Terry Gross + Mike Birbiglia
SPOILER ALERT: There is a Bank Heist and Terry Gross makes Mike Birbiglia shoot people.
A short clip from the This American Life live show. I really wish I could have seen the show live!
Blowing Things Up
I’ve been experimenting more with my photos lately. First shrinking them down into European city postcards and now giant posters. I like having BIG images on my wall so I thought I’d try this out with an image of Berlin. I added some type to match and got it printed on a large format plotter printer, and voila! a poster is born. Plotter printers are usually used for architectural prints but it has a nice aesthetic effect on photo prints. I think I’m addicted, stop me before I blow up my entire photo collection. If you’re interested, this Berlin poster can be found at my etsy shop.
On Being Forced to Cook
This is a thank you post. First to Amsterdam, for having an exorbitantly priced and mostly mediocre food scene therefore forcing me to learn how to cook. And Second to food bloggers, for de-mystifying the magic behind cooking and never letting me go without migas or Korean bbq.
My journey to cooking started almost three years ago, when I first moved to Amsterdam. Before Amsterdam, I was the laziest mofo on the planet. I would wake up, get in my car and go through a drive through to get my breakfast tacos. Then I’d drive to a sandwich shop for lunch, and then drive to a thai place and meet up with friends for dinner. Repeat.
When I moved to Amsterdam, I soon realized that if I want to eat in this city and still have money left over to do anything, I would have get on a bike and sludge through the rain to affordable markets and butchers, stock up and balance five bags on my bike and ride home at a snails pace and figure out what to do with these ingredients. Amsterdam, I hate you and love you for making me work for everything.
But more and more I’m realizing that being forced to cook the last 2.5 years has been such a blessing. I think about all the things I can whip up now and think if I lived in a city in the states, I would never learn how to make this, I’d just buy it. So today, I want to give a shoutout to all the food bloggers out there who taught me how to cook dishes I could never order in a restaurant in Amsterdam!
1. Maangchi
The first year I lived in Amsterdam, I was forced to do without Korean Food. This may not seem like a big deal to most people but for me, it was like living without air. At the time I couldn’t find a single Korean restaurant and cooking it myself seemed way too difficult. One day, I couldn’t stand it anymore and googled “Korean Food Recipes”. Right there, hanging out on the internet was my beloved Maangchi. She made Korean cooking so easy, and so possible. It was food love at first sight and I now know how to make dozens of Korean dishes and even got to meet her in real life and cook with her in my houseboat!
Favorite Dishes: Jajangmyun, Soondubu, Pork stirfry, Fried Chicken
Texans all over the world must thank Lisa Fain everyday for starting this blog. Food in Texas is its own amazing thing and when Texans are torn apart from it, things can get ugly. I found her site when I was still in Texas but had no need to read it like a bible till I moved here. From fancy tex-mex to simple southern dinner food, she has it all.
Favorite dishes: Puffy tacos, Corn Tortillas, Chicken Fried Steak
3. Budget Bytes
She makes recipes for broke people and it still tastes good.
Favorite Dish: Mexican Lentil Soup
I love her. There are so many random American dishes I crave and she’s always there to help me out. The other day I ran out of the bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing that I smuggled back from the states and nearly had a panic attack. Then I found Pioneer Women’s version of copying hidden valley ranch confessing that she too is forced to learn random condiment dishes due to necessity. Thank you for feeding cowboys and showing us what you feed them.
Favorite Dishes: Beef Stew, Turkey Pot Pie, Migas
Jacques-Henri Lartigue
“I’m not a photographer writer painter, I’m a taxidermist of things that life offers me on the way.” - Jacques-Henri Lartigue
Postcard From 1952
Have you seen Explosions in the Sky’s latest video? It’s a beautiful interepetation of the song ‘Postcard from 1952′. It’s directed by Annie Gunn and Peter Simonite and features my friend Shayla and her daughter Ruby. I love it when great work comes out of Austin. Take a look below.
Moments in Amsterdam
In winter, I only manage to go out and take pictures when it’s snowing and resembles a winter wonderland. Other than that, I’m hiding from the bitter cold and refuse to pop back outside with my camera until hibernation is over. Now it’s bearable enough to wander around the streets and take pictures of this beautiful city.
Above: Where’s Waldo? It took me a minute to notice this cute little dog.
An art party/gallery show/red pillow fight at De Appel.
It’s warm enough to float along the canals!
European City Postcards
I turned my travel photography into European city postcards, and they’re my latest sold item on Etsy! Turning them into giant posters soon.
Hiromichi Ito Illustrations
“For me, the first impression that it was to dry out the elephant skin. I want to apply a moisturizer cream to his dried skin if I can.”
Fun paintings by Hiromichi Ito.
On Lena Dunham, Girls, & Tiny Furniture
Is it weird to be proud of someone you don’t know? I feel proud for Lena Dunham for getting Girls on HBO. I don’t care about all the nitpicky discussions on whether the show is too white, too privledged, or unrealistic. Too me, it doesn’t matter, its television and it makes me happy that a smart girl in her twenties can pitch an interesting show and get it on air. I feel happy for her. If you like the show, watch Tiny Furniture. It’s her first feature film and it’s almost a precursor to Girls. I’m really impressed by the photo-like compositions and the acting by her real mom and sister. She also shot the entire things on a canon slr which goes to show, if you have a great idea, you don’t need much to make a good film.
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