In a funk...

I'm having a bit of an off week, photography and creativity-wise. Instead of letting it get me down too much, I'm reminding myself that I should get out of it soon, with the right inspiration. Either way, I've still been glum about not taking the photos I want. Retail therapy at my favorite secondhand store, Buffalo Exchange, with store credit I still have helped a tad. And by helped, I mean gave me something to photograph. :P Below is my latest loot.

The Ali Ro silk watercolor-print dress was a steal. Where the hell was this when I was desperately hunting down an appropriate dress for the wedding in Hawaii? The other was a cheapy cheap silk mini-skirt with a tiered ruffle trim. I really shouldn't be adding more silk pieces to my wardrobe. For whatever reason (I guess my clumsiness), I'll stain my nice clothes in seconds.

In other news, I should be able to get most of my film from Hawaii back tomorrow! I let a lab do the scanning, so I'm anxious for the results. Also, I'm selling some original polaroids on Etsy. You'd be receiving the only version of that artwork ever made! This listing in particular is really special to me because it's the very first polaroid I shot. :)

Coffee for one with the hario woodneck

Sometimes, I DO use the kitchen. You know, to make coffee. For anyone who didn't believe me when I said our kitchen was like a four square foot box, here is proof! See that sliver of counter space? Uh huh. That's all there is.

I wanted to share this new-to-me method of brewing coffee at home. We picked up a Hario Woodneck from Dora over the weekend, and what you see below is my second ever attempt at it. That's my disclaimer if you find fault in the instructions. This pot could not be more adorable. I first saw it on Cindy's stream and then in person in her apartment, and knew I had to have one! I like having coffee in 8 oz servings or so, so this is really the perfect size for me. I shudder at the college days I often chugged 20 oz Wawa or Starbucks for those three-hour lectures or late nights.

Of course if you really want better visual instructions on using this method, you should check out one of the many videos on vimeo or youtube, but I thought this would be fun anyway. Lemme tell you, this isn't easy to shoot with a remote and a dark small kitchen. Plus I actually wanted to drink this coffee so I couldn't "pretend" or delay or redo anything. What you see is what I drank!

And enjoy I did. The resulting cup is unbelievably smooth and clean. Think opposite of french press. This Ethiopian Nano Challa (from Stumptown) is lovely and fruity in a great way.

Even if you're not a coffee drinker, I hope you can appreciate the process of making a good cup. :)

Hawaii part i of ???

I only took a few digital pictures in Hawaii but I left it to Jimmy to get a ton of behind the scenes and digital back-up (god forbid the film go awry!). You can click these images for a slightly larger version. I didn't want to size down some of these because there was some nice detail.

The first group of images was taken on Maui, the second on Kauai. Both islands were stunning in their own way. I wish I could have spent more time in the Mokuleia Bay area. Thanks to Jelaine's recommendations, we were able to find this little gem which is totally tucked away from the highway.

I think I took these first three shots (the third was taken from a moving car's window). The rest are all c/o Jimmy and processed by me. Thanks, J!

We took the Road to Hana backwards (we were told this was the better way to go) with our friends Fei and Dom. 28942343 some-odd windy roads and harrowing blind turns later, we finally made it out of there in one piece. We stumbled upon an adorable fruit shack in the mountains. The smoothie machine is powered by the bike! And it wasn't easy! The results were fantastic though. It doesn't get much fresher than what we had there.

Kauai had some striking beaches too. This one piece of driftwood was too photogenic to not go crazy over.

We got to experience the Na Pali coast on a catamaran. It was great fun once my body got used to the rockiness of the sea. The first half-hour was mostly spent wiling myself not to get sea sick and turning my head when others did. But aside from that minor blip, it was a great way to see parts of the island that are inaccessible by car. We saw mountain goats, hikers on the edge of a cliff (made my knees weak just watching them), dolphins flipping about next to our boat, and a magnificent sunset. Pretty magical if you ask me.