he's got moves

Have you met my brother? He's like a breath of fresh air. He is also slightly insane, but in a good way. Sometimes.


But I love this boy so much, and I can't believe that he has decided to move to China this coming summer. I am simultaneously extremely proud, jealous and happy. Obviously, I am already browsing kayak for tickets.
I don't think I can live too far apart from his dancing.

He's got moves.

not coming and not going

My job is... unconventional. Today, for example, I spent the morning at the airport. But I wasn't going anywhere.


I wasn't returning from an exotic trip.

I went through security, took my shoes off, got my stuff scanned. I walked through the terminal, made my way down to the tarmac (which was, I have to admit, kinda cool). But I wasn't going anywhere.


I was suddenly struck by a insane longing to board the first flight and just go.


I didn't really care where, I just wanted to be going somewhere.


Ok, fine. I'd rather somewhere warm.


I looked longingly at all the travelers wandering the wide, giant halls, killing time, waiting for boarding.


I also realized that truthfully? If someone would have handed me a ticket and said "go" - I would ask "can I get one for Shamim?".


If you could go anywhere, right this moment, where would you go?

PS: All the pictures were taken from a moving vehicle. Forgive the shakiness. And yes, I do realize that the plane is landing, not taking off. Jeez you people are picky.

mostly green - with some red

Four days of sunshine - in a row! It feels like a dream. Spring? It's HERE! It's in NYC! In case you had misplaced it. Our home is finally getting rid of that gray light that permeates it during the winter months and our plants (geez, we have plants) seem to have found a second life.

Tulips from the farmers market basking in the sun - I asked Shamim to go and pick some up (a long with some peach blossoms) last weekend while I was stuck at work. I love them.


A new baby from my beloved jade plant (much prettier to look at than this one - remember?). These are so easy to reproduce - just snip a leave (or a couple) and plop them in water for a few days and they will sprout roots. Vodka shot glasses work perfectly to hold these little guys (it's the only use they get in this house). Then just transfer them into a bit of soil and watch them grow. They make great gifts, I plan to pot a bunch in vintage teacups and give them to friends as a "welcome spring" gift.


We've had to hide this plant in a corner to keep the cat from munching on it all day long. She loves the flowers mostly, but so do I.


Another easy one to reproduce - I think we started with just one of these money plants, and we now have about five. Two of them have grown so much we have them wrapped around the headboard of our bed.


What is not doing so well is our outdoor/fire escape herb garden. I am not surprised all the plants are dead (well, nearly all - look at those little basil buddies!) having been tortured by a new york city winter for the past 4 months. I just need to take the time to empty the planters so we can make way for a new batch of basil, oregano, mint, rosemary, thyme. I think we'll hold off on the tomatoes and cucumbers this year.

i did warn you...

leila and i got addicted, so we are going to continue taking pictures: every morn and eve. We do hope you stop by.


I'll still be here regularly though - apologies for the blog-break. I've been working on a bunch of projects I want to share with you all...

we've decided to go in another direction

This morning I took my last dawn picture for nineteen days. I am so sad to see this project end, it has been so instructive to me about photography, about noticing small things in my life I might not look at otherwise, about helping me create the habit of bringing my camera with me everywhere I go. I have loved every moment of it, so much so that not only will nineteen days be back in 2009, leila and I are plotting away to figure out a way to continue the project throughout the year (without the dawn/dusk time frame though!). We are still ironing out the details, but I'll share them with you once we have.
In the meantime, here are some pictures I took these past nineteen days that didn't make it on to nineteen days. I still love them...

I took a shot of this rosemary-looking plant nearly every morning as I left the house to go to work. I could never quite capture it the way I wanted to.


I think Brookie spends most of her days lounging in this chair. It's hers, by all means. She is usually in some kind of twisted position - you can kind sort of see her legs sprawled in the background.


In Central Park, this tree looked like fireworks in the sky to me. It was a lot more "late afternoon" rather than "dusk".


These flowers make me so happy - standing out in the cold at a bodega on my way to the subway. Every time I walk by one of these flower stands I think of this picture of leili's.


The most fidgety, nervous cat in the world, is like putty in his hands. I don't know how he does it.


By the stove top, after making this. Basically every single morning.


More tulips, because it's the season. They were everywhere we went.


Apple Tart, from Alice Walter's amazing book. Made for some friends who were coming over for dinner. I had to check my self from involuntarily snacking on the apples as i sliced them.


Indian appliqué patchwork in my nephew's room - with swoosh (i.e. nearly break my neck falling off the bed while taking this shot - oh, the things we do for our art!)


You can see a couple more over here.

progress report

A million thanks to each and every one of you that have been stopping by nineteen days these past few days. It really means the world to leila and I. I can assure you that on either side of this world our hearts skip a little beat each time we get a new comment, a sweet email or message about how you, too, are enjoying this project, whether you are fasting or not.

nineteen days has caused me to be so much more mindful about my fast this year, marking the passing of days by capturing small things that I would probably overlook if I weren't looking carefully for something to capture!

It has become such a part of my routine to wake up, grab my camera and keep it by my side as we prepare breakfast and start the day. As evening sets in, I look for something to inspire me as the fickle evening light disappears ever so quickly.

My photos are nothing like I would like them to be. I find that my skill is unable to keep up with what my aspirations are, or to the inspiration that I see around me. It is incredibly frustrating, and humbling at the same time. I look forward to improving, to learning new skills.

In the meantime, I am cherishing these precious nineteen days.

comunicazione di servizio

That's Italian for service announcement.
1. blogger ate my photo in the previous post. I am not sure why. Maybe blogger was fasting too. Heheheee. I'll get that picture back up at some point.
2. Since we're on the topic of blogger, I'd like to say a word about comments. You have no idea how excited I get every time someone comments on my blog. It means the world to me, seriously. Unfortunately, blogger doesn't allow me to respond to you individually via email or I would. I do post responses in the comments section myself, but if you ever require an answer from me via email, please send me a note!
3. Today is the first day of the Baha'i Fast. As I told you last week I am going to be mostly over here for this time period. I might still post here occasionally during the next nineteen days, but if not, I will be back after March 20th. In the meantime, please do come over to visit at nineteen days. Leila has already completed her first day of fasting and is patiently waiting for me here in New York to catch up with her. Our first post will be up tonight, March 2nd, at about 11pm eastern time. Many of you are also just starting your fast and leila and I thought it would be fun to invite you to play along with us - maybe for not all nineteen days if you don't feel like it, but if you do feel like chipping in now and then please do so! Just send us a link to your blog or your flickr account!

See you soon!