A Flower for My Friend
With bright purple flowers,
Knows not of this thing,
We tend to call hours.
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Life Nuggets
I had some friends in from out of town which I find to be the perfect excuse to make a delicious dinner using all of the wondrous ingredients that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
I started with Kale stew I made last week; stews get so much better with a little rest. Full of red kale, red greens, black eye peas, celery root cubes, turnip cubes, tomato paste, mirepoix, veg stock, some mushrooms, and…well, probably other stuff I’m forgetting.
Then, insalata caprese. I used fresh cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, both from my favourite produce stand in Pike Market (Sosio’s), fresh mozzarella (made that morning) and some good french olive oil mixed with a nip of lemon juice.
The main corse was a fresh morel mushroom (again, from Sosio’s) gnocchi in a white vermouth cream sauce with black truffles served with baked purple baby carrots with ramps (I have never cooked ramps, but now I’m hooked!).
For desert I made a glass cub of coconut sorbet with shaved mexican chocolate and ginger syrup on top of fresh blueberries and cream.
To finish, I served up the stinkiest cheese I could find. A wonderful, gooey, and creamy cheese with an orange tinted rind who’s stink was met with a spicy bite and lingered for near 15 minutes after a nibble. (I made sure to end with the cheese due to the linger on the palate.)
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I am working on a book of my Bioflash images. I am using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3
More details to come, but in the meantime check out a few previews:
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Yesterday I was walking around the Rivertown Revival festival with my iPhone in my shirt pocket. I didnt realize that Hipstamatic was running and that my body was accidentally hitting the shutter button.
I think their expression and the hand reaching over to catch their jaw says it all.
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Today is my little brother‘s birthday. He would have been 30 today. Since it is Micah’s birthday, I want to celebrate his life.
Micah's 3rd birthday with a Zippy the Pinhead cake.
I am trying to collect as many good stories about my little brother as possible. If you or someone you know would like to share a story, either send an email or call this number to leave a message:
(415) 869-5322
(This number is an automatic voice mail box that will send me the recording you make. Call as many times as you like and tell any stories you want to share.)
Please feel free to pass along the number or my contact information to anyone you think can contribute. I am hoping to put together at very least a blog entry of all the good memories each of us have of Micah.
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I recently called 911 on my iPhone 3GS
I was driving South on 280 in San Francisco about to merge onto 101. I could see the blinking lights of a car pulled off to the small shoulder on the right. Traffic was moving at least at 50MPH getting ready to merge into a single lane going onto 101. Once I came upon the car, I realized they were dead center in the lane. I only had a moment to act and veered into my right hand lane nearly getting into an accident.
Thankfully, no one that I’m aware of was injured.
I knew right away that I had to report the car stalled in the middle of the lane. It was situated in a very precarious spot right at 2AM on a Friday night. The car was sitting there just waiting to cause an accident.
I got my hands free for my phone on, called 911 and looked for the nearest exit to pull off the road. I couldn’t believe what I heard in my ear:
A busy signal.
I tried again. Busy.
And again. Busy.
Must be a mistake. I tried again. Busy.
An old, but sadly undated, report by KRON Channel 4 about 911 issues.
I have heard of cell phone routing issues with 911 before, but that had been years ago. I had only assumed that this had magically been fixed since last time I had looked into it. Sadly that is not the case. Not only are the systems over run and the routing is out of date, there is no good front end solution to patch the problem for the user other than calling a different number (e.g., local police).
AT&T After Hours Customer Service Number: 1-866-801-3600
I finally got through on my fifth try.
Keep reading for more problems and some potential solutions…
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A picture I took with my iPhone (unedited) of L’Enfant Station (Washington DC Metro)
With the right kind of eyes, you can almost always find artwork surrounding you.
The artwork of photography is knowing when the happenstance of beauty is upon you so you can put your eye in the right place at the right time, taking scissors to reality and grabbing a moment.
I posted the image of L’Enfant Plaza I took at the DC Metro stop for multiple reasons. For one, I took it with my iPhone’s camera. It wasn’t taken with an exceptional camera. I really wish I had a DSLR at the time, but I was still able to take a picture that I still find to encapsulate the beauty I saw at that moment. Is it a bit noisy? Sure thing! In the end what matters is that I have an image I’m still proud of, encapsulates a moment, and I find beauty in. The artwork of photography is knowing when the happenstance of beauty is upon you so you can put your eye in the right place at the right time, taking scissors to reality and grabbing a moment.
Do your best to look at the world around you through alien eyes; pretend that everything around you is new and you may see something that should become a photograph.
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Last night I took a trip down to Montara beach which is just off Highway 1 (CA). I drove West on 92, hit 1 and took a right. It was the middle of the night.
Just before I had to break for a stop light, I saw a bird of prey with an immense wing span dodge my car by flying right in front and then off to the right. I did my best to make sure I didn’t hit such a beautiful bird, but I had a question:
What in the world was a bird of prey, like a hawk, doing flying around in the middle of night?
The question itself was the answer. It, upon review of my memory, was actually a tall and wondrous owl out at night.
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Montara Beach
I spent my evening taking night time photos. Starting off in Montara and ended up in the park I grew up in taking pictures late at night, like the picture below of the rose.
When I got to Beresford Park, I could hear all the way accross the park the rat ti tat tat of teens in the muck of something they probably shouldn’t be doing once the park was closed, let alone if the park were opened.
It was 1AM and I was curious, so I wandered over, while keeping my distance to see if they were doing anything interesting. Perhaps I would say hi.
It was two guys and two girls clearly with beer in their hands and beer in their stomachs. As I walked near by, then walked away down another path, I could hear something akin to, “I’m not sure…it seems a bit sketch…”
Rose in the middle of the night
I wandered over next to the community garden and took a few snap shots. I was on the park premessis, but only for a short period of time. I could hear the loud kids head from the shelter down to the swing set. Once they got to the swing set I could hear the girls yelping in what I hope was excitement and the creaking of the swings. I ended up walking down the sidewalk next to the park and wandered in 20 feet because I saw a rose bush I wanted to photograph. In the distance I could hear the kids reveling in their midnight excursion.
I noticed a car coming by slowly behind me just as I heard the kids, who were clearly not trying to be subvert in any manner, say “Yeah, that’s a cop!”.
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One year ago today my little brother, Micah Ethan Tenney, passed away.
This date is one I will never forget, but never want to remember. I miss my little brother.
I intend to celebrate his life on his birthday, not this horrible day.
Instead, here are some resources for those in need. Suicide is something that can be prevented. I can’t go back in time to save my brother, but you can be proactive and save lives merely by being aware.
If you or someone you know is in suicidal crisis, here is a phone number you can call. Don’t be afraid to call or worry about consequences of calling. Anything is better than the alternative.
National Suicide Prevention Hotline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Here are some online resources:
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Suicide Prevention Resource Center
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