the stalker and the dreamer

for Fall 'Roid Week 2010

Amsterdam

back from a weekend in Amsterdam attending the European Summit for Global Transformation in the glorious presence of Maggie Doyne, Letha Sandison, Mona Eltahawy, Esra'a Al Shafei, Lisa Field-Elliot, Gail Mooney, Marianne Elliott and many others who are making my life immensely richer for having spent a few days with them.

I'm humbled, inspired and confused in the best way possible.

more soon.

the simple, soulful photography e-class

what you should know:

the Simple Soulful photography e-class (October 4-31) is a four-week workshop complete with lessons and challenges that will help you find, and encourage you to express your authentic self through photography.

simple, soulful is my Style Statement.

I envisioned this workshop like I would arrange a meet-up with good friends in a small café. I come in early and journal while waiting patiently for familiar and friendly faces to appear. this place is our café. this is your place. where imperfections are celebrated, insights are shared and souls are nurtured. a place where we support each other on our quest to finding our authentic self and building a more creative and fulfilling life.

I believe in divine timing.

the only thing I've taught before is how to play Uno. and I've spent most of the past few days leaned over a bowl inhaling eucalyptus steam with a towel over my head to help relieve a sinus congestion. so the truth is, I'll probably be as nervous as you.

but I think it's going to be really fun.

picking my battles

no matter how much I encourage them to express their individuality in various ways and would love to be all Angelina Jolie about it, negotiating with my sons and having the 5 foot tall Pokemon poster off the wall and taped behind the bedroom door instead is the highlight of my week so far.

and yes, I totally made them hold hands.

hot off the press! win a copy of the Shutter Sisters book!

some beautiful images of childhood: peanut butter, looking forward, snail girl and swinging at sunset.

(and thank you so much for your kind and encouraging comments about the video!)

like hanging out in my backyard

whenever I go on a photo walk, I get off the metro at Odéon station, stop at Shakespeare and Company, cross the street to walk in the sunshine, sit on a bench on pont des Arts and grab a baguette sandwich on my way home. there are many other places that I love to explore in Paris, but this two-hour walk always fills me with a sense of home comfort, like hanging out in my backyard.

you can watch the video on Gypsy Girl's Guide today.

(note: it was my first time editing since 1999 when I was a film student and spent days in an editing room with a splicer, marker pen, scotch tape and 35mm film. I took the photos with a Canon 5D, recorded the videos with my iPhone 3G and edited the whole thing on iMovie, which I highly recommend if you are thinking about tackling video editing. and though the end result is full of glaring imperfections, and there are a dozen things that I would do differently, this little project reminded me of how important it is to be passionate about what you do and to continue to experiment and learn regardless of where you are in life. I truly loved every second I spent working on it.)

first love

on my bedside table right now: The Hurt Locker, Un Homme et Une Femme, Sideways, Persepolis, Chariots of Fire, Buena Vista Social Club, Coffee and Cigarettes.

watching with my boys: The Phantom Menace

when they are old enough: movies directed by Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, John Cassavetes and Charlie Chaplin, some Woody Allen and musicals from the early 50s. also, Hotel Rwanda and An Unconvenient Truth.

revisiting old favorites: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, My Blueberry Nights, Little Odessa, The Usual Suspects, Stand by Me.

inspiring me: the 90s, always.

end of summer

we are now wrapping two months of sports camp, library books and strolling to the local candy store every day for strawberry and vanilla ice cream. and though I feel a bit guilty at times that we did not offer our boys a variety of new experiences (and travel as much as most families do here during summer), I am thankful that we've learned to appreciate those simple moments together.

Advice

beach kid

7 days after we've returned from our trip I've still got sand in my shoes. and as I race through the demands and commitments of daily life and contemplate to-do lists piling up on my desk again, this makes me smile with delightful, unbridled giddiness.

I'm also most excited today to announce the launch of the Wandering necklace, a collaboration with Bel Kai designs for the Shutter Sisters Capture Collection. please visit Shutter Sisters to read more about it, and enter a giveaway to win your own necklace.

sunset

watching the sun set over the ocean with my boys in Normandy last week. I see now what they give them, and I know what they give me. those brief, ordinary moments. a place to return to in times of doubt, sadness or adversity. to feel safe, and complete. to feel loved.

Persona (a Flickr set by Jason Travis)

these past few weeks

I have transferred my work from the kitchen table to a real desk at my husband's office with a whiteboard and a chair that spins.

rode a bike for the first time in years and loved it, even if my butt says otherwise.

spiraled in panic.

leaned on friends.

watched more episodes of Law & Order than I'd like to admit.

barely picked up the camera.

spent some time at the beach with my boys.

learned hard, yet valuable lessons in surrender and faith.

we are so good at this