Getting around

I was pretty shocked to see that Mexico DF has a bicycle-sharing program. It's just such a large, congested, and sort of frightening city that I can't imagine anyone biking around it. The EcoBici program is almost a year old and only in select (re:posh) areas of the city. I didn't really see anyone using them, except for on Sunday on the car-free avenues as recreational vehicles.



The city is also in the midst of installing miles of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with dedicated lanes. I suppose if you're the largest city in the Americas, you need to be doing this sort of stuff.

underground

The Mexico DF metro...hot and muggy, even in December.

twas the night before...

Hope your holidays aren't spent stuck in traffic. Or, if you're stuck in traffic, I hope your holidays are full of good music.

my other limo

Muni at night.

thursday vertical

i need a job

Or just this bike.

scoot-shoot

This never gets old.

boating

Last week I took the ferry to Sausalito for the first time ev-ar. It costs $8.25 one way in cash, $5.15 with this new Clipper deal that I need to investigate. It really fascinates me that some people take the ferry every day as part of their commutes.



I think I need more boating time in my life.

the go team

The trip to Yosemite was brought to you by this man and this electric pony:

vertical el

An El station at night. I love the El. It reminds me of the NYC subway...in Queens.

more roading

Today I am going on another short trip, this time to Michigan. I look forward to more of this.

the driver

This handsome man has been squiring me around town all month on the back of his scooter.



That's a lollipop, by the way. And it's his birthday today! Happy Birthday!

at the crossroads

I saw this woman trying to cross Sixth Street yesterday and really empathized with her.



Insert appropriate metaphor about dodging disaster, negotiating risk...

South American Rainbow Beetles

South America is full of Volkswagen Beetles. I began shooting this series when Suze and I were in Montevideo. This one was shot on the Uruguay coast in Punta del Diablo, close to the Brazilian border. It's so funny to see them all everywhere. You get the feeling like there's this secret army of old-school hippies motoring around.



If you click on the photo, it'll bring you to a collection of the Beetles I've shot, mostly in Uruguay and Peru. If anyone wants to sign me up for an advertising campaign with Volkswagen, holla!

escape from illinois

I'm so happy to be out of Illinois for the next few weeks, because I have always found the suburbs very oppressive. As fond as I am of cars, this sort of landscaping is just very uninspiring.

trek back

After leaving Buenos Aires, I returned to the Midwest. One of my favorite things about Chicago is the El, the elevated train.

more establishing shots!

I shot this on a street corner in the neighborhood of San Cristóbal, while waiting for a friend. I have been really into shooting the cityscape of bare trees and faded buildings on overcast days. Some people find these kinds of scenes oppressive, but for some reason I think they are really beautiful.

island hopping

More Langkawi. Langkawi is actually a collection of 99 islands, but most are uninhabited. A fun thing to do if you just want to get on a boat is to take the "island hopping" tour, which takes you around to two of them, one with a freshwater lake called the Island of the Pregnant Maiden.



The boats also make a middle stop to feed the eagles--which you're really not supposed to do, as it encourages dependency on people for food.



My birder parents say this is actually a braminy kite, and not an eagle.

lost in langkawi

There is no transportation on Langkawi, so the thing to do is to rent some wheels. Nicole and I rented this sassy little number to cruise around the island one day in search of the highly disappointing "black sand beach." Driving was so much fun, though--the traffic wasn't too scary, and people were okay with how slow we were going. I haven't been on two wheels in almost three years (and I've never driven on the left side of the road before--at least not on purpose) but it was so mellow and warm and wonderful. I can tell that is what I'll be doing in my dreams.



Even though there are only about three roads on the island, we got lost. We stopped to ask directions at this far superior beach where you could see Koh Lipe, an island that is part of Thailand. This guy was hawking beverages and tours and gave us great directions, as well as his surprisingly fancy business card.

my kind of traffic jam

My friend Nicole and I took a break from the Singapore life and hopped a budget flight to Langkawi, a Malaysian island. I forget that traveling to other countries is so easy...from other countries. Anyhow, Singapore closed its airspace for a few hours for some military exercise, and all the flights were delayed for a few hours. Here, you can see all the planes lined up behind us to take off, most of them fellow budget airlines doing short flights of a few hours or less.