Good Things: Rainbow Slum

To celebrate Ike and Connie's shared birthday, I'm setting aside my usual irreverence and posting something... nice. It's such a magical day that I can almost feel the corners of my mouth turning up as I type that. Almost. Sure I'm delirious from planning a first birthday party for a kid that won't even remember it, but I could swear that there are unicorns with sparklers dancing across a rainbow right outside my window...

But seriously, check out the work of Jeroen Koolhas and Dre Urhahn, two dudes who turned a frown upside down by painting a slum in Rio de Janeiro with the brightest palette imaginable. By painting favelas (Brazilian/Portuguese for slum), Koolhas and Urhahn transform communities through color as well as education. Locals are provided with training and pay while reworking the favelas.

To learn more about the Favela painting project or to donate, click here.

Back in black on Friday so enjoy the rainbow while it lasts...

[Link via Arch Daily]

Castles Made of Sand

I don't know about you dudes, but I am not going to spend my holiday on the computer. Nope. I'm going outside to enjoy some quality time with The Huz and The Babe, and I'm going to enjoy the bleep out of it. So, I apologize for the thin post, but this little window of golden opportunity won't last forever. Some beautiful visual aids to illustrate my point:

These blink-and-you'll-miss-it sand drawings by Jim Denevan recall works by the late, great Robert Smithson. Truly sublime.

Have a great holiday, everyone! We'll be back Tuesday.

[Link via Marvelous Kiddo. Thanks, Karly!]

Michael Kenna

Friends, I know I promised you another episode in the ongoing Sofas Of Our Lives (SOOL) drama, but I'm afraid it will have to wait until next week because my day job is currently keeping me too busy to shoot the pictures for it. It seems that providing 24/7 childcare, non stop maid service, and daily culinary master minorpieces, is incredibly time consuming. I think I've hit a wall. Now, I know I can't really complain since we are lucky to be healthy and happy (and also since a certain someone I know has THREE young boys), but in the 11 months since sweet baby Ike arrived, I have been out to dinner alone with my husband once. I really need a vacation. In an effort to be positive, I will get a little bragadocious and announce that I got my first photo credit in the New York Times (cough) blog for a shoot I did of Birds Barbershop. Obviously I am only steps away from becoming a famous photographer -- the kind of fancy person who can hire a babysitter, a maid, and a personal chef.

While we're waiting for my ship to come in, I'll stop yapping long enough for you to check out these beautiful images by a real famous photographer, Michael Kenna.

My favorite images are of the graphic, zen like Japanese countryside, and of chaotic rambling French ruins.  As usual, my tastes are nothing if not divided. And of course, it doesn't hurt that I would love to visit both places.

What do you think? Japan or France? Let's take a mental vacation together.

Happy Friday. See you next week.