...dark chocolate brown.

I grew up in the center of America's blonde universe - the Southern California beach - and never, ever, not even once wasn't singularly proud of having dark chocolate brown hair. It is one of my favorite things about me (thanks Dad).

I am thrilled with the return of the enormous sunglasses - ahhhh, chocolate tortoise shades. I will never go back to small frames - ever.

And the frosty scoop of dark chocolate ice cream from Rainbow - San Francisco ice cream purveyor extraordinaire? Simply perfect.

More self portraits here.

__________________________________________
The PickleBoy and I are off to Austin tomorrow to play, play, play for a week with some of our most favorite friends. Probably won't be posting for awhile but shall return with big smiles and photos galore. Look out photobooths, here we come!

(another from Bay Arcade, Newport Beach, CA - taken in July of '05)

We weren't quite ready when the light flashed and look a little serious in this one so I decided to fiddle around with some of the settings on the dinky photo software that came with my computer and got this altered version. Looks kinda spooky/vintagey to me. I like it. But I definitely need to figure out how to get an affordable version of Photoshop 7 or CS2. This alteration thing is a bit addictive.

I am running extremely low on photobooth strips to share. Luckily we'll be traveling to Austin next week where there are some good booths.

Yee haw!

I have been very busy with my new little lovely camera this Summer and have been madly collecting images of the amazing kids that I am lucky enough to have in my life. I decided that today was a great day to share some of them with you...

The Niece/Nephews

my nephew, Little G

My niece, L.E.

My nephew, Big G

The Offspring of My Near and Dear Friends

Ky

Siblings, Bits...

...and Mags.

More siblings, O...

...and B.

The Babies

butterfly kiss baby



little baby girl twin...



...and her brother, little baby boy twin.

And My PickleBoy...

Surrounded by beauty - inside and out - I am.

Oh...I certainly am.

benevolence.

Do you ever, once in a very long while, see a photo of yourself and not recognize the image as what you actually LOOK like but more as what you FEEL like?

And then do you wish that you could FEEL that way more often?

Yeah, me too.

More self portraits here.

Artist of the Week
Tina Dico

Album of the Week
In The Red

Song and Lyric of the Week
Use Me
"So you’ve messed it up
Don’t know when to stop
Said more than enough

I’ve touched you where it hurts
And I know I’m not the first
But please don’t make it worse

Don’t be so hard on yourself
Take it out on someone else
Say my name anyway you please
Use me

Look me in the eye
I’d love to see you smile
And I know how hard you try

Don’t be so hard on yourself
Take it out on someone else
Say my name anyway you please

In the morning
You’ll see a different side
In the morning
A softer light
In the morning
It will all look right
And you won’t have to hide

Don’t be so hard on yourself
Take it out on someone else
Say my name anyway you please
Don’t be so hard on yourself
Take it out on someone else
Say my name anyway you please
Use me"

Music Story of the Week
Tina is from Denmark, writes her own songs, plays the guitar...she came to fame in America by contributing vocals to Zero 7's albums(which you should already own) and put out this solo beauty last year.

Mellow pretty music for a sleepy mellow LeSophie today who is too beat to write much more about this artist than you really should go listen...you likey :)

I have completely, absolutely, positively not a smidgen of an idea where this child got his sense of humor.

no really.

I mean it.

stop it...

And if you believe THAT go watch THIS for a little insight into mine (sense of humor, that is) and be warned - they use the f word a lot (just like me).

Thanks for the link, my Jen, as usual you move me to tears (of joy). Also, more photo booth friday love here.

THE END.

Step 1:
Take a pair of Converse, preferably from your closet - I cheated and bought a pair from Urban Outfitters that were pre-frayed. I know, I know, sorta lame but it saved me a step and I didn't have any old pairs left.

Step 2:
If they aren't thrashed enough, distress them with a nip here and there - maybe a little sandpaper, etc.

Step 3:
Use a sharp needle and get to embroidering. I suggest not over-decorating as tempting as this may be because too cute just ain't that cute.
('Trust' has been my word/mantra for a long, long time. I used 'Me...' as a little joke on the other shoe where it rests just below my tattoo. I'm all about the subtle double entendre... see this post to further illuminate.)

Step 4:
Shoes too white like mine were? Remove laces, put both shoes and the separated laces in a big bowl and soak them in black tea to desired agedness. I used cold tea and let them soak overnight. I imagine hot tea would get the job done faster.

Et Voila! Your very own, completely individualized, revived and spunky tennies :)

In 1992 I was 25 years old. By then I had quit college and followed my dream to work in music. I had no support from my family and had done it anyway. I had also eloped with an Australian man ten years my senior. I had miscarried a baby. I had worked my way up the ladder into a position of some importance in the industry. I had a perfect, vintage Spanish apartment that was built in the 1930's.

And then, the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.

There is no good way to explain how this altered my life's path other than to equate it to a small yet very intense glimpse into the dark soul of what I imagined a war zone may be like. It was time to wake up, to go. To find my next dream and let go of this one that I had worked so hard for. After much deliberation we decided to move to Australia and give up the apartment, the music business, the life that we had known.

I thought about how I could mark the end of this in some substantial way. I decided to permanently mark myself with a tattoo. Not just any design would do. Nothing that had hung on a parlor wall before - something that was all my own...something that would never lose it's importance to me...never regret. And then it came to me in the sky, as it always had, the moon. The same moon I would sneak out of bed to sleep under when I was little. The moon that still makes me secretly thrilled when it gleams through my window and sets my rumpled white sheets aglow.

The search began for the perfect image but it eluded me - too cute, too masculine, too simple. I would have to create it myself. Many attempts were made but my artistic abilities have never included any kind of portraiture talent. And then, as I was sketching at my desk and getting increasingly frustrated I spied a picture with just the right angle to the profile, got out the tracing paper and came up with the design you see above. There are few people in my life who know that I used my own face to get this very permanent, final image. Probably because it always embarrassed me a little (narcissitic much?).

But as the years have passed I am more comfortable with the idea. It seems to honor a very different me. I look back and am very proud of that girl who had the courage to make all of those very brave and scary decisions. It has been getting me juiced up for what I hope will continue to be a courageous journey. One I can look back on in fourteen more years and make me swell with pride all over again.


Check out the self portrait challenge site for this month. The theme is one of my favorites so far. It is Self Portrait As A ... (join us and fill in the blank why don't you?)

Artist of the Week
Sam Phillips

Album of the Week
A Boot and a Shoe

Song and Lyric of the Week
Reflecting Light
“Now that I've worn out, I've worn out the world
I'm on my knees in fascination
Looking through the night and the moons never seen me before
But I'm reflecting light.

I rode the pain down, got off and looked up
Looked into your eyes
The loss, open windows all around
My dark heart lit up the night.

Give up the ground under your feet
Hold onto nothing for good
Turn and run at the mean dogs chasing you
Stand alone and misunderstood.

Now that I've worn out, I've worn out the world
I'm on my knees in fascination
Looking through the night and the moons never seen me before
But I'm reflecting light.”

Music Story of the Week
I discovered Sam when I worked with Virgin Records and she released her 'first' album called The Indescribable Wow in 1989. I fell in love and have never looked back. She is, in my opinion, one of the finest songwriters of all time. I consider her a poet who can write a damn good melody, layer a killer harmony, play a mean guitar and break my heart every time. I find that I rediscover her every few months and become enamored all over again. If you are a fan of the tv show The Gilmore Girls you will have heard her as she is one of the shows music supervisors/musicians.

If you like the intelligent, talented, opinionated female singer/songwriter type and you don't yet know her...

trust me,
you should.