working

While I shot photos of nicely appointed luxury hotels in Montevideo last week (left), I (gratefully) couchsurfed in an unheated house (right).

gone fishing

There is this long pier full of fishermen on the Río Plata...

holding our breath

Being in South America for the World Cup has been an interesting experience. Even if I´m sitting in my room with the windows closed and no television or Internet within my reach, I know when Argentina scores because the city pulses. A collective cheer emanates from every window, every storefront, every home.



This photo was taken in the boat depot in Buenos Aires, where I missed my boat to Montevideo and waited five hours for the next ferry.

fun for one

I like that people eat at counters in South America. People don´t really eat at counters too much anymore in New York. It´s just so simultaneously utilitarian and communitarian.



Happy Sunday.

sorry

I couldn´t help it. I´m just like a ten-year-old boy. Also, it was a really long day and you know I hate shooting fashion, so this really cheered me up.



I was so shocked that I didn´t even think to go in and buy a tee-shirt.

missing the boat

I literally missed my boat on Wednesday. I was chatting with a friend I haven´t talked to in what seemed like forever, and then it also took forever for me to get to the port. I tried to save 35 pesos by taking the bus, but then ended up spending 85 more to get on the next boat--five hours later.



The last time I took the ferry to Montevideo, I got on this huge beast that had an arcade, a galley for cars, and three separate floors of seating, shops, etc. You couldn´t even tell when the ship was moving. This time I took a cheaper boat. It was probably 5 percent full, with 30 people on it. I almost got seasick toward the end.

it must be car week

the happiest girl in the world

I am the happiest girl in the world. Yesterday morning I finished the third draft of this novel I've been working on for the past two years, almost to the date. Did you know that this could be what happiness looks like? I didn't. I am constantly amazed. I sent out the first few pitches and I feel really good about it.



I guess even though I'm a writer, I'm a visual person as well (hence the photography!) so it is cool to go back and see what progress looks like. I hope I'll have some good news to report back soon.

If you want to know more about my novel (or know someone who wants to rep it), check out the basics here.

stop

This is my roommate Hansel. She hates having her photo taken and usually doesn't stand still so most of my photos of her are usually blurry in low light. I think she stood still for this one because she was obeying the stop sign.



In this home-away, she is like my mom and sister and best friend rolled into one. And I have the most exciting news! I think I am going to spend a few months living with two of her brothers in Mexico City. How cool is that?

mechanic central

My neighborhood is about 60 percent mechanics. A lot of the old-school workshops have trenches in the ground where the mechanics go to work on the chassis, rather than having a lift of some sort.



Ingenious.

bang the drum

I went to a jazz club called Thelonius twice this past week. Here's a drummer during the second set Friday night.

saturday dins

I make a big feast at least once a week, and last Saturday I did the beer can chicken, a little trick told to me by a San Francisco urban planner one fine day on Angel Island. You don't need to season the chicken at all. You open an ordinary can of beer (Quilmes, pictured), pour out about two ounces and douse the chicken in it, then make holes on the sides about an inch below the top. Then you nest the chicken on it, vertically. As the beer heats, it comes out of the holes and keeps the chicken moist and delish...

leggy

the doctor

This is what it looks like when an Argentine-Australian laptop doctor comes to your house and opens up your notebook on a Superman beach towel, illuminated by a crappy clip light.



This didn't work out too well, and I ended up having to buy an external keyboard and mouse. Hopefully it will tide me over until I can get it fixed back in the States.

tech assistance

Hi! I´m having a total equipment fail this week.

Today, enjoy the Vectors series by Andrew Bush. He rigged a camera to shoot people driving around, mostly in California. I love it.

if you squint...

...it really does look like Paris.

how pedestrian

This is Calle Florida, a pedestrian-only thoroughfare downtown. Many of the vendors only come out at night and during the weekends because it's just too crowded during the weekdays.



Things for sale: socks, scarves, travel adapters, jewelry, "Lacoste" shirts, toys, cell phones...

desk job

This is a beautiful cultural center downtown on Avenida de Mayo. I've only been inside once, to see a photo show.



I like how so many buildings have someone keeping them company into the wee hours of the night.

more nighttime labor

They were shooting some kind of car commercial the other night when I walked through San Telmo. For the amount of lighting they had out, I wondered why they didn't just shoot during the day.

Buenos Aires Obelisk

I struggled to come up with an original shot of something "very Buenos Aires" for the magazine, but truthfully the city doesn't have very many splendid vistas or recognizable landmarks. The obelisk downtown is probably it.

Beauty and the Beast

I walked by this theater the other night where there is a production of Beauty and the Beast going on. At first I was taking photos of all these vendors sitting on the sidewalk, but suddenly they all got up. I thought they didn't want me taking photos of them. But the show was about to end, because all the women--for some reason, all the vendors were women--lined up outside the doors to sell all this schwag: swords, princess dresses, tiaras.



It gives a whole new meaning to "seasonal work."

art me

I went with my roommate to an art opening for Milo Lockett, one of the artists du jour here in Buenos Aires. It was hard to get around inside, and a lot of the art was blocked by: people taking photos, people being interviewed, and the complimentary bars. At one point this wood-framed portrait of the artist was escorted in with an entourage of people bearing pink umbrellas. It was a cool scene, but alas I could not shoot it because I am of the short variety, and was caught in a throng of people.

take me for a spin

I've walked by this park a few times and have never noticed the carousel. Or, maybe it just popped out so much more at night.

sleepy monday

Another addition to my sleepers series, two men sleeping in the Plaza San Martín.

dog day afternoon

The porteños do love their dogs, which endears me to them greatly. You'll often see the dogwalkers strolling down the sidewalks, surrounded by a dozen dogs on leashes. They all wind up in the dog parks.

working weekends

I have finally finished this shopping guide I've been shooting/writing. It was a ton of work, but fun. I tromped all around the upscale neighborhoods of the city, talked to some great designers, and ventured into a lot of beautiful stores.



I love this photo even though it's probably not publishable. And I've learned that wide-angle lenses are not great for shooting interiors. Everything always looked lopsided. I have to figure that one out still.

urban wildcats

There are lots of stray cats around Buenos Aires--not as many as Rome, but a lot. Sometimes I see people putting plates of food out for them in abandoned lots.

urban rainbow

I was shivering my way through Palermo the other day when I passed through this:



The light is changing here so quickly. Buenos Aires is about 35 degrees south of the equator, as far south as Capetown in South Africa. It makes for some nice photography in the early afternoon.

fleximart

This is the covered San Telmo market. During the day it's mostly a tourist destination for antiques, but in the evening the antique stalls close and it is filled with fruit and meat merchants.



The porteños are very orderly when it comes to waiting in line. They don't even grumble too much about it. I've seen lines for who-knows-what wrapping around multiple city blocks. They are especially good at queueing for buses.

happy june

I am just not going to explain this photo at all. Because I really can't. It was funny that I was there, and it was funny that I was taking photos, and then it was even funnier that I found it all so funny.



It has just been one of those weeks, I guess.