Today I went for a hike at Otay Lakes. It was a beautiful day. Cool breeze. White, fluffy clouds against a blue sky. Sparkling water gently moving with the wind. Birds chirping. I brought along my sound recorder, left it in a tree and went along my way. Below is a brief snippet of what I captured. via GIPHY for Brick Tamland
This week in Palm Springs is Modernism Week which is a week celebrating Southern California Modernism in architecture and design. Personally, I wanted to focus on Mid Century Modern architecture because I love the shapes and design of houses and buildings from this era. The large windows that aspire to combine indoor and outdoor living spaces, the Brise Soleil (“sun baffle outside the windows or extending over the entire surface of a building’s facade”; created to keep out direct or lots of sunlight- these can create incredible shadows and geometric shapes), and the simplicity of the design inspire me. Because…
Have you ever seen a movie or TV show, where the person puts his or her hand through an imaginary wall or invisible shield only to enter into another dimension? That’s what the Salton Sea feels like to me. Last week, I took two of my nephews to see this odd little piece of geography. We headed east through Julian, then after a beautiful stretch of Anza Borrego and Ocotillo Wells, we ran smack dab into the 86. From there we went to Mecca and then headed south on the 111 to the official recreation area. If we weren’t on…
I love my ceramics studio, the San Diego Ceramic Connection. For me, it’s so wonderful to step into this space, be myself and get my hands dirty. And it turns out I have one more reason to love it… the 20th Annual San Diego Ceramic Connection Community Chili Potluck/SoNo Fest and Chili Cook-Off. For those interested, here is the link with all of the information but essentially, SoNo Fest humbly began years ago with Kouta Shimazaki, the owner of the studio and master Japanese potter, who wanted to help out at his son’s school. Kouta began as a volunteer at McKinley…
A friend sent me this poem about Istanbul by Yahya Kemal Beyatlı. Although I love being home, back in the States, the words below could have been written by me: (photo by me)
Before coming back to the States, I read several articles about ‘repatriation’ or ‘reverse culture shock’. The gist being that it can be harder to come back home then move to an entirely new country. As happens, I believed that this wouldn’t apply to me so much because I wanted to go home; I wanted to be back in America so for me there would be little to no culture shock. And as happens, I was kinda wrong. To say that I am happy to be back in San Diego is an understatement. This morning I went to breakfast with…
Well, I didn’t win the top prize but I did get an Honorable Mention in the 2017 San Diego County Fair Photography competition! Within the ‘Cell Phone – Color or B&W division’, there were 4 winners and 8 Honorable Mentions. So twelve total chosen and one of mine squeaked in! This also means that my photo will be displayed in the Exhibit Hall. A dream come true for me. Tonight, my cup runneth over.
As far as I am concerned, I already won! A bit of background. Every year, the San Diego Fair has a photography contest. From my understanding many photographers from all over the world participate in this somewhat prestigious event. If I am in town in the summer, I am at the Fair. And the one thing I want to do at the Fair (besides eat chocolate covered bacon) is to go to the photography exhibition and see all of the images. I entered some photos many years ago and didn’t make it beyond the first round. But always in my heart,…
When shopping, I do like to get the most bang for my buck. Translation: I love a good sale. Recently I went to a Banana Republic outlet and got the cutest coat and most fantastic wide-leg pants in the world. However, they were just a tad too big so I took these items to my favorite tailor in San Diego, Ayaka. I used to watch a program called ‘What Not to Wear’ and one piece of advice that always stuck with me was to have a good tailor. It makes all of the difference in the world! A piece of…
One of the benefits of living in a city for a long time is that you get to know the secret spots. Especially in a city with heavy tourism, it’s fun to go off-the-beaten path. One of those places for me in San Diego is Imperial Beach. Imperial Beach (IB) is literally right next to Mexico as it is the most southwestern city in the States. You can see the border from the beach; put your foot just over it and be in two places at once! Slowly but surely, this beach town has been growing and expanding. However the…
traveling with claire 