American Style magazine, the go to publication that explores contemporary crafts, craft/art collecting, and the artists who create studio craft art, has chosen New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes as an “artful” gift for the holiday season. We couldn’t agree with them more! You can read about it here, as well as check out their other choices for the art lovers, craft enthusiasts, and heritage travelers on your gifting list.

The PhoneBook–creating a completely different experience of books, reading, and storytelling for little tots, and their parents too. I love that the medium is a mash-up of traditional book reading and the interactive and non-linear nature of this new digital format. Way to go Kodansha and Mobile Art Lab!

A few weeks ago I went to the Groupon website and filled out an online form to request that New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes be reviewed for a future product in a daily promotion. Seems that the book doesn’t have enough of an online presence for them to trust that it would sell. This is the email I got this morning:

“Thanks for contacting Groupon! Since we only feature one business a day, our schedule is carefully constructed to highlight a variety of well reviewed businesses. We haven’t been able to locate enough reviews or press clippings about your business. If we missed them or if you receive more online reviews, awards, or press that come in down the road please let us know! We have your information on file, and if it’s OK with you, we’ll be in touch if an opportunity arises in the future.”

Well, it was a good idea for the Albuquerque Groupon market, especially before the holidays, but looks like it won’t happen. True, a daily promotion to get your nails done for uber cheap would probably appeal to a much larger pool of people than the book would, and they are a business out to make cash, so I understand. Would winning the New Mexico Book Award help my case? Keep your fingers crossed.

A model does her best dead look at a fashion show in downtown L.A.

I’ve often toyed with the idea to apply the Guide for the Eyes concept to holidays. From Halloween to Christmas to Hannukah, they each contain oodles of symbolism, lore, and traditions that are begging to be explained. I would want to start with Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead–a Mexican tradition that is being celebrated more and more in the United States. Two years ago, I attended nearly everything I could, from festivals and ceremonies to films and lectures, taking place in Los Angeles, a major hub of celebrations north of the border. Here are some some shots commemorating the time period.

Mexican made "calaveras" waiting to be bought at L.A.'s Olvera Street

Manny's Buckhorn Tavern Burger in San Antonio, NM

I always miss New Mexico the most in the fall. The days are crisp and crystal clear, the mountains start to shimmer in gold, and the chile harvest is present in every whiff of air. By this time of year, most freezers in New Mexico are chock-a-block full of  red and green chile. Mine, being in Los Angeles, is not, and it’s a crime. I think I’ll be breaking down and ordering some online this year.

When I was coming up with the 100 list of things to represent New Mexico for the New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes book, chile was written down before I even had to think about it. So many of the state’s culinary traditions include chile that I felt as if I was including a reference to the fruit in every page (which is completely appropriate.) However, there is a gaping hole in the list that I regret overlooking–the Green Chile Cheeseburger. Even without the chile, no other place on the planet does burgers like The Land of Enchantment. Los Angeles, which is home of the fast food burger, doesn’t even come close to offering the quality of burgers of New Mexico. Sure, some burger joints here offer “New Mexico” or “Hatch” style burgers, but they simply slap some green chile on a patty and call it good without paying attention to other details, such as the quality of meat. For those of you in LA, just so you know where my taste buds lie–I’m a fan of Fatburger and never waste my time or money at In N Out, which is completely overrated.

Several aspects of New Mexico burgers makes the state an absolute destination for beef patties and buns.
1) Green chile. Even McDonalds recognizes the its brilliance and offers the fruit as a side within the state.
2) Thick, juicy and loose patties–a sure sign that they are hand-formed.
3) Simplicity. Bun, beef, lettuce, tomato, chile, cheese, perhaps some mustard, mayo or ketchup. No gourmet burgers here. Not that I don’t partake in the trend…However, the fast food variety in NM is so profound that brioche buns and gruyere cheese aren’t even needed.
4) There must be some magic element in NM burgers that I have yet to discover. They are simply that good.

I was thrilled to find that the NM Tourism Board has a website devoted to help those in search of the perfect green chile cheese burger. You can check it out right here along with its interactive map. Granted, it is NOT a curated list, but a complete catalog of where to find a delicious burger throughout the state. Me? I’ll eat a green chile cheeseburger anywhere, but these are my favorites:

* The Owl Cafe in Albuquerque and San Antonio (this spot deserves it’s own post)
* Manny’s Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio
* Blake’s Lotaburger Chain (statewide)
* Jerry’s Cafe in Gallup
* Sugars in Embudo Station
* The Bobcat Bite in Santa Fe
* Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid

You can also check out Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) blog for well-written reviews of tasty burger offerings in the Zia state. Meanwhile, I’ll sit here and just think about them.

I know it’s already over, but Albuquerque’s world famous Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is always on my mind in October. The crisp and cool early Fall mornings, started off by a steamy and green chile stuffed breakfast burrito while you watch massive colorful bags of hot air shiver and sway is simply magical. For years in middle school and high school I would get up pre-dawn to work at the TJ Cinnamon booth on the Fiesta grounds. I stuffed paper funnels with mini cinna-buns and drizzled creamy, white frosting on top to hand over to sleepy participants and observers. I loved every minute of it, except for the hours.

Two years ago, while in New Mexico to photograph and research New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes, I attempted to spend a morning at the Fiesta with my husband. We walked onto the mesa at around 6 am and not a single balloon was on the ground. I knew immediately that the day had been canceled. Nothing could soothe my disappointment–not even TJ’s cinna-buns or a breakfast burrito. I snapped this shot while I trolled around for a crew that could help me source a photograph from the festival. Two years later, as I gaze at these bumper stickers for the Fiesta throughout the years, I am brought back to all those cozy Fall mornings. Somehow, the graphics for many of my first few years going to the Fiesta have remained with me–both the fonts and colors. The year of “The Big One,” way back in 1989 (!), is especially strong in my memory. Funny how the mind fixates on specific visual elements sometimes.

This T.S. Eliot quote perfectly sums up my feelings about my work for Guides for the Eyes:
“We must not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”

I was in San Clemente this past weekend and happened upon a surf competition at the beach. I haven’t been able to catch a surf shot yet for the SoCal book so I tried to take a few. Not sure if this is the one, but I was able to catch a nice jump by a teen female competitor. Sweet! Here is the original shot. It offers some interesting cropping choices.

Here’s another possibility. A direct crop to move into the subject

And another to isolate the competition winner.

Comments? Suggestions? I love this stuff. But, I probably need to get a better zoom lens.

Recently I’ve had friends ask for recommendations on what to do and see in two former homes of mine—Seattle, Washington and Austin, Texas. Of course, food is the big question for most people and I’ve got loads of local hideaways that I miss in both cities. The problem is that I very well might be like an outdated guidebook with lots of great ideas of places that are no longer around, or worse, have gone downhill since I last checked in. Also, some of my favorite drinking spots in Austin probably have an overly college vibe for thirty-somethings…which has me thinking about food souvenirs, those local treats you can’t find made locally anywhere else that can be brought home and shared. These are the very goodies that make up some of the food traditions in our Guide for the Eyes series, and I can’t help but ponder them for each new place I go.

What are the food souvenirs in Washington and Texas? In my home state (Washington) there are the Turkish delightish Aplets and Cotlets, bottles of Pinot Noir, Almond Roca (yeah, Tacoma!), smoked salmon, bottles of microbrews, and Frangos (melt in your mouth chocolates and a great Northwest stocking stuffer.) And, Texas? Too bad you can’t travel with BBQ ribs, Schlotzky’s sandwiches, kolaches, frito pie, or breakfast tacos, but you can stuff your pockets with pralines (and you should!)

The LA Times a short article today regarding e-reader habits, offering a “rare glimpse of hope” in these “dark days for content publishers.” People who own e-reader devices are spend much more time reading books, magazines, and newspapers. The survey implies these e-readers are spending less time watching TV and surfing the web. This comes on a day that I have “check out Sutro Media, etc.” to investigate the possibility of creating an Apple app of New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes. Sutro Media specializes in creating travel based applications and that’s essentially the extent that I know about them. I’d like to also investigate offering the title up as a straight conversion digital book for the iPad. I’d be interested in the Kindle or Nook, etc. but they don’t offer a visual experience of the work, which is integral to the series. I’ll be posting again soon about my findings.