I have been shooting families and kids and dogs like NUTS in my studio the past week or two, and man, it has been so much fun. Studio work is so, so different than my normal day-to-day, but in a totally fun way.Now, some internet shares of the day:+ Want a pretty sign with a nice message for your front yard? Here you go. And check out the hotties on that About page, eh?+ I find it both hilarious and terrifying that Mike Pence is now fighting for private emails. YOU KNOW, THAT THING WE HAD TO HEAR ABOUT FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS WITH HILLARY? $#@%^! At this point, I am literally out of curse words. And ask my dad, that takes a lot.+ My favorite book from last year was turned into a small foreign film and it is showing now in Minnesota. Go see it as soon as you can. I promise you, you will love it. It is WONDERFUL. And oh hey look, it's got record patronage here. Again, I sure do love it here in Minnesota.

It has been a week since we voted, and I realize you might be tired of hearing me bitch about the state of our nation. So here are a few photos of sleepy Magda.She was all cozied up while I was working at my computer this morning, and sometimes I take a minute just to spin around and take a long look at that sweet girl blissfully asleep. I take a few deep breaths, and then dive back into work. It's good for the soul.How am I feeling today? Hmmmm.... If only there was a time in history we could reference when a leader who promoted white nationalism wanted members of a minority religion to register with the government...But, in an effort to stay balanced, Kansas beat Duke last night in college basketball. (It's small. I know. I'm grasping!)For your internet shares of the day:+ Let's all eat our emotions! Look at this delicious pad thai recipe!+ The police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile has been charged with manslaughter.+ Han Solo and Princess Leah had a steamy affair during the making of Star Wars!  Ooooo la la!+ Back to the election (sorry!), these maps from the NY Times regarding how people voted is fascinating to me. For the first time, I saw our national parks and the nature that we love and value. And then I realized that many of the people who live on or near these lands are voting for the party against protecting the environment. I'm not judging it, I just find it supremely fascinating.

Just one more sunrise for you.I know it's all getting a bit repetitive -- my time on the North Shore. But I just can't photograph my mood around the house yet. Each time I think I'm getting over this election and taking a breath and I'm ready to move on, I see a little more malarky that brings me back down again. I promise my normal positive attitude will return eventually, but I'm not there yet, so here we are with another shot of the sunrise.I think the main problem is that I am someone who always prepares for the worst -- then you are ready for whatever the world throws at you. It's how I operate.But I don't know how to prepare right now.I know so many conservatives who voted for Trump believed that his racist/misogynistic/homophobic/bigoted behavior during his campaign would fade once he was elected and that then he would go after the issues that were important to them (some are pro-life, many are fiscally conservative). But what if that's wrong? His appointment of Bannon seems to prove that White Nationalism is still at the forefront of his presidency.I have posted a little information on Bannon before, but here is a roundup from the NY Times that offers no commentary but only quotes what Bannon has said in the past. There are also some articles his website has published in the past, including this piece:

A July 2016 article by Mr. Yiannopoulos argued that women were “screwing up the internet for men by invading every space we have online and ruining it with attention-seeking and a needy, demanding, touchy-feely form of modern feminism.”

So that guy now has the president's ear. Awesome. Please excuse me while I hunt down another "man space" on the internet and troll it with my "touch-feely" modern feminism.Ok, but now I am going to get back to something that I think is a top priority: education about current events and fact-based research. For democracy to work (I accidentally just typed democrazy, and now I might just keep it that way), people need to be informed by the facts. And that just is not happening. I have been on Facebook relentlessly pointing out false articles people are posting and reposting and reposting. People from both sides.You guys! Trump did not say "If I were to run, I'd run as a Republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific." That is false! Stop spreading it around! Use Snopes.com religiously to fact check!Also? I have had to squash these rumors as well: Black Lives Matter protestors did not plan looting sprees, and more importantly, no one from Black Lives Matter has set anyone on fire! I implore you all to do your own research before believing tales like this, and especially before passing them on to others.Lastly, (and most disturbingly), this article being shared around Facebook *is* true. The KKK is planning a victory march to celebrate Trump's presidency.  So let's sleep well tonight, shall we?Now, for my internet share of the day (we'll just run with this theme):+ Facebook employees are working on a system to fact check the "news" that spreads on their site. Hear, hear! Wouldn't this have been awesome BEFORE the election? Mmmm?+ And on a happier note, how about these Vogue photos, eh? Wowza.  

Oh yeah. This captures the feel of my weekend well.No, your computer screen is not broken. This is one of many photos I took that ended up being corrupt resulting in file loss. Not the best thing when you're photographing sixteen children, eighteen adults and three dogs. Luckily, I figured out the problem (I think), and the files were all saved (after much stress and computer work).But, you know, this isn't the only stress right now. If only.+ In case you are hearing more about the alt-right lately, and are wondering what they are, I've been researching like mad and this is a pretty good summary. And yes. It's terrifying.+ And why would you be hearing about the alt-right? Because Stephen Bannon has been promoted to Chief Strategist to Trump's campaign. Previously, he was in charge of Breitbart.com, a site that publishes stories like: "Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy." So yeah.+ And this article about First Amendment Rights is terrifying and important.+ But I cannot end on that depressing note. So here is something to make you laugh.

It has been such a hard week.I didn't blog yesterday because 1) I'm not sure you would have wanted to read what my mind was thinking and 2) I needed some time to clear my head.I think now that the anger has passed, and I've moved on to just sadness and reflection, the waters are safe again. At least I hope so.What helped me to move forward more than anything was seeing President Obama's speech after the election. That man possesses more strength and grace than anyone I have ever known, and he inspires me daily to be a better person. I can only hope my son has a president of such magnitude in his lifetime (or one that he will remember, rather).Here are a few things I have done in the last day to make myself feel better.

1. I have signed up with several volunteer organizations in town, including this one. The best way I know how to fight ignorance and racism in this country is by raising my own son in a fashion that shows him the importance of charity and kindness while teaching him to respect all people no matter their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. I will also be teaching him to stand up for those who are discriminated against and to bear witness for those who need it.
2. On that same note, I have set up a drive to help this organization gather goods for single mothers working hard to get their families out from under the poverty line. If you would like more information on how you can help, please shoot me an email.
3. I am working to order these beautiful signs for my neighborhood showing that we welcome everyone, and this is a safe place. The signs were designed and created by my wonderful friend Jaime.
4. I am donating to the ACLU.
5. I have used more patience than I ever knew I possessed to discuss racist and inaccurate postings on Facebook. Some posters have ignored me, while others have rewritten their posts or corrected them and thanked me for the civil dialogue. This has been the most difficult thing by far, but I encourage everyone to give it a try. Be nicer than you want to be, but make your points strongly. Racism is never acceptable.

And now that I have that off my chest, please enjoy these photos I took while we were on the North Shore last weekend. That blissful retreat seems like last year, so I sure am glad I took photos to remember it by.

I need some time to recover. And to gather my family's passports.In the meantime, here is an image from the north shore I took this weekend.

Well, here we are.First off, I took this selfie (a true rarity for me) right before heading out to the polls this morning. In other words, it was shot with my phone, so excuse the image quality as it's a bit off.But I digress.What I really want to talk about today is not so much the election, but how it has affected the press. This is the first presidential election that I have not worked in a newsroom, and it has been very interesting. First, because I'm finally allowed to post my opinions and be free with them (more on that later) and second because with so many people attacking mainstream media, it's really got me thinking.There have been a lot of people holding the "mainstream media" out as a giant conspiracy, and I need to be clear, that is complete bullshit. And if you don't believe me that the media has become a target, take a look at this Trump supporter.For the twenty two years that I worked in newsrooms across the country (red states, blue states, wherever), the main focus of every political story we covered was to remain objective. Now, before you get upset, I need to clarify that the OPINION PAGES (usually located at the back of the A section or the B section) are used to voice the editor's opinions and those of the community. These opinions sit in a specific, cordoned off area of the paper. You also need to know that those editors whose voices are used on these pages also sit in a different, cordoned off area of the newspaper building. They do not attend news meetings, they are rarely, if ever, even seen in the newsroom, and they have zero say on how stories are "played" in the regular paper. They work on those two pages in the paper where opinion is allowed, and that's it. For instance, in all of my years in various newsrooms, I never even saw the editorial cartoonist (or didn't know if I did). And I'm an art director! That's how separate the areas of the paper are kept.I think a huge failing of the internet is that so many "stories" are shared via email, facebook or wherever, and they are not blatantly marked as coming from the newspaper's opinion pages. They are not coming from the mainstream media. They are coming from the opinion pages. These two things are very different, and please remember that.Also, every single newsroom I ever worked in had rules that as journalists we needed to appear objective and we were not allowed to post our opinions in public forums or display yard signs or anything like this. It almost killed me during the Obama elections. But! Contrary to popular belief, we are not all democrats! I have wonderful friends from my years in newsrooms who are deep-rooted conservatives. And they, too, had to keep their opinions quiet. So it sucked for everyone!Now, back to the "regular" newspaper. I cannot tell you the amount of time and energy that is spent in a newsroom making sure coverage is equal of both parties. From photo size, to photo selection to amount of story that appeared on the front page to graphics to headline size. IT ALL MATTERED. Because we wanted to be as fair as possible and we didn't want any visuals to sway how people thought.Clearly, I'm not a reporter or editor, but considering how much attention was paid to my headline sizes by the various editors in chief that I worked with, I am certain that same level of attention was paid to the word selection in the stories. Also, you should know that we knew we were doing our job right when we got 100 angry calls from Republicans saying we were too liberal and that same day got 100 angry calls from Democrats saying we were too conservative. When you are pissing everyone off? You're doing things right.But now that I've given you a little background, I want to talk about how times have changed.I was stunned when I studied in London back in 2008 and saw how the papers there didn't work to be objective. How the conservatives had their paper and the liberals had theirs. And I liked that system better. I felt like we were working so damn hard to be objective back in the states, that we weren't presenting the news in the right way for fear of angering one political party or another. Sometimes in an effort to be "fair" you forget about things that are important and might need more coverage because it's the right thing to do.But then TV news took a turn, and the networks became just that. They started catering to the parties, and all of a sudden, it felt like people in general were less informed. People watch what they want to watch, and they ignore what they don't want to hear. And that, my friends, is dangerous.Another great example of this is Facebook. My own feed is "curated" by the company, and I see almost all liberal points of view. But when I do see my conservative friends' posts (yes! I have lots of conservative friends! They are smart, thoughtful and wonderful people!), I always click to read them. I want to know how "the other side" sees things. I want to know their point of view.But as the election has grown nearer, I don't see those posts as much. Because Facebook is showing me what it thinks I *want* to see. And having papers with blatant political slants would be the same.As you can tell, I don't really have the answer here. What news sources will I always trust? The Washington Post and the New York Times. I know it's different for everyone. But I am begging people not to fall into a trap of thinking that the mainstream media is in on some sort of conspiracy. They work so diligently to bring fair and balanced coverage, and also to work in the best interest of the people. And if they are a tad slower reporting the news than Twitter or your favorite blog? It's because they are confirming the facts first (VERY IMPORTANT!) and they are working to get a voice to the other side of the issue (aslo, VERY IMPORTANT!). I've seen it in action for years and years and years. And tonight and tomorrow night? These are the toughest shifts of their lives.Don't buy the hype that the media is a conspiracy or a machine with an agenda. The "mainstream media" is working hard to keep everyone informed of the facts. Even if they disagree with them. I promise. 

Oh man, you guys, we are so blissed out up here.I shot this on our first morning here at the north shore. Jamie came in and woke me up around 7:30, apologizing for stealing me away from delicious slumber, but promising me I would be sad to miss the beauty of the lake that morning. Was he right or WHAT? Those clouds look like they are on fire!We have had another majestic weekend up here on the north shore, and we'll be heading back home later today. Somehow, Ezra being all screwed up by daylight savings and waking us up at FOUR THIRTY in the morning doesn't seem quite as bad when this is the view you are waiting for. (That said, dear sweet Jesus can we get him back to "sleeping in" until 6:15 am, pretty please?)I would probably stay up here for a lot more time if there wasn't something important I need to get done on Tuesday.