BirchLane.net

March 2007

Thursday 29.

Working With Angels.

Wednesday 28

Attitude. This morning:

Tuesday 27

Sculpture. Today I photographed sculpture for my client. At night, after a walk on the bike path, Susan and I found ourselves at Treydon's, where we ran into Marc Grenier and his family. I miss working with Marc.

Monday 26

Sunday 25

Saturday 24

Sweet and Spicy Salmon.

Sauce: 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 2 medium shallots, finely chopped 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 2 salmon fillets 1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until softened. 2. Add the remaining ingredients except the cilantro until well combined. Remove from heat and add cilantro. 3. Prepare grill. 4. Baste salmon liberally with the sauce on both sides. Baste frequently.* *I marinated the salmon in sauce for one hour and baked in oven. Recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Taste of Summer by Diane Rossen Worthington.

Friday 23

Story Telling.

Thursday 22

May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like shower on new growth. ~Deuteronomy 32:2

Wednesday 21

When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I only think of how to solve the problem. But, when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.   -Buckminster Fuller

Tuesday 20

News. This afternoon I met with the man who has hired me to photograph his mom's art (sculpture--inside and outside; paintings, drawings) and his grandfather's art. All this will involve local photography sessions and trips to NYC, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where is grandfather was a conservator/restorer and a few private residences) and a trip to a home in Provincetown. I feel blessed. I feel that my passion and my belief in myself and my vision has helped me to now prosper. I am still living on a "shoe-string" but my life has turned a corner: it is all about love. After I met him at his mom's house, he took me to his house, where he showed me his photography collection: What I saw (in part):

Laurent Millet
Josephine Sacabo
Sally Mann
Francesca Woodman
Mona Kuhn
Willy Ronis
Ruth Berhnard

It was a WOW kind of day.

Someone writes about the photo below:

When someone takes a photo of something that is worthy of being immortalized, it is exciting. But when someone takes a photo that encompasses a moment of poetry, that pulls the whole of the world into that something that is worth of being immortalized, that is art. Thank you for this.

Monday 19

"Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." Willa Cather, My Antonia.

Sunday 18

Photography.

Photographer George Lange writes:

I MADE THIS VIDEO for a talk I gave at Photo Expo 2006 at the Javitts Center in NY. On the panel was Allegra Wilde & Linda Levy from the Workbook, and Patrick Casey from Marge Casey & Assoc. My idea was to show images from the past year only. I also wanted to show the digital flip book we do with our software at the end of every shoot. The music is the SONG “Dream Baby Dream” – by Suicide.

When I am finished editing the recent pageant photos, I am going to make one.

Saturday 17

St. Patrick's Day.

On Saturday afternoon, Saint Patrick's Day, my friend Susan and I had a few glasses of Guinness (draft) at Treydon's here in Easthampton, Massachusetts. A perfect afternoon. Then we came back to my loft and I made Salmon Florentine. Sesame Ginger Basmati Rice. Wild Green Salad with Cannelloni Beans, Roasted Red Peppers, Kalamata Olives, Artichoke Heart Slivers, Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with a Fresh Lime Olive Oil dressing. Served with red wine.

(more)

Friday 16

Snow. (more)

Thursday 15

Lost Keys.  I found two keys in my leather briefcase today. At first I was not sure sure what locks the keys unlocked. And then I knew. And then my heart sank. And then tears welled up in my eyes. And then I held the two keys in my hand. I held them in my hand and I stared at them. I closed my hand. I closed my eyes. I knew the keys unlocked the doors to my Dad's apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Wednesday 14

Beckett and O'Connor. For the first few years of my marriage I looked like a poet. People said, "Bruce, you look like poet." And tonight before the poetry reading began a man walked up to me and said "Are you the poet?" (more)

Tuesday 13

Rebecca. I open a beer for Rebecca. I pour a glass of Chianti for Michelle. It is noon. (more)

Monday 12

Walk With Danielle.

I am very busy today: almost done writing my business plan, which includes various financial projections and budgets (target markets: weddings, portraits, pageants, greeting card distribution/nature, editorial); editing most recent Pageant photos; designing new website; designing website for Susan (she makes and sells the most wonderful soap).

Also, in past few days I booked three new portrait sessions AND I was asked to photograph a model for a major advertising campaign which will run in Belgian! This I am doing tomorrow or Wednesday. Also--last week, I had two local commercial photography gigs.

What I need to book now are some weddings. Susan knows one of the more popular Wedding Cake designers/bakers in this area and I am meeting with her later in the week. And a wedding D.J.

More.

Sunday 11

Dinner with Susan.

Saturday 10

Second City on Tour. Susan took me to see "Truth, Justice or The American Way," a Second City Touring production.

Friday 09

Woke to:

To Do Today:

Clean closest.
Cleanse closet of what I do not need.
Work on Heather's wedding photos.
Work on Pageant Photos.
Meditate.
Write.
Laundry.
Work on Business Plan.
Work on new website for moi.
Work on Wedding Advertisement.
Dinner with Susan.

Thursday 08

Birthday.

I had a great birthday yesterday, March 7. Susan, Danielle and Daryl came over for dinner. I made a Wild Green Salad which had halved Kalamata Olives and Cannelloni Beans in it with a Lime, Olive Oil and Jalapeno Pepper dressing--on top of which I placed Spicy Salmon Cakes (YUMMY!). I also made an Italian Meatloaf (stuffed with Mozzarella) and served with Tomato Sauce. And Smashed Garlic Red Potatoes. Lots of wine. And Susan came with a Raspberry Chocolate Birthday Cake, which was decadently delicious.

Wednesday 07

Birth Day. Busy. Busy. Busy. My birthday and I am busy cleaning and cooking.

 

Tuesday 06

Photography. Two photo shoots today:

 

Monday 05

Cindy. A friend visited me

Sunday 04

Sunday With Susan. She asked me

 

Saturday 03

Eclipse. We know from the news a total lunar eclipse happened today but here in The Pioneer Valley it was rather dark and gray all day and, thus, we did not see it.

"This Saturday night, March 3rd, a total lunar eclipse will be visible from nearly all inhabited parts of the world. A great shadow will stretch across the surface of the moon, eventually casting it in an eerie red glow as sunlight filters through our atmosphere onto the lunar surface. Viewers in Europe and Africa will have the best vantage point, able to watch the entire eclipse in action, while observers in most of the western hemisphere can see it eclipsed as it rises just after sunset."

Morning. Susan. Nadine. Mist. Gray. Almost white. Nothing visible. I went first to the pond:

And then to the cemetery, the one I see from my window. I photographed a few of the angels.

Later in the day, I talked with a shop owner about exhibiting my photographs in her store. We talked about my photographs of angels (One of the store's owners had seen them.). And we talked about today's Lunar Eclipse.

Cafe Astrology puts it best:

This month's Full Moon is a Lunar Eclipse, with the Sun in Virgo opposing the Moon in Pisces. Lunar Eclipses are about relationships and polarities. With the Virgo-Pisces service axis involved, and as part of the Virgo New Moon cycle that began on August 23rd, this Lunar Eclipse presses us to look more closely at our needs, lacks, and wants in our lives. We are pushed to find a balance between day-to-day functions and routines, physical health, and the need for order (Virgo) and vision, spiritual health, disorder, and the infinite (Pisces). Virgo rules the tools and techniques that we use to deal with day-to-day life, while Pisces rules the tools that we use to deal with our spiritual selves. Some sort of crisis (which can be a crisis of consciousness) or sudden awareness of a lack in our lives provides us with a golden opportunity to explore our emotional needs within the context of the house polarity where the eclipse occurs in our natal charts. Relationships may be challenged, broken, or strengthened dramatically at this time. Our discovery is emotionally charged and dramatic. Epiphanies are likely at this time as we become acutely aware of our lack. This understanding can propel us into positive action.

And during the evening Susan came over for dinner. Continuing with the theme, Bananas, I made Salmon with Banana-Orange Salsa. I think this meal was even better than last night's.

Banana-orange Salsa 2 ripe bananas, diced 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest 2 oranges, peeled, segmented and chopped 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons lime juice 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Friday 02

Chicken With Ginger And Bananas. An old recipe. I made it tonight for Susan. She gave me a gift: a cat alarm clock; the ring is a meow. A loud meow.

Thursday 01

Something About Susan. I had mentioned to Susan that the only thing I regretted about last Sunday, about photographing the pageant, was missing church; it being the first day of Lent. But I spent the week thinking about what I wanted to give up for Lent. Fear. Doubt.