10.15.2010

Dubai


Ski Dubai: -4 degrees Celsius

Hookah cart at the Souk

Burj Al Arab: dreamy sailboat

Atlantis Hotel: The Palm

Arabian Gulf

Dubai reminds me of Star Wars; the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) in the sky and modern architecture defying the limits of design. Experiencing the unbearable heat and humidity prove there are endless possibilities to building anything, especially when you see Ski Dubai. I am in awe with this futuristic, faraway city.

10.13.2010

Bridgeport


Trace Inn: antiques off the wall

golden leaves

Red Hill State Park: a lake reflection of autumn

There were churches with no one inside, barns marking the miles that passed and mailboxes lined up on the edge of the road. Driving along, we landed on a unpaved, dirt road and rocks sputtered underneath our tires. Over the phone, I yelled to my brother, "we are in nowhere man's country! And...I just saw a yellow butterfly." That's the kind of road trip it was, on a two hour drive from Effingham to Bridgeport, Illinois. All I can say is that it was well worth it. I was beginning to like road trips and understand the true meaning of country road, take me home. I visited a friend, who I haven't seen for two years since Germany. Fall was in the air, the leaves were turning crisp brown and there were clusters of red, orange and gold in the trees. The smell of a campfire, standing in front of that lake and being surrounded by fall, my mom, a real friend and along with new friends was all I needed in that moment.

10.10.2010

St. Louis


Gateway Arch: Thomas Jefferson

bicyclette carriage

Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher steamboats
(feat. Tom Sawyer)


sew vintage with a needle and a thread

blow dryers in the front window of a barber shop

Some highlights and things I did:
listening to Elvis Presley
reminiscing on reading Mark Twain
traveling back in time
pho & dulce de leche gelato
Jack-In-The-Box run
being Will Smith in I am Legend
zombies in the dark

10.07.2010

a time traveler


I think back to the beginning of summer, when the world seemed to make sense in notes, rhythms and rhymes. I think of J and how much I missed him then. I still miss him now and the way we were. Yesterday, there were unexpected tears. Words were said and I realized I lived under an empire of tyranny. And instantly, I wanted to go back to the beginning of summer, back to the place I once knew and loved. Then I thought of today, an indescribably, better and brand new day. This guy went entirely out of his way to open the door for me. I met new people and another guy had said to me upon meeting, that it was entirely serendipitous, and it really was. Although I like to say I'm tone deaf in learning Mandarin, I had a few good laughs over speaking and translating a foreign language. A new friend waited for me after class. These past weeks at night, I've walked by soft shadowy blurs cast down by a streetlight. I am fazed by bicyclettes. I just smile by thinking about this idea of love, the person who might possibly like me and the person I am mad-head-over-my-heels about. I'm already looking forward to next week, a reunion with a dear friend on an exchange in Illinois, possible globe trotting and world exploring. I can't wait. I live in the past and I live in the future. I've had my share of days that seemed to go right and days that seemed to go unbelievably wrong. There's no where I'd rather be than here, this moment, in the present and all the while being nostalgic, time traveling to the past, future and back.