Tag Archives: Arizona

2013/04/17 · 11:41

Today’s fish is…

Cowcod Fish

It’s a cell phone picture—not artwork. Not a bad catch, though.

Behold! The glorious cowcod.

What? You’ve never heard of him? Well, he’s mounted on the wall of our local King’s Fish House. My husband took me there for a delicious dinner.

I’d never heard of cowcod either, but they’ve got conservation areas in California and are an ESA Species of Concern. Overfished. Poor things.

Hence, King’s didn’t offer us any cowcod soup.

Wait. Cowcod soup (click for the wiki) has nothing to do with this fish.
As George Takei might say: Oh my. (YouTube: 0:06)

Check out the real (or at least non-mounted) fish in vivid color. Whoa, huh?

Lastly, because I’ve been throwing Red Dwarf quotes at everything lately:

FISH! (YouTube: 0:29)

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Filed under Arizona, Entertainment, Food, Journal, Nature, Photography, Sea

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2013/04/12 · 13:00

Fashion and Digital Textile Design

One more post about the Phoenix Art Museum. These images, also taken by my husband David, are of the Digital Print Fashion exhibition. Everything you see here is digitally printed textile, which allows for some fantastic color and pattern. With digital printing, the sources for fashion inspiration are without limits. Many of these designs inspired me to write, because they look like they’d be at home in a science fiction or fantasy novel—yet, I’d still wear a few of them out to a party this weekend if I could! Which ones catch your eye the most?

Digital Textile Printing - Fashion Examples

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Filed under Arizona, Art, Fashion, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Photography, Printing

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2013/04/10 · 11:40

Black Cloud Butterflies

Black Cloud Butterflies

At the Phoenix Art Museum this past weekend, my husband David took some fantastic photographs of the Black Cloud multi-room installation of Order, Chaos, and the Space Between.

Butterflies. Swarms of them. Over the walls and ceilings.

So striking. I think the angles he used for these shots help convey what it’s like to be there yourself. I hope you enjoy David’s photography as much as I do.

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Filed under Arizona, Art, Inspiration, Nature, Photography

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2013/04/08 · 13:50

Full of Stars: Fireflies Among Us

This time last year [click here for last year's post], I shared my love for an installation at the Phoenix Art Museum. The work is called You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies by Yayoi Kusama.

We continue to be fascinated by this room of infinity lights.

It’s like being out there in space. As I said last year: it becomes complex and you become small. The specks of light in the depths of darkness… beautiful.

Yes, we still plan on having a room like this in our home someday.

In the meanwhile, we visit. This installation is one of the primary reasons we haunt the museum. This last trip, my husband took some photographs. Nothing said they weren’t allowed (sign outside of the entrance) and he tried it only when we had the room to ourselves, so we didn’t ruin the experience for others.

Here are two of those shots:

My hands, cradling a ‘firefly’ on a red-yellow cycle.

Firefly Caught

Might be a person—possibly myself—in the middle of this blue-green field.

Fireflies in Space

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Filed under Arizona, Art, Imagination, Inspiration, Photography, Space

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2013/02/19 · 12:15

Phoenix Lights

Our Phoenix Lights, 2/18/13

Last night, we happened to go outside just as a series of strange lights passed over our house. When we first saw them, they were in a staggered zig-zag pattern. By the time I’d managed to get my dying cell phone to snap a picture, the lights had spread out to what you see above.

Neighbors were standing here and there to watch the sky too. At first I thought it was a huge group of helicopters, but my husband pointed out the lack of noise, plus the things were a very bright yellowish color.

Never saw anything like it.

After a while, I got creeped out and we hopped in the car to head off on our grocery-shopping errands. We made jokes about alien invasion and how weird Arizona can be. This state is a weird-magnet.

Eventually, the lights disappeared. Helicopters circled the area. We figured we’d see something on the news later. Nope. Not a thing. Can’t find anything about it online, other than old reports of the Phoenix Lights.

So, I’m blogging about it. Have you ever seen lights like this? Or anything else that made you consider the odds of UFOs checking out your neighborhood?

What do you think they are?

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Filed under Science Fiction, The Unknown, Space, Journal, Life, Photography, Arizona

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2013/01/29 · 11:31

Whut? Guessing Game!

Whut, whut. Image by David Gadient, 2013.

My husband David snapped this picture recently. Can you guess what it is?

[Next-Day Update] Here’s what it is: Bob’s Big Boy.

Well, the first picture was his rear end!

We found him in a vintage Americana shop at Barrett-Jackson, along with tons of other old items from restaurants and gas stations. Yep, he was for sale! Not sure of the price. Wonder if anyone bought him? He was about twice our height.

Big Boy

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2013/01/15 · 11:41

Barrett-Jackson Car Auction

Barrett-Jackson Car Auction Photos 2013. Photos by David Gadient.

Cars are art. Didn’t Top Gear already argue that several times? I agree: cars are indeed art. Cars are poetry. Cars are inspiring. They are things of beauty and speeding along in one makes the heart flutter. They have personality, spirit, and attitude… much like the people who drive them.

We went to the amazing Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction this weekend and spent many hours gawking at the cars. If you ever have the chance to attend one of these auctions—take it. There is just so much shiny to see! There are even food and merchandise vendors. Perfect way to spend a family afternoon.

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Filed under Arizona, Art, Cars, History, Journal, Photography, Technology

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2012/11/14 · 12:03

Logos, Patches, and Inspiration

Before you guys shoot me for all the Debris Dreams posts, I promise I’ll keep those on the light side soon. However, since I’m doing my posts alphabetically and happen to be on the letter ‘L’… I figured I’d show you what inspired the CAA and Luna logos/patches I designed for the book.

Around the time I was assigned the project, we had visited the Pima Air & Space Museum to have a look at the planes and the space-related stuff they have. I’m a geek and love planes—and cars, and especially boats, but I digress…

Lucky for me, they also had plenty of patches to gawk at. Here are a few of the photos I took (with my ancient cell phone, hence the amazing quality), along with the CAA and Luna logos below them. In case you’re curious, the crane’s banner on the CAA logo says “Semper Fidelis” in Chinese.

Debris Dreams - Logo Inspirations

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Filed under Arizona, Art, Books, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Publishing

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2012/04/04 · 10:50

Full of Stars

You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies by Yayoi Kusama

I’m a member at the Phoenix Art Museum, which, coming from the New York area, isn’t a huge museum, but what they have there is pretty awesome.

My favorite installation there is called You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies by Yayoi Kusama. It’s basically a pitch-black room of mirrors with computer-controlled LED lights.

Sounds simple, right? Well, it’s far from simple when you’re walking through it or even standing still within it. It becomes complex and you become small.

You are wrapped in the sensation of being in space, and with little navigation. Particularly when there are few people making any noise outside of the room. The quiet and the specks of light in the depth of darkness—it’s beautiful.

I’d love to create a room like this in my own home. Space to clear my mind.

Yayoi Kusama has other light installations, and there are a few videos online. This one offers a good impression of the experience. However, if you have the opportunity to visit one in person, you won’t regret making the trip—especially during slow times of day when the staff might let you linger.

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Filed under Arizona, Art, Creativity, Imagination, Space

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2011/12/16 · 14:50

Yuletidings

This month has turned out to be busier and crazier than the last, even with me having written a novel(la) in November. I have several paid projects right now, family here for holidays, and everyone is getting the seasonal sniffles. Good times, all the same. Wouldn’t have my life any other way. I hope all of you are having a fantastic holiday time—whatever or however you celebrate.

Winter here in Arizona is truly beautiful. This is a photograph I took last year during Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Las Noches de las Luminarias

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