Merry Christmas

Taken Feburary 14, 2007

Crazy Eights.

All the way from Cleveland comes a request from Amy to play along in this thing called Crazy Eights.

8 things I’m passionate about:
1. Roman
2. Cleocatra, Alliecat and Independence Eli Powell (aka. Cleo, Allie and Indy)
3. Taking photos
4. Health and Fitness (Lifetime Fitness!)
5. TV - in the form of good writing (like 30 Rock, Six Feet Under, Ugly Betty)
6. The work-week-recovery benefit of weekend naps
7. Being a good friend
8. Recycling

8 things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel (and photograph) Ireland, Australia, Scotland, and as many beaches I can get to
2. Learn how to do freeform peyote stitch and actually finish a project using it
3. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
4. Make a difference in other peoples’ lives
5. Start my own photography business, using alternative processes.
6. Spend a long vacation relaxing in one of those huts that live over the ocean
7. Learn how to scuba dive so I can take some amazing underwater pictures
8. Run (or walk) - ok, finish - a full marathon

8 things I say often:
1. ... ok.
2. Hey
3. Ohmygod.
4. Whatcha doing?
5. INDY! STOP IT! (he likes to “play” with Cleo, who doesn’t like to “play”)
6. Duh
7. Gotcha
8. I need caffeine.

8 books I’ve read recently (or am still reading):
1. Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America. Steve Almond
2. The Interruption of Everything. Terry McMilan
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling
4. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Malcolm Gladwell
5. Jenny and the Jaws of Life: Short Stories. Jincy Willett
6. I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. Amy Sedaris
7. Polaroid Transfers: A Complete Visual Guide to Creating Image and Emulsion Transfers. Kathleen Carr
8. Through the Lens: National Geographic’s Greatest Photographs

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over:
You can find all of these on my iPod right now:
1. What’d I Say - Parts I & II - Ray Charles
2. Times Like These - Foo Fighters
3. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
4. Debaser - Pixies
5. One by One - Foo Fighters
6. Let Love Rule - Lenny Kravitz
7. Better Together - Jack Johnson
8. Burning Love - Elvis Presley

8 Things that Attract Me to My Best Friends:
1. They make me laugh.
2. They’re interesting because they’re all so smart.
3. They always have a shoulder I can lean on when I need one.
4. They’re real people - no pretense.
5. They make time for me.
6. They put up with (and support) my idiosyncrasies.
8. I can learn from them.

8 People I Think Should Do Crazy Eights:
1. Steph
2. Molly
3. Mom
4. Roman
5. Karen
6. Maurita
7. Angela
8. honestly, I don't think more than 8 people even read my blog :)

Photo of the Week

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

No, it’s not an award-winning picture, but it means a lot to me.

Aunt Sylvia let me pick one of Uncle Pete’s baseball caps after he passed away this past August. He collected the really good hats - authentic and fitted. I picked his Los Angeles Angels hat because he’s the family’s angel now. I’m glad I get to see a reminder of him on my Christmas tree this season.

Photo of the Week

Jenifer
















In the times I’d spent with my cousin Jenifer in my early years, I don’t remember her smiling a lot - especially in pictures. This picture I took of her at her dad’s gravesite is a favorite because it was spontaneous, and she looks happy. She’s a pretty cool person, and it’s good to see her happy.

I don’t remember when I first met Jenifer. She’s three years older then I am and was raised in Carson City, Nevada. I probably met her when I was about five a The Farm (my grandparents’ house at the left).

She’s the daughter of my Uncle Tim (mom’s brother) and Aunt Bonnie. They have a son, Stephen, who’s only a little younger than me.

I remember getting to know my Uncle Tim when he stayed at my mom’s and my house in Erlanger, Kentucky. He worked for NCR and traveled to our area for training. I remember being nervous and shy around him. He was a grownup, and I didn’t have a lot of experience with grownups.

Uncle Tim (born Stephen Timothy) turned out to be pretty cool. He was the first grownup to treat me like a real person - not just a kid.

Uncle Tim came to visit us several years later. This was after we’d moved to Blue Ash, Ohio. I remember turning 13 the year Tim visited, and I baked a cake with a ton of icing. It was great to have him there to help me celebrate.

I remember we went to the grocery store, and he bought tomatoes, peppers, onions, sour cream and who knows what else, and he made this wonderful concoction that he dipped chips into: salsa. I think it was the most exotic thing I’d tasted up to that point! He also had an evening ritual that I’d never seen: scotch on the rocks. He loved it and even let me try it once. It was AWFUL. I didn’t understand how anyone could consciously ingest the stuff. My thoat hurt and my sinuses were on fire it was so bad. But again, I respected the fact that he treated me like a real person, with real curiosities, and let me make my own mistakes. Uncle Tim was the first grownup who laughed with me and played the all-popular trivia games of the time with me. After he left our house that last time, he left me a gigantic book of trivia with the inscription, “Erin, memorize this!”

Sometime around age 14 or 15, Mom and I visited Carson City for Christmas. It was the first time I’d been away from home for Christmas. I was in my awkward stage (pimples and blue glasses). I had no idea who I was or who I wanted to be. My cousin Jenifer, on the other hand, was the supercool rebel who wore some serious mascara and listened to heavy metal music. My only exposure to that kind of music was seeing Ozzy’s “Shot in the Dark” and Ratt’s “Round and Round” videos on MTV. I noticed that she didn’t show a lot of emotion, except to get frustrated with her parents (as all teenagers could).

The next time I saw Jenifer was in 1988. Uncle Tim had passed away. He’d had a heart attack while hunting with Stephen. Stephen was the one who found his dad, slumped over, clutching his heart. I was devastated.

Jenifer was still the stoic person I’d met, but this time she was sadder. I think she, like I, wished she’d had a chance to get to know her dad better. I think both of us take lessons from him wherever we go: don't take life so seriously; drink the worm; there’s humor everywhere; if you can’t find what you want, make it yourself; live.

Family is everything. Cheers to Uncle Tim for bringing us together.

November 24, 2007

Lake Tahoe is simply stunning. I can’t find the right words to express how good being around this kind of beauty makes me feel. I could spend hours staring out into the clear, turquoise-teal water. Roman and I visited Sand Harbor Saturday morning.

November 23, 2007

After a breakfast of apricot cream cheese-filled Frency toast, we spent the day with the family. We drove to Carson City to Aunt Bonnie’s house, where Stephen’s 10-year-old daughter Emma and her older sister Lexi were there. Emma’s an adorable little girl who looks so much like her dad.

Jenifer joined us, and after Bonnie gave us a tour of her house and all the projects she’s working on (she’s very talented), we had lunch at another casino! Casino Fandango had semi-decent food - they had a little of something for everyone. They also had mirrored ceilings.

I set my camera’s timer for 10 seconds and told everyone to look up. Unfortunately, not everybody really understood what I was doing, so it’s not a perfect picture. But even the finest Persian rugs have flaws.

After lunch, we paid Uncle Tim (Mom’s & Sylvia’s brother) a visit. I think I met my Uncle Tim when I was about eight. He came to Cincinnati for training and stayed with us when I was around 13. I liked Uncle Tim because he was the first grown-up to ever treat me like a real person. He joked around with me, taught me how to make this thing called salsa, and gave me sips of his bourbon. Which was nasty.

He was a fun-loving guy with a dry sense of humor - precisely why I liked him so much. To honor him, we brought him some of his favorite things: beer and pretzels.

We toasted him and felt like he would have appreciated the gesture. We left the beer and pretzels for him. Sylvia said he was most likely sharing the beer with Uncle Pete. I think Uncle Pete took one drink of it and requested a Riesling.

The city of Genoa, where the cemetery is, was full of deer. Not like deer we have at home - they travel in packs and aren’t at all afraid to post for pictures. They were everywhere!

We went to Bonnie’s house for a little while, and by 9:30, we all were feeling tired. Jet lag stinks. I’m a night owl, and I want to be in bed every night by 9pm! Also oddly enough, I’ve been getting up around 7am! Readjusting to Eastern Standard time will be fun...

November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! We awoke to a wonderful breakfast at The Black Bear Inn bed and breakfast. It was some sort of fritatta with sun dried tomatoes, peppers, onions and spinach. There were rosemary potatoes and fruit to go with it. The place sells a cookbook, and I’ll be bringing one home!

The Black Bear Inn was built in 1998 by Jerry and Kevin. They didn’t miss a detail in the design. It’s a wonderful, relaxing, peaceful place to stay. Every room has a cozy fireplace.

Out back are cabins. The cabin rooms differ from the lodge rooms in that they are larger, and each one has a kitchenette and private outdoor patio. Also out back are tree sculptures created by a local artist. Most are bears, but there’s also an eagle.

We planned on spending Thanksgiving with family and didn’t have a lot of time to do anything between breakfast and the time we had to be somewhere. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to drive 20 minutes to Emerald Bay. The overlook was crowded with tourists (like me) who all wanted tons of pictures. The only difference was that I only had about 10 minutes to capture it all - we had to get to Jenifer’s house.

Jenifer decided to not tell her mom (Bonnie) that we were coming. We got to Jenifer’s house around 2:30, and Bonnie showed up around 3:15. She cried when she saw all of us. It was a good surprise! She gave Sylvia the biggest hug. She also lost her husband (Uncle Tim, mom’s brother) too soon.

Jenifer’s brother Stephen was also there. He’s just a few months younger than me. Somehow, he managed to score an elk hunting license (which apparently is like winning the lottery). He decided to spend Thanksgiving with us and leave to go hunting Friday.

Jenifer decided not to spend the day cooking for everyone, and I don’t blame her! She made reservations for us at Roxy at the El Dorado casino. Dinner was great - butternut squash soup, turkey and mashed potatoes, and a yummy caramel ice cream dessert.

After stuffing myself, I had to play some slots. I do not like to gamble. I don’t like parting with my money. But Mom gave me four bucks, so I couldn’t resist! The penny slots were calling. Needless to say, from the look on my face, I lost it all. It’s so not fair.

November 21, 2007

We got up pretty early on Wednesday morning, and it was cold. So cold, that the windows were dewey.. on the inside! We slept really well. The beds at the Pelican Inn are featherbeds, and sooooo comfortable.

We set out for Tahoe this morning. Our plan was to be on the road by noon. Google maps said it would take us about four hours. Little did we know, we were in California. The state with more people in cars than blades of grass. The drive would take us all day...

Before we set out on our all-day trek, we stopped off at Muir Beach. I needed to hear the ocean. A few weeks ago, an oil spill closed the beaches in San Francisco, including Muir Beach. It killed all kinds of birds and wildlife, but I'm not going to rant about that right now....

It was a beautiful day, and the beach had just reopened two days before we arrived. It was a little chilly, but the air was crisp. I thought it would be cool for Roman and me to have a picture close to the water. It took about five shots to finally get this one! We weren’t exactly wearing the best clothes and shoes for kneeling in sand, and we had to keep running from the waves, but it was fun.

So after about eight hours in the car, we were all a bit tense. Traffic was horrible, and we all needed a laugh. We pulled over for gas, and to lighten the mood, I insisted on a photoshoot with a carved bear.

When we reached our B&B, The Black Bear Inn, we were exhausted and just crashed. More on the B&B (which is awesome) later.

Notes from the Road (and Sky)

November 20, 2007

And we’re off! (L to R: me, mom, Matt Damon, Roman, Aunt Sylvia)












* Skybus food is pretty decent - but pricy.
* Aunt Sylvia puts ice in her bottled water. Instead of pouring the water into the glass with the ice.












* Roman’s sitting next to a guy who’s farting (note giant box of raisins in wall pocket).












* The skybus staff has a good sense of humor












* We have five captains flying on our plane...
* Scott is our main captain, and it's his last day. He thinks that because of this, he doesn’t have to wear regulation gear (note Snoopy shirt).












* We’ve experienced some severe turbulence already. Roman thinks we hit one of Santa’s reindeer.
* There was a woman in the lavatory when we hit said reindeer. I’m sure at her Thanksgiving dinner, she’ll be thankful for not peeing her pants.
* Aunt Sylvia sleeps with Matt Damon.












* Skybus doesn't actually fly into San Francisco - it flies into Oakland. Remember to make car reservations for OAKLAND.
* Matt Damon won’t leave me alone (sexy, my ass. more like stalker)












* Getting to the Golden Gate Bridge from Oakland, without a map, is a bitch.












* The Pelican Inn is a pretty cool place to stay.




































* It’s only 5:30 here, and it’s 8:30 at home. I’m STARVING, an we don’t eat for another hour. Am hoping headache is due to starvation.
* There is no internet access at The Pelican Inn.
* Live musicians who pretend they’re Scottish are interesting.












* Michael’s girlfriend Joclyn (sp?) fits in really well.












* Fish & chips for dinner at almost midnight my time will upset my stomach
* My family is pretty darn cool
* I really need to go to bed! It’s after midnight my time!

Herding Cats

The vacation has begun. Getting the cats to the vet wasn’t fun. I love our vet (Dr. Bryan Gibson at Landen Maineville Animal Hospital), and everybody who works there is great. It seemed like a great idea to board the herd with the people who can best take care of them. But our cats have claws, and we’ve never taken all three out of the house at the same time.

Cleo has asthma. She was easy. She protested a little, but ultimately, she gave in. Indy and Allie were tougher. Indy has muscles like no animal I’ve seen. Roman had him, and he almost got away. Allie got away and scratched up my back along the way. I think it took about a half hour of hunting, coaxing and eventually pulling to get her into the carrier with Cleo.

After about 20 minutes of filling out and signing forms, we were all taken back to the cages. Man, they were small. Indy got a space of his own since he’s still young and rambunctious. Cleo and Allie are together in a larger space. All cats have a towel that they all lay on and a pillowcase of mine and Roman’s. Corey at the vet said that was a great idea.

The most horrible feeling in the world is leaving your babies, and having them look at you with that pleading, terrifying look. Man, it was harder than I thought it would be. But I know they’re in good hands, and if anything happens, the doctor is in.

Photo of the Week

New theme. As I slowly get my life organized (thanks, Steph for help with the basement!), I’m also getting my blog organized. My new goal is to post my favorite photo (or photos) of my week. On Sundays.

As much as I love taking pictures, I’ll never be prolific enough to proclaim that I can take a good one every day. I just don't have the time. I do, however, think I can manage a decent one a week.

I call this “Lazyboo Saturday.” The light was coming through the windows beautifully, and my cats (who are amazing models) love posing in good lighting. And I’m a sucker for capturing a fuzzy ball of purring love. (It’s a good thing I’m married. Otherwise I’d only be known as a crazy old cat lady.)

Indy is my shy, lovie kitty. He loves me and Roman but darts under the bed when the doorbell rings and anybody else comes over. Nobody believes we have this cat, so I feel the need to prove it with a lot of pictures.

Indy loves to play. String and beg-for-treats are two of his favorite games. He’s a Gemini. Many born under this sign are multi-dimensionally talented. Indy is multi-dimensionally talented because he sometimes thinks he’s a dog. His favorite game is fetch. We throw the mousie, he darts off for it, kills it, and then brings it back to drop it at our feet.

I’m packing up today to go out West for turkey day. New rule: Photo of the Week stops for vacations and turns into Photo of the Day. Gotta go pack up the cameras!

Personalized License Plates

I’m all for the clever ones. In fact, I have one myself! Most of the ones you see on the express ways are kind of boring, like “MOMOF3” or “MY BMR.” They thoroughly lack in the creativity department.

I have friends who personalized their plates. My friends who collect Pez dispensers, who are also in the printing business, have “CMYK PEZ.” A co-worker, a graphic designer, has simply, “CMYK.”

A few years ago, I saw a really good one, “SAPPNIN”

Roman and I were at Jungle Jim’s the other night and saw one of the best plates ever. Here’s the picture. Note the bumper sticker. Classic!

Tales from the Crypt

It’s 6:30, and trick-or-treat has been underway for a half hour. It’s a little slow so far. However, I must say, the munchkins have been awful adorable. I've seen two Power Rangers, one frog, a Jasmine, several witches, a storm trooper (oh my!) and an already-frazzled dad asking for beer. Ok, it was Stan, and he was probably kidding. But probably not. :)

It's 6:45 and I’ve already cast my vote for best costume. Napoleon Dynamite rang the bell. After I gave him a Reese’s Cup, he said, “Thank you. Vote for Pedro. Pedro offers you his protection.”

I’ve seen a dead bride, a dead soccer player, Dorothy (Toto was absent). I wonder if I’ll see an Elphaba.

Teo pre-teen girls just came by. I opened the door, and the first thing out of their mouth was, “Sweet plasma!” referring to my tv. Apparently, they told the whole neighborhood, because some parents told me they heard I had a nice plasma.

I really want to photograph the cute little ones, but in this day and age, you just can’t do that. I’ll never forget a few years ago, the best costume I ever saw. A little boy, probably around two, came to my door. He had overalls on, a patch that said his name, tools in every pocket, and the largest ring of keys I’ve ever seen attached to his pants! It was adorable, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one. The picture’s only in my memory.

Oh my god... A devilish 14-ish-year-old with a tatoo on the back of her neck just scored a Butterfinger from me. I’d better not see any tramp stamps tonight, or I’m giving up on society all together.

A little boy in a Nascar costume just stopped by. I know nothing about Nascar, so I asked him who he was. "Braden!”... um... “Awesome!” I didn’t know what else to say. (I found out later that Braden was the kid’s name. Maybe next year, I’ll know to ask “Who are you dressed up as?”)

We just got complimented on our sidewalk (by a parent). Apparently it’s wider than those in the rest of the neighborhood. We just had it put in because MI Homes sucks. Our sidewalk cracked after it was poured, they re-poured it, and it cracked again.

A pharoah, a creepy dead-brain guy, a dead golfer’s wife and a dead Minnie Mouse. The latter two probably didn’t have a costume until 5:45 tonight.

A girl with what I think is Down’s Syndrome just came by. She looked to be in her twenties, and I think it’s great she has the confidence to trick-or-treat. She was a mouse, and when she saw Cleo, she said, “meow, kitty!”

7pm. It’s only been an hour?

The girls are getting lots of compliments. They love it when the doorbell rings, partly I think because Indy hides under the bead. It’s girl time! Since Indy’s a vegetarian (meat comes back up), we also give the girls Fancy Feast when we have company. They LOVE the doorbell.

Roman just got home. Apparently he told the parent of the kid at the door that he was surprised I wasn’t sitting outside (I used to). She said “Everybody else is.” I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel. We’re going outside. Now that Roman’s home, that’s cool - I just didn’t want to sit alone!

It’s over. And I finally had time to eat dinner. Somehow, we have about five pounds of candy left over.

YES!

Halloween is tomorrow!

I like Halloween. When I was a kid, it was a chance for me to escape the shy-girl shell I existed in. I remember a few costumes of mine, but not a very many. We weren’t a picture-taking family, really. (Boy how my life has changed!)

One of my first Halloween memories was staying at my friend Stacy’s house for trick-or-treat. I’d spent the day with her, and it just sounded like so much fun to go out and get candy with her and her siblings. PLUS, they still had the Rubik’s Cube costume that her sister Julie had worn the year before. It was a perfect fit for me. I LOVED my Rubik’s Cube (I could only ever complete two sides, though, before I got frustrated and took all the stickers off and reapplied them as a “solved” cube...). It was also a perfect fit because it was a box with holes cut for my head and arms. I didn’t even need to change my clothes! The only setback was that the box was so wide that I couldn’t hold my pillowcase open very well upon entering the free candy zones. Ultimately, I made out. Stacy’s neighborhood bought the GOOD candy.

In high school, my friends and I decided to trick-or-treat when we were Freshmen (I was only 13). It was then that I learned I was too old to beg for candy. Lots of grown-ups asked us if we weren’t too old to trick-or-treat. Ultimately, though, I made out. The neighborhood we were in gave out full-sized candy bars! I also learned that if I really wanted candy, Mom could buy it for me.

For the past five or six years, I used to sit out on the driveway and hand out candy with my neighbors, but they go out with their kids now. So I'm probably just going to be pausing the DVR when the doorbell rings this year.

I still like Halloween a lot. I love seeing the imaginative costumes that kids put together. And I do like seeing the babies all dressed and bundled up (even though it irks me that they’re not even the ones who will be eating the candy I bought). It’s also a chance to meet some of the neighbors.

I hope that after 8pm, there’s still some candy left for me!

I Captured Cincinnati

Recently, CiN Weekly decided to run a collaborative photo contest called Capture Cincinnati. The concept was great:

CiN Weekly, in collaboration with C-Change, is proud to announce a new era in book publishing: collaborative publishing. A book published for you, written by you, edited by you. Your best photos, plus our best photos, plus our combined editing means this book is truly the best of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Apparently the contest started in early September, but I didn’t find out about it until three days before the contest ended. It would have been nice to know about it sooner, but I managed to post eight photos that I had easy access to. (Most of my photos are archived on DVDs, and I didn’t have the time to go through them all.)

I'm not sure if any of my pictures will end up in the book, but I checked out the site today, and some of my pictures were in the "greatest" pages:


I don’t know what constitutes “greatest.” The only other category is “freshest,” which I assume means posted most recently. Anyway, I’m in the “greatest” category, and that’s just fine with me. I guess I’ll have to wait until my book arrives to see if I’m actually in it!

What does brown do for you?

Typically, at this time of year, I ache to get outside with my camera to capture the changing leaves. We had such a dry summer this year, and everything that’s not green is ugly brown.

It’s not pretty. Does nothing for me. Makes me want to hibernate in my down blanket and veg in front of the television.

But wait. Hopefully weather.com doesn’t lie. Their fall foliage map says that, as of October 12, we’re still “patchy” - almost to “near peak” - then onto “peak.” So it looks like I have another couple weeks! Woo-hoo!

A few years ago, on November 5, 2005, I got some amazing shots. Roman and I had just dropped off my old word processor (that saved my life in college!) at my mom’s house. (She said she could use it, even though she has a computer...) It was still early enough in the morning that the light was really nice. These shots were taken when the fog had almost completely lifted from the lake. Mom lives on a golf course, and we had driven past the lake when I made Roman turn around. Just a week before, I had purchased my Canon 60D, but I still didn’t know how to use it, and I hadn’t even put the batteries in it! I had it with me, but I didn’t want to waste any time. I used the Nikon 5700 to get these shots, and the shots I got that day are some of my favorites. The colors were so vibrant, and the sky was so blue!

It’s times like these you learn to live again. It’s times like these you learn to love photography again.