The transatlantic lens project

week 61: wind

2011-02-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

marie: this is the inside of our enclosed porch. the blizzard of my life tore off the glass door, shattered it, and in came the snow.

naomi: the wind is what i miss most about wales when i'm living in london. in wales it's windy every day, your hair gets all tangled up and sometimes you turn a corner and it blasts you in the face and it takes a second to catch your breath.

next week's theme is orb, chosen by marie.

week 60: sweet

2011-01-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

naomi: maybe sometimes we'll write something, and sometimes we won't but we're back and we're trying to tlp every week because it's what we do.

marie: i somehow knew naomi would shoot candy, so i went with a healthy alternative. currently my baby's favorite fruit, next to kiwi.

and a little ps: marie has started her own blog, stop by if you like! Bee & Balloon

next week's theme is the wind, chosen by naomi.

week 59: we're still in limbo

2011-01-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

marie- left, naomi- right

the last 2 weeks, the tlp ladies thought they had wanted to change things, but soon realized they really do love the original concept of the transatlantic lens project: 2 photos, 1 theme.

next week, friends, next week.

Edit: Next week's theme is sweet, chosen by Marie.

week 58: we're back.

2011-01-17T01:26:00.000-08:00

less words, more pictures. marie on the left, naomi on the right.

week 57: above

2010-05-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

marie: jer's birthday was a few weeks ago, and we went up to kettle moraine with my youngest sister. since she is the baby of the 4 siblings, she was reluctant to hold ephraim for a bit after he was born. now she's asking to babysit and here she is hanging out in lake mauthe with him. i even got her to change his diaper, which was her first diaper change ever.

naomi: this is my new favourite place in london. it doesn't look like much, but it's on my friend joeys rooftop where you're not supposed to be able to sit. there are blackberry bushes and mint plants up there, and tiny little solar powered lights that come on at dusk.

next week's theme is sweet, chosen by marie.

week 56: forests

2010-05-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

marie: i grew up in the city, but when i was a little girl, i used to tell myself, "i'm going to be a country mouse when i grow up." i'm 29 years old, and still believe it.

naomi: forests surround where i grew up. i don't believe in fairies and pixies and all that other mystical woodland stuff. i believe in animals and treehouses, rivers and thunderstorms.

next weeks theme is above, chosen by naomi.

week 55: skies

2010-05-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

marie: i love the sky from the hoan bridge, especially to the east where sky meets water.

naomi: skies are what define my mood. grey skies in london, i expect them. cloudy skies in wales are the norm. but when you're in wales and the sky looks like that? you never want to leave.

next weeks theme is forests chosen by marie.

week 54: bookish

2010-05-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

marie: i've been bookish since youth. i was the nerd who came back to class in grade school with a sheet for teacher saying i took part in the summer reading club. i won spelling bees. in 10th grade, i sat with burning cheeks while coach scott, the accelerated english teacher/wrestling coach, would read some of my stories to the whole class. i would hang out in our rec room with a book most summer vacation days, under the blanket with a flashlight after bedtime. i was going through books a week. my mother went through a phase of trying to force me to go outside and talk to other kids, worried about my "anti-social" tendencies. which later just proved to be a shy personality, a big imagination and a little self doubt. since i never get rid of my books- they are like children- this a small and random section of the shelf representing middle school through present day. the ayn rand is one of my super favorites.

naomi: the shy ones always turn out to be the best ones. i got a copy of oryx & crake for my birthday and i'm reading it right now while it's still light outside in the evening.

i associate marie with so many things already (polaroids, cherry blossoms, milwaukee and a million others), but it's when i read murakami that i think of her the most. i know she enjoys him as i do and i keep meaning to lend her my copy of 'after the quake'. next time i see you 'rie, it's yours.

week 53: birthday

2010-04-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

marie: it turns out that so many of my favorite people i've come to know this year all have spring birthdays. i love that. and though technically, the tlp started in february last year, the birth of my boy stunted it's 1st birthday to april. also love. naomi's cake was awesome, don't listen to her. how many people do you know can whip up a cake in the form of a CAMERA just like that? i know only one, and her name is naomi.

naomi: in april it's my birthday, then maries. then tlps. i made a polaroid cake to celebrate. it turned out a bit goofy.

next week's theme is bookish, chosen by marie.

week 52: roids

2010-04-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

marie: you know it's springtime on flickr with the plethora of photos of flowering trees. i've limited myself to only one polaroid of a magnolia tree this spring, which was really hard. i think they are the prettiest trees, besides the willow tree, which is my favorite. since i've used up my magnolia card, i took a picture of the neighbor's tree- does anybody know what the name is? really pretty, but i think they sort of smell funny.

naomi: marie got me a pack of polaroids. i can't resist taking some of america's blue skies and neon signs. and bunting!

next weeks theme is birthday. because april is the birthday month of us both, and the transatlantic lens project turns a year old this week. thanks for spending the last year with us!

week 51: two

2010-04-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

marie: her baby etiquette was gentle as a deer, and she is one of the smartest 2 year olds i know of. you should view this photo large, you can see both naomi's niece and my son have a case of the grumpies.

naomi: these two are destined to be together in the future. my neice and marie's son.

next week's theme is roids, chosen by naomi.

week 50: white

2010-04-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

naomi: since i met marie, i think of her every time i see spring blossoms.

see her choice for next week? 'two'? that could most definitely be the two of us since in a sudden change of events, this time next week, we'll be on the same continent, in the same state, in the same city.

marie: billowy lace makes a beautiful subject. i'm sure if our trees were already flowering, my choice would have been identical to naomi's. twins for life.

next week is two, chosen by marie.

week 49: rainbow

2010-03-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

naomi: that's the london eye, they lit it up like a rainbow on friday but i don't know why.

marie: signs we are growing up: putting an ad up on craigslist for our really pretty vintage couch in exchange for a squishier, more comfortable one. preparing to trade the jetta in for a jetta wagon. the always reliable paint palette never lets me down; a new couch calls for new walls.

next weeks theme is white, by naomi.

week 48: plans

2010-03-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

naomi: i long for there, she longs for here.

marie: she longs for here, i long for there.

next week is rainbow, chosen by marie.

week 47: memories

2010-03-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

naomi: i'm living in transit at the moment, everything is packed away until i find a place to stay for a long time. all of my photos and postcards and letters are packed away and this box is the one i'd save in a fire. top left you can see a polaroid of marie and jer, taken when they'd just moved into their first home together. the framed photo is me and my brother when i was about 4. i can remember the exact moment i took every single one of those polaroids and i love every single one.

marie: i used to keep a journal, when i was 23 or 24. i really can't bear to leaf through it anymore.

next weeks theme is plans chosen by naomi.

week 46: eyes

2010-03-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

naomi: aw. how can i compete with that beautiful boy? yesterday was the first sunny day in what seemed like 10 years so i really did spend a long time with my eyes closed, just basking in it (with the cat).

marie: what can i say, except those wide eyes are my life.

next weeks theme is memories, set by marie.

week 45: mirror

2010-02-28T13:40:00.000-08:00

marie: i tried really really hard not to do a selfie, and succeeded. now i sort of wish i had, because how perfect it would have been. we would have created a mirrored transatlantic image of each other- sisters from another mother.

naomi: sorry 'rie i just couldn't resist it! i look like a boy in this picture, no hair=my brother's face. i've chosen a similar theme for next week so that maybe we can be transatlantic eye twins.

next week's theme is eyes chosen by naomi.

Week 44: grey

2010-02-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

naomi: possibly i wear too much grey? what are the odds that next week we both take a mirror self portrait? probably not very much now that i've said that. (look how cute that little one is)

marie: this is my favorite sweater and favorite baby human. grey has never looked so snuggly.

i think it's classic that naomi picked grey, and we both photographed garments. i wonder if she purposely did not point the lens at the sky, fearing that was (obviously) too obvious, like i did?

next week's theme is mirror, by marie

week 43:delicate

2010-02-14T01:36:00.000-08:00

naomi: we're back! did you miss us?
it's been snowing intermittently here, there's not much that's more delicate than a snowflake.

marie: My delicate tendrils of neglect might just make it.

next week to be chosen by naomi.

week 42: film

2009-11-15T00:58:00.000-08:00

Marie: This is a snapshot from the French film Tell No One. I saw it when it was playing at The Oriental last year. The opening scene has stuck with me over the last year, I think because it features Otis Redding's "For Your Precious Love", which I love. They also used my favorite favorite of them all, Jeff Buckley (Lilac Wine), though the scene in which he croons is, quite fittingly, melancholy and bittersweet.

Naomi: I went to the premiere of Harry Brown last week, that's Michael Caine and the cast giving a little speech before it began. It's pretty violent and the seats in the Leicester Square Odeon are leopard print.

The tlp is going to be taking a well deserved break while Marie brings another person into the world. Once he's arrived we'll get back into the swing of things, see you in a few weeks!
love,
Marie and Naomi.

week 41: bokeh

2009-11-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

bokeh: in photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in ouf-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."

marie: we made a trip over the bridge to the eastside of milwaukee last night, to gather up some serious bokeh- the marquee of the oriental theatre. i love this place not only for the obvious reasons, but they also have a shaker at the popcorn stand with brewers yeast. i'm a sucker for good popcorn.

i also wanted to comment that i can not believe it took until week 41 for one of us to pick bokeh as a theme. and how funny we both opted for nighttime, light shots. life simply looks better as a beautiful, illuminated mass of dreamy glowbugs.

naomi: we love bokeh, it's the best.

this is london at night time, waiting for a bus.

can't think of another theme that we can come up with that i'll love more than this, you've got a tough job this week 'rie.

this week shall be movie/film set by marie.

week 40:pastime

2009-10-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

marie: this is not my house. this was taken from my house, though. it's the view from my bedroom. and seeing that one definition of pastime is "something that serves to make time pass agreeably", i guess that would qualify time spent in bed napping/relaxing/reading/editing/daydreaming of my baby as a pastime of mine. it's very agreeable, and a good deal of the third trimester has landed me here. so in case you were wondering, that is the connection between my neighbor's roof and this week's theme.

naomi: this is what makes my time pass agreeably. exploring other peoples houses and taking pictures in their mirrors.

next week's theme is bokeh chosen by london town.

week 39: feet

2009-10-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

marie: i had to try REALLY hard to get my feet in this shot. i was going to shoot what i actually see, which is only my belly, but my boots just looked too pretty in the leaves. wouldn't that have been funny, though? the theme would have been changed to: feet (or lack thereof)

naomi: that's pudding again.
he's autumn coloured.
i love his fluffy feet.
i also love autumn and leaves and seeing maries big 'ol pregnant belly hanging out among the apples and pumpkins.

next weeks theme will be chosen by the american contingent. she chooses pastime.

did we mention we have started a new transatlantic collaboration? it's a work in progress, but check it out here:
the transatlantic press

week 38: staircase

2009-10-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

marie: the stairs have been killing me lately. i waddle up and down and up and down all day with my egg shaped body -that's how jer described it this morning- like humpty dumpty. unfortunately for me, the only bathroom in the house is on the second floor. and sometimes i'm actually out of breath and my legs burn like they did after i ran the mile in high school. i miss having a one level house here in the midst of my third trimester. o, and that little blur is charlie cat, eater of cheerios, sporting his fresh lion cut.

naomi: i'm laughing at marie saying her body is egg shaped, because it makes me imagine she's going to lay an egg with a baby boy inside.
i fell down some stairs this week. my butt is not a fan of stairs right now.

next week's theme is feet, set by naomi.

week 37: uphill

2009-10-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

naomi: i chose this because everything seems like such a struggle right now but i'm hoping that after all the struggling comes the easy ride down the other side.

marie: i snuck out between icy rain showers to take this. the ground was slick and the air had that damp, fallen leaves scent that only exists in autumn. the path leads to and from a flight of wooden stairs that takes you right down to the beach. the best part: it's a mere 5 minute stroll from our home. i imagine i'll be taking my signature snowy, gloomy beach photos there this winter. and my baby boy for blankets and sand castles when the weather is warm.

next week's theme is staircase, chosen by marie.

week 36: autumn equinox

2009-09-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

marie: i can't believe autumn is upon us, again. the year has swooped past me, in a whirlwind of of home buying, home repairs, pregnancy, the death of my mother-in-law, our wedding. it's finally time to breathe cool air, take walks, watch the leaves fall and wait for the arrival of baby k.

naomi: this is one of my favourite tlp's that we've done. i love autumn the most.

i think this project is affected so much by the seasons that sometimes we don't even notice. in spring, we're both obsessed by cherry blossoms. in summer, we both love nothing more than moaning that it's too hot. in autumn we're engrossed by the fallen leaves, and come winter it's a snow lovers paradise.

marie's winter is going to be something else entirely this year because she'll have a baby boy to distract her from all the snow so i'll have to do double the snow-watching.

hopefully i'll make it to america to meet him though, so maybe i won't even notice the snow at all.

next weeks theme is uphill, set by naomi.

week 35: window

2009-09-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

marie: i haven't been feeling very creative lately. just sort of bogged down between work and constant pregnant exhaustion.
next week is my last week of work and then i'm a pre-stay-at-home-mom. at my ultrasound this week, the baby was
larger than the 26 week mark i was at, so they bumped me up to 28 weeks and a new date- december 18th. no more xmas
eve baby. i know the next 10 weeks or so will fly by, so i plan on enjoying the last moments of living without a wee one.
especially the sleeping in/taking naps part- all the mothers i know have told me they miss that the most. hopefully my
creative juices will start flowing when i have time off, and my posts won't be so terribly boring.

naomi: The air deals blows: surely too hard, too often?
No: it is bent on bringing summer down.
Dead leaves desert in thousands, outwards, upwards,
Numerous as birds; but the birds fly away...

next weeks theme is the autumn equinox, chosen by marie.

week 34: color/colour

2009-09-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

marie: inspiration for this week's theme.

naomi: blodyn porffor (purple flowers). it's cold! and windy! autumns here and the leaves are starting to hang out in the gutters!

week 33: old photographs

2009-09-08T04:52:00.001-07:00

marie: old photos, but not quite as old as naomi's.

naomi: i recently inherited a big bag full of old family photos. this is my favourite, it's my mother and fathers wedding photo from 1978 in marlborough, wiltshire.

next week's theme is colour/color, set by marie.

week 32: warmth

2009-08-31T13:38:00.001-07:00

naomi: can't stop complaining about the heat. even though it's the day before september it was bbq weather and all i'm aching for is autumn turning to winter.

i want red leaves and frost and scarves and mittens.

marie: people in milwaukee can't stop complaining about the unseasonably cool weather. yes, it's august, and yes, we've been donning sweaters for the last week. i am loving it, even the grey, rainy days. i know the temperature is bound to rise north at least a little bit more before fall officially is here to stay. i'm anticipating the next warming trend so everyone will keep quiet about the cold (though then the complaints that it's too hot will begin again). that's the problem with wisconsin- we get hot summers and cold, harsh winters, making for lots of complaining amongst the residents. naomi is on the wrong side of the world.

next week's theme is old photographs set by naomi.

week 31: shadows

2009-08-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

marie: the sun is keeping our plants alive on the inside and just starting to burn the treetops to the best color in the world, autumn gold. and though many people are complaining about the brisk autumn air that's blown in this week, i'm completely over the summer and it's sticky heat.

naomi: still using up the polaroids that are left. i took this one on a secret roof in london that my good friend rob introduced me to.

next week's theme is warm, chosen by marie.

week 30: comfort

2009-08-17T14:07:00.001-07:00

marie: baby gifts are beginning to trickle in, and these two will be our son's first stuffed animals. we keep them on the record shelf in the living room until they move to the crib.

naomi: As unrefined and basic as an animal's emotional equipment may be, it is not insensitive to freedom. Somewhere in the archives of crudest instinct is recorded the truth that it is better to be endangered and free than captive and comfortable.

next weeks theme is shadows chosen by naomi.

week 29: sleep

2009-08-13T07:12:00.001-07:00

marie: room 404 from our honeymoon in french-canadia.

naomi: that's sleeping Pudding, taken with polaroid 600 film that's 4 years out of date, I've got 17 shots from 2005 left.

next week is comfort, chosen by marie.

week 28: suspended

2009-08-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

marie: i got married on august 2. there are some photos from the wedding here. it feels good to move on and start spending the next four months readying ourselves and the house for baby boy.

naomi: it's a bit of a stressful time right now, a lot of things are going wrong but plants don't care, they just keep growing.

next week will be sleep, chosen by naomi.

week 27: hands

2009-07-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

marie: my hands have put in hours of craftwork for my wedding on sunday. here i am, making paper doily garland. this was just the first strand- it took me 4 hours to make 4 sets. i've raided milwaukee area thrift stores of every milk glass vase in existence. i've cut out 200 paper butterflies, labeled them with a fancy pen and india ink and have toiled over a seating chart that took 4 revisions to complete (thanks to non-responders/late-responders and mind-changers). a week from now we'll be packing for Montreal/Toronto/Quebec City and I can NOT wait to not think about a wedding. just baby.

naomi: these are the hands of laetitia and her daughter mila. look at those flowers that marie's made! pretty sure it's going to be the most beautiful wedding my adopted mid-western home state has ever seen.

next week's theme is suspended, chosen by marie. (it will most likely be another late post)

week 26: illustration

2009-07-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

marie: i'm no naomi when it comes to drawing (you should see her artwork, seriously). so i resort to my world of books, and finally found one with a worthy illustration. i get married in 13 days. this has nothing to do with a sailing ship, but i think you can gather what has taken up residence in my mind as of late. that, and my ever-swelling belly. a week from today i find out if i'll have a son or daughter. i'm so happy.

ps. i saw BLITZEN TRAPPER last night. i highly recommend you seek them out if they come to a town near you. my friend cj was the photo-documentarian.

naomi: this is part of a card that I'm drawing for marie and her beau in a happyweddingpack that I'll send them. I'm laughing because she'll be asleep right now on the other side of the world, and then she'll wake up and see this.
hi marie.

next week's theme is hands, set by naomi.

week 25: from above, with love.

2009-07-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

naomi: i lie in bed, still trembling. You can wet the rim of a glass and run your finger around the rim and it will make a sound. This is what I feel like: this sound of glass. I feel like the word shatter. - margaret atwood

marie: i've a picture of you

on our favorite day by the seaside

there's a bird stealing bread

that i brought out from under my nose

-iron & wine/bird stealing bread

next week's post will be illustration, chosen by marie.

week 24: stars and/or stripes

2009-07-07T08:20:00.001-07:00

naomi: On the 4th of July last year I was at a barbecue, in America, in the heat, in my adopted home state. This year I was in London, still unpacking and sorting everything out.

This star is on a flag in the centre of London, look how me and Marie matched the trees on the right hand side, transatlantic, tree-matching, photographic-mind-twins.

marie: is it completely disappointing that the only instance i looked up at the sky this 4th of july weekend was to take a photograph of my laundry line? perhaps. but what i missed in explosions in the sky, i made up for with good eats, many naps and putting a healthy dent in my diy wedding crafts (27 days and counting). i sat in my chair with the scissors and paper, watching jane austen movies and listening to the boom of fireworks that leaked in through the front porch.

next week's theme is from above, with love.

week 23: new

2009-06-28T04:09:00.001-07:00

naomi: change is the best. this is my new street, new skies, new life! i hunt good telegraph poles wherever i am, very lucky to have this one right outside my door.

marie: my wedding gown now hangs in the corner of the bedroom, a graceful and foreign presence that i'm quite getting used to. i've been spending many long moments before rising from bed just staring at it.

next weeks theme is stars and/or stripes, chosen by marie.

week 22: music

2009-06-28T04:08:00.000-07:00

marie: my fingers have grasped this neck since 5th grade, and tinier versions before i grew into it. i've been working on a string part soon to be recorded on Heidi Spencer's latest album, and have had time for little else between that, maintaining a work schedule and planning my august 2 wedding.

naomi: this was at a small music festival the day before I left Wales for shinyshiny London. One of the only sunny days Wales has had in the last 10 years.

next weeks theme is new, chosen by naomi.

week 21: soft

2009-06-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

marie: the epitome of summer, indoors. twice as nice because it's our own (home). film.

naomi: wet and stringy little chicks hatched out of hard dry eggs to become soft fluffy beauties.

next week is music, chosen by marie.

week 20: anonym

2009-06-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

naomi: this is me so not totally anonymous but kind of because you can't tell it's me right?

i took it on my last ever night in my most beautiful sea view room with the biggest windows and the best lights. i'm moving back to the big city next week, my view will probably be of some bricks but it's ok, i'm excited.

marie: one of my favorite things about travel is the anonymity of being a stranger in the lives of others.

next week's theme is soft, set by naomi.

week 19: green

2009-06-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

marie: all the world is green.

naomi: it was my friend's birthday this week so i made him an apple tart. i've been doing a lot of baking since as of last week i finished my degree! 3 years in one place, now I'm here for 3 more weeks, then I'll be living in London again away from my Welsh roots and the ocean and back in the city.

really can't wait.

next week's theme is anonym, chosen by marie.

week 18: favourite things

2009-05-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

marie: i have many a favorite thing, and flying saucers are one of them. naomi sent them across the ocean for my 28th birthday. i still have one package left, and am waiting to savor the wafery goodness so my little baby does not go into sugar shock. i think they are the prettiest candy to ever exist.

naomi: polaroids are definitely my favourite things, more than anything. i love every single one. i even kind of love them more knowing that it's almost time to never take another one.

next week's theme is green, chosen by naomi.

week 17: gloom

2009-05-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

marie: naomi picked gloomy as a theme the one week milwaukee was perpetually sunny. i, who am usually more sullen than not,could not find one thing gloomy about anything. week 17 passed us by, and we postponed our weekly blog until i could find something drab. finally, a rain storm. although i secretly relish rain storms, especially the ones where i am safe and cozy at home, and accompanied by good song.

naomi: i was feeling particularly gloomy when i set this theme. the weather stunk which always makes me gloomy and i was running out of time for everything that needed doing.

i quite often enjoy rolling around in some melancholy for a day or so but i can't do it for too long because there are too many things that distract me back into normality.

next week's theme is favorite things, set by marie.

week 16: roundish

2009-05-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

marie: right now, life is the opposite of the simplicity depicted in this photo. o, to be a tangerine!

naomi: this is the bird house at the bottom of my mum's garden, but bees live in it. it hangs off an apple tree that we used to pick fruit from to make apple crumble when we were kids.

i spent this weekend looking after a 2 week old lamb, he needed bottle feeding and wagged his tail like a puppy when he was happy, i wish he'd stay a lamb.

next week's theme is gloom set by naomi.

week 15: pink

2009-05-03T03:43:00.001-07:00

naomi: i had to choose pink this week because i know that neither of us can resist taking pictures of spring blossoms. i'm pretending this week that we've each taken one side of the same tree, me on the left marie on the right, instead of me here with grey skies and soon-arriving exhibition stress, and her 3731 miles away with bluer skies and pinker flowers.

it's almost time for these weekly photos to switch format, we're both almost out of polaroid film and can't afford it's rising prices. The square shape is staying forever though.

marie: finally the flowers are blooming and the weather seems to be staying consistently warm, instead of the teasers we've been getting here and there over the past month or two. exercise was in order, in the form of walking to the coffee shop- americano for him, decaf americano for me. to the vegan bakery for some half price cookies (gingersnap) and down to the lake for a picnic lunch in the sun. when we passed the pink blossomed tree, it was pretty obvious it was destined to be polaroided.

next week's theme is roundish chosen by marie.

week 14: the little things

2009-04-26T09:02:00.001-07:00

naomi: It's the little things in spring that let you know summer is just around the corner. This apple tree in my mother's garden always blooms the brightest. I've had 'I must be in a good place now" by Vetiver on repeat all day today, to welcome the sun, it's a lazy song for lazy days.

Wild apple trees blooming all around

I must be in a good place now

Sunshine coming through

Rainbow coloured sky

Paints pretty pictures in my mind

Oh what a good day to go fishing

And catch the sunset in the hills

Dream of my yesterdays and tomorrow

And hope that you'll be with me still

marie: it's the little things that i love about my home the most: crystal doorknobs and skeleton keyholes. not having a mailbox, but a mail slot that drops letters onto the porch floor. old paned windows that open on a hinge. the porcelain kitchen sink. our janky porches that need some tender, loving care. xo.

next weeks theme is pink, set by naomi

week 13: big water

2009-04-19T11:01:00.001-07:00

naomi: we went out on a boat this weekend, out into the watery wilderness! we couldn't see ireland because it's way too far away, but we could see dolphins and what our house looks like from the middle of cardigan bay.

it made me want my own boat.

marie: jer actually had to drive me down the street to take this picture on saturday. i've been sick with a terrible flu, but knew i had to get my photo in before the rain came on sunday. it was so warm that day, and sunny. the ominous grays of a wintery lake michigan have finally disappeared, and left behind the brightest blues. it's too bad that this moment was my only moment spent outside of bed. my birthday is saturday, and i hope it looks like this.

next week's theme is the little things, set by marie.

week 12: signs of spring

2009-04-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

naomi: hi springtime! hi sun! hi not having to wear all the layers and worrying about do i take the umbrella or not. it was sunny for the whole of easter, the flowers were blooming and we saw 21 ducklings. up there is a nest in the tree which i hope is full of babies, it was too high to check.

me and marie are running so low on polaroid film, i find myself not taking nearly as many anymore just so i have some spare for this project. i wish we were both rich enough to buy up all the stock that's left so we could carry this on forever. i'm happy to just be happy right now though, on the eve of my birthday, on the cusp of finishing university and about to find a new job and a new home.

can you tell i'm happy?

marie: spring came for the easter weekend, and was whisked away in time for a grey monday. i caught a few of the curiosities in the small plot of land that is our backyard. there is the verdant patch of unknown sprouts, and the winsome gnome. a pair of sparrows are nesting in the gutter, and their efforts are being closely examined and slyly appreciated by my three cats. i hope the scant bouts of sunshine and warm weather become more abundant, for it seems the buds and petals of spring have been stunted.

next week's theme will be big water, set by naomi.

week 11: sun

2009-04-05T06:03:00.001-07:00

naomi: another week's tlp, and i'm back in the uk missing all the fun of america, and worrying about upcoming exhibitions, exams, and job prospects.
the sun makes everything feel much more exciting though, i've been ignoring everything that needs doing and instead i've been baking and walking in the forest.
april is the month of both of our birthdays, april rules.

marie: i spent 6 days in my house this week, pushing boxes, unpacking, placing our home together. it felt as tedious as a jigsaw puzzle at times, but today is sunday and i sit in a living surrounded by beloved books, records, plants and cats. weekends no longer mean buckets of paint and stripping floors, and for that i am especially grateful and relieved. i will sit in content anticipation of the supposed april snow that nature is going to bestow upon us this afternoon. i will do little more than make mugs of coffee, shuffle through my neglected photos, read the book i've not picked up since january, and shovel said snow.

next week's theme is signs of spring, set by marie.

week 10: same time, same place

2009-03-30T07:15:00.001-07:00

naomi: this is my favourite tlp so far. it was the best ever to see 'rie and jeremy again (even if they were both exhausted and he had an injury and we're both running out of roid film-sad face).

i'm 100% hoping that they're going to come to the uk for a holiday soon, so we can do another tlp together. their new house is as beautiful as i expected and i can already imagine how nice it'll be once the unpacking is done. the weather is miserable here and i've only been back three days and already crave americana again.

the atlantic is too big.

marie: i'm sort of at a loss for words this morning- it's been quite the weekend, and somehow at 9:23 am, already quite the day. it was so nice to see my welsh friend, and it is so nice to have a real friend across the sea. i see her the least, and on this day in my life, probably trust her the most. i wish we had had more time together, but i'm happy to have satisfied naomi's craving for the most amazing vegan riblets from comet cafe, and that she got to explore our new homestead.

we captured this moment in my new backyard (yes, the backyard that i am looking at right now, through the window!), and that is my poor beau with an accidental black eye. i am sighing a million sighs of relief that, though i'm sitting in a sea of boxes, i am in my new house, on a new day, in a new neighborhood, in a new season.

next week's theme is the sun set by naomi.

week 9: food

2009-03-22T06:47:00.001-07:00

naomi: breakfast time in america. that's alex eating his 'panda pops'.

me and marie didn't get to take our joint tlp roids together yet but hopefully we can do it this week in the american sunshine. america has all the best food, everythings got sugar in it, even the bread.

marie: i took this pola in the midst of a sea of boxes, piled high in my kitchen. we move on saturday, into the house we've been working on diligently since the end of january. it's been an arduous road, and now that we've come to the end, it's humorous how painstaking the notion of packing seems to me. today it feels like the most difficult task in the world. i'm just ready to move and revel in free time again.

mint chip ice cream was the treat i offered myself yesterday, during one of the many breaks from cardboard boxes. it's also one of the few items left to eat in the lonesome fridge. we've spent many nights at the new house, ordering chinese and using a cardboard box as the dining room table (complete with a rag tablecloth and candlelight).

next week's theme is same place, same time (most likely from comet cafe), set by marie.

week 8: clocks

2009-03-14T18:08:00.001-07:00

naomi:this was taken the day before i flew to america. i am probably in the air as you read this. it is a wall of clocks in a shop that also sells an alarm clock with a bird on top that sings to you in the morning instead of screaming an alarm.

i hope next weekends tlp will be amazing because me and marie will be able to take them together, a first in tlp history.

marie: i knew that i wanted to photograph the allen-bradley clock for this week's assignment, but originally i figured that the photo would be snapped from the hoan bridge. i tend to forget that things often look more miniature sized through a polaroid lens. so, i went streetwalking in search of a more suitable view and came up with this. the clock is still lagging one hour behind from daylight savings. the blue sky sums up the day, and weather in the upper 50's put a skip in everyone's step.

o, and did i mention that naomi is in the air and will arrive in 15 hours? well, it's true.

next week's theme is food set by naomi

week 7:dusk

2009-03-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

naomi: everything here is very calm right now, the calm before the enormous storm of deadlines and job hunting and moving countries. this is the hill near my house, the view north.

my plan was to go to america next week to do some work for my exhibition and some obstacles have arisen, but i'll find a way.

maybe in a couple of weeks the tlp photos won't be transatlantic at all (for one time only)

marie: o the night here it comes again

it's on with the jeans,

the jacket

and the shirt

i barely made it before night fell completely, though the sky did not show up through my camera, which clearly does not do well in low light. but it did remind me of one of my favorite songs by ryan adams.

next weeks theme is clocks, set by marie...

week 6: bus stop

2009-03-01T04:42:00.001-08:00

naomi: today is st david's day, the patron st of wales. i bought some daffodils (wales' national flower) and i might even eat some leeks today. it's also sunny here for the first time in ages. it feels like spring and the bus stops are all empty because everyone wants to stay here, by the beach and not leave like usual.

marie: today was a sunny day, portrayed here by pink-tinged film. this is milwaukee county transit system's route 51, at oklahoma and new york avenue. i grew up about 100 blocks west of this very bus stop. my first city bus ride was to uwm in 1999 on this route, from west allis (a 45 minute feat, and o-so-tiresome at 6am and again at 10pm). my only car accident at the tender and impressionable age of 17 occurred on oklahoma avenue, in west allis. my best friend and i were on our way home from a highway cleanup for key club. i totaled my dad's minivan and the other driver's new honda civic. the point of all of this reminiscing over a bus route is that my first home proudly sits on the same street that played such a role in my childhood. who would have thought? not me.

next week's theme is dusk, set by naomi...

week 5: typography

2009-02-21T18:19:00.001-08:00

naomi: this is in the window of what probably used to be a very nice building and is now a vile bar. it has lots of signs for meat pies and cheeses so maybe it was an old grocers? we only had snow for a week, i'm jealous of marie (and dying to see her new house)

marie: this little shop is right around the corner from our new house in bay view. the type is vintage, bright and has always caught my eye on the drive-by (a rhyme!). unseen are the giant snowflakes floating about. i'm hoping this is the last polaroid including snow falling and snow fallen for the year. naomi probably wants to kick me for saying that.

next week's theme is bus stops, chosen by marie.

week 4: valentine's day

2009-02-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

naomi: I can't beat marie's lovely message, but I loved this year's valentines day. i hope everyone felt loved, if not by others then wholeheartedly by themselves (writing on a mirror with lipstick is one of my favourite things).

marie:
"they are not long, the days of wine and roses:
out of a misty dream
our path emerges for a while, then closes
within a dream."
- ernest dowson

whether valentine's meant roses, wine, chocolate, sparkly things, fancy food, balloons or lonesome wallowing and bitterness,
i hope it was at least a bright, wintry day for all.

xoxo,
m

next week's theme is typography, set by naomi...

week 3: solitary

2009-02-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

naomi: this weeks was hard! I spent a long time trying to find something and eventually settled on this girl doll. my sister brought it back from china for me and it's always alone in my window.

marie: in the depths of our empty new house, stands the first (desperately lonely) trinket. it will be another month until the rest of his pack of glass elephants arrives, but until then he'll sit in a bare sill while floors are finished, walls are painted and curtains are made.

next week's theme is valentine's day, set by marie...

week 2: morning light

2009-02-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

naomi: those are deer in bushey park, london. i took it just after my brother went to the airport to go back home. my eyes were still sore from crying.

marie: the sun decided to show it's wintry face this weekend, and the temperature is above freezing for the first time in forever. i raced to the lakefront before the pink morning light disappeared and while most of my fellow milwaukeeans still slumbered. meet solomon juneau, of juneau park.

next week's theme is solitary, set by naomi...

week 1: blue

2009-02-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

naomi: my blue sky was taken in beautiful aberystwyth. we threw old bread to the birds and they all appeared from nowhere. I looked up and clicked and whirred and there it was.

marie: most of this week, the fine state of wisconsin has suffered what the weather men and women like to call an "arctic blast". since i've learned that polaroid film turns purplish in cold weather, i opted for the warmth of my kitchen. my blueberry mug matches the welsh sky almost perfectly.

next week's theme is morning light, set by marie...