Noah ordered this amazing French toast at a diner in Hollywood, Florida when we were visiting his 95 year old grandma.

We made a pilgrimage to see the Helmut Newton exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.  This is a tribute to his posing, which is very specific.  It’s also a mash-up of art because Alina and Lea are standing in front of a Joseph Havel curtain sculpture made of bronze.

I already posted a three-fer on today’s Photo of the Day, so this is a bonus.  I found this 2008 portrait taken of me by Stacey Schmitz, a talented Kansas City photographer who also happens to be the guest speaker at my monthly photographers’ meeting tonight.  Stacey is in town for a few days, can’t wait to show him some good ol’ Texas hospitality!  We did the requisite BBQ field trip to Lockhart and are very very full.

Where else can one wear outlandish hats but to the beach?  Folly Beach, South Carolina, photo by Alina.

One of the reasons I feel at home in Texas is because much of it feels like Idaho. This portrait, taken by Alina Prax, reminds me of growing up in Idaho.

A 2008 Holga portrait of yours truly.  We had just placed our order at Torchy’s Tacos and were wandering around the neighborhood trying not to think about how hungry we were and how good that fried avocado taco was going to be.

Needlepoint.  Why, you ask?

It’s not like it’s hip (although Jonathan Adler is sure enamored of it).

I just got it in my head to make a sampler for my friend Jenn, because she is always saying “Time is my Subcontractor”.

The lovely clerk at the needlepoint store (filled with ladies doing fluffy kitten and little-boys-fishing projects) kindly steered me away from doing a classic cross stitch sampler (“not sophisticated” she said).

LIttle did I know that I was embarking on a 3 year project.

Here’s the finished project:

And happy Jenn (who had no idea that I kept this a secret from her for three years while I tried to complete it for her birthday, then for Christmas, then another birthday, then another Christmas).

I started right before my foot surgery on December 14, 2008.

I figured I’d have lots of time, being laid up and all.

I didn’t know that needlepointing is what people did in the winter in their Little House on the Prairie because, well, they didn’t have much else to do.  I’m not going to say that needlepointing is fun and in fact, it’s pretty tedious.  I would watch 10 or 12 movies in order to complete this much:

And I kept screwing up…if I didn’t concentrate, I would have to redo sections.  Here’s a closeup, but don’t judge too harshly!  I would definitely categorize this as “Naive Art”.  Lots of (charming?) imperfections.

Not only did I watch movies, I took this on airplanes (great for starting conversations)!

I started to wonder if Time really was my Subcontractor? or was it the other way around?

As the years went by, it took on the feeling a performance art.

I laugh too about the color scheme because in 2008 Jenn was really into that shade of blue (while I was into greens and yellows).  Then she bought a house and painted it yellow, meanwhile I rebranded my website in…that shade of blue!

Getting close:

And done!

1 min 40 secs to do the final 16 stitches

Finished at 7:56 pm on Sat Oct 1, just a few hours before Jenn’s birthday.  Whew!

Alina, Lea and me, pretending to be Charlie’s Angels in the bathroom at the Houston Museum of Art.

I had coffee time with my friend Lieve Saether.  She’s an extraordinary interior designer whom I met while photographing for Crave Austin.  Lieve is unique in that she specializes in children’s interior design with her company, The Giggle-Room.  She also does adult interior design, using her upbringing in Belgium to bring a sophisticated yet playful European look to her clients.

My dad and his friends, looking dapper in their suits.  The back of this says 1950.  My dad is the short one.

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