havasupai | composting toilets

i held my breath, believing the smell would be rancid in there. you see, i have this technique of sparingly breathing with my mouth in any non-flushing toilet scenario. or, in a dire situation when i'm feeling desperate, i allow one deep (nose-)breath in through some article of clothing to help diffuse the stench.

like most normal people, i'm not a fan of the the stank of our collective shit. but it all changed after i experienced the composting toilets at havasupai. seriously. as magnificent as the waterfalls were, i can honestly say that i was nearly equally impressed by the toilets.


prior to the trip, i was reminded of the composting toilets in the grand canyon during the peak of summer when....am i grossing you out yet?....well, when the human waste was baking in the high desert heat. i remember feeling like even breathing through my mouth would be a violation to my human dignity. after that single use, the smell latched on to the fibers of my clothes so that i couldn't even run away from it. it.was.disgusting.


here's what made havasupai's composting toilets so fantastic: 
one) it was in a clean space. 
two) our duty was to drop one scoop of sawdust into the toilet. 
three) it didn't smell. at all!!! 
four) i felt like a lil hamster after every use. 

rad.

experimental photography

had to try a tilt-shift lens, especially when:
i had a sudden burst of inspiration + saw a great bargain at borrowlenses.com + holiday
= time to play & have fun!

i thought i'd just be shoot.shoot.shooting away, but playing with the TS requires more intentionality and slowing down than i had expected. it's good for me. i like the challenge.

anyway, i went to the holiday renegade craft fair today on a whim and besides having my head about to explore from all the omygod.cute.etsy.colorful.handcrafted.goodness spilling out of the fort mason center, i managed to take some pictures along the way.

go ahead, take a stoop.

that's it... a little lower. lower. lower.

it's a junk yard.
an abandoned building--a place where life moved about and now, only trash compiles and weeds peek out through any crack that allows the earth's elements to make contact with what hibernates beneath. water. seed. sun.

i felt inspired biking/walking around the back route of the mission bay conference center in sf. it stirred me up a little and reminded me of the beauty that is all around us, especially in the abandoned spaces where life waits to be unearthed.

sometimes...

we just need to put ourselves out there.

i am bad at hip hop. i mean...my body was just not built to move like some folks. so, i decided to take a free hip hop class, offered by nami lofland -- who is a ball of energy and passionate about dance.

let me tell you, i suck at choreography so trying to memorize a routine where i have to move my body in unfamiliar ways is just embarrassing. (and i did mention that i'm bad at hip hop, right?) i think i tend to look like a stiff board trying to pop it and lock it and rock it and sha-bop it, but i just don't got what bon qui qui got (at the end of the clip).

but, what i learned in doing something i'm bad at was this:
1. it's vital to be able to laugh at ourselves
2. it helps us to either become humble or remain humble
3. it challenges us to still give it our best, even if our best sucks
4. it provides opportunity to appreciate others' gifts and talents
5. it creates a sense of openness to learn

so, with that....um. yeah. uhhh.. .. . i want to share a little video clip of me. .... dancing! (i'm squirming right now). it's just a little sharing of a little me doing a little something that's helped bring me more awareness. by all means, this is not anything to show off. (i didn't even know it was being recorded!)

i'm sharing this so that TODAY, maybe you'd be inspired to:
*do something unexpected or out of your norm;
*do something that you're really bad at, and that you'd laugh at yourself while doing it;
*appreciate someone around you for their talent and go up them and tell them with a BIG smile
*"unlock [your] body and move [your]self to dance" (thanks wilco)

self-portrait 9 & central

central street was where i walked the long walk. on my search for dinner, i walked by The Man's Hat Shop and didn't think much about. but, for some reason, i felt like entering, so i did.
i saw some neat hats and decided to take my self-portrait for the month of September here (long overdue). i've been to the southwest twice this month, so it seemed fitting that part of what i want to capture about this month are the unique experiences i've had. the images were taken with my iphone, which is also fitting because it's my new toy since losing my phone on a run.
but here's where i met Bill and R.C.the conversation started with a few recommendations for places to eat in old town albuquerque, and then esclated into wearing hats to pose for a pseudo photo shoot. R.C. tipped my hat with a precision that i found quite intriguing. i also found out my head is as large as or larger than R.C.'s. hm.

thanks for showing me such a good time Bill and R.C. I'm going to send these pics to you soon, as promised.