety.

Video, StoriesAlison GrassoJanuary 24, 2016video, storm, blizzard, winter storm, jonas, nor'easter, nyc, new york city, northeast, USA Comments

7 Hours in Portland, Oregon

Sometimes it helps to put a little space between yourself and your experiences so that you can look back with some perspective and weed the important moments out from the forgettable ones. Or that's the reason I'm using for why it's taken me this long to finish a fairly short post about my even shorter time in Portland, Oregon.

I got off the bus from Eugene and it was raining. No one, myself included, was surprised. I had a few hours to spend in Portland before my flight out of PDX in the evening, and since the weather was gloomy as always, struggled to find things to do inside while still getting a taste of the Pacific Northwest's capital of urban hipness.

Photos, StoriesAlison GrassoJanuary 15, 2016portland, oregon, beer, city, USA, layover, doughnuts, 7 hours, food, brewery, donutsComment