Diane Arbusing

Diane Arbusing, you ask?  Yes, there is such a thing. I have decided that Arbusing is a verb, right here, right now, as I type this.

I cannot express how much I love these photos. They were taken at a "photo booth" at my friend Debby's wedding in California last weekend. Maybe I like it because I never have my picture taken and it's actually kind of nice to have one. Maybe I love it because it's with her and I adore her. Maybe it's because I was her mentor when she was an intern at The Palm Beach Post seven years ago (yikes!) and we have remained friends ever since.

When she was an intern with the Post, she came over for a Halloween party after some crazy late-night shoot she had to do, because, well, she was the intern and sometimes as an intern you get stuck with that stuff. We were feeling silly and decided to take a goofy, serious photo (yes, I do see the paradox), which we both joked later, as I recall, that it looked like a twisted version of the already somewhat twisted shot by Diane Arbus of a set of twins looking straight at the camera. (That photo from seven years ago is at the bottom of this entry).


Skip forward seven years and Debby is getting married and here we are again, still dressed up but much more grown-up like (well, sort of).

At first we had a hard time pulling it together, of course.

Then we managed it.

and this is the old one.

Debby's Toast

It is 6:30 AM where I am right now; California. I arrived here a few days ago to attend the wedding of my good friend Debby. I've mentioned her many times, like HERE, HERE and HERE, and especially HERE (really you could do a web search for debby and find all sorts of entries).  Right now I cannot sleep. I'm not sure if it's the jet lag, or the fact that I woke early with a bee in my bonnet. Last night, I attended the rehearsal dinner. It was such a nice affair, tiki-themed and held at Debby's parents' home. There was a time for toasts/roasts and many of the guys got up and spoke about Debby's husband-to-be, Jarett. On the drive home, my hosts and I talked about how we were disappointed to not get up and talk  about Debby or hear others get up to sing her praises, "I just don't have any 'One time, Debby did this crazy thing' stories!" I said, and Suzan and Ben agreed.

But I woke this morning still feeling disappointed that I didn't think of something eloquent to say. This morning though, although it may not be eloquent, I thought of something. So, I will post it here, and print it as well and send it along with my wedding gift to the two of them.

If I'd had my head about me, this is what I would have said...

"Seven years ago, one of my editors in the photo department at The Palm Beach Post came to me and told me I was going to be a mentor to our summer intern. Being the friendly New Englander I am, I responded with “Ugh, seriously?” But I couldn't be more grateful to John “Lopi” Lopinot for connecting me with Debby. We became fast friends. I think Lopi intended for me to talk about photography a bit more than we actually did, but just the same, I think it was a good pairing. And honestly, it's not like us not talking photography more frequently had any effect on her shooting career.

The two of us had many good times together. One time, Debby and I got stuck driving around one of West Palm Beach's parking garages for forty-five minutes, trying to find a spot so we could go catch a movie. During the incident and after we joked about the fact that we were not the least bit annoyed at our predicament because we were having so much fun together, enjoying each others' company. It was a great summer, getting to know my new friend Debby.

Years later, Debby gave me one of my most prized possessions for my birthday – a quilt the she made herself. It was bright and colorful and covered with frogs, and it came with a playful note that referenced kissing frogs. I now live back in Boston where I am from originally, and I am almost literally living out of one room. Only the bare essentials made it to that room when I first moved back and the rest went to storage. Debby's quilt is among those bare essentials. I think of her and her kind, fun-loving nature every time I look at it, and I smile.

Everyone has been talking tonight about how wonderful Jarett is, and Jarett is wonderful. I met him for the first time a few years ago when I came out for a visit and I was so happy for Debby that she'd found such a great partner in Jarett. But, Jarett is the one who has truly hit the jackpot in this remarkable woman. He has someone who will bring color and light into his life every day, someone who will make it fun to be stuck in a parking garage for 45 minutes. Debby is beautiful, funny, quick to laugh, and a stalwart friend. She has an exceptional creative mind and a warm heart. I think Jarett is the lucky one to have found himself the ultimate partner-in-crime for life."

Fun Wedding Entrance

My friend, Debby sent me this link. I'd seen it before and I may have even posted it, but it is really fun, so I'm posting again. Debby added that she and her fiance Jarret would not be doing this on their big day in September!

Debby's Gone

Despite the rain, Debby and I had a fun and busy visit. We ventured over the SOWA Open market and wandered that for a bit. It was small but he were still glad we made a stop there. We went from there to Newbury Street where we wandered around for a bit, stopped in Tealuxe for lunch and looked around at the other chichi places way out of our budget. We actually used her iPhone to find the nearest target which we scurried off to in hopes of actually buying something.

Lots of fun, for sure. We are hoping to meet again not too long from now, and in a different location. Perhaps someplace we've never been before?

Right now I am in the local library, taking a break from an online course about Dreamweaver. I discovered my videos from The Post disappeared from their site (it turns out they only host 100 videos. Makes sense.) and I'm hoping for some guidance on how to put them on my site. I don't know the first thing about doing so, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Debby Day Two!

Rainy in the Cape.

Debby doing some Boston research.


The lovely display outside the Salem Witch Dungeon Museum. Remember to bring the kids!

My friend Debby, who lives in San Fransisco came to visit this week-end! I picked her up on Thursday night and we were off to Scott's End. On Friday, we did some shopping with my Mom and in the evening, hung out with Mom and Dad. She's a great photograher with a lot fo experience and it's inspiring to be around her. I've been feeling so out of touch with what I used to do for a living just three weeks ago.

This morning, we left Scott's End and headed home with the two dogs in the back seat. We headed from my hometown of Wakefield to Salem. Salem is a cool place but we weren't really sure where we were going despite our best researching efforts. We got some lunch at Capt's Restaurant, which my parents did the interiors for, and then we wandered around. We did find our way to The Witch Dungeon museum, where we sat through a brief reenactment of the Salem witch trials, then went through an underground tour where they had replicas of the dungeons where accused witches were kept.

Home at the end of the day and now we are hanging out, watching some SNL and looking forward to tomorrow's adventures.

Debby Just Made My Day

Her "status" on Facebook read "Debby thinks Cydney is awesome."

San Francisco, Day 2

Sunday, Day two. Debby, Jarett and I rise and shine and head off to Scharffen Berger Chocolate factory in Berkeley. In all her chocolate appreciating wisdom, Debby made a brunch reservation for us at the factory's cafe. After we share a meal of chocolate pancakes (how can you not?) and incredible scrambled eggs with salmon, guyer cheese and scallions, we join a tour group to check out the factory and learn about the small company's history.

Michael, Debby's brother, joins us at this point and we sit looking at photos, smelling and passing around cacao beans in their various stages in the farming and chocolate making process, and are taught the proper way to taste test chocolate. Basically, you act like a wine snob while you take small bits from the little rectangular pieces.

The factory itself, we are surprised to see, is quite small. They have two roasters, the woman tells us, but only one is used, really. The factory does not run on the week-ends, so it's quite quiet, but seeing what the insides of such a place is like is still so interesting. There is a tiny room with one table at which labelers put the chocolate company's mark on one of their few different flavors/varieties.

Recognizing the rise in the dark chocolate trend and the popularity of specialty and organic chocolates, Hershey bought Scharffen Berger a few years ago. As part of the Hershey policy, there is a metal detector at the end of the little chocolate assembly line, checking to ensure that no loose screws have fallen into the chocolate and made their way into the final product by accident. If metal was found, a little arm would push the piece of chocolate into a large blue bin next to the conveyor belt.

Our tour guide tells us that when the device was first installed, it was calibrated incorrectly. Chocolate bars sans screws or any other type of metal were rejected regularly. Not only that, but the arm pushing the faulty chocolate off the belt was far too strong, and sent the chocolate flying clear over the bucket and into the window which gave us a view of the labeling room a few yards away. Once corrected, the flying chocolate ceased and, as our tour guide tells us, no metal toting chocolate has yet to be found.

At they end, we are funneled into the factory's gift shop. Full of delectable treats at exorbitant prices, I decide not to purchase anything, though the "Ganache for your Lips" lip balm was tempting. I did also waver on how much I needed a really cool shirt which read "(bitter) sweet" or "(ultra) bitter". Somehow, I feel like wearing such a shirt, though completely cool, might convey an aura of bitter spinster. Very approachable. Not so much. Who knows, maybe I will have lack-of-buying remorse. In this case, Debby has agreed to go back and pick one up for me should I suddenly decide that I made a mistake in not purchasing the fun shirt.

From here we head to Muir Woods and I am thrilled to get a chance to see some Redwoods up close. They are grande. The natural skyscrapers are beautiful and humbling. Michael, who owns his own media production company at the ripe old age of 25 (what an underachiever), wanders around us and the wilderness, shooting video with his HD Leica. Not too shabby. From the nice hiking conversations to the discovery of mushrooms and colonies of ladybugs, the visit there is deemed another perfect Debby idea!

Once we are hiked-out, we head back into San Francisco for some pizza. On our way back to the city, we drive over the Golden Gate bridge in all it's "golden hour" (late day/early evening light) glory. We drop off the boys at their homes and Debby and I stop at Trader Joe's grocery store for some treats to go along with our movie rental choice for the evenings wind-down entertainment.

We hang out at her place for our final evening. As we enjoy a cup of tea made from the new tea diffuser she purchased just the day before in Chinatown, we agree that four years between seeing one another is simply not acceptable and our mission from here on out is that it never happens again.

San Francisco, Day 1

Rise and shine in California where it is actually quite cold. Debby, groovy friend and tour guide extraordinaire and I head out for our day of adventure. First we head to Union Square where we park the car in an underground lot in good time - the crowds seem to really show up a little while after we've scored our parking spot.

We wander he streets of Union Square checking out which ever shops appeal to us. We are both on a mission to find the perfect work shoe. Well, ideally, we want two of them. One for each foot. Alas, our dreams of finding them are dashed by the shelves of ballerina style shoes. Nice for going out, not for working. We stop into the biggest Old Navy in creation - three stories, I believe - hoping to snag a jacket I saw in FL. No luck. They are a golden nugget says the Old Navy girl when I ask her where they might have the cool coats that look like they were made from genuine Grover pelt.

Next we head Chinatown where we wander the stores with wall-to-wall shoes, dresses, handbags, and figurines. We decide to try something new and grab ourselves a snack of black bean cakes in one of the bakeries. It's mild sweetness, flaky outside crust and soft, dark filling have a nice texture and do not disappoint. Experiment a success! After a recent trip to Asia, Debby is in search of a lemon-grass tea. We wander into a tea shop with the innocent intention of inquiring about the illusive tea.

This tea shop has an entire wall of tea and infusions. Many bearing names like Golden Turtle and Water Fairy (There was one about a monkey but I don't remember the specific name). The interior of the shop is wonderful with it's high ceilings, hanging lanterns and it's apothecary-esque wall of teas.

After Debby is told that there is no such thing as lemon-grass tea, we are invited to sit and sample some teas (that apparently DO exist). "I thought we were going to just sit there and try a few and they'd send us on our way" Debby said later. But, we sat for quite a while next to a couple visiting from Seattle, observing and learning from our tea man as he brewed us teas in a small ceramic cup and shares the flavors with us. Lavender, black, leechee white tea, ginseng. Debby and I agree that the one infused with milk is not a success.

He told us all about the various teas the small shop owns, some that run for $15,000 a pound! He doesn't own many of them and yes, one can insure teas. There are four of these tea shops owned by the same person, he tells us. One other is just a block a half away in Chinatown, one is in a another part of the city entirely, and one is in Seattle. They've been in existence for four years, the man tells us.

He teaches us about the goodness of loose tea and by the end of his casual and comfortable lecturing, we each buy something before leaving. Oh, yeah, this guy's good. Perhaps we are suckers, but we don't care. We are happy with our new tea purchases.

It was a lovely place to stumble into.

Next we head back to the car and brave the traffic so that Debby might humor me and take me to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch. We score again with a perfect metered parking spot just near the chosen restaurant. Boudin's is a bread factory. While we wait for a table, we wander through their clever little bread museum, where we take a test of our "bread type" by answering a series of questions pertaining to our personality.

On a Saturday night, would you be,
A. doing dinner and a movie
B. going to the theater, etc

Apparently, walnut bread was made for Debby and I am an olive bread type.

The museum overlooks the bread factory and we watch the hustle bustle below; the balls of dough running through the machines, bread makers dressed in all white running the machines and moving product from here to there. Down by the first floor window, we can see the bread artisans making dough animals in view of the passers-by, many of whom have stopped to watch the show. Once done, the fresh bread is moved from the baking area to the bread distributing area in charming baskets gliding above on a wire.

Lunch consists of perfectly gigantic bread bowls with chowder in them. I eat the weight of my own head in bread. Yum.

We take a stroll on the pier and smell the sea lions before we see them. They are funny characters with their lying about and sort-of bark/burping at each other. One dock on which a slew of them are lounging is half under water. It looks very uncomfortable, but none of them seem to care that they are all piled up on a dock that's slanting at a hard angle.

It is definitely a touristy place with Alcatraz themed shops and street performers battling one another for the affections (and dollars) of passers by. I always make a point of buying a fridge magnet whenever I visit someplace new, and while I fail to snap a picture of one of the city's famous cable cars, I still bring one home with me in the form of a magnet.

From here we head over to Jarett's place. Jarett is Debby's boyfriend and I meet him for the first time. After spending a bit of time with him, he is most decidedly a thumbs up. Yay, Debby! The three of us meet more friends in the Mission at Cha Cha Cha's for dinner. Over tapas and sangria, I get to know Debby's friends a bit, finally putting faces to names I have heard. We have a great time chatting and telling stories, talking movies and more over the platanos, chicken and potatoes in the loud, dark corner of the hip but unassuming restaurant.

After our meal, we head a few doors down, bellies full, to Doc's Clock bar. I am introduced to the game of shuffleboard. We all learn a bit about puck-on-sandy-table velocity during a game against a couple girls who recently moved to San Francisco from Boston. Wow, how ironic, I tell them, I'm from Boston! One of the girls worked at the De Cordova museum before her move. Wow, how ironic, I tell her, my brother's wedding reception was at the De Cordova!

Will wonders never cease?

A fine day all around. Debby is a wonderful hostess and I feel that meeting her friends helps give me an idea of what the people here are like. I joked with her, "Maybe your friends are just really nice and the rest of the people in this state are asses!" But, I doubt this. San Francisco proves itself to be a very cool place and I am quite content with my introduction to it!