Friday, February 27, 2009

2/27/2009

Things I like about today
:breakfast at Ida Mae's to celebrate Jeremy's birth
:a taste of warmth (I couldn't be more excited about Springtime)
:looking forward to getting off a little early and going for a run
:dinner with my favorite person

today i wish I was amelia earhart

Thursday, February 26, 2009

an open letter

dear jason,

congratulations on your all time highest bowling score of life. next time i'll buy you a beer.

love,
your girlfriend



p.s. i love you more than tater tots

Sunday, February 22, 2009

New Flickr

Peru Holga photos are now on flickr.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Not gonna lie

I want to wear these soooooooo bad.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Corita Kent


from my favorite graphic designing nun

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Monday, February 16, 2009

My Favorite Person

I could probably devote an entire blog to how great Jason (my fantastic boyfriend) is. He gave me the most thoughtful valentine's day presents ever. Viles of honey because I love sweet packaging and bees and honey, and the cutest plant for my terrarium. He also gave me a coupon for endless cups of tea, a sweet card, and bee matches.

He's my favorite.

Odds and ends

I wish my wiki bio looked like this.

Look at this funny face I found on my coffee cup lid. It looks like it has a cute beard.



That's all I've got for today.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Peru Holgas

I just got my negatives back from Peru. Expect some fancy pictures.

Here's the first scan.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Fear and Creativity

I'm afraid of a lot of things. Mostly I'm afraid of not being enough. I'm afraid my ideas are dumb, and if people hear them they'll think I'm dumb. I'm afraid of what people I admire think of me. I'm afraid of sharing my opinions. I'm afraid of not realizing my potential and of falling short. These things terrify me, and it's hard to create when you feel so scared.

It's taking time, and I feel a lot more comfortable creating here than I did a year ago when I first started, but I'm still so easily intimidated. I'm petrified that I'm not doing enough, that I am not enough. It takes a lot to step out of my fears and sort out the truth of my situation from my perception of it.

It's taking time, but I'm finding hints of freedom.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Monday, February 09, 2009

Etsy Meet Facebook

There's a new etsy application for facebook, maybe I'd be more motivated to add things to my shop if I new my friends could see my progress.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Flickr Folder

I was telling Jason last week that I would love to have all of my photos in one convenient location. I said that I would love to use flickr, but it's hard enough to keep my blog updated, and loading photos is no fun. So, since he's the best boyfriend ever, he figured out how to create a folder on my desktop that all I have to do is drop jpgs in the folder and they automatically upload to my flickr site. FASCINATING!


Feel free to keep checking my flickr site, because hopefully now I'll have lots more uploads.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Arequipa: Art as Service

I've always known that art was valuable, if for no other reason than the fact that it's given me an outlet, a way to express myself. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I've never really understood the value of art to the people experiencing the art, the viewer. I always thought that it would be cool to make murals in the city, but only because it would be a job where they would pay me to design and paint, not necessarily because I thought it would impact a community or even an individual. After Peru, I'm thinking that art is valuable, not just to the creator but to the viewer as well.

To see how excited the kids were about the new mural of sheeps vs alpacas playing soccer was awesome. It was also amazing to see how their cement wall was transformed into bright shapes and colors. Painting the mural was a beautiful experience.
Image stolen from Seth's Blog.


Another thing that was beautiful was that in a lot of ways my going on the Peru trip started with my pictures of strangers project. Me wandering around Philly making friends by taking their photo...and that turning into t-shirts from howies...which turned into money for Peru. I was surprised to find out that cameras bring people together in Peru too. (this is silly, I know, but really I was surprised).

People get excited to get their photo taken, it makes them feel special. It acknowledges their presence and importance. I think there's something really special about portraits.

Their image also remains in my permanent collection, and thereby in some strange way a permanent part of my life. I can never forget these kids or my experience with them.

Being the one with the camera gives you confidence too, it breaks down your walls and helps you interact with people you would never have the guts to talk to in the first place. I was so thankful for my huge polaroid on this trip.

I love these kids.



Monday, February 02, 2009

Gardening Love

I'm loving the sunshine today, it makes me want this herb garden.
Or maybe I want to customize my own with pretty mismatching tea cup pots.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Arequipa: Food

The first thing to note about Peruvian food is that they eat potatoes with everything.
This was my favorite photo from the trip.


There are amazing markets filled with people and smells and wonderful colors where you can pick out your meats and produce and grains. It's nice to be so close to where your food comes from. to be more connected to the people who harvest it, and to see it in such a raw state (picture chickens with heads and feet, and fish laying unskinned). We had a challenge to go to the market and get everything we need to make the kids a traditional american meal. We made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, and apple pie. It was quite the experience.



Here are some traditional Peruvian Recipes we ate while there:
Lomo Saltado
1 lb. tenderloin
2 onions, sliced in strips
2 tomatoes, peeled and cut into lg. pieces
1 hot pepper, cleaned and cut in strips
1 lb French-fried potatoes
Chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut heat into small pieces or strips and brown in oil. Add remaining ingredients and cook until tender. Serve with rice.

Arroz Verde con Pollo
I ate this for breakfast made by some chatchawan women overlooking coca canyon.
8 pieces skinless chicken
salt and pepper
1/2 cup oil
1 big red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, blended in a food processor with a little water
1/2 cup Guinness stout or lager beer
2 bell peppers, sliced for added color (1 red and 1 green or or yellow. This is optional)
3 cups rice
1 cup mix peas
2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1.Season chicken with salt and black pepper. Fry in oil until golden brown and remove from fire. Leave to cool.

2.In the same oil, saute the chopped garlic, onion, bell peppers and cilantro.

3.Add the chicken and stir for 2 - 3 minutes. Add beer and simmer for about 10 minutes until chicken is cooked.

4. Add the rice and mixed peas. Mix well for a couple of minutes. Add chicken stock (salt if needed) and simmer for another 20 minutes or until rice is cooked and slightly burnt at the bottom.


I'm sorry I haven't posted anything about Peru, it has kind of been a lot to process especially since I came home sick, and am still recovering. I figured I'd start somewhere simple.

Ferry ride

I found some old holga film I finally got around to developing. I finally found a place where you can send away medium format film to be developed and have it arrive at your doorstep. It's called Cooper's Imaging.

I don't usually do black and white holga film, but I shot a roll back in august...and I don't know whether my scanner's messed up or what, but I love the look of these.