Tag: community

Getting out of the house

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I’ve been working a lot lately, or at least I feel like I’ve been working a lot.  It’s been a lot of sitting and staring at my computer screen and frankly, I’m sick of it.  I didn’t get outside nearly as much as I would have liked to this summer, but c’est la vie.  Fall is here and it’s time to start thinking about the end of the year.  Already!

I’m actually looking forward to Fall even if the weather is colder and the days shorter.  I know that seems contradictory to the fact that I’m sick of sitting inside, but I’m also hoping that it means that I will take more advantage of the daylight hours and get out more instead of sitting at my desk with the mentality that “there’s still plenty of daylight left,” when actually I should have been outside all along.  When you have less time to devote out of doors (or to other things), it changes your perspective on things, don’t you think?

So for October, I’m dedicating the month to celebrating adventure, to doing something new and out of the ordinary (for myself).  I’m hoping to feel that spark of life again, because if I’m completely honest, I don’t feel like I have much of a life when I’m staring at a screen for several hours of the day.  It makes me feel rather like a zombie.  And this is why I’m sharing this video with you:

Albin Holmqvist

 

Education First (EP) teaches languages and therefore, opens the door to exploring new places. So take a gander and go do something new, even with the shorter days.  The end of the year is rapidly approaching and wouldn’t it be a shame to realize that all you had done is worked all year?

It’s that time of year again….

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It’s that time of year again.  It’s time for kids to head back to school, the weather is cooling off and it’s time to bring in the food harvest.  How did that happen?  I’m not sure where this summer has gone, but it’s practically gone.  Yikes!

A year ago, I went with a food theme for the month of September, and once again, I’m returning to that theme- I suppose my last post should have been a heads up.  I mean, who can resist food?  It’s beautiful, something that we all need to survive and it’s something that everyone enjoys on some level.  For me, it’s one of my favorite ways to explore new culture. Food speaks volumes about a culture. It’s also a way that I like to unwind after a long day in front of my computer because it uses all of my senses and challenges my creative muscles that I don’t always get to exercise depending on what part of a project I’m working on.

Now several months ago I mentioned that I had been working with a company called ChefSteps.  I loved working with them because not only are the people amazing, but they combine my two passions- film and food:

chefsteps

This isn’t the piece that I worked on while working there, but I hope that I will be able to share that with you soon.

Food is actually how I got into reading blogs in the first place.  I was looking for a cupcake recipe for my friend’s birthday and came across Hummingbird on High.  It was a complete fluke that I found it and now I look forward to Michelle’s posts each week, not to mention updates on several other blogs.

If you have any interest in food blogs, I would recommend the following:

  • Hummingbird on High:  I always find great dessert ideas here.
  • Food52: I use this as an online reference for basic recipes that I would like to find original twists on and just good ole’ trusty favorites that I don’t already have in my collection.
  • Two Red Bowls: I love this blog for the original twists on recipes.
  • The First Mess: I love the photography on this blog- even if I’m not vegan.
  • Adventures in Cooking: I can always find recipes that I would never have thought of trying myself.

So now that I’ve shared my fairly new love for food blogs, I’m signing off for today.  Stay tuned for a slew of food related films.

Put your feet up

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How is it possible that time seems to slow in the summer?  Is it because the days are longer? Is it because the sun makes us forget about our busy schedules?  Is it because we somehow have less to do?  I’m pretty sure it’s not because we have less to do but it’s the perfect time of year to spend more time “hanging out” and a little less nose-to-the-grindstone like we do the rest of the year.

As we are at this lazy time of year…

July--feet

Take some extra time to relax with friends and maybe leave the office half an hour earlier than usual.  And, in case you can’t make either of those things happen, take a quick break with what I have in store in the next few weeks.  Short and simple and hopefully a quick break from the every day slog – something to make you want to say “Cheers”!.

 

Food + Friends + Nature :: The Friends

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Friends are one of those things that a lot of us take for granted.  It’s when we finally see those we haven’t seen in a long time that we realize how important they are to us.

Friends

In the last 10 years, I’ve moved around a lot, met a lot of people and made some great friends but I don’t get to see many of them very often.  In fact, there are some that I don’t see for years at a time.

Last month was a nice change for me because even though I was very busy with work I was able to see friends I hadn’t seen in several years, ran into friends I hadn’t been in contact with in a long time, made new friends and met the next generation of friends because lets face it, I’m at that age where my friends are having babies.  All of which I’m feeling very grateful for.  Why so nostalgic at the moment? I’m not really sure.

While looking back over the last few weeks and contemplating how nice it’s been to see so many people that mean something to me, I found this article: The 5 Types of Friends Everyone Should Have. Now this may not be the be-all-to-end-all list of friend types that we should all have, but I thought that it made a good point.  We really should all have:

  1. The friend who is always down for whatever.
  2. The friend slightly cooler than you.
  3. The friend you admire.
  4. The friend that doesn’t know any of your other friends.
  5. The friend whom you’ve known forever.

I probably have more of no. 4 than I would like- but I like that I have so much diversity and that they live all over the glove.  I also have several no. 5 which is always a comfort.

I know that I’ve moved away from my usual video analysis, but just for this week, I want to take the time to acknowledge all those people that I like to spend my time with and can only hope that I get to see them more over the summer months and beyond. Because really, what is life without the people we share it with?

Another month gone…

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May was one of the busiest months I’ve had in a long time and to be honest I loved every moment of it.  It was one of those good types of busy where I was exhausted by the end of the day (in a good way) and I looked forward to the next day.  I hope June can bring something like that because I’m feeling very fulfilled at the moment.

What was keeping me so busy?  I don’t know if I’m quite ready to share that yet as there is a lot in post-production to be done, but to give you an idea, it involved:

  1. Spending time up in the mountains.
  2. Food.  Lots of food. Really good food.
  3. Visiting with friends.
  4. Camping.
  5. Puppies.
  6. Watching films at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).

I know.  Not a lot to go by, but like I said, post-production is going to take a while.

I don’t have much of a theme for this month but after reflecting on this last month, I’m using themes from the last few weeks to inspire my next few posts.

Food,-Friends,-Nature

A broad topic I know… stay tuned.

Against the Grain :: Seven Days in 1968

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Animal

I’m just going to dive right into the artistic aspects of this video.  I love it!  There aren’t many times when you find yourself entertained by old black and white stills- usually they seem flat and boring.  Not in this film!  The 3-dimentional effects and the layover of other images, such as the timeline, really make a difference.  The graphics really help too and are another aspect that I really like.

It’s a bit longer than most videos that I post but I don’t feel like its any longer than most.  It’s not an easy topic to address, especially when some could argue that we haven’t come all that far since 1968, but it was done beautifully.

Ohana :: Mothers

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Matt Bieler

I don’t think we ever realize how much a mother sacrifices for her children- time, a social life, sleep…. I’ve seen small glimpses of what its like while watching friends as they embark on the journey of motherhood.

Here is to all those women, working or not, who give everything they have to their offspring.

Making time for ohana

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It’s that time of year again when chaos descends on us all and life seems to get even more hectic than usual.  All this because its the holidays.  Even those that don’t celebrate Christmas feel the impending stress as the number of parties increase exponentially and budgets tighten.

For many, the cause of stress comes from the mandatory time spent with family.  However, Family is the reason that I love this time of year.

Family-Gathering

Since I moved out of my parents house, this is one, if not the only time of year that my family puts time aside to spend quality time together.  We are lucky that we actually enjoy spending time together- well, for the most part.  This year I am especially looking forward to it as I have seen very little of my parents in the last 12 months.

I’m not Hawaiian but I love the word Ohana.  I love that doesn’t only address those that are related to us by blood, but can mean any group of people that you feel close to.  So after spending Thanksgiving with the extended family and looking forward to the upcoming weeks I’m dedicating this month to those people that mean the world to me- even if they sometimes drive me a little nuts.

Classroom :: Ecology

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[vimeo https://vimeo.com/75226453 w=640&h=360]

mark wyatt

I’ve taken several ecology classes throughout my academic career.  It started out because I was avoiding math based science and as it turns out that I really enjoyed them.  I love that this film is close to home and incorporates so many things that I studied in the classroom.  I love being able to see what I’ve learned on paper happening in the real world. It also happens to coincide with The Breach, a film that I have been helping with for a few years and have mentioned in previous posts (side note, the film is practically done!).

Something by me…

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For the past 6 months I have been working for a film festival.  After months of planning and organizing, the festival is finally over and I’m feeling quite exhausted.

Now that its over, I finally have time to share some of the videos that I created for the festival’s ad reel:

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/75997460 width=640&height=360] [vimeo https://vimeo.com/75635494 width=640&height=360]

I’m not sure what is next for me, but I’m very excited to have time to work on something of my own again.  Stay tuned…