February 2, 2012 9

A Winter Café Frolic and Send-Off to My Sister

My family is a fun mish-mash of culture, heritage and origin. We’re mutts basically, with a combination of Eastern European and South American blood. My sister and I have been asked before if we have different fathers—growing up, our appearances were so physically different. I was short, with curly, red hair, fair skin and freckles. She was tall, with long, straight dark hair and perfect, dark skin. While we were both overachievers, we had such different personalities… I was a bit of a wilder independent, ‘edgier,’ a performer, arts-oriented. She was quieter, a creative writer, horseback rider, homebody. I was out of my parents house like a rocket as soon as I could get out, she stayed there through college and made her way out slowly.

We bickered like any teens, and she drove me up the wall. I am sure she felt the same. But right after I left home… well, she started to get cool. She was younger than me, and was finally becoming an adult—right when I moved out. Then I moved away to Toronto, and she got cooler, still. Then I moved away to San Diego, and more and more, I would think, “Man, if we lived in the same city, we’d be best friends.” The older we get, the more alike we seem to become, meeting in the middle of all our differentiators. It’s a bit sad—I really never had the opportunity to connect to my sister as an adult, in the same headspace as me. We get to see each other about once or twice a year, now, and it’s always so rewarding when we do. But all that is shifting tomorrow, as she’s moving to Australia for a major adventure that I am filled with pride and enthusiasm and envy about. She doesn’t have a firm plan, she is truly aiming for unknown adventure. I thirst vicariously for it all. I am so proud she is jumping into something that will absolutely be incredibly rewarding, no matter how things develop.

Today, I am sharing a brief excursion we made over the Christmas holidays, to my favourite sandwich café in Montreal, Santropol. Tam and Josh joined Scott and I on a FREEZING trek across town to get out there and then Tam and Josh got all cute, and I thought to myself—I have never shot these two lovebirds, and they are just the cutest. Thus, I had to pull out my camera and go wild as we finished our chai lattes. These two are really great for one-another, bringing out truly good things in each other. Josh (a YouTube gaming sensation) is wonderfully positive, a buoyant little kid in a man’s body. He brings out the energy and silliness in my sister and helps her let go of things that don’t matter. Tam’s organized, focused and smart—I think she’s taught Josh a lot about responsibility and persistence. I think they are going to have a spectacular adventure. They will be missed!

Tags: Cafe, family, Montreal, Santropol, Sibling, Sister, Tam and Josh, Winter

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January 31, 2012 29

Daytrippers, Yeah // Lake Cuyamaca Adventure

By Jas in Adventures, Frolic Updates, Personal

Oh is it ever good to be back. I have been swapping website servers and spent the last week working through that—if my URL seems wonky, we’re still transitioning, so I expect that within a week, this blog will be 100% hosted at www.thedailyfrolic.com. Please update your links accordingly—blog.letsfrolictogether.com will now just redirect. Please ignore the interim weird URLs (like thedailyfrolic.dreamhosters.com…) because they’re just temporary, allowing me to keep this site fully functional during the transition. So, yeah, it’s been a while since I posted and I have a plethora of good stuff to share. I am hoping this little adventure will have been well worth the wait!

You may remember my charming friend and talented film photographer, Brian, from our camping excursion to Idyllwild at the end of the summer or apple-picking in the fall. Well, we agreed it was high time for another photo trek, and decided to simply hit the road, make our way out through the East County, and see what goodness we could dig up. If you guessed that goodness would include a stop at Alpine Brewery, an escaped grazing cow, some of the most spectacularly dreamy light I’d ever seen, a chilly hike through Cuyamaca State Park, and a lakeside sunset wrap-up, well, then you’re totally psychic, dude. It was incredibly cold when we expected it to be desert-warm (it was, in fact, a 25-degree temperature drop just one hour East of San Diego), and we were woefully underprepared, but it was all worth it. I think these photos made me realize how terribly badly I needed that trek—even if was just a day thing. Sometimes one gets so wrapped up in life getting lifey that one forgets to feed oneself with inspiration and newness and adventure. And you know I’m all about the adventure.

Without further adieu—a magical little adventuring day trip.

Tags: Alpine Brewery, Cuyamaca State Park, Desert, East County, Lake Cuyamaca, Magic Light, Mountains, San Diego County

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January 19, 2012 19

Sneak Peek: Good Things are on the Way

By Jas in Frolic Updates, Sneak Peak

Hey folks!

I have posted a little more heavily this week than usual thanks to MLK Day and the SOPA Strike. Today, it’s just a quickie to let you know that a) we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming and b) I am pretty psyched about some of the things I will be sharing in the next couple of weeks.

Just a couple of things to look forward (I hope!) to…

By popular request, a What’s-In-My-Bag/Gear/How-I-Shoot post
An autumnal dance post with the lovely Susan Yee, letting loose with reckless abandon
A Joshua Tree desert camping trek
Several posts recounting our California Coast by Car adventure (the image above features my friend Lara and the start of the adventure)

and a few other delights, for good measure. Can’t wait to share all this… stay tuned!

Tags: Adventures, Sneak Peek, What's to come

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January 18, 2012 10

The Threat of Censorship

By Jas in Introspective Musings, Personal

Hey, anybody notice the internet blackout this morning? Does your favourite website have a strange black bar censoring its header? Did you try looking something up on Wikipedia but get a kinda scary message, instead? Today, people all over are taking action against a seriously uncool and threatening US Bill that threatens the very fabric of the big ol’ series of tubes we call the internet.

Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.

—Potter Stewart

SOPA is a seriously scary thing. I’m not usually very particularly publicly political (say that ten times fast), but as a photographer with my own small-biz website, the possibility of this bill passing freaks me out. On the surface, it sounds like it’s there to protect us. You bet I have has my work misused and uncredited. But the cost isn’t worth the gain—we are giving the wrong people (the entertainment industry) power to potentially wreak much greater havoc on innocent and independent businesses and startups than we are protecting those innocent and independent businesses. I know this is a pretty difficult threat to wrap your head around. I am seeing a lot of tech folks getting it and promoting the message but I’d like to up the representation in the photography community.

I think regular folks like myself could really better understand the potential intense repercussions of SOPA if they check out this concrete example of how SOPA could totally screw over innocent photographers or other creatives, small-biz people and even casual bloggers. Seriously, it will totally help clarify why everyone is in an uproar about this potential bill, if you’re somebody who’s been hearing talk of this all over the interweb and wondering what it all means. If you want more information, Google’s in on it, and AmericanCensorship.org is a great sites to explore and gain knowledge from. I can’t help but feel that of this bill goes through, our internet landscape of free access and free speech is going to look a lot like China’s highly-censored and highly-controlled and restricted one.

The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.

—Henry Steele Commager

Please feel free to use the above graphic anywhere you like. Sorry about this getting up on my soapbox thing—thanks for bearing with me. Not planning to make this whole political messaging a regular thing, but my post yesterday about MLK reminded me that it is always time to do the right thing. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Tags: Censorship, SopaBlackout, StopSopa

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January 16, 2012 9

A World-Changing Dream

By Jas in Inspiration, Introspective Musings

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born yesterday, 83 years ago. Today is a federal holiday in America, and my understanding is that it is meant to pay tribute to this incredibly important man and to encourage citizens to be mindful and active about the significance of his contributions and the things he was working toward before his life was cut brutally short. So, I’m thinking about these things today and expressing my gratitude for the impact his efforts have had. Thank goodness for nonviolent activism. Thank goodness for the civil rights movement. Thank goodness for having such an immense, world-changing dream.

I was seriously fortunate to prioritize a visit to Memphis during my 2008 USA rail tour. I think it’s fitting to share a few images with you of the Lorraine Motel, which is where MLK was killed. It was subsequently turned into the National Civil Rights Museum, and it is an incredibly rewarding experience. If you’re ever in Memphis, go. Photography is strictly prohibited inside, so these are the only images I have as a reference, but I assure you, it is a powerful place and worth the visit. I believe I spent all day there. The vehicle in the images is parked permanently below the spot MLK was standing when he was assassinated (indicated by the wreath), and remains there today as it was when he was shot.

It occurs to me suddenly that it is entirely possible that there are some folks out there who may have been un-exposed to this powerful and famed Speech MLK delivered in Washington in 1963 . In the spirit of connecting this message to anyone who’s never heard it before, I’d like to send you here to read or (better yet) listen to the speech. I feel like national holidays/significant days of note, such as Veterans Day in America or Remembrance Day in Canada can often unfortunately fall victim to losing the value and impact of their origin. The younger generation will sometimes grow up taking these historied days for granted because they’ve ‘heard it a million times,’ but may never have actually thought about it. So, I encourage you to read or listen to these oh-so-important words today and remind yourself of both how fortunate we are to be living in a time that has changed so, so drastically from the middle of the 20th century, and also how we have so much further to go. It’s sadly easy to forget that remaining distance if you’re infrequently exposed to certain environments, cultures and creeds. I know I am guilty of being occasionally oblivious to some seriously NOT OKAY things that go on in this city or country… or many other cities and countries.

I’m not the most traditional person, and I rarely pay much attention to designated days of note. But I think this one’s worthwhile. I was inspired to create a quick piece. Help yourself. Today is a day to dream BIG.

In addendum, I am compelled to add that I was inspired to create this poster thanks to both the phenomenal work and additionally some unexpected kind words this past week from the talented Cody Small, the man behind Caava Design. Inspired design means you are guaranteed to be inspired. Go check it out.

Tags: Civil Rights, Lorraine Motel, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, MLK, Nonviolent Activism

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January 10, 2012 44

Tending the Succulent Garden // A Morning of Propagating and Potting

By Jas in At Home with Jas, DIY

Ah, some of life’s little pleasures. The above is a photograph of my front porch, circa last year. This sets the scene for a new round of —yes, that’s right—inspired potting party! This newest round was much fun, but I neglected to shoot an overall front porch shot, so last year’s image shall have to suffice.

When I am stressed out, I have found a little succulent clipping and replanting can do wonders. Here in San Diego these little guys are so eager to grow, even a black thumb like me can keep them thriving, largely by ignoring them. Which is a perfect match for my high capacity of forgetting my plants for inordinate stretches of time. You’ll have to forgive my dust and dirty front porch—it doesn’t seem to know any better. Well now, come have a set with me as we play with plants. As you can see, I like to make a mess of it. I don’t wear gloves, and I end up with fabulously dirty fingernails. I just use whatever I have handy… and it somehow seems to work for me. Below, you’ll note some of the charms of my household exterior. I am terribly lazy about keeping it tidy and I definitely allow everything to get weathered. My potting table in the first photograph below was once an inside desk. The weather certainly did a number on it!

Thank goodness for this wonderfully forgiving climate of ours. The greatest aspect of going back to Canada for a holiday visit and have to suffer through the climate there is that I am reminded of how thankful I must be for the climate we have here in California. One develops thin skin quite quickly after moving to a place like this, and the smallest chill gets us complaining. This appreciation refresh is important for me, particularly to put me into action, actively taking advantage of the weather by DOING something with it—I have a habit of hibernating through winter, wherever I live. But 2012 is going to be a year of action for me, this is a personal commitment I am making. It’s a must.

I hope I bring a little green freshness to your day for those of you struggling through sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms. Spring will be here in no time. If it’s a real struggle—just hop a plane to Southern California and come hang out! Oh, and if you’re curious about the nature of these images, they were all shot with a Canon 35mm 1.4 and a 45mm 2.8 tilt-shift. But more on my gear in an upcoming post, per your requests, folks!