Feeding My Passion

So I flew out of San Francisco for Incheon, South Korea on 27 June. This was earlier than I expected to leave, I had expected to leave sometime right after my parents and I got back from taking a trip up to Waldron, Wash., in the San Juan Islands to see Madeline, her husband Don, and their daughter Amirah. We were also going to see a few of my parent’s friends from college and former colleagues, and go camping along the Oregon coast in the very cool yurts they have in the state parks. It’s so cushy that it’s hard to call it camping, but it is fun and easy. All you need to bring is bedding since they have at least a futon and a heater. Margaret (my ex-wife) and I had stayed in one for a couple of days up at Cape Disappointment, Wash., (what a name, huh?) when we lived in Hillsboro, Ore., back in 2000.

Besides not spending more time with Kamila, leaving before the trip up to Waldron was the other major bummer about leaving early. But my great recuiter, Issa Cohen, from Korea Recruitng, told me about a position in Dongtan New City (literally a new city, more on that later), and I figured if I could leave right away, why not? Why prolong the inevitable, especially when it would be more and more difficult to leave Kamila in the US.

As of June 18^th, I still needed to get my criminal background check and my degree certification apostilled and sent to S. Korea so my future employers could start to process my work visa. So I jumped in my little car and spent the day in Sacramento (where it’s always a pleasure to see my sisters who live there) getting a jurat for my certificate of degree (ugh, more on that damn certificate later), and getting both documents apostilled, and then sending all my paperwork – medical statement, criminal background check, certificate of degree, official college transcripts, 2 passport photos, photocopy of the info page on my passport (which came out too dark for S. Korean immigration, so I took a photo of my the info page and then emailed it to my recruiter who forwarded it onto the school who then sent it to immigration). Then I sent all of that paperwork via DHL (FedEx would have been fine as well) to the school here in Dongtan.

I gave Issa a call once I got it in the mail and he asked whether I could leave on Wednesday. Oh, by the way, I did all my paperwork stuff on Monday. So I politely begged off Wednesday since my mother is busy on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and asked to leave on Friday. No problem. Except he booked a flight that was already overbooked. The next available flight on Asiana Airlines (which won airline of the year last year, and they deserve it) was Sunday, so I packed very carefully (which I didn’t need to do, since I thought I had a weight limit of 22kg for my checked bag and 10kg for my carry on, but I had a limit of 2 checked bags at 22kg each, so I could have brought my Manduka mat. I has a sad.) My parents took me to the airport, I got there in plenty of time, and I left at 1:45p, non-stop for Incheon, S. Korea.

Twelve hours and fourteen minutes later, I touched down 16 time zones away, in the land of the morning calm.

It’s been juuuuuust over a month since I last posted, a month and 2 days since I finished my degree. I had a glorious 2 1/2 weeks with Kamila in LA. I got to see the city like I’d never seen it before in the dozens and dozens of times I’ve been down there, mostly with my family, mostly visiting family (or Disneyland).

Kamila lives in a sweet, quiet house in W Hollywood, in a neighborhood that veers from tarnished (or burnished, take your pick) apartment buildings down one street and incredibly tidy and gorgeous examples of single-family residential architecture down the next. And since it’s between Santa Monica Blvd. and Melrose, it feels like the epicenter of American pop culture, from Chaplin to Beach Boys to the Jonas Brothers (Who the hell are they by the way? Do they make music with more than 2 chords?).

So what did we do for 2 1/2 weeks? Well, she worked during the week, so I volunteered in the Shumei Natural Agriculture Garden three days a week and stayed home (yes, it felt like home – I seem to be supremely adaptable) the other 2 days, read, caught up on my email, recovered from the gardening, whatever.

And I enjoyed cooking for her: Breakfast, packing her lunch, and making dinner. Of course I love cooking already, no surprise there, but I rarely do it everyday, three meals a day. I didn’t have to be particularly creative, my own money ran out after the first week (LA is expensive, go loaded for bear), and I didn’t want to be extravagant, but I had a lot of fun being creative with what I had and what was inexpensive: brown rice, legumes, greens. I actually made mayonnaise from scratch –  raw yolk and everything – for the first time while I was there out of necessity. And it was awesomely delicious!

And without being indiscreet, Kamila is truly amazing and we had a magical time. I were but little happy if I could say how much…

Thank you everyone, you may never know how much your support has meant to me, but let this acknowledgement of your help in the completion of my 20-year journey in photojournalism be the beginning of my expression of sincere gratitude.

No dust or scratches, unless you want them.

p.s. If you’ve never physically spot-toned a print (omg) or used Photoshop to touch up a scan, please take my word for it: Total pain in the butt. Express gratitude for digital every day.

Ok, I’m getting a little nervous again. Welcome to the roller coaster that is my photoj class.

I haven’t heard back yet from either my big organic subject, who I thought was a done deal. And the head of ForageSF, who I’m sure is a very busy guy and just hasn’t seem my email yet, hasn’t contacted me since he told me to email him once I got the letter for the next dinner. Which I did. So I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen here.

What I do know is that it isn’t happening here, in Merced. I won’t be photographing either of my remaining two portions of the essay anywhere near here, so I’ve decided to pack up everything I need to finish the class, some clothes, my web cam (not see Kamila’s face for 2 weeks? I’m tough, but I’m not that tough), and stay in Sacramento with my sister Beth and Ryan at the Hurley Farm.

Sure would love to hear from my peeps.

Finally, after a long time with no movement on my photo essay, things are finally coming together!

I got an email yesterday from ForageSF, a group that serves a foraged meal (the menus are mouth-wateringly awesome) once a month to a small group of people who are fast enough to sign up. Which I just happen to be this month, on Friday 7 May. The founder of the group has already agreed to give me access to the foraging, preparation, and consuming of this meal. Access has been the most challenging part of this essay, as it often is with any in-depth, long-term photojournalism project. So except for the photos, the “foraging” portion of the essay is waiting for me in San Francisco next week.

This evening I made pictures of a family going out to grab a fast-food meal, take it home, and eat it. I’m feeling pretty good about how it turned out, so that part is done.

And I’m probably leaving tomorrow to stay at my youngest sister’s house in Sacramento so I can photograph the “big organic” portion of the story when a subject is ready for me. While I wait for a subject, I have plenty to do besides making photos to wrap up my class which include, but aren’t limited to: Book reports, putting a portfolio together, and going through my exit interview (via Skype or phone). On Wednesday. I’ll take Amtrak and then BART into San Francisco, and check into the youth hostel near the city center, which is the closest one to the Mission district, where the foraged dinner is being held.

Then on Saturday, I head back to Sacramento, and if I haven’t made the photos for the “big organic” section yet, I’ll stay there until I do, or until 14 May, when I give David’s fantastic Nikon D200 back to him (THANK YOU DAVID!!) and head back to Merced.

Then I begin my victory lap around the west coast. You think I’m kidding?

As a very good friend of mine just said about my lack of progress on my food-related photo essay since we were in Santa Cruz much earlier this month, “Your project is kind of stale.” I don’t think she was trying to be punny, but she’s got a very playful sense of humor, so I don’t know.

That was yesterday, today is a brand new day! I’ve got access and an appointment for the “fast food” section of my photo essay on Thursday evening, kind of a naturally perfect situation. It’s a family that I met soon after I moved here (Merced, Calif.) that is very physically active (the father coaches soccer, the mother is a yoga instructor, their sons all participate in one sport or another), and like many families, they are busy, so they often grab some fast food on Thursday evening, which is their busiest day of the week, after they all get done with their soccer practice/yoga class/whatever. And there I will be, bearing witness to their meal, from discussion about where to go, to going, pickup, and partaking.

Huge load off of my mind.

And I have access, at least verbally, to the other two sections of the essay: big organic and foraged. Just waiting for the other two shoes to drop from this 4-legged creature. Stay tuned!

I made this photo from the kitchen in the Branding Iron, a restaurant that’s been in Merced for more than 52 years. When I was a kid growing up in Merced, it was the best place in town (probably still is) and when my grandfather gave me a choice of any place in town when I turned 9, I chose The Branding Iron.

Wow, that sounds really familiar!

So that was day 1 of my first 30-day series. This is day 30 of my second 30-day series. Besides having a much better camera this time (thanks to my brother-in-law) than than the one I started with, I’m also feeling much better about the photos I’m making under any circumstance, even in this dark environment. And it’s not just the higher ISO. Moments are better, expressions are better, rapport is better. I had A LOT of catching up to do with my classmates, but now I feel confident I only have a lot of catching up to do with my classmates.

I’m all about the food in one form or another, even if I don’t eat it. We were staying at my youngest sister’s place at Soil Born Farm’s Hurley location, where she lives with her boyfriend, Ryan (they’ve been together more than 10 years). We didn’t have the pleasure of their company this time since they were in New York visiting friends.

However, some of the other farm animals kept us from getting too lonely or bored. The chickens are cooped up, but one of them can fly out of the coop, and seems to enjoy getting out and walking around. I started stalking it, cornered it, and then picked it up and put it back in the pen with the rest of them. Then the same bird expressed her displeasure with me by flying at me! The nerve!

They just got a couple of piglets, very cute. Those are Ryan’s mother, brother, and father, great folks.

My mother was quite determined to get the last of the chocolate transferred into the fondue pot. The fondue was good.