My mom is a good cook. I never appreciated this fact when I was growing up. I’m sure all kids take their parents’ skills for granted. How would you know without a frame of reference? Besides, the grass is always greener on the other side. I always remember envying my friends’ sack lunches while I reluctantly munched on my mother’s strange, leftover dinner sandwich creations (tonkatsu or potato salad sandwich anyone?). In hindsight, they were actually really delicious. Also–what a…
Gileseyboy is in Osaka at the moment, and it reminded me of a hidden gem near my old apartment in Sakai. He says it’s his favorite restaurant in the world. I can’t blame him. It’s a cozy little place right outside Fukai Station that cooks up the BEST okonomiyaki (Japanese-style savory pancakes) for less than 600 yen. Not to mention, the owners are incredibly adorable and sweet. We were a regular there during our Osaka days. I really miss my…
Took a while, but I finally decided to try out the gadget I funded through kickstarter more than a year ago… Even with a little doohickey meant to make creating time-lapses even easier, the whole process took a lot of patience. It’s a lot of standing and waiting, hoping your tripod is strong enough to withstand mildly windy conditions. It also takes a lot of self-control not to mess with any settings once you get started… something I was not…
Sometimes you need a little bit of chance to spur some creativity. I’ve been working on my first time lapse project over the course of the week and was out at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign before dawn one morning to get a specific shot. The sign was deserted, except for one man roaming aimlessly in front. While I was wondering if it was a good idea to be a lone female standing in the middle of Las Vegas…
My sister and I didn’t own very many popular music CDs growing up. We were pretty late in the game when we finally made the switch from only listening to the mom-approved Sunny 106.5: The soft music station. But I can remember very clearly the few CDs we did end up owning, and Smash Mouth’s Astro Lounge was one of them. I remember getting excited every time All Star came on the radio. It was the summer of 1999, and…
I only really cook under the supervision of my mom (or on the rare occasion when I go all out), only because she usually has all the materials/ingredients ready to go in her kitchen… and she always takes over when I inevitably get bored during the process. She had some cod thawed for some new recipe she was going to try tonight, but before I could even really look at her recipe, I butted in with, “WE SHOULD MAKE FISH…
Last month, my mom and I celebrated her 60th birthday by going out of town. She’s been wanting to check out the Getty Center and Getty Villa, so that’s where we headed. Because of timing/days off, we spent half a day at the Center and a full day at the Villa. In hindsight, we both wish we could have done it the other way around. There is a TON to see at the Getty Center. While the Villa is impressive…
This was not an official shoot. Just a casual get-together with my old boss and her family–who all happened to be dressed in tastefully coordinating clothing–and if I happened to bring my camera, so be it. In any case, I can’t believe it’s been three years since I did an “official” shoot with this beautiful family. Time really flies. And kids really grow! I’m surprised the girls still somewhat remember me (maybe as the crazy Hello Kitty lady). I’ll always have a…