I'm A Photography!

 I'm still reminiscing a bit about Liam. Several months ago, I noticed he started showing interest in using my camera. I'm sure it isn't because I carry it with me all the time! So, I hesitantly let him use it. I was surprised to see how wonderful his photos were! I mean his point of view is so different than anything I would imagine. His pics consist of his favorite things like puddles and toy trucks, but also of curious places he is unfamiliar with and little moments that only children notice. The title of this post comes from something Liam said after one of his photo shoots, "Mama, I'm a photography".

This boy's most loved possessions are his toy cars.

This is the ceiling of an elevator. Love the abstract feeling of it...unfortunately, I forgot to turn off the date feature. (I bought a small point-and-shoot camera for him to use instead of my Nikon)

Have you ever looked closely into a Lego house?

In Liam's shoots, there have been many unfortunate pictures of me. So, now I'm reluctant to let him take more...too scary!

I think these are my favorite. Sometimes while scrolling through the camera memory, these funny self-portraits pop up. They make me laugh every time!!

Counting The Minutes!

I practically live and breathe Radiohead, and can hardly wait for their new album! For now, I have been watching this video over and over. Its fantastic!! The choreography is so outlandish, I can't turn away. 

I once went to a concert, where too much of the audience was sitting quietly, when they should have been on their feet dancing. Suddenly, a guy stands up and starts dancing as erratically as in this video.  I think the entire audience stopped to watch him. I watched, hoping someone would put him on stage. The unpredictability of his movements and willingness to express himself were electrifying. It was awesome!

Best Blogger Awards

I'm taking a little time to do some self promotion, today. The lovely people of Jackson Design and Remodeling have nominated little ole-me, for their "Best Interior Design Blogger" award! Yeah! The voting began while I was away and internet deficient, so I'm a little behind. Please stop by their site and vote for me anytime before April 15th! If you do, I promise to give you a big, virtual hug:)
Carolina

Excuse My Mommy Moment

Okay, I'm breaking out the proud mommy on this one. I was reading Shutter Sisters and found a site called Picasion.com. Its a super simple way of making GIF's from your photos, which is something I've wanted to do; but have been too lazy to learn. Now, I don't have to learn! Hooray!!

I took this series of photos, quite some time ago but thought they would be great as a GIF. I realize that here in America its the middle of winter and I'm posting photos of Liam running through a sprinkler. Hey, maybe it will make you "think" warm.

A Few Words Of Thanks.

Saint Cecilia Hotel (Photo by Carolina)

I had to sneak in another post to say thanks. First, I wanted to point out my beautiful new banner. I'm so excited about it!! A couple of months ago, I took down my old banner; because it didn't suite me anymore. Finally, I found something that represents me now. I want to thank one of my dearest friends, Sara Reeves of Pumpernickel Ink for her great work. How she managed to make sense of my ramblings, I'll never know!

Second, a quick thanks to Furnish.co.uk for including me on their favorite blog round-up . I still feel surprised and excited when I'm included in these lists with blogs that are so fabulous!

A Year of Journey

These days, one must fly

-but where to?

without wings, 

without a plane, 

to fly 

without doubt:

Steps have now passed by 

to no avail, 

they did not 

lift the feet

of the passenger. 

Pablo Neruda

January 11th marks the beginning of my new year. It is the anniversary of the passing of my Dad and the end of a very tumultuous year. In almost every sense, my life was turned upside down and inside out. In fact, I spent much of that time avoiding this blog; because I couldn't bring myself to express all that was going on.
Funny enough, I feel 2010 was a very difficult time for many, many people, not  just me. Because of that, I have spent ALOT of time soul searching and in prayer. I've been trying to answer the question, "Now what?"
One very good thing about trying times, is that you often come out of them stronger and more grounded. Thankfully, I feel that is true for me at this time.
So, why am I saying all this; you might ask. Partly, to explain where I was last year and partly to begin a new year of change.
I will be making changes to this blog that match the changes in my life. I am a very different person than when I first began Carolina Eclectic so I have to express different ideas.
I will still write about interior design, just in a slightly different manner. I will also write about art and explore where creativity comes from.
I want to understand how design can be used to express your true inner-self and to uplift your soul. Also, I have been allowing myself to branch out into other creative endeavors that I have always loved, but felt intimidated by. More on this later.
Another change I am making is to my secondary blog, Random Thoughts. I have ignored it even more than this one! The truth is, "Random Thoughts" was a sort of love letter to my Daddy. I wanted to post things I thought his eccentric sense of humor might enjoy, but because of his long illness; could not.
So, when he passed, my inspiration for it seemed to die too. I've decided to officially put it to rest. I'm going to leave it up, but I just don't know what to say anymore.
In its place, I began a Tumblr site. Taking a line from this poem, I called it "A Volar". Which means, "To take flight". That's what I hope to do this year. Soar with hope and newly found inspiration:) I really have been enjoying it! In it I can express my own eccentric ideas freely. If I could open up my mind for everyone to see, I think it would look like this site. So, stop on by if you like.
Okay, thanks for those of you who bothered to read all this and thanks to all of you who kept reading throughout such a tough year. I pray that 2011 will be brighter for all of you, too!
Love
Carolina

P.S. I will be taking tomorrow off. It is New Year's day, after all!

Moving Pictures

from HN on Vimeo.
Growing up, Sunday mornings were reserved for church, but in the afternoons my dad and I would always sit down for a Sunday movie. In the 80's, before anyone had more than 20 channels or so (Yikes!!) there was usually some sort of "family movie" showing on Sunday. It would be a classic story like The Prince and the Pauper or maybe, Heidi. I can't tell you how eagerly I waited for those films! They were like candy for a kid's imagination! Of course, what I also loved was spending the time with my Papi. Just me and him:) I've been thinking about that a lot lately. 

Now, I realize that all of you reading this don't have the time to sit and share an entire movie with me; (although that would be awesome), so I'm sharing a short video instead! Besides being a movie buff, I love video as an art form. This video, found via Booooooom ; is actually a Japanese add featuring the music of  She & Him . Its fantastic!

Hope it inspires you today.

Vicente and Me

Confession time: I've been sitting on these photos for a couple of days now, because I wanted to come up with a clever introduction for them. I wrote and re-wrote, but all I ever came up with was...I MET VICENTE WOLF, I MET VICENTE WOLF!!!!!!!
Now you understand my dilemma. I mean what do you say about meeting someone you admire so much., who's creative genius inspires you to be better at your own profession, everyday?

(That's me palling around with Vicente. I won't show the photo of me unconsciously twirling my hair around my finger while he spoke to me)
So, sorry this is late; but here's what happened. Monday, the Houston Design Center hosted a book signing and lecture to promote Vicente's new book, Lifting the Curtain on Design. This was something I couldn't miss!

It was so exciting and I was pretty nervous. I imagined myself walking up to his table and drooling or passing out. Also, I wondered if I could tell him how much I love his work and how much of a genius he is. In reality, all I could get out was, "Hi Vicente I'm Carolina. I love your books, will you sign my copy of Learning to See, also? Oh, and may I take a photo with you?" Amazing, huh? Funny enough, he asked me if I spoke Spanish and I answered, "Si, claro". This seemed to make him relax a bit and we chatted a little bit more.
Next, Vicente spoke about his new book and about the ins-and-outs of running such a prominent design firm. I found this refreshingly honest. (Let's face it designers have a tendency to be a bit standoffish!) So, it was awesome.

Although by evening's end, Vicente wasn't overwhelmed by my charm to the point of insisting on being my new BFF; I still had an experience I will never forget:)

Miracles Do Still Happen!

What an amazing couple of days! On our t.v. screens we watched 33 men, essentially brought back to life. I imagine that is how these men's families felt. At the same time we witnessed an event no human has seen before. Incredible!

I feel so proud of Chile, even though I'm not from there.

Better Words

I've been gone for a while, because I haven't been able to put words together. All the things that I begin to write down, have nothing to do with what I have been doing so I've been at a total standstill. I thought perhaps using someone else's eloquent words would be a smarter choice:)