Possible Award Winner!!!

Categories: latest · moving images · san diego · travel · writings2 Comments

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,…

(Not a) Dubai Enthusiast

Categories: Dubai · latest · writingsTags: · · 4 Comments

I am not a Dubai enthusiast. Part of the reason is the cost of living here. It is really expensive. The other reason is that everything is so spread out; one really needs a car. The metro is safe and clean but it’s time consuming and doesn’t go a ton of places at the moment (expansions are happening, just not right now). Plus it’s really hot here. I know, it’s Dubai. But, it’s really hot here! I realize that there are people out there who are going to disagree with me as they think Dubai is the bee’s knees, and…

Department of Humanity

Categories: writings1 Comment

So if there is a God, I kind of think of him like this. He runs a giant, universal Corporation. He gave us a beautiful floor in the building with everything we need. And I mean, everything. However, as much as we would like to think we are a priority, Humanity is just one of the many Departments within this Corporation. Now because this Corporation is so large, he doesn’t always have time to deal with our every need. In fact, like most bosses, he expects us to do the best with what we have. His thinking is, I have…

Hectic and Calm

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I found that with Morocco, some parts were hectic while others were calm… and everything in between. This is an incredibly diverse land that has something to offer everyone. If it’s not on your bucket list, it really should be. Below is a video I created about Morocco; compiled from all of my videos and recordings. I tried a couple of new techniques and the video is just over four minutes. I think that is pretty good considering I was there for just under two weeks.  Please do enjoy!

Liquid Gold

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I am vain about my hair. I admit it. It borders on obsession but just a smidge. I have been known to schedule exercise classes and excursions around when I do my hair. Put it this way, one of the biggest draw backs for me in Dubai is that my shower has the lowest water pressure on the planet. Yes, I have checked it out and mine is the weakest. I am bringing this up because in Morocco there is a tree called the Argan tree from which argan oil is produced. From my understanding, this tree is native to Morocco and…

Camels are not sexy.

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Camels are dependable, strong, tough animals. Apparently, they can go for up to two months without food or water. They carried me in and out of the Sahara without a single complaint. But sexy they are not. Look. It is mating season for camels right now. The camel handlers do um… neuter the animals (you don’t want to know how) but it doesn’t always take. So when the male camels are looking for a mate, they make this really odd, bubbling sound that can be heard for miles because well, it’s the desert. And there is a lot of spit…

Hello Satwa!

Categories: Dubai · latest · writings2 Comments

Recently, I took a free, 4-week online course called ‘The Power of Colour’ through FutureLearn. I absolutely loved it… loved it. I ended up buying two books: 5000 Years of Textiles (it might take me that long to read it – it’s a large book) and The Brilliant History of Colour in Art. This course just opened up a new world to me; incredibly fascinating in my mind. So when I heard that Dubai had a textiles district, apart from the Textiles Souk, I quickly urbered it over there. When I lived in China, there were two main places to buy fabric…

Moving On

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As I was sitting in my ceramics studio last week, trying to make rose petals for my new art project, I realized that during the past few months just about everything in my life was up in the air. During the time from March until September, I had all of the below going on (in no particular order): Skin cancer (knock on wood, all clear) Heavy trauma to both knees after a huge fall down some stairs #clutzforlife Looking for a new job with frequent interviews, paperwork, forms, etc. Packing up an apartment I had lived in and loved for…

My Happy Place

Categories: Dubai · latest · writingsTags: · · 3 Comments

I found my happy place. My friend told me about the Antique Museum in the Al Quoz district. So this morning I went and found a warehouse full of handicrafts from something like 27 different countries. Sri Lanka, Morocco, India, Vietnam, Tibet, Syria… just to name a few. It was remarkable and for me, complete heaven. I loved discovering something from different cultures on the various shelves, all packed together, waiting to be unearthed. One of the highlights was discovering the drawer knobs/handles that I had first found in India. Even the gentleman that was helping me said these were only from India,…

#neverbeencool

Categories: Dubai · latest · writingsTags: · · 4 Comments

I find myself talking about Istanbul lately. When I first visited the city on the Bosphorus, I knew within the first millisecond that it was the place I wanted to live.  In my head I know I made the right decision to leave, my heart knows it too. But for four years, that was my home where both my head and heart were smiling. In Dubai, I still feel too new to make a decision one way or another. There are many elements that I truly enjoy. For instance, everything is incredibly convenient here. Incredibly. Also, there is a TON…