tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184384132024-03-04T22:28:50.982-08:00Cameras and WanderlustUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-81490406083252021652018-05-29T05:25:00.001-07:002018-05-29T05:25:44.055-07:00Athens! Hello from Athens! <div><br></div><div>We arrived at the Port of Rafina and jumped in a cab, a ride which got progressively more terrifying as we got further into the city. Our hotel for the night is right in Plaka, a central touristy neighborhood right near the Acropolis. Hotel Hermes was lovely and everything I think a European hotel should be- polite and clean and small enough to fit into the dense city center, with good air conditioning. I took a shower and then walked around the neighborhood a bit before meeting the O’Donnells for dinner at their new favorite restaurant, Avocado, a vegetarian and vegan place not far from the hotel. My omnivore heart was skeptical, but they had loved it so much that I was willing to try it- and it turned out to be quite good. It’s always hard for me to avoid nuts in these situations, and most of the pasta was either egg pasta or had nuts in it, but I had guacamole and chips and falafel with tahini and pita bread and it was perfect. Willa Marie and I split a creamy caramel biscuit something that arrived looking like just a pile of whipped cream drizzled with caramel, but underneath was a caramel cookie that I would have again in a heartbeat. So Avocado was a success.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_155d_b9f2_b374_cd7f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aubdMjGKoDE/Ww1Gb4im-eI/AAAAAAAAEpw/L59H0PO58KUMOjxXADl3oW_bfNgm-7qRACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div><div><br></div><div>I slept very well in my king-sized bed, so well that I overslept in the morning and was late to the continental breakfast, where I inadvertently poured hot milk on my cereal. It was not delicious. </div><div><br></div><div>David and I met Christos, a guide they had taken a hike with on Tinos, just outside the Acropolis. He is a marble carver and is working on the restoration of the Acropolis. With him was his friend Spiros, who used to be a security guard at the Acropolis. He brought us inside and took us behind the rope line at the old hospital temple of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, and showed us some of the work they are doing, the cataloguing of stones and how they piece things together. It was very cool. There were also some tortoises that live there, which seemed strange, but we saw 3 of them. Asclepius believed that theater and dogs were good for the soul. I can’t say I disagree, although for me it’s more like movies and cats (nothing against theater (except bad college theater) or dogs). Christos also gave us each “plum cherries” from a tree growing in the hospital. They are supposed to have restorative qualities. I am going to plant mine. </div><div><br></div><div>We continued up the hill of the Acropolis, with the hoards of people. We saw the ancient theater, the Odeon Of Herrodes, where Sting and Calexico (surely an odd combo?) will be playing in June. Pretty cool venue to see someone. My ankle, still sore from two days before when I fell on it in Pyrgos, was not thrilled about standing and chatting on the slanting, slippery marble below the entrance. Ouch. Thankfully it was really only at that angle that it hurt badly. It rallied later and allowed me to have a 30,000+ step day in Athens. 12.5 miles!</div><div><br></div><div>The Acropolis is really something. As with the Louvre, I spent the whole time wishing that I could be there without the masses of people holding up iPads to take photos. This has always been a pet peeve of mine but I haven’t noticed it in awhile. Ugh. iPads. Tacky. </div><div><br></div><div>The temple of Athena Nike, behind the Acropolis and above the entrance, is where the statue of the Winged Victory was originally placed. I think it’s interesting that it’s in the Louvre now- I’m sure there is a dispute about it between the two countries. However, now that I’m looking all this up on Wikipedia, I suspect something got lost in translation between us and Christos. I’m not entirely sure this is where the Winged Victory resided. This is a good example of an issue I encountered a lot in Greece: lack of plaques or signs telling the average history, without a headset, anything at all about what’s in front of them. Granted the presence of such signs would make it feel a bit less oldy-timey, but the scads is tourists take care of that pretty well all by themselves. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_6979_41b5_1f8a_ce75" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kTD0nYPA-y8/Ww1Gi6Gt2GI/AAAAAAAAEp4/FrO_Dmo6hxU6Ks0y6DvVZpBR17WOYiO-QCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br></div><div>Temple of Athena Nike </div><div><br></div><div>We spent a good deal of time just looking at the ruins and talking to Christos and Spiros. Spiros said that everything you can imagine happens at the Acropolis- people trying to take rocks home, people fainting, people slipping on the marble, terrorist threats- one girl even tried to take home one of the cats that lives there before the guards heard her backpack meowing. </div><div><br></div><div>As we walked down the hill Dave got in touch with Jessica and Willa Marie and we agreed to meet at the Acropolis museum. We said our goodbyes to Christos and Spiros, who are great- very into heavy metal and snakes. If you ever go to Tinos and need a guide, Christos is your guy. Let me know and I can get you his info. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_5bea_c7fc_9cfd_1fe2" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J4sSFov93Dk/Ww1GgF_KMeI/AAAAAAAAEp0/_DG2LMMRAGIh_97sN3BlXyUq7OoOKHQFACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_59b8_4366_32a9_b3f4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5VvbwNqqTMqkgPQfDe77CCKypUT0UDhcYr2xq_721IzJYknzyx4-Xbgusoe8BYJz_stXJNxtwhicDyp4NUQxVpAxEmgckIJ3DtVya-VtzNxA8e5M_mxBLpT7O4D7UNO0XmH0YGw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_9c52_e1f7_e32a_8ff8" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ydLyOaORj5Rt2vG2x9pR36TFIwCi6kBUaEo6zEURZJ81ryEYk9W_XSd2FDJZjGLnNM-n-_0wfnMKLZyT7cXCxzkeY7J_kG_tCbmUc-LwTVA7q2tU0acH46xPwW0nrn9pcVBS3A/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c54a_f98c_2283_bba" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtuB1k2mQ-oE5NFvt6YEx5GpTMZ984tqHSMD1yrTILrzMPVnH6tQGALUbvjVWgFg4Sp0qWsotIlGe8owuxVtoVaxJye4DQ6GfHF3g4xsJbsCMTvIVPR11ihJLbD1oEtaXPNCwfQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_68d4_173b_cd19_5db8" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilScU925qPLkQSHUc5iXqZWEip9WV1pz1voYaOQgQFfOF6EZrbcH4wAvqCDrBcPfuvx7Vt1_h47qsC_bXtTikdYeQ_Q17PM6jo4EG2QGtWNTPuMbe3gfyJxsOPJisUx7PklfH3Mg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br> The Acropolis museum is lovely, and very well put together, although I again missed signs in English that explained more about each piece. I suppose I should expect signs in English in a museum in Greece, but I have come to expect it. I dislike audio tours and prefer to go at my own pace. The O’Donnells had to leave pretty quickly anyway, so we didn’t have time to linger. We saw the main things- the top floor is the size of the Parthenon exactly and they have tried to replicate where pieces would have been placed on the exterior. There were some very beautiful statues, one in particular of a long serpent that I liked a lot, and many ruins of formerly beautiful statues destroyed in the many wars that the Acropolis has seen. It’s a beautiful place.</div><div><br></div><div>From there we walked back to our hotel, where we picked up luggage and said goodbye =( it was really lovely traveling with the O’Donnell-Thebuses. Willa Marie has reached a perfect age for hanging out without needing to be entertained all the time, and David and Jessica have the kind of silly, loving, mature relationship that I can only hope to achieve someday in my life. They all genuinely like each other and I think they were genuinely glad I joined them for 5 days. I know I am. </div><div><br></div><div>I took a cab from Hotel Hermes to my hostel, which was really just the top floor of an old hotel, Hotel Lozanni. It was in a bit of a sketchy neighborhood (definite hookers hanging around late at night), but my room was simple and cute and just what I needed: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_b52_4d79_2cdb_ece7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9DUXBhp5R4Q/Ww1Gp5dUz9I/AAAAAAAAEqI/m7NgxuRNAPMMldPfMg9vCVbIyyI2gyXowCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>And the price was right. Very right. The only complaint I really have is that I let the proprietor call a cab for me this morning when I was leaving, and he called a friend, who charged me 15€ more than anyone had said a ride to the airport should cost. My mistake. Rookie move, Cameron. </div><div><br></div><div>I hung out for a bit and changed, then left to walk to the Athens First Cemetery, to find the Sleeping Girl carves by Yannoulis Chalepas, whose home we had visited on Tinos. It was a few miles away. Along the way I walked through the National Gardens, which had a sort of aviary that also featured goats, and happened upon the Panathenaic Stadium, the oldest and largest marble stadium in the world and the site of the first Olympics! I had to go in. I climbed all the way to the top: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_8e00_a87e_7d01_de78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVGaWLpV1AwmUeKTY0mGR03ImH9nnbDtRliA4AsJ8cU9zHntPsKaEsB8SuKkJqd3nBDXqbv7JqA3x-_WyZTRmLzGwGAcMYnN_7BxAUzwTfCidsxE5uktv_-UkXmqRj0s0qNeosQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_69a8_b7ad_ccee_1ee9" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjY4D6iIfrNCzr5iacG_ku6HMiOe6c9bPJ5qdwQy6x1kT1ux8LhfHKLEutwapvEd8kUQDtTjLnIWhoR5SFvKCyxd8jIDfPxVHI11mV2gjjb-8_L8GL-_9sss3uIs-PzvmwqfQaQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_6af9_4263_256d_f5b0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0bLEtuOeccIVe446JC2nThSNaPAK2zBDXg6syP-SfePM4Qcb5yN493ShXRDK3c2eq-PdwyALBM8hrGhFJRDH-mAKIRYFn1HiVc5t9BFPs2xCm6d1WYtb_fnGJaSg-IWyjGytPg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>It was pretty cool, I must say. And hardly anyone was there, which was a welcome change after the Acropolis and it’s museum. The small museum and store at the stadium were closed, but I’m glad I went. You can’t just walk past a huge carved marble stadium and not go in. Or at least I can’t.</div><div><br></div><div>After a couple of wrong turns I found the cemetery. The old Greek lady at the gate made sure I knew that it closed at 8:00- I only had 40 minutes. But as luck would have it, the Sleeping Girl is not far into the cemetery, and on the central road. She was not hard to find, and she was as beautiful as expected. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_e077_1c4e_204c_4c09" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QSjOJ3LuXSXjleaINfZFtttCaIJrtIzTMS9HHZIq0h9jFx3XB2iUe6vE_pvghUb6xH36S8jdtdiBy78paUhc4vkhoLdCq9icc9vV-gCAUdxLbZTwHQYWknuIFCY5HhdVw43nlA/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_f2c5_bdf1_690e_c0df" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3iDtQffD2ts/Ww1Gv6T24LI/AAAAAAAAEqc/HFKUS51EWsMQ1qzq6x9it7AyD7mpRZCbgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>I think my favorite tombstones are the ones that feature exact likenesses of the people buried underneath. There were quite a few in this cemetery, along with some interesting modern art headstones. I wonder what it costs to be buried there? It certainly seems full, but there’s were headstones for people who had died as recently as 2015. I imagine it’s extremely expensive. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_843f_f75b_c0f2_f032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh884UXPWAGD7IwjJ5p6LzkZUra79ezhggogsmhmeUOJAwMjEN_oH8sdZSqIYbARlJOGAzjoRW3OGZnchqgI8XnsRSKpyCVxPnj_8DupiFpReGMaqs38W7GMs09PD6qsdY9DGeBTQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_5289_a8cd_df97_51c5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jCMIuRDuvIw/Ww1GwxWxA7I/AAAAAAAAEqg/_nouB3OWP-IimfmhLbzxQHFuG0oN3VReQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>At this point I was getting tired of walking, so I caught a cab back to the Plaka neighborhood, where the Acropolis is, and where I knew there were restaurants that catered to tourists. I just didn’t feel like dealing with finding something else. I sat in the square of restaurants and had chicken souvlaki with French fries and steamed vegetables. It was perfect. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. </div><div><br></div><div>It was a long day, but a great day. Athens is dirty and graffitied but also a vibrant and exciting place- and the history is stunning when you really start to think about it. I’m sure I’m forgetting things- I’m at the airport and sleep deprived and waiting for my flight home- so I may edit this. Planning to write the next day up while I’m on the plane. </div><div><br></div><div>Cameron </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-75641146198292152432018-05-26T12:23:00.001-07:002018-05-27T11:21:16.354-07:00Lists <div>Things I Didn’t Need To Pack</div><div><br></div>1. Long-sleeved shirts. Or at least not 3 of them. <div>2. Jeans</div><div>3. More than one book (but how do you choose?!?) </div><div>4. My 50mm lens. I love it the most but I haven’t used it due to lack of space in my camera bag. Zooms can suffice next time. </div><div>5. 2 pairs of sandals. Chacos have been enough. </div><div>6. My fleece. This is a toss-up because I *did* wear it, but only when it was insanely windy on Tinos. Otherwise it’s just been something to lug around and my jean jacket and thin sweatshirt combo would have sufficed. </div><div>7. 3 skirts. I have worn none of them, which is unusual for me, but their lack of pockets is distressing. </div><div>8. Wool leggings. What? Why did I bring these? I think because the weather in Paris kept being 50 degrees the week before I left... but still. Wool leggings? </div><div>9. Gym clothes. Hahahahaha right, Cameron. You were really going to go to the gym. Ha.</div><div><br></div><div>Things I Could Have Used: </div><div>1. A slightly bigger camera bag </div><div>2. Black dressy-ish shoes with arch support for walking </div><div>3. A less-dorky sunhat</div><div>4. BUG SPRAY. I don’t know why I didn’t think there would be bugs in Greece- maybe because it seems so dry? But holy cow, are there bugs in Greece! </div><div><br></div><div>Things I’m Glad I Brought And Should Always Bring: </div><div><br></div><div>1. My REI skort, which I have worn despite not having pockets</div><div>2. My Prana hiking pants. They are perfect for hot weather</div><div>3. A collapsible duffel bag to accommodate the buying of souvenirs! I felt like such a grown-up when I did this. I’m so smart! However, would this duffel bag have been necessary if I had not packed all the things I didn’t need to pack? Probably not. </div><div>4. My celebration pants (silky palazzo pants that I bought randomly online a few years ago and have become one of my favorite possessions)- again, no pockets, but so good for hot weather! </div><div><br></div><div>This has been Lists With Cameron </div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-33099172217348221592018-05-26T04:33:00.001-07:002018-05-26T04:33:10.820-07:00Tinos Part 2 I think that wherever I go in the world, I will not have enough time there. I never want to leave a place that I am enjoying. There have been very few trips on which I was really ready to say goodbye to the experiences and the landscape and head home. This is not to say that I’m not happy to be going home; I love home. But the actual leaving of the new place, the closing of the door for the last time and the getting in the car or cab or whatever to leave- that’s not my favorite thing. Goodbyes are sad, even when it’s just a place. A place I could come back to, but don’t know if I will. I hope I will. Tinos is magical. <div><br></div><div>Our day yesterday was a bit shorter, a bit more relaxed- not that the first two were very busy, but yesterday we only visited one little town, one beautiful restaurant, and our own beach at Agios Romanos. The town of Pyrgos is known for its marble carvers, in particular Yannoulis Chalepas. We visited a small museum that was dedicated to Tinos artists, and part of it was Chalepas’ home, where he lived with his parents before they sent him to an asylum for being an artist. When his father died his mother took him out of the asylum and he was able to sculpt a bit again; when she died, he became incredibly prolific for the last 10+ years of his life. He has some famous works in Athens at the cemetery, which I am hoping to go see. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_6dc6_aaf8_3c38_240f" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWH_H2mFFf3yHbeDxAwjK8EtHFAfK6hlv5nw1zhn81EwOk5XYTo6ddorlab0xRa2czmvmT93VBwWnPWYa2wMW3dVeuZTWMD4K3N2mdhgpmzAbWxRJ-m1Dgn7oTaFmiC6huh9skUw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 368px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_eeff_98a_9605_b025" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9NY7_t7bxMoca3n52VqTC6YaSwbDjCM42yWivjrp-i88i0ohDS3YllqaNzOBGneoSN3Cb6NQucp6rC46QWJngHhHpG_UDPv-xthrRaHGFPhf6n2S8nDTfuGz0PuirTradD0n-w/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br>(Cement cast) </div><div><br></div><div>He has such a sad story that I immediateky became a big fan of his. I think I will try to find his famous “sleeping girl” sculpture on a tombstone in Athens. </div><div><br></div><div>Pyrgos is also famous for the giant tree in the middle of the town square. After we did some shopping on the little Main Street, we sat in the square and had coffee. The tree is great. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_2a44_3a2e_a6c5_723f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rPitUkwGdVc/WwlF3-SHm4I/AAAAAAAAEn4/A_nDCOafoswp2oD1pyDrRZubvFUHH6O_wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br>We think it is a plane tree. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_585_fa86_a54e_5b74" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XENZ82LZBck/WwlF3h_YDSI/AAAAAAAAEnw/ihN-tTriwrYmXQ_lw5xAU0USD7x6P87WACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_754c_80df_f920_5a01" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yIRFtU7S82U/WwlF4V3WB_I/AAAAAAAAEn8/5NNWBtDCcX4ym_LP9gzyzg6JoI45khFRgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br></div><div>We have been in Tinos at the very beginning of the high season, and the O’Donnell-Thebuses have witnessed it, in their 16 days here, go from a sleepy island with hardly anyone around and most tavernas and stores shut to a quietly awakening island, opening its doors to the tourists that I’m sure help to keep its economy going. Pyrgos is the largest town on the island, after Chora, the main Tinos Town, and it certainly felt like two weeks from now it would be crawling with tourists. As it was, the square had four or five tables filled, but nothing was rushed or crowded. It is the perfect time to go to this island, if you’re ever thinking about making the trip. I’m sure the same goes for many Greek islands. </div><div><br></div><div>We bought some souvenirs for various people in Pyrgos, all of us suddenly realizing that we were lacking on the souvenir front. Then we visited a marble shop, where an artist was carving in front of us, and the pieces were so beautiful that we couldn’t help buying things. Mine is small but I love it so much: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_7c55_c4fb_ae30_7ccb" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TWiXKizlKNs/WwlF4XRLkBI/AAAAAAAAEoA/O_wgM91xzWwek7zcZmgxKDgUNQZ0UUOrgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_7863_d122_c66f_2049" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Gz5Ple82Ta9JFvciCgdPGoJ8wNIjUnif_wYSMgIZsnJpcoRBm3FQG0y7U4fOF29u88b0dkApxCD_MY8jsuXav0Fz2CQFUcw8pfpSnAd1b8D256cylOryX7Nl3nTgQ58W91Xc2Q/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br>The artist was so nice. Worth a stop if you are ever in Tinos. He is on the edge of town near the fancy bus stop: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_948a_f90e_d28_de73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEZdCertxsk4idjZxUBlcfnSLO6NRMp4fppgXft1LQ4bXN-z5FLZ7vlrL74FmXVYRDCaQH1NdNexuTI5djGa1Fm5S6hEppLXm7wks66PumJu6aNPJuOEg1rNCdJyAFcp3erRB9SQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Right outside this bus stop is where I tripped on some uneven pavement and fell, twisting my ankle and breaking the polarizing filter on my camera- but luckily not the camera itself. A little jar of jam in my tourist purchase bag also broke, and my ankle is not so happy with me today. But I’m ok and my camera is ok and that’s what matters. </div><div><br></div><div>We drove next to one of their favorite restaurants, Thallasaki, on the island, in a little town at the bottom of a hill right on the water called Ormos Ysternion. The tables right near the water are labeled “SPLASH” because often the waves will crash over the deck and onto the diners- as though we were watching an orca show at Sea World. The water was so clear and serene and the view was so peaceful that I decided to buy a house there someday. Unrealistic, but how cool would it be to own this house? </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_8e85_7831_f036_74bd" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uQTwoIw1T0yYBdAjTCGg7dclJBDEPPwCM8JZgWfcLfg9F3-XIHqsavy4ZlPdp_hALf25jPlkfxY7A0ZP2jGY7mvdyq2wKL7qPS-PC6ggcncNbB5Jt3CarYEXX0G2E2-wQTuk7w/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>That’s my future house. It’s a fixer-upper.</div><div><br></div>The food was amazing- an actual fancy restaurant the apparently celebrities will go to in their private yachts, docking nearby and not having to drive down the windy road with the unwashed masses. I had gigantic shrimp with some sort of fish egg mousse, and we split some appetizers, including whipped fava beans that I will have to try to make at home. I think Willa Marie is glad that I am here to accompany her in not being a vegan. <div><br></div><div><img id="id_5775_4ee_8ee9_d5d7" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDtmzwdCWIPid6CnkweMyk1Y9e5rsh26SVcHdOXSIbWhQ_ml_XuXbiHrvWZ2uJNKk0rF4xH-hIoCasvwZ-0kFY2IDVOk0biSFEZ83jiuaySE-OiBevfiXF1XhEezLSvUk9fHpFw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c533_1b90_9fcf_a93a" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAdymV1PPBkeNe2MGbt7EwvhrJo534JVvHj3QC9W5JeOuzNCHpxFUKrxn5LtgJB1FwcWTa0M1Dd3avl5og0_kR7J4swDGgwYpHZkSPprNDr-9wABicUpBcls8iS_ua8MChQhwAQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_f08b_48a7_6bb7_5cdd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N2lTP0VEfao/WwlF6HXbm0I/AAAAAAAAEoU/PClD6mSxVjkkggHBG5mnRfWWv_esr4RvgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>We drove home then, back to our serene villa in Agios Romanos, for our last night in Tinos. We went swimming and sat at the beach for awhile, and then I walked over to the closest dovecote to try to get a decent photo of it. I couldn’t get too close because it’s not on the property where we were staying, but it’s not bad: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_65ef_26d1_dd59_9419" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cJiAcC7rDyU/WwlF6kQMZnI/AAAAAAAAEog/_hxgpdkavjYPDvrL9zPUdAC0LlWGWQU7gCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Around 8 went up to the roof and watched the sun set. It was lovely, as all the sunsets here have been. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_ae24_96f8_f056_7c37" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LzaR4bxpVVk/WwlF6-lAaAI/AAAAAAAAEok/gSvduXlaWJEDibo9qJil6KsjcNOhyOTEACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_24a0_4b49_6e41_fc31" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1iWzvUGYHxNn3zb2H77vwlXI1Yf6OxfldNA00Xu7hrRXd3fZ3bxwX266gntQrMDkQiO-2DUzbsUtP65Cj1zxEKU7pwJ2LBrIgpKRHKdW0m_l60ZdSjeJvGiKNO2Kp3_UECi-4yg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>This morning we woke up early and packed, walked to the beach one last time so I could take pictures of it, and said goodbye. Creamsicle, the friendliest cat of all the cats who live in Agios Romanos, licked my yogurt container clean. We are all going to miss her, and her friend Gandalf the Grey, and this house. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_1822_1eea_b446_6bba" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_4gE8AZIEv9woinUIHpH5kHQ6jFcETwuqDuTSdWQGoYALpXAgqL559MnEf4uhApl193ohoVsdmbWg9g0XVDycciIWGlkfArQikwjpfyW5Kh5keioFx4Urm3_WpAnBQQfNDsM1A/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e54b_98c8_38cb_aa11" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3htEVxMUrhc/WwlF8PdXyvI/AAAAAAAAEos/42M0XzfZYHMR6zyDceNib7eWP9bUhBgbQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_11ce_6bc0_875d_bc49" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pCsMbcVrj0A/WwlF8MZScwI/AAAAAAAAEow/MIBdfEeFpvYlpJB3Pn8o37yyAFHj6Se-ACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_8728_b2db_281c_1403" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AYzT_EHCkkM/WwlF85u8llI/AAAAAAAAEo0/d_6Oc2o6J-8MuZMA9vmVVmLz_WiNZ7UsQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><img id="id_890d_ca8b_17cb_ff6" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Sd6cFz84IqBkisD2qT2EcYlMdCtz2_-zG3W7AJkd-L_3B89Uo6q_avRYN97Oui9h0Eht2QwVggybEMZi7Q36iU-RhOFPzjXjkE6_MRCEMV7tyhU5iuc4S0v-vVQvdGJlsDDWOg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>I am not at all ready to be gone, yet here we are on the ferry, motoring our way back to Athens. I got to walk up the Main Street in Chora again while David returned the rental car, which was nice. Ultimately I barely spent any time in the main town, but that’s ok. The character of the island is in the villages. </div><div><br></div><div>Tinos, I hope to be back again someday. You have a piece of my heart. </div><div><br></div><div>Cameron </div><div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-77652756809266439652018-05-25T14:15:00.001-07:002018-05-26T02:29:01.772-07:00Tinos 💜My first day in Tinos was just what I wanted from a Greek island. The O’Donnell-Thebus clan has been here for awhile now, about a week and a half, and feel like they know the island like it is their second home. They were eager to share it with me. <div><br></div><div>Waking up to this view is not a bad thing at all:</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_58cc_91b0_b639_bcd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7hKXDXrA6SQ/Wwh8qWXDWlI/AAAAAAAAEi8/Ge_7NFSpb_c1FqvfJXo_6zr307SUEQZjQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>I am sleeping in a pseudo-hallway with a bed/couch in it, and it is small and adorable and perfect. The mornings here are coffee and lazy breakfasts outside in the huge garden with the neighborhood cats. There is one little orange and white lady thag Jessica named Creamsicle and she is everything you want in a cat. If I could adopt her I’d be all over it. </div><div><br></div><div>We’ve spent a lot of time exploring the island. As they have been here for awhile, they’ve scouted it out and are taking me to all their favorite spots. First up was Volax, or Volakas, a beautiful basket-weaving hill town in a landscape surrounded by boulders and rugged terrain that calls to mind Don Quixote, and where a serene man named Joseph sold us teas and oils. The first time they had met Joseph he told them a story about a grave illness he had and his visit to the underworld. We have deduced from this that he is a witch, or perhaps immortal. Either way, we like him. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_e032_2e6d_209e_c054" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AyYIjAlQI7A/Wwh8qwyMw6I/AAAAAAAAEjA/Ia5yTO-dCGUHTbLPwmOCziUuJRqb4PcygCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>I could easily have just explored Volax all day. It is a geological marvel- no one quite can figure out why the landscape is the way it is. Greek legends have explained it with a story about gods having a boulder fight, the way us mere mortals might have a snowball fight. This is probably a better explanation than whatever the truth may be. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_9396_b78_576d_3ee1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6JGBZzIp9r0/Wwh8rEqWK4I/AAAAAAAAEjI/GddsgoQ2nyUsbaj1cb84Y3kVE0Urdq9wwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_d9f5_4053_eb0_f995" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0SG8L7ByrcLha-0B4-CT0nH5B0i9tBrVN8WdHpVaDBl9in3wie0Hb-fw0t2d-OWh9gvvHJGOW4GhhglJJeowyPnnEB96cqWTdyo_x-M5E2Kln7iDcPofKHF68whdrMXh6P7UGVQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>But exploring an entire island in a few days requires not as much lingering as I may have done on my own. <br>So we had a lemonade and headed off to Agapi, an old town on a hill top where Willa Marie befriended a pregnant cat. There were some crumbling old buildings for sale that got me thinking about buying a house on a Greek island. Who’s in?? </div><div><br></div><div>We went from Agapi to Aetofolia, which means Eagle’s Nest, to have lunch at a taverna that they had visited before. I had a sort of pork fillet that came with French fries. Jessica and I had wine. In Greece nobody rushes you through a meal. They let you sit and savor the ambiance and the food, enjoy the people you are with and relax a bit. It’s nice. </div><div><br></div><div>When we got back to the house, which is above a little beach called Agios Romanos, we went swimming. My first time in the Aegean Sea! It is so salty that floating is no problem at all. The water is clear and not warm, exactly, but warm enough that once you’re in it’s no big deal. If I lived here I’d swim in the sea every day. I have the same thought whenever I’m in Hawaii. </div><div><br></div><div>That night we sort of skipped dinner in favor of little snacks, and played a great game of self-made Scategories, featuring such categories as “Patterson qualities” and “things you can’t eat with a fork.” It was a lot of fun and felt like having our own little mini family reunion. </div><div><br></div><div>The wind is intense on Tinos at all times (according to legend, Tinos is where Odysseus was given a bag of wind to get home), but that night it was still and I got subsequently eaten alive by mosquitos. So if I have Zika now, know that I love you all. </div><div><br></div><div>On Thursday we decided to go to a beach on the other side of the island, Livada Bay, which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The road was long and windy with lots of goats, and at a certain point it is unpaved, but not impassable by any means. If you are ever on Tinos, you really should make the effort to go. The rock formations are beautiful- mostly reddish rocks and at a certain point they meet very black rocks, very abruptly. The red ones are pockmarked by the wind and look like the Sand People from Star Wars should live there. Instead, goats live there. I think all four of us could have stayed there all day long, swimming and climbing rocks. Tinos in general would be a great place to go bouldering, if anyone is into that. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_8d90_c7a2_cd56_9125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gfdjAKTfPtiT-_9QDDmJxY97CcAp1YE7Oh1C3DlSEqZK4g7h9nT8MufNjj91KKl8PsVZ9HusJYovMc0i78Ze06juqKqTMTZjmDIaGH8nRP_K0_t67QthygkG-8JvrZ7gqdqxxQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e2b_e3a1_c90_8c59" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PD-5H25G4b___5lFhrOAbRlKpQcglN1rkOeSD6G791CAgHS2RI3-C5M6CSgCeaRtG0QRd-SQhQeBgZID_2HXAePY1GX4u3fBSV_5r6SXiOKaBGTBvPdEP1xfLL25gzPiKpRlZw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_cb7a_83ef_8df_91d6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qA3TqRKNNjo/Wwh8wWr1wAI/AAAAAAAAEjU/fsVjdDXCG4EGxaij1Cjm5jTm833sPQY5wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>At Livada Bay in the Aegean is where I got my Jubilee name, Sea Otter Jones. All Jubilee names end in Jones and must be bestowed by an O’Donnell-Thebus. Mine was given to me because I looked like a seat otter floating in the waves. I’ll take it.</div><div><br></div><div>By the time we left Livada we were all hungry, so we drove up and over the island to Andrados, the oldest town on Tinos and the first town where the O’Donnells stayed for 7 nights before going to Agios Romanos. It’s old- medieval old- and feels like you are walking around a movie set, for Star Wars or Children of Heaven or something. We went to their favorite taverna there, which is called Meeeh- like the sound a sheep makes. Literally. It’s named for that sound. The food was yummy and the proprietor very sweet, remembering that they were from Chicago and happy that they had returned. Then we wandered Andrados for an hour or so, and again, I could have stayed all day. Check this place out: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_c959_76d4_598f_d69d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A-gMZcUr-f8/Wwh8wW0sKII/AAAAAAAAEjY/igt5HzcU3_U1Jx3cgaiFxMcnFjPoMRRewCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_3416_98ee_e624_3f4a" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSQkPrzS5RQyrBafJogba2CRksbaFHmGtmp1KikvhXsoln6eTndrA8r2yE9qhdu9r8ZIxMc7WkaHul1AMdU1rofr3Pnsn4qTU-Ff0nBAYJgPYkpQDnRyjvJdcZfOUAJxN0IE3rw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_75c8_4097_a7e0_8bd9" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kMqq-2wLS5cvObWS07MWSAwDJfeoeJGzlg3annZAQcd0lRJdoy4rYZe7iXvoG1fu7z5PT94rsT2HGLLulnF0EU1_45YaWlAOEoa5fB0yiUNZwEJGVDEzn5nnIHSwDSQak6inzg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Andrados is home to the monastery where the nun lived who had a vision that some relic would be found buried on the beach, and when it was found to be there, she became a saint, or something. The details of the story are unclear, but it is one reason why Greek Orthodox pilgrims flock to Tinos in August. Jessica had already visited the monastery, so we just did a quick tour of the courtyard and poked our heads into the church (two nuns glared at me when I did) while Dave and Willa Marie waited in the car, then walked the other way to a small chapel with many skulls. Some skulls in boxes with names, some just sitting in shelves. No explanation in English. I loved it.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_d1cf_c48_f60c_af10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdHqf2GNzOXX1Vc_Pkks3MQsZOmdeOXUkQHNFx77JPu9KbCx6iOLZoR5K7QDgVa9Wj8_ssM7-gApIabw7W9BYdMrLBGc-UQ6Xo65Z01VLltf_IfWGRwT_h7Q9Jc5T1kugRupD5g/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Driving down the hill next we entered Kora, or Tinos Town, the “big city” on the island. We needed coffee and ice cream and groceries, and I wanted to see the church where the pilgrims go. They crawl from the ferry dock 800 meters up a hill, on a carpeted path running alongside the Main Street. The church is so ornate. I forget how fancy the Greek Orthodox faith is- all silver tin and incense and jewels. I didn’t want to take photos in the main church but this is from a chapel underneath: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_4eca_60f8_c64b_28a8" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYts948fP3PwnXoUfIk_vBpfwbCBi7q8z-UZm_RjFwN8E05y8NB3hrDA_RosC-hIivo_x_4M-9dtKWy-LAoFJY_-MEuO2Mnk6IAt-7AqbT9ZNDeGGbi_lyoYF1yL3CLelhzYeeWw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Picture those hanging silver things times 1000 upstairs in the main church. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_a99_e0e7_5811_2482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOj4EUXju94eogfgpijWqG3UeB3RuyYaMbgQQfR7F8Hykra9JoSyFO2TL1sZmrtigngkjxjWNy7syiHtsZKlgmE3WgEuj3YDDMgjpQtES5_Nw7-2wVnBBkCtw-YcfyOzN5oiE0gg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_c7ae_f83f_99e0_6c2e" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6u1d4VnaFwTTjyrHcThwz1YvJ6HgedSZC2PESCbSkDLZ-dcV84R_W1oPdwDo3NeBflqV3TVzXnAI0mDl7uqGJNAqGpdK4BvFJ-FQFroE76jz5_SHI_E7L5ln9Nz1Dqu9JCjO8A/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Carpet leading up to the church. </div><div><br></div><div>Jessica and I both wrote out prayers for Vivian in the chapel. Can’t hurt.</div><div><br></div><div>We had ice cream at a Haagen Daz place by the wharf, and then got some groceries for dinner and headed home. Dave made potatoes and lentils and salad for dinner and we played more Scategories. The wind was back that night and the mosquitos were fewer- I killed one before falling asleep and that was that.</div><div><br></div><div>More tomorrow- it’s late and I need to sleep before the ferry in the morning. Look for a link soon to my guest post on the official Jubilee blog, www.odonnellthebus.com !!</div><div><br></div><div>Cameron </div><div><br></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-51949408384821548792018-05-24T13:51:00.001-07:002018-05-24T13:52:34.292-07:00Paris>bus>plane>Rome> plane > taxi > Rafina > ferry > TinosHello from Tinos! Today is my second full day here, a Thursday. I’ve finally gotten over any remaining jet lag, I think. I’m sitting on the balcony at David and Jessica and Willa Marie’s beautiful rental property, drinking coffee that has long gone cold, and itching my many mosquito bites from last night. Things are good here in Agios Romanos. <div><br></div><div>The trip to get here was a long long day. As mentioned previously, I woke up at 2:30 in the morning to walk to the Gare du Nord station and catch the night bus to the airport. This was a bad idea. I feel pretty confident walking in cities in general, even at night, but with all my stuff and not quite knowing the lay of the land, I was definitely nervous. It was not quite a mile. I don’t recommend it. I couldn’t find the bus stop at all and simply wandered about until it was time for the bus to come, at which point it went flying past me and I had to chase it for 4 blocks. I was in the completely wrong spot. Turns out Google Maps does not accurately know all bus stops. </div><div><br></div><div>Things were mostly uneventful after that, although my flight from Paris to Rome was delayed enough that I just barely made the connection. I literally walked off on plane and into the boarding line for the next without stopping anywhere along the way. The Rome to Athens flight was filled with Texans who all knew each other, and they were so loud on the shuttle to the plane (weird) that I was worried they would be loud the whole flight- but they weren’t, and I was sort of able to doze. </div><div><br></div><div>When I landed in Athens I found a taxi to go to the port of Rafina, I was 4 hours early for my ferry but just did not have the energy to wander around Athens, so I figured sitting in a quiet port town would be nice. It was. Rafina is pretty run down it seems, outside of the dock area, but it was nice to explore a bit. I had lunch (a HUGE plate of shrimp, fries and tomatoes), and then walked the streets until 3:30 when they would let me board the ferry. It was incredibly windy and my taxi driver said something like “sure is choppy! Have fun!” </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_304e_160_8abc_2cb7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O7vwb-t2S6c/Wwclr7nQwJI/AAAAAAAAEhs/zJ0pCRuhSWstKz5YkKsq0BAnzHSayX8yACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_2d15_e3c5_f268_2710" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nN39Y44kZWM/WwclvUZilQI/AAAAAAAAEh0/hIFF0ik7lTkC5x5tJUvgVHduZQFlPS6rQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_3cc0_8c65_5dac_7ac5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xjkR5TqoYPU/WwclwWmrm7I/AAAAAAAAEh4/wj-iMn_DFt4oR4RGCGUuAqaS0D0IjFRpQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_2909_dfba_d544_6444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7hA73ZSwjVNPd2n4liLmx8GSvt5P6Z3_wKFDE2RsBHZtmdTuZFyaFioJw8f8YK9D8YC638DcJ0wW3XA5kuJySlj6QoArUG7vdwX_b3vBzV0L8J0sih1IM36FI-n1RuPYEyWvWBw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>The ferry was huge and I didn’t really know what to do or where to sit, so I just found a spot on the deck, put my head on my suitcase and passed out for awhile. When I woke up quite a few passengers had boarded. </div><div><br></div><div>The ferry ride was nice, but longer than I had anticipated- almost 4 hours. There is a lot of beautiful scenery, most of which you are a bit too far away from to really see properly. I spent a lot of time on the deck while it was still light out, taking photos and just letting myself be blown about by the ridiculous wind. The only thing even remotely like it that I’ve experienced was when Eric Tal and I took a ferry up the fjords from Bergen to Flåm in 2005. Every photo I took ofyself has my hair blowing around like a crazy person. </div><div><br><img id="id_3426_c8dd_aae3_ab29" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3ZCOzCqLEE2frH6G4mjNXio99T0A0jjvL2WKcvCbwoySE-eL47UAYSNJGG-UXsthHm5DPmVEVipbHKy6eDfCM_IXAvW7vUD1sanI27wAoRrHkWVlMGpV_dOFuoq65k3AIPXJQw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Some scenes from the boat: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_92a8_6010_f921_dda7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jXrP3P5jhIg/Wwcl2CtPK-I/AAAAAAAAEiI/nOArc8pZpAMHLQJXdkZFhMI34J1m750hACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e2db_6191_bd03_1001" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vhsMaDw2t0M/Wwcl1KYttxI/AAAAAAAAEiE/n8YAn8c9Waw7DBL5EfrwiMiNeHlx1PMdACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_aa94_e15_75b2_eb35" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tY0yOHxDl9M/Wwcl3uxK2iI/AAAAAAAAEiQ/_jB1nFLjM1wV8pmvxDQbkvvijt9TsHBFACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br>Stopping in Andros</div><div><br><img id="id_7dcf_cd39_6ace_cd8e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w9r8AE6xGGg/Wwcl2p6OU0I/AAAAAAAAEiM/YmXUJJNntRwUTBD5hZ7wBrvqQAKDx_b0wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>After dark I went downstairs to charge my phone for awhile, and fell asleep again, then woke up when the captain was saying “all passengers for Tinos please disembark!” After a 4 hour ferry ride I nearly missed my stop- because if you’re not paying attention you can’t tell when the ferry is or is not moving! It rocks from side to side no matter what. Imagine waking up and discovering I was heading back to Rafina. Yikes. </div><div><br></div><div>But luckily I grabbed my stuff and made it off the boat in time, and there were David and Willa Marie waiting for me! Hurray! </div><div><br></div><div>For those of you who don’t know me that well, David is my cousin on my mom’s side, the second oldest of my cousins. I think he is 12 years older than me. He and his wife Jessica and their 13 year old daughter Willa Marie (some of you may remember her as the red-headed baby that used to visit our apartment in college) live in Chicago, and are taking 8 months off of life to travel the world on a Jubilee. Their trip is broken up into for parts, and Greece is the third part. They put an open invitation out for family to join them at various places, and as I’ve always wanted to go to Greece, I took them up on it. It was the impetus for my entire trip, and I’m so grateful they were willing to have me stay. It’s been so lovely here.</div><div><br></div><div>So that’s the story of my epic travel day between countries. Not super interesting, perhaps, but it felt so monumental at the time somehow. Woke up at 2:30am in Paris and ended the day driving through a darkened island on tight streets at “goat speed” (so as not to hit goats), then collapsing into bed in a beautiful white-washed farmhouse looking out over the Aegean. I love it here. </div><div><br></div><div>More soon! </div><div><br></div><div>Cameron <br><br></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-91432031994038365262018-05-23T13:44:00.001-07:002018-05-23T13:44:00.145-07:00Paris take 2! Apparently not my entire post worked last night, so here is the missing second half, re-written multiple times now because this app I’m using is weird.<div><br></div><div>Picking up from getting our Lourve tickets...</div><div><br></div><div>We decided that we’d see the Mona Lisa first to “avoid the crowds,” and then immediately walked in the wrong direction and got lost. We ended up near the Napoleonic Apartments, though, which are worth a visit if you are ever there. Napoleon had some opulent taste, that’s for sure. Heavy on the gold and chandeliers. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_9859_2b5e_89da_fd4c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9lkb2BfsXBc/WwXSSwBZ1BI/AAAAAAAAEdw/M45fn1eifwomRnbRayS9Ayyi3EcvJHagwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><img id="id_c4d1_2ef6_be6a_38fe" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kukBkJh85GY/WwXSS__-iNI/AAAAAAAAEds/wTMA4UmVDPAmHBH1wpCVUkPNRfkHZ8-PQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Then we found the Winged Victory, which was honestly what I wanted to see the most out of the whole museum. It was stupidly crowded but she was majestic just the same. What an incredibly elegant sculpture. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_8088_f3a8_7c3_5c0e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U9k2vpl5I-Q/WwXSSV36hxI/AAAAAAAAEdo/SbpLfJQ-LlI3X-J7dZ_TfqdY09zbRGeXwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>If you haven’t seen the documentary The Rape of Europa, about the Nazi bombing and looting of artwork during World War II and the efforts put forth to protect them, it’s a really incredible film. The part about moving the Winged Victory is particularly interesting. It’s on Amazon Prime to watch for free! </div><div><br></div><div>At this point Kate decided to go off on her own for awhile as she had already seen the Mona Lisa. Stuart and I battled the crowd to see it, and it was such a dense crowd that my claustrophobia wouldn’t allow me to stay for long. She is a remarkable portrait, it’s true, but it seems like they could time entry into her area or something to make it more accessible. (We all agreed in general that the Louvre could be run a bit better, but that is another discussion.) I did catch a moment where I could see the whole portrait, but most of the experience was like this: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_e27d_cfdb_94ab_2e43" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G004GfwBUWk/WwXSS6xRClI/AAAAAAAAEd0/9mmZ098-yF0o3A_h0NxeaW-OcbCkwpFCQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Side note: does anyone else remember the movie Ever After: A Cinderella Story, with Drew Barrymore? Am I making it up, or is it implied in that film that Leonardo daVinci painted the Mona Lisa based on Cinderella? I mean obviously it’s not an historically accurate film, but I’m wondering if my brain is failing me. </div><div><br></div><div>Stu and I also found the Venus de Milo, after wandering through a lot of Roman and Greek sculptures. She is a nice sculpture, but I don’t quite get what’s so great about her. Stu looked it up and apparently it has a lot to do with France having to return antiquities and needing to make a statement about their art possessions, so they built her up when she was discovered. Makes sense.</div><div><br></div><div>We were all pretty beat by that point- the Louvre is HUGE- so even though we had just barely scratched the surface, we decided to leave. What an amazing place though. Even just the palace itself is unbelievable, with the statuary on the facade. I can’t wait to go back.</div><div><br></div><div>Some other Louvre favorites:</div><div><img id="id_3e50_5b12_6e63_c4e3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bsGHLVwsGvemhRjF0deyQcWuaWiCvDvAhc2nx30uWkC12btwjA883805oKlIiwCqFN4l9rRTmTyuuimkiSZ0hDG7PImH0LxdTWhWk4jvxm6ffXjNijeBpoNe96jmrsE2Kr0eXA/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br>Casual head-stabbing </div><div><br><br><img id="id_a7a_ccb3_20b5_634a" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLXYSlwJ7C2-50PK9C9roXRuTmG4_ljLQHWKFH7TFDrKUNmRs6FCoc6V8iRnrAMBUEW1WbCh3LnkWQEbyQz4NBue4LEiUyNvOxLpqUVoWIGrSxQ6ctP2htcvCHgHJCh6MPBbqxFw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br>The ceiling detail was incredible in almost every room. </div><div><br><img id="id_bf7e_76b2_d06_d469" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Er6rx63U6lI/WwXSWPswwqI/AAAAAAAAEd8/6aXun76GaF4PCMW7DBofuItVowUvtToAACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br>This guy is on a walk adjoining the Mona Lisa and looks quite disgruntled at all the attention she is getting. </div><div><br><img id="id_fdd8_f39c_dd96_dfea" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D917cU7kreo/WwXSZ-hdNSI/AAAAAAAAEeI/AGSgVKZsDyI1ji_MzMXVdTvMN4wB8zUiQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br>I couldn’t find a plaque for this, but it’s huge and clearly done to fit this space. If anyone knows what it is, I’d love to know. It was beautiful.</div><div><br></div><div>From the Louvre, we walked up the Seine and over to an island, where Kate has been given a restaurant recommendation. The restaurant was very old inside, as though it hadn’t been updated since the Renaissance (aside from the addition of beer taps and electricity). I had French onion soup, Kate veal and cabbage, and Stu lamb stew. Stu for stew. The bathroom in this place was great, very old fashioned. I wish I had a better picture so I could show you. </div><div><br></div><div>At this point my camera battery was dying (the horror!) and Kate and I both wanted to change shoes, so we decided to go back to the apartment- but not before we went to Notre Dame, which was only a few blocks from the restaurant. We didn’t have time t climb the towers, which I would have loved to do, but I’m very glad we went. I love the detail put into European cathedral facades. So many figures, and they are all different! I always feel like I wish I knew on whim they were based, especially the obscure ones that are not clearly saints. Anyway, we went inside the cathedral and a service was happening. I lit a candle and said a prayer for Vivian, my cousin’s 3.5 year old who has brain cancer (www.vivianrosedipg.org), which felt good. I don’t know much about religion, but I figure things like that can’t hurt, right? </div><div><br></div><div>When we went back outside and were ogling the building again (and I got to use my 11-16mm zoom that I rented for the trip), a procession of bishops and priests came out of the church singing, carrying a statue. Apparently it was Whit Monday, a holy day associated with the Pentecost. Who knew? It was pretty cool to see though, all these old guys in white robes chanting. Kind of a unique little bit of our visit. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_a981_98fd_d3be_48e7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-psoXPNr3Xv0/WwXSbwVpBVI/AAAAAAAAEeM/5oXeT0CWd_kx_nEmgIE_4da5qRI3fkRlQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>16mm shot of Notre Dame</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_375e_eb98_d06a_4f77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDkA6bdOZrrirN3XEop9r2tsiJckBoN085JRPFHfzHhCPIJPlhk7zB5_RV-I6aRsB1C-_Ep0z9tuMiWuy3Mje18xqmqbc8vk-RYUMomzvK5AptE14C9hRCAxX-PBaSmJDarttOQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><img id="id_58ba_6c0_e3a9_10ee" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f3OABNDuFSs/WwXScZjMltI/AAAAAAAAEeQ/R9o3AuUXCUoCIatUhn-sYMGNJ_WyNldVgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_67c3_77e3_55e3_8a89" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gH1gyCUJgsA/WwXSdVXpM8I/AAAAAAAAEeY/QOi3VNfWHNMH1_ksStF7KksLib-wAvIGQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_1b51_ce38_d502_206" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-27AN_jhzVIQ/WwXSeJNbPvI/AAAAAAAAEeg/cox8lqUAG9MYw4vf6Ibtyn17ld-81PXGQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>We caught a cab right near Notre Dame and were whisked back to our Airbnb, where we spent half an hour or so before getting on the subway to the Eiffel Tower. We spent quite awhile in the area of the tower, in both daylight and night, and it is beautiful no matter how you look at it. I felt like I could have stayed all day and stared at it. Stu took this photo of Kate and me, looking like we are having a very romantic weekend: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_50c1_154b_56fc_c775" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Jjxza24plgkShXL8d5MBm6mPKHVptq91msD5PMjmQm3kleh8YLzD6-RMTJP13PdHpBbnhVQv2exV5e5vc1Vj4SOhNY1ezsPNTlZCZxEwZQkqQhOgTg5CPymbyTupdQfZKiLbDQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_f9b7_c6b9_c554_2eab" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FjvOkxLR1vY/WwXSdF9LwNI/AAAAAAAAEeU/_dOYsnVnBAgpz2U5zhzxYTBNZziTob6dACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br>We went to dinner just up the hill from the tower, and when we came back it was dark and we tried to walk underneath the tower, but it was closed off from our side. It was getting very late at this point and I had to get ready for my flight, so we decided to head “home.” We watched the light show on the tower first though, where it gets all lit up and sparkly. So pretty. I felt like a little kid looking at a magical object.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_d8c6_b1f1_7a3b_49ac" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXnVZxRfZRz_pg1wcn99u-2Z8TcSb6V5KIgEAPjNrIM8RvPu9N0E27GDAom9SEyK_CThDsw4wJhjWfmR9DNyivy6_6URMb-VE5ACwkxFl7iT5kjrAEjEgr6NzRga95Zme3SLDLg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>When we got back to the Airbnb I packed, and we fell asleep late, around 1:15am. I then got up at 2:30 to get to the train station and take a bus to the airport- but that is for another post, which I will hopefully wrote tonight. </div><div><br></div><div>For now, I’ll just say that even though I only barely made a dent in the Paris experiences I hope to have in my life, I really felt like I got a taste of the city. Staying near Montmartre in the 9th Arrondismont was lovely, and the more grand areas near the Seine were beautiful in a very different way. I can’t wait to go back. </div><div><br></div><div>Cameron </div><div><br><br></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-51472721200535046122018-05-21T21:07:00.001-07:002018-05-22T14:10:47.401-07:00Paris! It has been an insanely busy two days in Paris, but so wonderful. I arrived sleepy and cramped after sitting in a middle chair for 9+ hours on the flight over. The situation could have been worse, of course- my seat-mates were perfectly nice- but my legs were not happy. I’m 5’3- I can’t even imagine being taller than that and sitting in a middle chair that long. <div><br></div><div>I took the RER B from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Gare du Nord trim station, which is huge and essentially a mall with trains going through it. Stu met me outside and walked me back to our Airbnb! What a gentleman. We checked in to our 4th floor walk up studio, which just barely could fit all 3 of us: </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_1457_893b_8896_f7ae" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWLGN-M5waJfgEQldUBsqCW_3FnYG2q79r4iB5XZ9YECKy7hojN40egy22j0gW8DcKCpunPXO1N7pOL7wE16m1XdNk1R7g84uz6SLRQCJ3PtjJZGp6ggVv6-pfQDmvDhr9vijHg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_817e_a2ed_edb0_279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapOp2k3dtMYt3or-QUB-D6myByjfhJlcx4P11N5ZqyF6r6WLelZpFaKE4YO8PCj4fU029GRpKG06ZEEuOrbYrKgNJxC7KpBUAghoxaI_0Y3lMJv-fJc6siOzIcGniEqIvEOOjIg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>That plus the teeny bathroom was the sum total of the apartment, but we made it work. We weren’t there very much. </div><div><br></div><div>After settling in we got some food (I got a hot dog, which felt odd in France) and then walked to Montmartre to see the Moulin Rouge, the Cafe de 2 Moulin (from Amelie), and the Montmartre Cemetery, which was huge and beautiful. You know you have good friends when they will indulge your love for cemeteries. </div><img id="id_d310_1ab2_2f28_71c3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ime_ncNQdPI/WwOXbejVkmI/AAAAAAAAESU/ghKallr6N700UbftLo9h8AVS_fBhWN0jwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_70dd_d659_6fc0_f01a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ek_7aIEP9cE/WwOXbMBxd6I/AAAAAAAAESQ/GBc8NbB3cL00Mw_19Ib6LAQ8rAxJhyoggCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_41f7_b5e0_e438_3137" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jmeL9N5dyak/WwOXb8l4dZI/AAAAAAAAESY/_d5VPwZOM_4RANU_H3dNYGbv73p9V0xygCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_8325_fd93_f961_c136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrj5wAKEERa4jDf-3AWVaTTJPAWSWwKM5t9ajCWjBKRltA98XmdZtaKKtSyGRT5OpY1UoYGAnx3BETdxpl5QR-u6eZVmaY6sv7TOt2R7lJLvEVroPae9UP35-oJmqLh1xPi-8yw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 357px; height: auto;"><br><br><div>After the cemetery I was starting to give in to the jet lag, so we went to a grocery store and a patisserie for bread and cheese and salami. We ate clumped around the tiny counter in our apartment and then set up my cot, and I passed out almost immediately. I remember hearing snippets of Kate and Stu watching The Best Exotix Marigold Hotel, but for the most part I slept like a baby for 10 hours. It was lovely. </div><div><br></div><div>Monday morning we got up at 8 and were out the door at 9 to head to the Louvre. Here is something dumb about Paris: The patisseries, which have all the yummy things you want for breakfast, don’t open until 10am. How do they justify this? Don’t French people have to go to work in the morning? We looked for an open one all the way the Louvre but found nothing. We ended up eating at a small cafe across from the museum, which was perfectly fine. Coffees here are so small. My American coffee addiction requires larger portions. </div><div><br></div><div>Picking up our Louvre tickets was nearly a disaster. I booked them through a company called Musement, which after booking told me to meet their representative between 10 and 11am that day to collect our tickets. Sounded sketchy, but we went with it. Then at 10 this morning there was no representative. Nor at 10:15. Finally one showed up around 10:20 and a group of relieved Americans got their tickets from him. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-12611009121438085462018-05-19T14:31:00.001-07:002018-05-19T14:31:31.176-07:00“You’re alarming in the breast area”I just got really thoroughly felt up by a TSA agent because apparently the machine told them my breast area was suspicious. Thanks, underwire bra! <div><br></div><div>Currently doing that thing you do before a long flight where you stand up for ages for no other reason than soon you will be sitting down for ages. There must be 350 people waiting in the boarding area with me. I should be using this time to figure out how to get to our Airbnb from the airport. I know nothing about Paris. Nothing! #adventure </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-68930853437629497532018-05-17T22:43:00.002-07:002018-05-17T22:44:04.076-07:00We'll see if this takesI am off to traveling again on Saturday, and wish to share things with people that I love. Blogs, as mid-'00's as they are, remain the best way to do this without shoving it all down someone's throat. So... I suppose for a little while at least I will be back to blogging.<br />
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I'm leaving on Saturday and flying into Paris, where I have never been, and where I will only be for about 2 days before jumping over to Greece. In Paris I am meeting Kate and Stuart, my lovely Bristol-based friends (Kate lived in the dorm with me and then at 1705 Ridge, in the good old days), for two nights of who knows what. We are doing the Louvre, I know that, where I want to see the Winged Victory and you know, other famous stuff, but where I have no delusions of being able to see everything. Then in Greece I will ferry on over to the island of Tinos, where my cousin David and his wife Jessica, along with their intrepid 13 year old Willa Marie, are staying while on the Greek leg of their Jubilee. They have been traveling since December, with a few stops back in Chicago, and they were courteous enough to put out an open invite to family to come visit them while they are in Greece. Obviously I jumped at that opportunity. I've wanted to go to Greece for pretty much my whole life. After Tinos I will be in Athens for a few days and then home. Whirlwind, yes, but so looking forward to it.<br />
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If it pleases you, you may read the (often ridiculous) old posts on this blog, last visited in 2012 when I lived in my Hobbit Hole on Ortega Street and many things were different. Don't judge too harshly.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.4194155000000136.9717915 -123.71030900000001 38.578067499999996 -121.12852200000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-79162330076577835682012-05-17T23:08:00.000-07:002012-05-17T23:09:24.781-07:00Suddenly and without warningI have returned to blogging! Largely because I am indignant about this week of a) my birthday; b) the corresponding Giants game and alcohol fest; and c) my brother's wedding, which is taking place RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the first time I have actually managed to lose some frickin' weight in the last few years. There was awhile back in 2010 that I was doing pretty well losing weight. Then all went to hell, and now I have had to lose that same weight again. I'm doing ok. Tiffany and I are going to Weight Watchers and I have started bringing lunch to preschool, which helps because they feed the preschoolers Full Fat Everything (such as real butter, etc, not like junk food).
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Or perhaps I'm just indignant that my brother's wedding, which will be very small but will still feature photographs galore, decided to sneak up on me when I have only lost about half the weight I wanted to lose before said photographs.
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Or perhaps I am annoyed that I gained all this weight to begin with, and that I will probably gain it all back when I go eat in the frickin' dorm all summer. While I would like to say that it's easy to eat only over-cooked veggies and not go out to get beer with friends every night, it is not. I don't have that kind of willpower. Friends say "let us go to a movie and eat an entire bag of Peanut Butter M&M's amongst the three of us!" and I say "Hell yes!" rather than "Oh, no thank you, I'll just bring along my Vitamin Water."
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<b>RAWR.</b>
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But anyway yes, my brother is getting married, and I have this cool new dress that I want to look totally badass in. I'll let you know how that all goes. It will be a tiny wedding at the Muir Beach Overlook in Marin, and I am going with Jessy (Taylor's fiancé) to get our hair blow-dried that morning, which means I have to decide what kind of blow-dry I want. Options include "beachy" "straight with volume" "sleek," etc. http://www.thedrybar.com/menu/ Input welcome.
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This is my dress: http://www.bettiepageclothing.com/bettie-page/ink-spots I look nothing like that model in it, but I still love it. Here's the question: Do I wear red, gray, turquoise, or black shoes? I feel like black is the boring and obvious choice, gray is fun but subdued, red is great but my red shoes aren't the best ever, and my turquoise shoes ARE the best ever but the style doesn't quite fit the dress. Gah! Help!
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In other news, yeah, now I'm 29. Which is Old. I thought 28 was Old, but I was wrong. I would love to be turning 28 again. I am 29 and I live with my parents and am not meeting my full earning/job potential. Wheeeeee. My brother got all those "successful life" genes, apparently.
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How are all of YOU?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-22675577100671413072012-02-26T20:47:00.000-08:002012-02-26T20:47:56.468-08:00Stream of Consicousness Oscar PostStarting at the beginning and going along as the show goes...<br />
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I AM SO GLAD BILLY CRYSTAL IS BACK. Thanks, James Franco and Anne Hathaway, for being so incredibly bad that they could convince Billy to come back. <br />
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Karl Swaybo... seat filling at the Oscars for 59 years? I want that job! I'd be REALLY GOOD at that job. Probably not actually a real job, though. <br />
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GIVING OUT CINEMATOGRAPHY FIRST? WHAT THE FUCK, OSCARS? Oh, and of course Robert Richardson won. Hey, at least I predicted it, even if it wasn't the one that I wanted to win. And at least Richardson called them out on how lame it was that they put it first. How degrading to Cinematography! Richardson's speech was short and sweet, but I do hope they get over this whole "let's give it to the most visually lavish and effects-heavy movie possible!" kick they're on soon. <br />
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Hey, at this point I'm 2/2 in predictions! I put my predictions on Facebook so people could publicly ridicule me for them. <br />
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What is this pointless montage for? Just to remind us all of how much we like movies? Iconic Movie Moments? Stupid. <br />
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It's kind of nice that they have stars talking about each of the people who did makeup and costumes and such. Why didn't they have that for Cinematography? Geez. Cinematography is so shafted this year! WTF. Also this little bit about stars' first movies is cute.<br />
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Sandra Bullock presenting Best Foreign Language Film and her joke about "speaking Chinese" was... dumb. <br />
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A Separation! I guess now I will really have to see it. It's so hard to want to go see a movie about a marriage breaking up that will probably be very sad. Pretty awesome that an Iranian movie won, given all that's going on between the US and Iran. <br />
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Hurray! Octavia Spencer! NICE DRESS too. And they gave her a standing ovation! Cute. I hope The Help wins the two actress awards but nothing else. Definitely doesn't deserve Best Picture. Awww why is she apologizing? She's so cute. I love her. <br />
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MUPPETS! I <3 MUPPETS. However, odd that Cirque Du Soleil is performing at The Oscars. Just cause it's an artsy medium doesn't mean all other artsy mediums are invited. I like Cirque and all, but not thrust upon me when least expected. <br />
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Rango won! Well, so the two awards I really cared about split- one went good, one went meh. If Lubezki had won Cinematography it would have been, like, the best Oscars ever. <br />
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Emma Stone is embarrassing. Also, she looks like a lump of yarn. <br />
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Dude, Christopher Plummer is a class act. I want him to thank all 7 von Trapp children. I'm glad they're letting him talk! Taylor says they don't cut old people off... it's pretty true. <br />
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Does anyone else think it's weird that the band is up in the boxes? <br />
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I am not a fan of the continuing jokes about Kodak going bankrupt. Poor Kodak. The movies wouldn't exist without Kodak, you'd think someone would step in to help them out. <br />
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"To all of you, please accept me because I've got so much love to give." Crappiest acceptance speech yet. <br />
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Flight of the Conchords guy wrote the Man or Muppet song! I had no idea. Somehow the fact that those two worlds collided makes me really happy. <br />
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I would love to go in the Kodak theater some day. It looks so grand and beautiful. <br />
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Girl From Precious, you may have had the best line all night: "THe fact that he was a freaking alcoholic- WITH ONE FOOT!" <br />
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I have gotten bored with this broadcast, and thus have stopped commenting on things. Lalalalalalalala oooh Best Director! This should be interesting... oh snore, Hazanavicius... clearly now The Artist will win. Lame. <br />
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The In Memorium montage is always my favorite. That sounds weird, but it's the one tiny glimpse of humanity in this giant show full of Hollywood glitz. Plus it highlights a lot of people no one knew died, like sound people and camera people. That's a good thing- they don't get enough recognition. Too bad what they do get is posthumous. <br />
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Natalie Portman looks amazing. Red dress and diamonds is a good look for her. This is kind of weird though, having her address each of the Best Actor nominees directly... she keeps looking back at the teleprompter, it's very inelegant.<br />
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God the sound on this broadcast is awful. <br />
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Oh gee, The Artist won. Shocking! Kind of a snorefest of an Oscars. I have zero witty comments. The end!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-69890617559568234892011-12-04T11:07:00.000-08:002011-12-04T11:09:14.311-08:00Things to look forward toI haven't written in this thing in ages, but the introspective wanderer in me wants to start again. I have a couple potential projects up my sleeve, and a couple potential trips (although I'm still saving, so who knows when they will really happen), so I'll try to stay on top of things, for anyone who is still actually around to read. <br />
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If you're still around: hi guys! Thanks for hanging in there!<br />
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So, just a couple things to be excited about in the next few weeks: <br />
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1. Next weekend, Charlie is coming to visit! Not me specifically, but all his friends in the Bay Area. He is my cute Italian friend from Northwestern, Kevin Cannon and Nazan's old roommate from Turkish house, as exhibited on the far right here: <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/5065729580/" title="IMG_2277 by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4130/5065729580_3b13ef9bdf.jpg" width="375" height="249.5" alt="IMG_2277"></a><br />
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As you may know, I LOVE VISITORS, so this is exciting. <br />
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2. In the same vein, Kevin Welch is coming to visit in two weeks, to work on a project we have cooked up with Adam. We are going to talk to some people who may be able to help us out, and part of this involves going up to Sonoma and Napa, which always makes me happy. I was up in Sonoma last weekend to have lunch with my cousin Whitney and then take her to the airport, and the leaves changing on the grape vines was just about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I am so frickin' lucky to live in this place, where everywhere I turn there's something that makes me happy to be here. <br />
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Anyway! End schmaltzfest. Kevin being here will be lots of fun, if for no other reason than I will have someone to go to movies with who actually knows things about movies. Maybe I can drag him to the new Herzog movie (you know, the one about the death penalty that everyone else refuses to see with me)! <br />
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3. There *might* be a cast and crew screening of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/WakingUpinSanFrancisco">Friend of the Bride</a>, the feature I shot in September. My first feature! It will be un-color-corrected and un-sound-designed, but! My first feature! I hope it's good! It has the potential to be really funny and touching, and I'm not so much worried about that stuff as I am about hating my own work when I first see it... I always hate what I shoot the first time I see it cut together. I later get over it, of course (especially since for this one I had about 3 lights, no lighting crew, no focus puller, and no prep time), but still... I'm NERVOUS! Excited, but nervous.<br />
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So those are some good things. Hurray for good things. Hope everyone's doing very well and that the holidays are shaping up nicely =)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-2639944060667726792011-09-11T22:46:00.000-07:002011-09-12T01:33:08.595-07:00for September 11thI have a lot of catching up to do on this blog, as it seems I always do. For now, though, I'm going to just do what probably every other blogger in the US is doing today- remembering September 11th, 2001.<br />
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I've heard a lot of stuff on NPR recently about the attacks, and people's opinions of them then and now. A lot of testimonials and position pieces. They all seem to say the same thing: that feeling of terror still feels present and immediate, as though ten years haven't passed at all. It's very similar for me, but linked to all sorts of other fears as well. <br />
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That summer of 2001 was my last before college. I spent it working at Pacific Primary and then at the Leakey Foundation; at a certain point all my friends went to college and I was left behind, taking the bus to the Presidio every morning, listening to Graceland and generally feeling sorry for myself. All my friends were gone and I didn't know what was awaiting me once Northwestern's quarter system finally started. I was due in Evanston on September 14th. <br />
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My dad woke me up on the morning of September 11th by saying something dramatic and confusing along the lines of "Cameron, wake up, New York is under attack and we're driving to Chicago." It made no sense until I stumbled into the TV room where my mom was watching the news coverage. I remember being stunned, and crying when I began to think about all the friends I had in New York, just starting college- were they ok? They were, all of them. One of them IMed me later that day and asked me to let her mom know that she was fine. I don't remember a ton of details of the rest of the day, to be honest. I watched the news. I called Ana and wished her a strained "uh... happy birthday?" I packed up my life in San Francisco, because as Dad said, we were driving to Chicago. The airports were closed and would be for days. <br />
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We left the next day for a three day drive across the country. It sounds naive and overly-simplified, but 9/11 and that 3-day drive kind of marked the end of my sheltered childhood. Not that I wouldn't continue to be pretty damn sheltered at Northwestern- it's more that I started to realize then how big the world was, how many people hate us, and how different my life would be from then on. Starting September 12th, I wouldn't live at home anymore, or be monitored 24/7 by my parents. I would make my own decisions and feed myself and get myself to class. I would meet people with points of view that I'd never even fathomed- Republicans! The Midwest was crawling with them. Hell, I even ended up dating a Libertarian that first year in college. Driving through states I'd never seen up close- Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and finally Illinois- peppered with American flags and "united we stand" banners everywhere you turned, I got a sense of the country I'd lived in my whole life. I rode in the back seat listening to the news reports, buying a newspaper at every truck stop, feeling incredibly disconnected yet in awe of what was happening to the country. I had my camera with me (of course) and took some photos that I still love of what we saw on the way: <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/212665608/" title="big sky in Wyoming by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/76/212665608_8bb626714c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="big sky in Wyoming"></a><br />
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Before 9/11 I had a pretty small worldview, no matter how cosmopolitan, worldly and open I thought I was. I had great friends and a wonderful family and the most uncertainty I'd ever dealt with was not knowing where I'd go to college. After 9/11, I found a whole new world. I made new friends who introduced me to the film industry, I dated boys, I explored Chicago, I visited new cities and towns; I lived in a world that was constantly uncertain, constantly thinking that maybe the Sears Tower was next, always a little afraid to board a plane. I still live in that world today. It's a weird feeling, to look back and know that that's the day your life changed, not through any direct involvement with the attacks on the East Coast, but because of what it set in motion. It feels like it's been a lot longer and not very long all at once. <br />
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I don't have much that's profound to say about it all, about the sacrifices made and the unspeakable loss of life. I still cry when I see images from that day, and I'm not even always sure why. The bottom line is that on September 10th the world seemed pretty safe, and the next day everything was up in the air. I still have no idea where my life is headed, but I'm glad to be here, and I'm grateful for all the people who are fighting to keep me here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-8649403902080705472011-06-19T19:50:00.000-07:002011-06-19T19:50:17.314-07:00on Father's DayOne of my favorite memories of my Dad from when I was a kid would happen every now and then on a weekend, or in the summer, when my brother and I were really bored. He'd strap both of us into the passenger seat in his pea-green 1970's Toyota pickup truck, we'd hit the road, and he would let us take turns navigating- "turn left" "turn right" "go straight," etc. We'd head out into the "unknown," usually in the North Bay or South Bay, and have an adventure. Once we found a house with lots of pink flamingoes in front of it; once we got incredibly lost somewhere near Point Reyes, in the rain, and had to buy lunch from a tiny grocery store. Wherever we ended up, it was always someplace new.<br />
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I'm pretty sure that's where the whole "wanderlust" part of my personality came from.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-68573969244711841672011-06-12T00:55:00.000-07:002011-06-12T01:08:18.104-07:00NEWSFLASH: (Some) Things Have Changed!So! I am officially not a real resident of Los Angeles. That is to say, I have taken all my stuff (which ohmygod was SO MUCH MORE STUFF than I thought I had) and moved it into a 5x10 storage locker in Glendale, and taken the rest home to San Francisco with me, and now I am basically a nomad. I have gotten sick, in the last week, of explaining to people how well, I am not really in San Francisco permanently YET, or maybe not EVER, because I'm going to Chicago for 6 1/2 weeks and THEN I'll be around for a couple months at the least, but I'm not really sure where I want to be, and blah blah blah I see their eyes glaze over as I'm talking. They don't really care. And who can blame them? The minutiae of my life really matters only to me. <br />
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I've been home in San Francisco for about a week and a half now, and while I can't even begin to describe how much I miss seeing Steve and Kirk twice a week, or watching nerdy movies with Brian or my trivia buds or geek sessions with Nausheen and Richard... I love it here. I don't really want to leave. Life just seems so much more NATURAL in San Francisco. Why is that? <br />
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I mean, beyond the fact that when I'm subbing at Pac Prim I am forced to eat organic non-allergenic foods. Why is that? <br />
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My cousin Tobin, who is Wise, once said that "it's something about the air." So true.<br />
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And as my pseudofriend Maggie, tonight at a high school-themed party full of kids from high school (where I felt awkward and was glad that, unlike high school, I am now allowed to drink), said, "San Francisco is not a bad place to be figuring your life out." <br />
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Yes. That is what I'm doing. I'm figuring my life out. I'm also still kind of drunk and trying my damndest to avoid typos. <br />
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This party tonight! Weirdness. It was for Alexis' birthday, which was officially yesterday, and which was also the 10th anniversary of the day we actually graduated from Lick. Matty P and Will Madison had blown up photos from high school and hung them up everywhere. I wore my class tshirt; Rachel had on her class sweatshirt, and the guys all had some form of letterman or LAX jacket. We are nerds. I'm glad we're all still seemingly proud of going to Lick... it was a good place. Those kids are still so much cooler than me though. Individually perhaps they're not cooler, but as a group they are way cooler. I still don't really know what to say to, for example, Emily Johnson. She started out cooler than me and will always remain cooler than me. The end. I think in general, though, the boys have gotten nicer, which I appreciate. Matt Levy was never really a jerk, but now he talks to me and actually seems glad to see me. Will Madison was kind of a jerk for awhile and now is not. Etc. Alexis and Matty P have always been great. I'm glad they've stayed that way. And I'm glad we have Rachel and Alexis to hold down the high school fort, so to speak. <br />
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Rambling! Sorry.<br />
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So what else has happened? OH! I went to Texas, finally. May 21st-28th I was in San Antonio with Kevin Welch and Jennifer and their adorable children, makin' a movie. I think Jennifer was kind of annoyed with us for taking over their house (and rightly so, given the tiny children involved), but other than that I think it was a very successful trip. I don't know how it turned out... to my knowledge Kevin hasn't started editing yet, nor perhaps even looked at the second day's worth of footage. I am a touch worried about that second day, because we did a lot without any crew and when we were keeping the actors overtime, which is to say we might have been rushing, and rushing always concerns me. But it is what it is. It was a comedy about a couple who have conflicting fantasies over the breakfast table... it involved a lot of gore (which was incredibly difficult to clean up) and suggestive sex scenes and well, I just hope it turned out well. I really like working with Kevin... he doesn't flip out (or at least he didn't this time) and he puts a lot of thought into his movies, which I appreciate given the lack of thought put into anything by many LA directors. Not my AFI directors- they were great- but other directors that I've worked under, if not for. LA is very product-driven, and that's not how I was raised in the film world, and Kevin is much the same way. Plus we have fun, and that's half the battle. <br />
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We spent the first few days doing prep for the shoot, which involved all the usual stuff like shot-listing, but also shopping for production design elements and costumes, as there were no people specifically designated to do that. Shopping for women's clothing with two guys (Kevin and his friend/co-writer Craig) was exhausting. They were confused the whole time, and it was not really the right season for what we were looking for. We ended up with a good outfit for our actress, who looked great in purple, but only after buying about 6 different outfits "just in case:" <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/5770526135/" title="IMG_4107 by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5105/5770526135_0091b5604c.jpg" width="375" height="249.5" alt="IMG_4107"></a><br />
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Those are our actors, after the fantasy murder scene. They were pretty game for anything, which was great- and it helped that Kevin had unwittingly cast two people who had recently started dating, so they were perfectly happy to hang out into overtime as long as they could be making out in the other room while we set stuff up. <br />
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Kevin and I also did a bit of production design on the Welch's kitchen, which consisted basically of this improvised wainscotting: <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/5770472325/" title="IMG_4039 by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/5770472325_4a80bdfc5e.jpg" width="375" height="249.5" alt="IMG_4039"></a><br />
(the blue stuff, in the back there... whether it looks legit or not I'm not sure, but we liked it)<br />
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The hardest part of the shoot, as a DP, was... well there were two things, a) getting "natural" light into the middle of Kevin's long, largely windowless kitchen, and b) getting the EX-1 to have any sort of depth of field. I think things ended up ok on both fronts, but I've barely looked at the footage... hopefully I'll have time to look at it more this summer. About halfway through the first day I just taped an ND6 onto the front of the lens, and left it there for the rest of the shoot to force myself into lighting to a T1.9. Ghetto, perhaps, but I think it worked out. <br />
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The crew consisted primarily of Kevin's students from St. Mary's University, who were eager at first but soon realized that working on a film set isn't all glitz and glam and awesome. It's hard work. It was an awkward position- while we needed hands to get everything done, we didn't really have a lot of time to teach them how to do things properly, or WHY we were doing them, so I think they got bored pretty quickly. To be honest, I can't really blame them- I frequently get bored on film sets and I generally DO have a vague idea what's going on. Being clueless would only be more boring. By the middle of the second day (and there were only two days) we had basically lost everyone to made-up excuses like "I suddenly got called into work." Oh well. I hope they learned something... I was able to teach them basics like setting up HMIs and Kinos, and they got pretty good at that. I'd tell them where to set things up and then after they did, I'd run around and tweak things. A few of the girls who were interested in camera stuff got to pull focus on some shots, and they took some great camera notes for me. So, you take what you can get with a free crew. Someday we'll have a real crew and things will be amazing. <br />
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Texas itself was not really what I was expecting. Perhaps that's because the Welchs live not exactly IN San Antonio but outside it a bit, perhaps a 30 minute drive from the downtown area. It seemed pretty suburban with a lot of chain restaurants and giant stores. I think my main impressions of Texas come from things like Friday Night Lights and No Country For Old Men, so I imagined it being poorer and less clean. We drove over to Kevin's school to pick up some equipment, and that neighborhood was much more like what I'd been picturing. Downtown San Antonio was a little bit more of what I was expecting, too- the old, preserved buildings and the Alamo were exactly how I had pictured them. The Alamo was really cool; we didn't really spend a ton of time there, because it's just a building and we had a baby and a 3 year old along for the ride, but it was pretty cool just the same. Just what the history nerd in me wanted. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/5771129892/" title="IMG_4173 by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2459/5771129892_8b30c99bb2.jpg" width="375" height="249.5" alt="IMG_4173"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/5771140120/" title="IMG_4184 by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5309/5771140120_d8b99d4648.jpg" width="375" height="249.5" alt="IMG_4184"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/5771178700/" title="IMG_4222 by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/5771178700_cb8358d527.jpg" width="375" height="249.5" alt="IMG_4222"></a><br />
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Speaking of 3 yeard olds, I had a lot of fun with Avelyn, Kevin and Jennifer's 3 year old. She is a little firecracker who talks a mile a minute, called me "honey" when she couldn't remember my name, and did a damn good job in the few shots she was in for the film; she did exactly what Kevin told her to do, and looked adorable: <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameronshaw/5771021774/" title="IMG_4049 by gobears1983, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5142/5771021774_700a7206a7.jpg" width="375" height="249.5" alt="IMG_4049"></a><br />
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I only wish Noah, the baby, had taken to me in the same way, but he's only 3 months old, so I can't really blame him for only wanting his Mommy. <br />
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Anyway, enough about Texas. I could go on and on with details and impressions and general film geekery that I'm sure none of you care about. In two days (HOLY CRAP TWO DAYS) I am off to Chicago, where Tim and I are hoping to shoot a zombie movie next weekend, except for the fact that we are lacking an actor at the moment. My frustrations with that are running high, but I'm hoping against hope that it works out, because we've been planning to do this for at least 6 months and we're both really invested in just making SOMETHING this summer. And then, in about a week and a half, I'll be at Northwestern, and in the dorm, and in one spot for 6 blessed weeks of hanging out with my Chicago friends and David and Jessica and Willa Marie, maybe even including a baseball game with Dave and/or Willa, MAYBE even a Giants double header, and let's just say I'm really looking forward to the whole damn summer. And TEACHING. Is it ridiculous that I've realized so late how much I love teaching? I hope not. I just wish I knew how to turn it into an actual career. <br />
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OK! To bed! Tomorrow is the Haight Street Fair, which is pretty much the quintessence of what I love about my neighborhood in San Francisco. You know, the Fair where I unwittingly bought a gay pride windchime when I was 10 because it was a pretty rainbow, and where I first registered to vote with the green party. HEY, WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HIPPIE? Oh, me? Yeah, well, yeah I am. <br />
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Goodnight.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-46527735246580694502011-06-11T12:44:00.000-07:002011-06-11T12:49:59.525-07:00my boysLet's talk about how much I love this commercial: <br />
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<iframe width="375" height="233.7" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xgjnZIUgMGA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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They're just clearly having so much fun... and I think that's the most expression I've ever seen on Matt Cain's face, except for perhaps the day they won the World Series. AND this was made back before Romo shaved his chin and created the stupidest looking beard in baseball. I love it every single time it comes on.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-27127539776312988372011-04-30T23:43:00.000-07:002011-04-30T23:43:57.059-07:00(maybe not so) secret fantasiesWouldn't it be great if I could leave Los Angeles at the end of May in some sort of vengence-related blaze of glory, where I tell absolutely everyone that I have ever hated exactly why I hate them and what I think is wrong with them and to just generally go to hell? If I could slap every snotty AFI brat I've ever wanted to slap, and find <a href="http://gobears1983.livejournal.com/2006/10/20/">the director who made my AFI career go so badly</a> and, I don't know, do something so incredibly awful to her that she would have to leave the country or at the very least, give up filmmaking, so that she could never ruin anybody's career ever again? <br />
<br />
I'd find all the people who have ever looked at me and assumed I didn't know what I was doing, or ignored me because I was the fat girl, or hired someone else because I'm a girl, and I'd corner them and yell at them until they feel just as awful as I do about everything they've ever done. Then I'd find every passive aggressive bitch I've ever worked with and give them what-for. <br />
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And then I'd gather up all the people that I love here, because there are quite a few even if they don't all love me, and tell them that they're pretty great, and that they're the hardest thing to leave about LA, and let them know that I really, really hope I'm not going to be the only one in our relationship trying to keep in touch if I don't end up back in LA. That is something I'm afraid of more than almost anything else- if all these people can't be bothered to keep in touch with me when I'm actually in Los Angeles, they're basically just going to write me off once I'm gone, right? Right. Especially the film people. Film people are very out of sight, out of mind. If they're not currently working with you on set, you might as well not be friends. <br />
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I just hope I make it out of here with a few of them. Film people and Northwestern people alike- I would have been out of here a long time ago were it not for things running through my head like "but I just have such a good TIME with Joey/Blake/Li-Wei!" or "who will I play stupid board games with if not Kara/Steve/Kirk/Naomi/Letia/Dustin?" <br />
<br />
LIFE: WHY DO YOU KEEP CHANGING AND MAKING THINGS SUCK?? <br />
<br />
/rambling stream of consciousness<br />
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P.S. How cool would it be to write a fantasy novel and name a river in the fantasy land the "Stream of Consciousness?" Hahahaha ohhh I crack myself up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-71100542216839068712011-04-29T13:24:00.000-07:002011-04-29T13:24:03.432-07:00from our trip to VegasI need to write a legit post about Vegas, because it was pretty great, but I'd say this video sums it up decently well: <br />
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My current issue is nail polish. I have never ever in my entire life been able to keep nail polish on, in pristine condition, for more than two days. I kind of like nail polish- I like fun colors like orange and green. But how on Earth do most people get it to stay on? On Saturday morning I did my nails at Katie's house, with a clear top coat and everything. They were nice and minty green for all of six hours, and then my right index finger started to chip. It's always my right index finger, probably because that's the finger I use the most. Now, on Monday night, I have six complete nails, two partial nails and two completely naked nails. Do normal people just keep reapplying? What a waste of time!<br />
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Other girl things I don't understand include strapless bras, bangs, and anything that involves clubbing. <br />
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Advice on how to be a normal girl is, as always, appreciated.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-70640717406127820712011-04-19T19:41:00.001-07:002011-04-19T19:41:25.594-07:00sigh take 2Well now I'm not going to Texas until late May at the earliest. Ah, the ever-changing, constantly confusing life of the freelancer. I hate it and love it all at once.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-14215764871936838372011-04-19T16:30:00.000-07:002011-04-19T16:30:37.022-07:00SighWell, it's been awhile since I have written, and accordingly, I have totally slacked in the last week about going to the gym. I am off to San Francisco tomorrow, and while it's hard to eat well when I'm at home, I'm going to make a decisive effort to go to Koret (the gym at USF) a lot while I'm there and to eat very well, with two exceptions: Easter dinner, when my Dad is making barbecued chicken, which is like the best thing ever, and I am making pie; and tomorrow night, when I will drive into San Francisco and go straight to Naan N' Curry for my favorite Indian food. This has become a bit of a tradition the last couple times I've driven home, kind of like getting Potbelly as a first and last meal when I fly into Midway in Chicago. <br />
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So here's to another new exercise beginning, and hoping that I can stick with it through the end of May, now. It's going to be rough given that I'll be in Texas (I think) for part of it, and I have no idea what the food situation is like there, and I'll be moving out of my apartment when I'm in LA, but I'm going to do my damndest.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-70078153362336639552011-04-11T22:50:00.000-07:002011-04-11T22:50:40.423-07:00UGHI've been at this for about two weeks now, and while I haven't been exactly going to the gym EVERY day, I have been going a lot, and I've been eating very well- tons of vegetables and not too many carbs, although I did have some of Joey's spaghetti (but no meatballs, because of the eggs) last night when he forced us all to watch <i>Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs</i>. The problem is: last week I was seemingly starting to lose weight- just a couple pounds, but I was happy about it. And then this week they are right there again and I don't get it at all. I'm not the kind of person who can cut out carbs or meat completely, and I don't think you should have to, but I don't know what else to do! I could go to the gym twice a day but then literally my whole day would be taken up with the gym and I wouldn't get anything done. Besides, we've already gone over how bad I am at getting up early...<br />
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So, any tips on how to kick things into high gear would be much appreciated. I am feeling really discouraged at the moment.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-20277073849970961462011-04-08T00:34:00.000-07:002011-04-08T00:34:18.545-07:00An Open Letter to the Naked Ladies at the Hollywood YMCADear Naked Ladies at the Hollywood YMCA,<br />
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I hate to sound anti-feminist or something, but- who ARE you people? How are you so brazenly comfortable with your bodies? You stand around, naked as jaybirds, and just... CHITCHAT for long chunks of time without making even the slightest move towards getting dressed. Sometimes one of you will put your towel on the bench and straddle it and keep talking while brushing her hair or texting, boobs all out in the open as though you're about to breastfeed a baby or something. We get it, you have very nice boobs, but who is so important that you MUST text them before you get dressed? And all of you are always standing right in front of my locker, so that I have to navigate an awkward array of blithely gossiping bodies in order to get dressed myself. Don't you notice how quickly and efficiently I do so? You can be quick and efficient too! Please, be quick and efficient!<br />
<br />
It's not that I hate the female body or mind naked people in the locker room, but when you are not using the locker room for typical locker room functions (LIKE GETTING DRESSED), I mind. I mind when I have to hear all about how awesome that spin class was, or how much your boss sucks, or oh my god how you wish so-and-so would just dump her boyfriend. These are conversations that can be held IN THE LOBBY, where there are LARGE COMFY CHAIRS.<br />
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And don't even get me started on the times when one of you decides to make idle conversation with me. I'm just trying to get my stuff and get out of here- I have no interest in hearing your impassioned ode to your pilates instructor. <br />
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The least you could do, Naked Ladies, if you're going to traipse about the locker room, is be fatter than me- but NOOOOOOO you all have to be model/actress types, don't you? I have noticed many of you have back/torso/hip tattoos- do you stand around naked to show them off? Then why not get a tattoo that is easily seen? Go to hell, all of you. <br />
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And please move away from my locker. <br />
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Sincerely,<br />
CameronUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-27719926974119509112011-04-05T00:34:00.000-07:002011-04-05T00:34:40.114-07:00DON'T PANICAh, the immortal words of Douglas Adams. They come to me often, these days.<br />
<br />
Hung out with Deirdre and Sarah tonight, and we watched <i>The Business of Being Born,</i> which is a really interesting documentary about how the medical industry has made having a baby into something rushed, scheduled, and overly medicated, which is something it shouldn't be. You may call me a hippie if you like, but the fact that 1/3 of deliveries in the US are by C-section and a significant percentage of THOSE are pre-scheduled is pretty fucked up. <br />
<br />
But that's not the point. The point is that afterwards, we got to talking- these are my former Suitebonders, so of course we got to talking- and we talked about all the changes that are starting to happen with everyone: Deirdre's married now and is "half-moving" to Phoenix (that is, she's moving but Karl isn't and they're keeping their Los Feliz place), where she got a tenure-track job as a professor at ASU, and Sarah is parting ways with John as a roommate and moving in with Zoe. And I- well, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I have vague notions about things like "in May I'm probably going to Texas" and "starting in June I'll be in Chicago for 6 weeks" and "in August we have a family reunion," but I have no big life plan like most people seem to. I don't even have a semblance of a life plan, and it's scary. It's what makes me think I need to get away from LA, just for the sake of starting my life. <br />
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But then I think about all my friends here, and my Book Club, which is finally starting to coalesce and become a staple in all of our lives, and how can I possibly watch the next season of Glee without Steve and Kirk? How can I not see Kevin every few weeks? Will my AFI friends, who I hardly ever see and who basically (I'm not counting you, Letia!) don't give a shit about me, cease to care about me at all? What about all those random boys I had/have crushes on who I never had the guts to approach? And I never made my documentary about the desert. How can I do that from San Francisco? How will it feel to not be involved in making movies AT ALL? <br />
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In short: is being unhappy a large chunk of the time really a reason to give up some of the few things that do make you happy? <br />
<br />
Also, I completely fell apart over the weekend as far as exercising. I blame baseball: there were too many games to watch/listen to/go to. I went to my first game at Chavez Ravine last night, and even though we lost, it was a good game, and I hardly ever see Kevin Chatupornpitak and Dave Dittell anymore, so it was a lot of fun. Tomorrow I'm hopping back on the exercise bandwagon. The good news is that I've been eating fairly well- lots of yogurt and fruit, to be honest, but that's a hell of a lot better than "lots of chips." Deirdre made roasted veggies for dinner tonight, which is something I have to do more often, because it's so damn easy. <br />
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And finally, a plea: if any of you know anyone who needs a 2-month sublet in LA for June and July, Kara and I are looking for a subletter to take over my room between the time I move out and the time she moves out. This is, honestly, the main thing that's stressing me out at the moment, because I don't want to leave her hanging with no subletter. I'm going to be clearing out my room quite a bit in the next week, and then taking a lot of stuff home in a couple weeks, so hopefully it won't be too hard to find someone, but I know she'd rather live with someone that we know at least vaguely than someone random off craigslist. So please, if you know anyone, pass them on. Rent isn't bad and it's a cute apartment in Los Feliz.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18438413.post-62040362306506663762011-04-01T16:41:00.000-07:002011-04-01T16:41:51.860-07:00air sex educationLA has been doing its damndest these last couple days to make sure that I don't go to the gym. It's rolled out the 85 degree weather and I have a distinct fear that it's here to stay. There is absolutely nothing I hate more than hot, sticky weather... unless it's going to the gym in hot, sticky weather. But that's what the pool's for, right? I guess I should start going to the pool.<br />
<br />
Yesterday was the first really hot day, and I didn't go to the gym. To be fair to myself, this wasn't just because it was hot; it was an extremely busy day and I was already tired from going to the Air Sex Championships the night before. I was leaving work early to shoot a VFE interview, so I got to work early to compensate and didn't go home for lunch for the same reason. One awful side issue related to dieting is that not a lot of diet food is portable- you can't just make a sandwich in the morning and go, because sandwiches contain bread, and bread is, apparently, the enemy. Which sucks. I love bread. <br />
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But anyway- I didn't eat much other than yogurt and apples all day, and the VFE interview was stressful because of the people hovering around me while I try to set up, and it was hot and sticky, and then I had to go straight to a meeting with Robin and Sasha afterwards and didn't get home until 9. So, long story short, I had no desire at all to go to the gym. Instead I went to bed at 10:00. It was awesome.<br />
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It's hot again today, but I'm going to go. Really. I'll go home, grab a snack and go. I don't actually have to return Kris' lights until Sunday, so that's a plus.<br />
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Anyway! Air sex! I'm sure you've all been dying to hear about the mysterious Air Sex Championship that Steve and I went to on Wednesday. It was kind of exactly what you'd expect- it's kind of like sex miming. People choose a song to "perform" to and then act out their half (or some fraction thereof) of having sex with a person, an object, etc- one guy pretending he was having sex with a 15-foot woman. Some people were really funny, some people were stupid, a couple were really gross. I don't really know what else to say for those who still can't imagine it... I suppose "like that scene in When Harry Met Sally, but with more gestures" will suffice. <br />
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I don't know that I need to go to OTHER air sex shows... I mean, some people are probably really good at it, so maybe it'd be fun to go to the WORLD Championships or something, but the Los Angeles Championship was just a few people who were really into it, a few people who did it spur of the moment but were good, and a few stupid drunk people. The girl who won performed very realistic and enthusiastic lesbian air sex. She won a Fleshlight. I don't know if that would be useful to a lesbian, but maybe it would. If you don't know what a Fleshlight is, either look it up or listen to more Savage Love. <br />
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So! Big plans this weekend- gym, Glee, work, Book Club and then my FIRST REGULAR SEASON GIANTS GAME with a bunch of Dodgers fans. I'm looking forward to it, but also hoping no one beats me up for wearing Giants gear, which happened yesterday at the season opener. Dodgers fans suck- I've had enough random people yell at me from across parking lots in LA just for having a Giants bumper sticker that I know this for a fact. <br />
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Oh, and happy April Fool's Day! It's one of my favorite holidays- pranks and jokes are big in my family. Two days ago my brother and I sent my Dad a letter "from" the City and County of San Francisco, saying that he had to clean out the basement and passageway in our house, both of which are completely full of stuff. We gave him a number to call- which was Taylor's Google Voice number- and left a message saying the office was closed, or something. He fell for it hook, line and sinker and left a harassed message on the voicemail. Hurray! I couldn't let him suffer for too long though, so I called and 'fessed up pretty quickly, since Mom reported that he sounded really stressed and mad about it. <br />
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I just love holidays that are all about being goofy and childlike, don't you?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0