casi bastante

All iPhone, all the time

2008-08-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

It's only 2.0 megapixels with a fixed focus and no flash, but the little beaut' does its best. Here are a dozen highlights from the summer, as seen through my iPhone's camera.

The flour mill ruins that (stunningly) house Minneapolis' Mill City Museum. King Alli spotted a place to stand to frame the letter A (in GOLD METAL FLOUR) in one of the wabi-sabi windows.

The Zenith Condo -- my parents' new address (!) come Spring 2009.

The yellow (though the designing architect insists it's amber and cites his ski goggles as inspiration) glass details on the Guthrie Theatre's surprisingly beautiful parking garage.

A decaf cafe au lait at Kopplin's Coffee House in my old neighborhood in St Paul MN. I swear the air in that place alone caffeinated me for the rest of the day.

A summer thunderstorm, seen from the Target parking lot. (Note the bull's eye/dot thingy.)

Sunflowers on my friend Hannah's dining room table.

My feet and notebook during the silent afternoon on the retreat for my FTE fellowship in North Georgia.

My nephew Tully and me in front of Blue Earth's Cedar Inn Drive-In. Best. Root-beer. Ever.

The unexpectedly grand hallway that greets you as you enter my new digs in Boston, MA.

Simple daisies on Boston College's rarely-simple campus.

The Triborough Bridge as seen from the shore near Eric's place.

A variation on the long-arm self-portrait -- with the trusty Mac that got me through my years working in Arizona and St Paul (with less speed, memory, and storage than the iPhone itself!).

Ruthie Milbrandt's Garden

2007-06-28T11:38:00.001-07:00

Fotos que me gustan (número cinco)

2006-06-09T23:18:00.000-07:00

Trying to make up for lost time, here are 7 more photos I'm fond of -- including one taken with my camera by that up and coming photographer Adrian Pullen. As you know, there are stories behind each picture -- let me know if you want to hear them.

And this last one is the one Adrian took -- through a brick at the Coffee Plant. Bien hecho, ¿no?

Fotos que me gustan (número cuatro)

2006-06-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

These are the seven catching my eye at the moment. Como siempre, digame si tu quieres la historia completa.

Fotos que me gustan (número tres)

2006-05-24T23:56:00.000-07:00

You know when you're up so late you think you might as well tackle all those little projects (that e-mail, those quizzes, that pesky world hunger issue) instead of going to sleep?

Well, those will all have to wait because posting a few new photos here is the one that got attended to. I'll work on not dangling modifiers (oh, and solving world hunger and e-mailing you all those quizzes you promised to correct for me) next time . . .

In the mean time, enjoy these random photos that have recently captivated me. As always, digame si tu quieres la historia completa.

Nuestro Compañero en la Playa

2006-04-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

We're back online on the lower campus, but it will still take some time before I can get the photographic highlights from Chile (and all of Adrian's visit) up. In the mean time, who can resist this dog? He accompanied us during the entirety of our long beach walk. Adrian was seriously considering bringing him home: he was curious without being annoying, affectionate without being clingy, persistent without being petulant and energetic without being demanding. He'd make the perfect running partner and he didn't even have fleas. The sand did though. Wait 'til you see those pictures. Wow.

Semana Santa

2006-04-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what to make theologically of the strong emphasis placed on Jesus' passion and suffering and the almost after-thought status that the Easter resurrection itself gets here in rural Bolivia. But I know that carrying the cross between stations (it was only a few dozen yards probably -- but it was heavier than I thought so my walking speed was one of efficacy rather than meditation) and seeing the gathered community alight with velas during the Vigil are memories I won't soon forget.

View from the top of the world (sort of)

2006-04-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Before we flew to Chile, Adrian and I got a ride up to La Paz from my comrade Moises (who, in addition to being a professor of Psychology and English here is a sci-fi author and the doctor who stitched up Adrian's thumb).

Here we are on our way to checking out an ancient Inca Road. The elevation is somewhere around 14 or 15,000 ft but its effect on Adrian merited the title he gave it: "the top of the world."

[There are more photo essays coming: Adrian's thumb gash, the vineyards of Chile, a long hike on an impossibly long beach, and lots from Semana Santa here in Carmen Pampa. They'll be coming slowly since our web connection is gone on the lower campus. Thanks for your patience.]

Yes I was hiking in the freezing cold without socks but no Moises and I didn't hike the ridges with our eyes closed. (All our cameras' batteries were drained so, combined with the cold, the timing was a little goofy. I had to resort to the very-personal battery-warming trick I learned in Antarctica.)

¿Cómo se dice "Extreme Closeup"?

2006-03-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure if you look closely at the shiny back of this oversized fly you can see me and my camera -- or at least the windows behind me. And if that's not neat-o enough, how about that high tech fabric on my über-cool pants?

(And no, I was not wearing them -- they were hanging on the clothesline.)

Fotos que me gustan (número dos)

2006-03-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

My friend Margaret seemed disappointed that I hadn't put anything new up here for a while.

So these onions were a sort of olive branch, if that's not too mixed a metaphor.

Or simile.

Or whatever.

And now I've finally found time to post the rest of second batch of random photos I like.

As before, they each have a story.

Let me know which, if any, you want to hear . . .

Los niños de San Agustín

2006-03-22T04:38:00.000-08:00

[. . . more story later this week . . . ]

Fotos que me gustan (número uno)

2006-03-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

So -- having recently cut the personal statement for my application to Weston Jesuit down from over 1200 to 657 words (with the noble help of 4 brave souls) -- I'm disinclined to use any here at all.

So here's hoping that cliché holds water.

Planta de Café

2006-03-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

This is the new Coffee Plant that snuggles into the hillside between our upper and lower campuses. Next month they'll start, for the first time at full capacity, the multi-stage process of prepping and roasting the coffee -- a process they can keep up through September, I'm told.

The students and staff of the project (led by Cecelia, shown here with her daughter Abigail) are also using a brand-new nursery for growing 3 varieties that are perfect for the soil and altitude here. Local farmers are even encouraged to trade in old plants (that over-tax the soil, don't produce well, or aren't ideal for various reasons) for the new ones.

The education and organization that all of the above requires will be helped along considerably by the new construction being done right now: a laboratory, offices, a greenhouse, a reception area, and an important conference room as well.

The coffee itself has won awards when it was roasted by hand and should do even better with the increased consistency and fine-tuning the plant and it's machinery make possible. Let me know if you want some shipped to you!

Globos

2006-03-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

Water is big here, even when it's not the rainy season. People celebrate their friend's birthdays with buckets of (often cold) water -- in bed, before they wake up. A glass of water in someone's house or even a water bottle bought in a tienda gets the diminutive pet-name-form aguita. And a huge part of a Carnaval -- especially for kids -- is the globos de agua. They stockpile them, use them untied to squirt water semi-accurately in the chosen direction, and -- when the time is right -- tie them up tightly for a satisfying explosion on contact. My gringa compatriots have been more popular as targets, but I've been doused as well -- and a big splattery one grazed my head the other day. Anyway, here are some highlights from the days leading up to Ash Wednesday (when the water shenanigans are allegedly over -- though there was a kid walking down the aisle for ashes with a big squirt gun in his hand.)

Futsal

2006-02-26T23:05:00.000-08:00

Not all the students can afford to go home for the Carnaval break. So last night we showed "Motorcycle Diaries" (en español, naturalmente) and today we organized a soccer match that was supposed to pit the upper campus against the lower campus. Except there weren't enough people from both places who wanted to play, so the rivalry was scrapped and we shifted from the big grass field to the basketball court. Which sounds odd, unless you've seen futsal played. Some call it 'salon soccer' but it's fast and a little rough and high-energy regardless. There something about the goalie's job being different, but the smaller concrete court and the smaller ball (filled with sand, rags and/or water, I'm told) are the main differences.

Here are a few of my favorite shots, desaturated to just black & white. It was dusk, but with my much-doted-upon telephoto lens and a little piece of magic Canon calls Image Stabilizer, I got some great, if grainy (ISO 1600) photos.

Preparing for the Inaugural Mass

2006-02-20T18:51:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the official inaugural Mass of the academic year. Which means that today was plumb full of last-minute preparations in the campus' brand new church, some of which I captured here: doubling the number of hand-made pews, installing a St Francis statue made from the trunk of a tree (complete with puppy dog!), rehanging a larger-than-life-sized crucifix after the artisan who crafted it came in from La Paz for some final adjustments (apparently Jesus was a little too gordo), and making sure the Virgin of Miracles was comfortable in her grotto nook beneath St Francis.

Alasitas Market

2006-02-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

The version of the story that I like goes like this:
Before a solider had to leave for war, he carved a tiny doll to stay with his wife and their young child. He placed the doll on an important shelf in the kitchen and asked the doll to keep the family safe, and to keep them company as well. Within a few days of the soldier's leaving, the entire city was under siege -- there was very little food and everyone was afraid.

But the mother sang songs about happier times to both her child and the doll, and the child told the doll wonderful stories about the foods that used to be found in the now empty markets. Sometimes, before bed, the mother would pour out her grief to the doll, worrying about her husband, their child, and their whole city. And other times, when the mother was busy in the other room, the child would ask the doll if everything was going to be all right.

Somehow, each morning there was a bundle of food outside this family's door. In fact, there was enough to feed both mother and child, plus many neighbors as well. No one knew where the food came from, or how it got there until the child decided to pretend to sleep just inside the front door and watch. Just after midnight, the child was amazed to see the tiny doll come to life and scurry out under the front door. And just before dawn, the child was equally amazed to see the tiny doll return with a tiny bundle of food on its back. Crouched in the shadows, the child watched as the tiny doll dropped the sack in front of the house, slide under the door and climb back up to its shelf exhausted. When the child opened the front door, the tiny bundle of food became full-size and real.

And to this day, in the first months of the year, people buy tiny little versions of what they hope will become real this year: a car, a wedding cake, a diploma, a pantry full of food, tools and supplies for building a house, an airplane ticket, even a DVD player or a suitcase of money. They ask for a blessing on it, then place it on an important shelf in their home.

I love the little remote controls for the DVD players. (I bought the black Macintosh, of course.)

Euros, dollars, and just about every South American currency I could imagine.

These were all about the size of a fingernail.

The little pliers work! Likewise the tiny bags of Ace laundry detergent. Thankfully the teensy-weensy propane torches don't.

I'm not sure who wants the coming year to bring them 2 purply dancers.

Tiny scaffolding, bricks, wheelbarrows with cement mix, and Bosch brand drills.

I think the spotted ones are tiny little quail eggs.

The market also does brisk business with toys and toy accessories in general. This juxtaposition merited a photograph, it was decided.

Baptism and Rutucha

2006-02-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

[text to come . . . more photos as well]

Una Noche en La Paz

2006-02-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

A Peña is a traditional evening of song and dance and music and food (and wine). These dancers put on a fine show with almost half a dozen costume changes, despite there only being two occupied tables -- us and a cute Canadian couple.

Yup, audience participation was obligatory.

I think they picked Hannah for these dancers' attention because they could tell she was fighting some altitude sickness.

After the Peña, we busted out to the World's Highest Microbrewery, Ramjam -- makers of Saya beer. The place totally captivated me until seeing one too many ads for the same cigarette gave away that the place is 100% sponsored. And therefore suspect. But still pretty dang cool.

From left to right: Hannah (who lives 5 blocks from me in Saint Paul), Maria (who is my food twin, Vata Dosha and all), Hugh (our Julie McCoy and Ph D agronomy professor), and me.

But the coolest place in all of La Paz (OK, the tiny fragment of La Paz that I know) was Diesel Nacional. It was literally like a scene out of one of my dreams: rusted metal everywhere, excellent lighting, acid jazz, and just oozing a happy PoMo ennui.

Hannah, Maria and Hugh were remarkably tolerant of my need to photograph this place from endless angles.

El Districto de Barranco

2006-02-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

A few shots from a night out in Barranco -- a gorgeous, salty district of Lima -- with my friend Blanca Bladoceda's charming cousin, Andrea. The lighting and humidity were really curious, so I took a lot of shots with just the available light. It's moody and, in my opinion at least, kind of striking.

(Actually, I used a flash on two of them -- bonus points for picking them out.)

2006-02-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

Bridge of Sighs

2006-02-05T18:19:00.001-08:00

Sidewalk

2006-02-05T18:19:00.000-08:00

Iglesia

2006-02-05T18:18:00.001-08:00

Night scene

2006-02-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Church pew

2006-02-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

Church door

2006-02-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

Through gate

2006-02-05T18:14:00.003-08:00

Pub door

2006-02-05T18:14:00.002-08:00

Gate closeup

2006-02-05T18:14:00.001-08:00

Trolley lamp closeup

2006-02-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

Pub lamp

2006-02-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

Yuquitos

2006-02-05T18:12:00.002-08:00

The band at the Peña -- including the cool Cajón

2006-02-05T18:12:00.001-08:00

Seriously over the top -- and seriously entertaining

2006-02-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

Los cóctels

2006-02-05T18:11:00.001-08:00

En caso de sismo

2006-02-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

Cerveza

2006-02-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

La chica

2006-02-05T18:08:00.001-08:00

Dual self portrait

2006-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

Quick feet and low light

2006-02-05T18:06:00.000-08:00

Andrea del sismo

2006-02-05T18:05:00.000-08:00

Despues

Thanks Hannah

2005-12-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

Design samples

2005-09-16T07:53:00.000-07:00