I have big news

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

the new toothless smile, it is killing me.

BIG POLAROID FUN

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

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 the whole time, 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

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

the good fight

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

(for 'roid week)

day three

(for 'roid week)