USA Posts
Eight Years Abroad
Every year I reflect back not on December 31, but on January 29, the…
January 29, 2021
December 2020
I spent all of December in the US, home with my family, and it…
January 5, 2021
Seventeen Days
On Day 10, my second Saturday morning in quarantine, I painted sunflowers. My family…
November 30, 2020
A Day Out in Brooklyn
The best part of long-distance collaboration is finally being in the same place. Alison…
January 17, 2020
What Is It Like?
Back when I lived in Boston, our Fourth of July family tradition involved schlepping…
July 14, 2018
Coney Island Of My Mind
The world is a beautiful place to be born into if you don’t mind…
February 20, 2017
The Dreamspace Between Istanbul and New York City
Alison and I met each other in college. We were both theater directors and…
September 26, 2016
Driving Into The Desert, Part 3: Salvation Mountain
In case you missed it, here’s Part 1 and here’s Part 2. In 1980, a…
August 25, 2016
Driving Into The Desert, Part 2: The Salton Sea
In case you missed it, here’s Part 1. Before we reached our ultimate destination…
August 24, 2016
Driving Into The Desert, Part 1: Hicksville, USA
The most splendid adventures rarely go according to plan. My sister Hillary and I…
August 23, 2016
DTLA in Black-and-White
Every time I return to LA, my sister and I make a list of…
March 8, 2016
A Day At The Broad
I’ve been vocal about my love for LA. Forget Hollywood, forget the insipid stereotype–…
March 3, 2016
Big Sur Is The California Of Our Dreams
My parents never take California for granted. They moved to the Bay Area only…
February 12, 2016
On California, And Me
I kept telling people that I was going home for a month, but it…
February 9, 2016
Three Years Abroad
Thirteen months ago, I started a new job. I’d been in Istanbul for just…
January 29, 2016
A Golden Weekend in Vermont
I didn’t realize that Burlington, Vermont in the summertime was straight-up heaven until I…
October 21, 2015
The Three Prettiest Places in Boston (and Cambridge)
Boston is a pretty city. I never appreciated that until I left. Now, whenever…
September 29, 2015
Adventures in East Boston
I’m from the Boston area. I grew up north of the city, I went…
August 17, 2015
A Blue Golden Gate Bridge
I go through phases with slide film. Sometimes I kick myself for not shooting…
June 5, 2015
The Beach At Night
We were done with the party. The scent of pot and the sounds of…
March 13, 2015
I Love LA, Unironically and Shamelessly
Los Angeles is a city that seems easy to hate. Its sprawl of car-choked…
March 6, 2015
Downtown Los Angeles Plays Itself
Few cities are simultaneously as recognizable and opaque as Los Angeles. It’s not an…
March 3, 2015
Fits and Starts and California Dreaming
When I bought my glorious and problematic KMZ Start camera in Prague, there was…
February 24, 2015
The Recent Ruins: Welcome To Sutro Baths
I know that things don’t last forever. I see historic ruins, UNESCO World Heritage…
January 15, 2015
I Need Spy Pond
Spy Pond is a place where we can all be quiet together. It’s very…
January 9, 2015
Everywhere Can Be A Home
It’s that time of year when everyone starts reflecting on the year that is…
December 26, 2014
Chasing The Sun Boxes
The sky was a perfect autumn blue and I was wandering through downtown Boston,…
December 22, 2014
What a Difference the Camera Makes: iPhone vs. Analogue
Most of the photographs on this blog come from one of my analogue cameras,…
December 19, 2014
It’s Crummy, But We Love It: Welcome to Revere Beach
Did you know that Boston has beaches? No, I’m not talking about Cape Cod,…
December 17, 2014
Boston in Black-and-White
The Boston I love is not just confined to Boston. It is Cambridge, Somerville,…
December 15, 2014
A Maine Wedding
When you’re an expat, it’s easy to romanticize the place you left. I didn’t…
December 12, 2014
Returning To The Place I Left
Tomorrow I’m going back to Boston. I’ve spent this last week in Istanbul living…
July 23, 2014
Traveling With Mama in the Heat of the South
It was a summer of transitions, of transformations. My sister was graduating from her…
March 5, 2014
Mad Trombones & Surreal Sousaphones: It’s HonkFest!
Guca was not my first trumpet festival. For the three-and-a-half years before I moved…
October 11, 2013
Sometimes It’s Hard To Be Far Away
Sometimes, the distance between my home in Turkey and my family in the US…
July 11, 2013
RiverSing: A Celebration Of The Charles
This is a Flashback Friday, sort of. This has been a rough week for Boston,…
April 19, 2013
From Far Away, Experiencing The Boston Marathon Bombing
In the months leading up to my departure to Istanbul, my mother worried constantly…
April 16, 2013
Where Is Home?
As an expat, I often get asked the same question over and over again.…
April 7, 2013
The Hunt For Buckminster Fuller
This week’s FLASHBACK FRIDAY is from an adventure in Boston during summer 2010. Once…
March 29, 2013
Snow-free and Loving It
For most of my life, Boston was my home. As with any place you…
March 13, 2013
How To Survive in LA If It Never Stops Raining
My sister, Hillary, recently moved to Los Angeles. While I was in California in…
February 4, 2013
Wine, wine, wine!
My family LOVES wine. Growing up, my parents were part-owners of a winery in…
January 26, 2013