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	<title>mike ricca photography &#187; places</title>
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	<link>http://focalmatter.com</link>
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		<item>
		<title>tha police</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2012/01/tha-police/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2012/01/tha-police/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:09:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[street shooting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grand army plaza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nypd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[police]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=2099</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My dad was a cop. One of New York's Finest. He served for eleven years before retiring as a Detective Lieutenant (Auto Crime) when we moved to the Philippines in '82. Whenever someone would ask what my dad did when we lived in New York, there was always a sense of pride in my reply. Every kid thinks his dad is Superman, but how many of them actually threw people in jail? How many had guns and dress blues and medals?]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2012/01/tha-police/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>trick or freeze</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/10/trick-or-freeze/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/10/trick-or-freeze/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 2011 07:09:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nyc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weather]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=2044</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It snowed today, the earliest New York has received at least an inch of snow <em>in recorded weather history</em>. I'd write more but honestly, not much else really need be said. Besides, after a night out (like a little bit of snow is gonna stop anyone) I'm in dire need of some thawing out.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/10/trick-or-freeze/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>only happy when it rains</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/08/only-happy-when-it-rains/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/08/only-happy-when-it-rains/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:51:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[street shooting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hurricane]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irene]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nyc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1983</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
It's raining out. Despite the fact that she isn't even here yet, Irene has officially taken hold of New York City. Stores stripped bare, the streets so empty you'd think the Ascension had happened while you were napping. At home and bored, listening to the rain pelt the streets outside, I decided to hop into a ZipCar and do a little cruising.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/08/only-happy-when-it-rains/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>hot couture</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/07/hot-couture/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/07/hot-couture/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:15:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[fashion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abandonment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roundhouse]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1776</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When I had arranged my last trip to San Francisco, the very first thing I did after booking my flight was send out an email to Paciano Triufo, Ann Borja, and Roczane Enriquez, photographers and make-up artist (respectively) extraordinaire and good friends from my theatre days with Bindlestiff. I'd always wanted to work with on a shoot but had never had the chance, so when the chance presented itself, I hopped right on it.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/07/hot-couture/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>the man who wasn&#8217;t there</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/06/the-man-who-wasnt-there/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/06/the-man-who-wasnt-there/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:56:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[portraits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rain]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1753</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I had another shoot just last night, this time with a coworker and friend who wanted some good photos of herself. We had planned on hopping over to a park and getting some nice fun little shots in the sun. The weather, however, had other ideas, for which I'm eternally grateful.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/06/the-man-who-wasnt-there/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>natures in man</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/05/natures-in-man/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/05/natures-in-man/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2011 04:09:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[etc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[duality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the met]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1730</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was gorgeous out on the last weekend before I left for Boston (in case you were wondering why I haven't updated in a while) so naturally I decided to spend that day indoors at The Met. While wandering the floors of the museum, I happened upon The American Wing which. As I stepped out into the open square where most of the statues were standing, I noticed something that hadn't registered with me before.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/05/natures-in-man/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>taz @ 5ptz</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/04/taz-5ptz-2/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/04/taz-5ptz-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:08:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[portraits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[5 pointz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[5ptz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[graffiti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tasayu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1357</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week, comrade-at-arms Tasayu (previously) approached me to do some head shots and portraits over at at the "Institute of Higher Burning" and graffiti landmark 5 pointz. Never one to turn down an opportunity to check out new locations (and just explore), I was in from the word go.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/04/taz-5ptz-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>terresa revisited</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/terresa-revisited/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/terresa-revisited/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Mar 2011 06:27:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[interiors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[portraits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boudoir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home studio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nsfw]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[portrait]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1317</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I got together with Terresa again on Tuesday night for a second shoot, this one a glamour / nude shoot. And just as the shoots with Joyce and Jorge Luis gave me an opportunity to run my home studio through the ropes, this session with Terresa gave me a chance to see how many other locations I could milk out of my apartment.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/terresa-revisited/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>stu-stu-studio</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/stu-stu-studio/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/stu-stu-studio/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:10:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[interiors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[city living]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[space]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[studio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1269</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Photography can be a pretty expensive endeavor, especially when you're still starting out and slowly building your arsenal. "Do what you can with what you've got" becomes your mantra, and "DIY" quickly joins your panoply of other photography acronyms. My little in-home studio won't work very well for more than one person, and living with a roommate means that I have to set and strike it whenever I need to use it (rather than just keep it up 24/7), but for what it is, it does a pretty good job. And for one-person shoots, it performs admirably.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/stu-stu-studio/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>new york frame of mind</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/new-york-frame-of-mind/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/new-york-frame-of-mind/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:31:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cebu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nostalgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reader's digest]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1250</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like most people who grew up outside of the States, I grew up with a very specific view of the country that lead the world, which I developed through exposure to its greatest export, popular culture. The only difference was that my view was time-shifted by a few decades. And while I recognized that America was made up of fifty states that were home to millions of people living in thousands of cities, it only ever came down to one of them: New York.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/03/new-york-frame-of-mind/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>stomping grounds</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/stomping-grounds/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/stomping-grounds/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:57:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snowman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[upper east side]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1179</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Jack Frost isn't done having his fun with the Northeast, it seems, and has decided to give it to New York for a little longer. Naturally, this meant I was compelled to run outside with my camera

and shoot the same damn things, all over again. Three snowfalls, three sets of photos from the same park. And I already used up my Waxing Philosophical card on the last one, so that's out.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/stomping-grounds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>fun with chuck and jules</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/fun-with-chuck-and-jules/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/fun-with-chuck-and-jules/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 06:56:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chuck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hijinks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[julie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1160</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Chuck and Julie are two of my favorite people around. I have friends I've known longer or friends I know on deeper levels, but when it comes to just simple, unadulterated (keyword unadult) fun, Chuck and Julie are a tough act to follow.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/fun-with-chuck-and-jules/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>no do-overs</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/no-do-overs/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/no-do-overs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:05:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ansel adams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plows]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=1062</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In my last entry, one of the photos I posted was of the benches along the East River.  I loved the shot, but one thing bugged me—the wire fencing to the right of the image.  It broke the whole "pattern of repeating elements" aspect to the photo.  If I had just moved up two benches, I'd have had no distractions from the seemingly-infinite line of benches and railing.  Problem was, I didn't notice it until long after I'd processed and uploaded the photo; there was nothing I could do about it.  I determined to go out and re-shoot the scene after the next decent snowfall.  To get it right.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2011/01/no-do-overs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>yawn</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/10/yawn/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/10/yawn/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:02:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[street shooting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[body paint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manhattan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new yorkers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[union square]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=971</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I think perhaps New Yorkers' unflappability might be born in part of their disdain for tourists.  Out-of-towners gawk.  New Yorkers, worldly wise and having seen it all, simply go about their business.  And while there might be some merit to not gaping wide-eyed at every little thing you see, if you spend all your time walking around in a cloud of disaffectation you're gonna miss out on a lot of the fun stuff.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/10/yawn/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>stefanie</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/08/stefanie/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/08/stefanie/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Aug 2010 04:51:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[headshots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[filipinos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nyc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=937</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My first real memory of Stefanie is of acting beside her in a Federico Garcia Lorca play, The Butterfly's Evil Spell.  She played the butterfly.  I was the beetle that was hopelessly in love with her.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/08/stefanie/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>life begins at 234</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/07/life-begins-at-234/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/07/life-begins-at-234/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:34:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[4th of july]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fireworks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nyc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[skyline]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=905</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday was the 4th of July, my first since moving to New York. Naturally, we decided to do it up right—by going to Jersey.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/07/life-begins-at-234/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>endtimes square</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/endtimes-square/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/endtimes-square/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:35:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[key to the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nyc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[times square]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=864</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes I think I'll never be a "real New Yorker" because I actually kinda like Times Square.  It seems that more often than not, simply mentioning the words "Times Square" to a New Yorker will elicit responses of "Dear god, why?" (a coworker actually said that to me once) and a disdain normally reserved for Hoboken, L.A., and the Red Sox.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/endtimes-square/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>the air up there</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/the-air-up-there/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/the-air-up-there/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[empire state building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[engagement party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rooftop]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=846</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Shot an engagement party for a lovely couple on Friday night.  It was held on the rooftop of a building in the Lower Midtown/Koreatown area.  The shot above is the view from the south side of the rooftop.  You can actually see the Brooklyn Bridge, a good three miles away.  I can't begin to imagine what it'd be like to have that view waiting for you every morning.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/the-air-up-there/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ounce of prevention</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/ounce-of-prevention/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/ounce-of-prevention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:47:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lightroom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nyc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[portfolio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=830</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Updates have been few and far between lately on account of me still wrestling with my library of over 36,000 photos.  I'm hoping to use "this photography thing" to help supplement my main income, or at the very least bring in enough money to pay for itself.  God knows photography is no cheap endeavor, and it'd be nice if it pulled its own weight once in a while.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/ounce-of-prevention/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>old school</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/oldschool/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/oldschool/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:43:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[photowalks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[challenges]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scott kelby]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[washington dc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=818</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just before the weekend, Scott Kelby—photo guru, Photoshop whiz extraordinaire, and all-around swell fella—posed a photo challenge: spend the weekend shooting like it was 1999. In a nutshell, go out and shoot with your digital camera like it was a film camera: no reviewing shots on the LCD, no more than 24 or 36 shots for the whole weekend, no looking at any of the shots until the day after you "finish the roll."]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/06/oldschool/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>bay to breakers</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/bay-to-breakers/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/bay-to-breakers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 May 2010 21:21:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[street shooting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bay to breakers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[costumes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[halloween]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[san francisco]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=808</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the eight years I lived in the Bay Area—three of which spent living in the heart of downtown San Francisco—I never once attended Bay to Breakers.  Friends and coworkers often participated, to the point of thinking up fun and crazy costumes (usually group-themed), but I never did.  I wish I could provide some valid excuse but really it just boiled down to laziness.  Weekends were my sleep-in days, Sunday the holiest of holy Days of Sloth, and I'd be damned if anyone was gonna get me out of bed before ten or eleven in the morning, let alone at seven o'clock.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/bay-to-breakers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>there and back again</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/there-and-back-again/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/there-and-back-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 May 2010 00:01:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[memories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[moments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[philippines]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=805</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It's funny how the brain, out of its need for order and structure, "compartmentalizes" our lives.  You can spend five weeks in a place, working, sleeping, socializing, and otherwise maintaining the semblance of a normal life, then the second you leave that place, it all disappears into the ether.  One minute you're on a plane and still in that sort of "limbo" between lives; and then as soon as you step off the plane, everything that came before feels like it was in another life, almost as though it never really happened.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/there-and-back-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>the streets of makati</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/the-streets-of-makati/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/the-streets-of-makati/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 May 2010 10:17:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[street shooting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[makati]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[philippines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regrets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=797</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On the home stretch of the trip.  Hard to believe I've been here almost five (!) weeks already.  Despite spending most of my time here either working during the night, sleeping during the day, or running around in-between, I managed to snag a fair number of photos.  Just under six thousand at last count, though of them maybe only a quarter made the cut.  Still, I'm happy with those numbers.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/the-streets-of-makati/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>legacy</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/legacy/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/legacy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 May 2010 22:07:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preservation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=782</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The main reason for my return to the Philippines was to pick up my grandmother, who has been living in Cebu for the last year or so.  We had sent her back from the States to escape the Winter, and illness had prevented us from bringing her home sooner.  Said picking up has hit a bit of a snag, as apparently her being in the Philippines for over a year (due to aforementioned illness) resulted in her Green Card being invalidated. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/05/legacy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>pilipinas kong minumutya</title>
		<link>http://focalmatter.com/2010/04/pilipinas-kong-minumutya/</link>
		<comments>http://focalmatter.com/2010/04/pilipinas-kong-minumutya/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:24:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intramuros]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[philippines]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://focalmatter.com/?p=772</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Being back these past few weeks has been a bit of an experience for me.  Some of the things, I expected; the thrill of seeing old friends again, the nostalgia of revisiting my old haunts, the surprise to see how much everything had changed.  What I hadn't expected, however, was how much I'd realized I've missed this place.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://focalmatter.com/2010/04/pilipinas-kong-minumutya/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

