with your feet in the air and your head on the ground

treasure stuffed sheds. piano and sea shadows. opening day at value village.

what do you do in your free time?

love,

r&y

can't you see the glow on the window pane?

it has been a hard couple of days.

for instance, i tried to dance to this song.

but my feet got all tangled and i actually fell to the floor.

no lie.

like a cartoon.

this baby had lost the ability to dance...

ya. it HAS been a hard couple of days.

and then, beyonce picked me up, unwrapped my legs from around my body, set me down, told me to smile, and taught me some new dance moves.

i love you, beyonce. ("i love you, too, hunny," beyonce replies).

and here are some pictures that made me feel better, too. i always wanted to play in a sea of yellow. and i finally found something to love about edmonton.

love,
me

smiling in a graveyard

my little sister and her camera came to visit. she took photos of us. once again, like so many times before, we loaded up our laundry baskets full of odd props and blankets, got all dressed up, and trudged through the woods and graveyards to find a place to snap a few pictures. we are an entertaining bunch. on the way to our first photoshoot almost a year ago, we walked away from one neighbour and heard her laughing all the way down the street...

it was nice to not have to set the camera up on a tripod and run to your spot and look relaxed and candid in only ten seconds. in fact, it was nice to not do anything at all...

thanks chloe. we love you. and miss you, too.

she took the one above. see more here.

we took the ones below with our mamiya 645 and kodak portra 400 film.
love,
r&y

light up the darkness

 
what would you do with a pack of twenty five sparklers?

bake a cake?
throw a party?
stand in snow with a wind chill for three hours whilst trying to put film in an old camera at the same time as trying to light sparklers, all in the dark of night?

well, we thought we might brave the wind chill.

i forgot to close the shutter after putting the lens cap on in the last picture... we only found out it was still open when we got home. we will do it again, maybe in the summer (before the mosquitoes...), for sparklers make for magical pictures.

light up the darkness.

love,
r&y

ps. a music video from the past...

  

happy happy birthday, tyler, dear

it is tyler's birthday. he is now a year older than me. he can start saying to me (again) "you wouldn't know; you are too young" or "i'll tell you when you're older."

so, here's to you, ty. i love you.

love,
me

ps. he got a tool box for his birthday. nothing like a little organization for his toys going into his 27th year of life. we also saw a tim burton exhibit. nothing like goggling at the weirdness of one massively creative man going into your 27th year of life.

these are of us two years ago in our favourite photobooth. i think we look just about the same. and we're probably at the same maturity level...

take a longer drive

the kushi institute is near boston.  we drove most of the way with our gps set to "no toll roads." we saw a lot more than highway asphalt. i found a fabulous gold dress. tyler found fabulous locally-made egg nog. we found our dream home under disrepair with patterned roof tiles and turrets, a lovers lane, buildings from another time, and had a drive by shooting with train car graffiti (tyler went the exact speed of the train so i could hang precariously out the window, holding my camera and car door for dear life...).

take a longer drive next time.

love,
r&y

a favourite song filmed in a favourite place: an antique shop 

welcome home

i hate airports. they always...

1. take me away,
2. take people away,
3. have the air canada employees take extra effort to keep me away,
4. make you pay a million dollars for parking, and
5. smell.

however, if this happened to me more often, i would go to the airports for enjoyment (instead of fighting the urge to run and scream every time a plane flies by...).



we found a roll of film we took in the summer, which was in a grocery bag, which was in a suitcase, which was under our bed (i clean my house. a lot. i promise.) and developed the pictures. it was nice to see them. apparently, not all my pictures were ruined. just hiding.

love,
r&y

pictures taken with my grampa's ikoflex.

making everybody look like ants

Official Guidelines to Solidifying Yourself as Best Aunt Ever Ever

1. Move far away so nieces (or nephews) may take an airplane ALL BY THEMSELVES to see you. It is only when you fly by yourself that you get many things "free," such as chocolate and caramel apples.

2. Arm said nieces with their own cameras. A short film lesson may be in order (you have to look through that little hole to see the picture. no, you can't see the picture you just took on a little screen. yes, you have to wind before you take EVERY picture.).

3. Make a lot of rules, only so you can break them. Things are way more fun to do if you are breaking rules doing them.

4. Always have makeovers. More than two is preferable.



5. Go out for pizza in heels.  Heels should be at least 3 sizes too big.  And expensive.

6. Eat skittles with skittle fingers

7. Pick your very own pumpkin, even if you have to get Uncle Tyla to lift it into the wagon for you.

8. Must ensure that everyone gets the exact same amount of everything (popcorn, rootbeer in the rootbeer floats, marshmallows in hot chocolate, etc...) or points towards best aunt ever award will be deducted.  The only way to remedy this horrendous mistake is to make sure that everyone gets double (or triple, in extreme cases) the next time.

9. Get very dirty. It is ALWAYS worth it.  Especially when you HAVE to make arrows to show the birds where to find their nests (obviously).

10. Lick your fingers.  Especially after making cinnamon knots.

11. Do not let the wind blow you off the tallest building in the world, although it is sure fun to let it try.

12. If you are afraid of heights, lie down.

13. Make your own princess slippers. Use any thing available that can be glued, taped, cut or twisted.

14. Eat dinner in the middle of a rain storm.  Preferrably in a rainforest.

15. Get lost. Corn fields are the best places to do so.  Bring Uncle Tyla and his sense of direction.  Use him ONLY if you are so lost that you may actually be lost forever and will never see mom or dad or siblings or best friends or food ever again.

16. You are movie stars if you are on, see from a distance, or sneak close enough to a real live movie set.

17. Hold both hands extra tight and give lots and lots and lots of kisses when niece has been waiting 2 days and FINALLY gets her ears pierced. And only go to ear piercing facilities that give lollipops to ear piercee AND ear piercee's moral support.

18. Find trees on fire, swan princesses, and grass taller than you. It is all magical.  Every. Last. Single. Tinsy. Weensy. Thing.  Must never forget this.  And take a bazillion pictures.  You do not want to forget one millionth of a second.

19. Have a theme song.



21. Cry lots and lots when you have to wave goodbye to them at the airport.

I love you, girly girls. Come back soon.

Love,
Auntie Holly/Best Aunt Ever