SHARING IS KARING

Caught on a memory hook

2011-05-08T14:05:00.001-07:00

Spring Cleaning

2011-03-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been feeling a lot like I've lost sight of some personal goals. To solve this, I'm going to do two things: purge my room of some possessions and throw down money on new things. One of these plans keeps me feeling less bad about the other.

The oddly enjoyable aspects of shredding old bank statements

2011-02-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

Things I really appreciate

2011-02-08T17:59:00.001-08:00

Notes accompanying JP's metal mix.

Poster child pie

2010-11-22T17:20:00.000-08:00

Fall foliage

2010-10-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Ratatouille

2010-08-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

From one of the best food blogs in the world, Smitten Kitchen. Made with zucchini, eggplant, summer squash, peppers and a small dollop of goat cheese to top. Served over a bed of couscous. It was a great way to use up CSA veggies.

Foooooooood (with help from my sister)

2010-08-08T22:46:00.001-07:00

This summer has been filled with lots of good cooking. Although I can't say I expend as many calories as I consume, I can admit that I don't mind being fat and happy in the meantime. My sister and I purchased a CSA from Angelic Organics for the second year in a row and as a result, we spend a lot of time trying to figure how to use up what we have. Here are photos of just some of the things we've made . . .

Turkey, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and pesto spread on jalapeno corn focaccia.

Jalapeno and corn focaccia bread with orange walnut muffins.

Beginning of beet and carrot burgers

Red cabbage, kale, and carrot salad with soy-citrus dressing.

Avocado, cucumber, and kohlrabi sushi.

Blueberry sauce!

Colcannon

Colcannon (before mixing)

Beet greens pasta

Roasted beet salad with goat cheese, walnuts, and spinach

Oh la la?

2010-07-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

2010-05-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time (a very long time ago when I should have posted this) I took photos for my friends of Caw!Caw! I have to say it was probably one of the most pleasant experiences I've had shooting. They are currently on tour so it may behoof you to spend some time with them.

Dogs at a birthday party!

2010-03-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to post many of my photos lately because I'm waiting for the appropriate time to share some of them. I did have the pleasure of attending a doggy birthday party at Barker & Meowsky though. Here are some photos!

Winter Blues

2010-02-15T23:05:00.000-08:00

2009-12-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

I find it fascinating around the holidays when sad little strips of useless brown lots are transformed into some semblance of life when they become a temporary home to the sale of Christmas trees. Is this a distinctly urban phenomenon? The two guys running this lot were gracious enough to pose for me in front of their prize piece: a 15 foot tree that stands behind them. I like how the trees looked like proudly displayed game after a round of hunting.

I've been reading about the Mayan prophecies lately . . .

2009-12-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

Back to Syracuse

2009-11-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

Collaboraction and Beezlebub

2009-11-02T22:02:00.000-08:00

Sketchbook Pages

2009-09-29T22:29:00.000-07:00

I have a scanner!! Time to celebrate!!!

Adventures in Modern Music Festival

2009-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

So I had the pleasure of attending a few days of this Wired sponsored festival shooting photos for my friend Adam and the Consequence of Sound blog. From the weekend festivities, Yacht and Chris Corsano were particular joys to watch.

2009-08-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

When rains settle in over the city, it looks and feels as pretentious as that song by Moby, "God moving over the face of the waters". The view is spectacular. I feel privileged. It's just too much at times. I need to shut the shades or something. It dwarfs me in its magnificence and makes me feel insignificant in comparison. It's like I'm standing next to mother nature, the super-model with legs from here to ya-ya and I'm that midget girl groveling to be in her good graces.

. . . that reference was for Karl.

College is feeling more and more distant everyday

2009-08-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

When I graduated, I went through a process in which I can only compare to ripping a band-aid off vs. peeling it slowly inch-by-inch. I didn't stick around the same city or move to another city with people that I knew from college. It was a matter of only a few hours before the entire context of my life had switched between two different modes. There was such a distinct separation from college life to my life now that it feels like the experience was a dream or something. It's not that I'm unhappy with this change, it's just a strange sensation that I haven't found many people who could relate to.

2009-08-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

My summer thus far

2009-08-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

So this summer has been a busy and pretty eye opening experience for me. My sister's interests in urban agriculture and sustainability for her grad thesis have now stimulated my involvement with the topics. This summer, we rolled up our sleeves and started volunteering for different organic gardens: Ginkgo and Joy gardens. I'm also reading literature on the topic of radical sustainability. I don't think I can fully explain how important the entire summer experience is to me. I'm think I'm still learning that. The photos I've posted are from Ginkgo Gardens. They are a volunteer-supported garden that currently donate food to Vital Bridges' groceryland, an organization offering fresh and organic food to low-income individuals suffering from AIDs.

In addition, I've come to understand the relevance of supporting an urban agricultural infrastructure. I know. It's radical. Food grown that local? It's not that crazy and it has a lot of potential to help the environment as well as the people in the city. The idea connects with many other issues too. I won't discuss it at length here but I think it's an area we may hear of more in the future.

I think that growing up in the city has left me disconnected from nature and confronting the idea of where my food comes from as well as what sort of impact city life makes. I mean I never really gardened, much less touched soil for an extended period of time, until this summer. Fresh water was never really been an "issue" and when it came to waste, I always assumed things were taken care of.

2009-07-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the more productive (and enjoyable) days I've had this summer. Scootered around with my sister doing volunteer work in uptown and then wandered around Pilsen for a bit. It reminded me of how much I love this city.

Imaginary Colors at Ronny's

2009-07-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

Imaginary Colors with Daryl Shawn and Shapenote at Ronny's.

Traces of events

2009-06-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

Works in Progress II

2009-06-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

Film scans from the previous shoot with Dee. She looks even better on film. It's another reason why my affections for the medium still persist.

2009-06-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

Fire up the scanner

2009-05-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

I figure that I need to start paying attention to my film photography as well as digital. I noticed that I'm slipping into lazy modes of shooting. I shoot film and never get around to scanning it. It's hard when you no longer have access to a university's resources (oh how I dream of imacons). Also shooting in digital has made my approach to shooting film sloppier (something to work on this summer). Forgive me for the lack of touch-ups. I'm posting a few quick ones I just scanned.

This one was from when I went with the art photo class down to NYC. We met Linda Troeller. It was amazing!

Making a record

2009-05-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying to get rid of a lot of stuff in my room and I've decided to scan this large collection of letters, drawings, and notes that I've accumulated since I was 5 years old. Edwin thinks I'm being neurotic but the whole process has allowed me to reflect on a lot of things in my life up until this point. It also makes me wonder if anyone else holds on to these things like I do.

Bird

2009-04-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Works in progress

2009-04-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty satisfied with this recent shoot I did for Megan with lovely Dee as the model. I think I like the film better but it's been hard getting the time to scan it.

That's no way to treat a kid

2009-04-20T14:51:00.001-07:00

Why returning to Simon and Garfunkel seems so refreshing

2009-04-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

I think I've been feeling disillusioned by recent searches for new music. I'm also growing tired of the current collection that I have. Instead, I'm growing fonder of the idea of Paul Simon or James Taylor. A friend made an observation recently, and I agree with the thought: artists like Paul Simon and James Taylor seem humbler and lacking in the pretensions that follow with some modern music artists. It's not the sole reason I can't find new music but I found the idea interesting. I'm also pretty sick of the way some act like they know music. Those things are all relative and I'm tired of the "let me tell you something" attitude I've seen lately.

I think its kind of related to another point my friend contributed: life experiences should be shared, not accumulated. We shouldn't cultivate personal interests and things as a way to boast our own vanity. My life/friends/music collection/possessions is/are not better than yours. I will try and hold true to this more often in the future.

Fishing Off the Roof

2009-04-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

Something I noticed

2009-04-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

My handwriting at the beginning of beer and wine appreciation class

My handwriting at the end of beer and wine class

How I've been feeling lately

2009-04-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

I talk too much. Eventually, I will be buried by this.

The Car Wash

2009-04-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

You know you it was one of your favorite trips to take as a child.