tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:58:08 +0000schmoo's shit listscotlandutrechtemilie autumngeishaweddingexploringinfraredmeiji shrinelomographyexploring landscapeschristmasnatureupdatessierra mountainsunheiligbaltimorecurrybethlehem steeltravelmittenstokyomuench workshopsbeyond the borderbristlecone forestvideoghostsgermanyuenonetherlandsukraineabandonedreviewchernobylinner thoughtsurban exploringschmootographyamsterdambuskersnotebooklife rockson photographynikkisunsetsanta barbarasmugmughampdenzoe keatingseaboundphotographyconcert photographysan franciscobig boyz bail bondssteel millmodelscharm citymusicon writingsocial commentaryoh californiastreet photographyurbanpower plantkyotospangenberghungarybudapesteuropesnoqualmiejapanskieson stagecaliforniaviolin35mmBrain melts from a writer who takes pictureshttp://blog.schmootography.com/noreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)Blogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-6567189350484644268Sun, 31 Jul 2011 04:23:00 +00002011-10-16T21:55:13.076-07:00After a lot of internal debate I am moving my blog here. Actually, I've already moved it (and spent days yanking my dreads because it is, apparently, impossible to cleanly transfer old Blogger posts over to WordPress) but anyone who has an RSS feed to this site may want to know that I won't be posting content here anymore. I feel bad. I mean, Blogger has been with me for a very long time. But http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/07/going-going-gone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-354511541741712793Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:45:00 +00002011-07-18T10:45:58.113-07:00exploring landscapessierra mountainsoh californiaThe silence of the mountains was my only hope. After reaching the pristine valleys of the Eastern Sierras, my one goal was to experience the stillness of Nothing for a stretch. One can sit and stare out beyond the borders of civilization and watch the town creep across in the valley, spread beyond the gritty brown lumps of houses. Farmlands stretch from end to end, range to range, melting into http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/07/metier.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-2581605563302285865Fri, 08 Jul 2011 22:34:00 +00002011-07-08T15:39:55.086-07:00social commentaryinner thoughts Photo by Charlie Crane, from Welcome to Pyongyang Growing up, SAT scores and mathematics were higher on my priority list than genealogy. I knew little about my family beyond my parents' own lives, that they were a city girl and a country boy brought together in Seoul's most prestigious university. Now that I am older and my extended family has begun gathering more regularly, I'm hearing storieshttp://blog.schmootography.com/2011/07/beyond-white-picket-fence.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-4028882800324424695Sun, 03 Jul 2011 21:31:00 +00002011-07-03T14:43:41.177-07:00zoe keatingon stageMusic is a powerful language of the soul. Like language, the ear strains to understand, hearing familiar words in the unfamiliar rhythm. Words that you think you know. Words created from the context of your own life. I listened to those notes and felt the rumbling shudder of steel, smelled the old stones of an old city, the tugging sea wind. I relived the creeping, cold uncertainty caused by http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/07/notes-of-language.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-8190527512421680164Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:28:00 +00002011-06-21T11:10:57.659-07:00social commentaryschmoo's shit liston photographyKeeble & Shuchat in Palo Alto, CA has bar none the worst service I've ever experienced in a brick-and-mortar shop. Here's how they've earned their way onto my Shit List.You Are What You SayIt didn't happen overnight. I've been going there since before I've even lived in California – which is my way of pointing out I've been giving this place more chances than anyone should ever give someone. http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/06/keeble-and-shuchat-suck-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-4388242498153932337Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:12:00 +00002011-06-16T14:08:40.256-07:00on writingOne of the most inconvenient obstacles I've encountered in my rebirthed career is the internet. I've always been a spew-from-the-seat-of-my-fingertips kind of writer, back when I was scribbling crazy thoughts on scraps of diner napkins at 4 AM. They always ended up falling into some sort of order, a raw stream of consciousness that I have, over time, learned to trust. You can't do that these dayshttp://blog.schmootography.com/2011/06/losing-line.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-4209581319994447941Tue, 03 May 2011 16:48:00 +00002011-07-02T22:43:21.017-07:00snoqualmiesocial commentaryexploring landscapesSince my earliest days, I've longed to visit the magical land. The land of snowy mountains, rolling hills, sea stacks, pounding waves, eternal fog and metropolitan glitz. I wanted to be somewhere close to earth, sky and sea. The Pacific Northwest. I would read my books and gaze at the suburban stars and dream about how beautifully green and alive such a place would be. And yet from the http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/05/snoqualmie-sunrise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-1103200173959977586Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:15:00 +00002011-07-02T18:29:20.039-07:00exploring landscapesoh californiaI think about how long it's been since I have stood in the ethereal silence and felt the invisible excitement from my peers. To be not the stranger, the weird, the lagged, who inconveniences others with their desire to chase something yet unseen. I miss the beauty of the landscape, a feature that masks the harsh reality for the creatures that live within. I won't meet her eyes because I am http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/04/en-plein-air.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-3122051020724922736Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:35:00 +00002011-07-02T18:29:42.984-07:00chernobylbeyond the borderIn Chernobyl, the last thing you want to be doing is hiding from the authorities in the dark. And yet I somehow found myself doing just that, begging my heart to stop beating, wondering if this was some sort of awesome spy movie. I sure didn't feel awesome. Earlier that evening, I stood by the bed pulling things out of my backpack. We were going for a stroll in town and some divine http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/02/chernobyl-night.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-1729761252177731288Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:44:00 +00002011-07-02T18:30:09.609-07:00emilie autumnon stageconcert photographyHaving been a violinist who chafed at the rigidity of the classical expectation, I highly respect and look up to Emilie Autumn with an emotion that borders on jealousy: I went to the recent show in SF with low expectations, because shows make me feel awkward and a little out of place. Shows are also a terrible place for short people to go, especially if you want to take a few pictures. http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/03/look-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-1168307785913019919Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:37:00 +00002011-07-02T18:30:27.591-07:00social commentarylife rocks Two weeks is over! Two weeks of bachelorettism, independence and climbing on chairs to reach things on the top shelf. What have I learned? 1. It's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Somewhere in the last few years, I have stopped caring about looking foolish in front of strangers. When I was alone in the past - even for a day - I would be too shy and bumbling to go out and do things on my http://blog.schmootography.com/2011/02/lesson-learned.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-2706895944965320292Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:01:00 +00002011-03-07T16:16:43.954-08:00europebeyond the bordertravelspangenbergexploring landscapesgermanySpangenberg is… How shall one describe Spangenberg? It's a town so small that no one's ever heard of it, but it stunned me to see that nestled on the outskirts is a brand-new Edeka, flags and all. To hear the locals speak of it, it's a travesty. Even though I bear as much weight as spätzle in salt water, I tend to agree. It's easy to shake my fist and say "Heresy! Spangenberg should not fall http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/12/on-germany-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-7903809072786756496Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:49:00 +00002011-03-07T16:16:43.956-08:00europebeyond the bordertravelexploring landscapesgermanyGermany is one of the most underrated countries to visit and I think that's a crying shame.I recently read some website where the author had written something to the effect of: In Germany, you're not likely to see any tourists who aren't German. While I know for a fact that Germans love their statistics and expect you to know the finest details about your own country, I am a silly http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/12/on-germany-part-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-4439144875347460559Fri, 24 Dec 2010 04:02:00 +00002010-12-23T20:20:37.367-08:00baltimorebig boyz bail bondshampdencharm cityBaltimore is a living, breathing part of me. As I listen to the familiar whoosh of I-95 and see the spires of Legg Mason grow from the pavement, I'm disarmed by a flood of emotion. This can't be normal. Hundreds, thousands of people move away from their homes each year, and they get on, grow up, move along. Some noses wrinkle in response, some spit and say "Good riddance!" Maybe some don't think http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/12/eyes-of-beholder.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-4853263880951589752Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:34:00 +00002011-03-07T15:47:33.587-08:00videochernobylbeyond the borderurban exploringunheiligEdited to add: SmugMug has let me post about how this was made. Go nuts!-----I will never lose the impression Chernobyl has made on me, although this may be the last time I create something from that place. This one was particularly meaningful because each clip brought back memories, motions and snippets of conversation. This project was so long in the making, I cannot quite reach back to think http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/12/ten-months-dreaming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-3811425141276212978Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:39:00 +00002011-03-07T16:16:43.959-08:00hungarybeyond the bordertravelbudapestFriends, Americans, travelers: Do not buy dust masks in Budapest. You won't find them. You can ask a half dozen people who live in the city, who work in the shopping district, who call themselves concierge at your four-star hotel, but they will not know. You will, however, be truly, utterly and wholly convinced that you can trust them, that you do not need to worry and that you'll be in good http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/11/from-notebook-on-hungary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-2139799915184021462Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:35:00 +00002011-04-05T10:16:33.271-07:00europebeyond the borderukrainetravelFrom 7,000 miles away, European trains are romantic. It's adventure: A giant steel wyrm uncoiling under the moonlight, snaking between the wild mountains of eastern Ukraine. Folklore and myth lurk in the shadows of the forests, all while the passengers lay swaddled and asleep in their gently-swaying carriages.… It was not at all like that.Keleti station in Budapest could be a lovely building. Forhttp://blog.schmootography.com/2010/11/from-notebook-on-trains.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-6543086559469282792Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:46:00 +00002011-03-07T16:24:29.106-08:00chernobylbeyond the bordertravelabandonedurban exploringSay one word, "Chernobyl," and you'll get one of two polarized responses: 1. Why? 2. Wow.No matter what they say in public, nearly everyone has a interest they do not want to admit. Morbid curiosity and a secret fascination to the radioactive wasteland, a town locked in time. Me, too.I let my breath out after the third (and last) checkpoint, thankful that our paperwork was all in order. Military http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/11/liquidation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-2228118456097895640Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:01:00 +00002010-11-01T09:34:20.457-07:00travelHome. Home, sweet home. My mind is aswirl with the events, sights and conversations of the last 3 weeks, but I would never trade any of that for anything. So many chances, so many choices, so many good people.My mind has not yet clicked back to being home. In America. We've been constantly moving for almost 3 weeks, traveling from country to country and crossing borders where the language (and http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/11/home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-6056314475958644979Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:47:00 +00002011-03-07T16:18:19.776-08:00chernobylAs the days count down to October, my anticipation scatters and swirls like the dead leaves of autumn. There are no seasons here, only clear blue skies and golden sun, but even in our temperate climate the days are getting shorter with each step. The last week has been a hailstorm of changing dates, dollar signs, flight numbers, Cyrillic letters and Ukrainian hryvnia. In less than one month we http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/09/leaden-skies-leaden-soles.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-3959808793780977570Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:17:00 +00002011-03-07T16:37:54.862-08:00social commentarymusicviolinSome relationships never let you go. In a past life (my first life), I was caught in such a spectrum of heartfelt emotions, much too soon to understand the significance of the thrall. It was heady at times, and frustrating, and in many ways abusive and dysfunctional.I grew, I learned, I was humbled. A musician understands the pain and the beauty of channeling a voice borne from wood and rosin. http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/07/channel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-7753529007834629184Fri, 28 May 2010 17:49:00 +00002011-03-07T16:37:54.865-08:00social commentaryI found the following on one of many abandoned scratch pads:I woke up afraid of death.And through the course of the day I realized that age is a powerful thing. It can control you, defeat you, tempt you, and lead you astray. It is a commander and a charlatan all in one.The dance of life is not knowing what lies through that door, and taking a journey that will, in many ways, never end.When did I http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/05/irony.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-7772275775746305556Mon, 03 May 2010 16:59:00 +00002011-03-07T16:37:54.867-08:00social commentaryBefore flight and before cars, when trains held the romance of luxury and style. Mustaches and proper skirts, hats and canes and buttons and boots.To be born in such a time, and be a little girl with a family legacy spread across the rail stations of Germany. To be so young and think, Spangenberg! A paradise for children with a mountain of hair pins to play with.She had a dozen siblings and four http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/05/1904.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-6109009707032878139Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:08:00 +00002011-03-07T16:45:52.488-08:00social commentaryexploring landscapesoh californiaFrom east to west. Chase the sun, follow the sky.I dreamed of a girl who loved so much, her own life could not contain her. Her fingers lingered on the door and she felt the old paint flake beneath her touch. She slipped into the dawn, unable to shape her goodbye into words. The longest day passed in a wash of yellow grass, rolling hills and red mountains. She smiled. The prairie wind embraced http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/04/longest-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4829465509843849475.post-4878855140515267479Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:49:00 +00002011-03-07T16:45:52.490-08:00exploring landscapescaliforniasierra mountainsoh californiaAll my life I've been in love with mountains. As the trees surrender and the snow falls, my heart races just a little more.I first saw the rainbow-footed mountains in southern Germany when I was 27, and my life changed forever.Here, the mountains have a different face and a dangerous smile. As I breathe the frigid air, the world stretches for countless miles, completely silent. Nothing but the http://blog.schmootography.com/2010/04/massif.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Schmoo)1