23/02/2010
Yesterday, monday, is was a bright, sunny day. I was walking slowly through the streets, observing the houses around me, squinting all the day due to the sun's powerful rays.
This is how Austin decided to smile at us this morning:
Someone earlier told me:
"we get snow from time to time but it doesn't stick"
Right.......
M.
02/19/2010
During the past 6 months I traveled through 28 of the 50 US states. As you can imagine, I came across a number of signs at times that cracked me up. I now present you with the ones I was able to take a photo of.
Evolution finally explained
They made us do it!
Long gone are the days that we only needed to worry about bird droppings
We focus on your psychological issues, rather than the physical ones
Did I mention I am also tasty?
A friendly reminder, just in case you're forgetting
You'll be part of his personal collection
Not if you're a carrot it ain't!
No exceptions!
As dedicated locksmiths, we provide music and we feed you. Oh yeah, we cut keys too.
Bring your daughter...
Dirty, dirty taco!
Will do, thank you very much!
My mom is gonna show you how it's done!
The 10th one was too hungover to care.
Just in case you needed an excuse.
Proud slags of the world, unite!
This is where snow usually cruises by.
If you have asthma, you are not allowed in this school.
Talk about setting your priorities straight!
To munimetro (for all the greeks out there)
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!
...to be mugged by you!
You're not fooling anyone really...
$100 fine for thought of parking here
Wow! This lawn is really great indeed!
Yeap. That's how it usually works.
Because failed actors will always have a job with PETA.
Please respect our local birdies wishes.
M.
Getting some work done!
Author: M. / Labels: website13/02/2010
I'm really excited about something and wanted to share it with you all.
The past few weeks I've been doing work on my photography website to fix a lot of things that needed fixing and to load some new photos in there.
After all this work I put in it, it is finally done and ready to be shared. A lot of sleepless nights were spent for it to happen, so I'm especially proud of it. Let's face it, going through 15 thousand photographs and trying to select 40 out of those, is not that easy!
Please feel free to have a look at it and to give me any feedback you may have. Good or bad, constructive or destructive, positive or negative, important or trivial, it doesn't matter. Would love to hear what you think about it. :)
Just click on the image below and you will be transfered to it.
M.
07/02/2010
(If you don't understand the reference of the post title, ask Mr. Johnny Cash!)
While in San Francisco I looked for some people to share the drive (and cost of gas) back to Texas and I met 2 awesome guys that where headed exactly the same way.
I ended up driving with everything I could possibly need: a cooler full of food, my AAA card, an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) and a professional wrestler! I was obviously covered for every possible situation. I must say, we had an absolutely awesome time together, we were driving non stop and had a laughter filled, musically dressed, incredibly fast drive back to Texas. I dropped the off in San Antonio and then went to San Marcos, to visit my favorite dropzone and see some of the great friends I have there. Hands down, best way to spend my first weekend back in Texas.
Today, Sunday the 7th of February 2010 I arrived back in Austin. And today is officially the day that this journey ends! I've been on the road since the 10th of April 2009 and to be honest, I'm very tired and more than happy to stop in one place and relax for a while! In fact, it does feel like I've been everywhere. Allow me to try and make a list of the places I visited during this trip.
Buenos Aires
Barcelona
Sant Pedor
Limoges
Athens
Madrid
Buenos Aires (yes, again, but very briefly)
La Quiaca
Tupiza
Uyuni
La Paz
Copacabana
Puno
Cusco
Aguas Calientes
Lima
Cajamarca
Popayan
Silvia
Cali
Armenia
Ibague
Pereira
Bogota
San Pelayo
Santa Marta
Tayrona
Cartagena
Playa Blanca
Medellin
Austin
San Marcos
Chico
Reno
Black Rock City (yeah baby!!)
Tahoe lake
Las Vegas
Kingman
Flagstaff
Grand Canyon
Sedona
Phoenix
Marfa
New Orleans
Birmingham
Cedartown
Cornelius
Charlotte
New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn and all that jazz)
Washington D.C.
Niagara Falls
St. Catharines
Keego Harbor
Detroit
Ann Arbor
Chicago
Stevens Point
Madison
Seattle
Mr. Rainier
Newport
Redwood National Forrest
San Francisco
And that's without mentioning all tiny little places where I made brief stops, or all the dusty and non roads I crossed.
At some point, if I feel like it, I may actually sit down and calculate the miles of the distances I traveled and form some sort of a trip map.
I want to thank you all for having followed me in my journey so far! It was always exciting to hear from you and perceive what I was doing through your eyes. At many times you inspired me to do more things and take more photos, just because you were praising my work so much! I miss you guys! :)
But right now, I'm ready to put my feet up and be less of a nomad for a bit. Believe me, it feels good!
M.
03/02/2010
Three weeks in San Francisco and what did I do? Not much! I was actually very close to nothing! And how bad do I feel about that? NOT-AT-ALL!
Let's face it! I'm tired! I've lost the desire to explore and meet a gazillion new people. I just want to rest a bit. And San Francisco offered me the perfect opportunity for that. I had arranged to stay at the CouchSurfing basecamp (something like the headquarters let's say) where I would get to meet some people I have been in touch for a long time already and would also get some work done. What came with that arrangement? Not only was I constantly surrounded by awesome people, but I also finally had a bed to sleep in, a couch to relax on and a kitchen to drink water from while others are cooking (come on, which part of "tired" did you not get?)! And all that for more than just 3-4 days!! :D
So I took fully advantage of that and I became a couchpotato with an excuse. Not that I didn't go out at all though. I did have those weird brunch or cupcake outings, walking around the city without pants on, bike rides up the VERY steep hills, the obligatory visit to the golden gate bridge and the odd beer-enhanced nights, but I wouldn't exactly call myself "adventurous" based on these last few weeks.
After having relaxed for a few days though, and having seen a bit of San Francisco, I decided it's time to move on. South California? Nahh... Can't be bothered. Arizona? Bah, already been there.
You know what? I think I'll just drive back to Austin.... Yeah, that sounds like a great idea actually.
M.
27/01/2010
What if someone told you “Give me 5 bucks and you’ll eat more cupcakes than you can possibly manage!”? Would you not be all over that opportunity?
A good friend who knows how important cupcakes are to me, dropped me an email to inform me of a monthly event taking place this week, called “The Iron Cupcake Challenge”. The title itself was enough for me to open my eyes wide open.
Apparently, what the deal is, is that there is a cozy little tea shop, called Leland Tea, that organises a monthly cupcake face off. One can register as a baker and provide a batch of mini cupcakes to compete against others’ cupcakes. If you’re not a baker though, that's fine. You can be the consumer! You only need to pay 5 dollars and this way you register yourself as a “taster”. What does that mean? That means that you will sink your teeth in as many cupcakes as there are contestants.
This month’s specified ingredient was champagne. 17 bakers put their time and effort into creating a good batch of their cupcakes, for the tasters to eat and mark accordingly.
Do you see the number of cupcakes that are brought before me?!?!?!??!?!
That’s right. Each of us had 17 cupcakes during the half hour or so that we were supposed to consume them and mark them on the marking sheet. Some people could not handle 17, but I gave it my best shot.
I did well and I am very excited to have scoffed 17 cupcakes for the price of two (and a cup of tea on the side), but needless to say, my stomach was complaining for not taking care of it.
“Hush now, little thing. It was for a good cause. Look at the taste buds, look how happy they are!”
M.
26/01/2010
Before starting to read this post, hit play on the bar below (if you are reading this through your email and you cannot see the bar, click here to go straight to my blog):
Right... now...
How many of you are music lovers?
How many of you listen to rock music, and more specifically, rock & roll from the 60s and the 70s?
How many of you enjoy listening to the radio a lot?
How many of you would enjoy listening to the radio, if it wasn't filled with the same boring voices, the same boring programs, the same boring people, the same boring music and it just had some true passion instead of all this?
Personally, I relate to every single one of those questions. Every now and then, in whichever country I’d be living, I would find a radio station with some really good music and inspiring DJs. But those stations are becoming more and more scarse and especially since I moved to Argentina, where every radio station was worse than the other, I have not been listening to it at all. I miss the feeling of suddenly hearing a song that I really really like, but I wouldn’t have thought to look for it myself. Isn’t it a unique feeling, being in your car, stuck in traffic, listening to the DJs unique personality that makes you laugh or cringe and out of nowhere, one of your all-time favorite songs will come up and you’ll start singing and moving around in your seat, as much as your seat belt allows you?
Recently, I watched the Boat That Rocked (thanks to my lovely friend, S.).
Apart from the fact that it is a hilarious movie, with endless beautiful images and inspiring messages, it gives a beautiful insight on what the 1960’s were like in relation to music.
Those years were unique. A time when people would gather around a radio receiver and wait for the voice at the other end of the sound waves to stimulate their emotions. Friends lying on the floor, co-existing next to each other, doing nothing but listen to the radio and plunge into the pool of thoughts that every song would awaken in their heads. Young girls falling in love while listening to the voices of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jim Morrison.
We’re talking about the years that the radio DJ is more famous than the rock ‘n’ roll stars themselves! There aren’t television sets in every home and not everybody can afford a car to go wherever they want. The radio is everyone’s number one method of entertainment and news source. Forget about nightclubs, smokey bars and raves. Invite your friends over, place the radio in the middle of the carpet on the living room floor and start dancing and boogying to the rhythms instructed by the DJ. Whole lives and dreams and relationships and culturally shocking habits were formed through that little grey box with buttons and an antenna on it.
No, I obviously did not experience any of those years, nor am I one of those people who feel that they were born 20 years too late. But I’d give anything to be able to experience a month in that period of time! Where’s that damn time machine again??!
M.
