This photo of Tino NOT cooperating with a group photo makes me smile every time.

It’s not what I had in mind when I set this goal, and it wasn’t something I was aiming for… it just sort of happened (but don’t think that I’m not busting with pride just the same. I’m stoked!) Anna Jane Grossman, author of the book Obsolete, was a recent Hey Brooklyn interviewee, and I take portraits of all my guests. When Gizmodo needed a photo for her for an article she wrote, they asked to use mine, and of course I said yes.

It was front page for a while, with her cute face – my handiwork – front and center. And it was huge!

Half the comments were about how hot she is, and one compared her to a pug! Anna Jane, you are way hotter than a smooshed-face dog.

So, mission unwittingly accomplished. I don’t think this is what I had in mind, but if my photograph was on the front page of one of the biggest blogs in the world, I’m calling it done and done.  Rock!

p.s. you can go here to read the article.

**UPDATE** My dear friend Melissa pointed out that I spelled “Weirdo” incorrectly in the title. oops.

It’s easy to forget that you’re weird when you live in New York City.

I think even my Connecticut friends got over it when, at dinner, I would shriek, “No one cut the cake yet! I need to take a picture.” And when it’s as something as special as a once-a-year cream puff at the Big E, well, of course I’m going to photograph it from every angle so I can get the very best shot.

There I was, snapping away, turning the plate, moving the fork, adjusting my camera, Rob waiting patiently because he’s used to all of this, and people started to stare at me. I took photos of everything we ate at the Big E, but the cream puff was the only thing we had at a table with people surrounding us, and I was causing quite a few raised eyebrows. A guy walked up to me and asked, “Are you writing about this?”

“Huh?” I said. I was “in the zone” and was changing my ISO for the fourth time.

“You know. You put it on the internet and then write comments about it and stuff.”

“Oh… yeah. I’m blogging about it.” I stiffened my fingers and moved my hands up and down, my universal and unconscious sign for “blogging”.

“You get paid a lot for that?”

I laughed. “Not quite.”

“Ah. Cool.” He shrugged and walked away, and it was then that I noticed people whispering about me, the weird girl treating her dessert like a Playboy model.  And I remembered that it was weird to take photos of food you just bought, and put my camera away with my cheeks burning.  But why should I be ashamed?  I’m learning.  It’s a good thing.

Ah, well, here’s to us, the weird ones, who take photos that are “ugly” or “boring” in hopes of learning and remembering.  I salute you all with a cream puff.

p.s. if you start a rock band and want to steal the title of this post for your band name, go ahead, and rock ON with your bad self!

This is Rachel Lee Walsh. She’s pretty awesome.

This was the first time it occurred to me to snap photos of our studio. Rob likes to have the microphones just so, and you can tell in the sound quality of my final project. If you need a sound engineer in Brooklyn you should hire him and pay him lots of money. He’s worth it.

Rachel and he were scheming to play together, because she noticed his upright base in the corner of our sound booth and found out that he used to play blue grass. She has a country/folk/blues kind of thing going on. I think they’d rock together.

At one point in the interview I say to her, “Oh, you are of my people” which is a weird thing to say, I know, but the way she writes songs is from the perspective of wanting to tell a human story, and this is the way I do my podcast. Her writing is both clever and simple.

This is Rachel’s guitar strap, and I think it’s SO cool. It’s from Kelly Horrigan.

To listen to our interview, go to the interview page at HeyBrooklyn.com or type Hey Brooklyn into iTunes.

1. Roll a crust.  Press it in.  Every time I do this, I think of Mary Poppins comparing pie crusts to flimsy promises: “Easily made and easily broken.”

2. Wash the blueberries, then toss them with sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and love.

3. Berries in the crust.  This is the point I have to summon all my strength to not eat them all.

4. Put on the top and cut holes.  You see that little white blob peeking out through the hole on the left there?  That’s a pat of butter.  Butter makes it better.

5. Bake until golden.

6. Blueberry pie has the distinction of being one of the few baked goods better served cold.  Like revenge.

This is the recipe I used.  It’s from my friend Ellen, who apparently doesn’t believe in writing recipes in order, and also likes to sprinkle commentary throughout.  It made me happy, even if it was a little bit of up and down reading to get through it.  It’s from her grandmother.

Filling:
Combine 4 cups fresh blueberries with 3/4 -1 cup of sugar, 3 Tbs all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, a dash of salt, and 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel (although I NEVER use the lemon peel).

Line 9 inch pie plate with pastry (see below). Add filling. Sprinkle with 1 tsp lemon juice (this is why I never put in the lemon peel AND I never measure the juice – I just shake until I feel like stopping!). Dot with 1 Tbs butter. Lay top crust over the top, adjust and cut slits for escape of steam. Seal edges. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Double Crust Pastry:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
8-10 Tbs cold water

Stir together flour and salt. With a pastry cutter, cut in the shortening until the pieces are pea-sized. Sprinkle 1 Tbs of water over the flour mixture and gently toss with a fork. Repeat using 1 Tbs of water until the whole flour mixture is moistened. Divide in half and form each into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each half until they are about 12 inches in diameter.

matty’s modeling debut

I’m doing my very first Hey Brooklyn giveaway!  Friday’s episode features Porter Block and we’re giving away their latest CD The Gowanus Yacht Club. It’s a collaborative work featuring a lot of different singer-songwriters, and makes fantastic summer listening. Go to the episode page for details.

Please note: Only the CD is being given away. That cuddly dude with the soft brown eyes is mine-all-mine!

Hugs are free, and ads are cheap!  Just $10!

If you would like to advertise on my blog and have your banner seen by hundreds of the most fabulous, discriminating eyeballs on the internet, now is the the time to set it up for July 1st!  See here for more information, and email me (theambershow at gmail dot com) for details.  All sponsors get a write up, too!

This is Annabelle.

She has a home with John; they live in Manhattan.

Annabelle is going to be the face of a fund dedicated to helping Stray from the Heart with vet bills, so she needed a photoshoot.

I have no idea what she’s doing in this picture, but I think it’s pretty funny.

Isn’t she cute?