365 Photo Project - Day 274

Taken:  July 10, 2011
Location: Healdsburg, Ca

Now that I've changed the way I eat and gotten over some of my more self-destructive habits, I've found some solace in working on my small but growing collection of Converse sneakers.  I believe these are my oldest current pair, dating back about 20 years. I really didn't get into buying Cons until about three years ago when a friend gifted me a new pair for my birthday and when I bought these, I didn't have that much to spend on sneakers (and I probably had a job that required I wear something other than Chuck Taylors to work). Still, I'd like to think the obsession can be traced back to these simple kicks. Every few months, I go through my collection and give away or trade in the pairs I don't wear anymore. These ain't going anywhere.

I often will drag my Cons out to practice shooting and editing pictures. This was from one of those sessions.

365 Photo Project - Day 243 (From the Archives)

Taken: August 15, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

I shot this image in the same session as this shot. This is my "old man" pug Louie, who we rescued in Los Angeles about five years ago. We think he's around 10 years old and he's now completely deaf and blind in one eye. He's the dog that started my love affair with pugs and he'll always have a special place in my heart. I love him madly. Hell, everyone who meets him does too.

365 Photo Project - Day 242

Taken: August 30, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

I shot this from the road where I live. My house would be off and out of frame to the right. I love the drama of the moment -- a late afternoon day on the day of or right after the first rain we got in months. No matter how much I've come to love color images and certainly no matter how easy it gets to work with them in the digital world, I'll always love the black and white shots the best. More of my Dad's influence no doubt.

365 Photo Project - Day 227

Taken: August 15, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

This is by far my most favorite image of my young pug, Chamuco. I love it because it perfectly captures his personality, I'm quite proud of this shot, as I am of little Chamuco who might be the most friendly dog in the history of dogs. My vet calls him the social butterfly. That's why I always worry he'll go home with one of our guests. :-D

365 Photo Project - Day 217

Taken: August 5, 2010

Location: Healdsburg, CA

Another self-portrait plus a little bit of fooling around in Photoshop.  This photo says a lot about me -- there's my iPhone headphones I almost never go without and that little thing around my neck is my portable hard drive (for all my photos and other work) and I'm wearing my usual uniform -- t-shirt and jeans. And sunglasses. I love my sunglasses.

This photo has some other import -- like the image on this day, I'm actually leading up to a big change in my life. I'll explain in a few days. 

365 Photo Project - Day 108

Taken: April 18, 2010, 11:56 p.m.
Location: Healdsburg, CA

I'm calling this old school. And it's right under the wire too. I snapped this just before midnight. I first used a cameras like this when I started taking pictures as a kid.  My dad had one and he let me use it, believe it or not. I'm pretty sure I eventually broke it though.  I want another one of these -- I'm dying to try my hand again at the larger format cameras now that I'm taking pictures every day.  Maybe I'll find a working one before the end of this project.

These are part of a bunch of old cameras my husband and I have collected over the years. Between  us, we have quite a few and he puts them out around the house like art.  I love the look of these cameras. Like I said, old school baby, old school.

Like me. Well not old school, just old and exhausted.

365 Photo Project - Day 107

Taken: April 17, 2010, noon
Location: Healdsburg, Ca.

Missed a day because I'm writing nonstop. Was hoping to be done this weekend but alas, not quite. But progress has been made and I'm more than halfway home. It feels good to force myself into a writing schedule. My goal now is to keep on trucking. I'm beginning to think this is my year.  Time will tell but as tired as I am right now, I'm feeling like it's the good type of fatigue. The kind that means something real is getting done.

I shot precious little this weekend. I even considered subbing in an old shot for the next day's photo (which is today's photo as I write this). But in the end, I got in a shot just before midnight -- a little homage shot actually (you'll see it soon enough). I guess I'm really committed to seeing this thing through, to taking at least one shot a day. Or maybe I should be committed. Whatever.

I'll be writing more as the week progresses. I promise.

I can't get through the day without my coffee. I'm addicted. I like good coffee, too. No French roast for this girl. I'm all about the water temperature and my silver Bodum bullet-shaped french press. Just the right amount of steeping. Yeah, I'm way into my coffee. Our best local coffee place is The Flying Goat, or The Goat as we locals refer to it. I love the kids over there -- I know some of them even read my blog (hey Jacob) -- and even though I make my coffee myself every day, I love stopping by, grabbing a table and gabbing with whoever walks in. And I'm sort of addicted to their Chai Lattes. But you know, we don't even have to go there.

I mainlined so much coffee this weekend that when I slipped into bed Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. after being up since 10:30 am Saturday, I couldn't fall asleep. Hell,  I couldn't sit still. I'm getting too old for this shit I tell you.

I shot these mugs at the Goat on Saturday when I went by to have my Thermos filled up for my all-nighter. Used my K100D, the internal flash and edited it in Photoshop.

365 Photo Project - Day 100

Taken: April 10, 2010, approx 4:30 p.m.
Location: Healdsburg, Ca

Day 100. Wow. I thought I'd make it this far -- I mean I had no doubt I'd see this project through to the bitter end, but I didn't think it would be this hard. And to think: only 265 days to go (gulp). In honor of my milestone, I thought it was time for another self-portrait. Even after doing a few of these, I haven't gotten over how much I hate photos of myself. Thus my penchant for taking pieces of myself for these photos (I'm easily amused).

I'm still writing. Will be through the weekend. The drama of the last couple of weeks has really thrown me off and I'm playing catch up. Our string of perfect spring days got interrupted today by a dreary, cool and listless day. Just the kind that makes staying inside in front of your computer a lot easier. Sunshine stay away for a couple more days, okay? I got work to do.

I wish I had time to make more of getting to triple figures but work calls. I'm sure I'll have more to say when I finish this damned script and have time to think about my life again. Mmm, maybe this deadline writing is a good thing?

I do want to thank my readers for sharing the journey so far and for your comments and support. I never set out to write this for anybody but myself, never thought I'd have many readers at all and it's true my following is small, but knowing somebody is out there waiting for each post, makes it easier to stick with the project. I hope you'll continue to tag along and let me know what you think.

I shot this with my K100D and edited it in Photoshop. Just, you know, to make myself look a lot cooler than I actually look.

365 Photo Project - Day 88

Taken: March 29, 2010, noon
Location: Healdsburg, Ca.

I likely won't be writing much the next few days. I'm in the latter stages of finishing a writing project and when I get this close to "The End" of a script or novel, I find it's impossible for  me to focus on anything else in my life, my friends and loved ones included. They know me by now I guess but I always feel bad when I run into and/or hang out with my friends during those times I'm bearing down to finish a project. My thoughts are always elsewhere, usually in some far and distant land of my mind where all sorts of weird stuff happens. Not the kind of stuff you want anyone to know you're thinking about, not even your friends. Hell, especially your friends,

I'm a day late with today's photo because we spent our evening last night with good friends in St. Helena. They follow my blog and made a special request to ease up on the pug pictures. But when I went through my photos last night and this morning, this was the one that stood out. That's my young (actually he's nearly 3 years old now) pug, Chamuco aka "The Little Black Devil" giving me one of those looks he gives me when I'm leaving for work. Sometimes I take him with me and let him chew on a bully stick while I work. After awhile, he gets tired of chewing and falls asleep at my feet.

I used to work out of my house and got used to pugs snoring nearby or sitting in my lap (pugs love to be in the same room with you at all times) and cats curled up on top of my monitor -- until flat screens came into vogue that is. I remember when I bought my first flat screen monitor and no sooner had I set it up, my cat, Sassy, jumped up on the desk and tried to take her spot on top of the warm monitor. Unfortunately, she was unpleasantly surprised to discover there was no spot for her to sit on anymore. Who knew you were supposed to consult your cat on these purchases? Let me tell you there was a lot of guilt involved.

Anyone who has a dog or a cat understands how quickly they take over your life and your house. Before you know it and without even thinking about it, you suddenly realize that you make 100 decisions a day with your pet in mind. Decisions, I'll add, you would have made (a lot) differently if you were pet-less. In other words, it's not your house anymore, it's theirs. You are merely a visitor, a trespasser in their domain. The sooner you make peace with this concept, the happier you will be. Trust me, I know. I am, after all, owned by two pugs and a very old and very vocal cat.

I shot Chamuco with my K100D and converted it to B&W with Photoshop.

365 Photo Project - Day 77

Taken: March 18, 2010, 10:30 p.m.
Location: Healdsburg, Ca

Was just too tired to write anything last night. It was a full and rather pleasant day but a long one and I was exhausted by the time it came to thinking up something clever.

I did spend my evening a 13-year-old, the son of a good friend, who I've come to adore in the mere two years or so we've known each other. He is a sweet and kind kid, smart and funny. Like many boys his age, is also a sports fanatic, most notably for baseball (I only sometimes hold his love of the Yankees against him. After all, he got it from his Mom.) And, like most boys his age, he is obsessed with trades and free agency and all ways of player movement. I was about to say "in my day" which is going to make me sound like my Dad but, um, back when I was his age, trades were the exception not the rule. We didn't have a 24-hour-news-cycle-countdown-to-the-last-nano-second-of-the-trade-deadline with everybody from ESPN to the sports blog-o-sphere speculating on who is going, who is going where and for who in return.

Not that it has in any way dampened my young friend's love for the game. I'd rather hear his speculation any day. For one,  he never takes money or salaries into account and his proposals are far more creative that anything that actually does happen. Makes me wonder what professional baseball would be like if 13-year-olds got to run every franchise for one day. That would be something to see.

But see, we have the love in common. I've been a sportswriter, have lived through scandal after scandal, have seen my share of the parade of knuckleheads, both in uniform and out, have witnessed the worse of sports, on occasion from a front-row seat. But I'll never lose the love. I'm just not built that way.

I'm one of those people who, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, still believes in the purity of the game, remains loyal to my favorite franchises  (Mets and NY Giants) even as they have not always showed the same loyalty in return. I know all that bad stuff exists but when the games start, I just don't allow myself to go down the dark alleyway of cynicism. I will not enter the House of What's Wrong With Sports Today. I prefer to believe that the game matters to most guys who play it and they do their best, they try hard and they try hard to win.

Sports is really the last refuge of the true gladiator, those aforementioned knuckleheads aside. There's almost always a winner and a loser and the outcome is as concrete as you can get -- even if some matches dominate "what if" discussions for generations (that's part of the fun too). The scoreboard tells the tale and every game is like its own mini story of drama and intrigue, life and death. I often wonder, actually, what life would be like if it worked more like sports. Do your job well and get paid, be judged on merit and ability, not by the what you look like or where you're from or who gave birth to you or who you happen to love. Now, that would be something.

The image today is another one of my experiments. It's an ostrich egg, set against a white background and lit from above. I used the K100D with internal flash and turned the image to B&W in Photoshop.

365 Photo Project - Day 76

Taken: March 17, 2010, 11:30 a.m.
Location: Healdsburg, Ca

It broke 70 degrees today and it's gonna keep on breaking it for the next week. I don't know about you but I'm ready for the sunshine. Feels like I've been living under the ground, like I've been hibernating, waiting for that moment when I can open my eyes again, come out of the darkness and step into the light once more.

I'm not complaining. Just happy to be warmed by real sunlight, to feel like spring is finally here. I can't help it. It gives my heart a wonderful weightlessness, like gravity is everybody else's problem. I'm a sap that way. I mean in case you haven't noticed by now.

Got a pretty good day's work in today, another  benefit of the upturn in the weather.  Managed to step out for a few minutes late in the day. Just long enough to get a good whiff of things to come. I'm such a sucker for this time of year when winter is nearly dead and buried, and there's nothing but possibility in the air. Everything is out there for the taking, anything can happen and maybe, just maybe this is going to be my year.

Told ya' I'm a sucker.

I wish I could bottle that feeling and take it out whenever I needed a little extra motivation, a little pick-me-up from the daily grind of going nowhere fast. It's like a great song you haven't heard in forever. Those first few bars remind you why you loved it when you first heard it and maybe even where you were at the time you fell in love with the melody.  For me, music is like the smell of freshly-baked bread. One whiff of it and it takes me directly to a specific moment in my life when I first smelled bread out of the oven. One minute you're focused on something in front of you and the next, you've built an entire memory off the smell out of the oven

For me it's bread, maybe yours is ground coffee or horse manure. Whatever.  It's that thing that tickled your senses, that hung in the ether at that moment when you were having one of those life-changing experiences. Nobody forgets that stuff.  Maybe we think we do,  but then that something in your nose or that sound or taste -- whoosh, it all come back like it was yesterday.

It's a good thing to remember, how your senses can take your mind by the hand and lead you along a twisty trail of memories and moments that are so real you could, well, you could smell and taste and see and hear them. I  rely on senses when I write all the time. Scenes have people in them and things but I always try to ask myself what does it feel like, what's on the nose, what sounds, sights ... it's all good fodder for selling a character's experience. And it's often the best way to the heart of what you're writing about. Put your audience in the moment, with your character, seeing and feeling everything he does.

I'm not saying it's easy but the only place to start is to make sure you're using all your senses. Take note of your own world and keep it someplace safe. You never know when you'll need it. Speaking of, excuse me while I close up shop for the day. There's something in the air. I can feel it.

Took this shot of my two pugs this morning with my K100 D and edited it slightly in Photoshop. That's the old man, Louie on the left and little devil Chamuco on the right. My favorite subjects.

365 Photo Project - Day 14

Taken: January 14, 2010, approx. 11:30 a.m.
Location: Healdsburg, CA

You have to trust me when I tell you I never thought I’d be one of those people who showed pictures of her dogs to strangers.  I wasn't. Not really. I am now.

This is the face that did it. A half-blind, almost deaf pug that my husband and I got from a Los Angeles-based pug rescue in 2005. Little did we know how much it would cost to keep him healthy (we’re talking five figures no lie) but more than that, how easily he was able to thread his way into our hearts. I mean there's my life pre-Louie and now and I never want to go back.

Maybe it’s because we’re childless (by choice) or maybe because when he came into our lives we were going through a particularly difficult time in our lives and our relationship. Whatever it was, it’s almost like there is no “us” without Louie the Pug, our Louie, King of All Pugs.

He’s not the world’s sweetest dog by any means. He keeps to himself mostly and he doesn’t like to be cuddled and he sleeps half the day away. Like most pugs, he’s stubborn as hell and there’s his medical bills, which have been enormous. And yet ... he is such a big part of my heart, I can't imagine not having him around me.

I just can’t describe the lightness and joy he gives me, especially at the moment (nearly every day) when he “loses” me in the house and searches in every room until he finds me. And when he does, it’s with tail wagging and I swear to God, a twinkle in his one good eye. 

He’s one tough guy, a dog that clearly loves his life and wants to stick around as long as he can function. And he does function -- even half blind and now completely deaf. He was on the streets for several years before he got rescued and since we've had him, he's gone through a number of surgeries – all attempts to rid him of a nasty bone infection in his inner ear. The most recent operation left him with a chronic gagging cough that won’t go away. We’re scheduled to go back to UC Davis VMTH for the sixth time in 10 weeks to have yet another procedure to see what’s causing his latest ailment. This one will require anesthesia, which is always scary with flat-faced dogs but we've got no choice.  He's up half the night coughing -- I swear it's like living with a newborn.

I have faith in Louie and I know for certain he'll let me know when he's had enough. For now, we're doing the best we can, both of us.

In honor of my pal, my buddy, my pug Louie, he's my subject for today’s photo. Taken with my K100D in the great morning light of a brilliant sunny day (the calm before the storm that we hear is coming next week). Edited in Photoshop where turned it to black and white.