waterlogged

rain, rain and more rain, since last week and on through this entire week. sigh. clearly not a good time for taking pictures outdoors. I'll be lucky if I get any tulip shots up in Mount Vernon at all this year.

the Saab is no longer dead, but I've not got any money to go and get her (or any to return her, now that the lease is up, for that matter). $1200 to replace and fix two parts. I've been cursed.

I have started doing my taxes, though, and I don't think my refund will be as grand as I had hoped. so that puts the k'bosh on plans to do the show in Pleasanton. I've taken it off my schedule, but, as you can note, I have been accepted into the Vancouver Garden Show, up in the Van Dusen, this June, and I am definitely going to do that. there's a vendor orientation on 11 April, and I'm hoping the weather will have cleared by then, enough to get in some decent shots on the way up to Vancouver, as well as in my favorite gardens there, the Van Dusen and the UBC Botanical Gardens. I'm praying that the Previa is up to the task! >g<

at long last, the CSS revisions to my site are done, with a whole new style applied across all 150-odd pages. I also did some reviewing of my portfolios, and found that I was missing two of my favorite photos:





I also had the chance to review four new pieces I began working on at varying times in the last several months, and have now included them in my studio momo portfolio:









not too bad...

rain and wind

drama queen alert: tired and cranky and take me out of my misery.

seriously, though, any weekend when the rain and wind keep me away from my camera is not fun. not that I don't have other work to do. far from it. in fact, I am likely to be described as actively avoiding some of the critical things I need to do (like my taxes), just because I hate paperwork. did I mention the drama queen thing? yeah.

anyway, I spent way too much time working on CSS for the site updates, and if you're reading this you can see what I've done. there are two sections of the site that have been completely redone. this blog, and my etherea portfolio.
there's also a new main page in the process of being designed. what do you think? until I figure out how to set up forms sometime this week, feel free to write and tell me how you feel about the new look.


in addition to CSS fun (and thanks to Dylan and Ben for offering to help), I've been collecting a lot of samples of Arabic text written in the square Kufic style:



I've used this writing style as the basis for some of my art in the past, including the qur'anic mandala series, and, most recently, my piece entitled shahada, the text of which translates to only Allah is to be worshipped; the messenger of Allah is Muhammed. in preparation for some new work, I did the base forms for one new text:



this spiral of text is from the Qur'an, from Sura 112 (the Pure Faith sura).

were there any other inspirations this week? Hiro and I saw the Japanese film, Nobody Knows, yesterday. grim ending. and sad to have been based on actual events in Tokyo. of course, after living in Japan for ten years, the emotions were intense. one moment I was revelling in memories, the next revulsed at the situation presented on screen.

the coming week? more work on taxes, on CSS, on web forms, and hopefully a shoot or two.

grateful at week's end

it was a week for the good, the bad, and the ugly.

letters came from Portland, and yes, I once again failed to make the cut. sigh. of course, I found out on the same day I found that my total weight loss since surgery hit the 77 pound mark, so I wasn't totally aghast at the Portland news.

during the week I made a lot of good progress on the site. I learned a lot about CSS, I added a search page so people can search for specific flowers, or colors, or art pieces, I kept consolidating my mailing list and added a list join form to the site, and I went through and added to all the ALT tags for all of my photos.

I think I've decided to draw a line in the sand and let my portfolios stand as they are through this year's season, although I suspect that I will add to/subtract from the etherea portfolio a little more. I'm taking good shots this spring, but I don't have time to review the floragraphy portfolio to add and subtract photos every month or so when I need to keep framing.

at week's end I found out I got into the American Art Festival's first show in Pleasanton, which is in Alameda County, California. I was thrilled to get in but it will be a long drive (12+ hours one way), and I don't yet know how well people do at these shows. of course, until my taxes and financials are done, I can't really commit.

I'd kinda rather spend the money to go to a photo seminar in Tuscon in April, to shoot in the desert... or get a new camera, and pay off some debts.
but we'll see what the IRS has to say...

Friday was probably the most convoluted day. I got some good work done, but then I needed to run into Seattle over my lunch break. I also got a chance to stop at the UW Botany Greenhouse to snap some pics. the desert room was great, with a lot of cactus in bloom.



I was also amazed to see that the greenhouse's passionflower varieties appear to be in full bloom, because they had a tray filled with different blossoms. here's my favorite:



once I left Seattle, however, my troubles began.

mid-span on the 520 bridge, the engine light starts flashing on my Saab. the accelerator seems to stop working, and there's a horrific smell of burning plastic/rubber. somehow the Saab manages to get up the east highrise of the bridge, so I exit at Medina and manage to get just past the Tully's in Clyde Hill when it dies completely, with the battery, oil and warning lights on.

the call goes in to AAA, but I can't really describe where I am at, so it takes the tow truck driver longer than an hour to find me, the poor guy. I get towed to my mechanic's, Autologic in Bellevue, but they can't take a look at the Saab until Monday morning. they do, however, pay for a cab to get me home, where my art van, the 91 Toyota Previa, waits.

except the battery is dead. even Gary, my most lesbian of gay male friends, has no jumper cables. however, Ben, mate of Kat, of Katography fame, does have cables, and Ben and Kat drive over to jump my poor Previa, which got a new battery last fall so really shouldn't have needed this!

the Previa starts up, and I make it to UPS (to get books on GoLive and CSS) before they close, and Hiro comes home. I'm so tired after all of the craziness, that we forego the gym, have dinner at Bingo-ya (a local Japanese restaurant whose food isn't quite as good as the prices would indicate), and then go to see Robots over in Crossroads.

may the gods bless Robin Williams. a wonderful movie. true eye-candy, but the humor was fantastic. oddly enough, the headliners, Ewan MacGregor (love him!) and Halle Berry, seemed the least adaptable to doing voice roles. even Drew Carey was subdued. but Robin Williams and Mel Brooks were great.

on Saturday, after some errands, we drove back over to the UW to join Hiro's friends for a true Japanese hanami, minus the alcohol and cigarettes and portable karaoke machines. hanami are picnics under the cherry trees. needless to say, I spent most of time looking at the trees:





I also managed to get a decent shot of Mount Rainier:



and a nice shot of Hiro, who actually let me take a picture for once.



after that, we drove over to the Washington Park Arboretum so I could shoot some magnolia shots with what was left of the sunlight. then a stop at Jamba, and a visit to Kat to thank her and Ben for the jumper cables.

Sunday morning, the selfsame Kat and I drove up to Mount Vernon, to work our ways south, cameras in hand. we started at the WSU garden in Mount Vernon, and then stopped at Christianson's Nursery. no, the tulips in Mount Vernon are not yet out, but the daffs are blazing away. everything seems to be running a month early, so I suspect the tulips will be ready by Easter, at the latest. my favorite flower shot of the day was of a variety of pussy willow we never saw back East (or in Japan, for that matter):



we also got to see a huge flock of snow geese in La Conner as they continued their migration back north:



and a beautiful shot of Mt Baker:



we ended our trip at Flower World in Maltby, for another blitz of photos.
once I got home, though, I was dead. tomorrow promises to be as crazy as ever, so I'm ready for my beauty sleep...

busy as a bee

it's been a crazy week... no news on the art show front, although I am considering adding two more shows: the Boise Art Museum's Art in the Park, and Artfest in Spokane.

I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear from Portland. hopefully the letter will be in tomorrow's post.

meanwhile, I have a new office at my real job, and at last I have a window. ok, northern exposure, but still a window. I celebrated by bringing in some plants (the hyacinth have just opened and smell divine), including one of my favorite local spring plants, the chocolate lily.



I also managed to get over to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens for the first time this year. although some of the native plants have begun to bloom, like the pond lilies and the indian plums, they had a lot of daffodils, and, a favorite of mine, plum trees.



if you say, wait, that looks like a cherry blossom, well, I wouldn't blame you.
both plum trees and cherry trees are genus prunus, and I suppose you'd need to wait until the fruit develops to really know.

I did a little shopping and I think I am finally ready to start offering CDs with a studio momo/floragraphy screen saver. my Epson R200 is doing a great job of printing onto the CDs, and I have enough printable CDs and cases to spare. it's a cool project to work on.

speaking of projects, I also compiled a book of my limited edition Kaua'i shots, to bring to art shows, as I doubt I'll be able to display all nineteen shots (and show pieces from other portfolios). it turned out very well; I sent a copy to my mother as she and my stepfather are moving soon--to Connecticut where it's still snowing!
(cue diabolical laughter)

finally, I ended my week with a photo shoot this morning with good friend Kat, also a fantastic photographer (her web site is here).
We went to the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden and the Rhododenron Species Botanical Garden today.

I'd never been to the HSBG before, and although it was small (and directly in the SeaTac flight path), it looks like it could be wonderful. my favorite shot there was of a ladybug, hunkered down among some blossoms on a plum tree:



I really cropped the heck out of this shot, just to zoom in on the ladybug.
the full shot looks more like this:



the RSBG had some great rhodies already in bloom, like the one below, but I think it will be another week or so before the full riot act is read and the profusion of blossoms is upon us. I can't wait.