showing my face.

i can't be the only one continually assessing the balance of my privacy and being accessible on the internet. i have an ever growing list of sites, pages and profiles across the web, this blog being only one of them. with the exception of my personal facebook page, it seems that i only share a certain portion of myself at each.
notably, i rarely post a photo of myself that would be considered "identifying". i realize this seems silly and it creates an unnecessary distance. what's the danger of showing my face? sure there's a ton of creepers everywhere on the internet, but there's even more potential creepers in the grocery store, at the gas station, at the gym (for serious) and in the rest of "real" life. i don't wear a mask when i go out of the house, why should i do so here?
so this weekend i decided that i needed to overcome that fear and show my face. i added self portraits to my flickr, twitter, facebook, etsy and pinterest pages.
i should mention that said self portraits are sans makeup! a brave leap indeed!

happy vernal equinox!

cultivate. (a quick illo for illustration friday)

we made it!
i can see the tulips and daffodils starting to poke through the ground...at least in the few places there aren't two foot snowbanks still.

a pause.

in the last few weeks i have been assaulted with the feeling that i should be doing something all the time; that not a moment can be wasted. i work a full time human services job and come home to my art work, the gym, dinner, wedding planning and assorted other adult-type tasks. it's easy to get caught up in looking towards the future, even if only a few hours ahead, rather than focusing on the current moment.
but now each time i open my web browser or turn on the television i am briskly reminded that all of the small worries of day to day life are trivial. across the ocean is country of people who are dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake, followed by a tsunami and now a pending nuclear crisis. these noble people are not concerned with thoughts and plans outside of the "right now", it is merely survival and grief and uncertainty.
it seems as good a time as any to look around, recognize what is truly essential, appreciate what you have and discard of frivolous concerns...and perhaps to lend a hand to our japanese brothers and sisters.

no words.

for the full photo slideshow of the devastation following the earthquake in japan via boston.com's the big picture, please go here and here.

warning.

for this week's illustration friday topic: warning.

doldrums.

adam cooking something sure to be delicious.

recently it feels like things are moving at the speed of light and in slow motion at the same time. i'm no physicist but i'm pretty sure that's not possible. it seems that i have a task list a mile long and am always working on something but when asked what i've been up to, the answer is always, "not much".
it's times like these when you take inspiration from where ever you can find it; like here, here, here and here. and you know i can always get inspired by food and recipes like this, this and definitely this.
speaking of food, what's for dinner?