Posted on

New Digs for Ford

cyborg spray fun

Ford is in that whirlwind of development right now where literacy unfolds and reading kicks in. He is devouring books. On any given night you might find him lying on his back on the sofa, nose in a spy book, quiet as a mouse. I have been longing for this day. Suddenly, the whirlwind rests, content and cerebral.

He started his own pictoblog last week! a place where he can post his doodles and an outlet for his creative writing practice. This enables him to quickly express himself by dictating a story to me. I’m encouraging him to write his explanations at the bottom, too, so he can actually practice his penmanship. At this point, it’s faster to dictate, and the momentum isn’t lost– these small baby steps are very important.

If When you visit his blog, you’ll have to register as a user in order to leave a comment. Though it’s an initial hassle, from that point onward you’ll only have to login in order to comment and his site won’t get flooded with spam. Please leave him an encouraging comment and tell him what you think of his project. Feedback is a tremendously powerful thing at this age and I’d love to see a commitment from him strengthen over time as he realizes that an online sketchbook can become a place not only for self-expression but a springboard for storytelling and discussion and making new friends.

Thanks!
*steph

Posted on

Olive the name Olivia.

Alas, I don’t make girls.

On the other hand, the olive tree is in fruit.

the olives out back

So I picked some for a brining project.

I picked some for brining

I have no idea what I am doing! Does anyone out there have any pointers?
I’m following Mother Earth New’s “Cure Your Own Olives.” There are no expectations attached to this project, other than pure curiosity; this year the yield is low and this batch will be small. In fact, at this point, the joy is all in the harvesting–the sun on my shoulders; the cats gophering around my feet; the dog looking up at me with a ball in his mouth, just waiting; the feeling of connection I get with this land, caring for everything living on it and taking, in return, a small harvest in thanksgiving. It’s great.

Posted on

‘Bling’ doesn’t cut it

new camera strap

For about a decade now I’ve watched people walk around with digital cameras strapped to their necks, and it’s been an uninspiring image: the stale, black camera strap either yawns alone or shouts out “CANON EOS” or “NIKON” expletives, as if we had any say in the matter. Insipid digital cameras!

This past year I’ve had a mission on my agenda: to find a vintage camera strap like the one my father used to hang his Yashika 35mm from. I figured it would be an easy task, but the lack of product out there on the resale market left me wandering around looking for something new? Some kind of replica? Why was I the only person looking for something like this? Why was everyone so complacent with the black camera strap advertisement? I mean, this is a basic accessory! Like a pair of good shoes, you’re going to wear this thing every day.

About a month ago I found this “vintage” tapestry camera strap from B&H camera, and ordered it. About a week later it arrived, but guess what? It was BLACK. I think I started to twitch. “Excuse me,” I started in on customer service, “but WTF?!”

Turns out, B&H staff has to pick, at random, whatever color strap comes out of a big box of assorted camera straps. You can’t request any particular color or pattern; you get what you get and you then throw a fit.

Enter a savvy businessperson with an eye for what’s NEEDED in the world of photography fashion: Souldier Straps. DUH. Thank you. Based in Chicago, these women buy out a warehouse of vintage rickrack and trim and then spin their gold in the form of guitar straps, camera straps and belts. And then they go the next step and hit the music festivals.

A couple of weekends ago, Damon & I were at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, half-drunk and sweating our boots off, and when we cooled off under the market tents, we discovered these way-cool straps and treated each other to our 2008 souvenirs. I bought him a floral guitar strap; he bought me this beautiful turquoise and gold camera strap. It only took us about an entire concert slot to decide on the final patterns. But man, was it totally worth it.