Here’s the photos I took during Manhattan Girls Do Dallas…as per usual, I didn’t take very many, especially not of the fun stuff, like Rock Band madness. Ah well, such is life. At least we’ll always have the memories (especially of me singing My Sharona after two bourbons).
Have you all been keeping up on our NYC + KC experiment on the upper left hand corner of the homepage? No? Well, let’s catch you up. My buddy Theresa and I have now been taking a photo each day for thirty-five days, and are hoping to keep this going for a whole year. As each day passes, I find our pictures growing more and more similar. Either they seem to belong together, or I can find some theme intertwined within them.
Note, we’re not telling each other what we’re taking photos of before they are posted, and we don’t look at the other person’s photo until our own has been posted. Any coincidental similarities have happened by a wonderful, fabulous accident.
To see my old favorites, or learn more about the NYC + KC project, click here.
Our loves, sleeping. Also known as, blond siamese twins.
Flowers.
One of my very favorites. On the left is a quote from a NYC street artist, De La Vega, which says “Become Your Dream” on a trash bin. On the right is a wall of old family photos.
Keys and Lu’s shoes. This would mean more if you know T or I personally, because we’re both not very “pink” people, but somehow both had a pink picture.
Fire and water.
Both of us currently think this is our favorite of the series. The way the pictures are of very different things, but seem to blend together, they just seem to fit. The pop of red and serene mood of each photo are as if they belong next to each other.
You can keep up with the NYC + KC project on our Flickr page, here, where we post photos and side by side comparisons daily.
I have to say, this project is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in 2009, and I’m really proud of us for taking it on. Lately I’ve been thinking of the quote “Creativity is the deepest form of prayer.” I’m not one to believe in too much, but my soul has felt pretty full in the last month or so, and my mind is much more restful than it normally is.
Granted, it could just be a form of self preservation, blocking out all the bad news of the world combined with drinking large amounts of bourbon, but let’s pretend it’s because I’m being more creative, OK? Great.
About a year ago, in my hours of mindless internet parusing, I came upon a site called 3191: A Year of Mornings. The site was created by two creative ladies, online friends who lived 3191 miles apart. One lived in Portland, Maine, while the other resided in Portland, Oregon, and both of them being creative souls, came up with a wonderful idea. Each woman would take a photo every morning, and then upload it to their blog. The photo project that ensued was a beautiful statement on simple living, the connection of friends and total joy. They would not tell each other what they planned to take photos of, and yet, the photos seemed to belong together (check out this to see what I’m talking about). The project was eventually turned in to a book, and then two more websites, A Year of Evenings and 3191 Miles Apart (their current project).
I came upon the idea again a few weeks ago (when Dooce posted about their book) and talked with a few friends about it. We all thought it was such a fun idea, and wondered if we’d have the discipline to keep up with a daily photo. It sounds easy, but lives can be so frantic and unpredictable, would we be able to manage the committment?
One friend and I have decided to take on the challenge, and so far, the results have been delightful. We’re calling the project NYC + KC and have been posting now for almost two weeks. This project is truly a selfish one for me. To be able to see something that happened this very morning in my friend, Theresa’s, life, especially when we live light years away, has been a gift. We post pictures of whatever we happen to come upon each day, from street vendors to murals, from school papers to long commutes, from ski trips to morning coffee. Each day is a surprise to us and I’m so happy we’ve decided to do this. Our plan is to post one picture every day for a year, although who knows how long this will last. On some days, pictures don’t get posted until late at night, other days they’re posted by 8 a.m., just depends on the bob and weave of life.
Theresa and I live very differently. She’s in the city, I’m in the suburbs. I have an SUV, she doesn’t have a current driver’s license. She is newly married and living in Brooklyn. I’m a mother and wife of a few years with a yard to mow and square footage to clean. I was afraid doing this project would make me yearn for what she has, freedom and creativity and a daily date with a city I love so much. But, in truth, although there are days I wish I was the one getting on the subway or reading newspapers on the street, for the most part, I’m even finding my own life interesting. I really enjoy looking back at what we’ve posted, and seeing what, on that particular morning, caught my eye.
Here are a few of my favorites (so far). You can keep up with the project by clicking on the icons in the top left hand corner of this page.
Day One
Day Four
Day Six
Day Ten
Day Twelve
You can view our joint Flickr page here. We each post a photo daily (you can view the NYC photos here and the KC ones here), and then combine the two. You can see the photos side by side here.
The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.” – His Holiness, the Dalai Lama (via Twitter)
If you’ve been wondering what I’ve been doing with all this free time now that I’m blogging less often, let me show you:
I’m creating armies of groundhogs made out of Almond Joy’s. They will obey my every command, but as you can see, they are a bit off mentally. I think they all forgot to take their medication.
I’ve also been dressing my kid up in my old clothes from 1989. This t-shirt was made by my mom to match my older sister’s track shirt. I wore it while cheering her to a state track championship and a record that still stands at our old high school. We take hand-me-downs to a whole other level.
Begging my husband to hit the “Buy Now” button on my J Crew online shopping cart using a plethora of Post-It Notes. I have issues. I even claim to be supporting the economy and being oh-so-patriotic by purchasing said (un-needed) items. Now, if only Jesus himself could shop, I’m sure he’d hit the buy button.
And working on my newest collaboration, which you can view here. Someday I’ll do a whole post on this awesome project, but not today, because I’m busy watching Justin Timberlake on the Grammy’s. Take a look at the upper left of this page and click on any of the photo icons to see more.
In other news, Justin is still seriously hot. My lord. That boy needs to pay me a visit, immediately.
How long does it take to get one great photo of one large family? Lightyears.
When I was going through the files looking for the best shot, the whole progression of the photos made me smile. It was like remembering an old conversation. To see the full image in large size, click here. To see what photo we ultimately chose (i.e. the one where we’re all looking), click here.
Special thanks to the mysterious Mr. M for taking the photo for us (not sure if his identity can be revealed online…but he deserves credit for a nice shot. And also for his mad Rock Band/Ping Pong/Riding-in-the-Gator with two two-year-olds skills).
