If you're still out there, I miss you.

First thing this morning I read a little note somewhere that reminded me to take notice of the small things today. It's amazing how they begin to appear miraculously just by putting that thought in your head. Driving to work, I saw a dog peeking out of an upstairs window in someone's home. Passing the tailor, I saw the familiar movements of the tailor stretching her measuring tape around a woman's body. I liked the sound of my keys jingling in my hand. And at the end of the night I saw my favorite type of star and moon (the thin crescent and - a planet, maybe Venus? nearby to the left). I made some notes so I could remember them, on a page with some scribbles from work and I noticed that I love my handwriting. Photo.

A typical Wednesday night in our household. Laundry and pictures of the cats.

J works near the bus station. Whenever I go pick him up at work, I see this. I have wanted to shoot this for a very long time, have attempted to shoot it on many occasions, and finally got it. This is a very particular view that can only be seen from the car, while sitting at a (hopefully) red stop light. It's not perfectly the way I envisioned it but it's pretty damn close. Finally.

J has learned to make crackers - an excellent addition to our homemade bread-product repetoire. You can score them before baking or you can cook the dough in one large sheet like this and then break it into shards which are quite pleasing.

We are definitely going to be working on crackers over time until we get them perfect. You've got to have crackers.


Recipe (by request):

This recipe is a bit complicated. Suffice it to say that it comes from the greatest bread-baking book ever made, The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

Time needed: 15 minutes mixing, 2 hours fermentation, 15-20 minutes baking
Key: roll out the dough paper thin
Note: the sheet can be cut into crackers in advance or snapped into shards after baking
- Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers
- Our favorite toppings are either "everything" like on a bagel (sesame, poppy, onion, garlic, salt) or just a large grained salt

Ingredients:
1.5 cups (6.75 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1/2 tsp (.13 ounce) salt
1/2 tsp (.055 ounce) instant yeast
1 tbs (.75 ounce) honey
1 tbs (.5 ounce) vegetable oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup (3-4 ounces) room temperature water
poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, caraway seeds, kosher salt, etc. for toppings

1. Stir together flour, salt, yeast, honey, oil and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup of water.
2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should register 77-81 degress F. It should be firmer than French bread dough, satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Ferment at room temp for 90 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
4. Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hands and dust top lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper-thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time to let the gluten relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the rack in the middle. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle on any seeds or spices (a little spice goes a long way). If you want precut crackers, cut the dough with a rolling pizza cutter into rectangles. You do not need to separate the pieces, they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the dough without cutting.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top. (Time depends on how thinly you rolled the dough)
6. Remove the pan from the oven and let the crackers cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or into shards.

~Please note that on our first attempt, we did not roll the dough nearly thinly enough (about 1/8 inch - thinking this was "cracker size") and did not cook them quite long enough (less crispy). On the second attempt, we went way thinner (they plumped while baking and were much crispier) and let them get a little bit browner for a much better result.

- Let me know if you try this recipe - I'd love to hear how it turned out for you!

Posting on May 13, 2009 - I have no idea what we did today, but apparently baking was at least a part of it.

Tonight was the first time in a very long time that I've felt motivated to go on a run all by myself. My friend and training partner, M, has been dragging me off the couch for group runs all winter but left to my own devices I would never go. So, I think this is big progress and warrants some documentation! Plus, the run was great...very foggy, cold, lung-burning, spine-tingling...and I felt super fast and saw two raccoons.

Don't you just love diner coffee, even when it's not good? No? Just me, then?

Nice long talks with J and a diner breakfast at lunch time - a great way to spend a holiday day off. Walked around Fisherman's Terminal, which always pulls me, and yet again I was drawn to this bike, which I have photographed twice before.

A nice day, spent with J, lovely afternoon, a dinner party with delicious goulash, wine, salad followed by a vampire movie...no one wanted to pose for pictures though so you get Fergus. I guess now that he's 1 he's officially a cat, not a kitten any more. His birthday was observed on January 15th.

Two years ago today, I knew we were going to move to Seattle.

p.s. Fergus woulda looked pretty good in the 70's, no?

This may not be the best photograph I took all day, there were many to choose from, but my Dad would have loved this photograph. Trains were his life, he loved them, and he would have loved that we, and everyone else on the beach, stopped what we were doing and admired this big, beautiful, freight train as it made it's way north.

We went to Carkeek Park.

Artsy shot. But the reality of it is that Wally put this in the windshield using his big thick skull. Wally is a dog.

When you just start taking random snapshots of rooms in your house you know you're in a slump. Oh well, we all have desperation shots, don't we? So, here's my kitchen.


Update, posted May 13, 2009: We have new garbage cans now. At the time, I hated these garbage cans so much it brought me to tears. Now, they don't look so bad in this photo.

Feeling like this self-portrait, broken into pieces, shattered, fragmented. I just want to go home.

Three days away from home, J, the kitties, my comfy couch, bed, etc. and I am starting to feel about as prickly as this cactus.

Trapped in a hotel with nothing to photograph. Quick snap from the roof of the street below. Sometimes I think these are the days that make the photo-a-day project really important. This day, like so many hundreds (thousands?) of others would be completely lost. And, at a conference full of photographers, I am pretty sure I am the only one who came home with this little moment today.

*sigh* Work-related trip to the national photographers conference. I used to love traveling and staying in hotels but now I hate it. I wonder if I will ever learn to like it again.

A year ago today

I wish there were some other word than "bad" to describe the kind of day I had today. It was one of those days where all the little things go wrong for no reason and in not big enough ways to really add up to the whole day being "bad". You know? Any thoughts on a better word?

Anyways, these are the super cute shoes I was wearing that may (or may not) have caused me to slip on a wet floor (it's Seattle in winter) and spill scalding hot coffee all over my hand. For those that haven't done it, that really hurts! It was not in the "I didn't know coffee was hot so I'm going to sue you." kind of way...just in a "Geez! That fricking hurts!" kind of way. And, getting coffee was supposed to be the late afternoon pick-me-up for my "bad" day.


I've seen these before.

Tonight K&S made us a farewell meal. We jokingly "food styled" the ingredients for me to shoot but it just wasn't quite right until someone threw in the bottlecaps - eh voila!

Upstaters and Wisconsinites go ahead and laugh. I am from Virginia and I am afraid to drive in the snow. Read that: AFRAID. To. Drive. In. The. Freaking. Snow. Tonight, due to circumstances beyond my control and some hefty peer pressure...I drove almost all the way home without incident. Read that: ALMOST. I will never, never, never, never do that again.

How is it that every time Kath and Spoons visit, deliciousness ensues?

Did I mention that Kath and Spoons are in town? So we had to do our required "intro to the cult of Mac and Jack's" that we do for all visitors to Seattle.

Yet another failed attempt to go to Paseo! J's pouty face shows he's beginning to think he'll never get to eat the deliciousness that is Paseo.

Today, we had a great plan for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (Pies and Pints) and drove a long way only to find that they weren't open for a late lunch. Still determined not to settle, we drove another long way in another direction to go to an amazing cuban sandwich place (Paseo) that J has been dying to try since I've been twice - only to find they are closed for a "winter break".

See my two trips to Paseo without J

Photographing new year again, this is the first time that I have struggled to get a shot I really loved to start the year off with a good omen. My internal clock has felt a bit off lately and it doesn't feel like January first to me. Happy New Year everyone.

2007
2008