A bit of lovely randomness on this Tuesday. Here, you've got a very expressive tree. Probably it lost a limb or two during our recent storms. Down there, you've got a shot from the Metro taken this week. It's a perfect example of getting what you weren't looking for. I always mean to shoot down into the car from above the platform. While waiting for a train to arrive, I noticed this dude standing all alone. I really dig the image.
Below you'll find my "On the Web" roundup for this week - links and new things I read and enjoyed since my last post - and also a project I'll be participating in with friends in Michigan.
This week for me is all about preparing for my big photo shoot on Saturday and missing George, who has been out of town far too much lately.
On the Web
Links from this week:
Homemade Vinegar Tasty, acidic, perfect for
Mexican cooking - right up my alley.
Professional Collateral Super-basic design concepts. A good reference for the very foundations of design.
OhLife This is an online journaling tool that sends you an email each day to ask you how you're doing. I just started yesterday but I always mean to do more journaling. Hopefully this will help.
Enormous soap bubbles I already have a bunch of ideas for incorporating this into portraits. I bet the kids would kill for this. The video at this link is super-fascinating.
Pickled jalepeños Yes!
12 Books, 12 Months
E over at
latter day bohemian has challenged anyone who reads her blog (okay, it's true - we know each other from "real life") to read 12 books from their "to read" list in the next 12 months. The idea is to knock 12 books off your longstanding read list - a virtual book club where we all read the books we actually want to read. If you want to join us, click on the link and say so. I'll be posting reviews right here of the following 12 books sometime in the next 12 months:
1.
Story of O, Pauline Reage
This classic erotic novel has been sitting on my bookshelf for at least several months now. Not sure why I haven't been motivated to read it - this is generally right up my alley.
2.
The Four Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris
I'm not really in the market for increasing productivity (things are pretty good for me as they are), but this is one of those books everyone talks about. I'd like to get in on the conversation.
3.
Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality, Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá
Some of my favorite sex writers, including Dan Savage, have highly recommended this book, which discusses our sexuality from our origins as a species.
4.
The One-Week Job Project, Sean Aiken
I actually requested this book through my library's "suggest a title" program and haven't checked it out for myself. Looks interesting.
5.
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
Like E, my husband read this book and raved on and on about it. She's added it to her list and I'll add it to mine. Maybe if we both read it, we'll be able to slug through the 900+ pages of bizarre "genius."
6.
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman?, Richard Feynman
This one is 100% for the benefit of my husband. I love him and he loves Richard Feynman, so I should at least acknowledge his existence.
7.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
I have tried reading this book a couple of times and, frankly, I've never been that impressed or enthralled. That has certainly kept me from
Ulysses and certainly
Gravity's Rainbow. Maybe this time around I'll appreciate Joyce.
8.
Light in August, William Faulkner
I think I did actually donate this book when I determined that I was never going to get around to reading it. I'll check it out from the library and make a go of it.
9.
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway vs. Faulkner - seems like a good combo and I have had this book on my to-read list for a long time.
10. At least one book from my photography collection, TBD. I don't have any that I think are indispensable over the others - just want to start reading some of this collection I've amassed.
11.
Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
I can't say this book has been on any sort of list of mine, except that every time I come across it, I think
I must read that.
12.
A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick
My library doesn't have this book, so it may be the one I tackle last. I listened to part of it on tape and loved it, though it was very tough to follow via audio. It's been haunting me a bit ever since.
Why am I grimacing? Because I'm jumping and I might hit something! On ANTM (oh yeah, they use the acronym), they tell them to relax and keep their faces "pretty." Simple enough.
Are you looking at my crappy tiny apartment? Stop looking at my apartment. You'd have mismatched furniture too if you were... well, if you were too cheap to decorate appropriately. I'm a minimalist!
Ugh, this is painful. So why did I take all these jumping shots? Because all this awesome stuff has happened to me lately and it makes me giddy. Also, I am crazy excited for my wedding photo shoot tomorrow. I'm dressing up all my friends in their wedding gear and assorted finest and we're going to hit up Old Town and maybe a park on Duke Street for a massive photo shoot. I picked out colors for the couples and I'm getting them bouquets. Yesterday, I scoped out locations. I could not be more pumped about it. Pumped like this.
Don't hate. I'm not even posting the worst ones. Some advice for jumping shots - wear a shirt that won't fly up. Your belly will look really, really bad. I have proof that you will not see.
Okay, two more. I want to point out that self-portraits are easy if you're not trying to jump. You use the little remote release, the camera prepares itself and then clicks. But if you're trying to jump, you're aiming to get the very top of your jump when the shutter clicks. The timing can be tricky.
But you have to keep going until you get - more or less - what you were aiming for.
I'm quite a bit more calm today, but I want to send a big shout-out to the universe for sending so many good vibes my way. Something strange is happening with me. Even as I was writing this post, a lady from Preservation magazine with the National Trust for Historic Preservation writes and asks if she can use a photo I took ages ago. I've had it listed under a Creative Commons license for at least a year, so yes, she can! I feel like I have so much momentum and good energy whirling about me.
And on a final note, according to my statistics, 100 people visited my site yesterday, which is twice as many as have ever come in a single day. If you're there, leave a comment and let me know. Tell me something great that has happened to you lately.
