June rising

They walk away

I get a lot of e-mails and Twitter messages from people saying that they envy my life, and while I’m certainly grateful for what I have and the things I’m able to do, May was a sobering reminder that it’s not all wine and roses. I still have problems just like everyone else. I had a moderate health issue that took me out of commission for most of the month, and during the few intermittent days when I was well enough to be up and about, the thought of trying to get caught up on things like writing and photo projects was too overwhelming to deal with.

Things are back on the upswing, however, and as much as I hate summer, I’m actually looking forward to June. I want to get the Hidden Anatolia project fueling wrapped up as much as possible, and starting tomorrow I have a new introspective photo project starting up (details coming soon!). I think the goal is to keep as busy as possible during the hottest months, so that maybe I won’t notice how awful this whole wretched season is.

Also, I’m looking at taking a brief break from the heat— somewhere really, really north. Just for a few days. I’m thinking Arctic Circle.

Anyway, first things first: a lot of people have asked about Hidden Anatolia over the past few days, and a couple of very generous donations have come in, including a second one from LeahAndMark.com, bringing their fueling total to a whopping $200! It’s fantastic to have such amazing support from friends in the community, and you can get involved as well, no matter what your budget. Fueling levels start at just $1, and even at that amount you’ll still get your name published in the official Hidden Anatolia book! The reward levels go up and up from there, and I look forward to having as many fuelers as possible, so if you ever wanted to be a patron of independent art, now’s your chance!

Learn more about Hidden Anatolia and join the project!

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Dark day

Solitude

This is one of my favourite photos of 2010 so far, and aside from the crop, it’s sooc. We’ve been having some really dark, cloudy days recently. The rainy season seems to get later and later every year.

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Greek architecture

Symmetry

I know I’ve said this a million times, but with Meis being only 2km off the coast of Turkey, it’s amazing how everything is so completely different there. Houses like these are of course very Greek, even though the hills you see in the background of the photo are on the Turkish mainland. I love it.

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Mardin Süryani ev şarabı

ev şarabı

Traditional wine made in the homes of the Süryani Christians in Mardin. It’s a very special and very flavourful wine, and we order it as often as possible. It’s fermented for only 40 days in ceramic casks, but tastes surprisingly mature.

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Spring has sprung

Sprung

As much as I’m not a fan of the warmer weather… the colours are beautiful out there right now.

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Black Men Creations

t-shirt

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Jan Felipe – Abril

Jan Felipe

Jan Felipe makes great, mellow music, and it’s absolutely free. Fans of José González will definitely dig this stuff. The album, Abril, features a range of styles and languages, and the download is very well-presented with fully tagged files (320kbps mp3 or FLAC, your choice), and an included pdf booklet with the lyrics.

You can’t go wrong with free music— give it a try, you’ve got nothing to lose. Link

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Another view of Hasankeyf

Hasankeyf by Pirates and Plants

More at Hidden Anatolia

Learn about the danger Hasankeyf is in

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I can't wait to get out of the city and explore village life

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Mystery animal

Some kind of eel thingy

We saw these things in the shallow water near the marina at Meis. There were quite a few of them. I’ve been to the island a million times and have never seen these creatures before. Does anyone have any idea what it is? We guessed it was some kind of eel, but that was just a stab in the dark.

Larger version of the photo

Ridiculously large version of the photo

ETA: It’s a needlefish! Thanks to Doug for figuring it out.

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