K-Blog

Afghan Box Camera Project

2012-02-12T18:26:00.000+04:00

A few years ago, I read this article from the LA Times, Afghan's street photographers fading away, that piqued my interest in box cameras. This interest, however, was soon brushed aside and it wasn't until last summer when I read an article in Time, Rodrigo Abd and Guatemala's Indigenous Beauty Queens, that I thought of box cameras again. Since August, I've been considering how I could get my hands on an Afghan box camera and how I might be able to learn how to use one. Then, last week (or was it earlier this week? I can't remember), this tweet from the Aperture Foundation came through on my Twitter feed:

Afghan Box Camera Project, an ethnographic look into antique analog imaging, at the Aperture curated @Kickstarter pagehttp://kck.st/wHzwhc

As soon as I clicked over to the Kickstarter link, I knew I had to get involved with this project. It was pretty late at night when I was checking this out (like, 1:30 am-ish), but I knew. I knew this was something worth supporting.

Interested in learning about the Afghan Box Camera Project? Go to their website, Afghan Box Camera Project, but don't do it the way my mom did and try to look at it while baking cookies. She almost had a burnt cookie disaster because she was so wrapped up in reading about the project.

Additional Links

Instant Street Photography, Afghan Style (NPR)
Box Camera Photography in Kabul (blog)
Kamra-e-faoree-The Afghan Box Camera

Avalanche: Restelica, Kosovo

2012-02-12T17:08:00.004+04:00

From today's news:

At least 7 dead in Kosovo avalanche

Child found alive in house flattened by massive avalanche that killed 7 in southern Kosovo

Kosovo: avalanche mortelle dans les montagnes de la Gora

Restelica is a village to the south west of Prizren on a tongue of land that is nestled right in between Albania and Macedonia. It's a beautiful area just ripe for hiking (as long as the landmines have been cleared....haven't checked into that lately). Like much of the rest of the Balkans, Kosovo is having an unusually high snowfall this year.

Tiny Altar

2012-02-12T15:48:00.002+04:00

I ran across this alcove while exploring the streets directly behind my apartment.

Passport Stamp: Georgia

2012-02-11T19:54:00.000+04:00

My Day...

2012-02-10T20:32:00.001+04:00

...included eating simindi (სიმინდი), which is kernels of corn that have been boiled & salted (and, oddly, have the consistency of boiled beans)...

...and making valentines to hand out to my teachers tomorrow (I already ate most of the candy I'd intended on sharing).

Doors

2012-02-09T15:51:00.000+04:00

I went out for a stroll earlier this afternoon with the Zumi+++. For whatever reason, the doors were speaking to me today.

Some Words Are Universal

2012-02-09T15:26:00.000+04:00

This photo is of a wall along the backside of a school that's a few blocks behind my apartment. While I don't find the word fuck offensive in and of itself (if you've never heard me talk about it, ask me sometime about my first use of the word as a 5-year-old), I am surprised it's been allowed to stay so prominently on a school building.

Crazy K

2012-02-08T20:10:00.000+04:00

I think I'm going a bit stir crazy today. I'm not sure if I feel more like the tooth in the upper photo or the bunny in the lower one...

K's Georgian Meishi

2012-02-07T22:49:00.001+04:00

I'm official. I received my business cards today!

K Needs Language Lessons

2012-02-06T16:50:00.000+04:00

Since I’ve been in Gori, I’ve met a few people but I haven’texactly established a social circle yet. I’m still trying to find my dailyrhythm but it’s definitely a work in progress. The most contact I’ve had withanybody over the last few days has been with the son of my landlord (who, asfar as I can tell, is your typical football-loving 16-year-old Georgian boy whocan speak a bit of English) and a guy I think is his uncle. They replaced myfrozen pipes, fixed my leaky showerhead, retrieved the two boxes of granolabars that I unwittingly dropped between my kitchen cabinet and the wall andcouldn’t get out, and rigged up a light at my building’s entryway so I don’ttrip all over myself stumbling up the stairs at night.

Earlier today, I went for a walk with the intent of scopingout potential running routes once the ice clears from the streets. As I waspassing by the football field, the uncle saw me from across the street andwaved me over. Here’s how our conversation went:

Me: Gamarjoba

He: Problem?

Me: No. (big smile) Okay. K'urgi!

He: I am football teacher.

Me: (big smile and thumbs up) Okay!

He: Thank you. Good-bye.

Me: Gmadlobt. Bye-bye!

I think he was surprised tosee me, and I wonder if he didn’t think I was trying to find him becausesomething else was wrong in my flat. Regardless of our limited ability tocommunicate, it was nice to see a friendly face out on the street.

A Happy K Is a Happy K

2012-02-05T19:04:00.000+04:00

Despite the cold, wet, slushy streets, Batumi turned out tobe relaxing and fun. The first evening involved an incredibly overlymayonnaised pizza (I know, I know…..any pizza with hot mayo on it is not going near my mouth), a few beers at “The Quiet Woman Pub” and an accidental cup ofrich, molten, sexy chocolate. Thechocolate was amazing, in part, because it was so unexpected. After the pizzafiasco (none of us touched it and left it completely intact on the table), wefound a pub and tried ordering dinner again, thankfully with much better results. We sat for a while and when it came time for us to leave, instead ofgoing straight back to my colleague’s flat, we walked across the courtyard ofthe pub to check out what looked to be an observation tower (maybe 10 storiesup). The deck was closed, but the café on the third floor was open.

The guys were in the mood for something sweet, which suitedme just fine, so we went up, sat down, and started checking out the menu.Immediately, I zeroed in on the hot chocolate, which sounded good to everybody,so we ordered a piece of cheesecake, a chocolate muffin, and three hot chocolates.First came the cheesecake, which was okay. Then came the chocolate muffin,which was a bit stale. But then came three, espresso-sized cups filled withhot, melty, oozy, silky, chocolatey goodness. At first we were all a bit disappointed, “What? No hotchocolate?” But once we had a taste, it turned into a chocolate love fest.

I just have to say that guys that I can bond over chocolatewith are guys that I am probably going to know for a long, long time.

After we licked our cups and paid the bill, we startedwalking back to my colleague’s apartment. We opted to walk along the seashore,which was magical all in itself. It was snowing lightly, waves were crashing,there were a few inches of fresh snow on the ground (and it was pretty cold soall of the puddles and slush had hardened up), and we were just three folkenjoying the heck out of a winter evening. Once we got back to the apartment,we said our goodnights and I crashed pretty hard. (If you’d like to readanother account of the evening, please click over to my colleague’s blog.)

The next morning, the guys got up and went out to run someerrands while I lounged around. Once they returned, my Batumi-based colleaguehad meetings to attend, so my other colleague and I decided to go out andexplore the town. By exploring the town I mean we actually just decided to walkalong the shoreline. We looked at renting bikes to ride in the snow, but theBatumi Bike Rental machine seemed to be turned off. We decided to build a snowmaninstead. There were a few other people out wandering, building snowcreatures, andsimilarly enjoying the fresh sea air and that ethereal ephemerality that comeswith a rare snowfall. By all accounts, that there was so much snow in Batumiwas highly unusual but I’m so glad we were there to enjoy it.

That evening we played a Norwegian version of rummy and wentout to dinner at a traditional Georgian restaurant that had the most fantasticeggplant. I’m not even sure how to describe it: thin slices of eggplant wrappedaround what I think was crushed walnuts and garlic and something else (maybecheese? maybe ground vegetable?) and topped with pomegranate seeds. We also hadgrilled pork and chicken and salad and bread and fish, and it was all verygood, but the eggplant was divine.

The plan was to have a bit of an early night, which we did,because I wanted to be on my way out of Batumi by 10 the next morning. In themorning, things went mostly as planned. I was up at 9:30 and we were out thedoor by 10. We said goodbye to our Batumi colleague and started to make our wayto where the marshrutkas were parked.

Pretty much as soon as we were out the door, though, werealized that we’d need breakfast and more coffee before facing the ride back to Kutaisi. After a few wrong turns, wefound our way back to the café that had served us the cups of chocolate love.For 9 laris/$5.50 each, we had coffee, eggs, and toast. By the time we foundourselves at the marshrutkas, it was nearly noon. We found the right van, goton, and waited. And waited. And waited. In all, we probably waited 45 minutesbefore the van left. Happily, we weren’t squished in the back corner, so thewait wasn’t such a big deal. The drive to Kutaisi was a scant 2 hours, whichwas about an hour shorter than the incoming drive to Batumi had been.

Afterdisembarking, we had a quick bite to eat (lobiani and cups of beer that were forced on us by a guy in the lobiani shop), and my colleague helped me find a marshrutkaheading to Tbilisi. Thankfully, the van left pretty much right after I got onit and I was on my way back to Gori in no time. Ten lari/$6 and 3 hours later, I piped upwith an “okayokayokay” to indicate I needed to get off because we were nearGori. (The problem for me with taking marshrutkas is that they don’t actuallygo into Gori but dump you off at the highway turnoff, which is a bitinconvenient…..not quite sure how to get out to the highway to hop on one,either….) I got off, found a taxi, asked him to take me to the Stalin Museum,and suddenly I was home.

I walked into my flat, turned on the water and nothing cameout of the tap. I tried the kitchen faucet with the same result. I texted mylandlord’s daughter to see if having no water might be normal, and she textedme back to say they’d check on the pipes and get back to me. As it turns out,my pipes had frozen while I was away, so the next morning (which was yesterday, Saturday) some people cameover and spent the day replacing the pipes. About 5:30 pm Saturday night mywater was back. I hadn’t showeredsince Wednesday morning, so I was veeeery glad to have hot and plentiful wateronce again. I later received another text message asking that I leave the wateron in the bathroom to prevent the pipes from freezing up again, something I’mmore than happy to do.

Aside from my frozen pipes, it’s been a great week, and eventhough I didn’t talk about it, I managed to get quite a bit of work done on topof it all. I’m very fortunate to have in-country colleagues I adore.

Where the K Buys Bread

2012-02-05T16:49:00.000+04:00

Very close to my apartment there's a bakery that sells bread. It's available in two sizes, small and large, but sometimes they don't have the smaller ones so I usually just buy the larger size. The cost? 40 tetri/25 cents for the smaller size and 60 tetri/40 cents for the larger one, which is what I'm holding above.

I'd love to get inside and photograph the oven. If you look at the top photo, there's a sign on the right hand side where you can see a round, urn-looking thing that the baker is sticking his hand into. That's the bread oven. The dough is slapped to the inside walls to bake and is pulled out with a long hook. My bread today was so hot I could hardly hold it still enough to photograph it. But, man, was it good. I love fresh bread.

All Was Not Lost, It Just Didn't Go As Planned

2012-02-04T21:53:00.000+04:00

The past few days have been nonstop. It all started onTuesday when the plan was for me to travel over to Kutaisi, a town about 2.5hours away, to go with two of my colleagues to a meet-and-greet with somechildren at an elementary school. One colleague lives in Kutaisi and the other was planning ontraveling 2.5 hours to meet us at this event from Batumi, a town in westernGeorgia along the Black Sea. He pulled out Tuesday morning due to water issuesat his flat. I was fortunate enough to have been offered an embassy escort, sofor me, the travel was a snap (which was a bit of a relief because the roadswere snowy and icy). After the event, my Kutaisi colleague and I were planning on hopping on a marshrutka totravel down to Batumi to meet with our othercolleague to go over the finer details of our first teacher training workshop.

On arrival at the school, I was greeted by a wall ofteachers, parents, and children. I met with some of the kids and listened totheir book reports and then my colleague and I were ushered into a gymnasiumwhere we listened to a band play Beatles songs; watched the children put on aplay; listened to acapella Georgian singing; watched a powerpoint presentation;participated in the singing of a Coldplay song and were generally entertained.

And then our plan started to fall apart.

We were starting to get a little worried about the time andwere making plans to gracefully extricate ourselves from what was turning intoa much longer event than we’d anticipated when the woman who had attended fromthe embassy pulled us aside and explained that we had to go to the luncheonimmediately following the event. We had to and there was absolutely no way outof it. If we didn’t go, it would be seen as offensive and, anyways, there wouldbe plenty of food and it would be an enjoyable experience. We hemmed and hawed, but we saw that we had to go so we went.

Of course, she was right. There was fantastic food anddancing and general merriment. We sat with a group of about 30 teachers at onetable, and a long table of students and parents were seated right behind us. Atthe beginning, we thought we could still be on our way to Batumi by areasonable hour, but then the plan started to fall apart even more.

Now, generally speaking, I hate being pegged to specificgender roles. However, on this occasion, I was so glad to be female becauseotherwise it would have been virtually impossible to refuse drinking copiousamounts of wine (which happened to be a white from the Kutaisi region).Every time there was a toast, wine glasses were drained and refilled. I triedso hard not to overdo it because of the impending 2.5 hour marshrutka ride wewere still planning on taking, but I wasn’t nearly as staid as I should havebeen. Needless to say, I imbibed my fair share, ate lots of great food, dancedwith the kids, and met some great people. At the end of the luncheon (which couldn’t have been anylater than 6pm), we were whisked out of the restaurant and deposited back at mycolleague’s apartment.

We took one good look at each other and laughed. There was to beno travel to Batumi. Neither of us thought squishing into a bouncy minivan for the 2.5 hour ride seemed like a very good idea. Instead we opted to rest for a bit then go out to explore the town once our heads stoppedspinning. After a little down time, we had an enjoyable night walking around Kutaisi and having a light dinner at the Brewery Mirzaani. We had a bit of a late start in the morning, but after coffeeand fresh lobiani (think refried beans wrapped up in a blanket of bread, allsteaming hot) we were ready to head out the door. Destination: Batumi.

The marshrutka system is the way to travel around Georgia. I had not yet been on one, and initially I found the whole scheme to be pretty daunting because I have no language abilities in either Georgian or Russian. Luckily, my colleague speaks Russian but it was so easy to find a marshrutka heading to Batumi, Icould have figured it out had I been by myself. We crawled into the van and took two seats in the very back corner where we sat squeezed together fornearly 3 hours. I had a window, aleaky window that got my pants all wet, so I could at least see out, but theroads were slushy in parts and icy in others so I mostly tried to relax and sleep, which didn’t end up working very well. We maintained a pretty good humor about it, though, and right when I'd about had enough of it, we arrived.

Batumi….a seaside resort town on the Black Sea. I’d imaginedwarmer weather (maybe in the 50’s) and sunshine. Instead, when we hopped offthe marshrutka, we were greeted with wet snow, flooded streets, torn up sidewalks, slushy gutters, and very, very, very large puddles everywhere. We eventually foundour Batumi colleague (after figuring out the bus system, totally overshootingthe right stop, and being dolts and not seeing the very obvious Sheraton Hotel building) and then we were suddenly back-on-track.

To be continued…

Gettin' By With a Little Help from My Turi

2012-02-04T19:20:00.000+04:00

Turi's First Fix

Turi's Second Fix

My friend Turi sent me an email earlier saying he liked my rocky beach picture but couldn't handle the tilt, so he fixed it. Love his results!

K's Original Photo

K Does Georgia: A Completely Random Set of Photographs

2012-02-03T20:20:00.000+04:00

Church on the Hill

2012-01-30T21:03:00.000+04:00

I only took one photo of the church near the cemetery (and it really looks like I need to get in and clean this camera, doesn't it?). There are several churches on the hills surrounding Gori, and most look close enough to be able to walk to from my front door. There is also a cave city about 10 km away, which is an easily walkable distance, but I need to get more information about which direction it is.

Gori Cemetery

2012-01-30T20:52:00.000+04:00

I ended up in the cemetery quite unintentionally yesterday. Early in the afternoon I headed out for a walk and pointed myself towards a church on a hill I can see from my balcony. Right behind the church is the cemetery. It was a bit eerie because I was the only person around and I somehow picked up a stray dog along the way that I couldn't shake. (Mom, before you freak out about the dogs, it was friendly in a very pitiful way and I haven't come across any mean dogs yet....yet.)

The cemetery has a Jewish section (which the two photos below are of), and that reminds me that I have a long overdue post I want to write about the Jewish cemetery in Pristina.

View from my bedroom

2012-01-29T09:02:00.000+04:00

Man, am I ever happy to wake up to a clear sky. Look at those mountains!

30 Seconds

2012-01-28T20:21:00.000+04:00

The time lapse is making its return. This was shot from outside my bedroom window today.

The Mash Pad

2012-01-28T20:02:00.000+04:00

Gori has castle ruins a short walk from the city center (you can check the Wikitravel page for a smidge of info). I took a quick walk up there this afternoon (and petted a dog and had snowballs thrown at me by preteen boys along the way). It was a pretty grey day but it was clear enough to make out the rolling hills in the background looking towards Tbilisi. The large black arrow points to where my apartment building is situated. I'm just kitty-corner to the Stalin Museum, which I haven't been into yet although I've peeked in at the building where Stalin was born. I'm also within spitting distance of a bakery that sells flat bread for 40 tetri (25 cents) a pop.

The latitude of Gori is 41° 58' N which is roughly similar to Skopje/Rome/Chicago (Prizren is at 42° 13' N; Reno is 39° 30' N; Hyder is 55° 55' N; and Tokyo is 35° 40' N). Today we had scattered snow showers. There was a bit of snow sticking to the ground when I arrived home from dinner last night and there was about a centimeter of snow on my balcony this morning. By this afternoon, the roads had returned to mud and I don't think it's snowing at all right now. It is a bit windy, though, and I can feel a bit of a draught coming in through my balcony doors.

I'm sure looking forward to the warmth and green of spring.

Things Are Looking Up, I Promise

2012-01-28T00:39:00.000+04:00

Tonight's dinner....khinkali (aka the Georgian dumpling)

I'd been in Gori a scant 24 hours before I received my first dinner invitation. Our destination? Khinkali House. The khinkali is the Georgian version of the dumpling (think perogi or gyoza....kinda). We had khinkali filled with meat, filled with cheese, filled with mushroom, and filled with mashed potatoes. All-in-all....quite delish.

And for those who are curious about my living situation, here are a few pics I took upon arrival tonight after my khinkali feast....

The building from afar....

The building from aclose....

My door has a light I can leave one.....the only such light in the whole building, I think.

Gori Briefly Robbed Me of My Sunshine.

2012-01-27T16:51:00.000+04:00

The entrance to my apartment building

It's been such a blur since I left Reno, I really don't quite know how to begin. In the past three days alone I feel like I've run such a wide emotional spectrum. I'm not sure if I should start with how fortunate I am that I am working with a team of highly qualified, capable, and genuine people or if I should launch into how difficult it was for me to be dropped off and left to settle into my new space and how bereft and left behind I felt. I suppose I don't really need to go into any of it except to acknowledge that I could not be working with a better group of teacher trainers (there are four of us and each is in a different town several hours apart). I hope we are able to figure out a way to stay connected to each other as we embark on the next 18 months.

This is how I felt this morning. I'm better now.

Tbilisi Teaser Number Two

2012-01-22T10:05:00.001+04:00

Tbilisi Teaser Number One

2012-01-22T09:58:00.000+04:00

A Frozen Gilmore Lake

2012-01-08T05:48:00.000+04:00

Standing on Gilmore Lake looking across it.

Ice bubbles are cool.

On the way up to Mount Tallac today, we detoured over to Gilmore Lake to check out how frozen it was. Skeena definitely does not like being on the ice; my guess is because she doesn't like the way the ice groans. I don't blame her. I find the sound disconcerting as well. Tallac was cold and windy, but the views from the top were lovely (as always). It was too cold, however, to take photos.

Christmas Beeramisu

2012-01-06T01:11:00.000+04:00

Mash's Christmas Beeramisu. Yum.

For Christmas dinner, I was tasked with making tiramisu. Although I'd never made tiramisu before, I'm not one to cook-by-the-book and I opted to do something a little different. I perused a few recipes online (check this entry for my list of inspirations) and cobbled together a recipe for my own version of a Christmas Beeramisu.

The Ingredients

1 C chocolate stout (I used Nøgne Ø's Sweet Horizon)
2 airliners of Amaretto (you know, those small bottles they give you on airplanes)
1/4 C honey
1 C heavy whipping cream
16 oz mascarpone cheese
1/4 C sugar
1 package of vanilla Stella D'Oro Margherite Cookies
about 24 gingersnaps

Directions

Combine the chocolate stout, Amaretto, and honey in a small pan and boil for about 10 minutes (or until the mixture is reduced by half). Pour liquid into a bowl to cool.

Beat the heavy whipping cream into stiff peaks. In a separate bowl, mix together the cheese and the sugar. Fold the whipped cream into the cheese.

In a large baking dish (I think I used a 9x13"), line the bottom with Margherite cookies that have been soaked in the cooled beer/liquor mix. Cover the cookies with approximately half the cheese/whipped cream mixture. Place a layer of gingersnaps that have been soaked in the beer/liquor mix on top, and spread the rest of the cheese/whipped cream mixture on top of that.

Put in the fridge overnight. Before serving, dust with cocoa powder.

Notes

I really wish I could have found the chocolate Margherite cookies. I think those would have been great to use.

When it came time to make the second cookie layer, I ran out of cookies and had to run to the store for more. The store didn't have any Margherites (or lady fingers of any kind), so I went with gingersnaps, which turned out really well.

Next time, instead of using the Amaretto and a $12.50 bottle of beer, I think I'll try the Deschutes Brewery "The Abyss" instead. The Trader Joe's Vintage Ale would also probably be a really good choice for this.

The dessert was a total crowd pleaser.

The Cows of San Ramone

2012-01-06T00:39:00.000+04:00

Mooo!

More Downtown Reno Motels

2012-01-04T04:05:00.000+04:00

Coach Inn

Rancho Sierra Motel

Swan Inn

Time Zone Motel & Wonder Lodge

Time Zone Motel

Wonder Lodge

Monte Carlo Motel

Bad Photos of Washington, DC

2012-01-04T03:40:00.000+04:00

The Washington Monument at dusk

I have to laugh at myself. None of the film photographs I took while I was in Washington DC back in October really turned out. For the most part, they're blurry and the sky wasn't cooperating at all (usually I like blue sky with some defined clouds). Oh well. A few of 'em are almost salvageable. Almost.

A very blurry Jefferson Monument.

A very blurry Washington Monument (aka, K's favorite obelisk).

The Capitol.

Virginia Street Motels: Reno, Nevada

2012-01-03T02:28:00.000+04:00

The Golden West Motor Lodge, which is fenced off and looks like it might be torn down.

You know what I've always admired on the Heart o'Town Motel? That windowed corner space above the enter sign.

I picked up developed film today! I'm so excited. I've just started going through my rolls, which include pics from DC, Virginia City, and some of Reno motels. Honestly, I'm most excited about the motel shots. I've always wanted to do a series of photographs of the downtown Reno motels. I should have done this years ago when the Oxbow was still standing. Now it looks like both the Golden West Motor Lodge and the Heart o'Town Motel are going to be torn down (I say this only because they're both fenced off, not because I really know anything about these properties). I should buy some more film (I'm shooting 120 on a cheapo plastic camera....Lomography as it should be) and take a walk down 4th Street and snap some shots of those motels as well.

On a side note: I haven't forgotten about posting the recipe & pics of my Christmas Beeramisu, which turned out really nicely I thought. I promise that info is to come as well.

Breakfast at the Club Cal Neva

2011-12-30T01:23:00.000+04:00

My dad and I had breakfast at the Club Cal Neva this morning. He had steak & eggs and I had french toast with sausage and eggs.

Beeramisu, Mash Style

2011-12-22T23:28:00.000+04:00

This year's Christmas dinner has a strict Italian theme and I've been tasked with making tiramisu, something I've never, ever made. Undaunted, I figure I can take this into one of two directions. I can try making a Christmas-encapsulating tiramisu, which I would interpret as something woodsy and piney, or I can go the beer route. I'm thinking that a piney woodsy tiramisu might be a turn off (or at least just plain weird for the non-adventurous eaters at the table), so I'm going to give beeramisu a try. I haven't quite decided exactly how I'm going to put together the final product, but I'm looking at these recipes for inspiration:

Jason McCullar's Chocolate-Stout Tiramisu Recipe
Heavenly Eggless Tiramisu
Beeramisu (aka Tiramisu for the Boys)

Some time next week I'll post my recipe along with photos and reaction from the Christmas table peanut gallery.

UPDATE: Click over to here for my recipe & notes.

10125 Peavine Road

2011-12-22T09:08:00.000+04:00

I walked up to the top of Peavine today. We parked at the Kings Row access area and followed random roads up, up, up to the top. Yeah, it's easy enough to drive up to the summit, but I've always wanted to hike it. It took us about six hours and I figure we climbed about 3200 feet (Peavine sits at 8266) and maybe walked 6-or-so miles (update: I was just told that it was closer to 13 miles up-and-back, which just goes to show how terrible I am at estimating distances). According to the sign above, the peak has an address, but when I plugged it into USPS's zip code finder, no zip code for this address could be found.

(Side note: While I was looking up information about Peavine, I found this interesting-to-Kirsten site on arborglyphs, which, if you know me well, you'll know I love seeing Basque-carved aspens.)

And, of course, a few obligatory Skeena, Wild Dog of the Sierra photos...

2011-12-16T00:30:00.000+04:00

The unexpected death of a friend on December 7th has created a murky emotional soup for me that I'm not entirely sure how to deal with. He had been a teacher of mine, a colleague, a friend, a neighbor, Skeena's #1 dog sitter.....Mike's funeral was yesterday. I'm sure he would have been a bit embarrassed by our naked statements of love and appreciation, but I also know he would have been very humbled and deeply moved. I've compiled a set of links to various sites where people have written about him. He was very well loved and I will miss him.

mikecolpo.com
R.I.P. Mike Colpo
Mike Colpo will be remembered as a champion of the wilderness
Dirtbag Diaries: The Shorts - Sitting in Silence

Mike Colpo

2011-12-14T10:42:00.000+04:00

Dear Mike,

I miss you.

xoxo
K

A Rare Flop

2011-12-05T09:22:00.001+04:00

Making brownies in the waffle iron didn't work out. I'll regroup and try again in the near future.

Suggestions, Please!

2011-12-02T22:42:00.001+04:00

For the final project in my design class, I have to design a lettermark logo that uses my initials plus my first name, last name & "design company words." We had our preliminary critique earlier in the week, and now I'm trying to refine my ideas. I thought I'd ask you guys what you thought about my latest ideas. Please let me know (either via email or in the comments section) if there's one that particularly stands out for you or if there's one (or two or three) that you don't like. I'm limited to using black or white for the background and black, white, or grey for the letters (so even though a little color might be nice, I can't do it).

Thanks! :)

NUMBER ONE

NUMBER TWO

NUMBER THREE

NUMBER FOUR

NUMBER FIVE

My First Truly Successful Drawing Project

2011-12-02T01:52:00.001+04:00

Remember Storyboarding K? My storyboard was deemed good enough to put on display. Happy K!

Hospitality, Georgian Style

2011-11-25T02:38:00.001+04:00

If this New York Times' article is any indication of what goodness lies before me, I think I might really enjoy living in Georgia:

In Former Soviet Georgia, Two Families and the Art of Hospitality

The Upcoming Adventures of K

2011-11-23T04:58:00.001+04:00

I just received this book from Amazon. Why might I be needing to teach myself a bit of Georgian? Because in January I'm heading to Georgia for an 18-month teacher training position.
Let the next adventurous chapter begin!

Digital Harinezumi 2+++ Did the Virginia City Cemetery Today, Too

2011-11-20T07:04:00.001+04:00

Digital Harinezumi 2+++ Does the Downtown Reno Motel Circuit

2011-11-20T06:49:00.001+04:00

Storyboarding K

2011-11-19T04:27:00.001+04:00

For much of yesterday and today, I worked on creating my first storyboard. The assignment was to choose a children's nursery rhyme or a short joke and create a storyboard for it. I chose a short poem from my copy of The Real Mother Goose and illustrated it with imagined scenes from the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The top photograph is of my completed boards and the photos below show the progression of my board.

Save the polar bear.

2011-11-09T05:24:00.001+04:00

I'm having a lot of fun in my classes. Today's fun included mounting my split complementary polar bear composition (magenta + yellow green + turquoise = fun).

Drawing K

2011-11-04T23:22:00.000+04:00

This morning saw me getting rolling on my final version of a treehouse drawing I'm doing for one of my classes. I spent about an hour lightly laying in guide lines for my building and platform. I had to stop, though, because I needed time to think about where to put the tree. I'm about to get back to work. Hopefully, buy the end of this afternoon, I'll have the bulk of it laid out and I'll be able to start darkening lines and committing my drawing to the paper.

If you notice, on the iPad, occasionally a photograph of the treehouse I drew on newsprint pops up to use as a reference. That's been quite helpful so far, actually. I'm glad I thought to snap a photo of it.

How K Photographs DC

2011-11-02T01:08:00.000+04:00

the Washington Monument in-focus

the Washington Monument out-of-focus

the Jefferson Memorial

Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight (1892 & 1894)

2011-10-31T08:30:00.000+04:00

Whenever I'm in DC, I like to stop by the National Gallery of Art to see this pair of Monets. First, I went upstairs to the space where they've been displayed in the past, but all those rooms were closed. These, and others, were moved downstairs and are on display in the exhibit From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection.

Occupy DC

2011-10-31T08:21:00.000+04:00

Ran into Occupy DC on Friday down at McPherson Square.

If you're interested, they have a website here.

Trees....

2011-10-26T22:18:00.000+04:00

Trees are great. These trees are along the Corral Valley Trail, outside of Coleville, CA (along 395 south of Topaz Lake).

The Nevada 'N'

2011-10-17T03:39:00.000+04:00

Yesterday was Homecoming at UNR and, as they do every year, the Sigma Nu fraternity constructed a large sigma next to the Nevada "N" (although I thought they used to do this earlier in the year closer to the beginning of the school year in August). Ephemeral as ever, the sigma was gone this morning, but I thought it a good excuse to post a few random facts about this particular hillside letter.

Hillside letters are primarily a phenomenon of the American west (although I have seen letters in Canada and a hillside clock in Alexandra, New Zealand). The first hillside letter, a C, was built at the University of California, Berkeley in 1905. Located on the lower slopes of Peavine (and within walking distance of the R), the N was constructed in 1913 and is the first hillside letter to be built in Nevada. According to the 1913 Artemisia (UNR's yearbook), the N was constructed to measure 150 feet in height and 140 feet in breadth. Each leg has a thickness of 20 feet. It was the largest hillside letter until 1925.

Interested in further reading? Here's a collection of references gleaned from a research paper proposal I wrote many, many, many years ago for one of my classes:

Graham, A. (1987, October). If it's 'T' it must be Tonopah. Nevada, 47, 69-72.
Melton, R. (2001, July 2). The story behind the 'Block R.' Reno Gazette-Journal, pp 7A, 7D.
Parsons, J. (1988). Hillside letters in the western landscape. Landscape, 1, 15-23.
Somers, L. (Ed.). (1914). Artemisia. Junior Class of the University of Nevada.

....and a few web pages as well...

Hillside Letters: In Plain Sight but Not Intended for Planes
List of hillside letters in Nevada (Wikipedia)
Nevada's Hillside Letters (Google Maps)
Denied...Not! (the N could still use a new coat of paint)

Rabbit Brush

2011-10-17T03:13:00.001+04:00

The rabbit brush is a-bloomin'.

Fresh From the Oven

2011-10-16T04:54:00.000+04:00

I just pulled the pie from the oven and it smells divine! (Click here for the recipe.)

Mash Apple Pie

2011-10-16T03:43:00.000+04:00

I woke up with a hankering for pie, apple pie. So after a bike ride out Red Rock Road late this morning and a stop at Home Depot to buy bulbs, I came home and got to work. I perused a few recipes for inspiration, and here's what I came up with:

Crust
by Pillsbury

Filling
3 pounds of Granny Smith apples
flour
cinnamon
cardamom
large orange
brown sugar

Topping
1/4 C butter
4 oz marzipan
2/3 C flour
salt

The Steps
Follow the directions on the box for the pie crust (in my case, let come to room temp then unroll into the pie plate). Peel, core, and slice apples into 1/4-ish inch slices. Put into a large bowl. Mix the sliced apples together with a few pinches of flour (2-3 T-ish), the zest of a whole orange, the juice of 1/2 that orange, generous sprinkles of cinnamon & cardamom, and a handful of brown sugar. Put the filling in the crust.

For the topping (which is from the Epicurious recipe I base my blueberry pie on), cut the butter & marzipan into chunks and throw it into a food processor with the flour and a pinch of salt. Process & let chill in the fridge. When ready, spread the crumble over the apples already in the pie pan.

Heat the oven to 350 F and bake the whole shebang for about 50 minutes or until the apples are cooked.

This photo is of the pie right before I put it in the oven. It's been in about 15 minutes, and I'm looking forward to tasting how this puppy turns out.

Changing Aspen Leaves

2011-10-15T00:57:00.000+04:00

I haven't been in the US in October since 2004. One of the things I really missed about October is the changing of the leaves. Earlier this morning, Skeena and I did the Jones-Whites Loop. On the final leg back to the trailhead, I couldn't help but stop and take a photo.

#24 Them Bitter Black Hills

2011-10-09T19:54:00.001+04:00

...One of the best beers of last night's Backwash (along with Reddy Eddy & Rosemary's Baby).

Why I Haven't Posted Lately

2011-10-07T23:48:00.001+04:00

School keeps me busy. Today I'm butterfly busy.

XO from Tallac

2011-09-26T23:04:00.000+04:00

Saturday was a beautiful day to hike Mount Tallac. There were a ton of people on the upper portion of the Mount Tallac trail going up and coming down. Plus, there were quite a few folk at the summit. Per usual, we went up the Mid Tallac trail (which I hear isn't on any of the maps, but the trail definitely exists) on which we only saw one other guy who came running from behind me and rather startled me.

A Star Is Born, Mash Style

2011-09-23T01:19:00.000+04:00

For one of my classes, I have to create an original star that adheres to the guidelines of the project. Earlier this week, I asked a few people which of the above stars they preferred, the left one or the right one. Based on feedback, I went with the one on the left. The time lapse video below shows me creating the final version of the star for my project.

Now Reading Travels in Blood and Honey: becoming a beekeeper in Kosovo

2011-09-18T05:03:00.000+04:00

I just started reading Elizabeth Gowing's Travels in Blood and Honey: becoming a beekeeper in Kosovo. In the first chapter, she writes about driving into Pristina from the airport so now I'm thinking of my own entry four years ago. It was late afternoon. I'd been travelling for 24 hours, and I'd had a hard time making sense of the questions being asked by the customs officer. I'd needed to use the bathroom and the toilet had a wet floor, a door that didn't lock, and no toilet paper. All of the luggage going around the carousel seemed to belong to everybody else but me. Finally, my bags came through and I walked outside and into a circle of people standing around smoking and waiting for arriving passengers. The US Office had sent a driver to pick me up and take me to my hotel. He must have been able to tell I was his because he came up to me and asked if I was Ms. Mashinter. As we walked out towards the car, we shared normal small talk, but then I started asking him about license plates: I saw white ones and blue ones and black ones and yellow ones. There were ones on military jeeps and ones on cars and ones on tanks. There were Serbian ones and German ones and Macedonian ones and Albanian ones and Kosovar ones and American ones. And it seemed like there was so much to say about these license plates that I don't remember the ride in. I only remember asking him about each variation of license plate that was on the road.

I don't think I ever saw that driver again.

Great Reno Balloon Race in Time Lapse

2011-09-12T01:13:00.001+04:00

My attempt at time lapsing the balloons yesterday failed. I had to reformat the camera's memory stick on a Windows machine (oh....the horror, I know). This morning, I had the camera pointed in the wrong(ish) direction. I aimed it for where the balloons had drifted on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings, but the wind pattern was different today. Part way through the video, I repositioned the camera but I missed the rising of the balloons. Oh well...there's always next year!

More Hot Air Balloon Lovin'

2011-09-10T18:21:00.000+04:00

Did I already mention that I love hot air balloons? They blend two types of magic: flight and rainbows. These two photos are from the Great Reno Balloon Race this morning during that time after Dawn Patrol has ended but before Mass Ascension has begun. I came home after taking these photos to set up the time lapse camera to catch the view of the balloons from in front of the house.....fingers crossed I've set it up at a good angle. If not, I have one last chance tomorrow (which is the last day of the Race).

I Heart Hot Air Balloons

2011-09-09T03:59:00.000+04:00

The balloons were out this morning! I was sitting at McCarran & Virginia waiting for the light to turn green as I was heading up to TMCC.

A Hot Water-Free House

2011-09-03T03:26:00.000+04:00

The tankless, gas-operated water heater finally gave up the ghost. The pilot light has been pretty fickle lately and on Wednesday, the light went out and nobody has been able to relight it since. Not having hot water in the house isn't the end of the world by any means, but it sure makes showering a challenge. Thank goodness for the sun shower (and my mom who let me come over and shower this afternoon). Bright and early Tuesday morning, Friendly Plumbing is going to sweep in, take the offending unit out, do some stuff to properly vent the heater space, and install a new heater (a Rinnai, from what I understand). I'm hoping that by Tuesday afternoon, I'll be able to start showering regularly again.

I Miss Japan

2011-08-31T04:28:00.000+04:00

....more specifically, I miss Japanese stationery stores. I need access to a Loft stat. I can't find proper pens; I can't find the kind of notebooks I want; American binders are 3-ringed and lifeless; letter-sized paper seems so inelegant when compared to A-4. How am I supposed to deal? :)

City of Reno in My Backyard

2011-08-31T03:11:00.000+04:00

Two guys from the City of Reno came around to the house this afternoon to do something with the sewer line (accessible via the manhole in the backyard by the fence). Skeena barked at them like a good little doggie and I time lapsed the whole thing with the Brinno TLC.

Peter Grubb Hut

2011-08-29T06:55:00.000+04:00

Beer+Book=Happy Me

2011-08-29T06:21:00.000+04:00

Les Fleurs!

2011-08-26T06:06:00.000+04:00

...a few flower pics from yesterday's hike off of Carson Pass. The wildflowers were going crazy. On the Winnemucca Lake stretch there were several people out with cameras & really large lenses snapping shots. And me? My camera can easily fit in the palm of my hand (long live the Digital Harinezumi 2 Triple Plus!).

Not Quite What I Was Looking For

2011-08-25T19:35:00.000+04:00

I tried making a time lapse while I was out hiking yesterday off of Carson Pass. I thought I had the Brinno set up to record the parking lot, but, obviously, I need a bit more practise with positioning.

Beware the Skeena Dog

2011-08-24T02:11:00.000+04:00

Burger Me! (Please)

2011-08-24T01:59:00.000+04:00

I'm a sucker for a good turkey burger and even more of one for sweet potato fries. I can't wait until Burger Me! opens up their Reno shop.

Bubble Flowers

2011-08-24T01:19:00.000+04:00

I'm not sure what these are, but they grow close to the ground (like phlox) and if you step on them they pop like seaweed. The pics are from my Sunday hike up to Snow Valley Peak.

K's Last Photos of Hiroshima

2011-08-21T00:57:00.000+04:00

K Makes Cookies in Front of the Brinno TLC

2011-08-18T05:29:00.000+04:00

I made two kinds of cookies yesterday for the good folk over in Patagonia's mail order department (oatmeal chocolate chip and super fudgy white chocolate chip cookies....both kinds nearly too delicious to share!). I set up the time lapse camera on some empty boxes stacked on a chair in the living room. Unfortunately, I should have placed the camera further back in the room so I could have captured the area where the oven is in the field of view.

What I really need to do is to figure out how to strap the thing to my body or to a backpack so I can let the camera do its thing while I'm out hiking.

Introducing the Brinno Time Lapse Camera!

2011-08-16T07:09:00.000+04:00

Right before I returned to Reno, I mail ordered a Brinno time lapse camera from Photojojo. I was pretty excited that it arrived before I left on last week's backpacking trip. I need to play with it more, but I'm thrilled to have a new toy camera to futz around with. This particular sequence was shot near the (locked and empty) Marble Valley Cabin early Friday evening (August 12, 2011) as camp was set up, dinner was cooked, and the tired hikers called it a night.

Walmart. Sigh.

2011-08-16T06:54:00.000+04:00

Going to Walmart always tires me out. I find it too big and too frenetic. I did manage, though, to buy decent car seat covers that are much nicer than the ones I bought a few years ago at Pep Boys.

Some to see a bear would pay a fee

2011-08-16T04:06:00.000+04:00

Personally, I've seen enough bears to last me the rest of my life.

Lazy Afternoon

2011-08-15T08:13:00.003+04:00

Skeena was too tuckered to stare at the pine duff with me. She picked a spot in the sun, sprawled out, and spent the afternoon snoozing.

Neither Horse nor Bear

2011-08-15T07:54:00.002+04:00

While I originally thought this pile might be from a bear, we later came across some that was definitely from a bear, so, in hindsight, I don't think this came from a bear. I don't think it came from a horse, either, but I'm stumped as to what animal this came from. Maybe it is horse, but it's pretty black and horses usually leave multiple piles and this was the only one for quite a while.

XO from Bug Gulch

2011-08-15T07:41:00.002+04:00

This vidpo was shot the second night of my trip into the Marble Mountain Wilderness. As it turned out, Bug Gulch wasn't very buggy although what I'm doing in this vidpo is fishing a mosquito out of the rice.

Sun Through the Trees

2011-08-15T04:08:00.000+04:00

Happy to See Me?

2011-08-15T04:02:00.002+04:00

Skeena was one happy doggie when I came home. I snuck into the backyard to surprise her and, boy, did she turn into a little fireball of excited dogginess.

Flowers of the Marble Mountain Wilderness

2011-08-15T03:44:00.005+04:00

Freshly back from a 6-day backpacking trip in the Marble Mountains of northern California, here's a sampling of the flowers along the trail. I took two cameras with me: my Digital Harinezumi 2 Triple Plus (of course) and a new time lapse camera I bought only days ago. I haven't checked the time lapse pics yet, but I'll upload if they are of any interest.

Trip Photos

2011-08-07T00:54:00.002+04:00

This first photo is the view from my seat in 23A on Asiana flight 0131 from Fukuoka, Japan to Seoul, Korea.

This second photo is a close up of a flower that was across from my boarding gate in Seoul.

Here I Come!

2011-08-06T11:31:00.001+04:00

I'm in Seoul waiting for my flight to San Francisco. Out of the blue, United upgraded me to business class so hopefully I'll be able to catch a few zzz-zzzzz's. I hope Skeena is ready to have me back!

She's Leaving

2011-08-04T17:44:00.002+04:00

I have less than 24 hours left in Hiroshima.

Last Good-Bye

2011-08-02T15:21:00.003+04:00

Late this afternoon I met with an agent from the company that manages my apartment in order to go through the check out process and key handover. I was alone and did not have anyone with me to help with potential language issues. Things were mostly going okay until he got hung up on asking me if I had contacted the post office to have my mail forwarded to my new address. I knew what he was asking and I tried to tell him that it didn't matter because I didn't receive mail at home, but communication broke down and I had to go down my phone tree until I was able to get in touch with somebody who could act as a go-between. Thankfully, I work with great people who are always willing to help me out with Japanese when I need it.

The Road of Hope

2011-08-02T14:40:00.002+04:00

Any preconceptions I might have had about what I thought art from Yoko Ono would be like were completely smashed when I went to see the special exhibition going on right now at the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, The 8th Hiroshima Art Prize: The Road of Hope - Yoko Ono 2011.

Highly recommended.

Not Everybody Does

2011-08-02T14:24:00.000+04:00

Mash! Mash! Mash!

2011-07-31T13:22:00.001+04:00

This is the vidpo I made on Friday. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I have to laugh at myself.

Miffy

2011-07-31T13:14:00.002+04:00

There's a Dick Bruna/Miffy exhibit on right now at the Hiroshima Museum of Art. I went yesterday. I much preferred the Yoko Ono exhibition at the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art which I also went to yesterday.

Goodbye Legend Yokogawa

2011-07-31T13:02:00.003+04:00

It's July 31st which means that as of today, I'm out of my apartment. It is completely empty and I'm staying in a nearby hotel until I leave Hiroshima. Sigh. I really liked my place and I'll miss it.

Clean & Empty

2011-07-31T07:11:00.001+04:00

I'm spending my Sunday noon hour doing laundry at a new and clean laundromat just north of Yokogawa on the Kabe Kaido.

Passport Stamps of Kosovo

2011-07-27T08:12:00.005+04:00

As Kosovo attempts to take control over its northern borders with Serbia, I thought I'd post photos of Kosovo passport stamps. The first is an old UNMIK passport stamp (from when the United Nations Mission in Kosovo controlled border entries and exits), and the second is the stamp that is in use in Kosovo currently.

From the news outlets...

Kosovo tense after deadly clash on Serbian border

Pleas for calm after Kosovo border raids

Kosovo PM Defends Police Attempt to Sieze Border Posts

Deal struck to defuse tension in north Kosovo

Taking Out the Trash in Hiroshima

2011-07-27T05:42:00.003+04:00

Hiroshima has fairly specific household garbage disposal guidelines. (Curious? Check out this prior post.) Six weeks ago I started mapping out how I was going to get rid of all the stuff in my apartment that I'm not bringing back to the US. I am absolutely committed to only bringing what will fit in my two suitcases. Fortunately, I was able to give away, sell, or recycle a lot of what I had. However, now it's crunch time for getting rid of what's left. I've done a fairly good job of sticking to the guidelines put out by the city. I am going to have to toss my remaining drapery into the burnable bags on Friday, though, instead of into the recycling. I do need a little privacy in my apartment, and they do a great job of keeping the apartment cooler when the afternoon sun blazes in. The next recycling day isn't until after I leave, so I'm just going to throw 'em out. After Friday, I'll have to take any garbage I generate at home to the trash bins at the convenience store down the street. Hopefully, though, there won't be much else for me to get rid of.

Vidpo!

2011-07-26T02:54:00.004+04:00

I'm still making daily video postcards on my little Zumi Triple Plus. There are three reasons I haven't been uploading them on a more regular basis: I can't seem to do it any more via my phone; I don't have internet at home so when I have the time, I don't have the means; and I'm super busy at work so when I have the means I don't have the time. This vidpo is from yesterday. I was super hungry after work so I shot over to the Yokogawa Chikara for a bowl of cold udon noodles.

How I Unwound Tonight

2011-07-25T15:56:00.002+04:00

This was quickly followed by a large bowl of cold udon noodles.

Ma-On...A Bust?

2011-07-19T13:13:00.002+04:00

Despite the fact that classes were cancelled and the local Hiroshima trains haven't been running all day, there hasn't been much typhoon action around here. It's been windy, but precipitation has been nil. I am enjoying the cooler temps, though and I'm thinking I might not have to run the a/c tonight.

Typhoon Ma-On

2011-07-18T11:42:00.003+04:00

By all accounts, there's a fairly strong typhoon headed Hiroshima's way. We'll likely be affected tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Luckily, I've already gotten rid of all my patio furniture so there's nothing for me to batten down.

Some further reading:

Very strong and very large Typhoon Ma-On (1106) may be coming to Japan

Powerful typhoon moving toward Japan's main islands

Typhoon 08W (Ma-On) (FYI, the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni is close to Hiroshima)

Hopefully classes won't be cancelled tomorrow. I have vocabulary tests scheduled! If you'd like to keep tabs on me, you can always read my Twitter feed in the sidebar on the right. Hopefully, we'll just have heavy rainfall and moderate winds. Fingers crossed!

Tokyo Earthquake

2011-07-15T16:13:00.002+04:00

...and this is what came through on my Twitter feed when that earthquake hit 7 or so minutes ago...