day 179

it's official, i am a published writer!

i will fill in the back story later, but here is the link for now:

http://www.portlandfoodheads.com/

day 178

finally have a shot of me from my marathon. yippeee!!! so i just had to share

day 177

today i ran my first marathon. i finished in 3:43. here is my list of things to do/not do for my next distance race (i am hoping for an endurance challenge of 50K next fall).

1 - actually fucking train for this shit. i am not the young buck i once was. i can not just get out and run anymore. the longest distance i had conquered prior to this race was 17.7 miles...and that was nearly two months before the race. i also hadn't ran one mile for the past two weeks. not smart.

2 - eat more. a rough estimate of the calories i burned today was 3100. that is more than i typically take in on a normal day. i had one piece of bread with almond butter and honey before the race. that isn't so bad since i didn't want to have a heavy stomach for a long run. but my dinner only consisted of two pieces of bread and a small plate of farro with chicken sausage and tomato sauce. i burned that up within the first 5 miles of the race.

3 - a little red wine with dinner, like a glass, probably isn't too bad. but half a bottle just before you go to sleep is not the best. i think i was feeling a slight red wine hangover around 2 a.m. DO NOT DRINK BEFORE I LONG RACE!

4 - bring more gu's or gel blocks or whatever it is that you need to fuel the body on the run. i had two gu's on hand for the run. i was expecting to take one ever 50-60 minutes. that probably would have been fine if i had only ran for 2.5 hours. but i was running for 3.75 hours. i could have killed two additional gu's in that time.

5 - although they may look like overkill, get a fuel belt. i carried a fuel bottle with me that had a pouch for my money (in case i decided to take a cab), chap stick, imodium and gu. several times during the run my hand began to cramp up from carrying the bottle. i would switch to the other hand, but it just felt odd to carry it in the opposite hand that i had been accustomed to. may sound like no big deal, but the smallest infractions on you comfort are huge when all your body wants to do is say "fuck off" and die. i also would have been able to carry more gu or fuel if i had a belt. i could have even carried a camera which would have been fun to have for just stupid little pics along the run.

6 - wear a sleeveless shirt or something that doesn't fit too close to the armpits. not only do the nips chafe, but so do your pits. not cool! oh, and lube the nips. i didn't start to bleed, but damn they were hurting when i threw some soap and hot water on them in the shower.

7 - no matter what, no matter how bad the leg cramp is or how loudly your body is screaming at you to stop, DON"T! i am not saying don't walk if you need to regain some energy. i am saying do not just stop moving. big mistake on my part when i stepped off tot he side of the road to down some gatorade and just let the muscles catch up. instead of re-energizing they seized up and created the worst cramps i have ever had. these cramps came back twice in the race and literally brought me to my knees in pain. so, next time keep walking and if you do start to cramp up, just keep walking and then maybe a slow jog.

8 - get a better mix tape for the run. i was bored with everything i had on my mix. couldn't find some music to really inspire and push me towards the end.

9 - tell people you are going to be running and ask that they support you at the finish line. there was only one person in town that knew i was going to be running this race. i didn't tell people ahead of time or request that anyone show up to help support me, so i am not complaining that friends weren't there. i did have one friend there that was supportive and gave me a big congrats.
but when i finished the race i saw friends/family cheering on their racer and then supporting them after they crossed the finish line. it was rather lonely when i crossed the finish line. i pretty much sat back and watched everyone else being greeted by friends and family. again, my own fault for not informing anyone that i was going to be doing this.

overall a pretty successful run. i placed 23 out of 82 in my age group (30-40), with a time of 3:42:23. i walked maybe a quarter mile of the race, including water stations. i had to stop running three times total, two due to severe muscle cramping in my thighs and once to pee. with the stops and the walking my time breaks down to an 8.5 minute mile, which is only a minute slower per mile than what i normally run. and if you take out the time i spent stopped or peeing, then i was actually averaging a faster pace while running/walking.

the funniest pert about the experience to me was my attitude change. i left that race questioning why the fuck i did it? why does anyone want to put their bodies through that sort of pain and beating? i honestly did not even want to think about running. never once did i say to myself, "next time". fuck that, i was in pain and i was not feeling great about what i had just done. even the fact that i had just completed a marathon was a big "so what" to me. i hurt too much. but today, sore as hell, barely able to make it up the stairs, i think i can shave off 15 minutes from my time for my next marathon.

day 176

i am trying to revamp my food portfolio. move out the old, pull in some new. maybe re-think the color/B&W combinations of a few existing shots, etc.

in doing so i have pulled a few new images. some of these images aren't necessarily new because they were recently shot. they were actually shot about 2 years ago and i had just forgotten about them and happen to stumble across them. some are new images that were shot this past weekend at the common ground fair and Krista's.

i am wanting to try and cull back the number of shots i have in my food portfolio. i think it is getting a bit too heavy in content and therefore possibly boring people before they actually make it to the end of the portfolio.

so, i could use a bit of help with this. if anyone has the time, please take a gander at my food portfolio and let me know which images i should pull. i am also posting some of the new images and would love some feedback as to whether or not i should put them into the portfolio.

cheers and thanks.

day 175

hey, i need some votes.
check out the link below and send some votes my way. it could mean getting the image published in the next issue of JPG Magazine, which i would not complain about.

http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/2000461

day 174

i don't necessarily like to post links to other neat internets-stuffs, but this is one i could not resist.

http://progressiveboink.com/archive/peanuts-by-charles-bukowski/

fucking brilliant!

(oh, and the pic doesn't really have much to do with the link, but i just felt the need to post a pic. this was taken at tommy's park in portland, me)

day 173

i had a 26 hour layover in paris on my way home from florence. before my flight split i took on a quick walking tour of paris just to take in a few sights and stretch the legs before boarding the plane. along my walk, a vendor was selling off t-shirts, which is where i snapped this image.

the image is fairly popular. i have seen it many times over the last...shit, 10-11 years. i have even seen it framed and for sale in bed, bath & beyond stores, etc.

for me, the image will forever remind me of you. i remember the poster, which you brought back from paris, hanging on your wall. and from there, my memories spider-web out. wow, that is all i can say, wow. being woken up by your ex standing over us while you and i slept on an extremely hot denton summer night. your pigtails, the big black "x"s on the back of my hands while we hit red square retro. your leather whip and perfect breasts. the amazing image of walking into your apartment to find you painting. i always loved your work, and i especially loved the fact that you would paint in a shear and lacy bra.

i don't have any way of actually contacting you now. but i think you check this on occasion, so i figured i would share here. i just wanted to share with you how along my walk i see this image. literally stop dead in my tracks and get overwhelmed with a rush of memories from a decade ago. the best part, it left a grin on my face as i continued my parisian stroll.

hope you are well and i hope you are still turning out beautiful art

day 172

well this kinda blows. there is no wireless internet access at the hotel in Rome. they have a puter downstairs, which i am using now, with the internets. but, i can't use this one to add photos from the days trek's. so, looks like i will have to add an ass-load of photo and words when we return to florence. there, i know we will have internet access.

either way, Rome is pretty neat. and pretty darn old as well.

day 171.3

like i said, short legs ain't shit with stairs!


listen closely to the short legged one's breath

day 171.2

might as well introduce the players.

the short legged one - mom

the "i smell art near" - dad

day 171

and we're off!

hazelnut and pistachio gelato. funny story about this gelato. when i went to pay, i handed it to my mother to hold while i juggled a camera and money and change, etc. i had bought it, and conveyed this, to photograph THEN eat. when i turn around, my moms is onto her third or fourth bite. then after about 4 bites of my own, my dad turns around to point to something old and knocks it to the ground. it was the first good tast of the day and this was around 6:30 pm. i love my parents, i really really really do.

needed an ass load of this shit to keep the hunger pangs at bay and to keep up with the short legged one i call mom



okay, another day down.

lotta walkin' around, which is to be expected. the weather was amazing. sunny and cool with a great breeze.

i am actually pretty damn exhausted at the moment. my mother has the energy of a 13 year old girl on a cocktail of speed and soda. i don't know how her short legs carry her so fast. it is like she is sprinting constantly. i can't keep up! the majority of the views i have had of my parents have been from behind. notice the pics.

i did start my day with a run. i went early enough and found a safe walking path so that i didn't have to dodge too many crazy drivers. i was able to get 8.29 miles in, so it was a nice start to the day.

after that, it was pretty much following the parents around from museum to museum to any other shiny object my mother became fixated on along the way.

i have to admit, my parents need to learn about good food. i love the south, and i love the food of the south. but i will admit, it doesn't exactly breed a cultured palette. on top of that, my father is on a special diet of nothing but meat and greens. this makes finding a place to eat a bit more difficult when one person in your party (the one with the biggest appetite) can't eat any past or baked goods.

it also doesn't help that they are rarely exposed to food good enough to make you yearn to eat, instead of eat to simply sustain. so i want to be gluttonous and have some amazing fresh pasta and homemade sauces and dig in to scrumptious-ness i can't readily find in maine. give me the real shit!

in fact, i didn't care too much about the museums. i don't plan on shopping for any italian fashions. the main indulgence for me on this trip was to be food, and photographing great food.

the trip has been nice, but i definitely wish my parents were more into their food. maybe, after my father heads back to germany, and my mother and i split for rome, i can take more control over the food situation. maybe even create my own version of a pallette re-education camp.

so my moms may be sprinter on the flats, but she can't do steps for shit with her short little legs (it was over 400 steps to the top for her. listne closesly for her breathing)

day 170

just a quick note. i wlll write more a bit later when i have more time and energy.

i landed in Florence earlier today...luckily. i missed my connecting flight out of paris and was told that there were no more available seats for the remainder of the day. then, without question, a ticket and seat number landed in my hand.

so here are a few shots from a quick hour or two of wondering around Florence. more to come.

day 169

i just had a few more photos from the last Twilight Dinner that i wanted to toss out there.

i still have a chunk of shots to edit through and work on. it will be a slow process, probably one i will not complete until i get back from vacation.

then again, i hopefully will have a HUGE chunk of editing to do once i am back from vacation as well.

day 168

cookie follow up. so i played a bit more this morning with another angle of cookie pic.

not sure what i think about it, but i have broken the set down and i am moving onto another shot. so i guess i don't matta' what i think about it now.

day 167

cookies...mmmmmmmmmmmmm

just a little test i hope to tweak with some tasty milk and a second perspective tomorrow.

day 166

there has bee a god amount of shooting and eating happening. last night was another Twilight Dinner. at this particular event, the guest chef was actually a collective of chefs. and the chefs were the youth growers themselves. the very kids that the program teaches brought ot he table their own cultural recipes. since the majority of the youth growers are African, the recipes reflected that. also, since there were many chefs this time around, the prep work started on wednesday evening at a kitchen off-site of Turkey Hill Farm.

there will be more images to come, but i wanted to throw out a quick before and after shot. the main entree was Somali lamb stew with maraq bilaash. the shots here are of the lamb being seared and of the final stew.

i just have to say this: that stew was EFFING!!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

day 165

i haven't had the time to work any additional pictures from the last twilight dinner, but i did stumble across this fun little calculator.

how many drinks will it take to kill me?

seems appletinis pack more of a kick than shots of bourbon.

day 164

i posted shots of the people in my last post. i think there are still some more shots of people i want to post, but for now, i want to get some shots up that showcase the food that those people pictured prepared.

there are plenty more images that i will be posting. and at some point i will also post a link to the web album of everything from that day. hopefully, i will have some time after work today to work some more images and post them tomorrow.

hasta