January 9th, 2011

Masquerade
January 9th, 2011

I spent a large chunk of my weekend organizing all of my magazine-clipped recipes. It all began when I removed the ornaments from my tree and had to find space in the closet to store all of my Christmas decor.

I pulled down a big tub of random stuff from the top shelf of my closet and began to sort through to throw out anything not absolutely vital to my existance. In doing so, I came across this mask. It's a beautiful mask. In fact, it's like like $150 beautiful. Yeah, why do I own such a ridiculously expensive mask? Poor decision making.

A number of years ago, my best friend and I decided to attend a masquerade at a local club. We were really into theme nights, so when the opportunity came up to participate in a masked event, we were there. We went to Boston Costume in Chinatown to find sexy masks and wigs. Nothing was quite satisfactory enough for me, except the really lovely ones behind the counter. I knew that the chance I'd ever wear it again was slim to none, but I couldn't say no to the hand-crafted, glittery, gradient airbrushed mask. So I didn't.

I bought a super curly, purple wig that stood a half foot off the top of my head. I should have been dancing around the court of Marie Antoinette, not heading into a fetish masquerade at TT the Bear's.

Out of sheer guilt and continued fascination with the mask, I still have it, sitting carefully wrapped and boxed in my closet, just waiting for the day when it's called back to action.

January 6th, 2011

January 6th, 2011

Snapdragons by the stove. I try to keep fresh flowers in both my kitchen and bathroom. In a surprising find, I found snapdragons at Whole Foods for a rocking $4/bundle. The best pricetag I've seen all year on the beautiful, colorful flowers.

While it can't be seen from this image, the colors shift from a rich golden yellow to orange, red and lastly a deep pink at the very top. The blossom looked almost ripe and bursting with color, as if you could squeeze them and they'd burst.

January 5th, 2011

January 5th, 2011

It took me approximately 9 months to get my laptop fixed. Overheating at the drop of a hat, I would prop a box fan off to the side of my laptop when I intended to watch a movie or open more than a couple of applications at once. I risked burning my fingertips on the keyboard night after endless night.

I had originally called to have the laptop fixed in August, but a series of missed phonecalls (and no voice messages) over the Labor Day weekend, when I was trapped in signal-less NH, had squashed any hope of getting a technician out. It took me another 4 months before I built up the courage to call Dell technical support and navigate the endless transfers and dropped calls.

January 5th was the afternoon that my fan finally was replaced. A middle-aged Columbian technician named Luis came to my office at work for on-site service. He discussed how he was an acupuncturist back home, but when he made the move to Boston, he could no longer practice since they require a masters degree and state certification. Thus for the last two years, since a masters degree was financially unattainable as an recent immigrant, he had been working as a hardware technician.

His visit was incredibly pleasant and uplifting. He encouraged me to pursue my own dreams and walked me through each step of the fan replacement - teaching me how to fix it myself in the future. In the end, he left the super-dusty, clogged up old fan for me as opposed to throwing it away. So I snapped a photo to remember his visit!

January 3rd, 2011

January 3rd, 2011

While no photographic feat beyond the skill of avoiding the inevitable digital lines on a computer screen, this image succinctly summarizes my evening. A Walking Dead marathon that I'd originally intended to enjoy with my best friend during her visit.

Once I started, I really couldn't walk away. Downloaded in HD-quality from iTunes, I forever have access to the first (considerably short) season of The Walking Dead by AMC. Approximately 270 minutes of zombie action and survivalist instinct. Could there be any better way to spend a Monday evening?

January 2nd, 2011

January 2nd, 2011

It took me 5 days to complete this Spanikopita, not intentionally. It began with the vegetable prep and some phyllo dough thawing. Various components were cooked and left to set. Eventually the ingredients were combined and folded into a beautiful little triangular packets. Then frozen. And lastly, wrapped in plastic for easy individual servings.

The recipe is somewhat nontraditional, and yet phenomenal. Of course, this would be the case, since the great David Lebovitz was the inspiration. Taking his suggestion on additional seasonings I added paprika, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and fresh garlic. Due to a shortage of feta cheese, I substituted a half cup of ricotta - which worked well to bind the spinach into a creamy, rich filling.

The most sinful part of this recipe was the sheer quantity of butter used between each lay of phyllo and before every fold of the packet. Best if enjoyed with a light salad and some olives.

January 1st, 2011

January 1st, 2011

The first day of the year was memorable, although not necessarily a memory that I had any interest in photographically reliving. Suffice it to say, that in the heat of the moment, I may have ungifted this excellent bottle of scotch from a good friend.

It took my multiple visits to liquor stores and endless online browsing of scotch reviews to choose this particular bottle. I had wanted a McCallen 18, but without the hefty pricetag that comes along with it. In the end, I settled on the Balvenie 15 Year, Single Cask. Hand-numbered from a single distillation, Speyside with vanilla, honey and oak flavor.

It will eventually be returned to its intended owner, but it did not lead in any toasts to the New Year.

Introduction to the project

A new year, a new photography project.

I completed my first "Project365" photography blog between May 2008 and May 2009. While some days were a struggle to capture an appropriate photo, and admittedly, I may have cheated a bit and back-photographed things for days when I became just too busy, the experience was both memorable and rewarding.

My photography skills improved considerably with time. I was motivated to finally invest in a beginner-level SLR. And when I look back through the images, each one can provoke a memory of the time, place and day the image was captured.

So the following will be a photographic memory book of the year 2011, for better or worse.