Tunicate

Laughing it up at the Lytton Pines Motel

2012-01-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

Thank you Lytton Pines Motel for hosting our late night glow photo shoot last summer! Stumbled upon these tonight and thought I would share a few with you.

10,000 Views

2012-01-30T22:06:00.001-08:00

Hey! I just noticed this blog has received over 10,000 views. Crazy! Thanks for all you readers out there!

Liking the Outlook

2012-01-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

Here's my Gemini outlook for 2012. I think I like it! And thanks to Ninette for pointing this bit of good news (hey, take it where you can get it).

"This really is your year. Not only does the once-in-a-lifetime Venus transit fall in your sign but Jupiter, planet of success and enlightenment, also begins a 13-month stay in Gemini. Their combined influence will help you to recognize without a shadow of doubt where your future lies – and chances are it will have little to do with material goals, acquisitions or accomplishments. Your worldview will alter dramatically, as will your priorities. By the time the last of the year’s four eclipses falls in your sign on Nov. 28, you will know how to make those changes work, not just for yourself but for the wider community too."

Dear Destiny

2012-01-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Destiny,

2011 is over. My door is open for the new year. Gimme what you got 'cause I'm ready for it!

Yours Truly,
Susan

Here Piggy Piggy Piggy

2011-12-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, by popular request (which in my world means at least one) I am sharing a highlight from my recent trip to Maui.

For Christmas, my parents gave me and my boys a two-hour trail ride with Mendes Ranch north of Wailuku. When we saddled up, we noticed a rather large swine wandering the grounds amidst the dozens of peacocks milling about (yep, peacocks, dozens of them).

We were joined by few other families so the guide ended up splitting us into two groups. As the first group rode off down a dirt trail into the lush, tropical foliage, the pig trotted off after them.

It was finally our turn to head out, sitting high on our horses as they trudged up a steep trail. We reached a plateau overlooking a deep valley ravine that was supposedly featured in the opening scenes of Jurassic Park. After a quick glimpse of the waterfalls below, we turned around, passed the ranch, and sauntered down to the ocean shoreline where we met up again with the first group and the pig, who traded alliances and remained behind with us.

After a few souvenier photos, the pig got in line and followed our horses back to the ranch. For the longest time my horse wouldn't pass it. Of course, I was too busy laughing and trying to take a photo of to care. Eventually I got ahead, but even as we galloped the last stretch, the pig kept going, still steadily following along.

I like to think this not-so-lazy pig, between our two groups, completed the entire trail ride. I also like to think it goes on all the trail rides, twice a day, all year long.

I read today that "amazing" has been named an overused word of 2011, so I will instead use the words immortalized in the song Zuckerman's Famous Pig, from the movie Charlotte's Web:

"Oh, wow, look at him now
~~Zuckerman's~~ Maui's famous pig
Suey, whaddya see?
The greatest hog in history!
Fine, swine, wish he was mine
What if he's not so big?
He's some terrific, radiant, humble thig-a-majig of a
Fine, phenomena"

And now, the photos:

Maui Surf, Face First

2011-12-31T15:44:00.000-08:00

The first time I took surf lessons, my surf-guru Dove and I paddled out off the shores of Malibu Beach, California and learned pretty quick that good, local surfers didn't take too kindly to newbies in their midst. It was a short lesson and I caught more insults than I did waves. In fact, I didn't get up on my board once.

Thankfully learning to surf in Maui is as common as flip-flops and fish tacos, and the locals, at least the ones we met, were more than happy to have us share the warm water and tiny waves with them. These photos of our family surf lessons were taken by Big Kahuna Adventures, but I played around with a few of my favourites to share with you.

Put your diamonds in the surf
(yes, we went to the Jay-Z and Kanye concert the day before leaving on vacation).

Kje, which means garden of the sea, shot up on the board first time, first try. Awesome!

Surf Dude

Really, I did get up! How else would you explain going down like this?

DJ Jonnycat

2011-12-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

I'm a few months late in posting this, but this "wicked" photo of DJ Jonnycat made its way into the South Delta Leader - a community newspaper. Nothing better than a hamburger and big headphones to represent an electronic music artist. First photo of mine that made it into the news. :)

The End and The Beginning

2011-12-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Grab a tea, pull up a chair, get cozy! For those of you who have been following along for the last 12 months, you will know my Year of Turning 40 is coming to an end. And what a year it has been, the last six months especially. The blog post is about putting some closure to this year so I can free up some space for the new year to enter. Here goes . . .

On Friday June 17, the day before my big 4-0 day, a few hours before I was to head out with a few dozen work friends for a sushi birthday celebration, I received an urgent meeting request from my boss. Long story short, I received my first birthday present - a choice between the opportunity of staying with the organization in a new job or the opportunity of leaving the organization to do, well, whatever I wanted.

To be straight, I loved my work, especially the people I worked with. But there were aspects of my job that just didn't fit with me any more, especially not the family and creative part of me. After a thoughtful weekend I gave my answer Monday morning. I was leaving.

Here is what I wrote on Facebook that day at 4:43 pm. "Poured tea, read Dwell magazine's beach home issue, hot tub for lunch, went for a walk, talked to a few friends, picked up Kje from school. Doing okay."

It is a big thing to turn 40. It is a big thing to leave the work and work-family you love. It is a big thing to sit at home and do nothing but read a magazine, drink tea and wait for what comes next.

I have postponed writing this post for a few reasons, but primarily because I wanted to wait until I had some perspective and could write something profound about what came next. The truth is, change is a journey and six months later I am still waiting for what comes next and still don't have anything profound to say about it all. What I do have to say it that I am grateful for the opportunity to leave the day-to-day of working for someone else and embrace the every day of being myself, in every moment, in every little way. I am rediscovering who I am without the shell of work getting in the way. Here are a few of the every day little things that shaped me and my last six months:

Writing a 50,000-word novel in 20 days and then four months later reading it and liking what I created.
Spending the beginning of the summer living with my son Paris in our own borrowed Penthouse Suite (thank you again Anna for being so generous with your sanctuary!)
Mixing it up with DJ Jonnycat, Stray Cats, CCR, and the banjo in the mini van on our BC Summer Road Trip. Gold mines. Horse rides. Log flumes. Beach reads. Ahhhh . . .
Hanging with the boys and Mom and Dad at the cabin on Shuswap.
Spending every day with my husband and still continuing our tradition of hot tub happy hours, even though I no longer needed to vent "after work".
Spending every day, all day, with my husband and still enjoying his company. :)
Packing it up at one o'clock to hit the lake for a summer swim and relaxing float on the mattress. Bliss.
Walking my son Kje to school. Picking him up. After school snack. Homework. Nice Routine.
Volunteering at the school library and having my favourite student ask me every week to help her find a book, and then hug me after I found "the perfect one".
Texting with Paris while he was in school and helping him with his homework via Skype.
Starting my business. Getting my first contract. Finishing my first contract (well, almost).
Spending time on the phone with family and friends engaged in relaxed conversations.
Waking up and putting on jeans and a t-shirt every day.
Making lunch at home.
TED once a week. Thank you TED.
Listening to CBC programs like Canada Live and Q with Jian Ghomeshi.
Enjoying the morning sunlight.
Reading in the day time between 9 and 5. In bed. In my pyjamas.
Becoming comfortable saying I am a consultant, contractor, writer and photographer, not an ADM.
Writing and sending out a whole bunch of story proposals.
Going for 3 hour walks around Elk Lake in the middle of a work day.
Connecting with my work friends and turning them into friend friends.

So, Turning 40. A great year packed with tons of intense moments and lasting memories. I started the year saying I was going to do anything and everything I wanted and pay for the fun when I was 41. And yes, for the first six months that was true. I grabbed life, heaved it over my shoulders and took it for a ride. But the last six months have been about putting life down and curling up with a it and a good book. Slowing down. Doing less. Simplifying. Enjoying my family. Enjoying what I have. Enjoying routines and local connections. Being here in the moment. But more importantly, creating a new base from which I could head into the next decade. And with that . . . off I go.

Letter from Paris

2011-11-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

Received an electronic letter (somehow that sounds better than saying email) from Paris today. I kinda like this sentence he wrote and thought I would share it with you.

"aLL i CAN REMEMBER IS WHAT i'VE TAKEN FROM THE PAST, AND i CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING i'VE GOT IN THE FUTURE."

Port Renfrew Secret No Longer

2011-11-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

If you happen to see a copy of this month's Cottage magazine, check out my latest article, this time featuring Port Renfrew. Although not the cover shot, the story spreads over six pages and features a photo of my husband and son buying a few famous cherry pies (yum!) from The Cook Shack at the Port Renfrew Marina alongside a photo of my favourite beach. Turn the page and there is the shot of the San Juan River. Mixed in are a few images of the welcoming Wild Coast Cottages . . . wait a minute, anyone want to head to Port Renfrew this weekend? Or at least read about it?

Cabin Resort, RV Highrise, Public Art . . . What Is This?

2011-11-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

Not mine, but I love the composition and storytelling of these photos! Found them both here.

Writing of Courage

2011-10-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week my youngest son completed a writing assignment at school about courage. That night he brought his writing book home so he could work on his homework. While checking over his spelling and sentence structure I flipped back and found his courage assignment. I admit, it made me cry, for reasons it would be hard to explain unless you knew him and me and his dad and his brother and what our family has gone though over the last three years. There is something courageous about writing from your heart, about writing in your own voice, about writing what you know to be true in your world. Kje has struggled with being a good writer and he has been working on it with his teachers and me for a few years. I think he has nailed it on this one and I had to share it with you.

Courage is not giving up on feeding a cat for 1 to 19 years.
Courage is cleaning a toilet after someone went poo in it.
Courage is saving someone from a disease.
Courage is jumping off 10 metres into water.
Courage is going to a new school.
Courage is resisting temptation to eat the cookies while your mom and dad are in the hot tub.
Courage is not giving up and getting modifications on Minecraft when you're new to going to it.
Courage is helping your brother when he's sad.
Courage is not playing the world's most addictive game.
Courage is being friends with the most popular kid in school.

While driving him to school that morning (yep, I was being lazy and didn't want to walk in the rain) I told him what a great job he did and how proud I was of him for expressing himself so well.

"A few of those are lies, " he said.

"Oh?" I replied and waited for him to say more.

"They're not all true. I play the world's most addictive game."

"And have you got cookies while we were in the hot tub?"
"Ya," he says with a chuckle. "That too."

I chuckle with him, telling him it's okay without having to say anything. I think courage is telling your parents you lied and then telling them you did something you weren't suppose to.

There are these amazing moments in life, when you know your child will be okay, good, honest and courageous. Kje still has lots of writing assignments left in life before he becomes an adult, but for now, I can't help thinking he's on the right track.

Ferns and Flipping-Fun Family Photography

2011-10-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

I love this family. While most of us are putting on slippers, turning up the heat and hunkering down to watch the season opener of some new fall TV series (or in my case, hopping in and out of the hot tub), these guys are packing their truck to go camping in the backwoods, in a tent! Turkey schnitzels over the campfire for Thanksgiving dinner, anyone?

It was only fitting their family photos were taken in Mount Douglas Park, in Saanich, BC, with an abundance of ferns and towering Douglas Fir and Cedar trees. Not to mention an abundance of fun!

Belly!

2011-10-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

I admit it, my favourite photo of me being pregnant has me wearing a wrap-around brown patterned skirt from Fiji, a brown crocheted bikini top and a fur Russian hat. (Picture that!) Yep, I raided my Mom's dress-up clothes and had a little fun. Needless to say, I did not look as graceful and beautiful as Ashley does in these photos, just a few days away from her due date. If I could do it all over again, I would want to look like her.

Esme

2011-10-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

I loved taking Esme's photo. She has this magical face that wavers between looking grouchy and appearing peaceful like a blissful angel, and the slightest movement would hide one expression and reveal another. She kept wanting me to take pictures of the shed in her backyard. And the leaves. And the dirt. I just kept the camera on her tranformative face . . .

Backyard Family Time

2011-09-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

I loved taking photos of this Mount Pleasant family. The kids were comfortable at home (and with the camera) and their young daughter was just getting the hang of sitting up. She looked adorable in her red checked dress! I love how the carrot, fresh-picked from their garden, became part of the family for the afternoon.

Bookworm, Just Like Mom

2011-09-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you Mom. Thank you so much for reading, and helping me fall in love with words, sentences and stories.

Fiction, non-fiction, books, magazines, poetry, graffiti, newspapers, letters, emails, whatever.

Thank you for taking me to the Burnaby Public Library when I was little and getting me my own library card. I remember you telling me how important is was to have my own card. My own signature on it. Thank you for encouraging me to join the summer reading club. I can still visualize the list I wrote of all the books I read that summer. Thank you for sharing the yellow loveseat at home with me - you on one end reading your book and me the other side reading mine.

Thank you for volunteering at my elementary school library every week. I loved seeing you there and I love you for that. Thank you for having a bookshelf at home, and even though I kinda cringe at the Stephen King / Danielle Steele genre of books I used to devour (think Grade 8 here, folks, a long time ago) those books gave me the impetus to explore fiction of a better calibre once I gained my own literary consciousness. Perhaps most importantly, thank you for making the written word such a big part of your life, even now reading voraciously and continuing to volunteer at your community library, fixing and shelving books.

Because of you reading is a big part of my life. I love words because you showed me how to fall in love with them. It has shaped who I am.

Today is for you.

I have always wanted to follow in your foot steps and volunteer at my son's library. Well, Paris is now in grade 12 and I kinda missed that boat. This is the last year of Kje in elementary school and my last chance. Also, it was one of those things on my Turning 40 list of things to do that make me happy.

Today, at 12:15pm I walked into Kje's school library and there he was, checking out some books with the rest of his class. It was my first weekly shift as the volunteer librarian (well, more like volunteer book-shelver). He looked so happy to see me. All his friends came over to say hi, too.

It felt so good to start something I have wanted to do for so long. I stacked 521.3 between 521.2 and 523, and sorted primary books by last name SEU, MAU, DAH.

A blonde boy asked me to help him find a book on cars. We looked together. A cute girl in a pretty dress wanted a princess book but every time I found one for her she said “No, I don’t want that one.” I put books back in their place for lots of small hands. The whole thing made me smile.

Thanks Mom. I am already looking forward to next week.

Erin & Kevin Wedding Bliss

2011-09-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

We were walking to another photo shoot site when I overheard Kevin say to his new bride "It was the best idea to come here. It's been perfect." Kevin was talking about getting married at Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa in Osoyoos, BC. He was talking about the resort, the abundant sunshine, the spectacular lakeview, the party pool, the guys golf game, the award-winning winery, the wine, more wine. Family, friends. Erin, her wedding dress. Everything . . . He was right.

When I did the engagement photos for Erin & Kevin, I was amazed at how natural they were in front of the camera. They made the wedding shoot even easier. Here are a few of my favourites.

Bangs and a bad camera

2011-09-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

When I took my photography course at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (many haircuts ago back when it was a college) I was told by my instructor that at some point in time every photographer conducts a photo shoot with themselves as the subject. One girl in the class handed in a portfolio of herself in her bedroom for our first assignment. (Yes, she had clothes on and yes, she looked like she wanted to take them off. I must admit, in this age of internet porn and public Facebook profile pictures, I still worry about her.)

I cut my bangs a few weeks ago. I was inspired by a woman I met who I liked who had hair I loved. Especially her bangs, I loved her bangs. I went home that night and hacked my locks off with a pair of bad eggshell-blue scissors. My friends who live far, far away, asked to see photos.

I often tell people it is the eye and light that makes a good photo, not the camera. I tell the story of a photogapher (forgot his name, can't find it) who was hired by a cell phone company to travel the USA and take just one picture a day with his cell phone for one year and share it with the world. He managed to get some amazing images without the use of a professional camera. ( FYI, I am for hire and come with an RV if needed to travel across BC or Canada and will share one picture a day, two, three, whatever.... just saying.)

So, here we are. A few photos from my very first self portrait series, taken of my new bangs, using my crappy Skype camera.

p.s. the first person who saw my new photos via Skype said I look like Joan Jett. Nice....

Pondering Paris

2011-09-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of the last year of high school for my older son. I just looked through his school's online calendar and put all the pro-d days and report card days and band concert days into my calendar, too. I must admit, it felt pretty weird to add "Grad Dinner Dance" to an upcoming Friday night. (Yes, at the moment 2012 feels "upcoming".)

I wonder what he will wear to his prom. I am thinking a green Wilco t-shirt and wool Irish cap. Perhaps with a black suit jacket and black pants, a cotton handkerchief peeking out of a pocket somewhere. His signature grey canvas sneakers. I wonder if this will be one of those dinner dances where parents are invited. I wonder if there will be live music and if Public Access will play Bright Side or End of Yesterday.

Last night was his first grad party, a camp out at school, cut short when the police broke it up at one o'clock a.m. due to excessive noise.

I wonder where life will lead him, starting the day after the last day of the last year of school.

Tiny Wet Beads

2011-08-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

After just finishing Holy Skirts, a fictional novel about Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven -- poet, avant-garde and woman extraordinaire -- I was thrilled to hear Kje speak poetically to me this morning as I was dropping him off at a friend's house.

I had to write it down.

I love these days,

warm days when my hair is wet.

I shake my head back and forth

and back and forth

and stick my hands in the middle where

tiny wet beads of water hit all over.

Turning 40 for Real This Time

2011-07-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

And yep, the big day was upon me. Not the birthday year, but the birthday day. Saturday night. June 18. Officially, the cake came out. Two candles. 4 on fire... 0 on fire... I only blew one out to prove I have a boyfriend... (well, actually I married him ten years ago, but I think that still counts).

The party was perfect - a backyard BBQ get together with family - complete with a few of my favourite things:

My Family
A special performance from two of my nieces as they danced to "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond...just for me!
Punching balloons all around
Barefoot kids running around chasing each other
Riesling... a few glasses at that
Christmas lights, patio lanterns, Chinese paper lamps and torch lights all over the backyard
My very own PARTY TIME plastic shot-glass-around-the-neck necklace
Pinata full of candy and toys for the kids to whack at
Pinata full of candy and miniature liquor bottles for the adults to whack at
Fire pit surrounded by deck chairs...perfect set up for great chats and lots of laughs all night long
Adults eating candy and passing around mini bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey (tastes like heaven, burns like hell...)
My brother's signature appetizer (my favourite) made from smoked salmon, cream cheese and buckwheat crepes
Cheese puffs and salt & vinegar chips (um... actually, don't really remember if there were any...)
My Mom's famous lemon cake AND she made two!
My sister-in-law's famous chocolate flourless cake!
Music... all my favourites, perfect backdrop
Sparklers
Dancing with Dad to an oldie but goodie
A crazy white and red feather hat, wacky green sunglasses and a blue boa, just to remind me that I am 40 and my parent's daughter
A light rain and warm, cozy sweaters to keep the chill out
Pottery for my collection
My very own sparkly, twirly baton with tassels
Hugs and kisses from everyone

The best present was that I didn't have to organize anything, decorate anything, cook anything, clean anything or drive myself home. Ah..... bliss.

So, did I feel any older? My son Paris was my designated driver for the first time ever, so that was kinda weird and wonderful at the same time and yes, while sitting in the back seat I did reflect on the fact that at one time, a long long time ago, he was just learning to walk and now he's driving and that transformation doesn't happen overnight. But after celebrating my birthday year for six months and 17 days already, the actual day felt a bit like a water station half way through a marathon (not that I have ever run a marathon or plan to, but you get the point, right?).

It was just a day to celebrate all that has been and all that will be. And what a perfect way to do that! And so.... on to the rest of my Turning 40 year. This is when the fun really begins...

Erin & Kevin Wedding Engagement Photography

2011-07-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

Some people are just naturals when the camera gets turned towards them. Erin is definitely one of those people and her fiance Kevin complements her well, making them the most photogenic couple I have ever seen together. We spent a sleepy Sunday morning revisiting the Lost Lagoon site where he proposed to her for the second time... and it was like I wasn't even there. Thankfully the lens caught the moment.

Pop the Glock

2011-07-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. Time for another 40 birthday party away from home. This time, Vegas!

My friend Rob wanted his "over the hill" party in Vegas, complete with late night blackjack, beer buckets at the pool, 60 oz football beer from Fremont Street and succulent scallops at Mon Ami Gabi. And in true Vegas style, only in the U S of A, he wanted to shoot some guns.

So in the spirit of "doing what I want, when I want and paying for the fun when I'm 41" hubby and I were in. In for Vegas. And not just Vegas, but in for Paris, Vegas. In for football beer. In for beer buckets at the pool (actually we were in for enough beer buckets and chi chi's that our pool bill almost matched our hotel room bill). And of course, we were in for the Uzi, the Glock and the M249 SAW.

Despite being a west coast peace & love kinda gal, I must admit I was actually a bit intrigued and excited about doing something in Vegas worthy of a milestone birthday. Something I normally wouldn't do at home (not that I wake up every Saturday and hang by the diving board with tropical drinks and beer buckets). And shooting an AK47 sounded more my style than well... getting married at the Elvis chapel or hiring a few hookers for the night or squeezing my body into a teeny-tiny tube dress and 4 inch heels to line up for hours in front of one of the exclusive nightclubs.Wait, let me rethink that.... Na, Elvis would win...

Whatever. Here's the deal. You are greeted at the door with a menu outlining your "gun rental" choices. The World War II Package. The Zombie Package. The Ladies Package (guns painted pink) or for the connoisseur, the Shoot the Wall Package including 11 different machine guns. The one that blew me away (pardon the pun) was the Kids Package complete with a souvenier THE GUN STORE t-shirt. Have these guys not heard of Columbine?

You then head inside the bunker-style concrete building to pick up your ammo and targets and pay before lining up for almost two hours.

I selected the full size AK47 and the Glock 19. And yes, it feels odd to be able to say that as smoothly and easily as mentioning I sipped a cup of chai tea before yoga this morning.

So we all shot our targets and it was loud and noisy and we laughed at ourselves and our big guns and all the ammo shells on the floor. It was quite surreal.

On another note, have you seen the movie It, based on the Stephen King book about a sadistic clown? It was one of the scariest books/movies I have ever read/seen in my life. Let's just say I took great satisfaction in selecting my "Pennywise the clown" target and shooting it dead in the heart multiple times. And yes ladies, I got it dead centre in the "Pennywise package"...in the crotch... in one shot. (This is when I blow my proverbial smoking gun...)

Turns out I'm quite a steady hand on that Glock. Who knew?

And photos:

Should I pick the Zombie package?

Up-sell and cross-sell: Try a rifle, pistol or shotgun

Accessorize with Ammo

Target Practice

Yep, that's me and Pennywise. A bit blurry...

Aftermath

PS. Dear all future employers and friends. Please disregard above.

Grrls Weekend with Superwoman and Rihanna

2011-06-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

12 women, San Jose, Turning 40 birthday party for my high school friend Oriana.

Let's just say there was the usual stuff you would expect at a grrls weekend away - wine, main street shopping, feather extensions, vintage clothing, shot glasses, wine bar, heels and way too many cameras and laughs. So, in the spirit of blogging about Turning 40 - the good, the bad, the ugly - let's just skip to the part you may not expect, or at least I didn't.

We ended up going to Asia SF, a San Francisco Transgender Bar that claims to have the "Ultimate San Francisco Experience." Their website also claims "you'll never forget your birthday at AsiaSF." You can say that again!

The "dinner & a show" evening started as an entertaining experience upstairs, complete with incredibly beautiful transgender women serving dinner and drinks (think sautéed Pacific salmon, finished with a miso glaze, served over black “forbidden” rice with a sweet tomato-edamame salad and Truffled Soba Noodles - grilled portobello mushroom, asparagus slices, tossed with cool sesame soba noodles, white truffle oil & sweet tomatoes plus mini ice cream cones for dessert). After each course the waitresses would put on a new outfit and jump up on the runway bar for a tease dance act. Think Transgender Superwoman singing "I Will Survive" while pretending to whip those sitting on the bar stools.

After three courses and six dances and lots of pondering over how he became she, we all headed to the downstairs dance club to shake our booty. Little did we know the tease dances continued downstairs with a bit more flair.... including well, um.... the dancers touching the brides-to-be out for their stagette, um... up there and um... down there under the clothes and over the naughty places. Hmmm...now there is something I haven't seen in my 4D years.

Let's just say I was glad Oriana wasn't there for her bridal stagette, we didn't stay too long and everytime I hear Rihanna sing "I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it. ... whips and chains excite me" I need to change the channel.

On another note, here are a few quick pics from the weekend loot bag.

Whooosh Goes Mom and Me

2011-06-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you just need a little mother daughter time.

And when you are hitting a milestone like turning 40, mother daughter time climbs to the top of the list. It was definitely near the top of mine. Fortunately, I had the perfect excuse to whisk Mom away for a weekend of living in San Francisco.

You see, my cousin Shauneen recently launched a new organic tea company, Far Out Flying Saucer Teas. In the spirit of doing "what I want, when I want, and I will pay for the fun when I am 41" I thought it would be super fun to surprise Shauneen by showing up at her official launch party in San Fran. Which led me to calling Mom, who signed on immediately.

Little did I know that we would get two weeks notice of the launch party. Lickety-split, plane tickets were bought and we were standing in Union Square in front of the historic Westin St. Francis, our home for the next three nights.

The next morning we explored. We walked through Chinatown, talked while climbing to Coit Tower, walked down Filberg Street, talked to chatty strangers, until finally we caught a cable car through Russian Hill (one of the "Original Seven" of 44 hills) back to Market Street, where we bumped into the St. Patrick's Day Festival and Parade. One of the great things about walking and talking down Market Street in the opposite direction as the parade is moving is that you see the highland dancers, firetrucks, marching bands and green-clad revelers twice as fast. Twice as nice. Whoooosh.

Next - tea time! The official Far Out Flying Saucer launch party was, well... quite literally a tea party. For some reason I thought media, crowds and fireworks!! Alas, when we showed up I realized it was a quiet, private gathering for 30 or so family friends. Albeit the function was held in a captivating contemporary home with floor to ceiling window and awe-inspiring views (um, hello.... can I stay here forever???) and the tea tasting and food offering was impressive enough to rival the Fairmont Empress Hotel's $51 afternoon tea service. Ornate china tea cups, fancy crustless salmon sandwiches, and very, very respectful conversation with very, very respectable company. Heck, even caviar was served.

Afternoon tea was followed by an evening of Thai, accompanied by a few glasses of wine and I must admit, it felt so great to be devouring good food, engaging in interesting conversations with interesting people, making new friends ("you know, you just have to stay with us when you get to Victoria...."), slightly tipsy, living minute by minute, feeling like a jet setter! Then whoooosh..... into the car, surrounded by black leather, over the bridge, warm air through my hair, door to door drop off at our swanky hotel courtesy of my uncle and voila! We are living the party life!

Ah...... mother daughter time is sooo good!

On Saturday, we were picked up by my aunt and uncle and whisked to a funky cafe for breakfast before being toured through Golden Gate park. Then, whooooosh... kisses and hugs and they were off up the coast while we lingered in the AIDS Memorial Grove for a thoughtful moment before heading towards Haight Street.

Backtrack. When I was 13, I really, really, really wanted to get my ears pierced. I begged, I pleaded. Finally, at the age of 16 I was granted permission and off I went with Mom to Merle Norman. Ironically, over the years, wearing earrings became a bit of a chore (especially those dangly beaded ones that caught on frickin' everything and let's not even talk about the kids yanking on those silver hoops) and my holes kinda grew over. But... that all changed when mom and I were walking and talking into hippy history and proceeded to walk impromptu into a painted red tattoo parlor on Haight Street to get my ears re-pierced. This place was more tattoos, nose rings, body piercings and dermal punch than Merle Norman 80's sea green eyeshadow (which, by the way, is sooo back in style, according to their website) but $24 bucks and a few minutes later, voila, I am 16 again with pretty stainless steel hoops through my lobes!!

(And no, I wasn't even tempted to get a tattoo... perhaps at 50.)

I think you are getting the point about the trip. Whiz bang, here. Whoosh, voila, there! Pasta, pesto, eggs and toast, Pinot Gris, slow down art in the park, DSW, Macy's, hustle through H&M, Sephora, whoooaaaaa deeep conversations with my cousin, *blink* quiet reading in our hotel room, taxi here, drop in there, coffee in the lounge, walk and talk and then pack her up, check out, load em in, check in and......... wait, wait, wait to head home via SFO.

Whew....... how can you pack so much goodness into one little bitty caviar-sized weekend away? Like 40 distinct and memorable experiences into 40 waking hours in Wonderland.

Thanks Mom. That was just what I needed. A perfect weekend to tick off on my Turning 40 to do list. Let's not wait so many years before we... whoooosh.... take off together again. And yes, thanks for everything in the last four decades.

Just 40 more hours to 40

2011-06-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

Eeek... the big day is pressing upon me. Not that it's heavy or anything, but a birthday, like a looming deadline, is yet one more reminder of how much there is to do in life, and how little time there is.

Like this blog. I have committed to my friend Andy that I would blog about turning 40 this year. Hmmmm.... haven't blogged as much as expected. But, I've managed to jam tons of stuff into the last six months. (Which I will blog about sometime before I turn 41.... I promise!)

Soon, what are the big birthday plans?

I have three parties this weekend, of which one is to celebrate my birthday. My entire family is coming together Saturday night for a back yard BBQ party, complete with Pic-a-Pop and colourful lanterns hanging from the sky. We are going to pretend we are at a lake and it is summer time. I am going to drink black cherry pop, eat salt and vinegar chips and hopefully dance until the wee hours under my preferred version of strobe lights - old fashioned, old school patio lanterns.

To be honest, my family is organizing the whole thing so I don't really know what is going on. I get to show up. I kinda like that. Ah... time to enjoy the good things in life. (Just until the water bomb gets tossed my way then watch out... water fight is on!!!)

Friday night I am going to another 40th birthday party, which comes with fancy finger foods and a hipster DJ. Saturday afternoon I am going to a folk music festival that was organized by Paris at his local park.

On Sunday I get to reflect on the father's in my life. Which of course leads to reflecting on the mother's in my life.

Not a bad way to turn a corner. Or cross over. Attraversiamo. Or head down the other side of the hill. Or whatever other way you want to describe it.

Ready or not, here I come. Lordy lordy, I'm turning 40!

A simpler life for the next 40 years

2011-06-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

My friend and I were chatting back and force via email, and he wrote this. I kinda like it... a lot!

"I often fantasize about spending my days selling photo prints out of a booth at Granville Island Market ...and calling up my fiance in the afternoon: “Honey, I made $13 today! Come on down, we’re having fish tacos tonight!!”"

Ah.... now that sounds like a simple, sweet life. Perhaps something to shoot for sometime over the next 40 years.

Top 15 Music over 40 years

2011-06-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Quite a while ago my son asked me to list the 15 most influential music albums in my life. I'm not sure why, but I didn't get around to it until today. I guess I thought it would make a good Turning 40 post. A retrospective of the last 40 years of my life. Here goes in chronological order (according to my brain, and not necessarily an album date):

1. Shaun Cassidy, 1977
This was my first and last major infatuation with a celebrity. I remember sitting in my bedroom, with its red shag carpet, looking at his debut Shaun Cassidy album cover for hours. "Da Doo Ron Ron" was my favourite song, of course.

2. Quirky Song Collection,
While I can't recall the name of the album, I can still sing the songs, including "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)", "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)", "Yakety Yak", "Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)", and "The Purple People Eater".

3. Bill Haley and the Comets
I thank my dad for this one. He really likes the America 50's rock and roll music and for quite a while I explored music during that time. "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Rock Around the Clock" were perfect songs to clean my bedroom to. This led me to Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Coasters, Ritchie Valens, Elvis Presley and others.

4. Elvis
Yep, I was a HUGE Elvis fan. Don't listen very much now, but still love "Blue Christmas" and "Jailhouse Rock".

5. The Beach Boys
First concert. I still remember being front row dancing with other young Beach Boys fans (just a few of us with hordes of older fans in the rows behind). Inspired the Gilby Freedom Bad Mother Fucker road trip to Malibu where I first unsuccessfully learned to surf. Greatest Hits Volume 1.

6. The Clash
Who hasn't been influenced by The Clash? Combat Rock. Bring back my black boots, ripped black tights, long black Batman t-shirt and plaid logger jacket. Major black eyeliner. Mosh pit.

(6A. Tiny shout out to the Stray Cats here as well for making a runner-up appearance.)

7. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Album: I Love Rock 'n' Roll. "Crimson and Clover" was the best song to sing along to driving down any old freekin' freedom highway when you first get your license and keys to any ole beat up 72 Toyota Corolla. "I Hate Myself for Loving You." No, I don't.....still love it!

8 . Collection, Sixties Music
You know, all those great songs they put in movies about the Vietnam war. Peace, love, granola stuff and those tough songs with helicopters in the background.

9.. The Doors
Ah... memories of The Doors. All of them fuzzy. Hazy. Something about sleeping under a dining room table..... While not necessarily live in the moment, it was nice groovin' to their Greatest Hits compilation.

10. Bob Marley
His best-known hits include "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Could You Be Loved", "One Love". All great, but for me, it was all about "Exodus". Over and over and over and over and over again. All the time. Legends has to be one of the best all around albums of all times.

(10a. Somewhere in here I have to shout out to Spirit of the West Save This House, for adding zest and life and fun to frickin' everything whenever I played them. They know how to liven up a west coast party! Still on the dance list...)

11. Depeche Mode
Album: Music for the Masses. Best. Concert. Ever. I still know every song off by heart. I lived and died by Depeche Mode, all shrouded in black and black and more black and some purple hair and vintage chic thrown in for colour.

12. Pixies
Just amazing music. Too hard to pick a fav album. Defining sounds that surrounded some defining moments in my life. I love the edge and clarity they brought to that time in my life.

(12a. Shout out to Sebadoh, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. Helmet, Galaxy 500, Meet Daisy, Violent Femmes, Velvet Underground, Camper Van Beethoven and all other sounds that filled those "band days".)

13. Enya
Enya. The music I played for both my kids. The music I got married to. I still hum her in the quiet times.

14. Liz Phair.
Exile in Guyville. Great album. Fucking great album. Toughens you up. Makes you want to clean your house in your bra while smoking and drinking. And then tell everyone to go fuck themselves. Yep..... gotta love her!

15. Nirvana
I still get pissed that Nirvana isn't playing anymore. Nevermind.

Yep, music doesn't influence as much anymore. I am influenced more by other things, but it's still a part of my life. And heck, I still reserve the right to add 16 anytime in the next 40 years. Perhaps gypsy music or Public Access or Ben Harper, or .......

The (Illustrious) Gypsy has spoken

2011-06-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Not to be outdone by my super stud husband (read blog post below) I put my 25 cent piece into The Gypsy to have the illustrious and beautiful Madame Esmeralda read my fortune. Forty years of livin' has given me top marks for Luck and Creativity...very nice, I'll take that! However, my fairly-high (not to be confused with highly-fair) love ranking needs some work if I'm going to keep up with super stud.

25 cent SUPER STUD

2011-06-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's true. The 25 cent LOVE METER at the top of Hell's Gate Airtram rated my husband as SUPER STUD. Final reading. Bona fide.

I am one lucky gal, for sure!

40 times better

2011-05-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

Just donated 40 pieces of clothing (give or take) I no longer need. Some wouldn't fit me unless I dropped 40 lbs and some wouldn't fit me even if I gained 40 lbs. Some have been out of style for 40 years - or perhaps in style, out of style, in style and then out again. Let's just say I'm not waiting for my fifties for them to be fashionable again.

Dropped two hefty garbage bags off at The Mustard Seed. Four people offered to help me carry these two bags and as I was leaving a wrinkled, somewhat toothless man with a pancake-sized chocolate chip cookie held the door open for me and smiled. "God bless you," he said.

All of which made me feel 40 times better.

Our Family History

2011-04-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my horoscope said something about not starting any new projects today, as I don't have time and will become overwhelmed. I think I read something about burnout....

Who am I to listen? I just hit send on what could end up being a rather large project.

For many years I have been intrigued by my family history, mostly because I just don't know very much about it. Most of my grandparents passed away when I was very young and I know very little about who they were. And my husband's family not only speaks another language (Czech) but their family records were lost when they escaped from communist controlled Czechoslovakia in 1978. Let's just say our collective history is pretty thin....

But this is the year "I will do anything and everything I want, and pay for the fun when I'm forty-one." And I decided this is the year I would document my family history... at least a bit of it...back to our great-grandparents. The "pay for it" will come next year when I will be too exhausted to research or write anything. But hopefully by that time I will have a neat bow tied around a tidy history book. And a huge grin on my face. And a shared history to offer my kids to help them understand their place in this world.

Burnout shmurnout. Bring it on! (Eeek....did I mention I also wanted to write a novel this year....oh god, what have I done??)

Eeek! There's Kyle Kushnir!! (Well, his photo as least)

2011-04-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

Kyle Kushnir is now rehearsing for his fourth play since I've known him and I'm looking forward to seeing his official head shots on the theatre wall as much as I am looking forward to seeing him play the lead role. One day he will be a household name and I can say I remembered him when...... I took these head shots.

And here are some of the top shots of Kyle, Kyle and more Kyle:

Brian Gets Ahead

2011-04-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

When Brian Cant of Victoria was promoted to Senior Communications Coordinator for The Tartan Group, he needed professional head shots, fast! Lickety-split his head was captured twenty-six ways to Sunday before I packed up the camera and we headed off for a Veggie Hash brunch at Floyd's Diner.

Check out Brian's "Who We Are" page to see his chosen photo!

And here are a selection of other handsome shots with Brian, Brian and more Brian:

Happy Moment

2011-04-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

The other day I had the opportunity to let four people go ahead of me while driving - all at different locations and different times of the day. How nice it was to do a few random good deeds and receive four nice waves and smiles back. :)

40 Tickets

2011-04-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

So, while my Turning 40 friend Andi has a list of 13 things she wants to do this year, I want to keep my calendar full of a bunch of little things that make me happy in the moment. No, I did not start my 40th year buying 40 tickets.... but I did start it by charging a few more than usual and at this rate, I bet I will have collected 40 by the end of the year.

First up, two tickets to The Laramie Project, a play my friend Kyle Kushnir acted in. The story was about Matthew Shepard, who was gay and in 1998 was "beaten and left to die tied to a wire fence on a hillside in Laramie, Wyoming." He died six days later. Moving. Emotional. Impactful. I am so grateful for living in a gay-friendly town.

(p.s. This was my night out with Tony and did I mention we started the evening at a local pub playing music bingo from the 50's and 60's? If you ever want to feel younger, hit a neighbourhood pub in Victoria...)

Next up, two tickets to the Victoria Salmon Kings hockey game. This was my night out with Kje. Just me and him, hundreds of beavers, cubs and scouts, and thousands of Salmon Kings fans. Local hockey doesn't quite compare to the Vancouver Canucks, but heck, parking is free, there are never lineups in the washroom (and shorter lineups for beer), and Kje scored a free ticket to Butterfly Gardens (yet another ticket!). Tony was out of town so we ended the night with a giggly sleepover party at home - just the two of us. What more could you want in a Saturday night? Sunday in tropical Butterfly Gardens!

The Rickshaw was once a Chinese language kung-fu action movie theatre (how cool is that!) but in 2009 was transformed into a local music hall and warehouse space for artists. The third pair of tickets I bought was for my night out with Paris. We started in Zulu Records watching Lou Barlow of Sebadoh up close, acoustic and intimate, then made our way to the Rickshaw for the Sebadoh concert. Must admit I loved being part of the late-night indie rock scene, which transformed me back to my early twenties when I first started listening to Sebadoh, but loved even more being the cool Mom for the night. Yep, nice bumping into my friend Mikala, a.k.a. The Backstage Rider, who knows the band and helped with our "bought the t-shirt, met the band" memorable night.

Three nights of stellar entertainment. But the best part was spending time with my three boys and accompanying friends while we laughed so hard we spilt beer over our bingo cards, held hands in the dark and cried in our seats, threw pucks on the ice, shouted out song requests, danced until closing time, and made memories whee, whee, whee all the way home. If I do nothing this year but collect tickets for quality time with the people I love, I will be one exhausted, happy camper. (Which reminds me, I need to book my camping reservation...)

So...the fun didn't stop there. What other tickets did I buy? Plane tickets to San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Francisco (yep, times two...thank god for points) and Maui. Ski lift tickets for spring break. Also, concert tickets to see Pavement with Paris. But those are stories for another night. (All adds up to 31 tickets in total already...)

And yes, I did buy a lottery ticket (make that 32) to try to pay for it all. We only won $5 bucks.... which means my motto for the year, "Pay For The Fun When I'm 41," has been kicked into overdrive.

Turning 40: 10-40 Good Buddy

2011-04-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

I admit it. 2010 wasn't the best year for me and my husband. Let's just say that the year started bad but ended well and I'll spare you 354 days of detail. (Oh, I can feel myself getting all tense just thinking about it.... hold on, I'm going to get a cup of soothing, mellowing organic herbal tea... ahhhh.... that's better.)

So, let's just jump ahead. I wanted this year, my year of turning 40, to start well and end weller, start up and go upper, start fresh and get fresher. With a little hi-ya! pow! karate kick to the head at that. First up, getting hubby and I a jump start on the fast-track to oooh-la-la and va-va-voom! Time to kick it back up a notch.

Thankfully, my mom and dad came to the rescue on Christmas Day when their present to us included a romantic weekend away for two plus babysitting plus a tin of roasted almonds plus a bottle of Baileys. Woohoo, we were set!

10-4 means "OK," "understood," and "affirmative;" 10-40 means "this is the year we have our 10 year wedding anniversary AND my 40th birthday and we are going to accept this present, drink our Baileys and have the best damn weekend we have had in over a year and nothing better screw it up!"

Affirmative.

We packed our mini van. We hit the store for too much cheese, dark chocolate, not-so-winter-ripe strawberries, a loaf of french bread and a pack of Canadian bacon (no, bacon is not an aphrodisiac but follow this... "Oooh, I la-la-love the idea of heading out for breakfast, but how about we heat up some ham and keep the sizzle in the sheets?") We drove up island and checked in January 14 for some storm watching.

We stayed at Middle Beach Lodge in Tofino, which I must admit was a perfect choice. First, the name Middle seemed an appropriate sign as I was officially wobbling on the brink of middle age. (There are various definitions for middle age, but having recently done my research I now see The Oxford English Dictionary states middle age is "... the period between early adulthood and old age, usually considered as the years from about 45 to 65". So there, I feel like I just added 5 years to my life. 10-4, indeed! If I had known that before we booked Tofino I would have picked the Long Beach Lodge as I now have a loooong way to go!)

The other reason Middle Beach Lodge was a perfect choice (besides their kick-ass bathtub inside cabin #49 and the en plein air bathtub on the deck) is their lodge. I must admit, I've never understood the whole appeal in the lodge vacation concept of sitting quietly in a large room with a bunch of other people sitting quietly. Why not just retreat to your private room and read Nathaniel Hawthorne there? But now, after having sat for hours in the room a writer and frequent visitor commented with "Ralph Lauren would be happy here," I completely understand the appeal of doing nothing in a room with a bunch of other lazy-ass people doing nothing with you. Add to that an expansive view of the rugged west coast shoreline, a spellbinding log fire, hot chocolate and warm cookies and hmmmmmm.......bliss.

You know you have hit middle age when you are just as happy sitting beside your husband in a room full of sleepy strangers as you are checking to see if any bacon bits were left between the sheets, if you get my drift, wink, wink.

There you have it. The start of the year of Turning 40. Minus a few details between Friday night check-in and Sunday afternoon check-out, of course (think rubber boots and crashing surf).

So, would spending a romantic weekend with my husband have made it to my list of 10 things to do within my fortieth year if I had made that list anyhow? 10-4.

Turning 40

2011-03-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

Yep, this is the year I turn the big 4-D. The fabulous fore-oh. Four. Zero. 40. Not that birthdays are a big deal, but the turn of a decade is something to celebrate, don't ya think?

In my thirtieth birthday year, I delivered my second son at a home birth with the help of midwives (and my partner of course), took the year off from work, got married (oh my god, did I really play Celine Dion at our beach BBQ bonfire wedding???), sold my car (bought a mini motorhome), gave up our rental apartment behind Toys R Us, got married (oops, already mentioned that... loss of memory is a sign of getting older, like forty old) and drove away to Mexico.... stopping all over Western Canada, USA, France, Germany (Oktoberfest!!!) and the Czech Republic along the way.

I bought a red hot bikini and wore mini skirts on the beach. I got drunk in a bar in San Francisco and lost my wedding ring. Then found it. Then lost it again. (Losing things is another sign of age....sigh.) I swam in the Mississippi and the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific. I swam close to alligators. I climbed into the Grand Canyon.

I played with my kids, Paris and Kje, every day, which was a rule. I was rescued off Zipolite, a.k.a. "beach of the dead," by a sun-kissed surfer and drank coconut juice from free coconuts my husband climbed trees for and cut down with his machete. Did I mention the hammock? Ah.... the wake-up-when-the-sun-wants-you-to, barefoot good life.

Earlier this year, my friend Andy came up with an idea to create a list of 10 things we wanted to do within our fortieth year. I knew I wanted this year to really set the stage for the next decade, kinda like my thirtieth year did, so doing something big was in order. The problem was, whenever I thought of something I wanted to do, like a concert or a weekend away, it didn't seem big enough to put on a list, so I just went ahead and did it. I bought the tickets or booked the flight. Suddenly, three months have gone by and I have come to realize my big year will be full of a bunch of little things that make me happy.

But the best little thing I have done so far is come up with my personal motto for the year:

"I will do anything and everything I want, and pay for the fun when I'm forty-one."

I kinda like that.

Fortunately for me, my supportive husband does too.

Last week, my friend Kim and I were talking about nudity. You know, like how cute kids are when they do silly things when they are young and naked and no care in the world if anyone sees their teenie-weenie peenie. She has a four-year-old boy, and the story goes, he was all into being naked around the house, (including starfish position standing in front of the living room window) and then one day he says to her:

"Today's the day I am going to eat my soup naked."

I love it!! How much fun is that?

So there you have it folks, my fortieth year. The year and I am going to fill my weeks and weekends with way too much to do. Or... not get out of bed at all. The year of living life, playing too hard, slowing down, creating memories, making connections and doing what I want, when I want, how I want, why I want, where I want, with who I want. I am going to jam in all those things I have always wanted to do... if I still want to do them of course....into 365 days, give or take. (It's my birthday year and I get to decide when it's over.)

This is the year of eating my soup naked.

Instead of sharing the full list with you now, I will start to blog about what I've been doing. But here's a few categories to give you a sense:

1. Family & Friends
2. Travel
3. Music
4. Photography
5. Parties
6. Health
7. Small stuff to make me smile

And there is one really, really big one for my favourite number:

8. Write a novel.

And with that start, more on Turning 40 later..... when I get back from the weekend party with friends in San Francisco.

Robert Bateman Day

2011-03-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Took the boys for afternoon tea yesterday, complete with dainty sandwich triangles, raisin scones with Devonshire cream and a puffy, brown tea cosy for our pot of Orange Pekoe.

Not sure how we got on the subject (afternoon tea conversations can be sooo random) but Kje mentioned that he tried haggis. Hmmm.... news to me.

"I'm impressed. When did you do that?"

"At school, on Robert Bateman day," he replied.

Smile.

"Um, do you mean Robbie Burns day?"

"Oh ya, that one."

I think Robert Bateman would get a kick out of having his own day, not to mention kids eating haggis in honour of it.

Ah, Iceland

2011-03-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share a few shots from my favourite co-pilot and photographer assistant's recent trip to Iceland.

Can you find the house tucked into the hill?

Icelandic chickens:

Door to the past:

Ta Da! And this would be the ice:

Modern art:

Big blue sky:

Holli & Millree Get Married!

2011-03-02T22:09:00.000-08:00

I was truly honoured to be the photographer for Holli & Millree's glamourous wedding last weekend. The event took place within an elegantly restored heritage building, previously a bank (yes, that is the vault door in the photo below) and now home to the Segal Graduate School of Business in dowtown Vancouver. Both Holli & Millree looked classic, confident and very much in love. Here is a sneak peak:

Hallowe'en in March?

2011-03-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

Just stumbled upon this photo again and thought I would relive the moment with you...'cause he looks too damn cute to just file away again in the deep dark depths of my photo archives. Happy Hallowe'en!

Butterfly Gardens Butterflies

2011-03-02T21:48:00.000-08:00

One hour in tropical Butterfly Gardens was worth every cold penny I paid. I haven't been that warm...nay, sweaty... since last August. Nice, very, very nice! Just a few shots of fluttering friends I thought I would share in honour of longer days and.... hopefully...warmer ones to come.

Secret Agent Susan

2011-02-24T23:54:00.000-08:00

Read this today:

"Scandinavian notebook maker Archie Grand produces high quality notebooks for designers, artists, secret agents and other breeds of charlatans, scoundrels and luminaries."

I want a secret agent notebook! How cool is that!!

More appropriately I should get a notebook for this year, my 40th birthday year. And I will fill it with adventures, clippings, secret messages, and mishaps from a year of living life in a plane, on a train, in a car, near and far, and on the edge.... of 39 that is.

We'll miss you Panda

2010-12-17T23:30:00.000-08:00

I fluff and straighten his pillow while he brushes his teeth.
He climbs into bed, automatically curling up his legs and grabbing his World Wildlife Fund adopted red panda stuffie.
I pull his blue and green striped comforter over his shoulders and tuck it under his chin, then lie down beside him.
We face each other.

How are you doing, I ask him.
Ok.
Are you happy that Panda found a new home today.
Yah, he says with a smile. His eyes are closed and he is hugging his red panda tightly.
Yah, I say, me too.

I have photos to remember her by, he says, matter of factly.
That's true, you do. You have lots of photos.
He smiles.
Can you take one of the photos on the computer and blow it up for me like a poster so I can see her when I go to sleep every night, he asks.
Sure, I can do that.
He smiles again. His eyes are still closed and can't see my tears.

I love you.
I love you, too.

Somedays, like today, I truly believe there is nothing more important I do than give people photos that keep their memories alive. And here she is, still a sweetie, just a few months old:

If you had a million dollars

2010-11-16T22:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Mom,

When you win the lottery I give you full permission to surprise me by booking this entire boutique boat for me and my dive friends. I know I haven't put my SCUBA mask on in a while (really, the cold BC currents aren't so appealing any more) but I would have no problem diving off this Phinisi in Indonesia.

You can come, too, and just lounge around on deck and get spa treatments or hang in your room and watch movies or melt into your bed. I will join you for a waterfront cocktail once I'm out of the water and back on the Arenui.

Love
Susan

In Remembrance

2010-11-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Prior to going, I felt uncomfortable sharing my family story of why we were spending our summer holiday at battlefield sites in Europe. I felt uncomfortable talking about the collective inspiration found in civilization building computer games, poems read in assemblies every November in school, Battlefield 1942, Platoon, The Pacific, and Band of Brothers, to name just a few. (Nope, not all Bugs Bunny, Lego and the Game of Life at our house.) It's true, admitting an interest in war history is awkward, at least to me.

But nothing compares to being on the ground, at the battle site, feeling uncomfortable witnessing the ultimate discomfort of so many who experienced WWI and WWII first hand, and still rest there with or without graves. Or reading in museums about the over 5o million dead from WWII. It was extremely unsettling standing in In Flanders Fields Museum listening to the shearing sounds of bombs dropping from overhead. And walking around the 11,856 graves at Tyne Cot cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world. And reading the names of 54,389 missing soldiers, whose names are etched on the Menin Gate Memorial. And the medical bunker full of Canadian mementoes. And the emotional videos on personal stories from civilian survivors in Bastogne. And then there is Anne Frank's bedroom in Amsterdam. The list goes on.

Now, I share with you In Remembrance, a focus on WWI battle sites of the Ypres Salient:

A medical bunker at the site of where Major John McRae was believed to have written "In Flanders Fields" in 1915.

Essex Farm Cemetery, one of 160 within the Ypres Salient battle sites. I believe I heard someone say it took a team of five people seven days to keep the grass in order throughout all 160 sites.

St. Julian Monument marks where 18,000 Canadians on the British Front withstood the first German gas attacks in 1915. 2,000 fell and lied buried nearby. This day, locals were spraying weeds.

Tyne Cot Cemetery, with many visitors and their fallen tears keeping the grass green. One of the most emotional sites...

Common wooden crosses found throughout the Ypres Salient. Simple, yet says so much.

8:00pm every night since 1927 buglers sound the Last Post to commemorate those who gave their lives for Belgium's freedom. The Menin Gates name the 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers, including 6,983 Canadians, without known graves.

A pack of cards showing a propoganda wartime poster.

In a trench, this one speaks for itself.

Top Shots: Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg

2010-10-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

De Dutch fishing at Kinderdijk:

Paris playing at our lakeside picnic:

Tony loving his bike in the back alley:

Zeeland cows:

Antwerp Dogs:

$5 worth of pralines from the Rubens market = one happy Kje:

Afternoon of Eminence at Battle of Waterloo site. "I am standing where Napoleon stood!":

La Roche-en-Ardenne Castle:

Mardasson Memorial at the Bastogne Historical Centre (Battle of the Bulge):

Luxembourg City gorgeous gardens view:

Kje thoroughly enjoying himself in the Charleroi Museum of Photography:

Ypres.... so much to remember. In Flanders Fields Museum. Listening to the Last Post and Reveille ceremony. Walking through trenches. Walking through rows of graves.

Sail 2010 in Amsterdam:

Rembrandt. Van Gogh. I am tired of museums:

Solemn memories from Anne Frank Huis, photos of kittens from KattenKabinet cat museum:

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol & British Airways, home away from home:

Stayokay Cube Houses

2010-10-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Very, very cool hostel in Rotterdam. It's true, Rotterdam is an outdoor museum of architecture. ( I love this picture of the boys... natural.)

Dear Red Bike

2010-10-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

It's been almost two months since we last saw each other, and I wanted you to know that I really miss you and think about you all the time! Really. I miss your strong pedals and your grippy bars and your shiny red coat. I miss your kickstand, too. And your lock. I really miss your lock, cause it was just so cool and I wish all the time I still had you and your lock with me. I miss locking you up by the church in Middleburg (you know the one) before we headed to the flea market and found that basket of Smurfs and even though I didn't buy any I still wish I had. I miss Papa Smurf. I miss your speed and agility as we rode by cows and "mini-campings" and cute country homes. And the way you turned me when we soared on the blue path right by the turn to the green path and we had to backtrack. You know, you really kicked my ass that day - for the entire 38 kilometres...well, okay, perhaps just the last 18 - and the memory of it still hurts.

p.s. I hope your bell isn't rusty yet.

I like Kinderdijk!

2010-10-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than a day at a UNESCO world heritage site with a digital SLR and an empty memory stick. Here are a few of my favourites from our walk along the pathways that connect the nineteen windmills at Kinderdijk.

(Okay, so this first one is actually from Zaanse Schans windmill village, not Kinderdijk, but it's my favourite so I had to add it.)

(Okay, now you are in Kinderdijk, honest...)

Cougars, Bears, Oh My!

2010-10-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

I seem to recall writing a post about this a few years ago, but I can't find it. It was one of Kje's first weeks of school in Victoria. I asked him about his day and he mentioned digging for worms in the dirt pile, catching snakes and a salamander in the snake pit,crawling through blackberry bushes to the cougar pit (sorry if you have heard this story before & I'm boring you) and then getting stung by a bee after he put his hand in a bush too close to the hive. It was then I knew Victoria was the right place for us.

A school with snakes, salamanders, bees, blackberry bushes and cougars was better than a school with needles, broken glass, homes for the homeless and used condoms.

So... guess what Kje said about school today? He was going to play on the rock pile (you know, the one with the mosquito pools) and his Principal told him he had to go inside immediately as a bear was spotted on the rock pile this morning. Yep, a real live bear.

So, I said, what happened to the bear?

Nothing, he said, they just let it do its own thing.

Hmmmm...... just another day on the island.

Ryan and Nikole in turquoise and red

2010-09-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than a good ole fashioned family wedding. Throw in a little Branson Missouri, a BBQ or two, and some teeny tiny frogs and you have the makings of memories. There are some people in life you know will never reach their full potential of happiness until they find their true love to gush over. I am so deeply, truly happy for my cousin Ryan who has finally found his Nikole.

My Mom, My Aunt and her stylish friend Nancy all looking like mid-western belles:

Best man (imported from California) and Groom (imported from Maui):

Father of the Bride and Pastor du jour:

Um... just look at those eyes... need I say more?

The famous shot that made it to Facebook profile status:

The smile that won my cousin's heart:

Self Portrait

2010-09-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

They say that at some point every photographer takes their camera in hand (or perhaps on tripod) and creates a series of photos of themselves. To be honest, I haven't done that. But... I do love this photo that Paris took of me, which is one of a series he did for his photography club. (I added the effects.) I read a photo essay / article this summer (I think) about Meryl Streep and the photo she loves of herself was the one the publicist didn't want printed. It was too real, with real wrinkles and laugh lines and real blemishes and no makeup. I think that's why I love this photo, too. No smile, no style. This is me on any Sunday morning.

Baguette Bistro Bro

2010-09-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Look! My brother is in Look. The local Burnaby magazine, that is. Just click on page 9. But look, I know the heading says "Gourmet Brunch at Home" but don't listen to that nonsense. You have to head to Chez Meme Baguette Bistro to truly experience the "breakfast creation that's a definite gastro-delight" live in person. And that way, you can meet my sister-in-law Isabelle. A few photos to whet your bon appetit:

Ode to the Ofuro

2010-09-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Leanne and Rob... I was fortunate to have an article printed in the May/June issue of Cottage Magazine about the newlywed's ofuro, a Japanese-inspired wooden hot tub they received as a wedding gift. Seriously, if you are ever thinking of getting a hot tub, you have to dip into one of these.....

Wedding Bells were ringing

2010-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Eeek. I am so far behind on my posts that I thought I would start with one that is over a year old. Truth is, I was working on some wedding photos last week, which reminded me of my favourite wedding photos from Leanne and Rob's Mayne Island ceremony last May. And... since I haven't shared them yet, here you go.

Scrimp or Splurge?

2010-07-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Personally, I prefer both!

A good friend Anita launched a new website, scrimporsplurge.ca, which I love. Being a relatively new Victorian (okay, it's been a few years now, so not that new) I still have much to learn about the ins and outs of where-to-go, what-to-do and who-to-buy-from about town. Cool tips and tricks from Anita? I'll take them gladly!

Oh, and check out the photo gallery of Victoria scenes, featuring little Hugo Spence, not to mention a few other Susan Rybar photos.

Mini-retreats for minimum amounts of time

2010-07-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Tracy gave me a copy of The Mini-Retreat Solution, a book about taking small relaxing retreats from our everyday life. After flipping through the book a few times, I found a few I like:

Mini-Vacation
Sing at the Top of Your Lungs
Climb Stairs
Think of Someone you Love
Acts of Kindness

For a sneak preview of the book, click here. Go down the page to Sneak Preview.

Zappa skanking

2010-07-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

Saw this quote from Frank Zappa on the back of a shirt at the ska fest today.

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."

Made me think. Made me think about how normal my life is.

Hmmm....

(still thinking)

Hmmmm....

It's hot.

Thinking it's time to hit Thetis Lake for a swim.

Then perhaps listen to some more Danny Rebel and the KBG.

Love this!

2010-07-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

From my friend Margaret's Facebook status:

"So the barista at the coffee shop at my hotel this morning was all of about 20 years old. He told me he is in the midst of buying a typewriter to improve his writing. Said that with a typewriter, you have to think before you write. Wise words from a young lad."

Proud colours

2010-07-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Just a few favourite photographs from the 2010 Victoria Pride Parade.

I want to be her!

Sweet socks. Have you seen Whip It yet?

Beach Party, pride style!

Walking for a good cause.

Public Access... live from Victoria

2010-07-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

Just a few shots of Public Access hanging out downtown Victoria before their debut gig tomorrow. I must admit, I do like my role as Public Access official band photographer and have decided my goal in life is to get my picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone. (Going to see my picture on the cover... gonna buy five copies for my mother...)

Poster girl

2010-07-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

The first time one of my photos has been featured in a music concert poster, framed and featured on the wall of Fan Tan Alley.

Music concert... or... awakening the Goddess within?

Colour in Kamloops

2010-06-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

I am a B.C. girl, born and raised. With my B.C. upbringing I spent part of my summers on Shuswap Lake. Friday night, we would jump in the wood-paneled station wagon, take the Trans-Canada away from Burnaby and up the Fraser Canyon, (stopping in Cache Creek for Dairy Queen, of course, and lifting our legs over Spences Bridge bridge) and stop at a motel in Kamloops for the night. Early Saturday morning, we would drive along the Thompson river to Chase for groceries and then to St. Ives on Shuswap. Racing the train along the way.

Ritual. Tradition. Travel. Family memories.

Needless to say, this is what Kamloops always looked like to me via my memories.

I managed to catch a few minutes in downtown Kamloops a few weeks back and saw another side of the tracks, we might say. Now, Kamloops looks like this to me:

Swing low

2010-06-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

Just about nine years ago, I was barefoot and fancy free, drinking fresh coconut juice in the morn' while swinging on the hammock, a few footsteps away from Playa Zipolite's deadly shoreline. My hair was tangled from days, nay, months filled with sun and surf and minimal soap. An acquired tan complemented my faded red bikini well.

Ah, life was good. Our journey (for any travelling holiday over 4 months long can't easily be called a vacation) had led us to a campground across from the "beach of the dead" and we settled the camper between a few palm trees for a spell.

The hammock went up. The machete came out. Tony, also barefoot, climbed to the top of the palm and hacked down the coconuts (who needs a modern day Romeo when you can get a modern day Robinson Crusoe?). Kje slept in the hammock while smiling Mexican children pushed him in the shade. I kept sipping.

Fast forward to last month. The hammock hung in our living room between two beams. It was the most frequented spot in our house (okay, so I'm fantasizing a bit here.... computers, bathrooms, beds....yah, yah, I know. But AFTER all those necessities....). It was the place where visitors congregated and kids goofed off. Alas, it was also one of the cat's favourite toys. Whack, whack, chew, chew...

Fast forward to today. The hammock now hangs in our hallway. Not between two beams, but between two hooks in the wall. Some might call it art - a giant red, blue, green, yellow, black, purple smile hung on a white background - deep and meaningful in an esoteric way. Some might call it just plain ugly - gaudy woven thread with a big hole in it hanging from a bicycle hook. Some might call it a lazy way to not have to throw something in the garbage. (Are hammocks recyclable?)

I call it a way to keep memories in the house.

p.s. Thankfully we have a backup. Ah, life continues to be good.Coconut juice, anyone?

Beauty on the Detours

2010-04-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

My life took a few detours over the last year. By principle, I value detours. Most detours. You discover amazing, inspiring things you didn't even know existed.

One of my favourite detours happened in Mexico. We had no idea where we were going, but we followed hundreds of vehicles, all single file, for at least four hours (maybe eight when you count the waiting...) in all directions except the one we knew about. We passed through farms, along fences, and amongst families of rural life. We followed ruts in dirt roads and splashed through puddles. At times I expected someone to tell us it was all a joke and that we needed to turn around and head back. We didn't discover anything too significant that time, but I encountered that exhilarating energy in the pit of my stomach when I knew we were heading into an uncontrollable adventure. I smiled the whole way through. Bare foot. Singing.

I have been thinking about detours a lot lately. I kinda feel like I have been on a detour now for months. I guess at some point in time, the detour just gets to be the main road.

My friend Tracy and I went on an adventure a while back, just up island an hour or so. We took off from the main highway and headed into the Sunday driver roads. We passed by farms, fences and families of rural life. We followed twists and turns for what felt like too long.

"Then you go along the river for a really long time and when you see the crooked tree, you still have to keep going a ways yet." Local directions we were following from a lovely woman at the cheese shop. We went over a nostalgic one-lane bridge and under historic railway tracks. (As an aside, if you have read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, you can imagine our setting.)

And yes, my stomach filled with glee and I felt like a kid. Wide-eyed, wanting it to continue. Adventure doesn't have to be too far from home. Or too big. A small town on the corner of nowhere street and nowhere lane will do just fine.

Yes, we found things we didn't know existed. Even better, we found little inspiring things. And one perfectly appropriate thing - a rustic-red shingled church on the side of the road, like a scene from Little House on the Prairie. The saying on its sign?

"Joy is finding beauty on the detours."

Rut or no rut, I can appreciate that message.

Vintage Collections

2010-04-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you Andy, for pointing out this website full of whimsical, vintage collections. I recall seeing so many of these items in my youth. And some still float around in closets and boxes.

My favourite personal collection from my childhood comprised of two ice cream buckets full of colourful bottle caps. I loved putting my little hands into the mix and stirring them around. It was the time before twist off and most were bent from a bottle opener. Metal on metal on skin sounded like a quiet waterfall.

I also collected over 100 elephants of every assortment. Even when I was too old for a giant pink stuffed animal, I chopped Ellie up and stuffed her into pillows so I could still cry into her arms when needed.The best Christmas present I ever received.

My grandfather's stamp collection beckons me to this day and I love that my Mom hangs on to it. They are beautiful and full of history and I can imagine what letters might have been written if the stamps were ever used. I have stopped trying to collect books and passport stamps.

Today, I collect memories. Often in the form of digital photos. I collect weeds in my backyard, and most of them are beautiful. I collect blog postings, too. I already have more than I expected.

I collect rocks. Or I should say, my family collects rocks and we place them around our home together. I also have quite a few cheap necklaces and bags. My latest was a gift from a friend and the bright stripes make me feel better every time I pick it up. It came from India and holds the little bits of paper that seem to collect as weeks go by.

I have started a suit collection that I don't particularly like and would willingly trade it in for a few hundred Popsicle sticks or marbles.

Who didn't collect hockey cards?

I also collected Playmobile in my youth and still remember the smell of Granville Island when I hit the Kids Market to buy the little painter man to add to my collection. I was in my twenties and his french barret and mini easel made my day. He was my last purchase.

What do you collect?

Here is a photo of a vintage collection I saw at the side of the road in southern British Columbia. I kinda like it.

Sting Diving Competition in Victoria

2010-04-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

I took some photos of a recent diving competition in Victoria. The large Canadian flag made a great backdrop for the boys in bathing suits.

I kinda like this quote

2010-03-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

"Tell me, what will you do with your one wild and precious life?"

Mary Oliver

I'm alive

2010-03-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post. It has been a while since my last..... thoughtfully written post (still might be a while yet). And, while these simple words I am about to write are not eloquent, profound, or philosophical, I find it refreshing that there is a spark in my belly that urges me to write.... whatever there is to share, now.

Time moves on from day to day. During busy, chaotic periods, time moves quickly from task to task to task, from sun up to sun down, leaving little room for tired brains and energyless anything to find space for creative thought.

I have no creative thought now. I have no organized thought now. All I have is a little spark simmering just enough to ramble on and on.

I kinda like that. I need more rambling in my life. More spontaneous combustion. More space for possibilities.

Kapow.

I am going upstairs to grab our bellows. I will open my mouth wide and force some air into the wee spaces in my soul and stoke that simmering spark.

Burn baby burn.

Diving

2010-02-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of watching Kje dive, here are some "typical" diving shots. The pool enclosure is actually very warm, but I thought I might cool these shots down with a blue tone, just for fun.

Olympic spirit, localized

2010-02-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

Away from Vancouver. Away from the Games. Here are some images from our local school Olympic celebration - the best opening Games ceremony you can imagine. The crowd (well... the kids) go wild when Team Canada (well... the grade three class performing their slam jam dance) entered the gym.

On the road

2010-02-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

Something about the composition, mood and tension of this photo makes me uneasy. But I love it.

Jesus And Me But No Christians Are In My Band

2010-02-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

Paris wrote this for his Write Stretch creative writing class. I love it and thought I would share.

Jesus And Me But No Christians Are In My Band

i'm not Christian, but I'm friends with Jesus because he's cool and Jesus isn't Christian (just his dad, sorta) and Jesus smokes pot (i seen him doin it) but i don't and he respects that and he's pretty good at video games (but i usually win) and he's a damn good drummer, like, he started with jazz so now he throws all kinda beats out, and he's pretty !@#$ing good at guitar so i almost got borned one time and down comes Jesus, and Jesus says 'wassup lil man' and i say to him 'not much' and he says 'listen up now, the world is here for you to do some stuff' and i say 'what kinda stuff' and he says 'some pretty darn cool stuff' and he teaches me to play blues guitar real good (cause Jesus is pretty chill and it was chill blues like Johnson, not like Trout) and i didn't even hafta sell my soul for a tuning (cause he's Jesus H. Christ) and i say 'cool' and so he leaves and then i got born and that was the day i became friends with big J but like i said Jesus isn't even religious which is pretty cool cause that kinda stuff's lame and now he's the drummer in my band

My medal delivered

2010-02-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

I remember being 18 years old and sitting with a family friend in her living room. Judi was a travel writer (still is - last I heard she just got back from India) and she walked me through her "Travel Writing 101" crash course. I was fascinated - my life of travel and adventure was before me! I could see it (Vietnamese water markets), taste it (hot spring mineral water from the colonnade in Karlovy Vary), hear it (howler monkeys late at night outside Palenque), feel it (weltering heat of South Dakota badlands), smell it (fresh lime and pad thai on Haad Yao beach).

Life goes on, and things become what they are. The dream of being a writer came and went. But I kept plugging away, year after year, keeping my mind on one story or another, and managing to publish a few things in a few places, just enough to ensure the spark nevery died....completely.

So.... (okay, I'm getting to the point of all this)... you can imagine how absolutely amazing it feels to say that during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, I am working for Tourism BC's media relations department writing story ideas that will be sent to travel media around the world. My first batch were released yesterday.

My words! My words sent to media all over the world! For a few short days, I AM A TRAVEL WRITER!!

Life Coach Website Launch

2010-02-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

My good friend Tracy McMicking is one of those beautiful people that you like right away. She has an amazing ability to engage with people and make them feel comfortable, which is one of the reasons why she does so well in her chosen passion, being a life coach.

And she recently just launched her new website, so I thought I would share her with you and encourage you to give her a call if you think you might need a bit of help reaching your full potential in life. Getting to that place where you are doing what you want to be doing, being who you want to be, every day.

And... guess who did the portait photos for her website?

Happy New Year

2010-01-26T23:10:00.000-08:00

I have already decided that New Years for me will start a bit later than January 1, 2010. It will start when I feel like it will start. Not now.... not sure when.

In the meantime, I smile at a few pictures I did take when Dec 31 moved to Jan 1. I will post new photos for you when my personal New Year begins. I am kinda tired of this one already....

Better Thought For The Day

2010-01-26T23:01:00.000-08:00

This one is for all my work friends. You know who you are.

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."

Lao Tzu

I am tempted to rewrite this to "Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way YOU like."

Because.... "change" sprung upon us gives us opportunity to stop and think about what we want to do with our life and how that "change" fits in...which might mean throwing even more change right back at it.

Splat.

Thought for the day

2010-01-24T21:58:00.000-08:00

"Fuel creativity wherever inspired."

I am sitting here wondering how to get inspiration from a day at work, crunching numbers, reading reports, and filing emails. I am wondering how to get inspiration from a few hours cleaning the house, mopping the floor, scrubbing the toilet, spraying out the inside of the fridge (moldy olives, shriveled cherry tomatoes). I am wondering how to get inspiration from the lunch I ate (spicy chicken burger, fries, diet coke) or the bills I paid (mortgage, internet) or the dinner I made (pasta, sauce, bread) or the few quick phone calls to somewhat stay connected (mom, dad, Paris).

Sometimes.....yawn.... it is just better to get to bed and try again the next day.

My Favourite Photo

2010-01-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

These were once my favourite photos. So.... one of my favourite photo sessions of 2009 was shooting Public Access, a Lower Mainland indie / punk / ska band with a touch of blues (according to their Facebook site). These photos were suppose to remain a secret until their CD was launched, but..... they have a new drummer, which makes the pictures kinda obsolete. It also means I can share them more openly, as opposed to hide them on the right.

I CAN contribute to the 2010 Games, too!

2010-01-24T21:23:00.000-08:00

How fun is this? I just saw that one of my photos of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery was selected by NBC for their NBCOlympics.com website. Last photo through this gallery.

Myanmar Schools Project

2010-01-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

Three Cups of Tea may be a #1 New York Times Bestseller, but the story from my Uncle Duke hits much closer to home.

For years, he has been dedicating his time and dollars to renovating and building schools in Myanmar, and to date, there are seventeen projects on the go.

This is from the Myanmar Schools Project website:

"We believe that every educated child can help him/herself and future children become free of the burden of poverty and contribute to the well-being of their families and communities."

One dollar at a time, one day at a time, one trip at a time and over time, he has achieved so much.

Going to be all right

2010-01-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

I took the skytrain from New West to Vancouver early, early, dark in the morning a few days ago. Somewhere close to Chinatown a glowing white sign illuminated the skyline.

"Everything Is Going To Be All Right"

I smiled. "I know," I said to myself. "I know."

Cover Girl

2010-01-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

This really has been an amazing year for my photography. A big highlight: seeing my photo on the cover of the January/February issue of Cottage Magazine. Double the fun for me: in addition to the photography for the feature, I also wrote the story! Hopefully: (fingers crossed), there will be more cottages to shoot and write about in 2010. Maybe yours?

2009 New Year Report Card

2010-01-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

As you may know, every year, I write down 8 to 12 things I want to accomplish over the next year. To be honest, they are more "goals" than "resolutions." For 2009, I had things like get a hot tub, have good vacations with family, add more music to my life, and stay connect with friends and family in Vancouver.

But the big one for me was my photography. I wanted to progress my photography and I definitely did that. Shot a wedding, launched a website, family photos, baby photos, stock photography, business cards and a new camera. And I got published! (See next post.)

I managed to achieve about 6 1/2 out of 8 in 2009.

For 2010, I am still thinking of them. Here are a few I know:

I want to spend a fun night with just me and my neices - sleepover style with lots of giggles. (something my friend Oriana did, which I loved.)
Remove the shag carpet in our...cough, cough... bathroom (Kje's too).
Keep the computer desk at home clutter free.
Take one month off work and roam around a bit.
Build my core strength so I can stop going to the Chiropractor.

If you can think of any others I can benefit from, let me know.

Team Shirt

2009-12-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

Guess who is officially part of the Boardworks competitive diving team? Tonight, Kje dove in his first "mini-meet" and came 6th in his class. As part of the event, the coaches handed out prizes and then gave each team member their own t-shirt.

"It's not a t-shirt mom," Kje tells me afterwards. "It's a team shirt." I love that!

A few hours later, after the good-night tickle and giggle.....

"Guess what mom?"
"What?"
"I'm going to wear my team shirt to school tomorrow to show everyone."
"Great idea. Good night."

Pause...

"Guess what mom?"
"What?"
"I'm going to wear my team shirt to school tomorrow."
"Perfect."

Pause again...

"Guess what mom?"

"What?"
"I'm going to wear my team shirt to school tomorrow."
"What a great idea."

Repeat the above a few times, then one last time...
"Guess what mom?"

"You're going to wear your shirt to school tomorrow."
"Yep."

He definitely feels part of the team now.

Cars near Keremeos

2009-12-12T23:46:00.000-08:00

These are the results from me yelling "stop, pull over" while driving across southern BC on highway #3. I am pretty sure we are in Keremeos in October, 2009 but I felt like we were in another time and place altogether.

Public Access Photo Shoot

2009-12-12T23:18:00.000-08:00

Three band members, five locations, hopefully, one CD cover. Does being the band photographer mean the same thing as being a groupie? Here are some shots from the world premiere of Public Access.

First $20 busking...

First house party.

Quesnel Series #

2009-12-12T22:58:00.000-08:00

I have always been attracted to raw materials, rusting metal, cracked paint, graffiti, industrial stuff.Well, here is my latest favourite photo series, straight from the Quesnel train station. A nod to Canadian Pacific, the canvas.

This was once my favourite photo

2009-12-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

I thought I should retire these spring shots from my home page before the snow falls... any...day...now.
This is one of those shots that melts your heart... "here mommy, this is for you."

How teenagers make decisions

2009-11-21T14:41:00.000-08:00

Quote from Paris:

"I really wanted to sign up for Earth Sciences, but it's suppose to be the easiest class, so I signed up for Physics instead 'cause that's really helpful with video games."

Public Access

2009-11-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

After learning the trumpet, the drums, poetry and the guitar, Paris has come together with friends to start their first band.

I kinda like the name, Public Access, and I'm honoured that their first gig will be at our holiday house party. Four original songs (Paris wrote all the lyrics...that's where the poetry came in) makin' their world premiere.

And, speaking of world premiere's....

My neighbour must have known I was a bit behind on my New Year's resolution to "add more music to my life," as he phoned tonight to see if I could use two tickets to see the Afro-Cuban All Stars. Of course! And... they played a world premiere of their new song. Kinda cool to think that one day, years from now, I will say "I remember when that song was played for the first time..."

Perhaps I will say the same about Public Access. And then, I can say I remeber when I became Facebook fan #4. Become fan #5.

Remembrance Day

2009-11-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

Perfect pin-up found during our walk through Gowlland Tod Provincial Park on Remembrance Day. A moment of silence was easy in the middle of the forest with only mushrooms, fir trees, field mice and stair-step moss around us.

Music life

2009-10-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

For me, this was going to be the year of music. Turns out it has been the year of photography. Here's a peak into music night in the kitchen, mixing the two. (Gotta love the carrot orange recessed lighting that came with the maize yellow shag carpet):

North Saanich Dirt Jump Park

2009-10-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Finally, after months of hearing about the North Saanich Dirt Jump Park without hearing about the exact location, I finally drove by it by fluke. I could barely contain myself until I could get back home and grab the bikes. And the camera of course.

Big blue, staying low, checking out the dirt:

Something about this one reminds me of Elliot in E.T.

Close up on the colours. I love this:

Down air:

Up air:

Here comes the groom

2009-10-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

Good friends Brian & Kyle headed down the aisle. Here are a few favourite shots from their wedding day.

At the Sechelt Skate Park

2009-10-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving, a day out for the future Spence skateboarders....who seemed to be more interested in posing with the graffiti than riding. Can't blame them, they are pretty cute.

Kje cleared it... just not in this photo.

Wheee...skate slide.

Hanging at the Interriver Bike Park

2009-10-15T20:05:00.000-07:00