Love

Happy Valentines Day everyone!
I drew this for my wonderful wife on her birthday this year. I'm so proud of her and thankful to have her by my side. Not to mention this little bugger too:



I also made heart friendly vegan pancakes this weekend. They were quite good. Here is the recipe:

1 Cup Flour (All purpose)
1 Cup Almond Meal (Trader Joes)
3.5 Tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 Cup Rice Milk
1 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal (Trader Joes)
3 Tbs Water
1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1. Mix Flax meal and water and let stand for 2 minutes (This is the egg substitute, alternatively you could use a couple Tbsps of organic "no sugar / fructose syrup added" apple sauce)
2. Wisk together remaining dry ingredients
3. Mix together wet ingredients.
4. Make a well in the dry bowl and pour wet into it. Mix until just combined.
5. 1/4 cup per cake into a pan over medium heat.

The olive oil makes them taste very buttery even without butter. I ate them plain and they were delicious. But top with fruit or berries for added yumminess. These will have more of a fluffy cakey consistency than a typical pancake. They are slightly more fragile so flip them gently.

Squirrel!!!

Squirrel!!!, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled site survey project stream to bring you this important photo of my boy being blessed by the squirrel equivalent of Totoro.

2010 Train Has Departed

B&O 2009 008, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

It's been a fun 2009. I have...
Been amazed by the birth and daily evolution of our son.
Gotten back into drawing.
Have been making amazing music with amazing musicians.
Reconnected with a lot of old friends and made some great new ones.
Gotten back into yoga and then fallen back out of it again.
Been able to visit with lots of family.
Been thrilled to see my wife get all crafty.
Went to the B&O museum and took a bunch of pictures. Here is one of them. click on it to see more.

Hungry

DSC02480.JPG, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

We gave Emerson his first taste of table food this weekend A little bit of banana smashed up in some breast milk. He has been eying our food a lot lately and showing a keen interest in the whole eating phenomenon. So we figured we would give him a little taste. He was pretty receptive to the whole opening his mouth to put a spoon in routine, though a little confused about what to do with it after that.

This picture is not from that feeding, but from our lunch today at Holy Frijoles. He was wanting to hold the silverware, so under momma's watchful eye he got to play with forks and knives. There are a few more pictures from this if you click on the photo you can see all 12. They came out pretty nice, me thinks.

These Little Piggies

State Fair 048, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

We went to the state fair today and took e on his first Ferris Wheel ride. We also saw lots of animals including this little litter of piglets which I caught mid transport from the stall to the cow palace. This was my favorite photo from the day. You can click on it to view the rest of flickr if you like.

Rusty Shadows

DSC02449.JPG, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

I shot this photo while walking along Druid Hill Park the other day. I love the way textures get layered over time and through the elements. These iron bars have rusted and stained the concrete while lichen has grown alongside it. Nothing is as beautiful as the old dirty decay.

Emerson's Naming Celebration

We had Emerson's naming celebration last weekend and I wanted to share the speech we made at it and some pictures for those who were not able to be there. So here is to the best of my memory what we said transcribed below. Click on the pictures to go to our flickr page and see many more.



Opening reading by Grandpa Ron, from Self Reliance:

”Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it. Where is the master who could have taught Shakspeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? Every great man is a unique. The Scipionism of Scipio is precisely that part he could not borrow. Shakspeare will never be made by the study of Shakspeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much.”

General Introduction

The reason we wanted to have a naming ceremony is to present Emerson to the people who will be his community. It ensures that the child is a part of something greater, and places the child under the protection of those present. One of the things that is important to us is diversity of exposure to culture and belief systems. Represented by the people we invited. In this room we have Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists. And we want our son to be exposed to all of these systems. It is our hope that you will all share with Emerson you particular insights while joining us in encouraging him to be open to and explore all ideas to arrive at the truth.

Introduction of Emerson

We had picked out Emerson's name within a few weeks of finding out Anilia was pregnant. I think most people probably deliberate over this a little longer. But it did not take much time for us to arrive at a name that we could both agree on. The namer Emerson has the obvious connection to Ralph Waldo Emerson. And we both really liked what he had to say on a lot of things. Of course I don't agree with everything he had to say but most of it we feel was pretty in line with our thinking. Particularly Self Reliance and the idea of spiritual transcendence through the natural experience.

The name Albert was a family name on both of our sides as well as Anilia's best friend and her brother's middle names are both Albert. Of course there is also reference to Albert Enstein and Albert Schweitzer both of whom were pretty cool cats.

I wanted to share something that my Aunt Sarah Hornsby had sent to us. She wrote a book called In the Name of Jesus which is a name meaning book with an obvious Christian point of view. And she looked up Emerson Albert in it and this is what she found:

"Emerson meaning from old german – son of emery
emery meaning home
EMERSON:
Literal Meaning from Old German: EMERY'S SON
EMERY is from Old German: HOME RULER
Flower: Gladioli, Snapdragon, Oak Leaves, Garlic, Ginger
Godly Quality: BRAVE, STRONG
Isaiah 12:2 'Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.' "

So I thought that was pretty neat, regardless of what you believe I think can be incorporated somehow. She goes on:

"I love how Emerson's name reflects family - being son of Emery, and the flowers are not just pretty, but strong: just think of the tall spikes and strong colors of the Gladioli and Snapdragon, of stately Oak trees so firmly rooted, growing tall, aging and spreading forth through the years with shelter and nourishment, combined with the herbs, Garlic and Ginger - both pungent and healing plants. (Perhaps you remember us at Mombacho walking the path to the butterfly house that was lined with ginger flowers, so divinely fragrant.)"

Mombacho is a volcano on Nicaragua where my family visited last summer. While we were there we stayed at another volcano called Ometepe, the island of peace which is made from two twin volcanoes in Lake Nicaragua. The volcano we stayed on was aptly named Conception, so... well that was what we did.

So then she goes on to the name of Albert:

"ALBERT, ALBERTA,
Literal Meaning from German: 'athal' NOBLE, and 'berht' SHINING, BRILLIANT, ILLUSTRIOUS
Flower: EDELWEISS, CLOVER, LILY
Godly Quality: MAN OF HONOR
Hebrew 1:3 'And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. WOWOWOW

Clearly the Name you chose for your son represents all that one could hope for one's child as he grows to responsible manhood. To become a Man of Honor, Noble, Shining, Brilliant, Illustrious is a glorious blessing and dream, that takes many years and hard knocks to grow into. The flowers for Albert are Edelweiss, the fragrant national flower of Austria, sweet and nourishing clover (picturing fields covered with clover and being grazed by contented, fat, moist-eyed cattle, and the Lily, which represents Easter Joy! "

We also have a brach of the family in Austria that was was a neat little tie in there as well. So we thought that was pretty cool. Now like I mentioned earlier we have these little sheets here for everyone to write down a blessing for Emerson. So if you think you can top that, just scrawl something down on one of these sheets and drop in the basket there and we will collect them all together to put in a book for him.

I'd like to wrap this up with another quote from Emerson. This was Frank Llloyd Wrights favorite quote (at least his favorite Emerson quote.)

'Every spirit builds itself a house; and beyond its house a world; and beyond its world, a heaven. Know then, that the world exists for you... Build, therefore, your own world.'
From "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

So please stick around there is plenty more food and drinks and Jay Kishor will be playing some music for us now.

Thank You.

screw doodles, meet emerson!

emersons beginning 125, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

Well I haven't posted any doodles in a few days, because I've been busy helping to welcome this little guy into the world.

Emerson Albert Hornsby
Born 04/27/09 at 2:34pm
6 lbs 2 oz
18.75" long
super power - giggly farts

click on the image above to view more pictures.

New Horizons

nicaragua 033, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

Things I love about 2008.

1. Lots of visiting with family in fun and exotic places like Nicaragua.
2. Making a baby.
3. Found new people to make music with and old friends too.
4. Working our garden and eating the bounty.
5. Painting murals on the wall of the house.
6. Working with the neighborhood to make it a better place.
7. Watching Little A get crafty.
8. Sunday night dinners with friends.
9. Electing Obama.
10. Motorcycle rides to work.

11. Returning to yoga practice

As far as next years resolutions? I'll quote some thing I read over at Catskill Cottage Seed which resonates with my attitude:

"I always look with anticipation as to where the flow of the next year will take me. More then plans, lists, or resolutions, my sincere intention is to remain open to the unexpected opportunities that will cross my path throughout the upcoming year."

How about you?

Yes We Have

Now that reality has had a couple days to set in I thought I'd try and jot down some of my thoughts about the recent election. I have to say I have never been so proud of my country and had more hope in my fellow Americans than right now. Little A and I had the opportunity a couple years ago to travel the country on a marketing job for a couple health care companies during the whole Medicare Part D prescription drug plan roll out. During that time we got to talk with thousands of Americans from the poorest to the richest and it was quite enlightening. Mostly it affirmed my belief that we are all very similar on the basic level of what we want and need. We may have different opinions on how to achieve those things and how we got to where we are but we all want to be loved, to be able to enjoy our basic freedoms and liberties, to be heard and to be safe.
The last 8 years have been a sad and disappointing downturn in our history and our standing in the world. I've seen first hand the negative effects of the (soon to be) last administrations policies on the lives of average Americans. I think it is really hard to grasp this if you have not traveled in the way I was lucky enough to be able to. It's very easy to get isolated in your little pocket of the world and extrapolate that experience to your view of the whole country or the whole world.
It sends a great message to the world that our country may finally be growing up a bit more and getting past our racial and xenophobic issues to not all fall for the sad and desperate smear campaigns of the McCain campaign and to stand up in great numbers to elect an African American president with a middle name of Hussein. A man who held his ground and did not bend in the face of criticism nor lower himself to the sort of negative campaigning that cost McCain the election.
Now it's up to us to hold the President Elect accountable and make him keep true to his word. And I am glad to once again have a president who looks us in the eye and tells us that we are needed to make sacrifices and pitch in to help steer this thing. I'm so tired of a president who tells us to just go to the mall in the face of national crisis.
We were in the airport on the way to Ireland when the first troops were getting on planes to go to Iraq. We were on the road traveling when we got to visit this memorial project which had placed an American flag for every victim of 9/11 and every victim of the Iraq war in a field. With a child on the way I hope more than ever in our future.

Waves on the Burren

This is a picture I shot when Little A and I went to Ireland many moons ago. The picture hardly captures the awesome magnitude of this landscape. We were standing out on the rocks on the Burren and the ocean was crashing onto them with amazing force. The ground below us was hallowed out and we could hear and feel the water rushing in and out of the ground beneath us. Getting washed off the rock would have been curtains for sure. It was very humbling to be in the throes of the raw power of nature.

Por la Mañana

I took this shot in Nicaragua in the streets of Grenada, the oldest colonized city in the Americas. I performed a little tweaking in photoshop to make it a bit grittier. Something about the combination of textures, light and shadow and the guy passing by on the bike came together in way I really enjoy.

Morning Jettison

Morning Jettison, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

I shot this photo of a native fisherman's boat and net on the beach of Ometepe island in Nicaragua. I worked a little magic on it in photoshop to try and get is to sit on the line between a photo and a painting. Click on the photo for a full view or to browse other photos from Nica.

Nicaraguan Sky

DSC01483.JPG, originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed.

We just got back from Nicaragua. I took lots of pictures and also many audio samples that I plan to boil down into some musical creations at some point. For now enjoy this sky.