yummy town

An Asian bakery in Chinatown, New York. What a great day it was to find this place!! Ah, egg tarts... How I miss thee!!

the honest answer

[Taken at the Oregon Sand Dunes.]

speak to them softly

[Taken at Rock Creek, Fall 2008.]

commonly known as complicated

[Taken at the sand dunes of Oregon; texture layer added.]

the Atheist.

Conrad enjoys long discussions on religion, watching the sun rise, and steak.



[Taken at the Sea Lion Caves; texture layer added.]

cornered by distance

She felt the distance in the gap between their hands, not holding; she felt in the space between their mouths, not kissing; she felt it in the air around their hips, not touching; she felt it lodged in their chests, not sharing.



[Taken by the Sea Lion Caves in Oregon; texture layer added.]

the complications and compromises of dreams

She loved the coast, but not for the reasons most people do--of course, she enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the cool of the breeze mixed together, the salty air, the shifting sands revealing trash or treasure underneath; but it meant so much more to her than those physical sensations:

It meant escape.

She spent entire days dreaming of sailing/swimming/flying/drifting into an endless sea, the possibility of getting lost thrilling her. Never to be found again, to be completely alone, surrounded only by a sea indistinguishable from the sky. Her desire for such solitude was as inexplicable as it was selfish, but she didn't think about these things. She only knew she wanted to have her solitary freedom,

but could she do it?

Could she find the courage? There exists desire, but desires are like ideas--they remain impractical/useless/inactive/dead/nothing until they are actually done, or at least, put into the process of being realized. And there was the basic question of--how? Should she buy a sailboat? A normal little boat? Fly out in a hot-air balloon? Simply swim? Also--how long would she get to enjoy her alone time? Her dream of escaping into the ocean needed to last for some amount of time; she didn't want to be hungry, or thirsty, or have to go to the bathr--oh, well, no matter for that one.




The more she considered her options, the more she realized she needed to be more prepared. She couldn't simply just do it; the enjoyment would last no longer than a few minutes, if she was lucky. She had to be smart about it. A boat seemed to be the best idea--not a large luxury one, but one that had a kitchen, a sleeping area, etc. She had a bit of money saved up, but not enough for a boat by any means; she probably couldn't even afford a nice canoe. Well, maybe she could, she didn't know how much they were. The boat needed to be stocked with food, water, and unromantic necessities like toilet paper and trash bags.

And there was the matter of how long she would be gone--ideally, forever, but one had to restock, eh? Perhaps she could live in the ocean and make periodic trips back to land? But what about fuel? That was expensive--and there was no job to bring in money when you live in the sea! In the end, she found a little fixer-upper cottage on the coast of Washington; her nearest neighbor was three miles away, which was a little near for comfort, but compromises had to be made, she decided.

From her window, if you stood back far enough to see only the gray-green water, and you rocked yourself from side to side a little bit, it was enough to pretend you were bobbing in the ocean, alone, alone...




[Taken at the sand dunes of Oregon.]

i don't get enough sleep

[Taken from a cab in New York.]

i'm always listening

something to remember me by

a great way to begin the day

Amen!


[Taken at a Chinese eatery in New York City.]

i need you II

[Taken at Rock Creek.]

i need you

[Taken at Rock Creek.]

it's time to carry on II

today, a song

If some of these look familiar it's because they are older photos I'm adding here.


[Taken at Rock Creek.]

Alice

Every Wednesday, at 2 p.m., without fail, Howard thought of his late wife. It wasn't that he didn't think of her at other times; it was just, at this precise time, certain memories would come rushing back as if they had just happened an hour ago. At first, they had been so strong that Howard became convinced that she was still alive--alive!!!---and then the devastating realization that she was not waiting at home for him (or playing with their terrier Teesta, or eating vanilla ice-cream, or wrapping her polka-dot scarf around her dainty neck, or even pulling up the weeds in her garden) would paralyze him.

Eventually, he learned to prepare himself for this event, since he never could predict how it would leave him feeling. Sometimes, often times, he would take Wednesdays off from work altogether. He couldn't stop it from happening; even when--and it did happen--he forgot the time or the day--all of a sudden, he would mysteriously appear in a lifelike dream where they were visiting her mother, or just waking up next to each other, or arguing about what color they were going to paint the hallway. The hallway--for crying out loud, why did he ever fight with her about that?! Little things like this crushed his soul now.

As the years dredged on, he waxed and waned between loving this golden hour that allowed him just a few more vivid moments with her, and hating the heart-wrenching solitude it left him in (I could and should have loved her more! If you give me a second chance I will!!!). This strange phenomenon followed him well past retirement, and, at age 86, on August 3rd, a Wednesday, at 2 p.m., she came again. And, at last, at last, this time, she stayed.

a secret to be told.

Sometimes, keeping a secret reveals more about a person than the secret itself.


[Taken at Rock Creek.]

something happened to me on Saturday

Something happened to me on Saturday. I think it's called love, but it may have just been indigestion.



[Taken at Rock Creek.]

i carry your picture in my wallet

[Taken at Rock Creek.]

it's time to carry on

If you're lucky you may catch a glimpse of the leaf nymph.


[Taken at Rock Creek.]

a walk on a different side of devout

[Taken at the beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, a literal sanctuary in the middle of the city.]

a walk on the devout side

I don't know if it is possible for a person to live without having faith in something---a god, an afterlife, or simply themselves. And by "live", I mean live fully and completely, to feel deep passion and true love. Therefore, I conclude my essay on faith by saying, have faith.


[The Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Chinatown, New York.]

history, naturally

Seeds of plant life*, poisonous frogs**, floating frogs***, and a mini solar system--just a dibble of what the awesome American Museum of Natural History has to offer.

*the Hall of Biodiversity
**poison dart frogs from South America
***the Chinese gliding frog

the revealing drought

[Taken at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.]

an absent-minded pigeon.

Harold forgot, for just that moment, that he could simply fly to the bottom of the steps.


[Taken outside the Smithsonian.]

a hopeful ending

[Taken outside a Marriott in North Carolina.]

we've been here together before, she said

What a lovely, romantic place to mate--right on a flower! He's got taste.


[Taken outside a Marriott in North Carolina.]

the thought that lingered

[Taken outside a Marriott in North Carolina.]

engaging in tyranny

I once painted a flower that had petals like this; it was white.

[Taken outside a Marriott in North Carolina.]

cornfields forever

I dare say not many hotels can boast a grand view of a large cornfield, but a Marriott in North Carolina sure can!