Julie is the thinking frog | 8.09

Adorable, no? Both the frog and my mother-in-law.  This super cute statue sits (yes it does) outside the National Institute of Health building in Washington DC. My cousin-in-law works there (in the building, not the frog).  Apparently my cousin-in-law and her mother (my aunt-in-law) helped coach my mother-in-law in her excellent pose. Good job team in-law!

In other news, my cousin-in-law should submit some statue photos. Yes she should. I'm pretty sure this kind of thing is right up her alley.

We're the camel | Tan Tan, Morocco | 10.09

There's not a lot going on in Tan Tan, Morocco. I mean, depending on who you are, you might find it a thrill since it's in a country that some people call the Western Sahara and some people (namely the King) call Morocco. Disputed territory is always fun and risky. It's also near the Algerian border, where there's a nice little conflict/cease-fire right now.

This means that you will get stopped by the police while driving through this part of the country (which ever country you think it is), and you will have to prove that you have a reason to be there.  That's tricky, because the real reason we went as far as Tan Tan was to see the "kissing camels" that flank the road into town.

The Lonely Planet book told me they were kissing. It's just not true. See how you can see the lips of this camel, and no lips of the other (female) camel? That's because they're not so much kissing as "facing one another separated by a road". So. I was a little disappointed. But no worries. Joe suggested that we could collectively BE the camel, and it was all okay.  (He's the tail end. I'm the head. The camera was balanced on the back of the rented Fiat. Yes, the Fiat. We got it in Tiznit from Cosmo Cars, which was next to the Paris Pizza place and the film processing store.)

Sayra is a sealion

It really doesn't get any better than this. Sayra sent this to me while I was in Morocco, and things have been a bit lax in the posting department around here. Well no more.


Sayra was pretty thrilled to send this to me, because it's finally a REAL submission. She is being the statue. Being it so much, in fact, that she's even wearing a wet suit.  She says, and I quote, 

"Finally, a real 'be the statue' submission.  I am seriously BEING the statue, complete with sealion like-insulative suit.  I would have raised my head a bit more but I would have lost all circulation to my head, and then it would have been a 'fall off the statue' entry.  And nobody wants that."

True. No one wants anyone to get hurt in the process of being the statue. Even if it was funny. Safety first, dear submitters. Safety first.

Being Dirty Dan | 8.09

Another submission from my long-lost high school friend, (reunited and it feels so good--via Facebook), Cara. Cara and I both migrated west from Minnesota, though she's waay up north in Bellingham. This submission comes after a long day of hiking when she and Hailey stoped at the Colophon for lunch and took this photo in Fairhaven Square with Dirty Dan Harris.

Not having been to Fairhaven Square, I had to look up both the Colophon (apparently full of cow decor) and Dirty Dan, who I have since learned was a rum runner and harpooner. So there. Thank you Internets, and thank you Cara for another brilliant submission!

We are going to the beach | 12.08

(even if it was December.)

These are WAY back from Urban Craft Uprising, I think, last December. (If it wasn't UCU, it was some craft show at Seattle Center where everyone else was looking for Christmas presents but we ended up buying only things for ourselves. HA--that's how it rolls when you hand make your gifts.)

Anyway, these super awesome window arts can be (were? are they still there? I don't know) found at Seattle Center (for you out-of-towners that's the big public park where the well-known Space Needle lives, and the lesser-known BEST public fountain of all time lives as well and some other less great stuff, like the science center, an arcade, and the huge let down of the Experience Music Project). There's also always something random happening there. Public art, naked people playing violins under a tree, hypnotists, free foam flamingo hats. A great slice of Seattle.

We are cement statues | 7.09

Over the fourth of July weekend, Joe and I took a road trip (with our very hairy yellow dog, see above) to Olympic National Park, near Lake Crescent, and parts even more northern and western (see: Neah Bay).

Somewhere along the road (101), after four days of eating from our tiny camp stove and living without a shower, we found Granny's, a sweet little cafe with an attached motel and hobby farm (chickens, miniature horses, goats) and delightful food. We hung out with the goats, chased the chickens, and fed the horses dandelion greens. AND THEN. Look what we stumbled upon.

It was down the street from that cafe that we found such wonderous cement statues with which to pose. The spider. The woman with her jaunty hat. Oh rural Washington, I ♥ you.

Be the tree | 8.09

From the same photo shoot as the Choose your own statue, I bring you Be the Tree. Where my father demonstrates that nature makes her own statues too...and they're called trees. Why not be the trees?

Just look at my father's wistful tree-like posture. (Also, that's a pretty great tree. Very statue-like.) An A+ all around.