It's a place that is difficult to imagine as real, and yet, it is. Thanks to an eruption millions of years ago the volcanic landscape, which stretches for hundreds of square miles, has eroded into spectacular fissures, "fairy" chimneys, and cones which are made of a rock that is soft and easy to tunnel into until it comes into contact with the air ( Read more... )

Here we were, officially in Asia! However, upon landing in Izmir, things still felt much like Europe -- Italy to be exact. Just replace the churches with mosques and there you have it. As soon as we hit the ground, it was off to the magnificent, 8,000-year-old Greek-turned-Roman city of Ephesus, situated on the blue Aegean ( Read more... )

The hamam was just what I needed to knock me out cold. Even so, my rest would be short-lived because at 4:30 am I was awakened by the call to prayer as it echoed from one of the six minarets of the legendary, imperial Blue Mosque next door to our hotel in Sultanahmet:


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It was like something from a dream. The warm marble pressed against my naked back as I stared at the massive, domed ceiling above me filled with tiny skylights like a thousand stars. All around me, the laughter and talk of other women and girls, speaking words I couldn't understand save for snippets here and there. Only three hours before I had ( Read more... )

Today I learned that a bluebird I rescued is alive and well and is expected to make a full recovery. Two weeks ago I had found him with a broken wing, hopping from place to place in the yard and vulnerable to predation once night fell.


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So much to tell and not enough time to say it. Life has a been a wild ride, for better and for worse these past two months. I've got a ton of updates coming, but right now I'm hot off the heels of returning from NYC, working 70-hour weeks and gearing up to leave on an epic journey across the remotest reaches of Turkey in 3 weeks. But I'll be back ( Read more... )

Just as life began to turn up, way up. Just as it began to look splendid and beautiful once more, it crashed and burned all over again in a way that was so bizarre and unexpected, I can scarcely comprehend it ( Read more... )

My favorite memory of my Uncle Calvin isn't mine at all, it's my grandmother's. Passed down to me during my childhood as a recollection of her own to carry with me always and repeat to no one in this world as of yet ( Read more... )

I cannot express how happy I am to see 2010 filed off in the annals of history. It was a difficult, painful, and perplexing year to say the least -- with little hope in sight until August. That said, the last two days of 2010 were splendid ( Read more... )

Ok guys, I am selling a ton of RARE, NEW, and almost new clothing by Lip Service, Gallery Serpentine, and others plus a variety of shoes. The listed prices are the minimum asking prices, though multiple bidders are welcome and I will take the highest offer. Payment is via Paypal and international customers are welcome, though they much inquire for ( Read more... )