.399 toying around

i recently joined flickr to give  home to my hipstamatic prints (an iPhone app based off of traditional film photography, hipstamatic gives you a range of lenses and films to buy). while on flickr i stumbled upon a group made solely for hipstamatic toy stills. i love stills and i love toys, thus, this venture was to try my hand at getting one or two shots to add to the group. i liked the print so much that i tried to recreate the feeling with my camera, but it didn't turn out as well as i'd hoped. anyway, the irony of my favorite digital iPhone app, is that is has me seriously considering a return to film and manual development, a beauty that has been largely desecrated with the up-rise of digital imaging... 

[below is the hipstamatic shot. you can view my entire 'hipstamatic' photo gallery on flicker]

.398 chilling with childrick

my mechanic, and friend, chill is probably tired of seeing me by now as i call him for every little squeak in my jeep.

turns out, this time...nothing was wrong. so, instead of playfully becoming a pest, i've been lovingly upgraded to...stalker.

.397 random

random mixed iPhonagrapy | some recent. some not.

.396 black america

i've known his mother for twelve years. za, one of the moms i recall in memory as i raise my own child, is still amazing to me. from her i learned that, even if your child has mainstream education, what they learn at home sticks best. she, turning her dining room into a classroom, alphabets and numbers lining the walls, desks and crayons coloring it's space. it's no surprise that her first born, marquis, now the oldest of five, turned out to be such a creatively dope and quietly respectful young soul. i've known him since his voice was squeaky and his pajamas were fashioned with cartoon characters. and now, him, fourteen years old with a fly penchant for drawing and a collection of skateboards that he calls his trophies. he absolutely refused to take pictures until i agreed to getting only his outfit, but i couldn't resist one shot of his face. it's amazing to look at a teenager you've seen as a little person, and still see them exactly as they were. i think i'm going to be one of those elders who pinches the cheeks of fifty year old adults who's diapers i once changed.

.395 paix

i haven't been blogging as much since the challenge ended but i have been living in art. small pockets of time in my days gives way to small pockets of space and even smaller pockets of opportunity. my initial seven day break from technology re-instituted settle habits from my life that i've missed for some time. read four books that inspired me, watched three films that fed my  spirit, two documentaries that reignited my desire for life. 

i've began journaling again, slowly, purposefully, dutifully. within one recent entry a few significant thoughts revealed themselves. if i can discipline and dedicate myself to a project as minute, yet necessary, as that co-challenge was, then i can implement that same energy into personal projects that produce more fruit and longer harvests for i and my child. i also realized that i work 7x better when there are small deadlines involved. neurotic by nature, it only makes sense to give myself goal lines to obsess about, and thus, obtain much quicker and much easier.

indeed, these past few days have been peaceful. 'salt watered cleaned' my crystals and sat them in sunlight, ran cold water over stones given to me by sister talibah and found my father's quran, still perfumed by his scent. ate fresh blueberries alongside my littles as we danced in the spots where sun rays painted the floor and i was even able to do a bit of website grooming while building a tower made of books and puzzles and plastic 'leap frog' letter blocks. i smile to myself. this place is not so bad at all. no, i am not where i want to be, but i am exactly where i need to be...to get there.

.394 easy like sunday morning...

iPhonography.

.393 glossed over

iPhonography.

.392 selfie

.391 socks & dots

i cherish the peace of our mornings.

eyes fresh and opened, and kisses and and snuggles, our greeting, and 'good morning, i love you', whispered into each of our ears. equally excited to see each other after a night of dreams carried us to separate worlds. we lie a bit before rising, her curled into my ribs, my face buried into her hair, inhaling each other while we make blissful banter about beautiful nothingness. somewhere between stretching and yoga, teeth brushing and face washing, tower building and book reading, i ask her each morning, what she would like to eat today.

this morning she wanted (vegan) sausages. this morning i wanted toasted croissants. this morning we chose to compromise, so this morning we had both. she on top of counters stacking bowls or banging drums, or simply sitting on the floor, between my legs, counting polka dots while i cook. we eat downstairs at the breakfast nook, her telling me stories about dragons and kites and sometimes monsters, and me pumping her up for whatever errand or outing or arts & crafts activity we have planned for the day. and each morning i smile while we eat, noting that between toddler terrible two'ness and boundary testing tantrums, she is utterly, most assuredly, my life's most purest, sweetest, moment to live in...