At Last…
Juicy June is finally upon us and LORAX Community is now featuring a few of my very own juice & blended drink formulations in the latest release of 4 Seasons Zine!
I am truly elated to share in such a motivatingly educational publication so lovingly curated by my dear friend and colleague Michael Ray, with whom I invite all of you to request your very own copies and participate along with us all month via social media and the Vegan DIY blog on Tumblr.
Each day in June we shall be following questions, images, original recipes, and topical tips bearing hashtags of #JuicyJune, #LoraxCommunity, & #4SeasonsZine to the attention of @LoraxCommunity & @VeganDIY managers via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, & Tumblr.
Please be sure to attach the aforementioned tags to any relative media you may wish to have considered for reposts, social shoutouts, reblogs, and possible entry in some excellent giveaway opportunities.
Although I have my very own list of lovely ideas and inspirations to share in celebration of the momentous occasion, many are presently on hold due to yet another unforeseen event in a seemingly perpetual series of technological impediments…
Transcending a Formative Era
As many readers are likely aware, I have neither owned nor had access to an actual telephone in ages and have relied entirely upon a cameraless first gen iPad + intermittent access to wifi for the vast majority of my (rather limited) social media activity. My Instagram account is one of the few which shares images taken offline using my trusty little Nikon, which has essentially been my very best friend and healing/recovery partner since I was indefinitely sidelined and displaced in a cycling accident just over two years ago.That little camera provided me with occupational therapy and a wonderful option for sharing whilst I worked to nourish myself back to health without pharmaceuticals, surgery, or any other direct contact with humans during some very difficult time spent in strange places and confined to bed or wheelchair for well over a year.
Food is Medicine
The Healing Power of Gratitude
Joining the Dots
Having grown up in the home of a professional photographer, capturing random images was a quintessential element in my development and discovery of the world. Since it was such a commonplace element of life during my formative years, photography was something I actually took for granted.
I essentially grew up on both sides of the camera, learned to use the developing labs set up in our family homes as a hobbyist, and enrolled in some courses as means to easily achieve high marks in high school/university.
Despite my lifelong connection to interpretation and relative expression of life experiences through images, I always found the animal-derivative/exploitive aspects of film photography to be frustrating and bothersome to my conscious.
As such, I eventually severed my connection with such due to moral conflict whilst also finding my way back in front of the camera as a print, artistic, and “alternative” model to cover the cost of course fees and other expenses of everyday life.
In retrospect, it seems quite strange for me to reflect upon these times and recall a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the majority of aforementioned scenarios as they happened…
Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone
Relinquishing ties with film photography seemed rather easy during constantly busy periods of ‘life in the big city”, and (with the exception of projects in which I was allowed creative and collaborative input) most modelling jobs were typically ‘just work’ which afforded me the ability to pay for various learning, creative, and recreational endeavours along the way.
Digital cameras found their ways in and out of my life during the interim, but I never really cared much about them and took very few pics of anything other than random snaps of animal friends during happy times. They never seemed to maintain their value, or even produce any shots I felt particularly worthy of keepsake. I ended up deleting most, yet did my best to preserve a few random images here and there of beloved animal companions past and present.
My little Nikon entered my life sometime in 2009, mainly due to a perceived need for documentation of LORAX Community gardens and other related projects. Although I never really considered it as much of a teaching aid or recreational tool for documenting everyday life experiences, it was there for me when I was lost, injured, alone, and very unwilling to connect with those around me in a strange and frightening place. Thus began my exploration and rediscovery of photography and relative exploration of its potential as a stand-in during my inability to teach live workshops whilst I worked toward regaining my strength & bearings.
New Beginnings
One final (aside) note for subscribers who signed up before we activated the WordPress module on the blog: As of this month we will be disabling the S2 subscription service, and all direct emails via that utility shall cease entirely. If you are a subscriber via S2, please expect a message from WordPress regarding your subscription (you will be asked one last time to verify your subscription–please click the necessary link to do so & remain subscribed via WordPress in lieu of the old format).