symphony sunday.

so i am off to see the symphony with my sisters and their kiddos. it's the "funny side of music". its all about the interesting sounds that instruments make. i think it's gonna be a noisy blast! so what better way to celebrate that then by posting some photographs that were taken in New Orleans back in 2008. 

 

 

 

  

  

  

  

xoxo.

searching for my lucky clover.

i have these terrific memories as a child, laying in the fields of barra de tijuca. sun blazing overhead keeping us warm. the sweet smell of ripening guava in the trees tickling our noses. the sounds of sugar cane stalks gently clanking together in the breeze, nature's wind chimes. as we lay bellies to the ground, giggling and telling tales, we searched. always wanting to find our fortuna in fields of clovers. convinced that one of us would indeed find the mythical 4 leaf clover. so much happiness and joy happened during those lazy hours. innocence bellowing. even though we never found one, luck was with us already. what i would give to be able to be that innocent again. to find so much joy in doing something so mundane, even though we knew the odds were against us in finding that clover. i want those moments back. some days, i would do anything to be a kid again. free of responsibility. not having to be "adult" about things. so on days like today, where fortuna is nowhere to be found, looking at the following photographs brings me back to that time, where luck was always with me.

 

 

  

xoxo.

an ART-official sky.

yesterday, while i was working, i looked out the window and noticed the most amazing thing happening in the sky. granted this was not going to be an epic, ground breaking sunset, but, it was going to be incredible. and not only was it going to be incredible but, it was gonna change the lighting in the air, soften it if you will, give photographs, if taken properly, that "rosy eyed" effect. so i grabbed my keys, grabbed boo, (whom i always wish we had spelt her name as bue, like sue), our family black lab, and ran like a bat out of hell, (just ask my dad whom almost got knocked over in the process), to my car. windows down, both heads out the window (someone shoulda photographed that one), we dashed to the beach. 

granted we coulda really ran but why be hasty when you can drive three blocks so much faster. truth of the matter is, with photography, time is of the essence. and when you have the timely essence of fighting the sun, (remember when i was able to put the sun on hold for fossil falls????) you just have got to go go go. sorry greeny's but gas guzzling is a must. carbon footprint a little bigger, check! (i've got to make my stamp somehow people!) well, before you chastise me for some of my non green tendency's (i use ziplock bags too if you wanna add that to the growing list), check out the following pics. because to me, adding to the atmospheric pinks with my car exhaust was well worth it!

two things. one i love sunsets. two i love it when pictures blur the lines between photographs and paintings. that is, when it's not digitally done. otherwise it's just an artificial illusion. these, are an "ART-official illusion".(i just made that up, but shoot, maybe i'll coin it.)

 

  

  

xoxo.

sunshine.

here's a little mock sunshine for this rainy evening.

xoxo.

picture is worth a thousand words.

i was at work the other day when i looked out the window and watched as the following moment unfolded. thank god i had a camera on my phone. in a way, this image captured just leaves me speechless. i hope you enjoy it as much as i.

xoxo.

port townsend.

 i had a delightful conversation this am with my lovely friend up in washington so i felt it only appropriate to share today some photos from our terrific, albeit intoxicating, trip to a little town in washington called port townsend.

these first pictures are taken from the ferry. legend has it that the town was built on two levels intentionally. above the bluffs, old victorian houses lie, housing the moral and pure. at sea level, was where the debautchary occured. sailors and ladies of the night flocked the streets, as did brew houses and brothels. well the brothels are gone, but brew houses not.

although we never made it to the above bluff side (no snickering), sea level proved to be a beautiful array of buildings and well, brew houses.

 

 one of the most beautiful parts (for me) about this town was the array of signs that hung on, and comprised of, walls. as well as tattered doorways.

our final stop, although at the time we did not know it, was into a fantastic brew house called,

water street brewing. http://www.waterstreetbrewing.com/  i highly recommend going there and trying their brew and just "enjoying" it. the decor is amazing as is their blown glass. just look at the beer handles!

 

 

 

anyways, i absolutely adore this town. and even though at the time i was bummed that i didn't do more, i wouldn't change what i did see there for anything. but, heed my warning. i will return!

xoxo.

conquering fear.

there's a few things that i really don't like. one of them is heights. and it's not that i can't drive over bridges or fly in airplanes. i just can't stand on bridges, or look over edges, or hike on vertical hills or or or... lets face it. the reality is, i am clumsy. i am ungraceful. and i have big feet. all these things just add to the practical reasoning that when looking over the edge, i will somehow, trip and fall. now at times, like peering over the side of a bridge, this trip would logically have to be HUGE! i mean like stumbling, being propelled across the ground and some how include a vertical leap of 5+ feet to make it over the railing and falling. but like i said, grace here. so SOMEHOW i will probably manage to logically do the unlogical and fall over the railing. but then again, who said logic had anything to do with fear. although, if you're afraid of bears (which logically you should be) my theory kinda goes to the dumpster (which illogically one time i stalked, camera in hand, as a couple of of bear cubs rummaged through. now why the heck does that NOT scare me????) anyways. the point of this rant is. i am having having a bad day. i am sick. and when i am sick i get all woe is me. and i don't like feeling that way so i want to go back and remember what it feels like to do something that makes you inexplicably proud. and for me, it's conquering a fear.

so here we go, back to bridges. in washington state there is a little bridge called deception pass. the damn thing terrified me to walk across... in fact, i get to the middle of this perfectly safe bridge and for no reason, my legs just locked. no thank you, i will go no further. and i am talking about the kind of leg paralyzing, knock you to your knees, fear. well. as i was here on this great solo adventure, i decided to one up the damn fear thing. so i did the scariest thing imaginable. i climbed down a muddy cliff, under the bridge so that i could take pictures of this beast that strikes such irrational fear in me. and legs shaking, falling to my knees occasionally, shedding a couple of misguided tears, i photographed the crap out of the thing. i went all paparazzi on this bridge. britney spears and her mental breakdown got off easier than this bridge did.

the point of this total ramble is that i was able to do something that was bigger than myself and bigger than my fears. i was able to conquer them temporarily. and when i ran, and ran i did, back up the hill,  (which was formally a cliff, anyone see the symbolism there? it's intentional people. keep up.) rocky's "eye of the tiger" screaming in my head, (pretty sure if i didn't have one hand on the ground, (i was realistically probably crawling up it), and the other hand on the camera, fists would definitely have been pumping) and pride was exuding from my pours. for those very short moments, i felt and believed that at that moment i could do anything.

with that being said, this is a perfect example of how emotional connections occur through photography. because as most of you will see the following series of photos as images of a bridge, to me, well to me, its a world of fear conquering. 
 

every straight, non blurred line, symbolizes non shaking hands (which when petrified is really hard to do!).  

every hard angle reminds me of digging my muddy feet into the ground, leaning towards the "cliff" so as not to fall into the water.

  






but more importantly, every photograph reminds me that even though i was petrified, i was able to shut the fear up and use my brain to rationally photograph an image.

in a way we are a lot like bridges. all of our experiences, flaws perfections and fears creates our human strucuture. (not to mention bridges kinda look like dna strands). but like bridges, we are stronger than we think. and every time we fear that we are at our breaking point, it's always in us to shut that fear up and move through it. just like by now, i have shut up that i am sick, woe is me, and pushed through.

 

xoxo.