Learning Photography ― The Aperture Academy Experience

Last month I fulfilled a dream on my Bucket List: Take photography classes and learn to use a DSLR camera. I love taking pictures, but sometimes I feel as though I'm not quite capturing my vision or the most memorable moments.

Santa Cruz, Calif. - Photo Credit: Stephen W. Oachs

The Aperture Academy's Introduction to Photography course, which was held over an afternoon amid breathtaking photos covering the gallery/classroom walls, was taught by gallery owner and master photographer Stephen W. Oachs. A National Geographic professional photographer, Oachs shared fascinating stories of his hunt for great wildlife photography. He was charismatic, funny, deeply knowledgeable and incredibly honest about the time it takes to get "the shot." Oachs and other Aperture Academy professionals were friendly and helpful with personal questions. The class was interactive and engaging; and students received a copy of his presentation by email the next day.

The Intro to Photography class didn't include hands-on, photo-taking experience, but it did provide a comfortable background on aperture, shutter speed, composition and white balance on which to build. Aperture Academy does also offer exciting wilderness adventure/photography workshops worldwide and locally and I hope one day to learn more. At least for now, I've been enjoying experimenting with the tools I've learned. (I'm also finally getting fun shots of Abby, my sweet wee dog who only moves quickly when the camera is out!)

A wonderful, unexpected extra: Aperture Academy provided cold water and soda, along with fresh fruit, chips and brownie bites at no extra charge ― now that's generous, and appreciated!

Overall, I would highly recommend Aperture Academy if you're looking for a great photography workshop in the Bay Area! A LivingSocial deal made this an even more affordable experience.

(When I was little my mama had a dark room in our basement and loved to take interesting photographs ― including one of me with a friend that won an award! Perhaps *hopefully* photography is in my blood. I'll try to find that picture to share. It was called "Oh Men!")

Mama's Last Wish

The 3 of Us (taken just weeks before Mama's diagnosis last year)

A year ago, my sweet mama had brain surgery. It was one of the scariest days of my life, to come that near to losing my only close family and my lifelong best friend. I am still struggling with the grieving process. Thank G-d, she survived and we were blessed with a wonderful surgeon who was able to remove most of the tumor. While waking from her 7-hour surgery, my adorable mama asked me for Johnny, though we know none; she was asking for Johnny Depp (she loves his work and their common besottedness with Venice, Italy)! Post surgery, Mama also exclaims "Goody." Seriously.

Abby won't leave Mama's side

Mama's tumor turned out not to be benign, rather an extremely rare, malignant and aggressive cancer. Only 4/10 of a percentage of people with primary brain tumors get Anaplastic Hemingiopericytoma (try saying that 3 times fast) ― that's 0.04 percent chance of getting this kind of primary brain tumor, a rare thing in itself! Brain tumors represent only 1.4% of all cancer. (We estimate, one's got better odds in the lottery, so now we buy tickets every once in a while.) Very little is known about my mama's rare brain cancer. In fact, it is more commonly found in the lung. In any case, the prognosis is not very good, even with treatments. She was given an estimate of 2-5 years from the time of discovery, which was more than a year ago. (I share this with you not to scare you or garner sympathy. Rather, this knowledge was seriously hard won. Finding a specialist doctor with whom you are comfortable and compatible and who will be honest with you, can prove seriously rough. There are so few with personal experiences to even share.)

@ Shakespeare Santa Cruz

You may wonder how I know all of this. Well, in a big role reversal, I'm a sole caregiver for my mama. It has been an incredibly difficult year ― physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and socially ― and yet I would not trade this time together. Though Mama's short-term memory suffers greatly, her long-term seems enhanced as she recalls bits and stories of her life previously not shared. Her fiercely strong spirit and deep love of Venice drive her healing.

Our Cousin, Miriam Margolyes, & Us

Besides the 6 weeks of radiation, months of physical therapy and various medical setbacks of the last year, we've enjoyed a few mini trips together going up and down the coast in the camper van, celebrating my 30th birthday, spreading The Penny Ice Creamery love, meeting our wonderful famous cousin (see picture) and picnicking at Shakespeare Santa Cruz. There are days when Mama is too fatigued to rise; and on those we spend time reading books, watching Tivo'd forensics TV dramas and late-night comedy (& Ellen!), cuddling Abby the love dog and making plans for G-d's amusement (it sometimes seems). There are times when we struggle with our new roles, and when Abby is the only being to bring laughter and help us get through the day. The bond between Mama and Abby is beautiful and incredibly restorative (A service dog, Abby would not leave Mama's side post-surgery and has been Velcro'd there ever since). We've used an online caring community (LotsaHelpingHands) to update our loved ones on Mama's progress; and in the last year, Mama has repeated that she's never felt more loved. Ultimately, my goal as a caregiver: good food and authentic love.

Abby (aka Piglet)

What's Next?
Here we go again (on plan-making)... Our trusted brain cancer specialist gave the OK to accompany Mama to her beloved Venice, Italy for a 4-week trip culminating in her 70th birthday celebration. This trip is Mama's greatest last wish and with a clean brain scan in August, we hope to leave in the first days of September. We will be looking for a 2+BD/2+BA apartment on on the Grand Canal. Comfortable indoor views of the canals are necessary so Mama can enjoy her beloved city even on days she's not well enough to explore (and not too many stairs). Though our preference is to plan in advance, medical circumstances prevented such; now many of the homes for rent are taken, so if you know of any available Venice homes for rent, please let us know!

What else are we doing besides trying to focus on the positive in the now? Struggling to arrange in-home care, searching for work, dealing with financial matters, decluttering and downsizing household/personal items, preparing the house for sale, going to doctor appointments and tests, scouting possible apartments in downtown Redwood City, and planning our exciting trip to Venice, Italy... (oh, and I'm finishing up a TESOL/TEFL certification course so I can work as an English tutor abroad). Hmmm, no wonder we're exhausted!

Abby ♥ Johhny too

Subscribe to follow our progress... Arrivederci!

LEARN MORE about My Amazing, Memorable Mama in this tribute post.

Natural Remedies Ease Cancer Symptoms

First, here's my disclaimer: I'm no doctor and I am in no way professing to cure any cancer. I am a caregiver and a writer. My mama is battling brain cancer and we've found some natural remedies for the symptoms of her cancer and treatments. All of these items can be often be found at natural foods markets, well at least here in California (otherwise, they're all online).

Calendula Lotion

Calendula Lotion
My mama underwent 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments, which she assured me did not in themselves hurt, but they did cause quite a sunburn. I gently rubbed calendula lotion onto her burns and she found some relief ― especially nice after chilling the lotion in the fridge. FYI, you'll go through a LOT of this lotion throughout the treatments. Stock up when you find a good sale. (As a side note, radiation treatments can also cause serious fatigue. An old college mini fridge stocked with cold drinks and chilled burn relief nearby was seriously handy.)

Arnica Gel
If you've got cancer, you likely get stuck with a needle pretty frequently. This can result in some serious bruises. We swear by arnica gel to heal painful and ugly bruises faster. As the caregiver, I'm also often covered in bruises... perhaps I just run around more? In any case, we have found it to be a wonderful reliever of swelling and bruising. We like the arnica gel the best (as opposed to the ointment or cream) because it isn't sticky or greasy and it absorbs quickly. Besides vanishing bruises, this gel was helpful along the closed incision site as well (aka... where my mama had 53 staples in a graceful arc along the back of her sweet little head). Doctors mostly didn't mention these natural treatments, but gave approval for their use. We also went through a lot of arnica gel, cream and pellets.


Arnica Pellets
After my mama's brain surgery, she took arnica pellets daily to help relieve the overall and site-specific pain, stiffness and swelling she experienced. The tiny pellets dissolve in your mouth and taste mildly sweet on the way down. Think of it like applying the wonderful healing benefits of arnica to your insides!

Ginger Tea

Triple Leaf Tea - Ginger

Nausea often comes with the territory ― whether it is from the cancer, the treatments, dizziness (sometimes caused by the medicine, the treatment or the cancer itself) or even motion sickness from getting to the treatments. Ginger is a wonderful natural remedy, but boiling the root frankly took a while and the end product wasn't worth the effort. We tried many ginger teas before a friend arrived with a box of Triple Leaf Tea Ginger Root and we fell in ginger tea love with this spicy, yet 100% ginger root. A bit of honey blended beautifully, but the stomach-calming capabilities were beyond all else. If you need something even stronger, I enjoyed Ginger Honey Crystals (though mama found it too strong). Frankly, ginger most anything helped. Ginger chunk cookies, yes please! Just about anything by The Ginger People, sign us up to try it! Mama loves their chews and I enjoyed their baking chips. I also make my own refreshing Italian Ginger Peach Soda with their yummy ginger syrup (plus Torani Sugar Free Peach Syrup and a cold can of seltzer water)! When it was hot outside, ginger sorbet or ginger ice cream were truly splendid. Mama's post-surgery favorite was a special Ginger Peach Dessert Delight I created for her with a warm chewy ginger cookie topped with Ciao Bella Ginger Peach Sorbet, fresh organic peach slices and a light caramel drizzle (pictured below).

Mama's Ginger Peach Dessert Delight

If you need a bit of chocolate with your ginger and happen to be anywhere near Santa Cruz, Calif., I cannot strongly enough recommend The Buttery's Ginger Chocolate Cookies. I LOVE them!!!!! (I also ♥ The Buttery's Tri Tip Sandwiches and Chinese Chicken Salads ― foodie heaven!)

Many people don't know what to say to a friend or loved one diagnosed with cancer and sometime insensitive or hurtful things slip out. Words can be hard to come by when faced with mortality. But the random deliveries of challah, cards, meals, flowers, magazines and movies made all the difference in the healing process (better still were the supportive hugs). Friends asked what we needed, but that can be difficult to articulate. If you've got a friend or loved one diagnosed with cancer, here's a wonderful gift basket to leave on their doorstep: the natural remedies products we love, plus a lavender bath soak and/or bath salts, a cooling eye mask and a book that made you laugh. Hugs are mighty helpful too! (On behalf of the households battling cancer, please keep in mind that we may not be able to be sociable when you arrive and your understanding, flexibility and kindness are needed.) Looking for more tips on what to say when she's diagnosed? We cut out and saved this great article last September with some helpful suggestions ― and what not to say.

Final disclaimer: I am in no way connected to any of these companies and have received no profits from telling you about my love of them. I'm simply sharing products we found to relieve symptoms in the hopes of helping others suffering. Please feel free to share your personal favorites in the comments!