The Poverty Jet Set

I (Audrey) recently took a trip down to Hot Springs, Arkansas to begin researching a documentary film I am making. I met my mother (whom the film is partially about) down there and we spent 5 days digging up the past, eating fried catfish and barbecue, bathing in hot springs and soaking up the vibe of this little town, and I have to say- I am in love with the history and old Americana feel of Hot Springs. Here are a couple of photos from the trip, the rest are on Mark’s Flickr page. I will be posting more about this project in the months (and years?) to come, I may even create a separate blog for the film, but I will keep everyone POSTED. Ha ha. Pun intended.

My brother Dave works at Dreamworks and has spent the better portion of this past year working hard on Kung-Fu Panda. He’s got a pretty awesome job as an animator there, and I’m real proud of his work! Audrey and I are heading to the theater to see it tonight to check it out (what better way to spent a near-100′F evening than spend in the darkly cool confines of a movie house?). I don’t think I’ve gone to an animated kids film in…. um… since I was a kid! It’s going to be great. Guilty pleasures.

[UPDATE: The film was awesome! We totally enjoyed it and it made us laugh out loud. Super summertime blockbuster. Also, I grabbed a quick shot of Dave in the credits!]

My brother Dave and I used to sit around and challenge each other to come up with the best wishes for a genie. I believe he has cracked the code once and for all.

It occurred to me today that there might be a loophole in the genie wish system, that one of you out there could exploit. Should the time come that you find a genie lamp and get three wishes you’ll be glad you read this. Hopefully you don’t find one of those genies that only give you one wish, LAME! right? One wish, and you know you can’t wish for more wishes, not with those cheap genies… actually I think the “wish for more wishes” loophole has long been fixed. There’s no way they’d fall for that one anymore… [read more]

This is my family now, 24 years after this one was taken.

From left to right: Brian Heinze, Becca Heinze, Christina Smith, Roy Smith, May Smith, Audrey, Me, Colleen Schoneveld, Mach Schoneveld, Anneke Schoneveld, Paul Schoneveld, Molly Tripp Schoneveld, Dave Schoneveld, Becca Schoneveld Cheek, Brandon Cheek

[photo by my uncle Jim Ennis Kirkland]

I was just cleaning up my house on a Sunday morning and ran across this photo. It’s one of my favorites of all time. That’s me on the left (looks like they just woke me up — what funny sleepy eyes I have!). Dave and Anneke and Rebecca on my mom’s lap. My youngest brother Paul wasn’t even born yet.

The photo was taken in our small courtyard in our house on Sherman Avenue in Menlo Park, California on November 27, 1983 - nearly 25 years ago! Crazy. I loved that house. We lived there for some 8 years. That patio was covered with a canvas top my dad built. It sure cast a fantastic light.