Curious Bird

the world is one big funhouse

Self Portrait Tuesday: All of Me
this shot was taken over the weekend when I found myself caught in a moment of wackiness. I decided to keep things sorta light for this SPT entry--it's a current mood thing, I suppose. so instead of posting a photo displaying my greasy hair and dark circles (this task wouldn't be hard), I decided to focus on my EYE. in all honesty this is perfect because I don't see so well these days and sooner or later I'm probably going to be sporting lenses of a similar thickness. I'm supposed to wear glasses all the time, but rarely do. I know this is just an aspect of my inherent stubbornness and I will one day be sorry, very sorry. I'm wearing my glasses now if that's any consolation...

below is a sneak peek at some stuff I finished this weekend, all of which is for the upcoming Spectacular Crafternoon.

shadow box collage in pinks and browns. ooh la la.

and for the mod lion enthusiast that already has one too many bags.

and now for a link or two. I told you I dig pirate ships.
wee wonderfuls has a new blog called thriftcraft . I'll be tuning in.

and a quick sidenote: please don't use my images without permission. karma is a boomerang, remember?
this statement (a little blunt, I know) was thrown in after discovering (through my statistics--handy aren't they) that someone was using my images as their own. not cool. I thought about taking it as a compliment, but decided against it.

have a lovely tuesday

a frizzy holly hobbie, that's me...

Self Portrait Tuesday: All of Me
I have a great deal of experience taking goofy photos, but I think this one might win first place for overall goofiest elementary school photo. back then, I had a serious love for holly hobbie, as most girls growing up in the late seventies/early eighties did, so that explains the dress.  also, I was a very willful (aka bossy) young lady and I liked to do my own thing, which I suppose could explain the sad little bow and the super frizzy hair, and possibly even the low-fi treatment given to my apron straps. one tied high, one tied low. But what on earth is the explanation for the look on my face? it appears that I might have just awaken from nap time (it should be against the law to have school pictures after nap time), so perhaps I wasn't quite on my smiley face game. yowsa. for more self portraits, go here.


and happy valentines day!   

dark circles and lists of four...

Self Portrait Tuesday: All of Me
february's SPT challenge is about showing your true self, your real self. you know, the one without any photoshop touch-ups, nice lighting, or good angles. here's my first submission, a shot of me sans makeup or brushed hair. big surprise since I never brush my hair, I arrange it, but never brush it. and those dark circles have been my enemy in the past, but since getting more sleep certainly isn't possible (I'm fine in the sleep department), I've decided to lovingly embrace them. for more all of me self portraits, go here.

I've been tagged, and after some time deciding if I wanted to participate, I decided to give it a go. I'm now tagging Laura and Kat.
1) 4 Jobs You Have Had in Your Life
- retail sales lady
- waitress
- architect
- aba therapist

2) 4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
- chinatown
- heavenly creatures
- grizzly man
- anything by wes anderson, neil lebute, woody allen, jim jarmusch

3) 4 Places You've Lived
- Portland Oregon
- Rhinebeck  New York
- San Francisco
- out of a backpack

4) 4 TV Shows You Love to Watch
- six feet under
- sopranos
- various food network junk (not paula deen)
- the wire

5) 4 Places You've Been on Vacation
- India
- Various Places in SE Asia
- NYC
- Toronto

6) 4 Websites You Visit Daily/Almost-Daily
- soulemama
- flickr
- nytimes
- dooce

7) 4 of Your Favorite Foods
- pasta with olive oil and garlic, broccoli, and lots of pepper
- plain yogurt
- various faux meats
- tasty soup with warm bread

8) 4 Albums You Cannot Live Without (I'm cheating and changing this to Artists)
- Sam Beam-
- Marc Bolan
- Gram Parsons
- Chan Marshall

9) 4 Vehicles You've Owned
- Jeep (in high school, didn't last long due to my running into a pharmacy. yes, I said pharmacy)
- Toyota Celica (had this car forever. good ol' toyotas)
- Subaru Station Wagon (my sweet transportation. how many times can this car criss-cross the country? 5? 6?)

keep it curious,
L.

a couple of nomads. part five.

Self Portrait Tuesday: Personal History
after returning from our asian travels (see previous tuesday posts), D and I spent the summer working in New York (if that's what you want to call it) at a summer camp created by our good friend, Adam. this holga photo captures the two of us and the beautiful nature we had the pleasure of living in, as well as our genuine positive feelings towards one another. it always makes me happy when I look at it. always.

and this is another shot from that summer. I'm the one with the big glasses. go figure. It's now hard to imagine a time before summers at camp since I have co-directed this camp for the last three summers. It's a freaky, artsy, yoga, dance, mural painting, henna loving, swimming, and boating in the lake kinda camp for kids ages 13-17. I must admit it sometimes drives me crazy and other times makes me the happiest ever.
I'll be back there whizzing my golf cart around the property (I walk a lot too) in only a few months. geez, a year can go by fast. f-a-s-t. I miss my sewing machine already.
for other people's personal history self portraits, go here.

a couple of nomads. part four.

Self Portrait Tuesday: Personal History
in keeping with the rest of this month's theme, here is another photo from our Asian travels taken right about the point when we were ending an amazing 7 months and preparing to return home to jobs (or at least finding one), our beloved cats, and our less nomadic (although some family members would disagree), more domestic lives. and although I acknowledge that throughout this month's SPT posts, I've carried on about how amazing this adventure was for me in terms of personal growth and getting a little more comfortable with my baggage (I tend towards being a little anxious), honestly I could never express in words how lucky I feel to have had the chance to see what we saw, meet who we met, and explore as we did. geez, that was unforgettable fun. must do that again one day.
and FYI: if you want to meet the guy I'm sitting with, you will have to go to Bangkok, Thailand and find the beautiful Wat Pho. he looks pretty intense but don't fret, he's cool.

and for kicks...


here's a little more personal history with me and my lovely mama (wasn't she a fox?) sporting some of the best hairdos of the early 1980s. I told you I had a dorothy hamel swing cut. perhaps, I will revisit that look sometime soon...
hey mom, are you interested in another short perm? I didn't think so.

happy toooosday

a couple of nomads. part three

in continuation of this month's self portrait tuesday, here's a photo of me swinging out over the ocean in what was the very beginning of my travels to asia and india--this shot was taken in the south of thailand on the beautiful island Koh Phangan. I adore this photo because it captures how free I felt to be traveling and getting outside of my comfort zone. At first, I was really scared to travel for such an extended amount of time (7 months) to places quite different than my home, but I took a chance and trusted myself and it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my twenty-nine years on the planet. for other photos in this series go here and here.
and for other peoples self portraits go here.

happy tuesday.

a couple of nomads. part two.

SPT: Personal History
sometimes I cheat a little with the whole self portrait thing. I'll admit it, sometimes, rarely, but sometimes the photos aren't self portraits (they're taken by my cats). however, this shot of a couple of jokers riding on a motorcycle through the mountains of northern Thailand is definitely a self portrait. it is. you can even see the reflection of the camera in the bearded wonder's sunglasses--that's my favorite thing about this shot, actually. that and the fact that this photo all by itself completely sums up how much fun we were having while traveling. who knew quitting a job, putting your stuff in storage, your beloved felines in foster care (with friends), and gallivanting (my grandmother's word) to the other side of the planet could be so much fun. I sure didn't. I do now. I'm so thankful that I have that experience as part of my personal history. see other people's personal history 'self portraits' (or not) here.

by the way, I'm back from my long weekend to snowy New York and I have photos coming soon. have a great toooosday.

a couple of nomads

I haven't found the time to participate in SPT in quite a while due to all the traveling and holiday hubbub. However, after reading about this month's theme, I got super excited and was ready to get back to it. The theme is Personal History and it has to do with looking back using photos from your past, either distant or recent. This shot was taken a few years ago when we decided to quit our comfortable jobs and roam around in Asia and India for almost 7 months. I highly recommend doing wacky things like this whenever you get the chance.
I love the colors and the memory of this nutty photo. I also love all that sand stretching out behind us, and the crazy dog we called Santa's Little Helper asleep in the foreground. We were just waking up from our first night sleeping in the desert in Rhajastan, India while on a camel safari with the nicest man in all of India. As you can see, we didn't pick a very good sleep spot on the dunes--overnight everything was covered with sand, including my pillow! I treasure the photos from this time in my life so much. what a spectacular adventure.  see other people's personal history photos here.

SPT

 

for this week's SPT, here's a shot taken a few weeks ago. this month's theme is Reflective Surfaces, and although this isn't the greatest quality photo, it was taken in front of my living room mirror...
I love how it captures Mortimer's need for constant affection. for more self portraits you can look here.

In curious bird news, there's only one more bag to be made and then I'm done, done, done. I will post a photo or two when I get everything in order.