sweet '16! 2016"

we didn't spend thousands (of kroner) on fireworks last evening, thinking we'd watch everyone else's and still have our money. but it was weirdly foggy, so we found some sparklers and set off chinese wish lanterns instead. it was much more wonderful that way. and we didn't miss the fireworks at all. after all, the clear, still air was filled with the sound of them. it was rather weirdly disorienting, actually. all that sound and none of the visuals.

i have so many hopes for 2016: to be healthier - in body especially, but also in mind and spirit and relationships. to creative challenges at work - i got an awesome idea yesterday and can't wait to explore it. for travel. for new experiences. for spending time with friends and family. for remembering to live a less consuming, more sustainable life. for finishing that new kitchen. for getting rid of this infernal cold (i got out the juicer and worked on that one today).

a new year always feels like a blank slate. fresh and new and full of possibilities.

happy new year, one and all! it's going to be a sweet '16. 2016.

it's all about the food

new year's eve.
it's all about the food.
purple potato with homemade aïoli,
garlic olive with cheddar crust
and cauliflower agnolotti on a bed of mojo.
there's even more, but i didn't photograph all of it.
yet.

happy new year, one and all!

* * *

i did it! i finished another 365 photo project.

it's a way of life now, so i'll be continuing in 2014.

* * *

war toys is a powerful photo project where photographer brian mccarty

duplicates children's drawings using toys and real-life settings in palestine.

* * *

a touching and wonderful mother-daughter photo series.

* * *

hundred-year-old negatives discovered in antarctica.

and developed.

* * *

fleet of ships made from currency

symbolize the flow of world commerce.

* * *

what if TED is just a pseudo-intellectual version of american idol?

detritus on the beach as a metaphor for life

we always try to take a walk on the beach at the end of the year.

something about the bracing winds coming off the north sea have a clearing effect on the mind and the senses.

recent storms made the beach different. covered in bits of detritus and debris, but no stones.

nature has a way of arranging these things, even bits of string and trash and shell and bone, more artfully than we humans ever could.

i took that heart-shaped bit of wood with me. in lieu of stones, it was the best i could do and i had to have some memento of the trip.

the wind was cold and strong and we didn't stay long, just long enough for it to blow any residual troubles and cares out of our heads.

the bits and pieces of the year, floating in, like so much flotsam and jetsam. quite literally.

the last, remaining carcasses of 2013, left strewn on the beach. undoubtedly to be washed away by the next tides.

leaving us a fresh, clean slate from which to start 2014.

and begin it all over again, gathering the bits and pieces that form our memories and our lives.

tangling it all up, mixing it together, and hopefully leaving something beautiful behind.

when my cooking mojo returned and we ate our way into 2013

the holidays returned my cooking mojo to me. i will admit that it had been a bit lackluster around here in the kitchen of late, but a brined turkey stuffed with rye grains for christmas and a new year's feast of epic proportions (i didn't get shots of the 6 different appetizers) changed all that. i'll be blogging all the recipes on the long-neglected domestic sensualist blog in the next couple of days.

but i will admit it leaves me feeling like i may never need to eat again. or at the very least, that a detox is in order. maybe i need to unearth my juicer.

here's hoping you all had a wonderful new year's eve and are enjoying the beginning of 2013.