erika joan.

i know. its been a while.

2009-08-19T01:31:00.004-04:00

and so much has happened. so so so much.

the only thing worth bragging about though is that I'm now assisting for Brian Finke. So there's my big 'suck it' to all the people who "jokingly" said "haha now what!?" when you tell them that you just graduated, even though they're really thinking '...art school...you're never going to get a job! not with this economy.'

anyways. im sitting here in the porch of my new apartment with my cat tossing around in his sleep next to me. this is about to be jill's room in a few weeks and I cannot even express how excited I am to live in the same house as my best friend, let alone the same county! or state even! and everyone says 'oh yea till you get sick of each other' but I think Jill and I are past that point where we know how to handle each other. We know when the other one needs alone time and knows how the other one handles stress therefore making it easier for us to stay out of each others way when needed.

I don't know why but it's always been so hard for me and her to get along well with other people, or handle all the drama that life hands us. it just seems to flow in unnecessary amounts in our direction. hers more than mine unfortunately. for her that is. or why we have such a problem handling situations that everyone else around us seems to handle just fine. we're probably just socially retarded and don't realize that our inabilities to be satisfied by anyone but ourselves is really just our inabilities to function in society at all. great. socially retarded babes. story of my life.

Gus Gus is twitching in his sleep and i just wanna rub my face in his belly and fall asleep with him!!!!

Went to the Ikea in Red Hook today. its like an amusement park for adults. bought some household items that were needed. like a dresser, something of which I haven't owned in over four years. awesome.

Here's a horrible video that my friend Alex posted on facebook once, and i just sent it to Jill to make her smile cause its NUTS. It's from Tim & Eric, a show I dont get to watch ever because I have neither cable nor internet.

enjoy. don't let it get to you like it first got to me.!

fulfilled.

2009-03-29T00:21:00.003-04:00

a lot has been going on this past week.

R.I.P. Steve Parish.

tonight i watched The Princess and The Warrior.

it's a french film from 2000 and it reminded me a lot of 12th grade/freshman year of college and i have no idea why. just how i felt. or wanted to feel i guess. safe?

you should see it.

this is me bragging.

2009-03-18T23:36:00.006-04:00

So back in January, George and I went to Magnum's book party at the Aperture Gallery. Thanks to my awesome teacher, Robert Stevens, I was able to meet so many awesome photographers within Magnum. I also got to view Cartier-Bresson's widow walking around. That was pretty cool, despite the fact that I'm not a big Cartier-Bresson fan.

My friend, Aaron, found this on flickr. It's me listening to Bruce Gilden tell a story. That's Martin Parr on the right. oh yeaaaa.

movie of the year. besides the watchmen i guess. and the half blood prince.

2009-03-02T01:57:00.003-05:00

ps. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD is coming out this year.

and I bet you can't wait!!! cause I know I can't!!!

and I knowww none of you would dare see this amazing! movie without first reading the series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley.

I think it's only based off the first book, even though it has the title of the second. I could however be lying to all of you. but it has Michael Cera, some hot chick named Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, and Kieran Culkin. the only bad thing about it is I think Jason Schwartzman might be playing a part, and I absolutely despise him. I don't know about you, but seeing him cream himself over lameface Mike Way coming into a bar kind of diminished his merit, in my eyes at least (if you want the whole story - and the reason for Mike Way being lame apart from being in My Chemical Romance - just ask me anytime). anyway it's gonna be an awesome movie.!

i need need need need to read the fifth one.

2009-03-02T00:48:00.001-05:00

everything is good. pretty darn good.

i really really really want to learn swedish.

fresh start.

2009-02-01T00:39:00.007-05:00

Well it's been a long while since I've last updated. My life was stress city with not a lot going on to photograph or write about. The day has come though and I have acquired a laptop of my very own (finally). So I will not have to spend all my time at the school labs, and I can now be connected with culture. I don't have any photographs or anything to post right now.

I just watched Apocolypto and I think that if I ever venture off into the wild and pursue an Alex Supertramp lifestyle, I'm giong to replace my septum ring with that thing Seven has in the movie:

So my friend Rob is in jail for a year. It's a whole big ordeal that got blown out of proportion and he doesn't deserve to be there. But he's handling it like a man and hopefully the time will fly by and he'll be out soon enough. Shelley's handling it really well. I know I'd be in shambles. But anyways, there's a benefit show on his behalf on Feb. 21st and 22nd up in Connecticut. Word on the street is there's a bunch of awesome bands playing and a few that will be surprises. Take a look see:

So come. How can you even not!? I'll be there. And I'm pretty sure we all know, I'm the most unhard of the unhard.

Coraline!!

2008-12-08T21:17:00.001-05:00

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIEEEEEEEEE.

the book was crazy disturbing. and it's for children. read it!

a month.

2008-11-23T00:32:00.003-05:00

its been a while. and i don't have much to say lately. Obama is prez. horrah horrahhh. thanksgiving is coming and i cannot WAIT to put up my christmas tree. and go shopping in my mall and take in christmas with all i can this year. the christmas spirit hasn't hit me at all really these past three years, so i plan to make it happen this time.

on that note, here's a list of some photo books (among other things) i would like if anyone's looking for a gift to give me:

-Simon Norfolk "Afghanistan"

-William Eggleston books

-Joel Sterfeld "Oxbow Archive" & "Walking the Highline" (if you can find it)

-Mary Ellen Mark "Ward 81" (they reprinted it)

-Steve McCurry "South by Southeast

-Eugene Richards "The Blue Room"

-Troy Paiva "Night Vision"

i also want the two last volumes of family guy dvd's. as well as that rayman game for Wii where you have to kill the bunnies in the grass skirts and cocoanut bras. horrah!

BUY THIS FOR ME. please.

the day has come!

2008-10-27T21:40:00.000-04:00

p.s. www.erikaengstrom.com

still a few kinks to work out, but its pretty much done. finally.

Kristin, Jay, and Keli.

2008-10-27T21:11:00.006-04:00

here's some photos i shot of pretty much the most adorable family in the entire world for a denim ad assignment i shot for a class:

jpegs always look awful on here. and everywhere. blast.

happy birthday all around!

2008-10-14T16:53:00.002-04:00

Went to the Diesel XXX Dirty Thirty party on saturday.

It was pure chaos.

It was also Corinne's birthday!!

more like derma-gay-logist.

2008-10-10T19:15:00.002-04:00

i now have another infection on my neck.
just like the one in the pictures posted below.

wonderful.

little girl breakdown.

2008-09-26T18:57:00.005-04:00

haha this has made me laugh harder than i have in a long time.

horrah teen fiction.

2008-10-04T18:08:00.003-04:00

nick and norah was A-dorable. went along with the book pretty well.

too cute. and it made me want to be back in high school falling in love all over again.

michael cera is the gem of gems.!

ps. i started up my tamagotchi haha. im extremely awesome.....

aliens!

2008-10-01T22:39:00.006-04:00

So about a month and a half ago I had a mole removed on my chest for a biopsy. About three weeks later I started to develop what I thought was a pimple on the left side of my neck. After unsuccessfully popping it, it grew bigger and harder, and once I saw the black color on the inside of it, I started to realize this was not a pimple.

So I then concluded that aliens were growing inside of me.

I contemplated going to the emergency room, but since I had an return appointment at the dermatologist the following Tuesday, I figured I'd just wait.

I did however, document the little fucker.

This is how it looked a majority of the time (underneath a band-aid of course!):

This is the night before it exploded:

and this is right after it exploded:

When I went to the dermatologist that Tuesday, only to have four more moles removed, he told me it was an infection from the first biopsy. Wonderful. But he put me on antibiotics so hopefully it won't happen again.

bottom line - no aliens.!

website.

2008-09-30T17:37:00.002-04:00

should be up sometime this weekend. !!!!!!!

go see Michal Chelbin's show in Chelsea at Andrea Meislin Gallery

or at least visit her website.

Sunday Best.

2008-09-23T00:03:00.004-04:00

More like Monday.

I had to shoot strangers for this independent study assignment. Today I came across this girl, and at first I just wanted to shoot her cause I liked her outfit, then I realized how gorgeous she is.

I would kill to shoot her again. Kill, I tell you!

internship schminternship.

2008-09-18T20:07:00.000-04:00

i've recently realized how un-motivated i am. boo.

Dream 2.

2008-09-10T15:08:00.002-04:00

So among a few strange dreams last night, I remember this one the best:

I was at Jones Beach with Jill and there were a few people around that I knew but pretty much just strangers as Jones Beach is the beach to go to if you're from any of the five boroughs. I remember being right by the water and it was calm, no waves really. There was this weird sign floating upright in the water for the subway, and I picked it up when it got near me because it was strange looking. There were two rods coming out of the bottom of the sign shooting air out which propelled it through the water, so I placed it back in the water and it jetted away from me. Then we packed up and went down to the A train to go home, even though the A train doesn't go to Jones Beach. Everyone apparently had the same idea so the train was packed. Despite the fact that it was a subway and supposed to be heading towards the city, we were going out towards Smithtown. At first Jill and I were just sitting and laughing at nothing (as usual) when I started to notice that everyone on the train was someone I knew. Some I wanted to see...some I didn't. Basically it was a high school reunion circa 2004. A boy who shall remain nameless came through from another car to talk to Jill and I. He had dyed his hair pink for some ungodly reason. He sat next to me and started talking to us. Giggling, I switched spots with Jill (by pretty much rolling over her) so she could have her privacy. I started walking down the other side of the train. As I got farther down the train, it turned from being a regular subway car, into a really fancy dining car. Everyone started looking fancy and dressed up and I remember I felt self conscious because i was wearing some dumpy brown shirt with polka dots on it and sweatpants. I passed all of the then 9th grade boys, and they were standing in two rows wearing tuxes and holding up masks. I came to the last car and sat down at this piano alone. Then suddenly everyone burst through the door dancing and singing and there was a curtain to my right that people came out of and there was this whole production. It wasn't for me, but I wasn't a part of it either. And it was everyone from high school. And I was still self conscious about my clothes, but happy, too. It was a strange one.

I have a sty.

2008-09-09T21:54:00.002-04:00

and it makes me want to gouge my eye out.

these are from Texas this summer:

I'm on a roll.

more to come. YAY!

Estephany.

2008-09-09T17:17:00.002-04:00

She's my model.

and I'm hers.

ring goddamnit.

2008-09-05T18:00:00.002-04:00

ive yet to hear from the gym OR the dermatologist.

not ok.

SVA. my second home. or third really.

2008-09-02T17:11:00.012-04:00

it drives me nuts when horrible horrible horrible people still seem to somehow win. or at least get the best of me.

summer has come to a close for me, as SVA opens its doors, and i barely even got to experience it. i guess i did, but not as much, or as freely as i would have liked. but i am excited to be back, despite all of my schedule malfunctions i've created for myself.

oh well.

here is a picture of george & a squirrel. from our riverside park adventure...last week? i don't really remember when:

the sky is, apparently, on fire.

2007-11-02T22:37:00.002-04:00

Good evening.

So this is my first post with Blogger. Thought I'd give it a shot considering I like to blog but my old blog was irritating and getting to the point where it reminds me of my past. So it's time for a change as well as a new beginning.

That's pretty much how I've been feeling about everything in my life lately. A New Beginning. With school, and friends, and well, everything. "Friends" is the main reason. It takes hurtful event after hurtful event for me to realize that certain people are just not worth my time anymore. I get to frustrated and worked up over it so screw it.

I live in NYC now which is far away from my past, maybe not geographically but, most importantly, mentally. I have good friends here to keep me occupied on the lonely aspect, even though I do not get lonely very often. I'm easily content with being alone, and most times prefer it. I also have my school work which takes up most of my free time, as well as my part time job, an oh so proud employee of that greedy coorporation retail business known as Barnes & Noble.

Now, now thats just the low pay talking. I actually really enjoy working there. It's a good atmosphere and all my managers are pretty awesome. Plus it's the Union Square location, so we always got some sweet celebs coming in. haha. But on the unsuperficial note, it's really not a bad place to be working, and I personally really enjoy it there. And my discount. :)

Well I've already written more than intended. I guess that just proves how much goes on in my head. Though I am...not bored...but unoccupied tonight. While the boyfriend and his roommates are in Astoria at band practice, I, the girlfriend, get to enjoy a stress free evening at his apartment enjoying his cable TV and computer, both of which I lack at my apartment. I had a nice two hours of Degrassi to watch. Yes the show may be juvenile, but I can't deny the fact that every few episodes, it is able to bring a tear to my eye. Good stuff, good stuff. If you're feeling like a 15 year old girl of course. And hey, I love to flashback 5 years of my life every now and then.

Now that some other, more awful, teeny bopper show has resided on Noggin, I've discovered that Young Frankenstein is playing on TV Land. I swear if I was of the same age, and ever met him, I would probably try and pursue marriage with Gene Wilder. The man can bring a stitch to my stomache in a matter of minutes. Which reminds me, I've recently invested in Haunted Honeymoon, probably my favorite movie of all time.

If you've never seen it, I reccomend that you do.

I think I'm going to try and write less from now on.
It's amazing I wasn't a gum chewing chatterbox when I was in high school.

dead beat.

2007-11-05T23:58:00.002-05:00

I hate that I can never be comfortable with what im shooting for school. and anything that i really want to shoot and would be comfortable showing, I cant get access to. It's either in another country, or highly illegal. well not highly, but many laws against it.

so i resort to the crappy conceptual stuff that im not good at. and then i end up hating myself and my work and getting down about it.

i love my school, but i really wish i could just have the freedom to travel and shoot what i want to. without any deadlines. i hate deadlines.

the one thing i want in this world is more time. more more more time. for everything.

Today is the first day i surprised myself with how i live.
i worked an 8 hour shift today - closed at 10 only to come here to school to do work until probably around 2.
so that makes me get home at 3/ 3:30.
then ill wake up at 7 to open at work at 9:30. and proceed to have work and class all day till 9. when ill then go out and shoot for social documentary which i have the next day at 12.
after that class and another class, ill start writing a midterm that was due two weeks ago at 6 probably into the wee hours of the morning only to have to wake up at 7 again the next day to go open at work again and have classes until 9 at night.

that makes me hate my life.
but its my own fault i guess. im a slacker to the 10th degree.

i need a break and i need christmas. and i need a slap across the face.

chris is probably the only thing that keeps me going these days.

(dont mind the shitty scan job.)