I've chosen and posted early today. My time outside the apartment today didn't present anything interesting, so I knew my last shot was, fittingly, going to be an around-the-apartment, find-something-to-shoot photo. Just the kind of day where it can feel tough. And just the right way to finish, I think.
This is a small dried flower that we have in our kitchen, in our chopstick container.
At some point today, I'll snap, select, and post my very last photo for Project 365, something I began on July 1 last year after watching and enjoying Marc doing the same.
I'm definitely glad to be done. There were waves along the way that were very difficult. Some days just aren't photo-worthy, and you have to come up with something. That's a good challenge, but there were definitely moments where it felt like a totally pointless burden. And it's hard to capture exactly why simply needing to take a photo could be such a challenge. You certainly don't feel like that in the beginning of your year. And really, it's not hard. But the photo (ideally) needs to be good. (Many of mine certainly weren't --but that's also what it's all about.) And I felt the need to mix it up. And I felt the need to keep challenging myself. Perhaps that's why it got hardest right near the end. Not in-the-last-few-weeks end. But like a month ago or 6 weeks ago. The end was in sight, but by no means near. I'd taken the easy photos (of the cats, of foods, out our window) too many times already. And like I said, some days it just doesn't happen. The urge to cash it in was strong, but when you've come that far....
The last month or so got a lot easier. I could taste the end. The weather has been good so I've been out more. And I started to get excited about being done.
In the end, I'm really glad I did it. I learned a lot about photography, mostly just through looking at other's photos in Flickr photo pools and stuff. I think I took some cool shots that I never would have taken otherwise. I got in the habit of taking my camera almost everywhere I go, which I doubt I'd ever have done otherwise. And there are definitely times I've been glad to have a camera. You never know when something funny or beautiful or magical will happen to you suddenly, and having a camera to capture it is so enjoyable. And perhaps this will sound like the easy stretch at the end of the experience, but yes, I do think I've learned to look at my world around me in its relationship to art. It's not everywhere. I won't say that. But I do think it's in more places than we might notice, were we not primed to take it in and document it.
So I won't continue 365 for another year. But I will keep carrying my camera, and continuing to learn how to take better photos, to capture that rare unexpected moment or that random form of art. But I'm excited now to leave the pressure and responsibility behind. (It's like graduating!) And I've come to really like Flickr. Mostly I've held back from posting anything other than my 365 photos on there. But now I'm excited to post photos that wouldn't otherwise make the cut (remember, it had been ONE a day). And sets for trips and other things like that.
So if you've been following my photo journey at all, keep peeking in. It's another form of community --John-Patrick says his set functions like a blog, since his blog is only about cooking and his photos are about cooking as well as the other things in his life. (And he's in the midst of 365, too. He's done later this year.)
I'm excited to use mine that way, too. But will I have a photo for every day any longer? Nope. And that freedom not only feels good, but it also feels earned. Like resting after a hard workout. So today, I'm on my final sprint into the finish. Feels good to be (almost) done!
What have you been putting off all weekend?
Admitting that school starts again tomorrow. Thus the long-distance get-away (see below), which was a blast, by the way. Photos soon!
Although it's our last free weekend until mid-August, I'm going to try to convince John-Patrick to agree to an impromptu road trip this weekend.
I want to go to St. Ignace / Mackinac Island area.
- We can get a car for $16/day
- We can stay for free at my family's cabin (which my dad already booked for us in hopes John-Patrick will say yes) in Wellston, MI.
- Castle Rock, a formative part of my childhood (we camped there every summer for years)
- A kitchy Indian Villiage, for research of course, so I can refresh my How We Cartoonify and Then Exploit American Indians presentation in my Race & Ethnicity class. Plus, again, rubber tomahawks were another formative part of my childhood.
- I think we would also have to do the Mystery Spot...
- ...and the Weird Michigan Wax Museum....
- ...and the Man Killer Clam.
- Plus, we always do Friday night pizza. Why not do it tomorrow at The Deerhorn? (They have some of the best pizza on the PLANET.)
- And on our way up tomorrow, we could stop and have lunch in Grand Rapids, and pick out his tux, whereas we weren't sure when we'd be able to get there otherwise.
Seriously, how could he say no?????
Well, it's almost two months until our wedding, and some anxiety has been creeping in. Mostly when I'm sleeping. I wake up and go "Whaaa?" Here are some of the dreams I've had in recent weeks.
- It's time to begin, and my sister is about to walk down the aisle, we're all standing there, and she's like "OK, so what do I do? Where do I go stand?" because we forgot to practice. So she almost runs down the aisle rather than processing in, just to sort of like "get into position".
- We get in there, and remember that we never wrote the ceremony. So it's all like, "Uh, now what?"
- I'm so busy running around that I never have time, and completely forget, to do my hair. And not just DO my hair, but also wash it. I basically have bed-head.
- Forgot to get the dress from Chicago to Michigan
- String quartet doesn't show, so we play some AWFUL canned music. Then they show up, so we walk back out and start over.
- Never finalized a menu, so they think we just aren't serving food.
Clearly all that's left to do is stressing me out on some level. The dreams are about neglecting to do things. And then as a result, the wedding is a big let-down. But at least in the dreams John-Patrick and I are there, ready to go. And so FAR it's not a dream about "no one is there". So if anything, the anxiety's in the details, not the people!
What's your favorite time of day and why?
Morning.
I've been a morning person for over five years now, and I can't foresee ever going back. I love being outside in the morning. I love Lake Michigan in the morning. I love winter mornings. I love passing the same people at the same time in the same place, as we all trod off to our days. I love grocery stores in the morning. I love working out in the morning. And I love writing in the morning. I love morning commutes, and I love mornings where I don't ever leave the house but still get a lot done.
The only downside? I'm pretty much sh*t for brains after about 7pm. And as many of my friends can attest, pretty much a ragdoll by 10pm. But I still think it's worth it. I love mornings.
ALMOST DONE with Project 365!
I can distinctly remember a meal I had a few years ago when I first tasted lavender. John-Patrick's grandma, Shirley, is an amazing cook, and we had some type of lavender bread. I can't remember if it was a muffin or maybe like a pound cake, but I remember just being stunned by the beauty, simplicity, and flavor of lavender...in food!
While the idea is no longer new to me, actually experimenting with it is. And I'm hooked. I wonder --if more people knew how easy, cheap, and lovely a little lavender is, would we all cook with it more often?
Here's what got me going:
It's been sitting in the cupboard for about a month, so when I was making a very basic, about-to-leave-town kind of dinner on Thursday night, I decided to put some lavender in my french toast. It was the kind of thing that occurred to me on the fly, and I was really pleased.
So here is recipe number one:
Easy, huh? Here are some photos of how that looked for me:
ALSO: I think it would be amazing in some kind of french toast / Nutella combo. Perhaps even stuffed with some kind of awesome cheese????? I'm just saying....
Recipe #2: Lavender Tea Bread
I used this recipe, without deviation, since I don't bake much and this was a totally new recipe to me. Here were the accompanying photos (I know photos really help me when I cook):
TRY IT!!!
I think next on the Cooking with Lavender List: Some form of chocolate, maybe a chocolate chip lavender cookie, perhaps modeled off of always-amazing-Heidi's newest offering: here.
What else should I try? What else have you tried?
Show us something that's so ugly it's beautiful.
on 365 Retrospective