BBC: ‘Stoned Wallabies Make Crop Circles’
June 26, 2009
Motivation, Goals, and General Ass-Kickery
June 18, 2009
In answer to the general question of what the heck I’m doing, find something on this list…I never listed my dream to be doing exactly what I’m doing now, teaching youth photography and living abroad in a crazy country-I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever see that dream realized, everything else seemed easy to accomplish in comparison to what I’m doing now.
The list started in ’06 and carries on to present.
Learn 2 other languages (French, Azeri, Spanish….)
Stay proficient in ASL
Own a DSLR and all related gear
4 gallery shows (at a minimum) of my art (painting, photography, mixed media)
Have my own studio space
BASE jump into Sotano de las Golondrinas
Climb Mt. Fuji
Run the Altitude marathon at Pikes Peak
Make it through the Peace Corps
Own sufficient rock climbing gear
Proficient in swing, salsa, tango and waltz. (Learn to belly dance)
Live in Paris and photograph the hell out of the place
Spend at least 6 months photographing the wild horses in SouthDakota
Burren, Ireland, hiking.
Broadway show of Beauty and the Beast and Phantom.
Hot air balloon ride
Get a tattoo
Be a mentor to a child(s)
Masters/PHD in foreign relations/advocate /photography/communication
Campaign against human trafficking
Deep sea dive (explore an ocean wreck)
Well read in theology of Christianity and other religions
Well read in classical literature.
Flat stomach.
Lead a detoxified, organic, clean lifestyle.
Travel to every continent
Pay Off Student loans
Travel/Boat the Amazon
Travel/Boat the Nile
Rappel out a helicopter
Published photography and writing in National Geographic
Create film/photography documentary on AZBoyz HipHop Group
Sahib: Self Protrait
My Girls! L-R: Aysel, Lily,Unknown, Sevda, Gunay
L-R: Gunel, Unknown, Jamila, Colleen
My Boys! L-R: Hatria, Jessica (AZ6), Sahib, Fariq, Chavid, Rustam, Farid, with Elmira attempting bunny ears.
Ah! The Signs of Spring…
June 10, 2009
- The Man in the Black SUV is back like the plague, appearing out of no where when I’m alone and following me home. Somehow in spite of 2 house moves and a brief homeless stint last Fall, he still managed to find me now that warmer weather has hit. I see this as evidence of him possessing no life whatsoever as well as the creativity of a dish sponge. In the words of DS. ‘You need a guard dog!’
- Which bring up the issues of dogs. In the summer gangs of dogs roll around Izzy Town (TM Dushka) barking, humping, drooling and decorating the little grass that still exists with rubbish. Usually these gangs consist of a token little Dashand/Welsh Corgi mix that windmills his legs to trot pathetically being the big dogs that collectively resemble a hairy grunge band (Pearl Jam??) of wonky faced boxers who always lost the fight. Unfortunately I never fail, at the end of my run, to see at least one very large dog getting ‘fresh’ (that’s for you Silo) with the midget dog(s) outside my flat.
- Over the winter the few, the proud and the incredibly dull formed an elite group of males who were responsible for ensuring that all inanimate objects were sufficiently propped up with enough backside to last the winter. Now that the temperature has reached the melting point, the elite group has expanded to include the incredibly stupid in uncontested membership whose only requirement is that one possesses the intelligence of a Coke bottle and the jeans tight enough to cut off circulation. That’s just another way of saying that my walks are no longer pleasant or quiet.
- Last summer thanks to Murad and Elnor, Izzy Town was introduced (knocked over) to the joys of bicycling. This spring has seen the birth of no less than a dozen bikes being operated in the city center (the only place with enough paved area) by dudes/kiddies. In a highly amusing contrast the small bikes have overgrown pre-pubescent teenagers/dudes riding them while the slightly large bikes have 6th formers who can barely reach the peddles wobbling about in circus worthy follies. A diabolic urge to reach out and push over bike and rider takes hold of me every time a tiny bike with a big dude zooms dangeriously close to lopping off my knee caps-I have rationalized this evil by considering it just retribution for the absolute distress most of the male population causes me every time I leave the flat.
- The resurrection of affectionate nicknames generally relating to the color red that are bestowed upon me by my girls. The following are a few of the things (blog appropriate) I have been called since landing, ungracefully and nervously 2 years ago in the AZ:
Pomidor (tomato-due to my skillz at burning all visible skin)
Girmazi Giz (red girl-again related to sun damage)
Kamala (smart-since Colleen was tooooo difficult to pronounce)
Englissss Giz (English girl-obviously I’m English since I speak English)
Azerbaijan vs. Spain 0-6
June 10, 2009
This was the first football mach I’d ever attended, and it didn’t disappoint, hard core fans painted in Azeri colors(red, green, blue), a lone friend of mine proudly waving the Spanish flag, stern guards and free reign to photo whatever we wanted based solely on the fact that we were cute foreign girls! We had the police asking us to photograph them, were nearly trampled in a crowd rush at the gate, (que’ing has never been heard of), and then I caused 2 rows of mostly drunk Azeri/Turkish/Spanish men to fall silent/shamed/shocked when I turned and cussed at a deadbeat dude who thought blowing on my neck was the an appropriate way to woo me. Top night all around!
Yea, Real Madrid is not shabby looking. At. All.
(photos…eventually, as I was shooting with a LoMo likely wont have the funds to develop film for a while)
JC in the AZ!!
June 4, 2009
Warning: This post will be updated as we travel this summer. The back story is too long for practical purposes, but its enough to say that Action Figure Jesus has Glow in the Dark Hands and some Loaves/Fishes.
Close of Service at AquaPark!——>
Pay 1 AZN and you get a picture with a badly taxidermied wolf who has foldable legs and light up red eyes. WIN!! The wolf’s owner is a senile business genius!
Think outside the box….
I will miss pointy toe shoes
Walking on water is still RAD!!
Wine is better…
Pearly Whites!
Get your smoke on…