more s.a.

[as i continue to upload little by little]

umkomaas

i'm now on the indian ocean, diving at aliwal shoal in the kwazulu natal south coast. still exhausted, but in a different way: instead of staying up all night, i'm waking up at four to go diving. here are some pictures from my dive center, umkomaas lodge. as of today, i'm certified as an advanced open water diver.


my dive instructor's daughter and my initial "buddy"

at the bar with alan

christmas in durban

i spent christmas in traditional south african fashion -- at the beach.



at the ushaka marine world. now i only have to work at getting the picture without the glass in between ...

fouriesburg

welcoming home in fouriesburg, at the house of nobantu's mother


the bride in her lesotho blanket (with mimi)

the mbeki-zithas

the new couple (the first thanks to lauren)

drakensburg

some beginning (unedited) pictures from south africa, starting with the wedding at the alpine heath lodge. i will add more as i am able. my camera is in constant crisis these days, so i also have to gather the photos from all of the various cameras i commandeered for the event. after days of wedding festivities and staying up until five, though, right now all we're trying to do is catch up on sleep.



the mother of the bride (with grace)


at the reception

darius likes cake...

and his new clothes

the new ms. vaidya krishna

as noted by the new york times:

Reena Vaidya and Dean Venkat Krishna were married yesterday at a Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia, in a ceremony they conducted themselves under Pennsylvania law. Prabhakar Sharma, a Hindu priest, participated, performing traditional Hindu rituals.

and in their own words:

Looking back on their parting, Mr. Krishna explained, “When we first started dating, Reena was so fascinating, so strong and so compatible with me that it left me wondering, ‘Is this really happening?’ But I was just starting college and I thought that perhaps all adult relationships could be like that. The distance across continents wore down both of us, and we thought a break would be best. We were young and we did not realize what a rare thing we had found.’’
...
“Our romance was rekindled,’’ Ms. Vaidya said, “and we began a long-distance relationship one final time. We recognized that this would be our last attempt, and either it would lead to marriage or be over once and for all. Happily, it was the former.”

preparation

climbing home

squibnocket

life on the run

lucy vincent pond

menemsha, ma

aquinnah

self-portrait in big sky

zooboy

young darius

mother's day

alta

blackout

philadelphia

mohonk

milano

genoa

pisa

trento

the canals

venice

milan

vysoke tatry

štrbské pleso, the highest settlement on the west side of the high tatras, the lowest of the alpine mountains in europe

chatam sofer

the metal threads are intended to represent the jewish diaspora, broken at the top


the reconstructed jewish cemetary
and mausoleum of rev. chatam sofer (born in 1762 and considered by some the greatest jewish scholar of the nineteenth century), shown to us by andrej's father, president of the jewish community of bratislava.

bratislava II

the blue church of bratislava

soviet relics

bratislava

köln station

kölner karneval

carnival in köln begins on the elften elften elf Uhr elf -- the eleventh of the eleventh at eleven o'clock.

köln at night

nijmegen

matthias and i drove north to nijmegan, the oldest city in the netherlands, to see the les tres riches heures du duc de berry at the museum het valkhof. [you can see some of the drawings here]

below is the barbarossa ruins, part of the ruins of the valkhof castle, built in the eleventh century by charlemagne (but then dismantled at the end of the nineteenth century)

kevelaer

this house, the haus te gesselen, was originally built in the beginning of the thirteenth century. matthias' aunt and uncle purchased the house in 1987, at which point it was sinking into the ground and about to split in two. they reinforced the wooden supports with cement, restored the building, and now live in the downstairs floors. if you read german, here's a little more of the history.

mammouth tusks

the lower rhine

the town of straelen


walbeck, home to two castles and quite a few other medieval buildings -- as well as being matthias' boyhood home.

köln

the dom, the cathedral in the center of köln. construction began in 1248, on the site of a cathedral first built in the 800s, then was finally finished in 1880. now it's the largest enclosed space inside a church. [some more pictures of the dom]

brussels

barbara in the grand'place/grote markt

halloween

my mother's sixty

squibnocket

dusk on flathead lake

malin becomes a bride

vineyard summer

return to montezuma

the wilds of new mexico (las vegas)

a very vineyard saturday

life back east

doyle's new cut

city of angels II

spring snows

the big sky opens up

spring

it's still snowing intermittently, but the dandelions have returned . . .

restoration

the Bravo Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, returning home from Fallujah.

alta

at the top of catherine's castle.

mead making tracks through devil's castle.

the incredible lucas eleazar

los angeles

idyllwild

polly and i even made the front page of the idyllwild town crier (they made us pose like that).

march snows

the snow has finally come back to billings. doyle, of course, like all good dogs and girl scouts, is always prepared. to see doyle in motion, try here or here.]


doyle's cohorts/our neighbors

new(old) greetings

montana in all its natural beauty and industrial splendor (with thanks to karbonkountymoos)

1948-2005

. . . makes fifty-seven years today. according to the new york times, the bride wore ivory satin when she was given away in riverdale. the groom only got to wear a suit. happy anniversary.

snow white

my street (they don't plow in montana -- that would take taxes, and besides, it's just going to snow again anyway).

what color is montana?

purple according to the new york times: the state where in november they changed the constitution to ban gay marriage, but in december, the supreme court ruled that denying health benefits to gay couples (but not unmarried opposite sex couples) violated the mt equal protection clause. mt went for bush, but at the same time elected a democratic governor and legislature -- as well as legalizing medical marijuana and upholding the ban on cyanide mining (despite some persuasive commercials and $3 million dollars spent by the mining industry urging that cyanide only sounds scarier than it is).

the high for today is 2 degrees with five inches of snow predicted. it's good to be back.

darius

now at all of nine months and on the move ...

christmas at mohonk

the mohonk mountain house, built by quakers and stephen king's inspiration for the shining (mohonk also appears in the regulators and thinner).


skytop and more skytop.


the grandparents with the great-grands.

a good time had by all -- except those who could not join us and were sorely missed. [some additional christmas pictures]

hunting season

is well underway in billings. click here to read all about the ibach family (and to see some more pictures with dead animals).

my new head

mt turns 115

as a state at least. montana become the 41st state 115 years ago this month. after two decades and three constitutional conventions, mt finally achieved statehood following the passage of the enabling act of 1889, which split the dakotas, and allowed montana, washington, north dakota, and south dakota to enter the union. mt's population was 110,000 then. a century later, it's grown to a whooping 910,000.

according to the new york times (as quoted by the billings gazette):

There is little or nothing moderate about Montana, the fourth-largest state, stretching 650 miles across the northern plains and the Rockies, a region beautiful and grim, parched, windbeaten, lonely under its big sky and in its seemingly infinite distances. It is indeed an uncommon land.

i can't say i disagree.

thanksgiving in miami

no snow here ...



the family - my sister tanya with the kids at breakfast

florida was great. we all had a wonderful time, with beautiful non-northern weather. on the return home, however, thanks to the trusty service of united, i was able to take an 18 hour cross county tour of midwest airports in my journey from miami to billings. next year i'm only flying out of la guardia.

grove isle

here a few pictures from grove isle, where we stayed this year (in a room with a view of the bay).

[we also saw yoko ono, who checked in our floor two days after we did, presumably promoting her new release (and number one song on the u.s. dance charts), available in two versions - “every woman has a woman who loves her” and “every man has a man who loves him.” she re-recorded the songs to show her support of gay marriage.]


on the beach -- siddiq, amani and the grandparents


poppop and siddiq


mighty siddiq -- my elder nephew (click here to see more monkey boy in action)

first snow

has finally hit billings.



[in between bars -- going from our local martini bar to the loft (1/2 of montana's gay bars).]

blue skies

election tallies

for some fun with maps, here are my current favorites:

• robert j. vanderbei's purple america, explained here, which gives a more accurate representation of how the country voted than the pure red/blue map.
• some fascinating cartograms from u.mich -- maps skewed so that area correlates to population.

the bluest of red states

the success of montana's democrats, as told by the new york times.

signs of montana

now that i'm back in billings, i can start posting mt pictures again. here are a few sights from a recent night's drive around billings. note the prevalent themes.

gay marriage in mt

montana was one of the eleven states that passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage last tuesday -- along with arkansas, georgia, kentucky, michigan, mississippi, north dakota, ohio, oklahoma, oregon and utah (joining the merry company of alaska, hawaii, louisiana, missouri, nebraska and nevada). thirty-eight of our states, including montana, already had laws banning gay marriages, but apparently those were not sufficient.

[i am rapidly compiling a lists of states in which i plan never to live (it's a shame about alaska).]

in big sky country, the amendment passed by a "resounding" 66 percent (as compared to 86 percent in mississippi and 59 percent in oregon, which i guess makes us moderates).

now mt's gay couples that married in oregon are worried about losing benefits. montana state university is reconsidering its policy allowing gay couples married in other states to stay in family housing. in a fit of eternal optimism, however, four montana legislators have proposed bills that call for civil unions, next-of-kin partner rights, and changes to montana's human rights act and hate crime laws to include sexual orientation. so we'll have to wait and see.

san francisco

and some of the folks i got to see there. anthony, melvin and i in the mission:



ice cream with aunt cynthia

aftermath (in s.f.)

heading to water

nancy drove us down to san diego to surf on halloween, going as tree, superhero, flapper, and sea monster. (i took my cape off before getting in the water.)


out in the surf -- we're the little black dots.

doyle is back in billings with kate, but as you see, i still got to bring him with me (you may have to make it bigger to tell).


after my freckles came out (as compared to my face the night before)

city of angels

i spent the weekend staying with estelle (here's the two of us). estelle and chris (and their beautiful little house)


some things never change (even after ten years)


trying out long hair (it's been a while)




cousin free with daniel, dressed for halloween

life at the office

looking for divine inspiration (according to kate), or at least something to get me through this memo.

preparation

live from tashkent

dylan and ella are alive and well in tashkent and they've even sent the pictures to prove it. so here are two select shots of my littlest nephew. so cute and yet so far away.

moren state park, orcas island

the fourth largest state park in washington and it all fits on one small island. there's even a mountain peak.

fungus and more

i got to spend the weekend between san francisco and seattle on orcas island with geddes and mary anna at their inn at ship bay.

sunday, i went mushroom hunting with geddes, avery and claire. due to the recent wet weather, the mushrooms are all out in full bloom. here are a few of the different kinds we saw (but did not collect nor eat). [as always, click on the picture if you want to see it better.]



claire with a choice mushroom.

part of our haul -- the before and after shots.

seattle

kate and i working hard in seattle


some highlights to our pacific northwest adventure

• on alaska airways (a.k.a. horizon), there's only one class and they give free alcohol to everyone -- microbrew beer and unlimited refills
• at hotel monaco, you get your own goldfish, free highspeed internet and a new york times every morning. it doesn't get much better than that.
• there are still airports in the u.s. where you can fly without identification and check in two minutes before departure, at least when flying san juan airlines. the airport makes martha's vineyard look like a bustling metropolis. (unfortunately none of this does any good when you arrive after the plane has already left.)

my fish henry (curtsey of hotel monaco)

the pike market

some more on our seattle trip

batman and the penguin versus the sentencing guidelines

an interesting piece by the always insightful dahlia lithwick. we'll all waiting to see how this one plays out. [the new york times article is also informative, though not as much fun.]

weekend update

as much as i've been enjoying montana, i'm excited to going farther west. tomorrow kate and i leave for seattle, for what is sure to be a hectic trip. we'll be staying at the hotel monaco. we're particularly excited about the "guppy love" program.

after seattle, i'll be in orcas island for the weekend, to see cousin geddes and all the fam.

then i go to san francisco for orientation -- clerks converging from all over the west coast. we'll be at the marriott, the only place we could get to house our crew.

doyle, however, is staying in montana. in fact, he's already left town. he's gone with malin for a weekend in missoula (here they are setting out), then is off to camp later this week. i suspect he won't miss me in the least.

saturday in billings

billings has a pretty active farmer's market -- or at least it did; today was the last day. now we have to wait until it reopens in june. there's a good collection of jams, pies, vegetables, etc. i've become particularly found of the kettle corn. it's a mixture of average local montana farmers, as well as numerous hutterites -- which for you easterners, are somewhat similar to the pennsylvania dutch, at least in appearance. they wear the same clothes -- button down shirts, suspenders, dresses, bonnets, everything -- only in iridescent colors. additional pictures here and here.


traveling pets at the market (doyle's in missoula or else he would've gotten to come today).


and what would a country festival be without some racist imagery?


for more on the farmer's market and everything else kate and i have been doing, check out her excellent blog.

legal query of the day

in NY state, "a bias related or hate crime occurs when the victim is selected on the basis of their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation."

topic for discussion: isn't rape then by definition always also a hate crime?

(courtesy of wks)

doyle in the shower

(and earnest as ever)

montana in the moonlight

we've been working alot lately. let's just say that there's always alot to do and right now there's always alot of deadlines as well. i've been at the office everyday for the past month (and i don't expect that to change anytime soon). i store my all my things here -- clothes, food, labtop. if it wasn't for doyle, i'd really have no reason to ever return to my house.

the best part of working late, however, is the longer i stay at the office the more beautiful it is outside. i love the road at night on my bike. the roads are practically empty and i can coast along in the silence. at night is when i can do figure eights in the street and not worry about stop signs.

so here are some pictures from my recent late nights:

my street in the moonlight


and two more pictures:
another truck shot
full moon over the train tracks

fruit of a different color

i recently picked up this watermelon at billings' farmer's market ($1.25). it looked like a ordinary watermelon. before billings, though, i've never seen a yellow watermelon.

above is the melon pictured after it split open on the way home. note the thin skin -- perhaps the reason why the yellow watermelon has never hit mass markets. [in the interests of full disclosure, i did drop my bike onto the pavement on top of the watermelon.]

so has anyone ever seen a yellow watermelon before? or have any clues to its origins?

all i can say is that it was delicious. after cuting it up into slices, we devoured it out on the balcony. between kate, justin, malin and myself, it promptly disappeared.

fall 1948

in honor of my father's 56th birthday.

happy birthday dad.

mt 3t-c3799

the magic city

in case you were wondering about this city of mine, check out the city of billings online -- where you can learn all about "the magic city", including some pictures of downtown billings (also here and here). okay, so there's not much to "downtown", but we do have a skatepark.

some more doyle

as everyone seems to be concerned about how doyle's doing, i'll assure you all that he's doing fine.

he does seem to miss manhattan, however, or at least his friends. it's not as social here -- he no longer has a play group to frolic with the mornings. he does have his own back yard now, which provides some compensation.

a little sky

i keep on trying to capture the sky here. it's not possible. there's no way to describe the beauty and immenseness of a montana sky. but here's a small sliver. [click and resize your browser to make it bigger]

food on the go

"a quaint drive-thru coffee kiosk"
these little mountain mudd espresso huts are everywhere around billings, primarily located in deserted parking lots. i haven't found any drive-through liquor stores in montana, but at least you can get your caffeine without getting out of the car. i've never actually seen anyone purchase something from one.

there's also a drive-through krispy kreme in billings, the only kripsy kreme in montana. it opened two months ago to great fanfare. krispy kreme headquarters, however, is still unwilling to admit this fact. according to kblg radio, billings was chosen as the lucky recipient for this new store as:

Billings is centrally-located and will draw customers from the rest of Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, even Idaho.

apparently there's not much to do in those states, either.

the pup

doyle dropped off in a cornfield (he's at home anywhere)

big sky country

now i know why montana's “big sky country.” there's not much in the way of buildings, but you can see the sky around you 360 degrees. my camera is limited to only one plane, though. here's an attempt at 270 degrees.

billlings gunsmiths

there seem to be a lot of guns around in montana. or at least a lot of advertisements for them. i haven’t seen any actual guns yet (if you don't count breezing by all the racks in the sports stores). 

work

my first week at work. steven has now left us to be miserable at a large nyc law firm.

my new home

my little house. little is the operative word here. if it got much smaller it would be an outhouse. billings is full of blocks and blocks of these little houses, few with more than one story. but always lots of sky.

here it's still with the for rent sign up, as i discovered it wandering the streets of billings looking for someplace to live. 

life in a motel

my happy home for my first five days in billings. not much in the way of charm, but there was a big field for doyle to frisk about in as well as an “adult store” across the road.

greetings from montana

since i can't bring you all to montana, i thought i'd try to bring a bit of montana to you. as a picture is worth a thousand words and i don't have that much to say anyway, i'm starting with some pictures.

mvy

squibnocket


always the steadfast captain


some pre-montana pictures. here's doyle (plus mead and co) enjoying one last trip to the vineyard before we headed west.