montrose and me

monterey house has turned into a bit of a menagerie. it originated a little over a month ago with our dear puppy montrose bearpaw. his name is a combination of a monterey house joke and the fact that he has giant paws. see him pose below:



he's definitely a handful but more than worth it.

things are going well here in alamosa. i'm loving the valley more and more every day. i am more than confident that i made the right choice in moving out here and working for la puente. some weeks are harder than others with long days and little alone time. but all in all there is a balance of work and play. and the people i live and work with are amazing.
im working on putting the safari press paper zine together. i'd like to have it out before the holiday season sets in. if you're interested in submitting to the zine shoot me an email. im looking for articles on anything, short stories, poetry, etc. just holla at me.


heartz from alamosa. <3

albuquerque balloon fiesta

last weekend kate, katie and i took a day trip down to albuquerque for the world's largest hot air balloon festival. the albuquerque fiesta has been on my to do list for a couple of years now. i was so psyched to go down there and see the greatest balloons from all over the world.
the festival itself was a little disappointing - because of wind none of the balloons went up in the air. they were blown up and lit up (what is known as a balloon glow) but no lift off. if we had decided to stay the night we could have gotten up for the 7am ascension, but we decided to gun it back to alamosa instead. im hoping to go to at least one more festival this season.
anyway, here are a few highlight photos and polaroids.




balloon glow


the kates enjoy each other's company.


waiting for balloonz.

drawings

i have been having a blast with my new prismacolor pencils. they are amazing.
lately, my favorite things to draw are trees and onions.
por ejemplo:


my favorite trees have hearts for leaves.

these onions were for my friend nora, who
recently had a birthday.

day trips with allison

both last week and this week allison and i were able to escape the office for a little day trip adventure time. last week we spent about an hour at city ranch, an abandoned ranch in alamosa that has since been turned into a nice trail. there are some old barns still on the property which were fun to explore.

here allison explores an abandoned barn. a
left-behind arm chair looms in the foreground.

if you know me you know i love wrecked vehicles
left to the mercy of earth. here, an old car is
eaten by weeds.

the next week we went on a long drive through the spanish peaks. we saw the towns of la veta, cuchara, trinidad and walsenburg. below are some highlight photos.

we took a detour up some mountains to see the
mysterious bear lake. we found it and fell in love.
this little lake is seriously hidden and serene.
allison collected rose hips while i took photos.

and last, on our drive we came upon a dense
aspen grove on the side of the road. it was
one of the few roadside vistas that was not
guarded by barbed wire or fencing. we took
the opportunity to nestle ourselves amongst
the trees and stare at the sky. aspen trees
in autumn are amazing; blindingly bright
and towering.

colonialism day

i wanted to post this yesterday but was too busy making sandwiches for the man.
basically the message is this: the united states as a colonialist power still thrives today. and the celebration of columbus and his "discovery" of america is just another testament to that fact. more evidence you ask? well puerto rico and iraq are the first that come to mind, but there are many more, past and present, that have been piling up since the first white men came to this land.
don't forget the truth - be an advocate for people's history. boycott columbus day in any way you can.

for more information check out http://www.transformcolumbusday.com/. this organization motivated a major protest in denver during the columbus day parade yesterday. about 80 were arrested. are you surprised?

in the end

this is a birthday card i made for katie about a month ago. i just remembered i had scanned it. so here it is.

the cabin

here's a shot of the cabin kate and i house sat for. i really love this photo. i think it captures the easy mood of this isolated haven. i think this one is going in my portfolio for grad school since i decided that im going to submit polaroids even if it's a bit unconventional. im getting more and more excited about the prospect of art school. i hope i get in - but i know no matter what it will all work out and next year i will be where im supposed to be. just like im where im supposed to be right now.
oh alamosa . . .