God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Annie Lennox

It's nice when some old favorites come out with some new music reviving some old holiday classics. I remember singing this when my sisters and I went carolling in our neighborhood on Christmas Eve. Yes, I'm that old ... happy weekend, everyone!

102310 Holiday Shoot

My friends in the Facebook 102310 Group are gearing up for another shoot, this time it will be the holidays in black & white. We're pretty excited to see what will come out of it, as we have people from all across the country, each with very different styles. I'll share what I get out of the day, but meanwhile perhaps you'll enjoy a few shots I took last year. Oh, and I really want this book. Can someone tell Santa I've been super- good this year?

Cognitive Dissonance

I was thinking today of a Rilke poem from his Sonnets to Orpheus;
Be ahead of all parting, as though it already were
behind you, like the winter that has just gone by.
For among these winters there is one so endlessly winter
that only by wintering through it all will your heart survive.

Winter has indeed come to Central Ohio with a rather fierce grip. We adjust our daily patterns to include layers, and moving the alarm clock up so we can chip away at our cars and allow for a longer drive time. And we try not to fantasize too much about those summer nights on the back patio ... they'll be back, and we'll welcome them with open arms.

Cantara - Dead Can Dance

It was the mid-nineties when my friend Leann and I drove to a small high school auditorium in Cleveland to see DCD. It seemed an odd juxtaposition to us at the time; such an incredible band playing in such an obscure place. But they were full of of such anomalies. I remember being transfixed by how Lisa Girard would remain almost motionless while singing amidst such a swirl of sound. I believe their music was found in the 'world music' section of the store, but that always seemed a trifle inadequate. Not only does their music elude a specific country, it eludes time. If Homer's Iliad needed a soundtrack, this would be it. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Helen of Troy, whose face launched a thousand ships, looked strikingly familiar ...



Happy weekend, friends!

10 Things to Do in December

As I look back on 2010, it was filled with all sorts of highs and lows, but it's certainly helped me focus on the important things. Hence, my list of things I want to do in December:

1. Celebrate.
2. Spend some quality time with my sisters and friends.
3. Sing Christmas carols with Pink Martini.
4. Wrap my gifts with Pantone's Color of the Year 2011.
5. Wander aimlessly. With my camera.
6. Shoot for the 102310 Holidays in B&W project.
7. Give more to the Kidney Foundation.
8. Finish Proust's Swann's Way.
9. Look into that ballet class I promised myself when I finished with classes.
10. Gear up for mysterious developments in 2011.

What are you doing this month?

Such Great Heights - The Postal Service

I just learned this week that my final photography class was my FINAL class for me to graduate. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, but I couldn't have accidentally chosen a more perfect final class. The instructor was the kind of person who inspires and moves others to great achievement. On the first day of class she asked what we had all hoped to gleen from the class, and without revealing my answer, she has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. So this post is dedicated to her; she's inspired me to such great heights.

"Everything looks perfect from far away." But wouldn't you rather see something beautiful instead?

Flawed Beauty

Tonight was my last art photography class where we revealed our final assignment; the summation of our experience of the class. If you've seen the Louis Malle film Vanya on 42nd Street, it was much like the final scene, (if you haven't seen it, rent it now!), where all the actors at the end of rehearsal come to realize they've had a profound experience and they depart, one by one, as the characters they depicted reluctantly slip from their faces and bodies. There is something special that happens when a diverse group of strangers get together, share ideas, learn, and come to some of the same conclusions of what constitutes beauty. The shot I've posted is a picture that, a year ago, I would have deleted immediately, failing to see anything beautiful in it. My friend, Kathie, said the same thing about her cover image on the Blurb book she created. Stunning, isn't it?

The trick now? To carry these ideas forward.

Scenes from the Weekend

Aside from Thanksgiving (which was divine), I had a pretty low-key weekend as I wrap up work on my photography class.  I learned much and am trying to fold it into my understanding of art. One thing that has changed is that I've become more of a flaneur. A flaneur is a person who simply wanders around as a detached observer, not with a specific purpose, but just to experience what comes. I walked through my neighborhood, noticing the strangest details, and subtle changes from one day, week and month to the next, and watching the patterns of life. If you have ever made a point of taking lots of pictures when you travel, you understand the importance of photography's role in capturing the experience itself, not just a beautiful picture. What if you could capture that feeling of freedom you experience when travelling and draw from it in your daily life?

Winter Eyes

It takes my eyes a while to adjust to the new season. Mother Nature has put on a more sombre dress, but not less beautiful. Winter's stark beauty has yet to be completely fulfilled; we need a layer of snow.

As my husband and I were putting our back yard to sleep for the winter, I speculated about how, as a child, I could spend hours in the cold, wearing my snow suit and insulated snow boots, sliding down a hill and climbing back up for another run until it was too dark to see. Today, standing there in my Converse high-tops and not feeling my feet, that seemed a lifetime ago.

This looks like a nice winter home for a mouse, don't you think?