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tweet!

The Twitter Experiment has officially begun. I was hesitant initially to set up an account because I didn't know how it worked. Since having it explained to me, I have been hesitant to jump into something that takes time to keep up with. Now, curiosity has gotten the best of me.

Currently one of my only friends is the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Although I enjoyed hearing firsthand that he and his wife are expecting another child, I would really like to get updates from people I know. Who's out there Twittering away?

Ben's username is BenjaminRas. He updates about his travels and when he has new work online. My username is AbbyKirkbride, and I offer a smorgasbord of information: neat interior design links, recommendations of nice things to eat, and pithy insight into law school life. (A recent example: "Who says law and laughter don't go together? Today in Con Law--"The 5th Amendment is really the rummage sale of the Bill of Rights.")

As you can see, these nuggets of wisdom and whimsy are not to be missed.

-a

the life

Law school is sending out an e-mail at 1:54 a.m. regarding a organizational meeting tomorrow, and having it immediately replied to by three of the four recipients. One of them is still doing homework at Denny's.

Apparently we aren't "grown ups" yet.

-a

nyc: the soundtrack

Tomorrow I fly to New York City to meet Ben for my birthday weekend. He is there for two weeks on business, and so we decided to combine a happy reunion with Happy Birthday! I have been working furiously to get ahead at school so I can actually enjoy my time away, while also making time to read a few dozen restaurant reviews.

In preparation, I have made a playlist for the trip. I am fairly proud of the end result (equal parts romance, sass and celebration), but I am still looking for suggestions. What song would be on your ultimate NYC soundtrack?

-a

Theme from New York, New York byFrank Sinatra  

A-Punk by Vampire Weekend

City of Blinding Lights by U2

No Sound But the Wind by Editors

NYC-Gone,Gone by Conor Oberst

Bad Romance by Lady GaGa 

Just Dance by Lady GaGa & Colby O'Donis

The Only Living Boy In New York by Simon & Garfunkel  

1901 by Phoenix 

Yer So Bad by Tom Petty

To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High) by Ryan Adams

Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan

Downtown Train by Tom Waits 

Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) by Jay-Z

Electric Feel by MGMT

New York City Blues by The Yardbirds   

Next Exit by Interpol

I And Love And You by The Avett Brothers 

Miss You by The Rolling Stones

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out by  Bruce Springsteen 

(Antichrist Television Blues) by Arcade Fire  

Kids by  MGMT 

ding dong, the bells are gonna chime

I have finally put up a website focused on my wedding work. 

BenjaminRasmussenWeddings.com

I have shot a handful of weddings every year for the past several years, and I love what they add to my life as a photographer. So much of my time is spent trying to create beautiful images in tough situations, but weddings are tailor-made to be beautiful. I just get to hang out all day with a couple who is totally in love, which makes my job so much easier.

It is exciting to start doing some weddings in the U.S. again. (I cannot remember the last wedding I was at where the reception lasted less than seven hours, as the Faroese ones usually do.) 

I am still only going to be doing a handful of weddings this year (probably around 10), and two of those spots are already taken.  So if you are getting married, drop me a line.

I have also decided to sweeten the deal for those who aren't getting married. Anyone who refers a couple to me who book me for their wedding gets $100 in the mail. Consider it my little economic stimulus package.

Here are some of my favorite images from over the years that I found while putting the site together.

 

 

 

 

 

-b

he's cute and talented

This afternoon we got Ben's most recent cookbook in the mail from the Faroe Islands. To clarify, he did not cook the delicious dishes; he just made them look that way in the photographs. He shot the images for a dessert cookbook last year, and this summer he returned to work with the same chef and art director for a second outing.

Ben's first love is the work he is able to do in conflict zones and with struggling communities across the globe. How embarrassing for him to have a wife who thinks that his cookbooks are his finest work! 

I jest, but I do also love his food photography. It evokes the great work going on in Australia and Denmark with lifestyle photography: clean, bright and naturally lit, vibrant colors. It appears the book is available online, but I am unsure if international shipping is available. The bookstore's Web site said it was the best selling book in the country last week!

I am sorry for all of you who don't live in the Faroe Islands and/or do not read Faroese, because you are missing out on some wonderful food. I am grateful that the one linguistic skill I have retained from our year living in the Faroes is reading recipes. I plan to try the meringue-topped rhubarb cake over Christmas break.

Great job Ben, Oddvør and Ingibjørg!

-a

nostrum domus

Long ago, before I knew about promissory estoppel, adverse possession and the Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, I promised to post some pictures of our apartment.

The stars have finally aligned to make this a reality: Ben is home, the house is clean, it is daylight, and I am feeling spendy with 20 minutes of my time.

Our little apartment, which was procured by my Mother while we were still in the Philippines, is a wonderful retreat for us. It has a charming peaked ceiling, wooden beams, a fireplace and a modest view of the mountains. To put it into perspective, living here is worth putting up with our neighbor who pounds techno music into our bedroom wall with fierce dedication. 

I want to editorialize the photos with a few comments. First, we don't usually have two bouquets of fresh flowers--I just got lucky this weekend and received one in thanks for my help with a school event. I feel compelled to mention this because, while one bouquet seems lovely and homey, two seems a little wasteful. Secondly, I hope to post a photo of the kitchen later this week. It's one of my favorite spaces in the house, but we forgot to memorialize it today. Lastly, please note the shark jaw, typewriter, Bruce Springsteen poster and Kivi votives--these are a few of my favorite things!

-a

let's hear it for the boy!

Ben just found out that on September 17 his photo work from Mindanao, Philippines will be part of Slide Show Night at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles!

A few weeks ago the gallery contacted him for a submission, and now he is one of 30 photographers to be featured in a multimedia selection of last year's finest photo documentary stories from around the world. There will be work by some incredible photojournalists including Ed Kashi, Brenda Ann Kenneally and Q. Sakamaki. (I am not familiar with all of these photographers--I am a little more wowed by the fact that together they represent work for The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Time, Life, L'espresso, and many more.)

This is the real deal. I am so excited for Ben to be featured with some of the photographers he admires most at one of the premier photography institutions in the country, and also for the recognition of his skill and commitment to the stories of Mindanao. Good job!

-a

no. 3

CLICK HERE to download our latest newsletter, our last update from the sunny tropics. This has been a wonderful, consequential year and we are grateful for the dozens of people who played a role in supporting our work.

-a

our conundrum

The final law school I am seriously considering is the University of Colorado at Boulder, and last Saturday I heard that I had been offered admission there too. In one sense, "Yay!", and in another, "Oh bother!". Now we have to decide between Minnesota and Colorado (sorry Oregon), both of which have their charms.

Here are some of our thoughts on the matter. We are particularly torn between the draw of being near family and friends in a familiar area, versus the perceived threat that once we go "home" we can never leave again. My parent's response to this line of thought is, "You don't always have to do the hard thing [like go to school half way across the country just to make a point about how independent you are]."

(Ben=pink, Abby=blue, communal=yellow)

-a

thunder road

Ben thinks that I am taking advantage of his absence by posting frivolous things, but being done with law school applications (!) has made me a little reckless. And so...

There are not very many things about the 1980s that I wish had been better able to experience. However, I can think of two notable exceptions. The first would have been to understand the importance of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The second would have been to see the rise of the Boss, a scrawny Jersey boy who has distinguished himself as one of the best pop musicians of our time. This video catches him at his best--the monologue that gets at the heart of Americana, and the sweaty, energetic performance. My thanks to Mother, who left a copy of Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits in our basement C.D. drawer over a decade ago, unknowingly planting the seeds of a life-long crush.

-a