Sarah R. Bloom Photography

Come on in, the water's fine

Just back from our last vacation for the summer, our second annual trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Corolla, to be specific, which I just found out is pronounced Core-aHll-ah. I was saying Core-oh-la. Hmm. It was a full week in one of those big ol' beach houses with a group of my friends from college (the first time, at Syracuse University). I've known these friends for 20+ years now, which is amazing to me. Everyone else had kids much later than me, so it was Pete, me, and my daughter who is 13, then five children all under 5 years old (plus 8 more adults)! Fortunately, it was a big house. :-)

A beautiful house, right at the ocean so we could look out the window at the waves or sit on the deck and feel the ocean breeze. We were gloriously lazy and ate ridiculously well as two of my friends love to cook. We would go off by ourselves when we needed to and hang out together when we wanted to. I am so grateful for these friendships.

I spent the week trying to mentally prepare myself to start fresh upon our return...I need to get a job. Not a babysitting gig, not some commissioned photography here and there. I've had a long time to just sort of mess around and make a go with art, and clearly I do not have the drive to do the work necessary to be truly successful. I had a perspective shift before this trip after letting anger build and build, focused entirely on my poor husband, when I think I was actually angry with myself and resisting doing what needs to be done. Finally, the anger melted away and I had a moment of clarity during which I saw what my husband has been going through as the one bringing in the most regular money (though still not regular enough, or enough actual money). He's got all these inventions and ideas he wants to spend time on, but feels guilty doing that. Meanwhile, I'm taking off for a day or a weekend whenever I feel like it to explore abandoned buildings and meet up with Flickr friends.

A simple job is all I need. One that will finally give us health insurance as we've waited over a year for state assistance with no word, and still no insurance. A basic salaried job with benefits, and it will cover our bills and take some pressure off Pete. He will be able to spend some money doing things he wants to do and we will be able to go visit his grandson, born last month, as well as his three (grown) children! We've managed to survive on very little (though grew a bit of debt that needs to be paid down...hello, job!), but we are tired of just "getting by."

As usual, I procrastinate. Part of me thinks a nice mindless sort of job would be perfect...one where I look like Peter Gibbons at the end of Office Space. That way I can focus creative energy on art and photography in my spare time. The other part of me is feeling useless, however, and wants to find a way to contribute to society in some way, and I plan on utilizing my photography in this way at the very least. A job with an organization that is doing some good, however, would be satisfying. And now I'm babbling. Probably procrastinating.

When I know I need to dive right in...

Trespassing

This past weekend I went to upstate NY to spend time with some friends I made through Flickr. I've made an amazing number of friends by connecting through Flickr and sharing our love of photography, people who have become real-time, real-life brothers and sisters. 

I traveled with my daughter and the lovely Denise to visit our friends Pete & Kelly. It has been a difficult summer for all of us in different ways (well, except for my daughter, who has been having a blast). A time of transitions and questions and uncertainties.

A perfect time to connect with friends and relax.

Kate came up the next morning and we hooked up with Tamme and her kids to go shooting. We checked out the farmer's market in uptown Kingston and walked around a bit, before Tamme suggested an abandonment. I might have squealed a bit. I know my daughter did. :-)

We went to an abandoned brick yard and with Tamme being a former police officer, we were unconcerned. I took some self-portraits, of course, with my wonderful daughter assisting, and then she put on the dress I had brought and I invited everyone to come use her as a model. It was a blast! She got really into the creepy angle (being a horror movie fan herself) and kept coming up with cool ideas for everyone to shoot. Finally we went off in search of cold drinks, air conditioning, and some snacks at a nearby Mexican place, then back to the house to shower and get ready for a party that night.

More friends arrived and we had a great time. There was a LOT of meat. This of course became the running gag, "Check out Pete's meat!" "Can't beat that meat!" etc. Yes, we're 12. What?

Next morning, we planned to go to these now famous abandoned trains, but first we hit a diner for some bacon with a side of bacon. When the waitress asked us "What are you all doing today?" my daughter answered, "Trespassing!" without skipping a beat. That's my girl! She and Pete & Kelly's daughter, who is 8, had done some planning to both put dresses on and creep out for us on the train. I'd say it was rather successful:

This photo got a huge response on Flickr...even made it into Explore, which hardly ever happens for me! I decided to remove the girls' feet to add to the ghostly appeal (plus the little one was wearing Crocs LOL). I'm proud of this one. You can see the whole set here. And check out the other photographs from the weekend too!

It was a good weekend. Early tomorrow morning (like 4am), me & the family are off to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week with my college friends and their partners and children. I'm planning on a mid-week excursion to meet up with a Flickr friend a few hours inland. There might be some more trespassing.

Photographer's Chicago

Cecily and I arrived in Chicago on Thursday around 11am. Our online blogging and Flickr friend, Toni (Frageelay, to you) offered to pick us up at the airport, have lunch with us somewhere, then drop us at our hotel. Sweet!

Toni is hilarious and generous and all kinds of awesome, all things I knew before meeting her but all things that were proven true. We had the added bonus of getting to meet her 3 absolutely beautiful boys and watch a kick-ass mom in action.

On my second day in Chicago I maneuvered the public transit system with style. Chicago made it extremely easy, as did Mrs. Maze with her helpful emailed map. ;-)

I walked a few blocks to the station, figured out the transit card purchase from the machine, and boarded a train on the Brown Line to Diversey (about a 15 minute ride). I marveled that I could actually understand the audio announcing not only the next stop, but which side the door would open. Very impressive!

Mrs. Maze arrived early too, parked, and off we walked in the muggy heat. We walked into Lincoln Park and ate a Clark's Diner. We walked around Lakeview and then back to move the car. We walked some more around Lakeview (I think) and into the fabulous store that is Hollywood Mirror where I bought several things and still spent only $30. We walked down to Wrigley Field when it was about 10 minutes (if that) until game time and witnessed the insanity (though I was glad it was pregame instead of post)! While I wouldn't want to live near there, it is truly awesome to see a ballpark right there at the end of a city block. :-)

I ended up telling her husband not to come into town when he was free (though I would have loved to meet him) because I was exhausted and overheated and knew it would be better to get back to the hotel so I could shower and rest before the evening's parties (at the conference I was pseudo-attending). So after a quick jaunt through Boys' Town and a browse in the Gay Mart where I coveted a $39 electronic Tribble, we were off to a Starbuck's to cool down before parting ways.

On the third day in Chicago, Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting up with my long-time blog friend, Jenny of Run Jen Run. She is the founder of a smaller blog gathering known as TequilaCon and she pretty much kicks ass. She is also a kind, generous, and hilarious person who happens to be quite talented in photography as well. A current project she is working on involves creating a story within the 4-frame limit of a photobooth, and she is going to real photobooths around Chicago. I highly recommend you check out the set and have your mind blown a bit. I think they are brilliant.

She met me right at my hotel and we walked down to the Navy Pier where it was tourist insanity. It was there I saw that the Ferris Wheel was brought to me by McDonald's. Oy. We had stopped on the way for gourmet sandwiches to take with us. On the pier we bought some drinks and tickets to a water taxi that would take us out on Lake Michigan and down to where the aquarium and national history museum are. I was a bit nervous about my seasickness, but I managed. :-)

We found some shade and sat for lunch. It was gorgeous weather as long as you were in the shade. The sun was a bit brutal, but it was less humid than the day before. We chatted for a while and people-watched and I realized I could easily sit there all day, but I had tourist stuff to do! We walked up Michigan Avenue from there to Millennium Park, starting with The Crown Fountain. Wow! That was amazing to see and I was grateful for the chance to cool off my burning feet. LOL. Then we of course saw "The Bean", really called Cloud Gate, and I have to say, it was amazing in person. I didn't expect it to be as impressive as it is...truly a beautiful piece of art and probably one of the top public art pieces I've ever seen. It delights and awes, it draws people in...it does what public art can do best. I was amazed by it, honestly.

The heat got to us then and so we went to use the public restrooms, get some more cold drinks, and then sat in the grass in the shade. That was it. We stayed there talking for another hour or so before she walked me back to my hotel.

That night I had the most wonderful dining experience thanks to the amazing Concierge at the Sheraton, and convinced the 3 women I was with most to take a nighttime water taxi along the river to the Sears Tower and back.

I loved Chicago. I will most definitely be back.

BlogHer '09: My excuse to go to Chicago

I suppose I best write something about Chicago and post it before everyone forgets I even went there, huh? Right. The BlogHer Conference is basically my excuse for getting to go to Chicago, finally. I went with Cecily for our second time this year. I go with Cecily because she asks me to go with her, part of it is her birthday present to me, and because I get to go to a city to which I have never been before. As Cecily’s best friend I fill the rolls she needs me to fill, as she does for me: a roommate, a confidant, a touchstone for reality-checks, and someone to fall into fits of laughter with at 1am or 8am or whenever exhaustion sets in.

Cecily is the blogging “rock star” and I am very happy to be known as her best friend (or not known at all, as the case may be).  People knowing me separately from her, or knowing me because of my photography on Flickr and not even realizing I had a blog surprised me! Anyone recognizing my name and complimenting my photography made me far happier than I showed, just so you know. I was squealing inside…I’m just not a real squealer.

My goals attending BlogHer are basically nil. I really enjoy meeting people I know online in person and I of course end up with many new blogs to read upon returning home. I love being there for Cecily. My focus is about seeing the city we’re in and meeting up with any Flickr friends in the area to go out and take photos. I have a lot of photos.

Before I get into my posts about what I did each day, I figured I’d give a general post about the conference itself from my slightly removed but still in the hotel perspective. Was the sponsorship as out of hand as people are saying? My perspective is yes, but I realize that most of that is not actually put out officially by BlogHer organizers. It is overwhelming, however, when everywhere I looked there was a brand name. I am wondering about other ways to raise money to subsidize the cost of these conferences. I was involved in organizing and putting on an AA conference for over 1,000 attendees, and the registration cost per person was really small. We held fundraisers all year long to offset the costs…dances in different cities, t-shirt sales, etc. With the amount of pull BlogHer has all over the country (and world), I think we could easily manage a sponsor-free conference. I will comment on this over at BlogHer, yes, because I’m sure there is something head-smackingly obvious that I’m missing, otherwise they probably would have already done it. ☺

I attended the breakfast and presentations each morning and the community keynote on Friday night. That keynote was incredible; inspiring, moving, hilarious, and beautiful. I thought it was a bit much to have 20 readers that night, but now cannot imagine not hearing one. Favorites for me were Danielle of KnottyYarn, Tanis of Redneck Mommy, Catherine of Her Bad Mother, and Mel of Stirrup Queens (who wins award for the best of the night in my opinion; a piece that took us through much laughter then sudden sobs of recognition and beauty. It was powerful beyond reason).

The other issue was the swag. I’ll just say that none of that stuff was worth shoving people over, but sure I love some free shit as much as the next person. Well, maybe not as much. When the Eden Fantasies folks started moving their swag bags through the area where I was sitting quietly chatting with Cecily, Julia, and Kathrin, what I witnessed was disturbing. I wish I had taken video, actually. The swag bags had a gravitational pull, I kid you not; something I could literally see as women began slowly swirling closer in smaller and smaller circles. The party was originally supposed to be in a specific room, but apparently the hotel kept moving them. It wasn’t supposed to start for another HOUR. The women moved closer. We got up to investigate, since of course we were curious about what the sex toy company would be giving away! They were still putting things in the bags when someone yanked one right off the luggage cart, then yanked another one and handed it to Cecily. She went and sat down. The crowd was growing bigger and the space between me and other people was growing smaller. I could feel my first twinge of panic begin (I really have an issue with crowds, but if I feel I have an exit I can deal. That feeling was going away). I finally looked around and it seemed I could see fingers twitching in anticipation! I had to leave. “I am not a whore,” I said to myself as I went back to my seat. Julia and Kathrin stayed up there for maybe 45 minutes before getting their swag, and Julia happened to get an extra bag for Cecily who already had one, so guess who still got a bag? Heh. The experience felt dirty somehow, so I guess the cleaning products that mostly filled the bag were a good idea. ☺

All that said, it didn’t upset me or mar the conference at all. For me, any time any large group of humans gets together there are issues. I was saying something about me being socially awkward and Cecily very accurately pointed out, “You aren’t socially awkward, you just don’t like people very much.” I had trouble arguing with that. Individually, I love people. I mean, once I know you or are connected to you, I am very warm and kind and funny and loyal to the death. This is what keeps me going in life, really, the one-on-one connections we make with people. And for me, this is what is best about the BlogHer conference or any large gathering: the quiet corner conversations, the elevator epiphanies, the late night bonding over ___; the people who surprise you, the people who move you, the people who make you laugh. It is those moments that keep a real face on blogging. We are not all faceless, soulless, ranting lunatics out in the ether. We are real individuals, with real feelings, real hopes and desires and loves, and we write on the Internet to connect with others.

*Photos and details of my day excursions to come!*

Vacation, Part 5

*I wanted to get this last post up before I went to  Chicago, but neglected to and now I have to post it before I can move forward. I'm SO behind on stories and photos and totally overwhelmed. Good news is I'll have things to post every day this week, most likely.*

[Trip Day 5: July 17th Heading Home]

It rained all night our second night in Maine. We stayed mostly dry. I woke up ridiculously early and went on my laptop for a bit in the car (yes, the camp had wi-fi, but I mostly just used it to email my daughter at her overnight camp and post the occasional Twitter). My back was killing me. Eventually I started packing up everything I could that wasn't in the tent or the tent itself, and made coffee. Pete got up and we broke down the rest of camp. We were in the car and ready to check out at 9am.

Our plan was to drive down the coast until the town of Exeter, NH, where an old friend of mine since high school had recently moved. Her daughter turns 2 in August and I had yet to meet her! Originally we were going to go slowly and camp one more night somewhere between there and home, but we were both ready to get home and decided to see if we could make it all the way. No more avoiding highways on the GPS.

I had a problem, however. I didn't have Alison's phone number. She was supposed to have emailed it to me and hadn't yet as of that morning. She also thought I'd be coming through town on Saturday. This was Friday. As we got about an hour or so away, I called my friend Siobhan and left her a message saying I needed Alison's number, and she called back just in time with it (when we were coming to the exit for the town). She gave me Alison's husband's number too. I exited and pulled off the road to phone. "Mailbox full" was the response! Great. I can't leave a message. I phoned her husband and got voice mail, but didn't leave a message since I had no idea how long we'd have to wait for him to call back. Disappointed, I turned around to get back on the highway heading home. I was almost in tears, actually, knowing I was that close and couldn't see my friend! And then he called back to see who it was. He told me Alison had misplaced her phone (they've been living out of hotel rooms for weeks and weeks as they wait for their house to be ready). He said he'd see if she was at the Inn and have her call me back. I had pulled over on route 101 or 100, just before the exit to get onto I-95, and we sat waiting.

And then the state trooper pulled up behind us. LOL. He was very nice, but said "You can't wait here!" after I explained what we were doing. We started driving to pull off again and Alison phoned. Hooray!

We were able to see her and meet her adorable daughter and sit by the river for about 2 hours. We sat near a famous food cart run by Ian, who smokes and grills real hot dogs, sausages, and chorizos. We had one of each. Turns out Ian is from my neck of the woods, too!

After that we b-lined it for home, stopping when we needed to switch drivers. We drove through rush hour in Connecticut (which sucks any time of day, actually...driving through it on the highway, not the state), through thunderstorms in NY. We made it home at 10pm, exhausted, delirious, and grateful. We slept like the dead that night, happy.

Vacation, Part 4

[Trip Day 4: July 16th]

After such a great nights' sleep, we had time for a leisurely breakfast. We made our coffee and eventually scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast. Yum! Our plan for the day was to hike up the trails to the top of Mt. Battie (all part of the state park) in the morning, come back and have lunch and showers, then head down the coast a bit to check out Owl's Head State Park where there is a lighthouse, grab dinner somewhere and bring it to the trail by the water across route 1 from our campground.

It almost worked out like that! People can drive up to the top of Mt. Battie, so there is a long road. We had to walk up part of the road to the first little parking lot where there were trail markers, then into the woods we went. It was a bit muddy, very mossy and green, and rocky. It was gorgeous. It was a bit steep in places and we are a bit out of shape (understatement of the year), but we plodded upwards.

Our weather, while damp at times, was mostly great. Breezy and cool, even cold at night. This day was probably in the 60s, but by the time we were a little ways up, we were sweating! We came out to 180-degree views of Penobscot Bay and cool breezes. It was gorgeous even if it was cloudy. We could see Camden Harbor below and all those boats. We went out to some rocks away from the other people up there and had a snack. I took some video. Then we walked down on the road back to our campsite (ohmygawdmyknees). We had lunch and then I went to check out the shower.

The showers in Camden Hills State Park were a religious experience. Individual stalls side-by-side with a changing area in their OWN compartment. Locked door. FREE shower. Hot hot hot water. It was truly glorious, and I'm not exaggerating.

Around 4pm we got in the car to drive down to Owl's Head. It started pouring rain. Thunder, lightening, dog freaking out rain. We missed the turn for it. I parked in a harbor parking lot in Rockport and took some photos through the windshield and some video. We found Owl's Head but there was a 1/4 mile trail to the lighthouse on foot, and it was still thundering/lightening so we left. We stopped at a General Store that truly had it all, including a cafe, so we got some food to go (got my crab roll), gifts for my daughter and goddaughter, and some postcards and left. It stated to clear up, we thought, but when we got to the state park and went down to the side by the water, it was drizzling again. The sign said the park gate closed at 5pm, but it was 6 at this point and it was open. We went and parked down by the path that led to the 1/2 mile trail along the water and brought ourselves and our food down there. We ate our dinner and marveled at the view (and I took this video and another one).

And then a park ranger came down the slippery, muddy trail to ask if we were the Bloom family (he saw our car and the pass in the window). He came to get us because he was going to close the gate!! We were flabbergasted and so grateful for such kindness! We figured if we got locked in it would be annoying, but we were camping across the street so we could just walk over there with what we needed from the car. I wanted to hug this man, though. This was Maine. Everything was nicer up here.

Vacation, Part 3

[Trip Day 3: July 15th]

This was our campsite in a town and on a lake called Island Pond, Vermont. It was a huge lake, despite the name. It was also just past and below those trees. We had our pick of sites here, which was nice. We woke up on Wednesday relieved that there were only a few puddles around the edges inside the tent. We had put our clothes in garbage bags just in case, thankfully!

Packing up when things are wet is never fun, but at least it had stopped raining. The sand on everything was annoying, but manageable. On we drove through to New Hampshire, which if we blinked we might have missed since we went west to east across the very narrowest part. It was beautiful, though, going up and through a very mountainous and rocky area. Then we had the joy of going on a completely under construction road...like, from scratch under construction. We would go along on dirt and rocks for a 1/4 mile then get stopped by a worker to wait for opposing traffic to come through. This happened about 5 times before we were finally on a paved road again!

Then we were in Maine! We made our way east to Belfast, ME and then turned north on Route 1 along the coast. We marveled at how many B&B's and Inns there were and I wondered how we'd find camping when the GPS only listed Inns. All of a sudden I saw the large sign for Camden Hills State Park with a big CAMPING and arrow, so I swung in and said, "Let's see if they have room!"

Turned out to be perfect and probably the nicest state park I've ever been in (not that I've been in that many, but still). We paid for 2 nights and went to set up and have dinner. That night we both had the best nights' sleep of the trip. I don't think I woke up at all, in fact! We went to bed probably around 9:45 (if that!) and woke up at 6:45 or so. It was so nice to know we didn't have to pack anything up yet. We had arrived.

Vacation, Part 2

[Trip Day Two: Tuesday, July 14th]

I slept horribly in the camper. I felt really nauseous when we got into the super squishy bed and it wouldn't go away (must have been all the cookies). I got up twice afraid I was gonna lose it before giving up and moving to the front (back?) of the camper where the couch was. I lay down with a blanket and instantly fell asleep there, just waking up every 2 hours whenever Pete moved in the bed on the other end because the whole camper moved. I think there wasn't enough air where the bed was and the chemical smell from the toilet was making me sick!

Anyway! We got up early and got our complimentary coffee in front of the office before hitting the road. We drove up to Port Kent because Pete thought it would be fun to take a ferry across Lake Champlain to Vermont, and since he's from Kent in England, he picked this one. I was very very nervous because I get very very seasick and it seems to get worse as I get older. I felt seasick on a small riverboat a few months ago. A river!

We parked in the line and had 45 minutes to roam around in the drizzling rain and fog and cold air to take photos and let Tyson stretch his doggie legs. Once on the ferry, I decided to just stay in the car since we were parked in the center (it was a pretty small boat, too) and just try not to move my head too fast. I made it and amused myself with the GPS showing us over water.

We arrived in Burlington, VT and walked around there for a bit to find a place for food where we could sit outside with our dog. It was soooo touristy and typical college town and the sandwich shop I stopped in wanted $7.50 for a sandwich so we left, figuring we'd get food at a small place away from the tourists. We drove northeasterly and enjoyed the beautiful Vermont countryside, hoping to see moose like all the signs promised. And then voila! There were two right there!! No males, unfortunately, but I think a mama and her baby (I say that only because a male with antlers would be most impressive). I had Pete turn the car around and they stayed there and posed for me as I took a bunch of not-so-good shots. We were totally excited!! :-)

On we went, stopping at some roadside pizza/burger joint on the way where I ate a really bad burger while looking at some cows. We ended up camping in Island Pond, VT for the night at a private campground. Our site overlooked their lake. We set up and relaxed. And then it rained. And rained. It poured all night long so we both slept badly and poor Tyson was miserable. We kept expecting to get wet! In the morning the rain stopped and some large bird of prey forced us out of the tent by circling the lake making a huge racket with the most annoying sound in the universe, stirring up all the crows in his wake. Ugh. It was time to pack up the wet stuff and get to Maine.

Vacation, Part 1

Trip Day One: Monday, July 13th.

We left here and drove through Central New Jersey to 87 North. I realized I was driving part of the way exactly how I used to drive to my ex-boyfriends' house. That was weird, only in the way that things from your past make you think about where you've been and where you're going kind of way. :-)

Speaking of weird, we then went up to New Paltz, where I've lived on 2 separate occasions. Once I lived up at Mohonk Mountain House where I worked, and another time I lived in town with a previous boyfriend (who I met at Mohonk) and worked at a warehouse. It is even trendier than I remembered. I think we parked on the street Ben and I lived and I might have recognized the house of apartments, but I can't be sure. Years of brain damage have made it impossible to figure out anything anymore.

We then drove up into the Adirondack Mountains. It was going to rain and we were beat so I put in a search for a motel on the GPS when we stopped in Chestertown, NY. There was a place right up the road and the woman was super friendly when I called. Yes, they took dogs but no, they had no cabin or motel room available...but wait! She had a camper/trailer out back if we didn't mind that or need a refrigerator. How much? I asked and the price was right.

Had to take advantage of the white trashiness for a self-portrait. LOL. I'm not really drinking beer, don't worry.