Today we decided to brave the roads and drive to see Piper. Once we were able to get out of the city, the streets were actually pretty clear. It was a bit warmer today, which I’m sure helped things. When arrived at Piper’s, she was just hanging out being cute, as always. I read a couple of books with her on the floor. Reagan dressed her in one of her new tutu’s that Piper got for Christmas. After a lot of playing, Piper finally passed out in Reagan’s lap.

When we were putting her back into the crib, Piper woke up. So we played finger puppets for a bit before leaving.

Her favorite new finger puppet is the green snake. It is super cute to watch her play with it.

Until this morning, we were planning on driving to VA, after the midnight run in CP. As it turns out, next weekend is going to be better, for my sister’s family. I have to admit, it was kind of a relief, since I feel like tonight is going to be crazy enough, as it is. Plus, it means that we will be able to see Piper more this weekend, after a whole week of being snowed in.

I know that this is kind of a cop out. But I have really been busy. I’m not just making excuses, here. One of the things that I have been doing, is putting together some photos for a little feature that an art mag is doing on my work– toot toot (the sound of my own horn). Anyway,  It has been a pretty good year. Here is a little gallery of some of my favorite (non-family-related) work, from this year.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go hand out water to runners, at the midnight race in CP. Happy New Year!

I thought it might be helpful if I posted a large version of the image at the top of the page.

Try to solve the puzzle below. You can mouse over the image at the bottom left to see what the finished image should look like. Click “play again” to re-shuffle the pieces. To move a tile, click (don’t drag) the tile, and it will slide into the blank space. I chose this shot, because it was the only one from that commercial shoot that I did a couple of weeks ago, that I felt was innocuous enough to share. Since there is so much blank space, I made it a little easier (only 4×4 pieces). I have been crazy busy. I real post is coming soon, I swear.

Pin Magnet sliding puzzle game » create sliding puzzle

In keeping with the “bells” theme, this week we are listening to Broken Bells. It is not really any wonder that I like them so much. It is a collaboration of musicians that I love. Danger Mouse, and James Mercer from the Shins are the key players. Check out one of my favorite Broken Bells tracks, “The Ghost Inside.”

[photo by: not me]

Yes, the rumors are true. NYC actually really did get a legitimate snow storm. I used to snicker to myself when they would shut down the schools here because of snow. Growing up in SLC, I recall nary a time when schools were closed because of snow. I haven’t done any side by side statistical comparisons, but from my own observations, it snows in SLC with much greater frequency and quantity than in Downstate NY. But I’m here to tell you that yesterday/last night, we really did get a storm. Apparently they measured 20 inches in Central Park (fun fact: snow removal costs the City approximately 1 million dollars per inch). As if that wasn’t enough. The wind has been strong all night and today. So there are places where it has drifted to depths of double over-head. You can see how much it is blowing in the photo above. Those streaks at the top of the frame are flying snow flakes (keep in mind this was with a 1/500″ shutter speed). Needless to say, there aren’t a lot of people going outside today, that don’t have to. Reagan’s salon was closed, and I am working from home. We took a break to go dig out our car. Luckily, we were parked on one of the more exposed streets. So, the wind had actually blown most of the accumulation further inland. Below is a shot of our block.

The shot below is of Reagan discovering America showing off her new shovel.

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Above: about to start digging, check out the wind on Reagan’s hair. Below: testing wind conditions.

Have a great week!

There are kind of a lot of photos in this post.  But, most of them are of a cute little girl on Christmas morning. So, I feel like that makes it acceptable. Reagan and I were able to have a nice long visit with Piper on Christmas eve, with our friends Sam and Anna. The visit involved hanging out in pjs and a puppet show (there might be a forthcoming video of the puppet show). Piper was in a great mood. She played hard and laughed a lot. We probably actually got her too wound up. Because Christmas morning she was a bit cranky, as if she hadn’t had enough sleep the preceding night. Anyway, she was still up for opening gifts and hanging out.

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And here are a couple of additional photos that I hadn’t made it around to posting. The shot directly below was taken at Bryant park during our Christmas tree tour, by our friend Sam.

And here is the image from our Christmas card, this year. The photo card design was done by our friend Becca, who has mad skills.

Thursday evening we set out on a secret mission that I dubbed “project: snap tree.” We hit 6 trees, all in one evening. We started in DUMBO and worked our way up town, mixing in some burgers along the way. For the most part these shots were a combination of super long exposures with light painting (thanks for the idea on the light painting, Seth).

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The name of the song is “Sleigh Bells.” That is the reason I chose this track. The lyrics aren’t particularly festive. In reality, I’m not even sure what the name even has to do with this track. Rill Rill is the artist. The track is a bit repetitive. But, I still fancy it. I have been working too much and am in dire need of a haircut. So, listen to Sleigh Bells.

Bonus: this has been one of my favorite Christmas tracks, since I was a new wave skateboard riding punk back in the early 90′s.  Check it.

It’s been a long freaking week already. I’m really actually excited for Christmas. If nothing else, for a bit of reprieve (and Piper time, of course). Stacks of love and holiday cheer to all of my amigos who have given audience to another year of the tripe the I find fit for print. Especially those who took the time to flow a bit a positive feedback, or constructive criticism (Kelvis).  </sentimental blabbering>

Reagan wanted to shoot some photos of her and Piper wearing matching outfits. We showed up at Blythedale at the perfect time of morning, light-wise. Even better, Piper was awake and apparently in the best mood ever. Reagan dressed her all up, then we snapped these.

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And to cap things off, here is a shot of me looking up at Piper during an airplane ride session.

Have a great Monday!