Creatures

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have this as yet amorphous project that I'm calling 'Behind Glass' involving photographing items in museums, conservatories, etc. to delve into the human obsession with collecting and looking at things of all sorts. As I've begun working, I realized it's not just taxidermied, dried, or otherwise no-longer living things that are collected, there are also zoos and aquariums that collect fauna and put them on display. 

On my latest trip to the California Academy of Sciences I was able to get some rather interesting images and views of the normal and unusual species they had on display. 

(This is another photo heavy post so I have once again shrunk the image size so I could incorporate a larger quantity of pictures)

That yellow and brown spotted thing on the right is actually a very big eel that has an awesome symbiotic relationship with the shrimp crawling on it. 

I just love sea dragons (and sea horses).

Look closely, there's a tadpole in there!

I know spiders make some people squeamish but I tend to find them fascinating and beautiful (and yes, I'm 'one of those people that catches and releases spiders found inside my home). This orb spider was utterly gorgeous.

In my mind this dart frog was totally posing for me, sexy calendar style.

The textures and patterns in this set up fascinate me as much as the snake itself.

This catfish was bigger than me. 

There was no way I could get this anaconda all in one frame. 

Illustrated Quotes

As you may, or may not know, I have quite the obsession with quotes (I've collected 'just a few' on my pinterest). This past year, I've worked on taking them from the screen and making them my own. There are many artists out there that work with quotes, one of my favorites being Lisa Congdon, and after looking over that work I decided on the route I would take, a combination of simple illustrations and hand lettering. My skills are less than rudimentary but I'm excited for the possibilities that have opened up for me. I will definitely work on improving my hand lettering skills and I might also progress this into a little book series, or longer-term letterpress project using digitized-photopolymer versions of my illustrations and fonts instead of hand lettering. There are so many opportunities, who knows! 

Here is a small collection of starter projects that I've worked on. Also, there appears to be a bit of an image quality issue with these particular photographs so I've down-scaled the pictures from the size I normally use in the hopes that they will look better on your screen. 

And Of Course, Food

My favorite holiday cookie, pfeffernusse (homemade, of course), a traditional German cookie, and a cup of tea in Elwood, my new unicorn mug

What series of blog updates would be complete without a photographic summary of good food eaten? While I am known to be a somewhat picky eater with a few dietary restrictions, I honestly do love a good plate of food and good drink to wash it down. Having a full time job in food service means that I also spend a lot of time surrounded by food so who could help but take a few (or a lot) of pictures. 

I have a lot of food images to share in this post so I've kept the image size smaller to keep the post from being overwhelmingly long. 

 Just a few of the gelato choices at Holy Gelato

I love making drinks! Lemonade is a great standby, excellent on it's own, mixed with tea, or as a mixer in cocktails. This one was made with Meyer lemons and honey simple syrup. 

Gingerbread from scratch with vanilla rum whipped cream.

A delicious chocolate beer pudding from Magnolia Pub. 

Fried treats and Two Rivers cider from 21st Amendment Brewery .

Two of the most amazing things I've eaten recently: cookie ice cream sandwiches from Batter Bakery.  

An autumn veggie lasagna from Park Chow that just about made me lick my plate. (Yes, the images are in reverse order).

Pretty floral cocktails and a cute table set up in the upper dining area at Park Chow.

 

I love hitting up Homeroom for tasty (and photogenic) mac & cheese and cider.

Fig tart in the bakery case at Whole Foods. Just oh so pretty. 

More treats on display at Whole Foods. 

The pizza at any location is great but the Little Star on Divisadero also has champagne cocktails. This one here is the Rock Star.

Foam on one of many chai lattes consumed at La Boulange du Dome. 

Sometimes we get a chance to experiment with food in the kitchen at work. Here are some deep fried Oreos topped with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce that a co-worker made.

Passion fruit tart from a La Boulange.

Pickled veggies and herb marinated olives from Magnolia Pub.

 Working in food service and teaching, it can be rare to have a Saturday off. When I do, I try to head to the farmer's market to score some veggies like tomatoes and zucchini (which I love frying up with marinara sauce and mozzarella).

Veggie taco salad made for me by a co-worker.

A quick breakfast of a chai latte and blueberry muffin from Starbucks before a day of letterpress printing.

Curried quinoa with a mint-cucumber yogurt sauce made by yours truly.

Giant bowl of homemade hummus by a colleague at the San Francisco Center for the Book.