BOHEMIAS // PART TWO

This is Amy. Amy can do just about anything. She is an artist, a writer, and garden magician, and an absolutely remarkable professional photographer. I believe this shoot was her idea. Amy doesn't really have bad ideas, not that I know of, anyways. For this shoot, she is wearing a Martha Stewart pillowcase, and you've got to applaud a girl who can make Martha Steward look that fierce. 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY

In case you had plans to be crotchety, cantankerous, or cross today...

P.S. If you'd like to meet him, he lives in Madison, and he's a real gentleman. 

ZURICH

An eames chair draped in a wool blanket, a bit of moss growing out of a busy sidewalk, the nod to Black Forest in the architecture, and a meticulous attention to detail. This is the land of Helvetica! Zurich is a designers utopia. The clean and careful brushstroke of contemporary design paints nearly every storefront and building in some way, whether it be a tasteful suggestion of the 1960s, a splash of rustic wood, a heathy helping of chrome, or overtones of wool, cowhide and warm blankets. This place makes me look like a frump-wad, and I am too delighted to care. Some day I will revisit Zurich, and perhaps purchase a dramatic-collared peacoat and ride around the clean, uncongested streets on a black vespa. Oh, and I'll eat too much chocolate. But no one will know. That's what the oversized peacoat is for. 

BOHEMIAS // PART ONE

This is my friend. Her name is Whitney and she can beat you up. She makes a mean chocolate cake, is one of my favorite illustrators, and knows how to build bridges in the woods without tools. We've been friends since we were both awkward, and she's mastered the art of making us both laugh without saying a word.
She, Amy (stay tuned), and I put together this shoot at the very last minute with various sundries from our wardrobes and storage closets. To see more of this shoot, visit Amy's blog. You'll like it. If you've never painted your face, worn fringe and stomped around in the woods, you should. You'll like that, too.
Check in soon for Part Two...if you dare.

TIBERIUS

We rented a car in Jerusalem, and hit the road for Nazareth, encountering many adventures along the way. Adventures like random baptisms, banana generosity, and frapuccinos with ice cream on top. Our first stop was here, Tiberius, which we hit on the Sabbath, and therefore found deserted..so we left. I loved these docks on the Sea of Galilee, though. I looked at them for just a little too long, which is what I wanted. 

WHERE < WITH

When traveling, "with" is far more important than "where". Always.
Matt is the world's most entertaining onion-eater and quote-maker. Annie likes whistling and laughing at every joke. Jake is not afraid to talk to any and all strangers. Maggie can Slumdog Millionaire through even the thickest market crowds. Brian will Tom-York-Dance in Nativity square, or at the Western Wall. These are the kinds of people you want to travel with to any where.

HOME ON INSTAGRAM

Home doesn't happen all that often lately. When it does, however, it's perfect. I'll admit, the Hasselblad isn't mine. It's Jake's brothers, but I have one in my heart, so that counts. 

JERUSALEM // ISRAEL

We found ourselves in the Middle East again, because we needed more footage to complete the documentary that Jake is a part of. This time, we traveled with two of Jake's film students, and Brian, who is scoring the film. We were based in Jerusalem, where we spent many days wandering in the ancient streets, or racing in a panic for taxis. Jerusalem is a magical place, seeped in thousands of years of tradition, culture, and absolutely mesmerizing architecture. I've never seen a melting pot like this. There's the Mamilla, with it's lavish shoppes and twinkling lights, or the Arab market, a heyday of hookahs, antiques, spices, and merchants, or the hipster hangouts on Jaffa Street. Mosques and Synagogues mingle with Cathedrals and Universities to create the phenomenon that is this city.

None of this could top the laugh we had after getting thrown out of the Upper Room, though. Excessive happiness is not always an asset.

WINTER IS EXPECTED SOON

There's a certain slant of light, on winter afternoons // That oppresses, like the weight of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us; We can find no scar, // But internal difference where the meanings are.

None may teach it anything, 'tis the seal, despair, // An imperial affliction sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens, shadows hold their breath; // When it goes, 't is like the distance

On the look of death. -Emily Dickenson

GOING

It's usually great, but then sometimes it's just....this. 

AWKWARD SILENCE

There's nothing quite so peculiar nor as thrilling than an awkward silence. It really isn't silence at all. Your brain fills up with a million thoughts all bumping into each other and then completely disappearing, while the person next to you is experience quite the same thing. It's one of those full empty moments, and I think it's weird...and nice. 

BEGINNING

I used to think I was going to grow up to be something extraordinary. But I'm finding out that it's the growing up itself that is rather extraordinary. 

Today I am home. I'll be home for 2 days. Everyone is here. Jake, Nate, Amy, Cyle, Anne... We're talking about summer things now. BB guns and camping. My friends are my home. We sip Irish beer in the pub and talk about getting old. I'm caught up in the suspense of it all; the getting-old, that is. That feeling that it'll never happen, and the wide-eyed, split-second realizations that it will and is. Like holding your breath off the diving board. 

I didn't like the Murphy's Stout. It tasted like art supplies. But the pita bread was to die for, and so was the weather.