Archive for November 2009
What did you accomplish by 13? 08-25-09
08-25-09, originally uploaded by JulieanneFaas.
Well Artie here has managed to master the guitar by the ripe age of 13 and we decided to go into the forest for an “album cover” photo shoot on my last day staying with these wonderful people. This shoot was so much fun! It was great practice for me and Artie seemed to enjoy it too.
We got a little carried away and I almost missed my flight home but I made it on the plane with 3 minutes to spare, a refreshed spirit and a lump in my throat for having to say goodbye to my wonderful friends.
Thank you so much for letting me stay with you guys this week!!
Jack Loves the Open Waters 08-24-09
This lovable pup is Jack (named after Jack Sparrow) and like his namesake LOVES being on a boat – which we did today. It was so fun to see Portland from the perspective of a boat! There were so many bridges to go under and all sorts of fun sights to see. I have been taking a crazy amount of pictures on this trip!
It’s Colder But Still Just As Pretty 08-23-09
08-23-09, originally uploaded by JulieanneFaas.
We went to the “Coast” today – it is not called the beach here. I LOVE this picture for several different reasons which I will list for you here:
a. I mean, look at it, is this not a fabulous picture??
b. the small people in the mid-ground on the right are the wonderful family I am staying with and seeing Benji jumping like that (something he does all the time) just makes me happy.
c. Haystack rock is in the background which adds a lot of depth to the picture and also nails it to a specific location.
d. Whoever made that sand castle was gifted in their ability to manipulate dirt to their whims and generous in their leaving it for all to enjoy.
e. From a technical stand point it is perfectly exhibiting the rule of 3rds which is always a good thing.
you get the idea.
This is another day where I couldn’t narrow it down to just one — really I’d love to put 6 or 7 on here — but that is what Facebook is for.
These chairs just happened to be chilling in front of this worn beachy wall — I couldn’t resist.
Too Cool For School 08-22-09
This kid cracks me up! My friends took me to Portland’s Saturday Market and it was a great place for people watching and art gazing! I loved it! I snapped this picture while I was in line for lunch.
I took way too many pictures today to just pick one. The one below is one of my favorites of the trip (I have a lot of favorites) The lighting is just so cool – If only I had gotten the contact info of this jewelry maker I could have sold it to her for her marketing stuff 
Extreme Photography (sort of) 08-21-09
I took this picture while partially hanging out the window of our car. It was pretty much just my head and arm sticking out so I’m not sure if I can claim that it was that extreme but I was struggling for a title for this one… feel free to suggest a better one.
At any rate, I really liked this picture, the curve of the road, the sun flare – its all good. Even though there isn’t any blur I think you can still get a sense of motion from it which is also rather fun.
Rolling Stones Aren’t As Pretty 08/20/09
This vacation has been the perfect mix of relaxing down time, creativity, sight seeing and good, deep conversation.
My friends live in a beautiful wooded area right outside of Portland and today I discovered the coolest park in the world (possible exaggeration but unlikely). I got to run through this amazing park today, the majority of which is windy trails that weave through moss covered forest!
From an exercise point of view this was awesome — my eyes were so distracted by the beautiful sights that I forgot I was running. Combine that with the fact that I had absolutely no idea where I was going or how long the trail was… and I ended up going on my longest run to date! And I didn’t care one bit – this place is gorgeous!
Where did the Susan part come from? 08/19/09
I understand why these flowers are called black eyed… but why Susan? Did Susan get punched in the face a lot? Or was she really clumsy? And did she only have one eye? I think these should really be called black eyed cyclopes but I suppose that doesn’t have the same southern ring to it.
At any rate the rain in Oregon is good at making for some really pretty flowers.
Free as a bird 08/18/09
Tomorrow I leave for a rather spontaneous trip to Portland to visit some very dear family friends. I can’t wait!
I love seeing publicly displayed art . Even when I don’t like the art itself (which is not the case here) I’m still excited to see it out on display – It gets people thinking and talking and looking at life from a different angle and I wish more cities were able/willing to do this more often.
I’m gonna cook me some eggs! 08/17/09
I loved this pot rack at first glance. Then at second glance I realized that pretty much all the pans are exactly the same. I could see needing two frying pans but six? Isn’t that a little excessive?
Artsy Fartsy 08/16/09
The Santa Barbara Art Museum is only a few blocks away from my house, yet I don’t venture inside very often. Shame on me!
Right now they have some fun mobile sculptures outside in front of the museum. I think this picture would make a good artsy postcard if I say so myself. But really most people don’t want artsy postcards, they want ones that will make the folks back home jealous of their amazing trip. Well just remember, you have to go home to your not-as-cool town, and I get to stay here and take artsy pictures.
I’d still rather they buy my postcard than point that out, but at least its something.
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun 08/15/09
08/15/09, originally uploaded by JulieanneFaas.
Sun + water + lily pads + lens flare = happy Jules
There’s a hole in my bucket dear Liza 08/14/09
What is it about rustic charm that’s, well …charming? I mean when you stop to break it apart and look at it – you have a rusty milk jug that could never hold any sort of liquid ever again, and a wheelbarrow that belongs to some sorry family, who’s mother – no matter what she tries, cannot seem to get her boys to remember to put it away after the work is done. Oh, and then you have some wild plants that have taken over the table… that’s going to be a pain to get rid of so that someone can actually serve dinner come summer time. Now really what is so charming about that?
Us city folk just don’t understand – we see charm where there is really a big mess – which is why we make good tourists.
Where you will sit to contemplate your day 08/13/09
There is something about fire escapes that intrigues me. Maybe it is because I have never had one, or that it is an integral part of my romanticized ideas of grand big cities, or maybe its just that they look really fun to hang off of so that one can sing into alley ways (see option number 2) .
At any rate I love them… as long as no one has to use it to get away from a fire, in which case I would be thankful for their existence but very said about the fiery building.
This was my good camera… can you tell? 08/12/09
I LOVE this picture… it is currently my background on my computer. Every once and awhile you get a good one and you feel refreshed and fall in love with photography all over again.
I’d like to thank Alic Keck Park Park for its contribution to this moment of joy.
Gorilla Art; my love and hate for 08/11/09
I am usually a fan of gorilla street art. I like to stumble upon astronauts on telephone poles and such. And was entertained by this one too… until I followed a trail of purple spray paint up the block to my house… and saw it sprayed across our picket fence. If you are trying to make a statement that TV and picket fences are dumbing down society and causing us to waste away our lives while the government takes our taxes… that’s all fine and good (although I disagree that picket fences really had anything to do with it)… but do you know how hard it is to get purple spray paint off a white picket fence? Not cool, man, not cool!
