It's no longer hip to be square...

...at least according to Polaroid, who has officially ceased all instant film production. Digital killed the Polaroid star, and one of my old hobbies, which I suppose was pretty much dead already.

Here is my Polaroid lament.

If past habits are any indicator, it wouldn't be surprising to know that in addition to my many other collections, I also had a pretty large collection of old Polaroid cameras. When I left college, I decided it was time to downsize my moving box collection so I gave most of the cameras to my old photography teacher, but I did keep my 1971 Polaroid 450 that I used to do emulsion transfers (see photo below). I also kept a 1965 Swinger, mostly because it was in amazing condition and came in a fabulous case.

There is endless fun to be had with Polaroids and endless experimenting to be done with various types of film and transfer methods. Polaroid is the "Honest Abe" of photography. (Too much?) No dark room manipulation. No Photoshop filters. Just unique textures and colors capturing a real moment. It is instant analog gratification. The imperfections of the cameras and the film make the end result all the better. Who doesn't love staring at that empty little square, just waiting for the image to slowly appear before your eyes.

Let's face it. Most of our digital photos sit on our hard drives or in our memory cards and will never see the light of day (or the ink of a printer). The Polaroid gives you this permanent record of a moment that otherwise may have been deleted because someone made a funny face.

All that being said, I just used my digital camera to take a picture of the Polaroid cameras. So yeah. Here are the ancient relics, along with some emulsion transfers I did long ago (some of you will recognize the locations).

It's no longer hip to be square...

...at least according to Polaroid, who has officially ceased all instant film production. Digital killed the Polaroid star, and one of my old hobbies, which I suppose was pretty much dead already.

Here is my Polaroid lament.

If past habits are any indicator, it wouldn't be surprising to know that in addition to my many other collections, I also had a pretty large collection of old Polaroid cameras. When I left college, I decided it was time to downsize my moving box collection so I gave most of the cameras to my old photography teacher, but I did keep my 1971 Polaroid 450 that I used to do emulsion transfers (see photo below). I also kept a 1965 Swinger, mostly because it was in amazing condition and came in a fabulous case.

There is endless fun to be had with Polaroids and endless experimenting to be done with various types of film and transfer methods. Polaroid is the "Honest Abe" of photography. (Too much?) No dark room manipulation. No Photoshop filters. Just unique textures and colors capturing a real moment. It is instant analog gratification. The imperfections of the cameras and the film make the end result all the better. Who doesn't love staring at that empty little square, just waiting for the image to slowly appear before your eyes.

Let's face it. Most of our digital photos sit on our hard drives or in our memory cards and will never see the light of day (or the ink of a printer). The Polaroid gives you this permanent record of a moment that otherwise may have been deleted because someone made a funny face.

All that being said, I just used my digital camera to take a picture of the Polaroid cameras. So yeah. Here are the ancient relics, along with some emulsion transfers I did long ago (some of you will recognize the locations).

First day of school blog post? Check.

Amelia has been waiting all summer for this day to come. Luckily, she loved her first day of preschool. Her initial response to my question about what she did at school today was a bit vague..."we did everything," but she slowly spouted off more information later today about new friends, snack time, and lining up for the bathroom break. Her school seems to be great and her teachers are very enthusiastic and nice. Since she meets at the rec center, they have access to a great playground, an indoor soft play room, an art room, a dance studio, and riding bikes in the gym.

Amelia was very anxious to get going this morning. I was trying to get ready to leave and she was just waiting at the door yelling "What are you waiting for? It's the first day of school!"


She saw another girl in her class as we were walking in and immediately ran up to her and said "Hi, I'm Amelia. What's your name?" I guess all those pep talks about meeting new friends actually sunk in.


Amelia is in the dolphins class with Mrs. Watson.



When I picked her up after school, the first thing she wanted to do was see Elsa and say hi to her. Elsa returned her greeting with a huge smile, as if she recognized that her morning had been missing something.

My Morning Jacket.

Besides having an absolutely fabulous band name, My Morning Jacket puts on a seriously rockin' concert. Ben and I were able to go to their show in D.C. last night at DAR Constitution Hall. We ended up with pretty decent seats (other than the world's tallest couple that was seated in front of us) and they played for over 2 1/2 hours. I saw them perform exactly 6 years ago in a very small venue as the opening act for Doves. I couldn't remember much from that show except there was a lot of hair involved and they rocked out hard on stage despite my impression that they were somewhat mellow. Last night's show did not disappoint with equal amounts of hair and rock. The crowd was quite eclectic and entertaining to watch. (We also didn't feel too old for this concert, considering that there was an old man sitting next to us who actually kept dozing off.) The lead singer is a great performer and is one of the few that can get away with wearing a cape on stage.





A few sound bites for those interested:



(Yes, there were bears on the stage.)

On a side note, after we left the concert, there were guys on the street selling balloons filled with some sort of gaseous substance. People were passing by them unphased or else they were sitting on the curb enjoying whatever was in these balloons. I realized we must be completely unhip since we had no idea what the deal with the orange balloons was. Thank goodness for google searches. Turns out they were selling nitrous oxide for a quick high. Brilliant.

Laboring away on the beach.

It took all summer, but we finally made it to the beach. We debated about the beach on Labor day since that seems like a recipe for huge crowds and traffic. But it turned out to be perfect. The beach wasn't too crowded, the weather was great, the water felt nice, and we only got stung by jellyfish a few times. We managed to avoid any traffic and actually encountered fewer cars on the road than normal. We went to Sandy Point State Park on the Chesapeake Bay, which was about 45 minutes away.


As usual, Amelia wanted to be left alone in the water and did not want any help with swimming. Elsa was fairly content under the shade of a towel most of the time.

The ups and downs of Virginia.

I go walking along the George Washington Parkway trail several times a week. It is so beautifully green and lush right now. It feels like walking under a canopy of trees and vines. I love it. On Saturday morning, Ben decided that I needed to change up my routine and try a new walking trail. So we headed to Georgetown where the C&O Canal trail starts. It was equally beautiful and green.





(Amelia refused to pose for any more pictures.)

Unfortunately, you can't have all this lush greenery without paying a price. An itchy price. Poor Amelia doesn't stand a chance against all the mosquitoes in our backyard. She came inside after only a few minutes of playing in the water and had over 10 bites on her back alone.


We took a sunset stroll around the Jefferson Memorial on Sunday evening. Amelia never leaves the house empty-handed.

The every day.

Fun with finger paints.



Being silly. (Elsa learned to roll over! Amelia likes to cheer her on.)


Rainy days.


Fun with the puppet theater. (Thanks for helping me make this, Steph. Amelia is finally using it for its intended purpose.)

Amelia and I spent a rainy afternoon making these puppets.

Weekly shout-out.

This week's shout-out goes to my friend Sarah for introducing me to the most delicious drink for a hot summer day. Amelia and I enjoyed a refreshing (and calorie-filled) Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino today. I'm not a huge Starbucks fan and I don't care for their pretentious sizing (please don't make me say "grande") but this tasty treat is fabulous and there just happens to be a Starbucks everywhere so it's easy to find when the craving hits.

(The patronizing of Starbucks is not approved by Ben. We even encountered a Starbucks in the Forbidden City in Beijing, but thankfully the Chinese came to their senses and shut it down.)

Muppets, Mausoleums and Mini-golf.

On Saturday we headed downtown to check out the Jim Henson exhibit at the Smithsonian's Ripley Center. Amelia was fascinated by the creatures from the Dark Crystal. There were several of Henson's original drawings, cartoons, and storyboards. There were also some original video productions, including some interesting excerpts from Henson's early career and experimental films. And of course there were a few Muppets on display, including Kermit the Frog, Bert, Ernie, and one of my favorites, Rowlf.


After viewing the exhibit, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and then wandered through the sculpture gardens at the Hirshhorn Museum.


Later that night we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather with some mini golf and ice cream.



This week's Sunday evening excursion was a trip to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, followed by a stroll through Rock Creek Cemetery.



We were fortunate enough to catch the end of an organ recital. You really get a feel for the vastness of the basilica when you hear the organ echoing through it. Apparently, it's the largest Roman Catholic church in North America.


Rock Creek Cemetery was a beautiful old cemetery and another great place to go in D.C. if you want to get away from the crowds. We were the only people there which was nice.




The following photos may be a bit disrespectful considering that this is a cemetery, but Amelia was very fascinated by this statue (I was a little creeped out) and she really wanted to get the bird poop off of his head. She kept trying to "give him five" (he does appear to be asking for it) and talk to him. She made a rather sad statement on the way home..."I don't have any real friends, just pretend friends like statues."