London Town

I can't believe it's been a week since I left for London. Time goes by so fast here, I don't know how I get anything done. When I got into London last Thursday night, I went right into town with my Mom and met up with Galdi for a few hours. Riding in the cab back to Victoria Station made me feel like some obnoxious VIP, as we drove by Buckingham Palace at 2 AM ... the streets deserted. The next day I picked up a new lens for my Sony Alpha DSLR, a twenty year old Minolta. Too bad we were in the car all day, though, to get it. It was worth it, the lens rocks my socks off. 

We hit up this really cool Design Museum, right on the river in central London. It had the best museum store I have ever seen, tons of sweet books on typography and graphic design ... including one with just page after page of logos ... everything from the EPA logo to AOL and GM. We saw Alex for some drinks and some cards before we went back to Croydon. 

On Easter, we had a delicious delicious pub lunch.

Being back in Amsterdam feels strange, like I just got here all over again. Like I have to re-learn everything as I go, which is fine, it just feels like the city is completely new again. Maybe it's the sun? I am so used to seeing everything in shades of grey ... now everything is so bright! 

SPLAT!

I found this little oddity near Stavangerweg, and I love the texture and the pure randomness of the thing ... it seems pointless and yet, almost strangely defiant ... like someone got fed up and decided to do something, and the first thing that came to mind was ... splatter paint against a brick wall.  

I Turn My Camera On

I dropped off a roll of film last friday at this insanely overpriced shop on Haarlemmerstraat (the one with the big, red, "LEICA" sign). I checked it out even though a few weeks ago, when I asked another shop owner about it, he just grunted, saying, "Nothing in there's under 100 euro." They made good prints though. 

I just picked them up today ... after being really excited all weekend. I'm into them. Plus, after I dropped the roll off on Friday, I finally went into this other photography place -- it's a school -- where I can rent a darkroom. It's really cheap too ... 50 euro for 10 trips to the DOKA (Donkere Kamer -- Dutch for darkroom). Unfortunately, they don't have a full set up where I can process film ... only photo enlargers. I have to get the film processed somewhere else. But, it will be great to mess around with some of the negatives I just got back. 

What else? Oh, yah, my mom came to Amsterdam this weekend. It was a short trip, but we did a lot. On Saturday we rode our bikes north to a small town named Holysloot. There, we ate a pretty delicious, delicious, meal and then made it back to the city in time to check out the Architecture Museum. Sunday we hit up the Van Gogh Museum and had the greatest tomato soup ever at this awesome cafe on the Herengracht.

I hope this was a long enough post for you, Sara, and I'm glad you like the pictures.

Dinner

I had dinner at the Sherman's house tonight. Norman told all the usual stories, about Humphrey, the Pope, Kenyatta, and Nixon. But they never get old. We talked about Obama and Rick Warren. He's pretty upset. 

Everyone asked me about school and Amsterdam, and interestingly enough, it's getting easier explaining exactly why I'm going: "Well, it's an amazing city," I said. "My best friends are going, and in terms of Islamic Studies, Amsterdam has a great program ... Dutch? ... no, it's all taught in English."

I don't even think that's what I said, but whatever. It's strange, really, trying to sum up so many hopes and dreams, even fears, into a single blurb. All I'm left with is some vague sense of urgency: "I can't wait to just get there. I'm so excited!" 

I'm more than excited. Why can't we go right now, na na?

Anyway, I really want to get out into Tucson and take some pictures. Maybe tomorrow. The leaves on the tree across the street are falling. Here are some photos of Silver Lake I took before finals ... I just got them developed ...