warehouse with tree

emeryville. june 2011.

this building is slated to become self-storage, after sitting vacant for years. i'll be taking the application to the planning commission for a study session on july 28. bound to be a blast.

big hug

hilligas and claremont. june 2011.

friday night from a rising perspective

 

kingfish, oakland. june 2011. 

two nevada scenes

 

eastern nevada. november 2009. 

as i drove west, home, from utah. a warm afternoon as i crossed the border, and a frosty, fast dawn the next day, mid-state. the clouds, the colors, the rolling shadows and road. a dead coyote on the side of the road, frozen stiff. a pure, clean aloneness, so right in such an empty, open place. huddled grasses growing out of the road's shoulder. everything dry, crisp. lizards in the day sun, birds flying home–to where?–at dusk. a cold welcome, but the feeling of belonging just the same.

maya looking down

sleepy hollow cemetery, new york. may 2011.

city hall

oakland. may, 2011.

a man, out the window.

art museum, wellington. april, 2011.

in the last year, i...

the hills above bakersfield, 2010; joshua tree, 2010; camp, 2010; camp, 2010; mt. tongariro, new zealand, 2011; sleepy hollow cemetery, 2011. 

my 2011 emeryville art show submissions. we'll see if they pick one.

a pair of us

barstow, ca. november, 2010.

framing a far off place

barstow, ca. november, 2010.

amongst the weeds (towers in the distance)

east of mount tongariro, north island, new zealand. april 2011.

tres chic

 

 wellington, new zealand. april 2011. 

mens shoe store. they had womens, too, but not displayed as fabulously.

solo show

wellington botanical gardens. april 2011.

upside down glass ceiling

wellington botanical gardens, new zealand. april 2011.

a cool fall delta crossing

 

abel tasman coast, new zealand. april 2011. 

i want to take my shoes off again. i'm ready to wade across.

bike me home, oakland

old oakland. may 2011.

street night life. swing dancing with my dad to a lucinda cover. that perfect balance of color, as if the light is running down the edges of the sky and into the street lamps. hay bales for sitting, carnival rides for laughing. el taco bike.

oh, oakland. i love you.

is this a self portrait? or: how many layers can there be?

sleepy hollow cemetery. may 2011, but barely.

beautiful utility

sleepy hollow cemetery. may 2011.

how would you like to be remembered?

sleepy hollow, new york. may 2011.

i was walking around this famous cemetery the day after my friend got married, taking pictures and looking at gravestones (and noticing how many had my last name) when i decided to call my mom and ask where my grandma was buried, as i knew it was somewhere in new york state. turns out she was five miles away. so my friend agreed to drive me over there in the morning, on the way to the train station.

we got lost twice, thanks to my crappy phone map app. as we were driving towards our last turn, we saw an entrance into the cemetery and turned in. once we found the office, i scoured the log book (because their computer system was down) but found nothing. turns out we were in the wrong cemetery--there are two next door to each other. time was tight but we tried to get to the other one, except that the road we needed to turn on was closed. it's like i wasn't meant to see her.

after a day of thinking i would get to visit, i suddenly realized how sad i was to miss her. so close! so many things i wanted to say, so many minutes i wanted to sit and simply remember her. so i looked out the window, said hello and goodbye and blew a kiss, and then we drove on to the train station. where i saved a two foot long snapping turtle from likely-death by jumping down on the tracks and moving it off, then getting some helpful ladies and my friend to help lift me back onto the platform. so maybe that was my purpose for the day.

grandma, maybe you were that turtle, or maybe i was just given the chance to do something for which i know you'd be proud of me. either way, i remember you, and i miss you.