Wicked Amazing

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”
John Muir

Came across this photographer, who captured the meteor shower in 2010 from Joshua Tree:
"Henry Jun Wah Lee is a Los Angeles-based photographer and independent filmmaker. His life’s commitment is for all of us to live powerful, whole and fulfilled lives. Henry’s photography and film work is a reflection of that commitment — inspiring city dwellers to reconnect and draw inspiration from the power, beauty and wisdom of nature. There are a lot of lessons about life that we can learn from our natural world."

more at www.evosia.com

Thanksgiving Fruits: wUugx-TaRL0 and XQ3WEsmgNjg

Here's a couple Picasa photo slideshows I have been meaning to do for about 3 years, ever since my once-loved photosite.com went out of business. The photos take forever to upload in high quality and the music tends to get fed up mid-way through the upload, so apologies for the crackle-pops but I'm pretty happy with them still.

Thanksgiving's 4-day weekend is always a productive one for me since I stubbornly refuse to fly anywhere or go within 10 miles of a mall. This weekend I ventured out to take Uncle Bill to a Mary Poppins Sing-Along (which was such a blast! I was a huge geek about it) but otherwise kept the car parked.

Mixmases and Christmas cards are en route ~ check your mailbox! Happy December.

Colorado & Boston - Living in Twilight

Life goes on, split between two different states. In August and September, Chris came to Boston where we mostly spent time with his family in Connecticut and so last week, I took a week out in Denver and thankfully got there right when the temperatures were in the 60's (they have been warm in Boston, too) and leaves had just fallen. It was sunny and crisp, pretty windy, but nice. Derby Doo is in tip-top shape and still looking like a seven year-old pup, even though he's my parents' age, almost 70. He got a lot of petting and walking and a quite overdue bath.

Chris and I went out for our favorite mexican food and Chic Fil-A (seriously miss that), tried new small breweries Cooper Kettle Brewing Co, Arvada Beer and Dry Dock Brewing, shopped in the Highlands, and hiked around Red Rocks to my heart's content. I had every intention of burning the copies of Mixmas 2011 while there on my better computer's CD drive, but ran out of time. Nonetheless the track list is final and I'm excited to ship around Thanksgiving weekend. This year's disc is dotted with lots of Amos Lee, lots of Weepies and lots of modern Motown singers. True.

While working in Denver and Boston, I had a rare chance to personally meet two very close colleagues of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Bernard Lafayette and Rev. James Lawson who were speaking at events related to the film Freedom Riders which Facing History uses as a teaching tool for Civil Rights and an example of upstanders banding together. What's an upstander, you ask? Facing History posted an incredible new little animation last week that I love:

I've been taking a writing class since September which has brightened my free time tremendously, and I think I'm going to keep a small writing group going with a couple of the guys in the class afterwards. We often joke that the class is nearly 50% therapy, but also 50% writing and encouragement from our teacher and peers. I often stumble with remembering things from childhood for assignments, but am trying to look at old pictures, old diaries, and of course listen to music - things that were once "tapes" and help jog my memory. I'll probably look at some family slides and Super 8 films when I'm next home in Monterey.

Here's some photos of Colorado, there's more on Flickr:

above and below - my favorite coffee shop at Denver Art Museum (DAM!) - I'm not quite sure if they drew me a heart or someone's butt cheeks in the cappuccino, but whatever!

How to Get to Sesame Street

I think I had mentioned how everyone compares the Stony Brook neighborhood to Sesame Street... all cheery-urban and unexpected... you can almost hear the harmonica in the distance... for living proof, here's 3 photos I snapped all within a block of my parked car one afternoon.

Yup.

I often feel on the corner of Colonial and California.

Newport

I almost forgot - here's a few photos of my first time at Newport Folk Fest last weekend.

saying hi to secret sisters who I also saw at Red Rocks in July, opening for Ray LaMontagne

obligatory photo op - apparently some people have a huge head?

Amos Lee with Secret Sisters

EmmyLou

Pete Seeger

whoa is me.

So, I know I've been noticably blogging less, and that my last post was pathetically short. Like the rest of the world, I've resigned to "status updates" as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family. Not that there's anything wrong with Facebook and twitter, it certainly has put so many of my friends in touch more frequently, and narrowed the distance gap. But I think we all need to consciously make an effort to do more than tweet, or we will lose our depth in relationships. Texting is not the same as talking.

I read a quote from John Mayer the other day (who I usually can't stand) where he said he stopped using twitter because it was "making his mind smaller". By always thinking in 140-character counts, he couldn't compose an entire song anymore, probably not even a complete thought. That pretty much says it for me. I need to return to a healthy mix of tweets and longer sentences, paragraphs, blogs, emails, letters. And while I'm at it, I also need to get back to using my Nikon instead of my lazy little digital camera, which admittedly takes great photos on a whim, but it's not what I think of as photography. I really wish the rest of the world would return to at least pocket digital cameras instead of camera phones. Gah! I know, I know, iPhones are different but mobile phone cameras are awful. We can't let photography go extinct.

Looking through my little photos, I realize that I have done a lot and not shared much on this blog in the last 6 months, so I'm going to do that now.

It's hard to talk about, but Chris' relocation to the East Coast has not been as swift as we had hoped; there's been job interviews, but nothing quite right. I am racking up Southwest Airlines rewards visiting Colorado every 2 months and Chris'll be here next month. I try to keep busy, see new things in New England, listen to my Good Mood music, and "carry on" (cheerful Tim Gunn voice).

In carrying on, I am blessed with good friends, Chris' family, and also a job that is enlightening and encouraging. In fact, Facing History allowed me to take my week-long July seminar with teachers at the Denver office instead of here in Boston, so I could spend a more time with Chris. I had an incredible time experiencing how we teach teachers, and engage students and I learned so much about the United States' horrifying history with discrimination (specifically around Eugenics and immigration exclusion policies). It made me want to be a high school history and civics teacher, actually.

I lucked out that I missed the horrid heat wave in Boston that same week I was in Denver. My RAV-4 is doing quite well, which may sound funny to some of you. but I really, really miss that car! Lately I'm constantly monitoring the news about an electric (EV) RAV-4 that Toyota's begun manufacturing for 2012, because I think it's my only consolation; it's the only way I can come to terms with admitting the old '97 RAV-4 will have to retire someday. But not yet!

When I moved out here, a stream of good luck was following me, and I knew before long, that life would balance itself out with some bad luck. Well bad luck caught up to me last month - I lost my wallet, then had my car towed, and seemed to be getting hit with bills, fees, parking tickets, insurance letters, what have you. I almost melted down last week, but my great boss, Karen told me to go home, and chillax, so I did, and had an Abita on the porch, and then a nap.

Thankfully the bad luck had no influence on my moving to JP. I love the apartment, I love my landlord, Mary, I love the neighborhood, I love the espresso bar next door! The house I'm renting constantly reminds me (without even having to say it) that I own way too much stuff. Mary keeps clutter to a minimum and every drawer half-empty. There's no freaking pen drawer in the kitchen overflowing with 100's of pens, post-it notes, and office supplies, unlike every place I've ever lived. I hope her good habits rub off on me.

A lot of people asked about my recent knee surgery. I have had what is called "theater knee" since the trip to Europe in 2006 where your knees feel crunched in a seated position, even when they're not crunched at all. But a specific pain had been growing in one spot on the kneecap since I got to Boston, and driving more than an hour in the mini was almost becoming impossible. I had tried a lot of things, but finally had an MRI and the doctor noticed a small tumor in the spot where my knee was aggravated most. So they did a quick, no-drama outpatient surgery, also found a "plica" (tissue fold that you're born with, and can hurt) and removed that. I was walking normally after 24 hours and the only recovery involved was icing it for about a week.

Having seen many doctors and specialists leading up to the surgery, though, I've realized the (sort of hard) truth that the general knee pain is really a result of too much weight on my knees as well as lazy postures like hyperextending the knees when I stand, or walking uneven on the edges of my feet when going up stairs. One of the times that the P.A. was reviewing my MRI, the radiologist's report described my issue as "globular fat" which was extremely funny, and made for a great punchline all that day. But let's face it, I've been spending my years in Colorado not biking, not hiking, hating running, and walking the dog in my flip-flops. I do a little yoga and pilates, but it's time to get serious now.

Conveniently! - my new apartment is up 3 flights of stairs! - so it's a behavioral adjustment for both my quads and my brain (trying to remember everything you need before you leave the 3rd floor is now more important). And living 2 miles from work, I have started biking to work, since there's a beautiful green park (thank you, Fredrick Law Olmstead) between here and there, which is very good rehab for the knee. I constantly feel like I don't fit in with my clumsy bike riding, since I don't wear a messenger bag (seriously, everyone) or walk my half-pit bull mutt (the SPCA is around the corner) but otherwise I feel very settled and comfortable in JP. I'm getting the hang of it.

Yesterday I went to a little Art Fair in Providence and explored that city for the day. Today it's pouring rain out, so I'm spending some long overdue time updating iTunes, my photos and other stuff on my laptop. Here's some photos I should have blogged along the way:

I think this bank just got themselves a new customer.
Crazy bignazo puppets in Providence, who were there to harass... er... entertain customers
Spin Art!!!

Every time I go back to Colorado, the on-air "talent" on the news there is getting more plastic and um, sexier. Who in the HECK approved this wardrobe choice?!

East Coast friends who have moved West - drool now

My first bike since 5th grade! courtesy of Bikes Not Bombs

This is me in disbelief that I could be ever wear such a dorky thing as a bike helmet. nutcase is right.

pretty summer porch on my new rented house in JP

My room

most of the rooms in Mary's house look like they belong in a magazine (unlike the next house you're about to see)

The above wall stripes were in my childhood home circa 1975-85 (to be fair, it was my sister and my playroom, but still), and it still survives as evidence of the Brady Bunch Era today. We visited in July and were BLOWN away how everyting remained the same on the bottom floor of the house. And it was hard to express our awe and laughter to the new owner without offending!

Curtains in my dad's 70's office, in tact and still hung up!

our zig zag rug from the 70's... just AS I remember it

My Uncle Bill and I at the Patriots' Day Parade

beautiful guitar shop, the Music Emporium in Lexington

From the deCordova sculpture park in Lincoln... you might think these hearts are cute and romantic, but up close, there are body parts and faces poking out of the cement like people were buried alive in them. That's contemporary art, for ya!
Soma-vull likes the Goonies
in Pittsfield

colorful taps at Harpoon Brewery
Chris' niece and nephew and I at (an old favorite of mine), the Children's Museum's Hood milk bottle. I often think to myself, it's nice to finally live somewhere were a preppy rainbow bag with crabs or whales on it doesn't seem square.

wild color

Whoooooo. Having the craziest schedule this month between knee surgery, a week of my parents visiting, and now spending a week in Denver for a Facing History seminar on Race & Membership. While my mom and dad were in town, we went to Tanglewood for opening weekend (easy activity for the elevated & iced knee) and also managed to see the newly reopened Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (aka Mass MoCA) in North Adams - which is a remarkable reinvention of an old factory/mill complex.

Here's a few photos of the Chihuly (blown glass) exhibit at the MFA, which is probably the most popular exhibit the MFA has had in decades, and gives new meaning to the term "eye candy":
And a few photos of the Sol LeWitt exhibit at the MoCA which they say is a "temporary" exhibit, though it's contracted to stay there 25 years:
I look uncharacteristically monochromatic by comparison - And a Katharina Grosse exhibit that looks like mountains of crushed cray-pas:
This last work, also at the MoCA, was a collection of photos of the sun, printed from various Flickr users: