Good-bye to: All my friends (who of course I will see again), the University of California, Irvine, (although I am still finishing my

dissertation), the Pacific ocean – even though we didn’t spend much time together, The 405 and the 5, I am not sure how much I like

you but we spent a lot of time together, the year round farmers market across the street, yoga across the street, Trader Joe's across

the street, student discounts, random celebrity sightings (just saw Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Café Stella!!), studying for comprehensive

exams at Zack de la Rocha’s house, Art Center College of Design, South Coast Plaza and that insanely good Nordstrom rack, The

Great Park, Santa Inez Valley, Paso Robles and all the amazing wine in California, palm trees, warm winters, Hi-Time wine

cellar, The Barney’s Outlet, KCRW, my nightly walking path with Bunni - but we will find a new path in Chicago!

I am in the middle of moving and will start my new job on November 1. For now, I will also say goodbye to this blog. I am going to

focus on establishing my life in Chicago, and I have reached a point in which I no longer feel the need to document everything. Who

knows, maybe that will change, but for now, it is good-bye.

[photo by Terry Richardson]

Now for the reason I have been so busy the past couple of weeks, I got a really awesome job in

Chicago, and I will be moving there at the end of October! Life is going to be crazy until I move,

but I am so excited about all these changes. I probably won't be posting very regularly, but will

have more details about my new job soon.

I am back from Lima. Actually, I have been back for a couple of weeks. I have been so busy

that I have not really had time to write about it or even go through my photos. Once things

settle down, I will write a story about the time there and some of the things I learned. The

above photo is a view of the slum where we worked, Cerro Verde. It is an informal

neighborhood that has only existed about 10 years, and does not have adequate physical

infrastructure including running water.

As you may notice, it is extremely hilly. Each day, people carry their water up and down these

hills (some of which have stairs and some that do not). The Art Center students taking this

class are working on design solutions for some of these problems. The premise of the course

is grounded in the theories of CK Prahalad and Paul Polak to design products that could

eventually help people overcome poverty. This approach challenges traditional models of

poverty eradication, which some argue have relied too heavily on overburdened, sometimes

corrupt federal governments and charity granting organizations. In this model, people are

treated as consumers and entrepreneurs, not those in need of hand outs, and products are

designed to suit their needs, empower them, and overcome poverty. This is not my area of

expertise, but I can already imagine the shitstorm of critique happening in academia over these

ideas. The public sector is often suspicious of the private sector. But I do buy two parts of this

argument - governments are generally way over burdened with problems to adequately help

those in need (this is even true in the US, think of FEMA post-Katrina), and, inspired by

Bourdieu's theory of symbolic violence, charity does create a sort of ongoing power dynamic in

which the giver enacts a dominant role over the recipient. A monetary exchange in which an

individual gives money for a product that is worth that amount of money, ideally a fair

exchange, will not necessarily perpetuate the cycle of domination (although now that I write it,

I am finding that hard to believe, seems like it would perpetuate an entirely new form of

domination - my Sociology friends can help me with this one). The leap I am not sure I can

make is whether or not products can actually help people overcome poverty. That part seems

to remain in the theoretical stage, especially considering no one has any good example of any

products that have truly done this. The theories about the base of the pyramid are new enough

that the practice has not had time to run the course from design idea to poverty eradication.

More about all this later...

And if you are interested you can read more here,

And there is a video here.

I am off to Lima, Peru for the next couple of weeks to work on the Safe Agua Peru project

(as a teacher) in collaboration with the DesignMatters program at Art Center College of

Design and Un Techo para mi Pais. The above video tells a brief story of their previous Safe

Aqua Chile project. We will be working on something similar in Peru. I am really thrilled

the previous professors invited me to join them. I am also excited to return to Lima; I was

there about ten years ago and I loved it.

I am going to miss Bunni, but I did find her an excellent dog-sitter! I will try to post while

in Peru, but am uncertain about internet access.

I saw this painting at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and was so inspired by it.

I looked up the artist, Luis Melendez, and he seems to be one of the most accomplished

still life painters in 18th Century Spain. Seeing these made me sad for the contemporary

processed diet. Maybe Michael Pollan should add to his rules, "eat foods that could be

in an 18th century still life painting." A rule like that would work for me because it

conjures up images of beautiful bountiful, colorful, nurturing food.

Here are more:

My cousin Adam,

and his beautiful bride, Jen, got married last weekend in Ipswich. His maternal grandmother

has this expansive property on the marsh and it was an idyllic setting to get married.

They asked that we do not take photos during the ceremony, but I started right after with

this amazing brass band who, while I took this shot, were playing Summertime. They

were one of three bands Adam and Jen had at the wedding.

First food stop, the heirloom tomato stand that had a chef who would slice up the most

delicious tomato and top it with things like balsamic reduction and smoked salt. I went

back a few times. He even taught me how to make saffron salt! This is such a genius idea

for a summer party.

Our cocktail table with champagne, artisan cocktails and the remnants of the best corn

on the cob I have ever had (and I am from Minnesota).

The lounge tent where you could have delicious artisan cocktails. They also had one of

my favorite summer wines, the Ameztoi Txakolina Rose. Txakolinas are dry, crisp and

a little effervescent - perfect with salads. This one is a little hard to find so I was impressed

they had it for their wedding. Actually all the food and drinks were exceptionally good,

especially for a wedding.

Lanterns were all over the property.

The very dapper Eric (my uncle) on the left, and Jim Dow, who is an extraordinary

photographer. I got the chance to look at his book at my uncle's house and ask him

questions about his work. I had previously seen some of his photos a few years ago

in the Where We Live exhibition at the Getty.

My uncle Eric's shoes, which were the second most talked about thing at the wedding,

of course the bride and groom were the first.

Cousin Adrian.

Adrian and his girlfriend Iris.

Our table.

The now otherworldly lanterns again, but at night, illuminated with little LED lights.

The bride and groom.

The Confetti System inspired decor inside the tent. I loved how they moved with the wind.

For serving dessert.

The wedding cake, made with love by Jim's wife, Jacqui Dow.

My sister, Kristin, and her husband Jim. No, Kristin and I are not twins (everyone asks).

Cousin Nick and his girlfriend, Michelle. Nick is the one who made the Vans print.

And finally, my father, Adrian, with his brother, and my uncle Eric.

My only regret: I didn't get photos of my Aunt Nanny, Jacqui Dow, or my mother.

I was being spontaneous about photos, and should have planned a little better.

It was a lovely weekend in Boston (I forgot how much I love that city), a fabulous wedding

and always such a pleasure to spend time with my family.

Off to Boston for a few days for my cousin Adam's wedding.

Russian Dacha interpreted by Vrag magazine in Issue 4 Russia. They explain: "A dacha is a place in the countryside

where Russians like to spend their holidays, especially in the summer."

Birthday flowers from my family!

For my birthday party, my friends and I went to a Branford Marsalis concert at the

Great Park. We had a lovely picnic on the lawn while listening to beautiful jazz music.