So strange, so beautiful

Wonderful, dreamy and peculiar they are, jellyfish - and you never really get to look at them properly. They are quite abundant in Danish waters, but hard to study in detail. Imagine my delight, when we visited the fantastic Monterey Bay Aquarium*, where an entire section is dedicated to them. These are common types in the Pacific area near Monterey, not odd or exotic varieties. I didn't write down the names, but just stood there, hypnotized, in front of the giant, backlit tanks, in the dark rooms, that made them gleam like jewels, and every tentacle, detail and colour stand out. Stunning!

 

*Check their Live Jelly Cam! 

 

Summer is coming to an end, and I am slowly starting to digest all the impressions from our long trip in July and August (we travelled on the US West coast), not to mention roughly organizing hundreds and hundreds of photographs, something I am always very keen to get done, but sadly do in short bursts of wild energy and determination (and then I don't get much done) and at very odd intervals.

I have thousands of unsorted photos in folders and folders, and they are both my treasure and a constant source of feeling behind. I think this is a very common problem, and sometimes I consider making dogma rules for myself, such as being only allowed to take ten photos per day, or doing a daily delete-session. Because sorting images for me is a big job: it actually means getting rid of all the redundant ones, only keeping the one or two of a certain scene I actually like, and it also means doing the big or small photoshop corrections on each image that may need them. And only then do I consider a folder of images sorted and done. And I do actually enjoy looking at my old photos, I frequently spend hours getting lost in them - I'd think rather have that than Netflix, any day. 

But what a job. Sigh. 

Summer Break

This blog will be taking a very official break (after a longer period of not very frequent posts - sorry about that, readers, I do hope you have found some of the old posts useful).

My family and myself will be making an old dream come true: the classic California roadtrip - from Seattle to San Diego with an lot of interesting stops on the way (Portland, Mount Shasta, Napa Valley, San Fransisco, Los Angeles - and a lot of smaller places like Monterey, Big Sur, Solvang, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree. Wow!).

It will be a big adventure, and I know I will be back with lots of new energy, power and inspiration, after a busy and a bit too challenging spring. And - perhaps best of all - an entire month spent in the company of some of the people I love best. Not too bad, huh? 

See you in late August, and a happy and peaceful summer to you all.

The Isamu Nogushi Museum in New York

The other day I picked this print up at the frame shop, and I immediately had to dive into my (yet not quite sorted) folder of images from our US-trip last year. See, I bought the print (brilliant red ink on almost transparent washi paper) in a very special place....

On a sunny day in June, I left my family to their own devices, and hopped on the subway to go visit a place in my own slow company: The Isamu Nogushi Museum in Long Island City - just a few stops from bustling Manhattan, but an oasis of quiet and beauty. The Japanese-American artist Isamu Nogushi designed the place himself, and it is created as a place where he would sum up his life's work in a small, intimate exhibition building and sculpture garden. There is so much to say about both Nogushi himself, and the exquisite museum space he created - I will lead those curious for more on to these sources:

Wikipedia on Isamu Nogushi

About the museum and the museum garden

It landed on my top ten list (I think, actually!) of breathtakingly beautiful architecture, I have had the good fortune to see, here or there. Seen as a whole, because you could not remove one sculpture or pine tree from the garden, or anything. It is perfect. Everything in balance, and warm, welcoming, sensual and approachable in every detail. Just wow.

On the last image you see his characteristic initials, on a stone fountain in the garden. 

The practicalities: Take the yellow N/W subway line and get off at the Broadway stop. It's a nice half hour walk from there, and you may want to check out the Socrates Sculpture Park, or other interesting things in this rather cozy and very down to earth neighborhood.

The museum has a café (and a really nice shop selling - among other things - the lovely Akari lamps) - BUT if you are hungry, I have one really hot tip for you. I had lunch in this diner on my way to the museum, and it was just the best eggplant parmigiana sandwich with an ice cold Coke on the side, I have ever had!

The Bel Aire Diner is on the corner of Broadway and 21st Street. Much recommended!

USA trip # 2: colorful Key West

Back in May we took at bit of a US east coast road trip, from the Florida Keys in the south up to Maine as our northernmost destination. I took about a billion pictures, and sometimes I manage to organize a batch, and phew, that's gonna take some time! Here are some sunny memories from a place I really fell in love with: Key West. 

I really thought it was a magical place. The turquoise sea surrounds it to all sides and the constant, velvety breeze keeps you from melting. The gorgeous gardens behind the picket fences are crazy exotic mini jungles, and all the colonial wooden houses are so pretty. There are all kinds of palm trees, banyan trees, hibiscus and flowery cacti everywhere - even though you are basically on a tiny strip of land in the middle of the salty ocean. 

People are of the hippie nice and relaxed variety, and dresscodes and that sort of thing are nonexistent. You eat amazing seafood, drink key lime margheritas and listen to salsa music (only 90 miles to Cuba, as you are constantly reminded!). There are lots of tourists, but the noisy ones cram themselves together in five famous bars on Duval Street - and the rest of the place is very laid back and tranquil.

Here are a few of my photos - wanna see more? Go to the flickr album!

USA trip # 1: I heart Miami

Hi again - I'm back after a rather long recovery of my hand, and a lot of unusually steady hot and sunny weather here in DK. Just lately it started getting cold and rainy, so this would be a perfect time to post a little, belated postcard from beautiful, sunny Miami, starting point of an East coast road trip I took with my family back in May.

A bit to my surprise, actually, I really fell in love with the little bit of Miami we saw. We spent three days, and chose to stay at a small deco hotel in the middle of the infamous party district South Beach, even though we are a fairly quiet family travelling with a five-year old. We did not regret that! It was a lovely, surprisingly tranquil place - okay, there were lots of people hanging out at the beach front cocktail bars, but the scene was cosy and relaxed, rather than rowdy and noisy. Maybe it was the time of year (early May), I don't know? But we all loved it! To me it was first of all a haven of fantastic, kitchy, colorful and well-preserved art deco, midcentury modern and any kind of fun revival architecture you can think of, and so much more of it than I expected. The so called Deco District is lovingly well taken care of, and the lush, exotic greenery and the magnificent beach next to it, all make it a very interesting place to visit.

Here are some (mostly architectural) snapshots - and if you would like to see some more pictures, from the Cuban district Little Havana, from the gorgeous Venetian Pool in Coral Gables and a few more places, you could check out my flickr album.