I've had a great time with my Posterous blog, but I've decided to consolidate and condense my online activities in the New Year, so I won't be posting here anymore. I hope you'll visit me on Tumblr -- the new home of jesshibb.com, and the place I'll be sharing frequent updates.

I've updated my RSS feeds on feedburner, but I'm not quite sure it worked ... If you follow along in an RSS reader, please check to be sure you're getting the most recent posts. This feedburner link should work. Of course, you'll still find me on Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo, LinkedIn, and a bunch of other places.

Happy New Year! Here's to an artful and inspired 2012.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesshibb/5492756909/

We've been taking lots of weekend walks lately. Which doesn't sound very thrilling, unless you know that a car ran over my foot a few months back, and it's taken a while to get to the point where I can complete a brisk 4-mile walk again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesshibb/5492756739/

In addition to the physical health benefits, I also find that walking is a great way to clear my head. It's especially liberating to leave the house without my wallet or blackberry or any of the other things that usually weigh me down ... Just a small camera in my pocket is all I need.

Deliberately leaving my phone at home has really opened my eyes to how sad it looks when someone's walking in the park on a beautiful day with their head bent down, texting or tweeting or something. Please remind me to never do that.

I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I'm happiest when I have a routine to follow ... The unpredictable snowstorms and subsequent closings during winter make me bonkers, and the slightest changes to my work schedule mean that my productivity takes a nose-dive. 

But I'm also finding that doing something different can be energizing, so I'm trying to strike a balance. I signed up for a Country French cooking class with some friends, mostly on a whim, and we all had a great time on Friday night making coq au vin, chocolate mousse, and other delicious things. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesshibb/5480429718/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesshibb/5480428060/

More photographic evidence on Flickr

It's so easy to say "no" to things like this ... I feel like I don't have a lot of free time, and left to my own devices, I'd rather go home and crash on the sofa after a long week of work. But I had a great time hanging out with friends and doing something out of the ordinary. I'm making a note to myself to do more things like this. What's your favorite way to take a break from your routine?

We just returned from a brief weekend visit with family ... Not sure if anyone else experiences this, but road trips always make me feel a bit contemplative. Maybe it's the change of scenery that sparks new thought, or the somewhat meditative motion of wheels on pavement. Who knows. But shortly after we got home, I stumbled across this quote on Tumblr, and for some reason it was just what I needed to hear:

"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them."

-- Bill Watterson

Speaking of words I needed to hear, I had a similar experience when reading a post by the Communicatrix earlier this week: It's not just you. There is no "done." The soft things may be the most necessary.

Have you happened upon any sage advice lately?

 

I really hope my co-workers don't mind the new album from The Decemberists. It's currently the #1 album in my office and in my car. 

And as if the music wasn't kickass enough already, the band also had Autumn de Wilde (a totally brilliant photographer) take 2,500 original photos on polaroid packfilm supplied by The Impossible Project and included them in special box sets. Be still my heart.

 

 

P.S. -- If you can't see the embedded slideshow, click through to the story & photos on nymag.com.

 

I think I might make a it a one-camera weekend.

I'm leaning toward my new Natura Classica. It's so small and versatile. But can I go an entire weekend without instant film? I'm sure the suspense is killing you. STAY TUNED.