apple-picking i

eve and i went to stone ridge orchard and it was great. hills, a lake, apples and asian pears, mixed clouds, and huskies.

internet favorites for december: the only apps i've ever loved

As a rule, I dislike trying out apps or downloading things. Technology-wise, I am a late adapter. But these three apps have made themselves essential to my life, and I wholeheartedly recommend them!

1. Unroll.me
Eve showed me this. It combines all the subscriptions you choose (how about some Madewell promo emails? Everlane? Bookcourt?) into one single email, and sends it to you every morning. It has saved my inbox!

2. VSCO Cam
I know this is old news for smartphone owners, but this is an awesome app for photo-editing on your phone--more subtle filters than Instagram, and lots of fine-tuneable options.

3. Camerabag 2
I can't afford Photoshop or even Lightroom, and this $20 thingy allows me to edit my digital photos to the extent that I want. And it's been invaluable for my Fusion freelancing. I love it! It's like VSCO Cam for a desktop, but with even more options. And if all your images from an event have the same problem--like, they're all too yellow--you can create your own filter and save it.


PS Here are the other internet favorites.

Peru, Part 3

Here are Part 1 and Part 2.

This is my last group of photos from the indigenous community of Santa Clara.

Every morning, we woke up at sunrise. It was such a rush I didn't even drink coffee or feel the need for it...miraculous, considering how much I need coffee in the city. And then, at 5pm, as soon as it started to get golden (like in the photo above), I headed inside to Lucy's bed, to take shelter under her mosquito net.

banana trees...

Lucy and Anibal

Lucy's altar, and traditional Shipibo embroidered textiles

Lucy and her brother

Peru, Part 2

Here's Part 1.

Here are some more photos from Santa Clara, the beautiful community (with no running water or electricity!) where I stayed in Lucy's little hut for several days...

Lucy's neighbor making patarashka, which was life-changingly good (like, I eat fish all the time now, and didn't before!). 

From the email I sent home after leaving Santa Clara (unedited and kind of embarrassing in its straight-to-the-point indication of my travel priorities, i.e., animals and food):

I saw an anteater!!!! A big green parrot who is the neighbor's pet (she always antagonizes lucy, enters her hut and poos on her things!!), sparkly green butterflies, banana trees with their fleshy hanging flowers, vultures and hawks, a puppy, gorgeous black birds with big red beaks, enormous spiders. Also, I ate some marvelously weird things. A waxy red cashew fruit, boiled nuts called "pan de arbol," MANY varieties of bananas--so fun to experience the full spectrum of banana possibilities--and best of all, Lucy's indigenous neighbor cooked us this fish, wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked over a primitive grill on the ground, and it was beyond good.

Lucy's wonderful mother and brother visited right before me, and we overlapped for a few days.

Lucy's "baño seco" toilet <3

Evidence of Lucy outside her hut :)

One afternoon, Lucy and I held a watercolor workshop for the local kids.

Such a beautiful painting...and I received it as a gift!