So Retro

**since this post contains pictures of pictures, I encourage you to click on the photos to see more detail.

You guys, I didn't even realize that I posted this week's soundtrack on Tuesday instead of Wednesday! That's right, for two whole days now, whenever I check in on the internet I've been a day ahead in my mind, yet, somehow I've managed to live in the correct day when I'm off the internet. wow

So, my plan was to post this on Friday, and since, according to my internet brain, it is Friday, I won't pull a take-back!

Calder and I have started a nice little tradition, one that I can see continuing for a good, long while. Four years ago I made him a book of photos from our first drive across the country. He had just finished grad school and was moving to the West Coast. It was our first big road trip, and we realized that we're the best road trip partners {once the frustration with my inability to use cruise control was solved - solved in that I finally learned}. We like the same fast food, we don't mind being stuck in small spaces, we always come up with good conversation, etc. Yes, look for us in the future as one of those crazy husband-wife long haul trucking teams.
Anywho, road-tripping has definitely turned into a tradition of sorts, but this post is really about the book{s}. He loved that first book so much that I made him one the following Christmas. Rather than focus on a particular trip or event, the second book was a photo-retrospective of the entire year in chronological order.
I loved making that second book. I don't print photos often, and other than the blog or Flickr, I didn't have an outlet for all of the photos I was taking. I'm usually putting it together in late November and early December. In the middle of the holiday and end of semester craziness, it's nice to sit down for an hour here and there in the evenings to work on the book. This year it was one of the projects I worked on while staying in the cabin, which was really relaxing because there were absolutely no interruptions. Just me and the year of photos.
Every once in a while he would mention an event or memory from the past, and it always made me so happy when he would say that he thought of it because he had just looked through one of the books. Since we're never in the same city, the books had lived with Calder in California. Now that they're here with me, I've found myself taking a peek through them on a whim.

I've been looking through the books more regularly as I think about hanging pictures in the house. Of course I want to hang a few with us in it, but I'm also thinking that some of the scenes from our road trips would make great art that means something special to us.

This next page contains photos taken from the van window on one of our winter road trips through Nevada, Utah, and Colorado... and I guess now is as good of a time as any for a confession ~ I'm a bit obsessed with taking pictures of power lines. On the one hand they're an eyesore just ruining your view from the car window, on the other hand, they variations in design are beautiful. They come in so many shapes and sizes for a utilitarian object that has just as one purpose ~ keep the wires off the ground. My deep interest in energy use, and the million and one ways to make electricity also fuels, charges, zaps, electrifies my obsession. And finally, they give me a sort of eerie feeling mixed with a bit of adventure when I see these huge power lines in the middle of no-where. It's one more sign that we've "settled" an area, but we're not really there, our electrons are just passing through. I have a growing collection of power line photos, maybe one day they'll become a coffee-table book :-).

I've used Blurb.com to make every book. They have some software that I've found relatively easy to use, and I've always been happy with the end result. Also - if you've ordered from them in the past and are on their email list, then they usually notify you of some discounts around the holidays. I've always taken advantage of their free shipping (they do it to encourage people to get their holiday orders in early), and sometimes they offer additional discounts.

I know there are some other companies out there that do this, and if you have a favorite please let me know!