Photojojo #58 - Wood & Leaves

Today's Photojojo is #58. It is a tree ornament from Nancy and some fall leaves on the sidewalk near the bus stop from me. We'll get to #60 this week for sure.

The Opening

Last night we had our artist's reception and opening of the Diaphanous Symbols show at Aurobora Gallery & Studio. The event was well attended, despite horrific rain and competing holiday parties.

There was a moving lighting of the menorah, led by fellow artist Igael Gurin-Malous, and wonderful champagne and chocolates. The place was just buzzing with good energy and I think a good time was had by all.

Here are the three of us, Lillie Barrows, me (middle) and Iggy, toasting to the opening right before guests arrived.


The show will be up for two weeks, so if you missed the artist reception and still want to see some of the student work or the main gallery with some amazing monotypes represented, please swing by Aurobora Gallery at 370 Brannan Street, SF anytime M-Sat 10 am to 5 pm.

Photojojo#57 - Rain or Shine

Today was a really rainy day, but in spurts and then when it DID come down, the rain came down really hard. Nancy caught the rainy part; I caught some sunshine.

Photojojo #56 - Dreamy Street Markings

Today's Photojojo is a serious countdown to 60 already! Nancy and I have been so disciplined about doing this every day for the past two months.

Today she took a photo of her latte. I paired it up with some surveyor markings on the street that pave the way for some construction.

Photojojo#55 - Call Me

Yesterday's Photojojo (Thurs 12/10) was a public pay phone by Nancy (kids - do you know what that is?) and some beautiful pears in the fruit bowl at the Grab 'N Go at work by me.

Photojojo#54 - Just Say No

Tonight's Photojojo is one part Edvard Munch's The Scream, in balloon form, taken by Nancy, and one part "Just Say No" to more volunteering (mine).

I was at a holiday gift exchange last night, and I got this fabulous and perfectly appropriate bag with admonitions about any more volunteering. It was one of those things where people can steal the gift from someone else. Thankfully, no one came after the cool bag, or the goodies inside.

Photojojo#53 - Brrrrrr....It's Cold Outside

Today's temperatures broke some records. Frosty windows when you live near the beach are always a cognitive dissonance for me.

Nancy provided this photo of a painting of people enjoying a snow scene, and I took a picture through my car window this morning of a pile of ice shaved off the window when I put it down so I could see better.

And Finally, Caught Up With Photojojo #52

This is about food - going down the drain (Nancy's orange peel) and some misplaced mustard at the grocery store tonight.

What causes a person to be considering Goody hair ties, then decide they no longer need the mustard?

I wonder about the silliest things.

Photojojo#51

This photojojo is my niece's French textbook and an abstract architectural shot by Nancy.

Peut-être quelle se moque de lui parce qu'il a une hélice d'un bras.

PHOTOJOJO #50!

We did it! Today's post is Photojojo#50 - which I should have posted days ago - Friday 12/5 - but I was so busy with a variety of activities.

I stopped briefly and took this photo of festive holiday lights on D Street in Hayward. I'm not sure where Nancy snapped her photo of a folio of color correcting cards.

Photojojo #49 - Crabby

We are almost at Photojojo #50 - with today being #49. Here is Nancy's crab trap on the beach with stunning detail and a wonderful muted color palette, and my Diana lens used to capture a building through the glass enclosure at the bus stop.

These photos are some of the most different of all that we have taken since starting this project, but we just go with whatever the image is for the day.

Remember that you can always click on the image to see it in more detail. The yellow lines on the crab pot are worth the click and whir in this case.

Tomorrow - on to #50!

Photojojo#48 - Swimming Up the Stairs

A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass or fish steps, is a structure on or around artificial barriers (such as dams and locks) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration. Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps (hence the term ladder) into the waters on the other side. The velocity of water falling over the steps has to be great enough to attract the fish to the ladder, but it cannot be so great that it washes fish back downstream or exhausts them to the point of inability to continue their journey upriver.

Laura's fish photo from Buck's in Woodside is on the left. Nancy's photo of the stairs at the mall is on the right.

More Diana Lens Photo Fun

Photojojo #47 - PCBs and Fruit Roll Ups

Today's Photojojo is a simple combination of fruit and electronics. Nancy's photo of Simply Fruit from Costco pairs nicely with mine of circuit boards taken from a sculpture at Ft. Mason over the weekend.

Photojojo#46 - Heigh Ho Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

It's Monday after a long, long weekend and back to work it is. On my way out this morning, I snapped another photo of Snow White and her seven little friends, this time with the Diana lens. This is paired with Nancy's Thanksgiving dinner hostess, who appears ready to carve up the Butterball.

Daylight Diana Photos

I went on a nice hike today at Wunderlich Park. We went about 3.5 miles round trip and up to 1,200 feet. It felt so good to be out in the crisp Fall air and exercising again. I took my camera, with the new Diana lens, on the walk. I had taken some photos last night with it that were not very good. I was anxious to see how it performed in the daytime.

The Diana lens is designed for getting dreamy retro shots. It was a bit ironic that I have this very expensive Canon 40D camera that I've now attached a $60 lens to so that I can get crappy quality photos. But I do like the look of these photos - with smeared and funny colors - and they are the opposite of what this camera can do which is crisp, extremely high res photos with colors that are to die for.

This is just another option, and one that I am loving. Here are some of today's shots take at the park while on the hike.

Photojojo#45 - Short Walk on a Long Pier

Today's Photojojo is a photo of the pier by Nancy, paired with Jenny Kompolt's fatbaby boots. I visited Jenny's booth at the Celebration of Craftswomen/Ft. Mason today. Jenny's assemblage work is amazing and lovely, plus she does a great service out there in the world raising money for causes through her business Kompolt.com.

Photojojo#44 - Dog Day

Today's Photojojo is going to the dogs. Nancy's shot of Riley at the beach today is paired up with my little baby Georgie. The doggy shot of George is taken with a Diana lens. The Diana lens is supposed to help me get dreamy, retro-looking shots.

I will have to practice more with it tomorrow.

Photojojo#43 - Shiny Christmas Coming Starting with Black Friday

Nancy's festive Christmas tree pairs up with my abstract - shot through a plastic water bottle with my iPhone.

Photojojo#42 - Turtle and Monkies Give Thanks

Dogs Give Thanks

Here are the happy puppies at Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Heck, George and KiKi. Much fun ensued - George was so happy with the play date, chasing his little friends all around the house.

The Best Photojojos

Photojojo#21
Fall Pine Cone (Laura) and Dia De Los Muertos (Nancy)

created by Nancy and me over the past forty days are now on display at The Print Society. My posts there probably get mixed in with all the others, so here's a perma-link to some of my stuff for now.

Happy Thanksgiving! Today, I give thanks for cameras - large and small, digital and polaroid, old style and newfangled. They help us remember and find the beauty in even the most everyday things.

Photojojo#41 - Flesh & Bones

Today's photojojo is a photo from the anatomy museum in Basel Switzerland by Nancy, combined with a photo of my hand up close taken with my iPhone.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Photojojo#40 - Still As Fun As Photojojo#1

Today marks Photojojo#40 for Nancy and me. Her photo of the Poplar Beach from the coastal trail makes me miss our morning walks, now that I'm back in "corporate mode." My pine cone snapped of the foliage on my very brief walk to work is still in touch with nature, just that it's too short. Plus nothing really compares with that walk along the headlands. I am so blessed to live near the Pacific Ocean.

Thursday marks four years living in Half Moon Bay, after 40 years in Castro Valley. Thanksgiving eve, 2005 was the first night we spent in the new house even though we didn't officially move until December 9th. We had enough furniture to sleep on and sit on, and it was a weird weekend where it felt like we had a home at the beach, after returning to the Castro Valley suburbs for another two weeks. We didn't cook - instead going out to a local restaurant. The weather this time of year is so spectacular in Half Moon Bay, and tonight, is no exception. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day (as Nancy's photo attests) and tonight I have started the holiday cooking feast with the obligatory pies. The house smells like nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, and the fridge is stocked with the turkey and all the fixin's ready to start some of the cooking tomorrow night (pre-cooking of cran sauce, prepping the mushroom green beans, and readying the onion/celery saute for the stuffing, maybe a cranberry relish jello dish. What would Thanksgiving be without a cranberry jello mold?!).

This year, I plan to go for a walk in the redwoods on Thanksgiving morning with my yoga group. Not to worry though, kids. Because the bird is smaller it will have plenty of time to cook for our 3 pm feast when I return home around 11 am. That's why I get a lot done the day before - so I can cook at my leisure and enjoy the day.

This year, I don't plan on a rerun of the sink getting all stopped up though like last November. A year later, we are composting nearly everything, so the potato peelings will go into the compost bucket rather than the sink. Better for the plumbing, and for the environment. I like the dirty dirt I get from the bottom of the pile for my plants.

Photojojo#39 - Snow White and the Decorative Wall

Today is time for Photojojo#39 - Snow White and her Little Friend lawn ornaments (Laura) and a decorative wall at the local mall (Nancy).

Photojojo#38 - Hers and Hers

Nancy's graffiti goes with the mannequin shot I got today at an Old Navy store. Enjoy!

Photojojo #37 - Bubbly Trees and Airport Ceilings

Nancy snapped a photo of the ceiling in the Frankfurt airport and I got a weird blurry bubbly photo of some trees from inside the shuttle yesterday. It was raining, so the screening material on the windows, which is this black material with small holes in it, had water puddling in the circles. This made for some nice optical distortion when I put the iPhone camera up to the window.

Today's Pictures - Without My Photojojo Partner

I think Nancy's on a long, long trip in the air back from Basel today, via Germany and Canada, so I haven't gotten any photos from her.

This morning's trip through the woods to work was spectacularly foggy. I got this one of the trees as I was driving out from 92 to 280, and another shot of a glass partition in a local restaurant.

Photojojo #35 and 36

Here are today's Photojojos #35 and #36. No. 3 5 is the Dirty (Laura) Clown (Nancy):

and No. 36 is the Happy (Laura) Tree (Nancy):

Three Photojojos - #32, 33 and 34 - Today

Nancy's been busy snapping photos all over Basel over the weekend. I took a few myself. Here they are paired up in the order we each took them.

I like the clown (Nancy) and the reflection of tin foil and plastic on the pan of baklava I made yesterday #34).

I have titled #33 Dangerous Tea. A warning sign by Nancy goes nicely with the teapots at the Hillsdale Mall Teavana Store.

And #32 - a photo of the sculpture that marks the confluence of French, German and Italian influences in Switzerland by Nancy, which goes with a box of Danny Boy pumpkins and squash at the local market on Saturday afternoon.

Photojojo #31 - Laundry Day

Today's Photojojo is a beautiful felted pot taken by Nancy in Switzerland, and the Ching Lee Laundry sign in San Mateo taken by me.

And yes, I did do my laundry today.

Photojojo #30 - Take No Prisoners

Hello and happy Saturday afternoon everyone. Today's Photojojo is one part sad gorilla at the zoo in Basel Switzerland (Nancy) and one part police patrol in San Mateo CA (Laura). Again, the synchronicity of this pairing is amazing.

Photojojo#29 - Girls and Boys

Nancy's fancy girlie dress goes with my stern holiday nutcracker and someone lurking in the background.

Photojojo #28 - Swiss Smoking

I'm not sure where Nancy took this photo of the lovely little girl in stripes. She's in Basel right now, so perhaps in the airport or a shop near her hotel? Mine is from the American Cancer Society booth at today's Health Fair. Dangers of smoking I suppose.

Not Photojojo

My Photojojo partner Nancy is on a break - out taking more great photos - but away from daily internet. So, I will post my photos just to stay in the spirit of Photojojo photo challenge-ness.

This one I took yesterday at a place called Buck's. Wonderful atmosphere and great food too.

Photojojo#27 - Nine Inch Nails

Nancy's graveyard and my big nails.

Photojojo#26 - Winter Foods

I'm not a big fan of brussel sprouts, but they are a beautiful vegetable with their repeating pattern of stalks. There are some growing in a field between where Nancy and I live, but I took this photo at my local Trader Joe's with them cut from the stalk in a box, ready to be placed out in the produce section for all to buy.

Nancy's photo of punkin's looks to me like it was taken at the local HMB Farmer's Market.

Another Art Class

Today, I took a felting class taught by Jodie Stowe. Jodie taught us how to make 2D felted pieces into 3D vessels. We had a great time squishing the soapy water around and we squealed with delight at seeing the design on the inside emerge on the outside.