Happy Christmas Eve

I've always been a fan of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It's a pretty well-written poem. Vivid, pictorial, has a great narrative. And some really wonderful word-painting. Some of my favorite lines:

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

Now, granted there's no moon and no snow in this picture. And maybe it doesn't even look exactly like mid-day. But there is luster, you have to grant me that. (And I am NOT British, so I will not spell it lustre. No matter how many times you try to force me.)

This concludes the holiday poetry portion of the blog for 2010. Tune in next Dec 24th, when I attempt to illustrate

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

with a picture of a down pillow. Or some such nonsense.

The Ferry Building, and Resolutions

SF Ferry Building, tonight. We had some LOVELY weather in SF today. I may have even seen the sun out for hours at a time!

It's been a long week, I won't lie. A couple of mornings I've wanted to hit snooze, roll over, hide under the pillow, and go back to sleep. But, fortunately for me, I haven't.

And fortunately for all of us, the week is over. (Unless you have to work tomorrow. In which case, that sucks. My sincerest apologies.)

Anyway, it's been kind of an amazing year. Back in January I made some resolutions, and for a while it seemed like they might not happen. But  . . . then actually they mostly did.

Shoot More Portraits. I can still improve on this one, but I have made progress. Like with Miguel. And Barrie. And Lara. And a few others that I haven't blogged. I've been braver about sticking my camera in other people's faces, and that's only to the good.

Get Paid. I did it! I'll be sharing the gory details (well, some of them) with you all soon enough. But I have finally made some money from my passion. Yes!!

Increase My Percentage of Keepers. Well, this one's tough. I think I have. But honestly, if I haven't, I'm not fussed. What I feel I have done, which is more important, is improved my overall photography. And that counts more. 

Print More. I did. And then I made a book. And I taped my prints all over my walls. Check! What I really need now is more wall space. I'm kind of running out.

What's up for next year? You'll have to wait until January to find out . . . .

*So, how did you do on your resolutions? Feel free to confess or brag in the comments section.*

Another Cat Photo!

Sorry I've been MIA, I've had lots of photography-related business recently. I'll tell you all about it soon, I promise!

Happy Tape, AKA the cheapest frames ever

 As some of you may know, my living situation for the past year has been a little unstable. We're still renovating, so the walls I have now are not the walls of my future. Due to that, and the general cost of frames, I haven't put much of my work on the walls.

That  is, until recently. I stumbled across a site called Happy Tape a while back, that sells Japanese paper tape (kind of like blue tape, or painter's tape, but in cool colors and designs. And then I saw a blog post where this delightful tape was used as a cheap alternative to wallpaper.

And I had a great idea. Why not use it as a frame? Wayy cheaper than traditional frames, no holes in the wall. Not going to pull off the paint, which is good. And temporary, but permanent enough. Why not?

So I did. I recommend it. I printed out a bunch of my NY photos, and I also put up some previously printed Thailand shots.
 I used the make-a-frame two pack, but you could probably go hog wild, and color coordinate with your prints, or use silver and gold to make it look extra fancy. The sky's the limit!

Self portrait? With annoying ring flash.

10 Reasons My Cat Is Awesome

10. She's Thai. Not very many people have a Thai cat, so she makes me feel unique. Although, being Thai, she is perpetually cold here in San Francisco.

9. She'll attack anything that moves, or is longer than it is wide. Shoelaces are her favorite. And the fake mice we buy for her. As well as any small insect that is unfortunate enough to make its way into our house.

8. Most of the time, she doesn't attack us. (Except for feet under the blankets. But that's excusable.)

7. She loves cheese. And her name is Mouse. Need I say more?

6. She's friendly, for the most part, unlike some cats who like to hide in the corners when other people come over. She'll come up and sniff you and wait for a pet. And then later if she thinks you're warm she'll probably jump into your lap when you least expect it.

5. She likes to sleep under the covers. If you're asleep she delicately licks your face until you wake up and let her under with you.

4. She seeks out heat in any form. Warm laps, recently occupied seats, a spot in the sunshine or next to the heater? DONE. It was a little disconcerting when we got her an electric bed and she stopped sleeping with us for a while and we realized it wasn't US that she loved, just our body heat.

3. She's perpetually hungry, if you ask her, which I don't recommend. PLEASE, can I have just a little more food?? Pretty please?

2. She's got the best purr ever. When we wake up in the morning and pet her for the first time it's almost like she's going to burst from purring.

1. She's mine. :-)

Window Lights

A simple picture for today, but cheerful. There's something about holiday lights that can raise all but the most dampened of spirits.