A Squid's Eye View From The Loft

An inspiring garden video...

2009-09-01T12:41:00.001-07:00

Photo Friday: contest prep

2009-08-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

I'm getting some images ready for Holgapalooza. I need to stretch my contest muscles: Gather, prepare, submit. And since I've been in a toy camera frame of mind lately, it seems a good plan to start. I'm not sure I'll be able to use these images because the (only) prize is publication and I don't have releases from these kids. So, I figured just in case I'd share them with you. I'll either submit these under the category of "portrait" or "passion". Probably passion since the idea of travel to exotic places makes me happy.

Both these shots were taken at the holiest of holiest of happiest festivals in Bhutan. My dear friend Ken (see his website in my sidebar) and I attended on our last day in Bhutan. The Bhutanese are required to wear traditional costume during the day and they get out their best and brightest for the festivals. Ken and I dressed in the costumes as well. We had such a good time watching them watch us. I simply wanted to take this little girl home with me.

These two girls had become fascinated by my curls as the Bhutanese have stick straight hair. I could feel them pulling the curls to watch them "boing" back up. They would laugh so hard. Finally after one of the "boings!", I whipped around with my holga and they laughed even harder that they were caught. So sweet.

Sunflowers old and new...

2009-08-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

I've been short on time for both Photo Friday and A Squid's Eye View from the Garden (I think a separate blog is in order and will work on that, um, someday soon). So, today I took a few garden shots with my iphone while I frantically watered. The phone has a green rubber protective cover with a Paul Frank monkey on it (to always remind me not to listen to what the buddhists call our "monkey brain"), but it sometimes leave a green aura around my shots. Hmmm, I wonder if that means lots of green is coming my way: cabbage, broccoli, money...I'll be happy for any of it!!

My gi-normous sunflowers are now bird feed. For every season....right?

But, new ones are on the bloom. This one is now taller than the corn. Totally different type of sunflower from exactly the same seed packet. Go figure.

And this one was me tripping on some clippings as I took it. But, I really liked how it came out and was actually bummed it was only on my iphone rather than my actual camera in RAW.

Three Perfect Pea Pods

2009-08-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Photo Friday: St. Patrick Cathedral, NYC

2009-07-10T17:39:00.003-07:00

Still working through my NYC images that I made with the lensbaby. Not sure if I'm feeling that the lensbaby is "been there, seen that" and maybe I shouldn't be using it since I'm definitely behind the fad. On the other hand, I do like the dreamy (or in this case maybe Rosemary's Baby!) feel to it and I have certainly gotten some images I'm really liking. I can say that as many times as I've photographed St. Patrick, I have no other image like it.

What do you think: feels fresh or you've seen it before?

Daydreaming at the Guggenheim

2009-07-06T16:37:00.001-07:00

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-04T07:26:00.001-07:00

Love Notes: 21st Century Style

2009-06-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

I came home to this very modern love note from The Squeeze waiting for me on the tv screen. So sweet.

Photo Friday: started with a bang! (bang!bang!)

2009-06-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

2:15 am
Would have been a great time to rob a bank in Long Beach.

From the Garden Today

2009-06-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

It wasn't much today, but I'm happy for it anyway. Two strawberries, one zucchini, and a jalapeño pepper that was stunted and red. Who am I to question?! Oh, and Jaco looking too cute not to share.

Today's Harvest

2009-06-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

One gorgeous, almost perfect japanese eggplant, a not so perfect radish, two jalepenos, five apples from the community basket, and herbs, herbs, herbs: italian parsely, oregano, basil, rosemary, and a bounty of beautiful looking sage so I can make my Squeeze some sage bread. He was bummed the last one got gifted.

The garden looks very green and wild. Not a lot of bright colors other than the golden squash flowers peaking out under enormous leaves. But, tomatoes are forming and the hot pepper that was a surprise to me (mismarked) has long green fruit that are just about to start ripening. The corn looks healthy and the tops certainly remind me of my childhood driving past the fields on end; so, I'm hopeful. I forgot to get the two strawberries that were ready today, so I suppose if you look closely there is a beautiful red amongst all the lush green. I'm grateful for this garden.

Photo Friday: the morning after

2009-06-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

This morning, by Fed Ex, I got some scans and prints back from Paris Labs. The package contained: The exciting 11 x 14 Somerset Rag print which marks the end to a portrait session which hopefully will be on a family wall within days (and beautiful if I do say so myself) and some Holga film/scans which I had been holding since New Years. There were lovely desert shots of The Squeeze's favorite place on Earth... the Kimber's Ranch in Arizona. This shot was from a walk at sunset with Lisa K. The light was dramatic.

Photo Friday

2009-06-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

To apply for a Model Mayhem account....

Photo Friday

2009-06-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

Scanning old shots...

2009-06-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Thought this one (without the label, of course), might make a great candidate for metallic paper. It's my current passion for printing....

2009-06-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

The plan for it is:

- Sage Bread
- Quinoa with rosemary roasted Japanese eggplant and carrots (with basil)
- Organic Free Range Roasted Chicken with fresh oregano, parsley, and chives.
- Apples slices for dessert

Which still leaves the green onion and bulb onion for another day!

2009-06-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

This is my Poppop, my father's father, and me in 1965. I adored my grandfather. Truly adored him. His name was Guiseppe. But, everyone called him Joe.

Last year I wrote a piece on my other blog about picking hyacinths and lilac with him behind my grandparent's house. I planted hyacinths in my garden this year in his honor. The smell of the two flowers always brings me back to his twinkling blue eyes and gentle voice. I wrote also about our ritual when he would get home from work, him leaning on the enormous ping-pong table and me sitting cross-legged on it. He would read the paper and tell me the news or read me the funnies. I will say it again, I adored him. The white shirt he's wearing in this long lost slide my father scanned and sent to me today reminds me, though, of his barbershop.

Family lore has it that he came to America to be ordained, but while chaperoning a CYO dance he fell for my grandmother. The Church's lost, our gain. But, it wasn't until I was in jr.highschool doing a report on our family tree and he wrote me a letter with family history that I suddenly realized English wasn't his first language. He wrote in broken English. But, he spoke it perfectly. I couldn't reconcile that.... Which brings me to his barbershop. Tailor's ran in his family, but once he tossed the frock away, he apparently apprenticed at a barbershop near the courthouse. He knew lawyers would get their hair cut there and he wanted to learn how to speak proper English. Who better to learn from than the highly educated? And so he did.

Eventually he owned his own barbershop on a busy street with cracked sidewalks. I don't recall what it was called. Certainly not Joe's Barbershop, although I wish it had been. My brother has one of the wonderful old, antique chairs and my father still has the really old school barber sign. You know the ones: red and white that actually spiraled up and down. (Boy that would look good in a loft, maybe, *wink, wink*).

But, I have his small secretaries desk. It sat in the back, in a strangely dark corner given the entire front of the shop was glass. He paid his bills from it, had his phone on it, but above all had pictures of his family on it. When my apartment roof caught on fire once, I carried that desk outside with the family photos... that was all I cared to save. (Luckily the firemen came and I carried it right back up!)

He was a proud and hard worker. He told me that I carried his name and so I must always do things that honored it. I see how he is looking at me in that photo and the feeling has been mutual. I have photos of my father looking at his grandchildren with the same adoration. How lucky they are to have another Poppop of equal stature standing with them. I am so heartily sad that he won't look at a child of mine like that. But, my siblings and I were so blessed to have Poppop C. for ourselves. He was with us just long enough to see me off on my first weekend of college. My other grandfather told me he knew he was hanging on through his illness that long to see his oldest grandchild make it there. And I did. And we spoke that weekend. And I know he was proud of me.

My only bad memory? I cried when he gave me boy haircuts, but I miss him so much still, that maybe I would let him give me one more.

Hot Stuff

2009-06-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Imagination

2009-05-31T10:41:00.001-07:00

I imagine this will probably be the most perfect radish I will ever grow.

Limiting?
Defeating?
Triumphant?
Not imagining at all?

Summertime By The Sea

2009-05-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Squeeze launched off the season with his Collective opening the summer music program for Shoreline Village. They played upbeat jazz standards while the sun set and the folks enjoyed a beautiful summer evening with a glass of wine, an ice cream cone, or a stroll around the harbor boardwalk.

Strawberries, Ginger, and Rhubarb, Oh My!

2009-05-10T15:18:00.001-07:00

Spring is fully sprung and after seeing (and buying) the beautiful strawberries at the Farmer's Market yesterday, a hankering for Strawberry-Rhubarb pie overtook me. I didn't see any rhubarb at the market since it doesn't grow well in this climate. I'll test it myself since I planted two roots a month or so ago. Nothing has popped up, but I keep telling myself this winter when it's colder I'll see it thrive. Hmmm. Anyway, since I can't grow it in my own garden, off to Whole Foods I went and came back with some beautiful, slender, ruby red rhubarb.

Then came the dilemma. I'm not a baker. I can't bake. I've tried to bake. There is really no nice way to say this other than I truly suck at baking. So, that narrowed down my baking choice to a crumble...which is usually how my pie crusts turn out anyway. And yet, I wanted a bottom crust...all that strawberry/rhubarb juicy goodness laying on top of a sweet crust to make sure nothing gets lost on the plate. Yep, a traditional crumble wouldn't do. Now, if it wasn't Mother's Day, I would have called Mrs. S. for her recipe. She's (a) family (friend) and I remember her beautiful strawberry-rhubarbs from my childhood which always showed up in the summer for the pool parties, inevitably arriving in her gigantic wicker basket covered with a gingham cloth. I used to have a smaller version of that basket because I loved her entrances to the parties so much....

But, since it was Mother's Day and she's surrounded by a bevy of children and grandchildren today, I'm sure....the internet would have to do. After a lot of yummy recipes passing across my eyes, I settled on a bit of a combination of things. Its core recipe is from Ken Haefich's book PIE
which includes a "skillet crust". This is right up my alley. Basically it's melted butter with vanilla and then the flour and sugar is folded in until if forms a crumb-like crust that can be pressed into your pie plate. Just up my non-baker alley. From there it was adapted by Barbara Fisher on her site Tigers and Strawberries where she added lemon juice and lemon zest as well as ground ginger and cardamon.

I took it one step further and added a tiny bit more ground ginger in the skillet crust and candied ginger in the actual pie/crumble. The pie is decidedly more rhubarb that strawberry given its 2 to 1 ratio, but that's fine by me! It's cooling now and The Squeeze and I will have it after his Mother's Day gig at The Cat Man Blu, a new cajun restaurant that opened up in place of Casa Vino. We'll let you know how it is!

Green Long Beach

2009-05-09T20:00:00.001-07:00

A break from NYC pictures because I've been too busy catching up at the office to actually even download them. And besides, you know how I feel about my garden and today was garden-liscious. Today in Long Beach was the first Green festival. It was being held in the Arts District Downtown and actually goes on until 10pm tonight. It seems like it was a great success. It coincided with the Saturday AD Farmers Market and the nighttime Second Saturday Art Walk, so there was a LOT going on including music all day, free yoga in the art park, free classes, tons of green companies showing their wares, activist groups sharing their visions, and naturally our little organic community garden was in full swing as a testament to it all. Green Long Beach

I spent most of the day in the Garden which was open to the public and which hosted the worm composting seminar (kind gross and yet so cool!). Time was spent with all the other gardeners watching people marvel at our little patch of heaven in the middle of the Arts District. The peach trees are heavy with fruit so they were giveaways along with extra seeds and seedlings each gardener contributed. We hope that everyone got inspired to grow something, even if it's in a pot on the windowsill. And a shoutout to Adriana from the blog/podcasts "Anarchy in the Garden" which I read religiously. I understand you were there seeking out information to start a community garden. Sorry I didn't know you were there and GOOD LUCK!

Squid's Eye View NYC: Day Two: PART I

2009-04-20T06:45:00.001-07:00

Day Two began early and went so long that this day will have to get covered in two, count 'em two, blogs. We started the day by taking the MACRO view of Manhattan when we boarded the cheesy, but fun CIRCLE LINE. I wish I could remember the song from those old commercials. I just remember the footage was from the 50s! We took the 3 1/2 full around Manhattan ride. We saw where Sully landed the plane and heard the crews' stories of how they went to the rescue. We went under every bridge and got to see the skyline from all sides. Our guide probably came to NYC to be a Broadway Star. He had the voice for it. But, you know what they say about the lights on Broadway....

The day continued on by us covering most of Wall Street and the waterfront and hearing some great jazz, but more on that in Part II

The NY skyline is sadly not what it was when I lived here. It's painful to me still. But, there is still much to behold in the Empire and Chrysler Building.

The Staten Island Ferry. Worth taking just for all the movie trivia. We may just do that before we go...

They are taking these old subway cars out to sea to create an artificial reef for fish as an eco project. Recycle, Reuse...

Notice his peace sign hat. LOVED this guy! A most excellent NYC dockworker.

And we ate bagels. Although you wouldn't believe how long it took us to actually find one. Yo, it's New York! Where the bleep are the bagels!

Stay tunes for Part II.... must go eat more bagels and prepare for our adventures today.

A Squid's Eye View From New York:Day One

2009-04-19T07:25:00.001-07:00

The Squeeze and I have touched down in NYC. It's always strange for me to come back here. In some ways I will always consider myself a New Yorker. But, in other ways I'm just another tourists asking which train is express now. It has been a ton of fun seeing NY through my Squeeze's eyes since he's never been here before. In all the hustle and bustle through my years here, for instance, I never looked UP at the ceiling of Grand Central. It's so gorgeous. Makes me wonder what else I missed. In an effort to carry a lighter camera (survival) and not take a million pictures I've already taken of NYC (artistic choices), I've been relying heavily on my new lensbaby. I'm still getting my mojo on it, but the results are fun.

The day of the redeye was really interesting at The Loft. There was a MAJOR pot bust: DEA, guns, camera's, stakeouts - the whole nine yards. The cops ended up giving us their cards in case we ran into any trouble at the airport due to possible contact high exposure for lack of a better desciption, yikes. But, that's for another blog!

Apparently I started walking like a New Yorker the minute we landed. The Squeeze kept having to tell me to slow down! Old habits die hard. Our first taxi ride.

We are staying in Chelsea at a friend's apartment. What a fantastic location for us. We headed right over to Chelsea Pier. All of that was built after I left, so it was fun to explore. The girlie umbrella is mine.

The first subway ride was fun. The Squeeze was digging it. He's also brought his camera and it's been really interesting watching him express himself that way, as well. I pulled out the lensbaby. He looks adorable in the beret, no?

We checked out our friend's "Guide to Vegan Eating in NYC" book and settled on a great place called the Dosa Hut on the East Side. I meant to take a picture of it before we ate it, but we were both too hungry to wait even for one shot. GREAT Dosas. Brought back great memories of Nepal for me.

A lensbaby stock shot maybe?? Korean delis don't seem to have the salad bars the way I recall, but on the other hand there are gourmet delis on every corner now so who needs the salad bar!

Grand Central through the lensbaby.... I dig it. It reminds me of a shot my dear friend Jacqueline Veissid took (check out her website to the right) with an old polaroid camera she has. She's had that piece published and sold.

We headed up to Times Square from Grand Central. I still can't get used to the newer, so called improved version. There's a part of me that misses the peepshows and hookers!

We headed over to "Music Row" and visited Manny's, and Rudy's, and Sammy Ashe's. The Squeeze had a field day trying guitars.

He tried to barter the price down on this one, but they wouldn't have it. So, he passed.

Our first whirlwind day (including the redeye!) ended with WAITING FOR GODOT at the Roundabout Theater. It starred Bill Irwin, Nathan Lane, John Goodman, and John Glover. What a cast. It was the most slapstick version of the play I've ever seen, making it also the most fun. We had great, great seats and it really ended a perfect day in NYC for us.

Thar She Blows!!!

2009-04-06T16:59:00.001-07:00

Beth and I took advantage of a beautiful day and went whale watching (well, we pre-bought tickets so we were going rain or shine, but it sounds better that it was a "fancy" on a sunny day). We saw a gray whale and two fin backs. Tons 'o fun!

Today in Long Beach....

2009-04-04T23:50:00.000-07:00

It was a busy day in Downtown Long Beach.... It was sort of a crazy day actually. There was a bike race in downtown, a cheerleader event at the convention center, the Saturday Farmer's Market in the Arts District and the yearly transformation from beach town to military dmz as they prepare for the Long Beach Grand Prix in a few weeks: tires, wires, and bridges. The community garden was hopping with lots of gardeners planting and harvesting. And I went a little crazy trying out my new lensbaby. But, at least I wasn't the guys drinking on the deck at The Auld Dubliner checking out the cheerleaders!

The Arts District Saturday Farmer's Market was going strong. I bought some organic lemons, asparagus, goat cheese, and some homemade dips.

Not my potato harvest, alas, but inspiration for next year. You can't tell because of the lensbaby effect, but they look almost metallic. Gorgeous!!!

Long Beach is a very friendly bike town most days anyway. Almost all the gardeners use their bikes to get there. This is Sue's bike which is pretty old school compared to the ones that were tooting around waiting for their turns to race!

Coming around the corner at full speed. I'm pretty proud I managed to get something (anything) in focus given my lensbaby isn't The Composer, so I have to manipulate, focus, and shoot all at the same time without locking the focal point in....

**********************The Squid's Eye View From The Loft******************

Finally, the day ended by running into our loftmates Kristin and Ray (on their way to the garden). We met back up for a beer on the patio of The Cellar in the basement of The Loft and watched bikes race past. Later we shared some wine and cheeses at their place before we walked across the street to try out the new restaurant Wokano which opened this week. It's quite an investment in downtown Long Beach and really exciting (or dangerous!) to have a kickass happy hour in a gorgeous place just feet away.... The Squeeze had a gig so missed all the fun!

Spring in the Garden

2009-04-04T17:54:00.001-07:00

Spring has definitely arrived in the garden. More pictures to come....

Government Gardening

2009-03-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

The White House is about to get its very own "victory garden" (again) on the South Lawn by the kitchen. Part education, part slow food/local food experiment, the garden will be an example of a sustainable table. How exciting! Famed chef and owner of Chez Panisse Alice Waters is quoted in the above linked article about her own fabulous program "The Edible Schoolyard Project" in which, as part of the school programs, kids grow their own food for consumption in their cafeterias instead of processed foods. Lovely.

Reaching for the sun.

2009-03-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today, I saw three different people reaching their faces towards the warm Spring sun. They looked relieved, peaceful, and happy for life in that moment.

Potato, Potaaahto

2009-03-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

or Potata as my Pennsylvania Dutch relatives would say. Any way you say it, I was super psyched to finally dig up my potato plants in the garden. I had planted a variety of new potato and couldn't wait. I'd researched when to finally dig for them and how. My friend Beth came for the big dig and we took the harvest home....

and fried them up in a pan with just some olive oil, salt and pepper. I garnished them with a green onion we'd pulled from the garden, too.

The thing is.... they were TINY!!! The penny scale should help put it into perspective.

So, what was the solution? Eat them with Shrimp Forks! Tiny or not...they were really tasty. The last potato plant left in the garden seems to have bigger ones growing so fingerlings crossed!

Chocolate Festival

2009-02-26T18:40:00.000-08:00

The Squeeze was playing the 5th Annual Chocolate Festival down the street in Belmont Shores last weekend. Beth and I decided to check it out. More like conquer it with a vengeance. You can buy a book of 12 tickets for $10 and each chocolate masterpiece is alotted a different "ticket price". For instance, the enchiladas with Mole were 2 tickets (sooo yummy), but a piece of fudge with organic earl grey might be 1 ticket. There were TONS of people and eventually the chocolate ran out...people were giving away their tickets and only the hardy were left standing (no chocolate crepe left? that's fine, the homemade whipped cream with nutella and strawberries in a cup will be fine!) Oh yes, we learned a lot about a strategy for next year. Never again will we be left standing in line for 20 minutes for the best tasting, biggest freakin' velvet cupcake you've ever seen (even if it was in front of the headliner, my squeeze). I meant to photograph a lot more of the loot. But, um, well, we kind of ate it....

An Orange Poppy

2009-02-26T18:12:00.001-08:00

Mom Harris' Stuffed Cabbage

2009-02-23T21:13:00.001-08:00

Three things happened today:

1. The Squeeze was feeling under the weather.
2. A cabbage was ready for harvesting in the garden.
3. It was rainy.

So all things pointed to it being time to try to make his Mom's stuffed cabbage. It's one of his big childhood memory (seven kids diving into the cabbages, then just eating what was inside of them!). The Squeeze's sister-in-law Peggy was kind enough to send the recipe on. And his brother, Mike, was kind enough to track her down at the mall to answer my questions: did Mom Harris actually stuff these things with raw meat and onions? Um, yes. Well, too late for a two hour cooking session. I pre-cooked everything and just heated it up for an hour. I opted for the twist his Aunt Mary gave it, tomato sauce instead of tomato soup. While I resisted tweaking the whole thing in hopes it would be a comforting child memory, I did add some parsley and oregano from the garden.

Along with the harvest, I had to do some critter wrangling. A family of snails was living deep in my cabbage and I found a squirmy worm in the oregano and parsley. Again, apologies to Buddha, but the rest of the gardeners will be happy to know that at least five snails will not be feasting on their crops!

The (almost) final dish.... I also made two stuffed red peppers and the whole thing got smothered in the tomato sauce. He said it tasted like dear old Mom's, so while it wasn't something out of Julia Child's cookbook, it felt triumphant nonetheless!

Artwork by Emma

2009-02-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

Needed a smile today.... So, I thought I'd post my favorite art piece. It currently hangs on one of the big beams in the loft. Right over an orange acoustic bass. Just makes me smile....

What if the mightiest word was love...

2009-01-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

On this Amazing Inaugural Day:

There was joy....

There was hope...

There was bounty...

And there was poetry by Elizabeth Alexander who summed up a shift in paradigm, policy, philosophy:

What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Guardian Gnome

2009-01-16T16:39:00.001-08:00

My neighbor's gnome which I've come to think of as my own garden's Guardian Gnome is feeling pretty "squashed" going into the New Year. The squash plant grew wide and huge and took over the garden. It had a lot of flowers, but almost no fruit. And what there was simply died on the vine. I fear it was too big for the small garden and as a result, not only is GG feeling the pinch, but so are the other veggies and flowers. I think they need more room if they are to fully bloom. So, tomorrow I will come to the rescue by chopping down the non-producing squash and give Guardian Gnome and the rest some breathing room. Then, hopefully, I can clear away some things of my own in order to gain some space for my own personal projects that are more likely to bear fruit as we head into 2009.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

2008-12-25T11:34:00.001-08:00

Bon Appetit!

2008-12-21T14:40:00.000-08:00

Or not...

I promised The Squeeze that once I closed my office down for the year, I would dig into the storage unit and organize (okay, toss stuff). It's a generous sized storage unit given most lofts we looked at had no closets, never mind a storage unit right across the hall from our front door, but it's STUFFED. And, admittedly, most of it mine.

I've already cleared off one full shelf of old Bon Appetits, but have this pile to do today. I'm clipping the recipes I've used and ones I think look yummy. It's interesting how "out of date" some of the recipes feel (umm, I'm shocked? Look at the dates of those magazines!!). I don't look forward to Step Two which is organizing the clippings. But, I did have a thought for a new blog(!): Maybe I should make at least one of the clipped recipes a week to see if it is worth keeping....

Ironic: now that I have a six burner Viking stove, I have no room for the Bon Appetits!

When I get my i-phone

2008-12-20T23:03:00.001-08:00

Pictures will be better than this!

What I love about Long Beach:

-- Today I shopped locally. Not only was a particular item for My Squeeze a better price than I found on the internet, it was 20% off and as a thank you for shopping locally I "won" a $5.00 gift card to Jamba Juice.
-- Other than that gift, I was able to get almost all handmade things, many made by local artisans, the rest fair trade and was always greeted by perky store clerks.
- There was no traffic holdup, even on the big main drag of 2nd Street in Belmont Shores. I LOVE no traffic.
-- A local bank sponsored all the parking meters to be free and I found a space in front of all three places I needed to go.
-- Really wonderful people I met at the organic community garden came by to pick up my baked goods for our garden bake sale at a local church. I never thought I'd ever say I had to make things for a bake sale in my city life.
-- And this: FLOATING CHRISTMAS TREES. I pulled off to the side of the road after The Squeeze's gig at a "Cheers"-like bar in Sunset Beach to take the picture. At BRIX, everyone knows each other, there was free food because the owner wanted to celebrate Christmas and people even had their kids there. How crazy is that?! Most importantly, I could pull over to take the picture because there was room on the side of the road, no permit parking, and just space. Space Space. So, I took pictures with my cell phone of the floating christmas trees while people walked their dogs, greeted each other and I realized that I live in a GREAT community.

And when I get my i-phone in April cell phone shots might actually be blog worthy!

Chrysalis...

2008-12-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

This was the chrysalis I found clinging to my basil when I decided the season had passed for it. I found it too late, but put the leaf on the lantern above the other one. I didn't know if it needed the nutrients from the plant, but it seemed so close to coming out of its cocoon - the gorgeous gold bands running through it, the outline of its wings. I feared what the torrential rainfall would have done to it over the past week, but there it was, right where I placed it.

I worry, though, as it seems the Monarchs have been stretching their wings in the garden over the last two weeks or so, if this one is destined to make it to its beautiful butterfly stage. It was so close. It makes me sad and scared because sometimes I wonder if I'll ever make it to my butterfly stage, either.

Monarch Butterflies

2008-12-18T17:03:00.001-08:00

This month as part of a very profound class called "Dreaming Out of The Box", run by my dear friend Madaline Blau, we are supposed to monitor what "excites us". This does:

Our little organic community garden is also an official Monarch Way Station which means we have milkweed, lots and lots of milkweed. I found a chrysalis on my basil and have been watching the above one on a blue lantern in the garden. Last week one must have finished its cycle and was pumping its wings in my garden...unfolding and stretching them. It was amazing. Each day in the garden confirms for me the miracle of nature.

The BEST thing about living in a loft...

2008-12-07T19:55:00.001-08:00

A christmas Tree in my bedroom!

Connor Part Deux

2008-12-06T23:51:00.001-08:00

I think this is my favorite. Totally sums up trying to take pictures of dogs!

Bounty from the Garden

2008-12-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

I hadn't been to the garden for quite a few days because I was sick and my squash and potato plants had become like something from a science fiction movie. I ended up having to cut back the squash because it had some kind of mold which I'm told won't impeded on my tiny growing squash, but was traveling to my snap peas so chopchopchop went the infected leaves. I also took out the lush catgrass because a ton of snails were hiding in it during the day and eating my broccoli plant to bits at night! I loved it at first when the garden was still just tiny seedlings because it had grown so fast and tall that it made me feel a bit of immediate gratification while I waited to see if any of my seeds would grow into plants.

Todays "harvest" included the last of the basil for more pesto and a few snap peas. It was also time to take the tiny broccoli heads. I cut two more freakish sunflowers and headed home to make a stir fry with the peas and broccoli for me and The Squeeze. The broccoli in particular was really, really yummy.

An early shot of the snap pea growing across my "bridge to nowhere". My Dad reminded me it was how my Uncle Al used to grow them...by making string lines for them to wrap around. Mine is strung over the monster squash.

Buy Handmade : Kristen Dunn Bookbinding

2008-12-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

This entry is going to fall under the "connect" part of the mission of the blog.

I'm so blessed in my life to have so many artistic and creative friends. A constant discussion is about how to find craftsmanship in our lives. We want to surround ourselves with things that are not expendable. Most of you know that I'm a sucker for the handmade, for rich materials, and for things that get handed down from generation to generation. One of the best bits about moving to the loft was making friends with our downstairs neighbors; Kristen and Ray. Well, Kristen just happens to be a bookbinder/box maker and her work is amazing. She is so concerned about her clients and their needs. Best of all, she does the most beautiful work at such a reasonable price. (I filched some shots from her website...sorry Kristen!)

I promise you, her work is as beautiful as many of the higher priced bookbinders I've explored as a photographer. She uses imported materials that range from Japanese cloth to Nepali handmade papers. Please check out her website at:
www.kdbooks.com

She has an online store, too, which you can reach through the website. I hope you'll consider her for your special projects and presentations. Plus, check out her adorable picture on the website which I think should be on the home page!

Kristen makes gorgeous wedding album, memory books, scrap albums. She really works with the client to make it just what they want.

For my agent/producer/writer/director friends....How about a bound script? It's a lovely start of production or award gift.

For my photographer friends....she makes beautiful presentation boxes or sleeves for photos/discs. Or if you are a clothing or jewelery maker, she can make custom boxes for your pieces. How about those of you planning on giving jewelery this Christmas? She makes the cutest, tiny boxes, too. This big one she did for a custom woodworker to give samples of the wood.

Homesteading

2008-11-30T17:28:00.001-08:00

I haven't done a proper garden blog yet. I've taken pictures of it from a dirt plot to a thriving green bunch of things so that will find its way here at some point. But, this weekend, I seemed to have gone all Little House on the Praire - maybe because of my cold. So, now is a good time to do a bit of introducing to my heavenly 12 x 5 foot plot of dirt. Today, I "harvested" one beet, two radishes, 3 sunflowers, and herbs (you have to start somewhere). Then I cooked using tons of left over Thanksgiving veggies etc. I also fed my Amish Friendship Bread, but that's a whole blog in itself! Anyway, I guess I'll introduce you to my little organic garden plot a bit backwards by way of the final food dishes.

My first beet! I actually roasted it and ate it with salt, pepper and olive oil. And while red beets aren't my favorite, it tasted great because I grew it! Although I can't wait to use the beets (soon, they are getting big!), next year I will try to plant only golden beets because they are so sweet and tender. This was a varietal pack of seeds.

And my first two radishes. The smaller one came out by accident....

I still have about twice this much basil left in the garden. I'll probably cut it all down this weekend. It was a wonderfully bountiful plant, but it seems its time has come and the space can be used for something a bit more "winter cropish". Everyone at the garden mocks my sunflowers. They have full sized sunflower heads on freakishly short (maybe one foot) bodies! I planted them late but bless their little sunflower leaves they bloomed anyway. I cut three today to bring home.

When life gives you basil...make pesto. I froze most of it, but kept a bit out for some paninis tomorrow. The Squeeze has become quite the Panini Master with his toy from Williams - Sonoma!

I also decided to finally make soup from the leftover Turkey. I used fresh herbs from my garden: thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and sage.

And it made a yummy soup.... Given my cold, I should have made this on Friday rather than Sunday. Live. Learn.

Steve Harris Jazz Collective

2008-11-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was wonderful and my gratitude blog is in the works. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, plan to come to the aquarium and check out The Squeeze's very own Jazz Collective playing besides the GI-normous tree at The Pike on Sunday the 21st and 28th, 2-5pm. Take a ride on the Ferris Wheel or carousel, have a hot chocolate and listen to the jazzed up Christmas tunes.

The Holga

2008-11-23T13:42:00.001-08:00

I only started shooting digitally about two years ago and I think my heart is still with film. There is definitely an advantage to digital: the immediate nature of it, the shooting info as a learning tool, the ease of processing (although not the post-production time which is grueling), and the ease of sharing the work. But, there is still something about shooting film and getting a proper traditional print that I am drawn to emotionally and creatively. Recently I pulled out my Holga and decided it should go with me where I go because it is so light and indestructible. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it's considered a toy camera. It is made of plastic, it takes 120 film which makes it medium format, the negatives are square, the shots are vignetted in the corners, and it has the following options for controlling the shot: close, further, a bit further, pretty far and then a little symbol showing a mountain which I would then categorize as really far. Oh, and you can double expose by not advancing the film. But, because it is plastic there are light leaks. So, my holga, like most, is taped up within an inch of its life. I used to have a lot of problems with light leaks, but after I read Michelle Bates' book called PLASTIC CAMERAS: TOYING WITH CREATIVITY, I think I finally got it taped correctly! Of course, you can still get light leaks when you lift your tape flap to see the numbers of the film as you are advancing. I suspect that is what happened to the second shot below which is most obvious by the lower right and left hand corners:

There are some photographers out there who really create gorgeous art with them, so the idea of it being categorized as a toy camera is almost an insult. But, it IS a fun camera, so give it a try....

6:45am - FOG

2008-11-20T09:58:00.001-08:00

There were lots of foghorns last night. Far enough away that they sounded sweet.

My morning walk yesterday...

2008-11-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

Just a few blocks from The Loft.

Our clock

2008-11-02T22:07:00.001-08:00

One view from the loft.

On the first full day of summer....

2008-09-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

On the first full day of summer, Steve (aka "my squeeze") and I (aka "Squidly" for blogging purposes to keep screenwriters looking for an agent from finding me with "the google") moved in to our beautiful Loft in downtown Long Beach.

So many of you have been terrifically supportive of this big life change and excited and curious about our loft living. Given we have just passed the first full day of Fall, it was long overdue to create a blog that could keep you all in the loop with our loft, my photography, and Steve's music:

A Squid's Eye View From The Loft.... enjoy it. comment on it. share it.