pink walls and safety pins

when it rains, it pours. no work for weeks and weeks and now there's so much we are swimming in it. of course, this is good news but it's all come at once and now there's much head spinning and stress dreaming and gnashing of teeth. well, no gnashing of teeth. well, maybe a little gnashing of teeth.

the truth is that I'm prone to silliness when the workload hits a fever pitch. I feel compelled to organize the safety pins by size or begin eleven new books or bake a complicated cake from scratch. and people, I will always stop and photograph a dirty pink wall. always. no matter what kind of rush I'm in.

but you know what really gets me through the crazy? the promise of you know what. the promise of summer. so close I can almost taste it. sorry, pink wall. sorry but summer sort of trumps you. don't take it personally or anything. summer trumps everything.

the magic pool scene

that magic pool scene. you know, the palm springs one I was telling you about.

magic because it was hot enough to swim. because everything was pretty. sunshine yellow shower heads, stacks of bright white cotton towels, palmiest palm trees, turquoise waters. magic because I wore my mom bathing suit anyway. in that sea of thin rich white cool, I wore my mom bathing suit and if you have ever been in that situation (you know the one I'm talking about) then you know that this is no small victory.

magic because there was night swimming. because when my friend nataly floated on her back and looked up at the stars she said she would never forget it. and she was right. we will never forget that night.

the best camera

over at shutter sisters today with a few words about the language of cameras. hop on over, if you like.

lucky number thirteen

a few things you will find on the pages of UPPERCASE issue number thirteen: cloudy days, paper fortune tellers, bingo card collections, deflated balloons messages, water color polka dots, water color stripes, vintage sue's dress collections, umbrellas, superstitions. and so on and so forth. plus a few words about the perfect vintage dress (aka this month's covet column, written and photographed by yours truly).

normally, the covet column is a more solitary labor of love but this go round called for a slightly broader view. I put the call out and some sweet friends of mine answered. many, many thanks to jenny and alix for allowing me to share their terrific thoughts and ideas on the perfect vintage dress, to jen for allowing me to share the sweetest little thrift store wedding dress story I ever did hear and to vanessa (of wanderlust trailer fame) and erin (of double decker lodekka fame) for letting me pull dress after dress (after dress) and point my trusty little SX-70 all over the place. you are all fine, fine girls after my own vintage-loving heart.

and now I must know. your idea of the perfect vintage dress? what does that look like? and have you found it? spill it, ladies.

(for those that are interested: the top instant image was shot with lovely impossible project PX 70 color shade film)

boulevards and avenues

(hello from sandy boulevard)

(hello from SE 37th avenue)

so I keep my sx-70 loaded and ready because you never know. you never know when you're going to stumble onto something. there you are, just driving along, thinking about getting on to the next thing, the next whatever and you see it (that magic thing, whatever it is) and you must stop. you must always stop. because inevitably, you will forget. or the light will change or a big ugly car will pull up and park right in front of it or they'll tear the flags down or paint over all those candy-colored little bricks. of course there's the iphone, there's a hundred other cameras and really, they're all lovely but there's just something about the sx-70, something about what it does with color and light. there are just times when no other camera will do. 

(taken with the impossible project's amazing new PX 70 color shade cool film, my favorite film yet)

list forty-one: things

things recently realized (in no particular order):

1. found shapes inspire me.

2. walking to school with the kids each morning is a magic way to start the day.

3. sunshine-filled forecasts almost make me feel panicky.

4. spaghetti, ramen noodle soup. I cannot eat another bowl of spaghetti or ramen noodle soup.

5. but cooking with ezra is really really fun.

6. potential train trips fill me with hope.

7. the sound of adam yauch's voice makes me cry.

8. lilacs. when in doubt, lilacs.

things that are free

free this past weekend: comic books,  admission to the portland art museum

always free: long walks downtown, frozen yogurt samples, super moon viewings


full time freelance works means a good amount of personal freedom. it also means potentially long (and sometimes horrific) stretches between paychecks. we are right smack dab in the middle of one of those long, horrific stretches.


I'll tell you, the word free is a beautiful, beautiful word.

saturday night

saturday night= hoodies and sweaters over pajamas, the pull of the super moon. we are a people who love super sized things.  the shuffling down to the street corner, the looking, the waiting, the cursing of clouds. the super moon finally rising, bathing us in super moonlight.

the shuffling back to the house, the arguing over which movie to watch, to microwave popcorn or not to microwave popcorn, the crowding that happens on the big green couch, the tangle of blankets and legs, lights off, all lights off, the glow and flicker of the television screen, the glow of the super moon outside.

these are the kinds of things I want to remember.

for the record

I am most alive when I am not paying attention to the internets.

when I refuse to let internet trends, movements or unspoken rules affect what I share, how I share, when I share. I've never really been one for labels and I bristle at the thought of branding. no judgment, it's just not for me. I want to write what I want to write and share original work. I want to share photographs that excite me. I want it to come from an intrinsically authentic place and the only way I've found to do this is to ignore the ongoing noise of the internet and share freely, openly. with nary a thought to convention. I'm not always successful. but I try.

I want to say more about this (and I will) but the weekend is calling. the wide open weekend and something called a super moon.

there

scenes from that magic little palm springs trip I took, that magic magic 48 hours. not yet pictured here: the magic photobooth scene, the magic pool scene, the magic bicycle scene and the magic downtown palm springs scene. because every scene seems magic when you are on vacation and sunshine covers everything like a giant happy yellow blanket.

once again-- thank you, radical ace hotel people (and all you other wonderful people, you know who you are) for making this happen. I am forever grateful.