Christa's headshots

Playgroup rocks!!

i believe that children are our future....teach them well and...then hope for the best?

recently i shot a birthday party for a beautiful 2-year old. i think these images capture her wonderfully.

today's playlist.

i hurt you - pretenders
when your minds made up - glen harsgard & marketa irglova
personal jesus - depeche mode
she just wants to be - REM
razor - foo
the violence of truth - the the
don't fade away - DCD
colder - throwing muses
helter skelter - U2's version
low - foo
the purest blue - love and rockets
big sky - kate bush
faith - violent femmes
unsung - helmet
cure for pain - morphine

God, the universe and Dad

I trust that God, the universe and Dad will help guide me to the best place.

My Sweet Valentine

6 words

a friend forwarded this the other day - what would yours be?

mine (today):
photographer for sale - is nice too.

http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/

Summing It Up (in Six Words)
By Jennifer 8. Lee
For sale: terse memoirs. This week.

The New York-based, online Smith magazine is releasing a collection of six-word memoirs called “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure” (Harper Collins, 2008). The project was inspired, in part, by the legend of Ernest Hemingway responding to a challenge of a six-word story with “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Ordinary Americans’ memoirs are published alongside Stephen Colbert, Richard Ford, Aimee Mann, Dave Eggers and other luminaries. There is a certain beauty in terseness, which is also seen in the five-word acceptance speeches at the Webby Awards. (Our favorite is still Al Gore’s “Please don’t recount this vote” from 2005, which brought down the house).

Smith magazine (which shares the name of one of its co-founders, Larry Smith) began in 2006 to celebrate personal narrative, both large and small (and apparently, very small). The book, which was co-edited by Rachel Ferschleiser, started with an online submission form, but grew to solicited contributions from notable New Yorkers.

Some of the highlights:
· Canada freezing. Gotham beckons. Hello, Si! — Graydon Carter
· Secret to life: marry an Italian. — Nora Ephron
· Brought it to a boil, often. — Mario Batali
· Nobody cared, then they did. Why? — Chuck Klosterman
· Eight thousand orgasms. Only one baby. — Neal Pollack
· I asked. They answered. I wrote. — Sebastian Junger
· Dad died, mom crazy, me, too. — Moby
· Eat mutate aura amateur auteur true. — Jonathan Lethem
· Fifteen years since last professional haircut. — Dave Eggers
· Born bald. Grew hair. Bald again. — A. J. Jacobs
· Well, I thought it was funny. — Stephen Colbert
· Relatively famous parents, very low self-esteem. — Molly Jong-Fast
· Fearlessness is the mother of reinvention. — Arianna Huffington
· Eat drink man man man man. — Michael Musto
· Mom, Dad. Daphne, Owen. Who’s next? — Sean Wilsey
· Gave commencement address, became sex columnist. — Amy Sohn
· I write because I can’t sleep. — Ben Mezrich
· Started small, grew, peaked, shrunk, vanished. — George Saunders


My new crushes: Snoop Dogg and Dave Grohl
My new fav tv show's: Celebreality and Breaking Bad

dear diary,

dear diary, the last year has changed my life significantly - and i love it. i wish this change in me came before, but it didn't - and that's part of the lesson. i've spent the last couple of decades trying to prove myself to others, trying to prove my worth, to prove that i'm the best person that i can be. The lesson here? i'm the only person i need to prove myself to. While this may be an obvious concept to my millions of my blog-fans, this is a new notion to me. I believe i knew it logically but not in my heart. Luckily my soul was tired of being kicked around and spoke up. There are so many somewhat macabre/decaying shots i've taken in my life that i am now realizing were self-portraits. Luckily, they were also beautiful. See above...

gotta go...A Knights' Tale is on.

Baby Loves Disco

Baby Loves Disco was a blast!! Hysterical! We highly recommend it! Bubble-machines, Chill-out room, organic juice boxes on the bar, snacks from Whole Foods, a goodie bag that included Baby-legs leggings(!) - so much fun!

movies that make me cry every time

Once
The Notebook
Beauty & the Beast (disney)
Shakespeare in Love
Princess Bride
Punch-drunk Love
Chocolat
Saving Silverman (not kidding)
Children of a Lesser God
Ever After
A Knight's Tale
Life Is Beautiful
The Fisher King
Serendipity
Miracle on 34th Street
It's a Wonderful Life

Playlist 02.06.08

Let it Die - Foo Fighters
Wise Up - Aimee Mann
Optimistic - Radiohead
Valentine - The Replacements
Blame - Soul Coughing
When You Die You're Dead - JCS
Bittersweet - Hoodoo Gurus
Keep on Runnin' - Journey
Dazzle - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Dreamer - Supertramp
A Sort of Homecoming - U2
Time the Avenger - The Pretenders
Another Boy Dorwning - The The
Freakshow - Ani


dvd worth watching - Waitress

today's playlist

Missing - Ministry
Sheeps go to Heaven - Cake
Real Love/Its only Life - Mike Doughty
Alex Chilton - Replacements
Green Eggs and Hamlet - Mary Prankster
40 'til 5 - Jarflys
Crush - Smashing Pumpkins
Dum Dum Girl - Talk Talk
GO! - Tones on Tail
Lie to Me - Depeche Mode
You Are My World - Communards
Radio Clash - Clash
Screw - The Cure

Current playlist

Stone In Love - Journey
Eighties - Killing Joke
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansgard & Marketa Irglova
Still - Foo Fighters
Amazing Grace - Ani DiFranco
Hell - Foo Fighters
All Those Yesterdays - Pearl Jam
Trip Throuh Your Wires - U2
Love Is An Unfamiliar Name - The Duke Dpirit
Stubborn Stitches - The Duke Spirit
My Hero - Foo
Do It Again - Kinks
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Samson - Regina Spektor
This Must Be the Place - Talking Heads
Truth Hits Everybody - Police

Call for participants

i'm currently working on a series (photography) about death. Basically, the scenario is that i interview people that have lost someone close to them. I ask them a series of questions about the person, experience, etc. and photograph them as they answer. The answers will be recorded so i can have quotes to go along with the images. So, i am looking for volunteers. The person who died needs to have been an extremely important figure in your life. If you are interested please contact me. momp@mompphotography.com Please pass this info along to anyone you think may be interested - the goal is many faceted - its about art, connecting, healing, being heard and tribute. All subjects will need to sign model release forms in order to participate. This protects both parties. Thanks!

more autobiography

10 favorite places i've traveled to (in no particular order):

1. Paris - easily my favorite place on earth.

2. Rome, Florence, Venice and parts of Tuscany. Stunning.

3. Greece - Athens and Mykonos - dreamy.

4. Bangkok - crazy.

5. San Francisco - tremendous city.

6. Athens, Savannah and Tybee, Georgia. Athens - wicked cool. Savannah - extremely peaceful and charming. Tybee beach - gorgeous.

7. Cinque Terre - Olive groves, lemon groves and the ocean. Oh my god.

8. St John's, USVI

9. NYC - of course.

10. Philadelphia

How lucky am i?!?!?!

Things i've learned with age

5 things i've learned with age.

1. Follow your instinct.

2. As i age, the only thing that i really know is that i don't know anything.

3. There are no absolutes.

4. Be careful with judgements- they can kick you in the ass.

5. Save old love letters, reading them 20 years later will show you how far you've come - or haven't.

Autobiography

i think we should all have to write an autobiography in our 40th year. time to evaluate and re-evaluate where we are, what brought us here and where do we want to go. What questions do we ask ourselves.

Question #1 - List 5 defining moments in your life - good or bad.

Mine:

1. When i found out my cousin was killed in a drunk driving accident at age 16. I was a freshman in college and she was a senior in high school. The week before she died she was part of the homecoming court in her school. She was one of my all-time best friends. When we were little we wore the same clothes, had the same doll with the same name, played with make-up constantly and always laughed our asses off. That was in 1986 and its still very surreal to me.

2. When i found out my dad had stage 4 lung cancer. i was 5 months pregnant at the time.

3. and when he died almost a year to the day later. i was very fortunate to have had such a fantastic father and lucky enough to be able to call him one of my best friends as well.

4. When my mom stayed with my dad's body after he had passed and helped the nurses 'lay out' his body. It was an absolutely tremendous action/tribute to a best friend/best love. I hope for that kind of love. i have 2 heroes and am blessed that both of them are my parents.

5. Holding my son for the first time - He was delivered at noon and i didn't get to see or hold him until around 7 in the evening. He looked up at me and bleeted like a baby lamb and looked into my eyes trying to make noises as if to say "where have you been mom? i've been waiting for you!!"

Next question....things i've learned with age

Michael V. O'Malley

If you never met my Dad you missed out. He was an unbelievable man. He passed away from lung cancer (non-smoker) on December 27, 2005. It's been the longest couple of years yet it feels like it was 2 days ago, not 2 years ago. He was one of the best humans on earth - easily. I have a son and i pray that he thinks of me as at least 1/2 the hero i think my dad is. I miss my dad so much. Anyone that was close to him misses him. i include what my sister and i wrote for an insert for his funeral program (see the following) I will never forget my dad's wake and funeral - slow, slow slow motion. vivid memories - riding behind the hearst looking at thinking about how my dad's body was in it. How i wouldn't hear his laugh ever again. walking down the aisle of the church behind his casket thinking about how i couldn't see anyone that was there - i was looking at people and its not registering. i can't think about it anymore right now.

The insert in my dad's funeral program.

Things we learned from Dad

Laugh from your heart
Travel! Go see it all.
COUPONS!! Double coupons and triple coupons!
Rebates…
Hard work gets it done.
Make your children laugh all the time.
Say hi to everyone.
Keep your sense of humor no matter what.
Keep your money facing the same direction,
in denominational order in your wallet.
Only bring what you can lose.
Wash your hands after playing the slots.
Always bring your own quarters/nickels to the casino.
When making a budget, remember vacations.
When making a budget, remember Christmas.
Only share the remote with your favorites.
Your kids can teach you a few things.
Be friends with your kids but be sure to draw the line.
Make sure your kids know when the line has been drawn.
Sing with your headphones on.
Connect with your grandchildren.
In an ice cream store, be sure to sample every flavor before buying.
Save your coupons for double coupon day.
Seize every opportunity given to you and make opportunities when they aren't.
Always keep your family in mind with every decision you make.
Blood is thicker than water.
Do your own research before you buy big.
Always have 6 months salary saved up, just in case.
Duct tape fixes everything.
Be honest.
Be kind.
Care for those less fortunate.
Talk to kids.
Tell your kids you love them.
Think year-round about what gifts to get your family for
birthdays and Christmas.
Have sympathy.
Have empathy.
Always think about how to get food to the homeless.
Dads can always read your mind and tell you what you had for lunch (as long as your eyes were closed and your mom was mouthing the words).
Volunteer.
Always make children laugh.
Make everyone else laugh too.
Make eye contact.
Know how you feel about it – whatever it is.
Save your change.
When making popcorn, only do so in large quantities.
Document everything.
Attend events your child is in – every swim meet, every diving meet, every recital, every art opening, every school (or living room) play and band competitions.
Volunteer with every organization your child is active in.
Dinner is just something you have to do to get to dessert – the ultimate goal.
Show enthusiasm.
Also know how to be dry.
Take naps on the weekends.
Make sure remote batteries are on hand at all times.
Speak to animals like you would anyone else.
Forgive.
Know how to tell a story.
Everything has at least one story that can be told with it.

We Love you, Marigan, Mary Beth, Lou and Paz

5:40 AM

Can't sleep. The topic of being a coward came up in a conversation the other day with someone. And i stood firmly that i was not being a coward in regards to the issue we were discussing. Then i started to think about if i was a coward in general. Perhaps i'm not who i think i am. i mean i know what i stand for - but does anyone else? Not that anyone needs to know, but how do i work for what i believe in? Simply thinking about topics doesn't change them. I was talking to another friend about health care in our country and how absolutely outrageous and terrifying it is. She brought up the movie Sicko. Michael Moore went to France and asked how they managed to keep the health care system affordable, etc. The response was 'There would be riots in the streets.' How passive or complacent have we become in our country? We talk about an awful lot, but what do we do about it. Do we feel defeated? we need to do more for this country for the well-being of our children.

Bangkok

By Marigan H. O'Malle...

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