list thirteen: things I do not like

52 weeks of lists and you had to know this one was coming:

1. cilantro. I'm sorry, cilantro. I want to like you, I really do. but you are not on the good side of my gag reflex.

2. fluorescent lighting. or most overhead lighting, really. because turn on an overhead light and pretty much everyone looks dead. but switch on a couple of lamps and everyone looks pretty. or at the very least, alive. also, lamps totally bring the cozy. I am a big fan of things that bring the cozy.

3. too much cologne. there are people out there drowning in cologne and I don't understand it. also, stores like abercrombie and fitch are pumping desperate amounts of cologne into the air. and it's so wrong I can't even talk about it.

4. wet socks. the moisture makes me loco.

5. magazines like maxim. because it's hard enough out there already.

6. packed movie theatres. because a packed movie theatre means I will inevitably have to sit next to a stranger. which means I will have to share the armrest and hold my purse in my lap. it also means I will not be able to put my feet up on the seat in front of me. and I really need to put my feet up. I just do.

7. black jellybeans. not a fan of the black jellybeans.

8. laundry. nothing sucks the air out of my day like the endlessness of laundry.

9. public automatic water faucets. I am so on board with the whole water conservation thing but would very much like it if I didn't have to perform an elaborate hand jive every time I need a little water to wash my hands. I'm serious. it's out of control.

10. long fingernails. I don't know what happened but I cannot take long fingernails. not even a little bit.

11. big budget action films. nothing puts me to sleep like a big budget action film. I will never need sleeping pills so long as big budget action films exist. thank you hollywood.

12. bras with hidden agendas. because pretty much every bra I own (or have ever owned, for that matter) seems to do something completely different than what was promised. everyday is a showdown, everyday is a battle. and the bras, they are winning the battle. the bras, they are beginning to break my spirit.

(thirteen down, thirty-nine to go)

silver shade indeed

first shot with the new PX100 and people, I like this film. I really really like this film.

list twelve: things I like to photograph

1. hair, glorious hair

2. the ocean and all that it implies

3. things that are sugary and pretty and probably not good for you

4. stripes and patterns

5. color and more color

6. movers and shakers

7. things that float and hang

8. things that sparkle and spin

9. multiples, multiples, multiples

10. art found on the street

11. things that scream summer

12. flowers that are real

13. flowers that aren't

14. cities I do not live in

15. cities I do live in

16. things that are old

17. hands that tell stories

18. feet that mostly belong to me

19. skies that go on forever

20. bridges and buildings

21. letters and signs

22. people and more people

23. things with wheels

24. machines that play music

25. boxes that record images

26. people that I love

27. pretty much anything during the magic hour

28. pretty much anything.

29. pretty much everything.

(twelve down, forty to go)

talk about luck

am currently smack dab in the middle of katherine center's new novel, get lucky. katherine, who writes books that beg for long, uninterrupted chunks of time in which nothing else matters but the turning of the page. katherine, who puts words and images together in a way that really means something. katherine, who I am lucky enough to call my friend.

what I'm trying to say is that I can't put her book down. and I really love when that happens.

(the above video= words from get lucky plus my photographs. so totally honored. more about it here.)

list eleven: things I am loving

currently:

1. paper balloons

2. colorful could-be cameras

3. harpy's float set

4. love letter murals

5. my new (non-black) wallet

6. re-imagined book covers

7. a list to take seriously

8. a pound cake that involves nutella

9. a collaboration that involves an 8 year-old and the art world

10. a new film about an artist I love

11. the building and imagining of so many bikes

12. the last of the orange jellybeans

13. the spring issue of UPPERCASE

14. a glee flashmob (and the hundreds of arms and hands at 1:30 in)

15. the having of helvetica stencils

16. the stories and colors in ruth's paintings

17. the world's first street art disaster film

18. decals that are swoon-worthy

19. dancers who run backwards

20. the two unopened boxes of PX100 film sitting on my desk

21. the lilacs popping near the front porch

22. marionberry-flavored anything

(eleven down, forty-one to go)

number 29

number 29 off the list and why don't I rearrange the furniture more often? a push of the side tables here, a slide of the bed there and voila. brand new bedroom. if the room could could talk, I think it would thank me.

list ten: books I could read over and over

these are the ones I find myself picking up again and again. something like comfort food but better, so much better.

1. slaves of new york by tama janowitz

2. to kill a mockingbird by harper lee

3. the principles of uncertainty by maira kalman

4. me talk pretty one day by david sedaris

5. writing down the bones by natalie goldberg

6. song of solomon by toni morrison

7. a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith

8. let the great world spin by colum mcCann

(ten down, forty-two to go)

well, you are

what happened in cincinnati (besides a little collaborating with my brother on a music video shoot for the band seabird) is that I had more fun with stencils, stickers, paint chips and spray paint than is perhaps humanly possible. the street artist inside me had a little coming out party, she surely did.

list nine: posts that mean something to me

well, they all mean something to me. but some mean a little more than others. five years worth of writing and it was not easy to choose, not easy at all but here are a few. okay, more than a few.

1. electric brains

2. yes I said yes

3. but it's SPIDERMAN

4. perspective

5. poor five

6. dear italy

7. you can go too

8. hello, I'm a mover

9. I love room service

10. better than everything in the sky

11. 82nd avenue

12. flight 749

13. self portrait #33

14. guilty as charged

15. friday afternoon

16. into marvelous light


(nine down, forty-three to go)

five!

five years ago today, I started this blog. after months of mercilessly teasing my husband about his, I finally broke down and started my own. and I didn't really know what I was doing or why I was even doing it, I just knew I wanted to do it. I wanted my own space, someplace where I didn't owe anyone anything, where I could write about whatever I wanted, share whatever I wanted and shamelessly post work.

in those first days, you could mostly find me holding a little baby ezra in one arm while typing with the other. thus, the lack of capitalization here. my affinity for lowercase letters has nothing to do with cuteness and everything to do with necessity. simply put, it's a habit born out of necessity. I found it nearly impossible to capitalize letters while typing with one hand and holding a baby in the other. and who was even reading my blog anyway? but five years later and baby ezra is no longer attached to my hip. I continue to run with the lowercase here because I am a girl who likes visual consistency. and, as I said before, this is a place where I call the shots. I pretty much love that, much as I pretend that I don't.

five years later and I'd like to think I still operate from that same place of independence. I write about what I want, when I want. welcome to the land of the ebb and the flow. quite frankly, I wish there was less ebb and more flow but I refuse to bow to convention. the day it becomes a chore here is the day I end it. and I can't help but wonder, is that day coming? exactly how long does this sort of thing go on? I don't know. but I'm all about seeing it through to the end, whenever that may be.

also, I'm amazed that I have any readers at all. mostly because of that pesky ebb and flow thing but also because I occasionally tend towards the cryptic and am often a little all over the place. in case I have not said it, thank you for reading. or in many cases, looking. I realize I am less with the words these days and more with the images, thanks to a little thing called change. at any rate, thank you. for all kind words and support, I thank you.

but the best part about today? I totally used it as an excuse to buy five cupcakes. to photograph and share here, of course. because that's the thing about blogging. it tends to lead to all kinds of goodness. five years worth, to be exact.

oh hi

where to start, where to begin? work my way backwards? or start with the beginning and work forward? it's possible I am overthinking it. over the last three weeks, there's been a shoot in cincinnati, a few visiting germans and an unexpected trip home. and probably a few other things. also? along the way, I missed three lists. THREE LISTS. so, you know. things are all off kilter here.

but it's friday, people. I don't know about you, but we're still on spring break. and, as it turns out, instant film is not dead. so, until further notice, we'll be jumping on hotel beds to celebrate. we'll be jumping until it's time to come home.

currently

things are crazy. when this happens, I sort of shut down. this is unfortunate. because I think I'd feel a little better if I could write my way through the craziness.

list eight: guiltiest pleasures

I'm writing from the road, friends. internet access is spotty and there's work to be done but I am here and I have a list. guiltiest pleasures:

1. cheap make-up

2. bad television

3. fountain cokes, heavy on the crushed ice

4. cherry-flavored blow pops

5. ridiculous gossip magazines

6. donuts with sprinkles

coincidentally, when I'm on the road, all self-imposed limitations regarding guilty pleasures fly straight out the proverbial window. I am on my 17th cherry blow pop, folks. I have been to the drug store and I have the cheap green eyeshadow to prove it. from the cocoon of my dark hotel room, I will watch many, many hours of bad late night television. also? a donut with sprinkles is surely in my near future.

hello from guilty pleasure central. things should be back to normal in about a week or two. I think.

(eight down, forty-four to go)

in like a lion

first of march and the two trees in front of my house practically exploded with pink blooms today. hello, march? I am so ready for you.

on an unrelated note, I am loving all your words. LOVING.

list seven: words you love

culled from list five's comment section and a few willing twitter peeps. these are your favorites. and now they're mine too.

1. scrumptious
2. tweeze
3. clunky
4. marsh
5. hullabaloo
6. defenestrate
7. aboulia
8. unctuous
9. new york
10. montagne
11. qualms
12. rapprochement
13. iridescent
14. vestibule
15. shenanigans
16. smithereens
17. incandescence
18. menagerie
19. quixotic
20. moisture
21. aperture
22. aesthetic
23. hijinx
24. broccoli
25. apropos
26. humdinger
27. exacerbate
28. conundrum
29. onomatopoeia
30. swoon
31. literary
32. et cetera
33. gingham
34. yummy
35. luscious
36. subterfuge
37. anthropomorphic
38. quandary
39. caliber
40. delete
41. plethora
42. palpable
43. superfluous
44. lovely
45. hootenanny
46. scalawag
47. insane
48. zack
49. beloved
50. allegorical
51. moonlight
52. mayhaps
53. sublime
54. bemoan
55. bequest
56. tiny
57. hello
58. deluxe
59. bonus
60. cozy
61. angst
62. rustic
63. ballerina
64. melancholy
65. chartreuse

oh you word lovers, you. you are my people. I spent a good part of the afternoon rolling these words around my mouth. I said many out loud and spent more time with a dictionary than I'd care to admit. these are good words. these are really really good words. they deserve to be written over and over again, to be used in sentences and paragraphs and stories of all kinds. they deserve to be said out loud, to be casually interjected into conversation whenever possible, proclaimed with conviction over dinner when the lull is too much and muttered softly under breath when there's nothing else to say. thank you for sharing. thank you very much.

consider this an open call for more words. there's no end to good words. I am sure of it.

(seven down, forty-five to go)