What a long, strange trip it’s been…

One of the things I love about photography as an art form is the myriad of ways  that it can be tweaked or played with. You can use different types of film, you can tweak film – making your images more grainy or overexposed, or you can manipulate the film as you develop it or print it.

I am a huge fan of long exposure photography. This allows small amounts of light in for a  longer period of time than normal, giving images an ethereal quality. A tripod is usually employed.

Here are two photos by photographer Mohamed Rias from this post. I love the smoky/cloudy feel of the water in these pictures, contrasted with the clarity of the rest of the scene.

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Photos involving water, clouds, light and/or movement are good candidates for this type of photography.

This post had a few more example, and some tips on how to get starting taking long exposure photos.

I’m going to do some research, and try a few of these on my own.  I will keep you posted  on how it all turns out!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Forgive my unschooled attempts at food blogging…

It was my very dear friend Jeff’s birthday this past weekend. Jeff is a big Grateful Dead fan, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try out the tie-dye cake I found on Pinterest not too long ago.

I started out with two boxes of Betty Crocker white cake mix and made as directed. (I normally like to make things from scratch, but I got the  idea to do this with only 2 hours to spare. Sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do). I separated out the batter into six different bowls and made each one a different color. It was advised to use gel color as they tend to be more vibrant than the liquid drops that you get in the grocery store. I wish I had taken a picture of all of the colors in their separate bowls, but I think I got the idea to blog about it after we had already poured the batter into the pans. Which brings me to the next step – the pouring of the batter.

The instructions that I found said to split the batter between the two pans, then pour another color on top. I thought it would look cooler (groovier?) if I made more layers, so we just started randomly pouring a little bit of colored batter, then pouring the next color right in the middle of the last one, letting it spread out naturally throughout the process.

Aren’t the colors vibrant? I think the gel color made all the difference. Next I took a toothpick and drug it though the center to make a star pattern. Not too much though, so I wouldn’t muddy the colors.

The cake looked really awesome straight from the oven. We let them cool, then I wanted to put on a crumb coat of icing. The crumb coat is basically a bit of watered down frosting. You do this so the cake won’t crumble into your final layer of icing. I actually generally don’t like icing, but I found a recipe for Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting, which is basically cream cheese, heavy cream and sugar, and who doesn’t like that?

Again, I only thought to take the picture once I had started the crumb coat already. Sigh.

This was once the cake was covered with the crumb coat.

I layered the cakes and covered the whole thing with the whipped cream icing. To make the swirl pattern on top I put one drop of liquid food coloring of each color that I had in a circle on the top of the cake. I then took a fork and swirled the color through the icing. Again, not too much so the colors wouldn’t get muddied.

You won’t believe this, but when we got to my friends house, it turns out that his sister-in-law had the same idea! Great minds think alike! And…no way, seriously?

Two tie-dye cakes! We still cut into my cake so we could see the inside…

…and it went pretty quickly. Even though we weren’t the first to think of it, I still think it came out great! My kids were impressed and asked if we could make it again. Now if only they would ask that about the Indian food I make…

Peace out.

Heroes and Villains

Sometimes the smallest interaction with someone can linger for a really long time…

My in-laws and nieces and nephews live in Brooklyn. We try to spend as much time with them as we can. Between us we have six children; my three boys and their two daughters and a son. There is an 8 year span between the youngest cousin and the oldest, and while this could prove to be  an unsuccessful range, for us, it has always been a really wonderful mash-up. There is a special relationship that cousins have – not quite the intense heat that siblings can create, yet not the casual “I get to go home at the end of the day” feeling of friendships. It’s a funny grey area that in some families doesn’t quite work. In ours, I am amazed that after moving through toddlerhood and into their teens, they still run to greet each other with an excitement and love that makes my heart swell. Every time.

We were visiting once when my sons were around one, four and  five years of age. As one does in Brooklyn and NYC, we were going for a walk in the neighborhood. Near their  house is one of the 826 National Chapters. If you are unfamiliar, 826 National is a non-profit organization that funds tutoring and writing centers in eight american cities. Not only are these Chapters writing and tutoring centers, but they also operate themed storefronts to generate revenue for the tutoring centers. San Francisco’s storefront is The Pirate Supply Store, Boston’s The Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute, Brooklyn’s is the Superhero Supply Store. (You can read all about Dave Eggers and how this project got started here).

We were a big unwieldy group. The one year old was in a stroller, and if I remember correctly, it was cold, so as we entered the Superhero Supply Store  jackets went flying as the kids eagerly went to check out all of the supplies and try on capes (there is a special platform where industrial fans blow on you as try on capes – pretty cool:-) After being in the store for what felt like  f o r e v e r , and purchasing a few trinkets, we made our way back to their house. A little later on as I was unpacking the stroller from the outing, I found a large super ball in the bottom of the stroller that looked suspiciously like the one my 4 year old had asked if he could have in the store that I had said no to since we we had already decided on our purchases. My suspicions were correct. After firmly explaining that we can’t just take things from  stores without paying, even if we want them, I told him that we would have to go back the next day to return it.

The next day, the two of us arrived at the store shortly after it opened. There weren’t many people inside yet, but I approached a hip bespectacled young woman who appeared to be patrolling the store in an Official Way. My son was holding my hand and shyly hiding behind me.  Admittedly, I too was a little nervous. You can never be sure how appropriate someone’s reaction will be. I asked him to explain why we were there, but he was silent, so I explained why we had come.

This lovely young woman, who was clearly too young to have children of her own, responded in exactly the perfect way…

She looked him right in the eye, and firmly, but kindly said, “Well, we normally think of people who take things without paying as villains, but since you are returning it and doing the right thing, that makes you a superhero.”  I asked him if he understood, and made him apologize for taking the ball, and thank her for talking to us. I remember my heart swelling with gratitude as we walked out. He was four after all, and (if I say so myself) a particularly adorable four year old – too young to be headed for a life of crime, yet (in my mind) the perfect age to learn an important lesson. It would have been very easy for her to laugh it off, or say, “that’s ok don’t worry about it,” but instead, she took him, and the situation, seriously and responded in the exact way that I would have wanted her too – letting him know that what he did wasn’t right without undue shame or embarrassment. She didn’t pander to him or dismiss him because he was four. Instead she was respectful, firm, and fair.

I have thought of this young woman, and this exchange often over the years (my son is now 12!). I intended for years to call the store to thank her for her perfection, or write a note to the store manager complimenting her, but in my haze of mothering and life, I never got to it. This woman is now old enough to have children of her own. I hope that she made that choice, or that life gave her the gift of children, because I’m sure that if children are a part of her life, she is rocking it out. I only wish that if she’s having one of those days (that all mother’s have) where she yells, or is tired, or overwhelmed, or just feels like she isn’t doing it right, that I could tell her how much her response meant to me and remind her…

Her instincts are good.

Take a deep in-breath…

I am behind in my blogging because the only thing I’ve been able to think to write about is my stress level, which I think would be of very little interest to anyone, myself included. After much deliberation, I finally realized I should write about the other end of the spectrum, and take some of my own advice.

I’ve been doing guided meditations with my students. Mostly for fun, sometimes to get them to lose their extra energy (with third grade, this can be a challenge), sometimes to promote positive thinking. This is a meditation I adapted for them the other day, from the fabulous book, Spinning Inward by Maureen Murdock:

Close your eyes and focus your attention on your breath. Take long slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. With each exhalation your body becomes more and more relaxed. Now imagine that a beautiful waterfall of white light is entering the top of your head. You feel it’s gentle healing energy throughout your brain and pouring over your face, your chin and your neck. The waterfall of white light now continues to move into your chest and shoulders and back. It moves down your arms and hands and out through your fingertips, taking with it any stress that you have held in your body. The white light continues to flow into your chest and stomach, into your thighs knees and calves. Now it enters you ankles and feet and goes out through your toes, taking with it any stress or discomfort that you have stored in your body. Now you are in a continuous waterfall of white light.Every part of your being is filled with white light. Allow this energy to wash over your, and enjoy the gentle calm it brings. Continue to see this on your own (pause for 1 minute). You did a great job,. Slowly open your eyes and bring yourself back to consciousness when you are ready.

Here are some of the comments from my students after doing this exercise:

“There was a color that I can’t name because I haven’t seen it before, but the light going in was sort of light purple. It came zooming out of my eyes and whole body.”

“The light was bluish coming in, and brownish red coming out. It was negative energy coming out.”

“It felt like water was rushing against my legs. The light was yellowish going in and dark blue coming out. I felt relaxed.”

“It was a nice day and the sun was beaming down on me. My body was in the light water. It made me feel relaxed. I was thinking about the math test and I was thinking,”I can do it!” It made me feel better.” (This student had walked in first thing in the morning worried about the math test in the middle of the day).

I could see my head and body glowing. White fire was coming off of me and a white rainbow was going in. I felt relaxed, and like I was going to do really good on the math test.”

White light was like a river near me.  There was a dock. Waves of white light were splashing on us. Energy was washed out. It came out of my fingers.”

Out of the mouths of babes.

I am trying to remember to breathe deeply when things get overwhelming. I am trying to make a commitment to myself – at least 5 minutes a day of deliberate focus on breath, either in stillness, or accompanied by gentle stretching. I’ll let you know how it’s going (one would think that 5 minutes a day shouldn’t be that a much of a commitment. You’d be surprised).

If you can borrow a kid or two (or an adult!) try reading this to them slowly in a calm and serene voice. You may be surprised by the results! (I know I am – every time…)

Please let me know if you try it!

Awsome Milk Trick

Did I mention that I’m also distractible? I’ve been spending a lot of time on Pintrest of late, looking for ideas and lessons for my new role as PreK and Kindergarten Art Teacher. We are beginning the year talking about color, and I came across this experiment, which I immediately had to try (and my kids weren’t around at the time, so I had to show each of them too:)

Try it! Let me know how it turns out!

PS. Whole milk works best and you can either add drops of soap, or you can soak the end of a q-tip in detergent. With the q-tip you have a little more control and ability to play…

How to make awesome color changing explosions by mixing milk, food coloring, and soap.

I have a confession…

I dabble. I have always dabbled. I have always been endlessly curious. When I meet someone new I often pepper them with questions about who they are and what they do until I am satisfied. People are so interesting! What people do is so interesting! Finding out where people’s passions lie is so interesting! Sometimes I  feel like Kristen Wig’s “Penolope” character from Saturday Night Live. You know the one who’s always saying, “Oh, I’ve done that…” (Though she’s all about one-upmanship, which I hope no one would ever accuse me of). In my life I have: babysat, waited tables, worked in retail sales, lifeguarded, given swim lessons, tended bar, earned a BA in English Lit and a Minor in Fine Arts (with concentrations in ceramics and photography), worked as an office temp, managed the office of a small architectural firm, modeled on television (my first and only time), was a bouncer and sold tickets at a comedy club, been a student, studied in London, traveled solo through Spain and Portugal, earned a Secondary Ed teaching credential from SFSU, taught middle school, worked in an administrative role in a high school, been a teaching assistant, had three sons, gotten married and (soon to be) divorced, worked at an all boys summer camp in Wisconsin, lived in San Francisco & Philadelphia, traveled  throughout Malaysia and in parts of eastern and southern Africa. I have completed a triathlon (a mini-sprint, but I can still say I’m a triathlete!), started my own business (at which I was terrible because I felt guilty charging people for things that I enjoyed making), gone to massage school in California, been certified as a “Child Meditation Facilitator“, taught myself to play guitar (at age 40), occasionally sing with a band (which I do solely because it terrifies me), learned how to surf (at 42), taught myself how to change the side mirror of my car and installed ceiling fans from watching you tube videos, have taken classes in needle felting and wet felting, enjoyed cooking classes with friends, almost completed my Masters in Education; made my own home pressed apple cider, soy milk, tofu, mozzarella cheese, and sour cherry jam from the tree in the front of our house. I have made my own dye using walnuts from my yard and made things using duct tape and recycled wool sweaters. I have raised chickens, (am still raising) three delightful sons, and fostered many kittens. I have an unusual interest in eco building practices and materials, have a burning desire to build a cob oven in my back yard (the fact that I have no room for this is inconsequential), and started a work group with friends that we named Talkoot (partly because of the meaning of the word, and partly because of my Finnish heritage). I avidly pin on Pintrest and love crafting and making of all kinds. I’m obsessed with the website Instructables and am in awe of others creativity. I’m curious about exploring maker spaces, but have no idea what I would make. I just bought my kids one of these and love watching them explore and make and be excited by those explorations. This will be next. I really enjoy cooking and trying new recipes, and for many years I have had a burning desire to become a glass blower, see the northern lights, and own a dutchtub.

What makes you tick?