Jaws, Maui

Jaws Maui 

This was an unusually large year for surf on Maui's North Shore. Here are a few shots from January 2014 by photographer Daniel Sullivan, now available on his website www.danielsullivanphotography.com

and at Indigo in Paia.

JA

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Parasols in Maui

UTHOR: Daniel sullivan TITLE: Parasols by Rose Potter STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: wysiwyg ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Home Furnishings CATEGORY: Rose Potter  DATE: 09/04/2009 10:51:52 AM ----- BODY: 
Parasols by Rose Potter
Here in Maui, it seems like summer is just beginning.  September is the hottest month, based on my own personal research of living here for a few years.  But, since everyone on the mainland is preparing for fall and I thought I'd do a post on parasols, as a symbol of summer coming to an end.
We have the sweetest parasols and patio umbrellas made from old embroidered skirt fabrics.  Each one is a unique mix of pattern, color and texture. 
This is a picture of one of the patio umbrellas stuck into one of the planters in front of the store.  I can't tell you how many times I've noticed people photographing it as they're driving by.  The patio umbrellas sell for $560, and there's only a few left.
The parasols are a whole new level of cuteness.  I recently came across this picture via Stylecourt, and it made me start daydreaming about carrying my parasol on the beach. 
It's a photo by Robert Capa, Magna Photos 1996.  
So I guess my daydream wasn't about carrying my own parasol, but having someone carry one for me...
We have quite a few of the smaller parasols and they sell for $138.  
Walking down the beach with one of these cute parasols guarantees that you look just like this too...
This picture is from a fashion show we had this summer, and while I can't guarantee you'll look exactly like her, you'll still feel pretty stylish.
 ----- EXTENDED BODY:  ----- EXCERPT: Here in Maui, it seems like summer is just beginning.  September is the hottest month, based on my own personal research of living here for a few years.  But, since everyone on the mainland is preparing for fall and I thought I'd do a post on parasols, as a symbol of summer coming to an end. ----- KEYWORDS: Parasols, Umbrellas, Rose Potter, Indigo Paia, Maui

Crossing the border to Afghanistan

AUTHOR: Daniel sullivan TITLE: Crossing the border to Afghanistan STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: wysiwyg ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: afghanistan CATEGORY: Daniel Sullivan's photography CATEGORY: Travel CATEGORY: Weblogs  DATE: 08/23/2009 09:23:47 PM ----- BODY: 
The American I met in Pakistans  name was Terry Reid and he began to teach me the art of rugs. He showed me the difference between vegetable and chemical dyes, dating rugs and how rugs were made. I photographed Terry's rug project, a model for the UN tours of the area, that employed over 300 Afghan Refuges, and his schools that educated their children. My education in Asian Arts, would span the next decade, and five years later, Terry would become my father in law. 
The more I became involved with Refuges, the more I became fascinated with Afghanistan and the war that was raging there. It was with this fascination  that I left Peshawar with a letter in my hand, heading for Afghanistan. The letter, which had been written in Dari by the refuges I had been living with, was addressed to a friend of theirs in Afghanistan. If I found him he would protect me. 
 
                                              Smugglers Bazaar, Dera Pakistan 2000 Daniel Sullivan
As I left Peshawar I headed North through the Hindu Kush mountains to Chitral, then headed West through the Bombret Valley where I hiked for three days among the Kalash tribes. The Kalash are  descendants of Alexander the Great, and their blond hair and blue eyes still show testament to their Macedonian blood.  Unique in Central Asia the Kalsh are the last tribe to refuse to convert to Islam, still worshiping the Macedonian gods.  The women do not cover their long hair and are know for their singing and dancing. I was immediately enchanted by the sparkly eyed Kalash children who followed me through town.
 I was invited by the villagers to a funeral where I sat in an old Macedonian temple with the elder women as they sang to the dead. The deceased was an elderly man who was laid out on rope charpoy covered with fruit and offerings. As we sat and ate cheese that was so pungent it smelled of rotting flesh, I smiled and politely and tried not to regurgitate the death offering. As I left the temple the fires of the Kalash homes illuminated the hill like a Christmas tree. 
From Bombret I hitchhiked West again and caught a ride on a cargo truck, then on a lapis truck heading towards Afghanistan. I sat in the back with a dozen angry Afghans for eight hours with  cramped legs and a rocky ass. Any movement was met with glancing stairs and grunts,  and eventually I had to give into the fact that my legs were going to cramp up and hurt and there was really nothing I could do about it. During the Talibans rule, smiling had been banned, I tried to remember that as I smiled to the Afghans grimacing across from me. 
The roads were pot-marked with bombed out craters from years of war, filled with mud and water from the melting snow. I carried my Nikon, 14 roles of film and two lenses in  a small goat skin bag, I had bought at the market. I dressed in a Shalwar Chemise and Chitrali hat( hoping my disguise wouldn't fail me). My hopes were that in Afghanistan I would be able to photography a game of buscatche(a primitive game played with a dead goat, but that had been  banned, with all other games, by the Taliban. In the North however it was still rumored to still be played where the Northern Alliance held out the Taliban.
It had been years since journalists had been able to get any photos our of Afghanistan. I hoped that if I made it inside I might be one of the first.
After hours of bouncing around in the back of the truck we approached a military tent. It was the Afghan border. The angry guards  whipped around the vehicle inspecting the motley crew of us in back,  as I tried to keep my head down. But quickly to my dismay (and alarm) they noticed the skinny white guy hunched over  in the back, and shouted something to me in Dari. I had no answer and could only pretend to be deaf, but it was too late. They prodded me in the back with a stick and pulled me out of the truck. 
"Passport," they said pointing at me with a stick. I handed over my passport(with no Afghan Visa). The guards left  and into their tent. After what seemed like an small eternity they returned. I pointed to my passport which one of the guards still held in his hand, but he refused to hand it over. He pointed towards Afghanistan. So this was it: me free to enter Afghanistan without my passport, perhaps never to return, or stay and try to hitchhike back to Pakistan. I hoped back into the truck and hoped for the best. In this crazy moment of desperation, off we went. Looking back at Pakistan, it was perhaps the dumbest moment of my life.

 ----- EXTENDED BODY:  ----- EXCERPT: The more I became involved with Refuges, the more I became fascinated with Afghanistan and the war that was raging there. It was with this fascination  that I left Peshawar with a letter in my hand, heading for Afghanistan. The letter, which had been written in Dari by the refuges I had been living with, was addressed to a friend of theirs in Afghanistan. If I found him he would protect me.  ----- KEYWORDS: hindu kush, Kalash, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Alexander the Great, Dera Pakistan, Terry Reid, Daniel Sullivan,  -----

Building Schools in Afghanistan

Building Schools in Afghanistan
I believe one of the biggest causes of the situation in Afghanistan is a lack of education and schools. When I was traveling through the countryside near Jalalabad in 2004 I was amazed by the site of hundreds of children sitting in fields studying in makeshift open air classrooms. Where all the schools had been destroyed, the kids still wanted to learn. Below is a photo I took of one such classroom. 
       
 One of the things Davies-Reid and Indigo have worked to do with our rug production is help the children of the Afghan Refuges get an education. In the past ten years we have helped build two schools in the tribal borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Below is a good segment that Christiane Amanpour just produced for CNN on the problems with schools in Afghanistan.

                                                                                                          Girls School, Afghanistan 2004 Daniel Sullivan
This is a photo I took of one of the first girls schools built in Afghanistan after the war in 2002. During the rule of the Taliban girls were not permitted to attend school. One of the scary things about the rise of the Taliban again is many of these schools are being blown up. Greg Mortenson who has built many schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan wrote Three Cups of Tea which is an excellent story of the challenges of working to build schools in Central Asia. 
If you would like to read more about our Refuge Rug Project and the schools we support, please visit us online at
www.indigopaia.com.

 ----- EXTENDED BODY:  ----- EXCERPT:  believe one of the biggest causes of the situation in Afghanistan is a lack of education and schools. When I was traveling through the countryside near Jalalabad in 2004 I was amazed by the site of hundreds of children sitting in fields studying in makeshift open air classrooms. Where all the schools had been destroyed, the kids still wanted to learn. Below is a photo I took of one such classroom.  ----- KEYWORDS: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Afghan Refuges, Davies-Reid, Indigo Paia, Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea, Daniel Sullivan, Building Schools in Afghanistan ----- --------

This morning I have a sunburn from a walk yesterday as part of one of my "favorite day" activities on Maui. Wake up semi-late and go have breakfast at Grandma's Coffee in Keokea (on Saturdays there's an awesome ukelele player).  After eating on the porch bordered by coffee trees inhabited by Jackson chameleons, go for a nice long walk down a country road where there's amazing views of Kaho'olawe, Lanai, South Maui, and the West Maui Mountains, along with some friendly cows and horses.  After the walk I go pick up some vegetables  and flowers at the Kula Country Farm and head back home....

Even though it was such a nice day, my red shoulders make me wish I would have done another of my favorite things and built a sari tent on my porch where I can sit in the shade, read a stack of magazines and partake in a tasty beverage or two. 

                                                        This is a picture from Living Etc's online gallery, but it shows exactly what I like to construct on my porch.   I have a four pieces of bamboo that I push into large planters that are already on my porch (while trying to avoid killing my succulents).  I have a beautiful tie-dyed or bandhani silk chiffon sari that was my first purchase as an employee at Indigo, and I just use rubber bands to wrap the fabric around the tops of the bamboo poles.  I've often thought I could make a more permanent solution by sewing tabs or ties onto the sari at the appropriate places, but I just like rigging things up I guess.  It is honestly so nice to have it all put together and for me, makes me really focus on relaxing.  It's like my little makeshift massage cabana near the beach. Now where's the pool boy with palm fronds to cool me off?

This is an image from domino magazine and it looks like the bench was built for the fabric, but same idea..   When we get our poufs in, they'll make perfect little side tables!

This beautiful shot is also from domino magazine, and I think it's perfect for a brunch or baby shower.  It looks like multiple saris were sewn together along their longest seams and then hung for shade in a courtyard or some other outdoor area.  This technique could create a nice outdoor living area where maybe there isn't one that's usable.  The sun is so bright and hot out here so it's nice to create a shady space to hang out.  Just as with the sari tents, you only have to find places to secure the saris at each end, whether its more bamboo poles, a fence, or even a couple of trees.  

This image is from a book, Fandango, by Sandy Hill.  I just had to include it because a sari could create the same atmosphere for a special outdoor party.

Of course, Indigo has lots and lots of saris to choose from.  There are silk, cotton, sequined, mirrored, and other versions to look through.  Some of the prettiest have gorgeous bead work along the edges creating nice texture.  If you're not available to stop in, just let us know what your favorite colors are and we'll send you some pictures. Then you can be well on your way to making your own sari tent.

Daniel took some gorgeous shots of the saris drying after women washed them in the Ganges River.  The first is probably my favorite shot from last year, and the second really shows off the variety of patterns and colors used in the saris.

sunburns and sari tents

AUTHOR: Daniel sullivan TITLE: sunburns and sari tents STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CONVERT BREAKS: wysiwyg ALLOW PINGS: 1 CATEGORY: Daniel Sullivan's photography CATEGORY: Decor CATEGORY: Home Furnishings CATEGORY: Rose Potter CATEGORY: Weblogs  DATE: 08/17/2009 10:51:13 AM ----- BODY: 
This morning I have a sunburn from a walk yesterday as part of one of my "favorite day" activities on Maui. Wake up semi-late and go have breakfast at Grandma's Coffee in Keokea (on Saturdays there's an awesome ukelele player).  After eating on the porch bordered by coffee trees inhabited by Jackson chameleons, go for a nice long walk down a country road where there's amazing views of Kaho'olawe, Lanai, South Maui, and the West Maui Mountains, along with some friendly cows and horses.  After the walk I go pick up some vegetables  and flowers at the Kula Country Farm and head back home....
Even though it was such a nice day, my red shoulders make me wish I would have done another of my favorite things and built a sari tent on my porch where I can sit in the shade, read a stack of magazines and partake in a tasty beverage or two. 
                                                        This is a picture from Living Etc's online gallery, but it shows exactly what I like to construct on my porch.   I have a four pieces of bamboo that I push into large planters that are already on my porch (while trying to avoid killing my succulents).  I have a beautiful tie-dyed or bandhani silk chiffon sari that was my first purchase as an employee at Indigo, and I just use rubber bands to wrap the fabric around the tops of the bamboo poles.  I've often thought I could make a more permanent solution by sewing tabs or ties onto the sari at the appropriate places, but I just like rigging things up I guess.  It is honestly so nice to have it all put together and for me, makes me really focus on relaxing.  It's like my little makeshift massage cabana near the beach. Now where's the pool boy with palm fronds to cool me off?
 
This is an image from domino magazine and it looks like the bench was built for the fabric, but same idea..   When we get our poufs in, they'll make perfect little side tables!
 
This beautiful shot is also from domino magazine, and I think it's perfect for a brunch or baby shower.  It looks like multiple saris were sewn together along their longest seams and then hung for shade in a courtyard or some other outdoor area.  This technique could create a nice outdoor living area where maybe there isn't one that's usable.  The sun is so bright and hot out here so it's nice to create a shady space to hang out.  Just as with the sari tents, you only have to find places to secure the saris at each end, whether its more bamboo poles, a fence, or even a couple of trees.  
 
This image is from a book, Fandango, by Sandy Hill.  I just had to include it because a sari could create the same atmosphere for a special outdoor party.
Of course, Indigo has lots and lots of saris to choose from.  There are silk, cotton, sequined, mirrored, and other versions to look through.  Some of the prettiest have gorgeous bead work along the edges creating nice texture.  If you're not available to stop in, just let us know what your favorite colors are and we'll send you some pictures. Then you can be well on your way to making your own sari tent.
Daniel took some gorgeous shots of the saris drying after women washed them in the Ganges River.  The first is probably my favorite shot from last year, and the second really shows off the variety of patterns and colors used in the saris.
 
 
 ----- EXTENDED BODY:  ----- EXCERPT: This morning I have a sunburn from a walk yesterday as part of one of my "favorite day" activities on Maui. Wake up semi-late and go have breakfast at Grandma's Coffee in Keokea (on Saturdays there's an awesome ukelele player).  After eating on the porch bordered by coffee trees inhabited by Jackson chameleons, go for a nice long walk down a country road where there's amazing views of Kaho'olawe, Lanai, South Maui, and the West Maui Mountains, along with some friendly cows and horses.  After the walk I go pick up some vegetables  and flowers at the Kula Country Farm and head back home.... ----- KEYWORDS: Grandma's Coffee in Keokea, Kula Country Farm, Living Etc's, tye-dyed, bandhani, silk ciffon, sari, daniel sullivan's photography, varanasi, ghats, Indigo,  -----