Orange Edibles

Thai Iced Tea...before it is stirred into the wonderfully sweet orange beverage

I am posting these photos so that two years from now, when I am in a completely new stage in life, I can look back and see what I was up to in September of 2010. The ironic thing is that after I saved out the photos, I noticed that there were three orange edibles photographed for posterity!!!!

My fascination with documenting my life began in 2003 when I was studying abroad. My roommate, Amanda, and I made a pact to write in our journals every single day while we were there, and for the most part, we stuck to it. Ever since then, I have documented my life in various ways to the extent that I can find some kernal of history within two weeks of every day since January 2003. I do not do this because I think my life is particularly worthy of documentation, but because I think everything in life is worth documenting. Everything is special the second you take a moment to memorialize it, even if it is a pumpkin growing in a compost pile, a fast food cheeseburger you wish you hadn’t eaten, a dog running in the park, a loved one laughing, the frustration of credit card companies filling your mailbox with junk or a house plant sprouting new leaves. The second that you take a photo or write something, you insure that those experiences will not be forgotten.

Also, the way I see it, my life is constantly changing. New technology comes in and out of vogue. I move from place to place. New family members are born. My favorite jeans get a hole in them. Friends and family come to visit. Even the things that seem so routine and boring change over time. For instance, my standard breakfast has been yogurt and granola since I finished college. In Portland, I would buy one box of Simply Almonds Granola, one carton of plain yogurt and one bag of frozen organic blueberries from Trader Joe’s every week. When we were in Thailand, we ate convenient store yogurt with fancy foreigner granola, but we ate it with fresh bananas and mango. When we were in China, the granola was an expensive Sweedish brand, but the yogurt was cheap and didn’t really taste like yogurt. Then when we came back to America, we started buying Trader Joe’s yogurt and granola with frozen blueberries again, and I appreciate it so much more! That is probably not very interesting to you, but when I look back on it in ten years, I will laugh at how much I cared about my breakfast. By then, I will have found some other amazing morning goodness. Or maybe I won’t.

Regardless, I will always appreciate the little things in life.

Vote

Germs...we all have them

Sulfer Shelf Fungus growing in Golden Gate Park

A pumpkin patch hidden in the bowels of GG Park. We think they are growing on a defunct compost pile.

My photography partner-in-crime

This edible might be orange too based on the rusting pipes

To prove that I really do have documentation of the past seven years, this can all be found in my archives (not blog archives, but actual journals):

In September of 2003, my mother had a minor stroke that scared me out of my mind. This led to my parents to quit smoking!

In September of 2004, I found the perfect little studio to live in.

In September of 2005, I met my first niece for the first time ever.

In September of 2006, I was not balancing work & life very well.

In September of 2007, I was gushing about how perfect Portland was.

In September of 2008, Nik and I were wandering around the Indian Himalayas.

In September of 2009, we had perfect weather in Shanghai, so we climbed to the top of the Lupu Bridge.