thursday, thursday plus photobooth friday

for the record: this is the one where ezra refuses to cooperate. which, I think, makes for a more dynamic composition. but whatever. we dragged that kid all over the place. we should have known that once he'd had enough he'd pull out the big guns and refuse to participate in the happy family show we had going in the booth. smart kid, that ezra. he knows my weaknesses, he knows how to bargain. what it cost me: two more quarters (for him) plus a modest-sized chunk of my patience. but I got my san francisco photobooth strip, yes I did.



and while we were wandering the great aisles of the musee mecanique, I ran into he of the spectacular photobooth skills. he was standing on a small ladder, repairing one of the vintage arcade games. I recognized him immediately. really, how could I not? I introduced myself and we proceeded to engage in a lively conversation regarding what else? photobooths. naturally.



ah, musee mecanique. where the antique arcade games are somewhere between mildly creepy and absolutely charming.



thursday was also a day for double decker carousel rides.



and a new someone for the stranger project



plus, plenty of souvenir shopping



and of course, cable car rides.

more photobooth friday here. and I promise I'm almost done with this san francisco love affair. I promise.

wednesday, wednesday

yes, still with all the san francisco business. I am one step away from inviting everyone I know over to my house for a slide show. not that I'm proud of that but my intentions are solid. really, they are.

so, two weeks ago on a wednesday and why the mission neighborhood is sort of beating out chinatown as my favorite:


laundry that sings


climbing flowers that seem to glow plus tasty breakfasts with super rad pals named lisa


shoes that are cute plus lunches at sweet mexican places places with extremely lovely people like mati and kelly rae


murals


good lord, the murals


and the street art




good lord, the street art


really, color at every corner


ridiculous, maybe even ridonculous


and the thrift stores


I mean, really

just look at what ten dollars brought home

plus, there's fruit


which I realize is pretty much everywhere and not exactly unique to the area

but mission fruit is probably special

because I don't know

it just is.

(also swaying my vote: places where mopping is an accepted daily practice)

tuesday, tuesday

things learned on a tuesday:

wind-blown hair is the secret

sun-drenched kitchens are not to be underestimated

cars like pearl are to be loved and shamelessly adored

breakfast really is the most important meal of the day

especially when prepared by a professional breakfast-cooker

ferry rides are magic

as are most carousel rides

mexican coca cola is so much better

riley has the eye

cupcakes are the second most important meal of the day

never leave a fruit stand empty-handed

always, always run to catch the ferry

even if you don't think you're going to make it

because chances are, you will

monday, monday

hello monday, hello chinatown. to be fair, other places were visited that day too. big places that shan't take a back seat to anyone, anyplace, anything. still, chinatown won me over. though she's running neck and neck with the mission. it's a tight race, my friends. it's my kind of race.



paper lanterns everywhere



faded, slightly swaying



colors colors



and the frenzied flap of pigeon wings



the click and slide of small game pieces, bits of conversation in a language I wish I understood



shops with so much jingly jangly, tiny aisles packed from floor to ceiling with satin pouches, plastic souvenirs, waving pink ceramic kitties, glass bowls stacked generously in every corner



shops with parasol-covered ceilings, silk umbrellas hovering overhead like neon moths



again with all the color



sweet lotus cakes and butterfly cookies, how could we have lived so long without tasting you? I imagine the world is filled with things like this

also

totally unrelated but taking place on the very same day:



visits to places where people have big, bright ideas

and speaking of bright ideas:



and speaking of big places:



hello sweet golden gate bridge, hello spectacularly cold wind, hello me as seen through the eyes of my favorite person



hello there san francisco

yes, monday was a big day.

sunday, sunday

no way to do this san francisco thing but day by day. on sunday, it was all about the roadtrip. on sunday, we:



stopped to ooh and aah over mt. shasta.



painted toes pink and pink.



drove by field after field (after field) of sunflowers. I took that as a good sign.





found a penny (also a good sign).



saw the first of many palm trees and proceeded to behave like total tourists.



were warmly welcomed by the magnificent miss leslie and the super fantastic riley.



who generously allowed us to take over their lovely lovely home for an entire week.



this home, I did not want to leave it. so good.



leslie, your bed should be featured in a book called BEST BEDS EVER. is there not a book like that already? well, let's write one and it can be all about your bed and the miraculous healing powers it so obviously possesses. that bed is magic. but then, so are you. leslie, you are as awesome in person as I thought you'd be. and riley? forget about it. that kid rocks.

number 3

we took a little roadtrip to san francisco last week. which means that I am currently busting at the seams with images and words and colors and hallelujahs and thankyous and beautiful people. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed by all that is swimming around in my head. I'm slowly processing information, I'm filing it in different places. I'm wallowing in what can only be described as post-roadtrip euphoria.

please be forewarned: it's about to be all about san francisco, all week long. turn your head if you are unable to stomach that. I am a girl who likes to share and I'll not have anyone say otherwise. besides, the pictures are pretty. I promise.

attention postcard swap peoples

if you haven't received an email from me, it's because I haven't sent any. we took our vacation three weeks early (see above, please) and it threw off my entire swap organization game plan. the emails, they are coming!

on the first day of summer

I did things, yes I did:

planted sunflower seeds (so late, but still)

visited the neighborhood library, signed ava and ezra up for the summer reading program, checked out more books than we could ever possibly read

picked a handful of strawberries from our garden

rode my bike around the block umpteen times

laid in the hammock, thought up names for my bike

laid in the hammock, ate an orange popsicle

laid in the hammock, dreamt of our trip to san francisco

laid in the hammock, thought about making a pitcher of lemonade with extra lemons, extra sugar but didn't because I was too busy laying in the hammock

laid in the hammock some more

I'm telling you, I do not mess around when it comes to the first day of summer.

photobooth friday

good to see my dad hasn't lost his photobooth mojo. though I'm not sure he'll ever be able to top this one.



oh dad. your visit was so short. counting the days until our next trip to the photobooth. a stellar tradition I plan to carry on forever and ever, amen.

happy father's day, happy birthday, happy photobooth friday, happy anything and everything day. xo

number 9

the bike, she is mine. and this is because I was on a roll that day. I'd been to a couple of church basement sales and I was feeling lucky. when I saw her parked outside my favorite thrift shop, I knew I'd be no match for her wobbly charms. actually, the first thing I spied was that basket. that's what sold me. wait, is that wrong? that I almost bought a bike because of the basket? in my defense, there was also a bell. another total bonus. but I knew I couldn't buy a bike without riding it first. no, I could not.

so I had the nice lady who worked there unlock the bike for me. which is when I sort of panicked. suddenly, I couldn't remember the last time I rode a bike. imaginary fingers inside my head frantically flipped through file after file after file of memory. college, high school, junior high... junior high, maybe. big maybe. 20 some years since my last bike ride? really? now I wasn't sure if I was even physically capable of riding. and there was the issue of my skirt, my clunky dr. scholl sandals. what if I wiped out in the parking lot? in front of the nice lady, my husband, my son and the three people looking through piles of gently stained blouses and pablo cruise cassette tapes? I hiked my leg up over the tan seat anyway. off I went. and it's true what they say. they don't say what they say just to be saying it. it's true, you never forget.



I am now the proud owner of one very sweet tan and white slightly rusted bicycle. with a basket and a bell. the flowers came later. I'll tell you, I love her. I forgot how much fun it is to ride a bike. around the neighborhood I go, over and over. I can't stop grinning, I love it. how could I have gone for so long without riding a bike? how? I'm 9 years-old all over again, I'm zipping all over the place, I'm one step away from popping wheelies.

number 9 off the list, done. and probably the best thing I've done in a long, long time.

this is a photograph of a clear, blue sky

a couple of days of cloudless skies and sunshine here in portland, oregon. it's a miracle, folks. is what it is. nothing short of a miracle. I'm serious.

wow

the sign-up for the postcard swap is now officially closed. and I am officially shocked by the overwhelming response. about a week ago, the mister wondered if maybe I should close the swap sign-up a little early. um, you do have a life and a family to look after, he said. but I just couldn't do it. partially because I wanted to honor what I'd originally said but also because the comments and emails kept coming in. I couldn't stop it, I just couldn't. wow. thank you, all you lovers of summer, you lovers of postcard swaps! you are from all over the country, all over the world. my inbox is singing, my humble little laptop is all abuzz with your enthusiasm.

the details will be coming your way soon, friends. you should receive an email from me in the next couple of weeks with the next round of instructions. a few of you left comments and expressed interest but did not leave an email address. can't include you on the list if I don't have an email address. if that's you, you know what to do. and if you haven't already, feel free to join the flickr group. not required at all, just something there to join if you like.

for the record, I can't send a postcard to everyone this year. I wish I could, I really do but like my husband says, I have a life, a family to take care of and besides that, the cost of the postage alone would kill me. I'll be putting myself on a couple of the lists, though. and I promise to be as diplomatic about it as I possibly can.

so here's the part where I ask you to be patient with me as I sort out all the details, put together the groups and inevitably make so many mistakes. the details, they are coming. they are, they are, yes they are.

photobooth friday

I wanted to cry when I saw them. I did, I really did. the carnival is in town, my friends. a few rides, a little bit of freshly spun cotton candy and of course, this:



ah, photobooth friday. it's been too long.

june, I love you

(postcard I made for last year's swap)

first of june= unofficially summer. even if it doesn't feel like it, even if portland doesn't know it yet. the first of june is when the sandals and floaty skirts come out, it's when I start thinking about things like box fans, lightning bugs and baby pools. I get serious about gardening. speaking of which, my strawberry plants are looking awesome. anyway. june means open windows. it means picnics, yard sales and road trips. and projects. good lord, the projects. june is for the starting of new projects, june is the new january. only without all that pesky dreary weather. unless, of course, you live in portland.


(more of my postcards)

so it was this time last year that I organized my first postcard swap. when I initially put the idea out there, I had no idea so many people would be interested. 20, I thought. 30 tops. when the final count hit 80 something, I was shocked. I decided I needed to break folks up into smaller groups of 12-15. high on some kind of crazy summer happy, I put myself on every list. which is a little nuts, yes, I realize this now. but I'd decided early on to send a postcard to each person who signed up.


(the great wall of postcards, about to be dismantled and *gulp* mailed out)

which meant I made a lot of postcards. oh friends, so many postcards. wore down more gluesticks than I'd care to mention, cut up enough little squares of paper to cover a small third world country. I spread my supplies out everywhere, took over the entire bed, the entire house. each night, ward would try to fit his body into the inch of space I'd so generously left for him on his side of the bed. he would gently (okay and not so gently) push supplies out of the way, curl up into a little ball and try to fall asleep. meanwhile, I woke up with bits of paper stuck to my legs, my arms, found them hiding in the folds of my nightgown.



somewhere around the 50th postcard, I wondered what I'd gotten myself into. but sending out 80 or something postcards also meant that I'd be receiving 80 or something postcards.


(my wall of summer, thanks to all the delightful swap peeps)

actually, I received a little bit of lovely summer mail art everyday for about a month. which made all the hard work absolutely totally worth it. the postcards, they came from all over. some from different countries, many more from all over the united states. each day I found something new waiting for me in my mailbox. a bright-colored collage or painting, an old-fashioned summer recipe, a favorite summer poem. everything from a deconstructed watermelon to the simplicity of the grape popsicle. everyone had a different take on summer and by the end of the season, they'd all found a place on my kitchen wall. which is exactly where they stayed until the night before thanksgiving. I could barely stand to do it but the time finally came to take them all down.



so I just can't not do it all again. and I can't wait for portland to bring me summer because holy crap, she is really dragging her feet. portland, I'm going to pretend that it's not cold and rainy outside today. I am going to shut my eyes and pretend it isn't so. while I am waiting for the sun, I will be working on summer-themed postcards. well, hopefully. I need a few people to sign up to make the second annual summer postcard swap an official thing. so if you're interested, please leave your name and email address in the comment section below or click on my profile where you'll find the option to email me. same guidelines as last year and soon there'll be a new flickr group to join. I'll allow a couple weeks for folks to sign up and then close the swap on june 15th. you'll receive an email with instructions and a list of names and addresses. and then the fun really begins. hopefully, the sun will be out by then. hopefully, summer will be in full swish.

yes I said yes

berry-stained fingers, secret languages, things with feathers, spoonfuls of ripe avocado, blouses that wait patiently for summer, cherry poptarts broken in half, weather that requires open windows, writing that happens in the middle of the night, men that sing and mean it, yellow swimsuits with white polka dots, the lines in the corners of his eyes, the scent of old library books, the first popsicles of the season, the kid with the maddest handle, songs about doves that cry, flowers in mouths, bottles in windows, double dutch anything, shoes that are uncool, the voice of ira glass, seafoam-colored beetles, late afternoon sun, the shaking of unopened seed packets, bags made from old muumuus, fans that oscillate wildly, the wonders of elmer's glue, ezra and his wearing of shoes on the wrong feet, ava and the laugh that breaks free and gets loose, the smell of film, people who do their own stunts, dandelion necklaces, rope hammocks that take over the backyard, nutella on everything, the sounds of a polaroid camera, the roadtrip that will happen, the van morrison song that makes me cry, hula hoops and the people that love them, fish that are fancy, hips that are curvy, meaningful glances, construction paper menageries, cartwheels done on the fly, the best of intentions, tutus that glow, houses that are pink, things that float, poppies and peonies and roses in full bloom again, the time we stayed up all night, the way the house smells at the end of the day, paper flowers in every color, handfuls of dirt, matchbox cars in my freezer, broken crayons in the bottom of my purse, tiny plastic spoons, incomplete backspins, the best summer song ever, strangers who say yes, people who represent, wanting to be salt, wanting to be light, wanting to be salt and light.

back soon

taking a little break. need to work some things out. could be back in five minutes. or five weeks. I don't know. probably next week. I don't know.

soon: more strangers, more photobooth friday, another week of color. maybe a little instant summer.

I don't know.

blue friday

ah, blue friday. but on a saturday because that's how I roll these days. not that I'm particularly proud of it or anything. as for the extended version of color week, not completely sure yet. maybe next week, maybe more like a month from now, I don't know. stay tuned, friends. and thank you, leya-- you were a most excellent color week host.

pink/red thursday

super fresh tote by the fantastic miss jenny



I'm behind, I know. later on today: blue friday. and hopefully even photobooth friday.

(more over at leya's house of color)

orange wednesday

I am such an orange-y kind of girl. but with pink and red thrown in. well, and some turquoise. okay, and some yellow.

leya's color week continues on. pink and red tomorrow. am thinking I would like every week to be color week.

yellow tuesday

hello yellow. for leya's color week.

green monday

leya, you read my mind. I've been thinking of doing this for weeks.



hello, color week! I'm so glad to see you.



I've got some catching up to do. if you want to play along, it's not too late. it's never too late:

monday: green
tuesday: yellow
wednesday: orange
thursday: pink/red
friday: blue

check with miss curious bird for links and such. also, am thinking of continuing on with this into next week. anyone interested? what say you?

hey, another list

liking, probably even loving:

week of the polaroid. which forced me to stop hoarding my humble stash of polaroid film and shoot it already, ultimately resulting in happy, happy times. so wrong not to pimp it here: save polaroid.

all the folks who left kind, encouraging and helpful words regarding me and this business of photographing strangers. thank you so much.

lovely victoria over at sfgirlbybay who featured me this past wednesday. you can read the interview here. like a good meme but more official. because that's how victoria rolls. I am so loving her.

number 28

"hi. I was wondering, would you mind if I took your picture?"

"what?"

"um, I'm sort of doing this thing, taking photographs of strangers and I thought maybe I could take your picture?"

"yeah okay. sure."

he starts to roll the sleeve of his shirt down over the tattoo covering his left forearm.

"you want me to cover this thing up?"

"well, I think it's beautiful... so, no. not if you don't want to."

then he sort of smiles. puts down his cigarette, shifts a bit in his seat, readjusts his posture. he sits up all tall and straight-like and starts in with a stiff little smile. he looks frozen. it's like he's in first grade all over again, posing for the school photographer. which I find ridiculously cute though not exactly what I want, so I keep shooting until he relaxes. I'm very nervous about the whole thing. I'm fumbling with the camera, setting it all wrong. I am completely flustered. I'm trying to play it cool, though very unsuccessfully.

"so you're trying to get over your fear of strangers?"

"my fear of taking photographs of strangers, actually."

"just so you know, guys will never care if you take their picture. but girls will. because they care more about the way they look."

"hmm. you're probably right about that. thanks."

so then he gets all excited about this thing I'm doing and gestures towards the coffee house where he works. he tells me about all the guys in the shop who'd love to have their picture taken. girls too, he says, but I'm running late. I thank him and say goodbye.



as I walk to the car, I know this will be my next project. I knew it the moment I saw him sitting there, the moment I ran to the car to grab my camera, the moment I opened my mouth to ask his permission, the moment he relaxed in front of the camera and started to forget I was there. as I drive away, I am somewhere between terrified and exhilarated. because taking photographs of strangers scares me. a lot. this is how I know I'm headed in the right direction. out of all the possible projects I listed, this one made me the most uncomfortable. since I'm looking to be stretched in new and spectacular ways, I'm thinking yes. yes, I'm headed in the right direction. I'm feeling all lit up inside. I'm closing my eyes, I'm jumping in.

thank you to everyone who initially offered their two cents worth, thank you kindly. and now I have more questions for you: how would you feel if a stranger approached you on the street and wanted to take your photograph? would you allow it? would you feel weird if they asked your name? how would you like to be approached? how would you like to be asked? please do tell because I'm in this for real. currently finding great inspiration over at 100 strangers and the thought project. like I said, I'm in this for reals. number 28 off the list, done. er, just beginning. 52 weeks of strangers and I've never been more nervous than I am right now.

photobooth friday

hannah plus saturday morning plus the photobooth at the ace plus a wallet crammed full of dollar bills= good times. best part of this whole blogging gig has to do with the people you meet along the way. strange but true. so true. can I get a witness? also strange: I got the crazy eyes here.



oh, that hannah.



she is a girl after my own booth-loving, camera-crazy heart.

her strip is here. checkit, we're very smiley. except for that last frame which is very fool-like (a somewhat intentional nod to april's theme). also, this is only part one of saturday morning/with hannah/down at the ace. other people are involved. and they are cute. I promise.

more photobooth friday fools here.

number 5

not writing so much lately. but only because I've been busy crossing things off the list. I'm telling you, my head is really in the game. inspiration wires, you are finally hung. look at you, making the dark recesses of the basement shine like a room filled with late afternoon sunlight. late afternoon sun is best. hello, number five. hello, inspiration. hello, happy. maybe I can finally get some work done now.

some of what hangs on the wires:

pages from really old interview magazines

colors that rhyme: ava's drawings of bubbles and rainbows

atlanta graffiti

trisha brown as seen through the eyes of robert rauschenberg on the pages of (the sadly now defunct) dance ink magazine

original collage by friend ryan coleman, artist and graffiti writer extraordinaire

little bit of cy twombly

little bit of margaret kilgallen

dear mati rose's elephant

old placemat from the thrift store

hello monday

pixie sticks for your monday. which you might consider, if you need a lift.

number 13

in the lobby/gallery before my first class

my mind is currently a mess of aperture/shutter speed/ambient light/exposure compensation/depth of field/ISO and probably a hundred other terms. it's a little like learning a foreign language. or math. which I am no good at. I have never been good at math. intellectually, it makes sense to me-- reading through the terms and techniques, I nod my head and think yes okay. yes. I get that. but when asked to explain it, or *ahem* put it into practice, I respond the same way I did in 9th grade algebra-- clumsily and without confidence. and about two minutes later than everyone else.

I am taking my first photography class.

as slow as I have been to understand it, I have not been without the occasional epiphany. and really, I'm making it sound worst than it is. truth is, I'm really getting it. slowly, I'm getting it. I set my camera on manual for the first time and shot something I liked. which is huge for me. so yes. that's something. and it's number 13 on the list, so that's something too.

it's the second day of happiness

which is what ava said to me last week when we had two days of sunshine in a row. something like a tiny sliver of sugar-covered yellow dangled in front of us, good enough to eat. nothing but rain and cold now. rain and cold, rain and cold. I am so desperate for summer that I would almost be okay to skip right over spring.

photobooth friday

shopping malls and silver chandelier earrings and new boyfriends who wear enormous glasses. the early 90s feels like a hundred years ago. yup. me and ward as boyfriend and girlfriend, 1991. a hundred years ago. or something like that.

april is all about fools so this month I am calling all fools to get into the booth and you know, act like fools. fairly straightforward. though it could be interpreted in a million different ways and this is what I'm banking on. this is why photobooths and fridays are so good together.

to summarize, april's photobooth friday theme: fools.

but the biggest fools are here. those boys and their photobooths. constantly exploring. also, bound to be some fools here. the best kind of fools, my kind of fools, these are my people.

but really I just want to see how many times I can say the word fools.

what is the what

next photography project: 52 weeks of... something. 52 weeks of what?

color?
pattern?
people?
self?
strangers?
the brightest thing?
park slides?
found type?
through the viewfinder?
film?
street art?

how about mustaches? fruit? feet? people who wear plaid scarves? um, the possibilities are endless. would appreciate any and all input. ripe and ready to begin. just need to make a decision already. I am a girl who is occasionally prone to wishy-washiness.

mental note

I get so much more done when I have my shoes on. I mean, when I'm at home. if I put my shoes on, then I am clearly not fooling around. if I leave my shoes on during the day, I am like a machine. I'm ridiculously efficient. does anyone else find this to be true? anyone?

this is unfortunate since bare feet pretty much rock the casbah.

photobooth friday

(from the new york strips, november 2006)

ah, such big plans for the photobooth this month. plans for headstands in the booth (a la matt) and complicated, contorted body poses plus maybe holding ezra upside down. which he would have totally been game for (no extra coercing necessary). 'twas not to be, my friends. just didn't make it down to the booth. hey, but some people did:



some are from this month's challenge, others are long-time favorites who initially inspired the faceless theme. really I just love seeing those displaced limbs all over the place.

1. photobooth friday, 2. photobooth friday, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. PBF Assignment #2-FACELESS, 6. faceless experiment nº2: cara de huevo, 7. Untitled, 8. soon, 9. Photobooth Friday, 10. faceless experiment nº1 (tango shoes): failed, 11. photobooth friday, 12. Untitled, 13. Untitled, 14. Untitled, 15. photobooth friday: BALLOONS!, 16. Untitled

particularly loving wendy's belly. and from the marvelous scrumdillydilly: maryjanes, balloons and pink slinkies. a splendid little hip tattoo from acumamakiki. so much more here. stay tuned for the new challenge. april is for fools. I'm just sayin.

happy friday, world.

because

it's thursday and thursdays really mean something around here. so it's time for the junk mail collage from moleskine #2. also, it's time for an update. the frigid, rainy state of affairs here is not cramping our style. well, maybe just a little. while on fake vacation this week, we've seen:

a chemistry lab
a rainbow (for reals)
an elvis impersonator
a barn owl named julio

we've seen and done more than that but I'm all about the highlights today.