friday favorites

(yashica mat-124, film)

me and those fans, again. happy weekend to you all! i am off to actually develop some negatives. like, really develop them. on to real live photo paper. no, i've yet to do that if you can believe it! i have only scanned them to a CD! crazy i know. now to see the real work, as i am sure they will be far better on paper.

breathing

(yashica mat-124, film)

Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight~(Joan Chittister)

(canon 50D)

happy easter...

(photo by my fiance)

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there.

~Clarence W. Hall~

of bonds and mending hearts.

(yashica mat-124, kodak ektar 100)

i wonder each time ransom pauses outside to look toward the same cul-de-sac what exactly he sees. what his nose is sniffing after. nothing has really changed on our street in the 5 years we have lived in this little house.

except, everything.

today, i have learned your cancer has spread Buddy. that your liver and your spleen are enlarged. at work i shed tears and in the car, leaving work, i could hardly breath through them.

but i arrived home to your happy disposition, your amazing smile, and found it impossible not to grin from ear to ear in return. your eagerness in greeting me is the highlight of my day, equal only to seeing Ellis and Garth. but maybe this exuberance was only realizing a biscuit was soon coming? :o) i don't think so. when i sensed a week ago your time to leave might be near, when my gut was telling me... when i hoped my gut was faulty and misguided, but deep down i knew better....

i can attribute that knowing to only one thing: this incredible, indescribable, amazing bond the 2 of us share, Mr.Man. somehow you were telling me in your own way- and i heard. that's the kind of love that is shared between us. a love that transcends the spoken word and is wholly unconditional.

now it is time for our hearts to break and mend as we start to say our good-byes. not yet, you say to me. but sooner now than later. maybe in this way your cancer is a gift, even though i am struggling not to feel angry that it came so early in your short life.

today was the hardest day of them all. 7 years to just weeks... (if we have weeks)... in a flash. i wouldn't trade a single second. every one has counted.

there is no eloquent way to wrap this post up tonight. i love you Buddy. you have my heart. let's just make the most of these days. ice cream, peanut butter, table scraps, snuggles, trips to Pet Sm*rt... the world is yours. and heaven too.

did i hear you say biscuit?

(pentax k1000, kodak ektar 100)

cuz i could sure use a little smackerel of something good to eat.

(pentax k1000, kodak ektar 100)

this first song- with its haunting and dreamlike melody- brought me back to you who i have lost, pieces of myself, the whole of my mother, a best friend, the eventuality of my beloved ransom. it made me think of war and japan. but inside those losses there was light and hope, and through my tears i found peace.

this second song charged with middle eastern rhythm made me want to dance and then dance again! i adore this band, Taken By Trees. (advise you listen and not watch whoever made this video as it is distracting and does not fit the feel of the music). you can read a review of the whole album East of Eden here (which the song Day by Day comes from) and i suspect if you don't own it already, you might feel compelled to purchase it after reading this.

enjoy!

a picturefull

(yashica-mat 124, kodak ektar 100, film)

really loving this of late... (working on compiling a "picture perfect day" mix to listen to while i'm shooting, something i have never tried, and this song is one i've included among many others i am happy to share if anyone is interested- maybe in future posts?).

here is to another lovely weekend, hope yours is filled with all the small things that matter most.

i will be dropping off my first roll of film from the Yashica Mat-124 and am feeling like a little girl on christmas morning!

this just in and this just in again (update!)

and umm. i need a little bit of a tutorial. i can't even get the darn thing open to load film! but i am enjoying just carrying it around the house. heeee!

*update* i just took my first photo! oh glee! thanks to Claire, her tutorial, and a link to the on-line manual :) you made my day Claire!

(pentax k1000, kodak ektar 100, film)

thank you for such kind comments on the last set of photos i posted, i feel completely humbled! i am so inspired by all of you that i don't think of myself as inspiring- i am truly moved by your words.

hope everyone is having a relaxing week and enjoying the spring! here is some beautiful light to get you through to the weekend :)

the thomas center

(pentax k1000, kodak ektar 100)

this historical site in town is considered our cultural center and is housed in a beautifully restored Mediterranean revival-style hotel. it is adorned with gardens and walking paths, beautiful architecture and is a favorite spot to choose for weddings and/or receptions. there is an art gallery upstairs that often features local work by our budding artisans (grade school and up) but they also have showings from all over the world (i missed a huge chinese photography exhibit just before leaving for china! sigh).

we visited a week ago and spent over 2 hours just wandering through the gardens and galleries.

how was your weekend?

(pentax k1000, kodak ektar 100, film)

and some of those shots from the last week i've been itching to share :)

1. game on, locals play dominoes in the square downtown
2. i am having this thing for shooting fans lately. can't explain it.
3. a favorite cuban fusion restaurant, Emiliano's, downtown
4. The Lunch, cafe, in the town square
5. a man reading (loved this so much more than the one i took with the 50D)
6. farmers market, downtown
7. local used bookstore that serves vegetarian cuisine- including my favorite sandwich-
8. the chimichurri (pictured here with potato and onion curried soup, yum)- made with sliced apple, greens, onion, melted monterey jack cheese, cilantro pesto... and it is mouth watering gooood.

it's been a fabulous weekend, except the part where it has gone by too quickly. hope it has been wonderful for you too!

(pentax k1000, kodak ektar 100)

soft light on a quiet walk through the woods. good food. family, friends. laughter. holding hands and maybe a kiss or two. sharing our best memories and dreaming of what's to come. strength and willingness. rising up toward the sun in spite of it all. pushing through. soaring.

these are the kind of days i wish for all of us.

(pentax k1000, kodak max 800, film)

my spud. he certainly knows how to arrange himself into a lump of comfortable.

my sister and brother-in-law are coming to town tomorrow and this promises to be a great weekend. i just got back 2 rolls of film and the second had 36 shots- of which i loved almost every.single.one! a first for me and i can't wait to share some of them. there were a few duplicates from my digital shots and honestly i am considering just putting my digital camera down. i see the results on film and wonder sometimes why i bother to pick up the 50D anymore, it just does not inspire me in the same way. not to mention it's heavy and cumbersome :)

in case i am absent until sunday, hope you all have a weekend that brings sunshine and all good things!

sometimes a photograph from now and also from before