that she might have a story of herself

Nearly a year and a half ago I posted this Jennifer Michael Hecht poem. I'm now listening to Speaking of Faith on NPR and the guest is none other than Hecht. In a kind, responsive nudge from The Universe, I'm grateful to be in the right place at the right time today. I needed this.

even eve
the only soul in all of time
to never have to wait for love
must have leaned some sleepless nights
alone against the garden wall
and wailed
cold, stupefied, and wild
and wished to trade in all of eden
to have but been a child

in fact, i gather that is why she leapt
and fell from grace
that she might have a story of herself
to tell in some other place

("History" Jennifer Michael Hecht)

Penpals are hip (again)

Do you remember penpals? I associate them with elementary school and some boy living in Greece who chose to regale me with details of life in his village. Though my memories are fond, I'm fairly certain this Greek child was actually my 4th grade teacher. Seriously. I think Mrs. Hendrickson forged, with loving intent, the handful of postcards I received from my special penpal. To this day, in my mind's eye, I can see her stuffing fake letters into my cubby hole on the top shelf, right next to the backpack rack and unruly pile of red rubber four square balls.

Well guess what? Penpals are back and tres hip this time around. If you haven't been introduced already, Dear Reader, meet Postcrossing. You create a free profile, request addresses from all over Planet Earth, and send away. You can send postcards that you purchase at the corner drug store, or within the Postcrossing site you can create cards from your own photographs (which they will print and mail for you!).

As you send postcards, you receive postcards...the more you send, the more you receive. Fair enough. I've only just started the process, but my first two postcards were received today. It's already quite addicting.

So once you set up your free profile, you log into the site and register both the postcards you receive and those that you send. The site gives you postcard id codes for each piece of mail so that you can watch your Google map fill in with your comings and goings. You can also send email-style messages to your new penpal friends through the Postcrossing site. JaDD in Finland just got my card this morning. See...

Check it out.

Juggling two blogs

It's only been a few weeks since I started my second blog. I'm learning how to use my new Nikon D80 and madeleines written with light is the space I created to hold my favorite photographs that come from that exploration. I've already run into the dilemma (not a conundrum on par with world hunger, granted) of the interplay of these two blogs.

I want the photography blog to be just that, all about photography. I don't want to editorialize or clutter the photo posts with chatter. I want the images to stand alone. If people like them, they like them. If they identify with them, they identify with them. If they don't dig it, that's cool.

I want this blog, my madeleines, to remain the editorial space, as it were. It was originally created as an outlet for me to write and I want it to stay that way. What I've already noticed, however, is that some of my photos will appear on both sites. That may be repetitive for readers who follows both blogs, but again, this dilemma in perspective is mundane at best.

Unfortunately my vacation is over and I'm back at work this week...meaning that blog updates are once again at the mercy of rare free time. I still need to post about New Orleans, I have all sorts of photos from my recent trip to California, and my Flickr hasn't been updated since July 2008 (!!)......so I'll see you when I see you.

California Dreamin'

I had big plans for my California vacation, not the least of which being catching up on my blogs. Not so much. Turns out I took over 1,000 photos...but didn't post a single entry on either blog. Nor did I keep up with facebook, didn't log into gmail even once, and I certainly didn't touch my work account. It was fabulous, but now I'm feeling behind. Cest la vie.

This bird of paradise flower says it all. It was warm. It was sunny. I spent every day on the ocean. I had perfect light for those 1,000+ photos and eventually you'll see them either here or here or both. Stay tuned.

peace. shalom. salam.

I gave this ornament to my mom last year and it's still my favorite on the entire tree. It's handmade of capiz shell from the Philippines...and the best part is that it's fair trade.