My friends, after 13 fruitful years in New York City it’s finally time for me to leave. I’m over it. The bloom is off the rose. I’m moving to go be closer to family, help out my parents and enjoy the freedom to work on my art in peace. That’s what I’ve been doing most when I visit them, and it’s just been impossible for me to find enough space & peace in this city to do that.
There are many reasons I feel the need to leave.
I am no longer enchanted with what I once saw here. I hate what I see it turning into and the type of people flooding in. They’ve priced me out, and killed my enthusiasm to document it. I just can’t keep up.
I also need to be with family. I got none of that here. And lately I’ve been feeling that lack harder than ever.
This isn’t necessarily the end of Amazing Strangers. I have enough footage and photos to furnish many other projects. I also have a lot of unused, unseen stuff to put out there. It does however mean the end of my Union Square updates. August will be my final month.
I will still keep up with normalbob.com same as ever. My passion for this is still strong. That’s part of it too. There’s a lot more I want to do.
It couldn’t be more clear to me that I am done with this chapter of my life. It’s been brewing in me for a while now. I’m also really looking forward to seeing where this takes me. I rule out nothing.
Check out an interview I did with Smug Film were I go into further detail on my departure. I’ve got a few unheard stories that you’ll probably find very interesting, and more.
Would somebody help this homeless kitty out?
Woman in giant glasses she’s had for years and wears every summer
Tanza wearing metal necklace she made wouldn’t let me interview her because she doesn’t know me well enough yet.
Nicole in top she made out of Trip pants
Nicole & her mom
Etta joins X in his daily gymnastics
Mile is a fan who loves the channel and discovered it through the viral Wendell’s Hat Thief video
Shaggy & Normal Bob with young fan Miles
Alexa poses before visit
Selfie-stick Couple take selfie
Justine Bieber son protects his tourist family from my camera
Bianca’s dog Blanch poses for picture
Bianca & Blanch coming to visit
Normal Bob takes selfie in Bianca’s new shades that she found at a thrift shop
Tabatha (iPhone 5 girl)
Stylish Performers who were hola-hooping were happy to pose for me
Lately my happiness has been coming from drawing people. Stylish, striking, sexy people. I’ve always had this passion. But lately it just beats all.
Please don’t misunderstand. From the wispy goth rocker Nicole, to the hulking beefcake female bodybuilder Tracy, my range for what I find stylish and sexy spreads oceans. And I just have to do them. I cannot stop myself. I don’t even try.
John Waters said, “Life is nothing if you’re not obsessed.” That’s what it is.
Portrait of bodybuilder/trainer Tracy Argo digitized in Adobe Illustrator
So when I’m not being hired to draw people, I’m picking them out myself and doing it for fun. I can’t tell you how much I’d like to have project assignments like this coming in, but either way that’s what I’m loving, so more’s on the way.
If you do indeed have the inclination to hire me, I am available. Tell me what you have in mind, your budget, and I bet we can work something out.
Union Square
What I’m not loving at the moment is Union Square. It hasn’t been stylish, striking, and certainly not sexy! It’s hot, and stinky, and nothing’s really happening. Well, besides ball playing.
They’re throwing the football around all the fucking time. The day before yesterday they whacked Tabatha in the back of the head with it, and I flipped! I was so pissed I was yelling at them all calling them all pieces of shit! I’m just sick of the constant ball playing, and hitting people, and everyone else having no problem with being hit! You know. Just sayin’.
I’m not sure what this all means exactly. There’s still no postcard done, and my urge to make it is fizzling out. Could be just the summer heat, but I can’t say for sure. Sure as hell no love to be found there! Things have been changing at the park, and in my head.
American Horror Story’s Mat Fraser with Union Square Postcard
Alexa, from Stanton Island, smilng
Tweak as Clown from Slipknot mask
Normal Bob & Matty Ice are good pals now
The strange Alexa
Baffled tourist family trying to figure shit out
Lotion Man (Danny Klein) trying to lay low at the Square
Alexa in her new boots
Alexa in her Head
Inna & Alexa
Portrait of Nicole digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Portrait of bodybuilder/trainer Tracy Argo digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Christopher Amotharis digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Portrait of Lola digitized in Adobe Ilustrator
Portrait of female bodybuilder Tammy Jones IFBB Pro digitized in Adobe Illustrator for promotional use on her site.
Portrait of Inna digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Sasha Janegs digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Soo Catwoman digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Christy Christ, circa 2008 digitized in Adobe Illustrator
The Sauce (close up) Digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Porn Star Danni Daniels digitized in Adobe Illustrator for dressup game
Not sure if you noticed, but the site’s been down for a couple weeks. I was having it moved from an old server to a new one by my host so it’d run faster, and it took longer than expected. WAY longer! Nearly 3 weeks for it to be up and running properly again! It was terrible. It killed my online sales, traffic dwindled to nearly nothing, and you can’t imagine how frustrating it is getting emails saying “Do you still sell your magnets? You should start doing that again. They were cool!”
But now it’s back up. And it does seem to be loading faster. Do you agree?
Also, guess what. I finally got a smart phone! No kidding. Up until last week I’ve had a flip phone. One that my friends and family all made fun of. And whenever someone came up to me at the park accusing me of making money off the homeless, I’d pull it out and say “Paid for by the exploitation of the homeless!”
Anyhow, if I expect to be making videos, taking pictures, drawing pictures and putting them on the web I had to get a new phone. Which also means I can finally get on Instagram! Go see for yourself.
Art
I’m not sure how many of you know this, but I like to consider myself an artist. I’m an artist for pleasure, and for hire. There’s been a few pieces I’ve completed recently that I’m quite proud of. One of which is a job I did for IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Tammy Jones.
Portrait of female bodybuilder Tammy Jones IFBB Pro digitized in Adobe Illustrator for promotional use on her site.
A portrait for use of her up coming show. I can’t express loudly enough how these sorts of projects are my favorite kinds of projects.
Christopher Amotharis Bunny censored digitized in Adobe Illustrator
Also, I recently drew a portrait of Christopher Amotharis. I’d seen this German death metal kid online posing in some of the most bold & alluring looks imaginable. It’s a beauty I don’t see celebrated enough in this world. So I feel it’s my job to do it. There’s also an uncensored version NSFW as well. You cannot view a fully accurate illustration of Christopher unless you’re willing to go uncensored. Sorry, but it’s true.
Portrait of Lola digitized in Adobe Ilustrator
And the same goes for the gorgeous Lola. A piece also to celebrate an under appreciated beauty. Lola with the Universe in her Eyes needs to be seen up close to be fully appreciated. Soon I hope to get enough of these printed and framed to have a show of my own of some sort, somewhere. That’s always been a rarely voiced dream of mine.
Union Square
I plan to have the new postcard out next month. And of course during this time of absence from the internet I’ve busied myself taking lots of photos and videos at the Square. I’ve been enjoying the process of creating this imagery more than ever before. I just love it, and I feel like I’m doing some of my best work lately. Now if only I could figure out how people get rich off it.
Spidey telling his story like only he can
Normal Bob & Te’Devan, the Slacker Prophets
Carly in Black Flag tee
Wagon house being used by “homeless” as shelter on Broadway & 13th
Nicole in boots
Peeper Picture Peeping Legal Observer
Legal Observer legally observing a demonstration
Nicole
I’m showing you Matty’s sunburn
Matty Ice smirking
Nessa with 2 black eyes & a beer
Sasha from Paterson NJ
Sasha from Paterson NJ
Bianca & Blanch
Nessa with black eye from a fight the night before
Sasha from Paterson NJ
Christians Tom & Yo
Tabatha (Rachel) the iPhone 5 girl
Spidey won’t go away
Nicole in boots
Union Square punk rockers
Matty & Tabatha
Julie with fresh haircut
Maddy, Sid, Old School, Molly & Matty Ice in Weirdo Corner
I’m very happy to present No Your City’s final episode GET TO NO NORMAL BOB! I’m so pleased with how it came out. I’ve been wanting something exactly like this for a while, and I strongly suggest you go see the vast array of No Your City episodes on other characters you may know from Union Square, and others even I’ve never heard of before. I love Nick’s work, and I think you will too.
FAQ
As of late, it seems some of the two most frequently asked questions about me in the comments section under the videos are:
1. How do you make your money?
2. Why don’t you comment under your videos?
How do I make my money?
For quite a while now, going on 13 years I’ve made my money selling Jesus Dressup magnets, and freelance art & design for people online. The Jesus magnets sell in stores around the USA and even in several other countries. I try to come out with a new version annually so as to maintain interest and supply. Sales have been slightly down this year, but they’re still a dependable income for me.
The freelance art comes in second place. I wish I had more jobs and could charge a higher price for the work I do, but it is something I’m good at. And I love to draw, and I’m lucky there are people out there willing to pay for my talent.
And that’s it. The videos do not make money. I have no advertising on them because I hate YouTube ads, and the amount it pays isn’t worth it. $1 for every 1,000 hits or something like that. Don’t quote me. I could be way off. That’s just what I’ve gathered.
I do not have a trust fund, and I am not rich. I have a roof over my head, and I’ve never had a problem putting food on my plate, which is a kind of “rich” to be sure. But I am quickly being priced out of the neighborhoods I move to way too often, and I constantly worry that I’ll be forced to move out of New York City for this very reason.
Why don’t I comment under the videos?
At the rare times when I do want to comment under the videos for some reason YouTube doesn’t let me. I’m not sure exactly why. They’ve made it more complicated than it used to be. I swear to God, when I do try to type in a comment and hit Post, it does nothing but erase the comment and nothing else. I’ve read up a little on it and it’s something to do with me not being a Google+ member or my Chrome settings even though I’m using Safari. Quite frankly, I’m happy it won’t let me post comments. I’ve found that other people are quick to answer for me sooner or later, and it also allows me to ignore the comments and just do what I like to do. Shoot and post videos instead.
Which is exactly what I’ve been doing lately! Lots of videos, and even more that I just need to find the time to edit. There’s been a whole lot of drama at the park, and the summer’s barely even kicked off!
And Finally, here’s a collection of the photos I’ve taken since last we met.
Inna topless with Wendell Headley
Matty Ice Pranked
Megan with Bamboo Fighting Staff
Nickles & Dean
Dean, Shaggy & Greg
Shaggy photobombing Junky Joe
Inna topless with Wendell Headley
Lola plays Mandolin
Megan after just getting beaten up by a construction worker
Guy in blue called this his “Natural Bluetooth”
Nessa w/Stolen PBR
Inna Smoking
Inna exposes her breast for photo
Cute Crusty Cate
Megan in Orange w/orange juice
Joan & Man in Dress
Jenkos & I pose with a guy who sat too close behind me. Later that day I saw the stranger being arrested and put into a police van. I suspect he’s a thief and was scoping us out.
