hula seventy

billions and billions

2012-02-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

downtown portland (and probably even better than sunshine): billions and billions of people, a collaboarative mural project between artists chris johanson and johanna jackson, local artists and thirty homeless youth served by the new avenues for youth artist mentorship program.

these are the kinds of things I like to see, people. this is proof of the good.

six years!

2012-01-28T17:57:00.000-08:00

of photobooth friday! how is this possible? wait, don't answer that. this I do solemnly swear: as long as there are photobooths, I will be jumping into them. and as long as I am here on the internets, I will be sharing.

p.s. that is ezra up there, top row, second frame. THAT IS EZRA.

dy-no-mite

2012-01-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

so yesterday ezra sang with his second grade class and is there anything better than elementary school music performances? no, there is not. because they sing with their whole bodies, they sing with everything. they sway and they wiggle and they get so excited about the music they JUST HAVE TO MOVE. and they practice and practice these songs and then there's a whole gymnasium filled with people who've come to listen to them sing. it's a big day so they show up wearing things like gold sequined capes and red velvet vests, miniature bow ties and tiny tiaras. special dresses and shiny shoes and tucked-in shirts. the whole scene makes my heart swell. it always does.

they sang a few of the classics but then the music teacher threw us a curve ball. and it's not like I ever even liked the song dynamite but there is no way not to like it now that I've seen it performed by fifty-three second graders. because my goodness. when fifty-three second graders throw their hands up in the air and sing how they 'GON LIGHT IT UP, LIKE IT'S DY-NO-MITE', all bets are off. the song took on a completely different meaning and don't you know they brought that house down. the crowd went wild and fifty-three second graders (my son included) beamed. and if that is not the best thing to happen all week (all month, all year) well then I don't know what is.

this

2012-01-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

and this. to cut a small swath through today's infinite grey.

almost there

2012-01-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

day fifteen: happiness

day sixteen: morning

day seventeen: water

day eighteen: something I bought

day nineteen: sweet

day twenty: someone I love

day twenty-one: reflection

week three of january photo a day, a little photo challenge over on instagram. to be clear: this is a diversion. a thing I am doing to take my mind off the month they call january. januuuuuuaaaaaaaarrrry. we are facing our first long stretch of rain here in portland and it's possible I will not make it.

hense

2012-01-20T18:11:00.000-08:00

six years ago, I wrote about a piece of graffiti on the walls of a car wash on dekalb avenue in atlanta. it was something I looked for everyday as I drove back and forth. the color inspired me, cracked a little something open in me. everyday, I'd race by that car wash and everyday that piece was there, singing my song. and then one day it wasn't. such is the nature of graffiti and street art, nothing is permanent, everything is fluid. work gets painted over all the time (comes with the territory) but still. it killed me just a little bit. I've never really forgotten it, for whatever reason. the graffiti writer behind that piece, hense, is an artist I've been following since the early nineties. billboards, overpasses, buildings, train cars, he was up all over the city. his work is as much atlanta to me as dekalb avenue and the majestic diner, as the civic yard and marta trains and MLK.

so of course we took a little drive down dekalb avenue while we were home for christmas and dang it if we didn't stumble onto spectacular new work by hense. I wrote a little bit about it today over at poppytalk, hop on over if you like. a shot in the arm, fresh new work, color for days, all these things. it's like driving by that car wash all over again.

freshness

2012-01-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

first, drive the streets. go looking.

you will find them.

hidden like easter eggs, all over the city.

color that pops and locks.

layers that peel, layers that tell.

new work, new school.

old work, old school.

man, I miss atlanta.

dear mom,

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

you were so sparkly and radiant back then! bright like a copper penny. thing is, you are just as bright and sparkly and radiant now. more so, even. how do you do that? add to that list brave and strong. so strong. I am (and always will be) endlessly inspired by you.

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY)

xo, a

p.s. are you wearing your paper crown? if I was there, you know I'd make you wear that paper crown.

today

2012-01-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

seen in the hallways of our school. thank you, dr. king.

2012-01-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

day eight: my sky

day nine: daily routine

day ten: childhood

day eleven: where I sleep

day twelve: close-up

day thirteen: in my bag

day fourteen: something I'm reading (or, re-reading)

(week two of january photo a day-- a little photo challenge over on instagram)

kick start

2012-01-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

day one: me

day two: breakfast

day three: something I adore

day four: mailbox

day five: something I wore (in my hair)

day six: makes me smile

day seven: favorite

(week one of january photo a day-- a little photo challenge over on instagram. you know, a little something to kick the year into action. thank ye kindly for the daily prompts, fatmumslim)

first

2012-01-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

first instant shot of the year, taken at the high museum of art on january 3rd. a bit of a decisive moment, friends. given how unsettled and unsure I've been feeling about the year ahead, it's a moment I keep coming back to. I want to step into the new year the same way I composed this image, the same way my finger pressed that little red shutter button-- quietly. and with great confidence.

the year in polaroids

2012-01-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

january

february

march

april

may

june

july

august

september

october

november

december

first 2010, now 2011. I'm coming for you, 2012.

like I said

2012-01-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

pretty much the best new years eve ever.

no waffles, no cheese grits. but coffee, black. with lots of sugar.

and people, my favorite people.

and waitresses and strangers. counting down, kissing at midnight.

plus a little al green, a little james brown.

and the neon pink party horn from the bottom of my purse, which I always carry. because, you never know.

waffle house, people. who knew?

list forty: some things I did on the last day of the year

2012-01-05T00:16:00.000-08:00

1. jumped on a trampoline

2. spent a little time in the car

3. but with the windows partly rolled down

4. introduced my niece to the fine music of blondie

5. played several rounds of I SPY

6. marveled over bright blue skies

7. sampled a coca-cola flavored cupcake

8. watched cousins hop in and out of a photobooth

9. yelled YOU GUUUUUYS! IT'S THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR!

10. yelled it a lot

11. maybe a hundred times

12. contemplated the making of party hats

13. contemplated the purchasing of party hats

14. laid on the trampoline with ezra and looked up at the sky

15. watched the light turn gold

16. then blue

17. listened to him talk about the moon

18. reveled in that moment, that really really spectacular moment

19. discussed the merits of 2011 over mexican food

20. blew off resolutions

21. went on a double date

22. somehow ended up at waffle house twenty minutes before midnight

23. considered ordering waffles

24. and/or grits

25. ordered coffee instead

26. played al green on the juke box

27. fished a pink plastic party horn out from the bottom of my purse

28. counted down the last seconds of the year

29. counted them down with my husband, my brother and my sister-in-law

30. and a restaurant full of strangers

31. blew that pink party horn

32. blew it loud

33. kissed my husband

34. loved everyone in that waffle house

35. for a second, loved everyone and everything inside (and outside) that waffle house

the good bits

2012-01-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

these are times we will remember, times we will talk about when we are old. these are photographs we'll want to climb inside and relive.

happy happy

2012-01-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

to you, friends! to you, to you.

merry merry

2011-12-29T08:20:00.000-08:00

well, in a last minute turn of events, we ended up someplace completely different for christmas. two airplanes, one bright red rental car and a few days of rigorous traveling found us on the opposite end of the country. and it's not what I planned, it's not what I'd originally hoped for but it was good, it was solid. it was time with family, with people we love. copious amounts of that joyous thing called merriment. I miss my mom and dad but I am thankful.

and I know I am late with this but merry merry to you! the merriest, friends.

photobooth friday

2011-12-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

on a sunday, because that's how I'm rolling these days. this was my favorite birthday present, by the way. my absolute favorite.

last day

2011-12-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

(super happy 2-for-1 sale ends tonight at midnight, west coast time)

(fyi)

roller happy

2011-12-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

because I just had to share more roller rink photographs. I had to.

p.s. thanks for all the birthday wishes, peoples. thank you so much.

p.p.s. I can still totally rock the backwards skate.

birthday number 41

2011-12-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

I never took the forty paper stars down from last year, you know. just couldn't ever bring myself to do it. so look what I found hanging from the ceiling sunday morning. a sweet little addition, compliments of the husband.

and look what I found on my desk. a mess of fresh cut paper snowflakes, compliments of ezra.

you know what else? we went rollerskating.

and consumed the following: onion rings, cherry slushees, cotton candy. in that order.

then, downtown-- to cargo, to cargo.

cargo, where I filled my basket with metallic paper party hats and neon balloon horns and mustache straws. well, and then I put it all back, since we are saving our pennies and all. though not before I tried out a few of those balloon horns AND LET ME TELL YOU THOSE THINGS WERE LOUD. I did not know they would be so loud. this made ava laugh. and pretend not to know me.

after cargo and just before dinner, the photobooth! naturally.

money well spent, kids. money well spent.

alas, my birthday restaurant of choice was closed so we opted for takeout. boo, birthday restaurant of choice. boo.

BUT. a chinese takeout floor picnic? next to a crackly fire in the fireplace? with fizzy raspberry lemonades and paper straws? better than any dinner in any restaurant, any day or night of the week. sorry, birthday restaurant of choice. it's true. I still love you, but it's true.

and then, a question. do I like being 41? yes, I think maybe I do. for the most part. but not more than your fancy loopy letter Ys and your gold paper snowflakes, ezra. I'd take those over 41 anyday.

hey, how about the cake. the red velvet cake, which I sort of botched this year. something went wrong with the frosting, I don't know. and then all those candles nearly melted the cake, nearly reduced it to a pile of goo. but whatever. I earned those candles, every last one of them. I refuse to skimp on candles. you shouldn't either.

after cake came presents-- the vintage kind, the handmade kind. win win. win win win all over the place.

finally, the aftermath. red velvet birthday cake for breakfast monday morning. double triple quadruple win. and birthday number 41=properly celebrated.

I really needed a day like this, friends. I cannot tell you how much I needed a day like this.

over at habit

2011-12-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

hey friends, I'll be posting over at habit all month long. habit= lovely little internet space where people pair photographs of daily life with 30 words or less. wasn't sure I was up to it this go round but it's a practice I've come to love. and I think maybe this month will be one to document.

(many many thanks to emily and molly for having me)

unofficially official

2011-12-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

it's my unofficial annual super happy 2-for-1 holiday sale, friends. buy one print, get one free. buy two prints, get two free and so on and so forth. super double happy, see? new prints added to the shop and everything. order the print (or prints) you'd like and then, in that handy 'message to the seller' section, specify which print (or prints) you'd like for your freebies. special runs one week only-- today through thursday, december 8th. and I promise to enclose a little extra special something in each package. baked goods excluded. but you know, if I could mail out a red velvet cupcake with each print order, I totally would.

p.s. proceeds from said sale to benefit the emergency we-need-to-get-back-home-asap fund. looks like we might be packing up our little car and heading east for christmas. if all goes as planned, we'll be sailing through five states sooner rather than later. it's a crazy, crazy idea. but then, when love and family are involved, sometimes a little crazy is required.

(sale details here)

spirit

2011-12-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

and so it is december. apparently, I am the last to know. am mustering up everything in me to make christmas magic around here, I am tapping the reserves. not sure where it's all going to come from but there are two children here and they are waiting for the little forest that lives on the mantle. they are waiting for the kooky little gold glittered santa boot that I bring out every year, for the santa mugs that line the bathroom window sill. they are waiting for christmas records and christmas picture books, for shiny old bulbs and sparkly white lights, for the scent of fresh cut christmas tree to fill the house. they are waiting for the jolly and the merry. my head is worlds away but I will get there this week. I know that I will.

thank you

2011-12-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

for your kind comments, your encouraging emails, thank you. I know I've been vague about things but I'm just not able to share. yet. anyway, your prayers mean the world to me. I just wanted to say that.

vantage point

2011-11-30T18:43:00.000-08:00

over at shutter sisters today with a few words about unexpected angles. hop on over, if you like.

one

2011-11-27T23:26:00.000-08:00

from the archives. because that's just about all I can manage today, friends.

this is a picture I did not take

2011-11-26T22:47:00.000-08:00

of hundreds of birds in trees just outside the hospital entrance. hundreds. and the pop and flutter of wings, staccato-like songs bouncing off evergreen branches onto concrete walls. for a second, there was nothing else. nothing but that swarm of birds and the sound of hospital doors opening and closing. for a second, everything else fell away.

(forever inspired)

list thirty-nine: 11 photographs of ward that I love

2011-11-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

1. with ezra, overlooking the pacific ocean, northern california, june 2008

2. at the food carts on hawthorne and SE 11th, portland, august 2010

3. at the warwick hotel on his 40th birthday, seattle, november 2008

4. in the kitchen of our new place, our first month in portland, april 2007

5. on our first road trip down highway 101, klamath, california, june 2008

6. downtown portland, christmas break 2008

7. with ava (baby ava!), miami beach, florida, july 2001

8. after burgers and fries at mel's diner, san francisco, june 2008

9. in an alleyway somewhere in seattle, may 2007

10. in our front yard, halloween 2010

11. on a beach blanket with me, kure beach, north carolina, july 1998

happy birthday, awesome husband of mine. happy happy birthday to you. here's to more decades filled with favorite photographs of you. decades and decades and decades.

the truth is that

2011-11-23T21:52:00.000-08:00

all I really want to do is post pretty pictures of pretty things. I don't want to talk about the real reason I flew home or how hard the last couple of days have been. I don't want to talk about how this will be the first thanksgiving I've ever spent away from the kids, how I'll miss ward's birthday tomorrow, how sad and strange that all feels.

but I really am exactly where I need to be. and for this, I am thankful.

home

2011-11-22T20:44:00.000-08:00

spent most of yesterday on a few airplanes. am now exactly where I need to be, doing exactly what I need to be doing: taking care of someone I love.

sneak peak

2011-11-20T23:15:00.000-08:00

at my next piece for UPPERCASE magazine. plus a word that speaks to the week ahead. would like to slip a little invincible on, wear it like a coat all week long.

because today has been rough

2011-11-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

and I could use a little color. I could use a little of the happy stuff. I don't know, maybe someone else could too. there's a dark place and it involves difficult phone conversations and difficult decisions and the realization that the week ahead has suddenly changed into something else all together. dear life, I get it. you're mercurial.

photobooth friday

2011-11-18T23:30:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about my mom and dad a lot today. missing them in ways that are hard to articulate. looking at ways to get home. hatching a plan.

list thirty-eight: places I'd like to spend the night

2011-11-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

I keep a running list. is what I'm saying.

oh to spend the night:

1. in this spectacular 1953 vagabond trailer, el cosmico, marfa, texas

2. in this perfect bohemian balcony room, bonito, buenos aires, argentina

3. in this unreal finnish igloo, hotel kakslauttanen, finland

4. in this crazy ridiculous pink room, madonna inn, san luis obispo, california

5. in a room with a view, washington square hotel, greenwich village, new york

6. in a luxury traincar traveling across india, with brocade wallpaper and marigold details and jingly chandeliers

7. in this amazing cave room (that must be climbed down into), kokopelli's b&b, farmington, new mexico

8. in this lovely attic room (that must be climbed up into), les toits de paris, paris, france

9. in the turquoise room (because surely there's a turquoise room), pantone hotel, brussels, belgium

10. in the room with the fantastic bedspread, peacock pavillions, marrakech, morocco

11. in a bungalow that sits over water so clear it cannot possibly be real, four seasons, bora bora

12. in a room with a sweet little record player and a sweet little fireplace, ace hotel, palm springs, california

13. in a room that is cavernous and magic, fairy chimney inn, cappadocia, turkey

14. and pretty much anywhere here, cinque terre, italy

outside the lines

2011-11-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

today: originals and outtakes from the impossible project show outside the lines, which opened in new york on september 29th. the top one of ezra hangs giant-sized in the soho space and originals of the third and fifth also found a place in the show. I'm partial to the second one, even though it didn't make the cut. something about the super soft focus, something about the movement and the color. feels like a painting.

the truth is that I had a hard time shooting for this show. I was so completely honored to have been asked to participate that the weight of the whole thing almost pulled me under. and then, somewhere near the middle, my camera lost it-- spit out frame after frame after frame in rapid succession before it sputtered and died. well, and then it came back to life again. long story. I'll tell you, the whole process was an exercise in perseverance, an exercise in not shutting down. because that's what I do sometimes when things go awry. I shut down. and I probably did shut down, just for a minute or two (okay maybe for longer than that) but I did not hurl my camera across the room (so glad I didn't) and I kept shooting (so glad I did). because sometimes you just have to keep shooting. and resist the urge to hurl things.

many thanks to all the folks who've been to the show and reported back (I am living vicariously, you know)-- most especially to my brother von and my good friend jen (who both represented on opening night, huzzah) and to lovely secia, who wrote about her visit to the show here. checkit, the official impossible project opening night recap is here. also, many many many thanks to the impossible project folks for inviting me to participate in the show in the first place and perhaps most importantly, for making crazy ridiculous beautiful instant film.

still sort of holding out hope that I'll make it to new york to see the show before it ends on january 31st. it's a total long shot but you know, a girl can dream.

nine words

2011-11-14T23:51:00.000-08:00

ideas are one thing and what happens is another.
-john cage

may I recommend

2011-11-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

a couple of packs of vinyl helvetica stickers, a little creative thinking and a few hours around town. best money you'll ever spend. promise.

saturday night

2011-11-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

and my feet are cold. but there's a fire burning in the fireplace, first one of the season. I don't know when it happened but the record player blew a speaker. stevie wonder now sings at me through a tiny fuzzy megaphone but I listen anyway. I turn the record over and lower the needle, adjust the volume. the house smells like wood and smoke and it is maybe the best smell in the world. which is when my mind turns to list making. list number thirty-eight: best smells in the world. but before my mind can settle, it spins off in another direction. and another and another and another. I am full of ideas tonight. but I am also full of pessimism. the kind that sits in a stiff, sour place and will not budge.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night. we'd fallen asleep on the big green couch. again. with all the lights on, television on, legs uncomfortably intertwined. what I am going to tell you now is that the television was turned to PBS. and I am all for PBS, I love PBS but I can't imagine what we could have possibly been watching on public television on a friday night before we drifted off. we are almost always watching reruns of seinfeld. anyway. american masters with bill t. jones was on and I forced my sleepy eyes open because this what I would call luck. I am a big fan of mr. jones. I was pretty out of it but at three in the morning, I listened to him talk about abraham lincoln, watched him yell at dancers, then at musicians, watched him push and pull new work into place. and I wanted to cry because this is a world that I miss. I miss dance, I miss that sweaty, messy place. I miss class, I miss rehearsals, I miss choreographers. I miss my old body. I miss my old body so much. the credits rolled just then and I turned the channel. and then I fixed myself a bowl of cereal because I didn't want to think about it anymore.

we will probably fall asleep on the big green couch again tonight. to the sounds of the television, the dying of the first fire.

11.11.11

2011-11-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

(bathroom self portrait taken at 11:11 this morning and posted at 11:11 tonight)

kosovo in polaroids, part four

2011-11-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

(at the saturday morning market, where you can find everything from hand-carved wooden spoons to adidas sneaks to fresh produce to old-fashioned shaving cakes)

(for the record, that yellow raincoat is killing me)

(it was the height of pepper season in gjilan and I'll tell you, peppers were everywhere, giant bushels of bright-colored peppers e v e r y w h e r e)

(the small neighborhood shops that sold nothing but eggs charmed me to no end)

(six whole days of sunshine and on our last day, our one free day, it rained)

(in a single image, this is gjilan)

sort of a dream to walk the streets of gjilan, kosovo with my trusty little sx-70. thank you so much for looking, friends. and I thank you for the kind words.

kosovo in polaroids, part three

2011-11-10T20:41:00.000-08:00

(këmishë= albanian for 'shirt')

(vildan, who came to the workshops and cut and pasted and painted, vildan, who loved having his picture taken)

(everyday we passed this market and everyday I thought about how much I loved these letters, how much I loved the bright red and yellow)

(peja, the unofficial beer of kosovo)

(like poetry)

(from gjilan, kosovo)

kosovo in polaroids, part two

2011-11-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

(I don't know how how the light around her head happened but I sure do love it)

(awesome albanian teenagers)

(inside the studio of the fantastic albanian painter artan hajrullahu, whose work I fell head over heels in love with)

(and while we were visiting with artan in his studio, his mother brought us hot mint tea and apples she'd hand-picked from a tree in their backyard)

(while visiting albanian artist filloreta maliqi, she introduced us to her grandfather, a fine photographer and the first in his village to own a polaroid sx-70 back in the day)

(plastic colored clothespins, oh plastic colored clothespins)

sometimes I like to pair words and descriptions with my polaroids, sometimes I don't. scratch that, I don't. but something about the kosovo polaroids seems to call for it. more words added to part one and: parts three and four on deck.

for the record, it brings me great joy to share these polaroids from gjilan. it means the world that you even look. thank you.

kosovo in polaroids, part one

2011-11-07T23:46:00.000-08:00

(biçycletë= albanian for bicycle)

(I raised my camera at them and they smiled but when I crossed my eyes, they broke into laughter)

(songs that hang)

(ian, co-teacher and polaroid partner in crime)

(I sort of wanted to marry this garage door)

(gjilan, kosovo through the lens of a polaroid sx-70)

shout who you are

2011-11-06T23:43:00.000-08:00

(an oldie but a goodie)

so far

2011-11-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

no film in the canon, not even close to finishing that one thing, socks sad and matching, crochet needles still cold, bike still motionless.

but-- the halloween candy is dead to me and I am practically BFFs with the rain. more importantly, a last minute trip to astoria put a little color in my cheeks and this magic little polaroid in my hands. take that, wanton slacker self.

photobooth friday

2011-11-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

this weekend, I'll load up the canon FTb. I'll finish that thing I need to finish. I'll intentionally mismatch my socks. I'll ask my mother-in-law to teach me how to crochet. I'll get on my bike and I'll ride. I'll not steal halloween candy from you know who. I'll not complain about the rain.

you?

more halloween

2011-11-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

she was all set to go as nancy drew and then she saw that pink wig at target. I've always wanted to wear a pink wig, she said. well okay then, you should wear one, I said. because surely halloween was invented for this very reason. for that somebody somewhere who just wanted an excuse to wear a pink wig. I would know nothing about this, of course. nothing at all.

and then there was all the tusken raider business, which I really wish I could take credit for, but I can't. the tusken raider business is totally the husband's doing. whom, I believe, was really making the costume for his inner nine year-old self. meanwhile, ezra fell so deeply in love with it that he vowed to wear it every single halloween until he is old. old like a teenager, he said.

yep, halloween 2011. year of lady bonbon, year of the tusken raider. and one for the books, that's for sure.

oh, time

2011-11-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

halloween 2005 vs. halloween 2011. or, the beatnik and the butterfly vs. the tusken raider and lady bonbon. I guess there's nothing I can really do to stop time. or at the very least, slow it down a little. because boy howdy, time is flying, people. flying.

nablopomo!

2011-11-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

people, it's nablopomo (aka national blog posting month) and every year I participate. every year, I try to post something (anything) everyday for one month. and every year, I fail. but I do love the trying. I do so love the trying.

hello november, hello nablopomo.

around the house

2011-10-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

(halloween happy-making)

list thirty-seven: currently loving

2011-10-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

(number 14)

in no particular order:

1. bright-colored yarn tucked into the cracks of parisian sidewalks

2. small white bowls filled with candy corn

3. extraordinary photography projects

4. street artists who work magic with wheat paste and confetti

5. essie nail polish in light turquoise

6. krylon spray paint in neon pink

7. dances performed in the backs of trucks

8. films that beg to be seen

9. work that inspires again and again

10. sour cherry juice that is not really sour at all

11. brown leather wrist cuffs that never die

12. vintage snapshots that seem tender and brave

13. songs that slip in quietly through the back door and deliver the goods

14. 79 cent thrift store mugs that make everything better

in print

2011-10-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late with this but it's still worth sharing. because I worked really really hard on it, I did.

it's my piece on polaroid/instant photography in UPPERCASE magazine (issue ten) and a bit of a love letter to edwin land, the impossible project and just about every polaroid camera I've ever owned.

souvenirs

2011-10-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

hello monday, hello friends. I'm over at shutter sisters with with a few words about souvenirs-- those little things you pick up in faraway places, those things you hope will always remind you of magic travels.

brown friday

2011-10-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

the most pleasing stack of bricks, maybe in all of gjilan.

the most spectacular cup of macchiato, my very first cup of macchiato. and sort of a big deal, since I don't really drink coffee.

the most awesome co-teacher, ian. artist extraordinaire and a bit of a renaissance man, if you ask me. ian, my friend.

okay so I guess kosovo is sort of coming out in bits and pieces. though I predict the dam will break soon because there's a big fat stack of polaroids I can't wait to share. the biggest fattest juiciest stack.

(the last of poppytalk's autumn color week)

grey thursday

2011-10-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

should you find yourself in a crowd of teenagers (particularly albanian teenagers), you'd be wise to whip out a polaroid automatic 100. I found this out the first day we visited one of the schools in gjilan. I took one shot and in a matter of seconds, found myself completely surrounded. the requests came at me from every angle and I shot until I ran out of film. or until it was time to go home, whichever came first.

there's magic in the moment you peel that film apart but even more so when you let them peel that film apart. and the way they look at that photograph and then the way they look at you when you tell them they can keep that photograph. that they can take it home and keep it forever.

I don't think I kept even one for myself. I really wanted to but I just couldn't. felt too good to give them all away.

(for poppytalk's autumn color week)

orange wednesday

2011-10-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

dear colored clothes pins and paint palettes of gjilan, I love you.

on an unrelated note, I think maybe I'm finally coming down from that post-trip high. today has been rough.

(for poppytalk's autumn color week)

yellow tuesday

2011-10-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

I could have spent hours at the market in gjilan. hours and hours. the smells, the sounds. the color. my goodness, the color. I could have spent hours.

frizer për meshkuj= hairdressing for men. there were at least a hundred lovable little details around gjilan like this. ordinary everyday things seem to take on magic properties in foreign countries. what is that?

but really, the nightly workshops we held at the ringjallja center were my favorite. packed to full capacity each night and more albanian teenagers squeezing into that attic space than I thought possible. paper flying and scissors scissoring and paint screaming out color. it made me happy to be alive, I tell you.

(for poppytalk's autumn color week)

red monday

2011-10-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

in a village somewhere between prishtina and gjilan.

inside artist filloreta maliqi's studio. filloreta. fee-lah-reh-tah. is there a prettier name?

around the corner from the hotel: dollar store flowers. er, euro store flowers.

(for poppytalk's autumn color week)

autumn color week

2011-10-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

hosted by the ever delightful poppytalk and starting today. if you'd like to play along:

monday: red
tuesday: yellow
wednesday: orange
thursday: grey
friday: brown

for the record, I can't ever seem to say no to color week. not that I'd ever want to but you know what I mean. doesn't matter what I have going on, I will pretty much drop everything when it comes to color week. I am a girl who loves a little color. okay, a lot of color.

am thinking I'll pull select photographs from the kosovo trip (witness above). in hopes that words will follow.

glaciers

2011-10-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

something new, something I really really love. listener's newest video directed by my brother nate.

p.s. no small feat, freezing a vintage typewriter in an enormous block of ice. harder than you might think. but worth it, I think. absolutely worth it.

mire dita, mire dita

2011-10-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

mire dita= albanian for good day.

I am back from gjilan, kosovo but I am fighting jet lag. I am mostly winning, though. hence the trickle of images you see here.

friends, it was a spectacular week.

life changing, actually.

I don't really even know where to start.

I imagine it'll come in fits and starts. little bits here and there or maybe all at once. maybe it will all come rushing out like water from a broken faucet, I don't know. there are polaroids, there are stories. there are more photographs and probably a few lists. I guess it'll come when it comes.

to all who left kind and encouraging words, thank you. to all who supported me (in so many different ways), thank you. to all who lifted me up in prayer, thank you. I could not have done it without you.

all my new york people

2011-09-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

ridiculously honored to be a part of the impossible project show outside the lines, which opens tonight in new york. you know I'd be there if I could. if I wasn't already getting on a plane early tomorrow morning and flying halfway across the world, I would so be there. I would so be standing in that beautiful impossible project space on broadway tonight, feeling all jittery and nervous and excited. instead, I'll be packing. I'll be folding and tucking and packing but I'll be celebrating a little too.

but all my new york people, you can go! the opening reception is tonight from 6-9pm at the impossible project space NYC, 425 broadway, 5th floor. featured in the show: beautiful work by adam goldberg, john reuter, brandon long, dustin yager, chloe aftel, sol allen, max wanger, benjamin shuster, parker fitzgerald, rommel pecson, toby hancock, ritchard ton, leah reich and of course, yours truly. read more about it on the impossible project blog and if you go, please report back. I'll be living vicariously and shall require details.

I have big news

2011-09-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

I'm headed to gjilan, kosovo with a group of artists from my church this friday. we'll be working with high school art students there as well as holding workshops for the greater art community.

I suppose I've sort of been sitting on this news for a while. wanting to write about it, unsure how or where to start. but now it's here and I'm all out of time. I am in full blown preparation mode and navigating batty pre-travel chaos. if I had the time, I'd tell you all about the country of kosovo. I'd tell you how newly independent and young they are, how 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30. I'd tell you how they're still recovering from a devastating war, how they struggle with a poor infrastructure and economy, a whopping unemployment rate of 40-50 percent. I'd also tell you how hopeful they are. the most hopeful of all the balkans, even in the face of serious struggle.

I'm not going because I believe I can fix any of these problems. or because I believe I can fix anyone. I'm going because I believe art is a powerful way to connect with people. I believe it transcends language and a mess of barriers. I believe it gives voice to the voiceless. most importantly, I believe in how profoundly it reflects the image of God, the ultimate creator, thus connecting us to him in deep, meaningful ways.

the truth is that I'm humbled by this whole thing. I'm going as a teacher but I'm pretty sure I'll come out on the other side the learner.

brand new

2011-09-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

the new toothless smile, it is killing me.

BIG POLAROID FUN

2011-09-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

instant magic workshop last saturday at teahouse studios in berkeley! yay! big polaroid fun, people. big times one hundred. many many many many many many many thanks to the folks who helped make this workshop possible, who helped make it so stinkin fun-- the teahouse folks (mati, stef and tiffany), the impossible project folks (seriously anne, you are the best), my friend leslie (leslie the magnificent, who went above and beyond) and of course, all the lovely people who came out to play around with old polaroid cameras (and rad new impossible project film). thank you, thank you, thank you. can I please say it again? THANK YOU.

and if you wanted to come but couldn't, well, you were missed. I'll catch you on the flip flop. on another day, in another city. and hopefully soon. stay tuned.

seventeen

2011-09-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

about a month before our anniversary is when we start in with all the talking. the let's-get-dressed-up-and-go-someplace-really-nice-for-dinner talking. the let's-really-do-this-thing-up-right talking. we go back and forth on the where and the when and we get all excited because surely it will happen this year. surely, one of us will pull it together. and then I think maybe he waits for me to plan it and okay, I sort of I wait for him to plan it and all the while, we're talking about how epic it will be. both of us thinking the night will somehow magically pull itself together. and then it's the week of our anniversary and we are still just talking. we realize we do not have a plan. we do not have reservations, we do not have a babysitter. most importantly, we do not have a cute anniversary dress. this is also when we realize something else: we are big talkers.

and so this is how we ended up at the coast last weekend for our 17th wedding anniversary. squirrelly kids and giant beach towels and tubes of sunscreen and a whole mess of plastic sand toys in tow. not exactly what we had in mind but this would not be the first time. not that the beach is even remotely any sort of punishment but you know. hello, sweaty sunburnt skin. hello, grouchy over-tired children. hello, sand in unwelcome places. again, not exactly what we'd originally had in mind. but real. and strangely perfect.

so, mexican for dinner, saltwater taffy for dessert. kids playing in the sand while the sun set on the pacific ocean. and us. at the end of the day, us. and if that's how the anniversaries go down from here on out, I'll take it.

I've been thinking about this

2011-09-09T16:32:00.001-07:00

"a photograph is a secret about a secret. the more it tells you the less you know." diane arbus

the good fight

2011-08-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

I walked into that yarn shop and I said yes. this is what I want. this is how I want to organize my life. items arranged according to color, tucked neatly into several pleasingly symmetrical little cubbies. instead, I am like most americans. I stuff things I don't really need under beds, into the backs of dark closets, into overflowing attics, basements, garages. make no mistake, I keep our main living spaces fairly clutter free. I'll tell you, when it comes to those areas, I'm a bit of a nut. but one peek at my basement and THE JIG IS UP.

it's not that I don't have a plan. it's that the plan makes me tired. the plan requires more time than I have to give it. the plan requires things like commitment and discipline. the plan demands I throw things out, things I'm not sure I'm ready to throw out. actually, what the plan really wants is a yard sale. this is not completely unreasonable, seeing as how I have put on my fair share of yard sales (and legendary ones, at that). but for some reason, I cannot rally. I start and then people need me and/or projects need me and the whole yard sale party is over before it ever really began. needless to say, this does not please the plan. truth be told, this disgusts the plan.

still, I continue to chip away. a drawer here, a shelf there, a few boxes from the attic, a file cabinet from the basement. I have learned to celebrate small victories. and when I really need a shot in the arm, I walk into a yarn shop. I eye the colors and the cubbies and I am filled with hope.

instant los angeles

2011-08-26T09:19:00.001-07:00

as it turns out, fuji color peel apart film really sort of loves bright sunny los angeles. once I realized this, I burned through packs of film like a crazy person. not pictured here (but forever immortalized with the nikon and the iphone): the street art show, grauman's chinese theatre, olvera street, disneyland and of course, multiple trips to in-n-out burger.

huzzah!

2011-08-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

am now an official contributor over at shutters sisters and people, I am stoked. also, honored. find me over there once a month, yapping about photography and such. I do enjoy the yapping.

to celebrate, they're giving away one spot in my upcoming instant photography workshop over at teahouse studios in berkeley-- comment between now and midnight (EST) tuesday, august 23rd for a chance to win! but, on the offchance that you don't win and you're still interested in the workshop, there are still a few spots available. space is limited so get thee to the registration page and join me in an instant photography geek fest like no other. seriously. I promise you BIG POLAROID FUN.

E is for Epic

2011-08-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

back now from the road trip to end all road trips: portland to los angeles, los angeles to portland via somewhat equal parts I-5, the 101 and CA-1. somewhere along the spectacular stretch that is big sur, we lost our minds. and I mean that in the best way, the very best way.

am now stuck in that place, that strange post-vacation place. wading through mountains of images and piles of laundry. one minute I'm happy to be home and the next, I'm weepy for the road. up and down, up and down.

one thing I know for sure: there are words and pictures to be shared.

two things

2011-08-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

firstly, clogs. just like the tan ones only red. red for summer.

secondly, instagram. I may or may not have fallen down a sizable instagram rabbit hole. this is hardly news since I've been on there since april but still. an intervention may be in order.

wigwam redux

2011-07-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

it was just about this time last year we found ourselves in cave city, kentucky at the wigwam village inn. right smack dab in the middle of an epic southeastern/midwestern road trip. I'll tell you, these are the kind of road trips I live for, these are the ones I hope ava and ezra talk about someday. hopefully, with something akin to fondness. my own childhood family road trip stories are nothing short of legendary-- long sweaty hours spent in the brownest station wagon, florida and all matters of the atlantic ocean in our sights. packed to the gills with a motley assortment of items-- mismatched luggage, boxes and bags of groceries, neon inner tubes. and probably a small toaster oven. I will never forget the look on the bellboy's face at one fort lauderdale hotel as we loaded up our luggage cart. horrified would be the word I would use to describe it. but we didn't care. all we could see was a turquoise ocean, a pretty high rise hotel and nothing but an entire week of vacation laid out before us.

we tell the stories over and over again, me and my brothers. we love to tell the corrona family vacation stories. I hope ava and ezra will tell stories someday. of road trips and adventures and mishaps and magic things. of wigwam inns and dairy queens and souvenir shops. I'd like to think that they will.

in the middle of it

2011-07-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

so last year there was a list and this year there's a list and surely there will always be a summer list. always, for the rest of our days. forever and ever amen. I'll tell you, I've never seen a thrift store chalkboard work so hard. this is because we see it every time we walk in or out the front door and we are always reminded. if there's too much wii action or too much television or too much woefulness regarding varying states of boredom, the chalkboard list is there, happy to serve. in fact, it's so happy it practically sings out the listed items. I swear I hear it singing.

we have a long way to go but summer is not over yet. not by a long shot.

day five

2011-07-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

so 'roid week wrapped up on friday and it was one for the books, folks. and today I'm over at words to shoot by where the word (appropriately enough) is instant.

day four

2011-07-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

(for 'roid week)

day three

2011-07-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

(for 'roid week)

day two

2011-07-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

(for 'roid week)

day one

2011-07-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

roid week! it's 'roid week. am endlessly happy about this. am shifting into photoblog mode for the next five days.

instant magic

2011-07-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

excited to announce I'll be teaching a one-day instant photography workshop at the lovely teahouse studios in berkeley on saturday, september 17th!

I'll tell you, I receive more emails about my polaroid work--- how did I get started? what polaroid cameras do I shoot with? what cameras do I recommend and where can they be found? how much will they cost? what film do I use? what do I look for when I'm shooting? how do I get the colors? I cannot tell you how fun it's been to develop a workshop that covers all these questions (and more). this is the workshop I desperately needed when I first started out, the one I went looking for and could not find. I know from experience just how overwhelming the realm of instant photography can be. feels like there are a hundred different types of cameras and films to experiment with-- each with their own advantages, their own quirks. so I took all my experience, my trials and errors, all my research and experimentation to create one big hands-on super fun instant photography workshop. busting at the seams with instant photography love, friends. and that's the truth.

so if you'd like to spend an afternoon shooting with a gaggle of polaroid cameras in a gorgeous light-filled studio, get thee to my workshop. we'll be playing with a wide variety of cameras, shooting with both integral and peel apart film and naturally, we'll take to the streets of berkeley for the most awesome photo walk ever.

(a look at my first instant photography workshop can be found here and more information on the upcoming workshop can be found here. space is limited so if you're interested, get your registration on. oh, and if you need further incentive, the lovely susannah conway will be teaching the same weekend! on sunday! sign up for both workshops for the ultimate photography weekend)

someone turned seven

2011-07-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

well, seven about a month ago. we are actually still recovering from the big party so I consider this posting a personal triumph.

how to poetry bomb a thrift store

2011-07-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

via booooooom/via my sweet friend amy, who instinctively knew I would fall head over heels in love with agustina woodgate and her brilliant idea to secretly sew poems inside thrift store clothing. there are so many ways to put art and goodness out into the world, so many ways. thank you, amy. I love this. I really really do.

red

2011-07-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

last day of summer colors week and I don't know about you but I think maybe I really needed this. am now sufficiently steeped in brilliant summer color. thank you, poppytalk.

p.s. it will be a sad day when ava outgrows that red and white polka dot swimsuit. it will be a sad sad day.

rainbow

2011-06-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

today: full on double rainbow, people. all the way across the sky.

(summer colors week, yo)

blue

2011-06-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

today, in order of appearance: bubbles, fruit crates, banana seat bikes. oh summer colors week. you are just what I needed.

all swoony over these blues and I'll tell you, I'm really sort of trippin over this blue velvet cake.

pink

2011-06-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

not pictured here: a pink ukelele, which I'd someday like to own.

(summer colors week, yay)

yellow!

2011-06-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

happiest color ever.

(hooray for the beginning of summer colors week)

summer colors week

2011-06-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

poppytalk's summer colors week starts tomorrow. checkit:

monday: yellow
tuesday: pink
wednesday: blue
thursday: rainbow
friday: red

because is there a better time for color? well, is there?

and speaking of summer

2011-06-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

taken last summer in the small illinois town where my parents live and I swear to you, when I look at this, I can practically hear the cicadas. I can feel how thick the air is and I want to get on a plane and go home.

list thirty-six: 100 things I love about summer

2011-06-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

1. daisies in my front yard
2. rainbow snow cones
3. old lawn furniture
4. drive-in movies
5. polaroid skies
6. lightning bugs
7. sidewalk chalk
8. saltwater sandals
9. saturday morning yard sales
10. sunflower fields
11. street festivals
12. paper fans
13. ice cream cones
14. the sound of cicadas
15. the hum of old fans
16. polka dot bathing suits
17. backyard string lights
18. oversized beach balls
19. teeny tiny pinwheels
20. carnival food
21. painted toes
22. diving boards
23. impromptu picnics
24. water balloon fights
25. epic roadtrips
26. cherry slushees
27. open windows
28. hanging laundry
29. flashlight games
30. frozen grapes
31. barbecues
32. bare skin
33. squirt guns
34. sundresses
35. homemade tents
36. cut-off jeans
37. collected shells
38. super slides
39. neon inner tubes
40. roadside fruit stands
41. underwater tea parties
42. candy-colored zinnias
43. the sound of ice cream trucks
44. the scent of the ocean
45. long afternoons at the library
46. long afternoons at the park
47. mexican coca cola
48. corn on the cob
49. hand-painted driftwood
50. homemade bubbles
51. vintage sunglasses
52. white cotton nightgowns
53. pink plastic flamingos
54. roller coasters
55. ferris wheels
56. frozen lemonade
57. giant hammocks
58. dinner on the patio
59. early evening bike rides
60. late night light
61. hand-picked strawberries
62. braided hair
63. baby pools
64. dairy queen
65. tiki torches
66. the scent of fresh cut grass
67. the scent of suntan lotion
68. hot city sidewalks
69. lemonade stands
70. mexican peasant blouses
71. backyard croquet
72. watering cans
73. fireworks
74. farmers markets
75. tide pools
76. straw totes
77. water slides
78. window boxes
79. sandcastles
80. sleepovers
81. sparklers
82. art camp
83. blueberries
84. beach umbrellas
85. miniature golf
86. neighborhood parades
87. lawn sprinklers
88. turquoise waters
89. wild blackberries
90. hand-painted rocks
91. bright-colored beach towels
92. fleamarket weekends
93. happy gardens
94. magic hour
95. night swimming
96. daisy chains
97. popsicles
98. summer songs
99. bare feet
100. sunshine

happy second day of summer, friends.

hangers are pretty

2011-06-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

hangers that inspire. hangers. who knew?

wooden heart

2011-06-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Listener "Wooden Heart" from Nathan Corrona on Vimeo.

brilliant beautiful work from that guy listener (who you might also recognize from here or here) and directed by that guy nate (who you might also recognize as my brother). watch it big. watch it big if you can.

the moment is

2011-05-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

when I was a kid, I used to wonder if it was possible to hold onto ordinary moments. you know, if you tried hard enough. if you closed your eyes and memorized every single thing about it, painted the scene in great detail in your mind and then just willed yourself to remember. could you? in twenty years? remember the way you bent down and scratched your knee while you waited for the school bus to round the corner. remember the way that peanut butter and jelly sandwich tasted while you watched an episode of good times. remember the way your skin stuck to the back of the station wagon seat while fleetwood mac played on the radio. because where do they all go? all the seemingly forgettable everyday moments? the thought of losing them all terrified the ten year-old me. no matter how unremarkable they were, I wanted them. I wanted them all. I still want them all. thirty years later and I have really only managed to hold onto what feels like a few measly scraps. for whatever reason, only certain moments stick.

so I thought about this earlier as I sat in the parking lot of the grocery store waiting for my husband to pick me up. I thought about how hard I tried at age ten to hold onto things, how hard I still try to hold onto things-- how I take photographs and make lists and scribble thoughts onto the pages of a hundred different notebooks, how carefully I've integrated this practice of preservation into my daily life. I am indefatigable. and then I sat there in that parking lot and did what my ten year-old self used to do. I memorized the moment. cool concrete beneath me, sun on my face. left hand on a cart filled with groceries for the week, giant bin of watermelons just a few feet away. old squeeze song coming from the grocery store speakers, me singing along. quietly, under my breath. one moment folds into the next and then it's over. and I am left hoping maybe this one will stick.

list thirty-five: books I loved as a kid

2011-05-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

these are the books that I read over and over. tirelessly, joyfully. these are the books that I loved so much it hurt.

1. maria tallchief by tobi tobias. purchased in first grade at the school book fair and the beginning of so much for me. filled with gorgeous pencil drawings of a dancer who was born on an indian reservation and went on to become a famous prima ballerina with the new york city ballet. I spent hours examining the drawings. hours and hours and hours. and even though I have long since parted ways with ballet, I still want to slip inside this book and become maria tallchief.

2. peppermint by dorothy grider. a litter of kittens is born in the back of a candy shop and all of them find a home but one-- a sickly little white kitten named peppermint. oh the heartbreak! I could not take it. which is probably why I read it again and again. also? pictures of pretty candy in big glass jars plus pictures of fluffy kittens= total win.

3. little majorette by dorothy grider. baton twirling was never really my thing but the pictures of the costumes in this book had me reconsidering. oh, that bright red two-piece number with the white fringe! and the fancy majorette costume that patty's parents surprised her with at the end! SO. GOOD.

4. I know a story by miriam blanton huber, frank seely salisbury and mabel o'donnell. pretty much your basic collection of classic tales here-- i.e., the gingerbread boy, the three little bears, little red riding hood, yadda yadda yadda. but the last story in the book, the boy who went to the north wind, was something special. there was a magic stick and a magic goat and a magic tablecloth and wind that actually talked and a boy and his mother who had nothing but got everything in the end. the best, people. the best.

5. popular party games edited by alison m. abel. purchased at the school book fair in second grade and the very beginning of my lifelong obsession with party planning. there's a price tag on the front with 30 cents marked on it and the initials A.C. scrawled next to it. which means I must have tried to sell this book at one of my mother's many garage sales. which, if it had actually sold, would have been nothing less than tragic. there are important sentences underlined and specific game titles circled and entire paragraphs crossed out. it's a little piece of second grade andrea and I die when I think of how easily it could have ended up in someone else's attic.

6. flicka, ricka, dicka and the strawberries by maj lindman. checked out from the local library repeatedly and then purchased at an antique mall somewhere in tennessee a good twenty years later. to be clear, I loved all the flicka, ricka, dicka books. all of them. I was also a big fan of the snip, snap and snurr books. because please. old-fashioned storybooks about swedish triplets are meant to be adored. however, this particular flicka, ricka, dicka book just about did me in. every time. the story: flicka, ricka and dicka (in adorable matching red and white dresses, mind you) go on a picnic in the woods. along the way, they fill their baskets with wild strawberries which their mother has promised to pay them each a silver coin for. at some point, they lose track of time and end up horribly lost. which is when they stumble onto a sweet family who takes them in. fyi, this family has nothing. they're walking around in ratty clothes and bare feet so in my 7 year-old mind, they have nothing. but you know, the mother keeps the tiny home clean and clearly, they're kind, humble people. the kind of people that just sort break your heart. so anyway, the mother sends her daughter (who just happens to be the same age as flicka, ricka and dicka) back into the forest to help the triplets find their way back home. when they return, the triplets tell their gorgeous (blonde) swedish mother everything. they tell her they want to use their silver coins to buy the girl a new dress and there's a whole page devoted to the shopping (which I loved) and of course, they pick out the most perfect dress ever-- crimson red with white polka dots and a little white lace collar. in the end, they take it to the girl, along with a basket filled with apples and jars of strawberry preserves and milk for the baby (who you just know was starving) and oh people, it was beautiful. and I don't remember crying but I bet I did. I just bet you I did.

get out and ride

2011-05-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

it's national bike month and how did I not know this before now? on the bike I go.

photobooth friday

2011-05-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

sometimes photobooth frames capture exactly who we are in a particular moment. not always, but sometimes. I'll admit, when the booth first spit this strip out, I was a little disappointed. ezra did exactly what I told him not to do-- that is, move in close and make the crazy face. four whole frames of variations on the crazy face. but the more I look at this, the more I love it. because it's exactly who we are right now. ezra, all goofiness and loose teeth and straw-like bangs. ava, all smiling eyes and soft preteen edges and the kitty cat hat she won't take off. and me in the background-- loving them both so much I can hardly stand it, trying so hard to hold onto them like this but failing miserably. because you can't hold on, it doesn't work like that. so you grab them and put them in a photobooth every once in a while and when the strip comes sliding out, you silently celebrate your triumphant (albeit small) attempt to stop time.

happy mother's day, y'all.

lolo

2011-05-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

we have a new kitten. which means I will probably never get anything done again ever in life.

true

2011-04-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

which of my photographs is my favorite? the one I'm going to take tomorrow. -imogen cunningham