Lorne — These three trees are all species of Eucalyptus, closely related but very different. They all stand within one circle that is perhaps six to eight meters in diameter. Their huge root systems are tot...
Püttlingen — The taxi driver relied on energy drinks, but he was experienced and didn’t overdose. Just alert enough, he kept it smooth and real and convenient. His car was also of help. Janis Joplin had such a pr...
Amsterdam — I love drawing. It takes me to another place. I like being able to draw things that pop into my mind, even though it not always ends up as I had imagined in the first place. Today I drew something I h...
Cairo — In Boulac. Nile - cangia [a boat] - sun - vast and quiet yearning. Bath alone, perfumes, light through the glass lenses of the rotundas - gay men. Until 1 a.m. we work with Khalil Effendi. It’s the ep...
Boston — It all started in Hong Kong, where my cousins and I gorged regularly on dim sum: pork buns, mango pudding, dumplings of every conceivable variety. Alas, when we attempted to recreate the experience in...
Nachikatsuura — These are my criteria, he said: First, we must be physically high. High up on some perch where the good energy flows. High enough so there is something to look down upon. High enough so that when you...
Eltham — “Interesting things happen on the edges where one thing becomes another” — Kevin McCloud. I recently stumbled across a long forgotten Australian ‘alternative’ — a now redundant music genre but well u...
San francisco — Or more specifically, I ate without doing any of the following at the same time: Reading Looking for something to read Checking my email on my phone Responding to work email (though I do have to do t...
Philadelphia — I feel good about this cereal bowl. It holds a lot of “ohs”. I hope to have more in the near future.
Aireys inlet — Until fairly recently, grasses were not really a staple in the gardener’s palette. Even now, if you google grass garden you will find plenty of entries on grass killing herbicides or, alternatively, ...
New york — You find yourself moving faster. Focused on your destination and questioning the safety of your now accelerated pace. You say, just slightly aloud in a way that makes you uncomfortable with yourself...
London — “It is felt that a disciplined mind leads to happiness and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering, and in fact it is said that bringing about discipline within one’s mind is the essence of the Buddh...
Robbinsdale — The local name for it is “Space Management” — the ritual clearing of snow, not just to the degree needed for unimpeded movement, but obsessively cleaning out snow all the way to the exact edge of the...
Princeton — I’ve just taken up the helm as Executive Director of ReCAP, the Research Collections and Preservation Consortium, a partnership between Columbia, Princeton, and The New York Public Library. We keep 10...
London — Originally called the Post Office Tower, the BT Tower, as it is now known, was completed 50 years ago this summer. It stands on the north side of London’s West End in a part of London called Fitzrovi...
New york — Just for a time. I will be just fine! You see, we have always been needing to be in love. I know you disagree. It’s not really new. It’s mostly not alright, but I’ve managed to keep the cloudy days ou...
San francisco — The second floor is the quiet floor and it is where I like to work.
San francisco — The office is a former warehouse. When the space was remodeled for GitHub, the old train tracks that ran through the warehouse was left. To me it looks like the pool table and the Octocat are in a st...
San francisco — GitHubbers ship. That’s the simple sentiment that explains the shipping containers in the office.
San francisco — The Octocat thinking. This is a bronze cast statue at the First floor of the GitHub HQ in San Francisco.
Surbiton — ‘Clock! Clock! [Point] … Clock!’ My one-year-old nephew was quite taken with my Starburst seventies-inspired clock, and insisted on everyone drawing their version of a clock on the blackboard. He s...
London — I’ve used this station for well over a year now and this is the first time I’ve actually noticed the sign, ‘Euston Road’ before. My excuse is that it’s on the return leg of my journey, when I’m dashin...
Aireys inlet — These little brown beauties were flitting all over the place yesterday. Hottest day of the year. At least we hope it was.
La crosse — The walls are dark charcoal grey and the floors are black, wooden and wore. Even though the room gives off a very old feel, the waiting room to the psychologist is brightly lit. The light pouring in...
Leeds — The street is straight and confident but not quite sure who it is - on one side St John’s Terrace, the other Belle Vue Road. ‘Maybe if you are posh you say St John’s, if not, Belle Vue.’ ‘I don’t kn...
New york — I noticed these numbers while waiting for my train. 117403… 408… 413 were a clear series, so I started to walk up and down the tracks to see if the pattern continued. It does, and while I couldn’t...
Ko phayam — I lacerated myself on a coil of rusted wire fencing yesterday. Didn’t see the metal’s ragged edge, concealed placidly beneath yellowed grass, and — mid-stride — took two metal prongs straight into the...
Aireys inlet — In the middle of the night, last night, after a day of near record temperatures, the two top shelves in my home office collapsed with a mighty roar, waking the household. The effects were worse than ...
Port townsend — A child crying. Sound waves that bounce off the white and sea-foam green walls. The casino chime from a game app. I’m nestled among my gear staring at my own exhausted reflection, a great gray abyss b...
New york — In New York for a conference in which every second is scheduled, social, network-y — I love these digital publishing conferences but they are exhausting. Thinking, paying attention and all the talkit...
Tübingen — Some 30000 years ago, someone had something to say on the nature of mammoth. I once held a hand axe, 200000 years of age, which had been found in the Sahara. What a strange moment that was. I couldn...
Tübingen — Moving through the fog, we had a conversation on why it seemed to make car lights and street lights so much brighter when quite the opposite seemed plausible. A discussion of vaguely understood conce...
Saskatoon — The kind of month where all that gets me out of bed is excitement for the work I’m going to do. The kind of month where my exercise routine gets shorter instead of longer. The kind of month where th...
Quezon city — Wait—no one else got a smiley in their cappuccino?
Eltham — Days like these. Appearances can be deceptive. 5 years ago
Sydney — I remember the process of receiving the image assets as photo prints in the mail. I had to buy my first scanner, a huge HP thing that made a lot of noise and took a long, long time to scan. This woul...
Aireys inlet — Just wondering if there could be a connection between today’s sunrise and the fact that the temperature is expected to climb to over 100F this afternoon. Possibly something about atmospheric layers o...
San francisco — There’s always something new now. Something old being remade as something new, really. I look at this old theatre and think that there must be a word for the aching one feels for a place, time, and m...
London — I love this trivial bit of history, and how great to advertise the fact in the shop window. In areas where there have been shops for generations I reckon this sort of sign ought to be mandatory, so we...
Paia — I thought the image and framing a workable visual metaphor for my life: as a PK (preacher’s kid—both parents were clergy), my childhood and teenage years were significantly defined by Christianity. I ...
Cape town — There’s a motorcycle in this coffee shop. I saw it when I walked in, of course. But I didn’t give it much thought until much later that day. There’s a motorcycle in this coffee shop. That’s pretty ...
Aireys inlet — Alarm. Lift head. Hey, that’s not bad. Reach for snooze button. Hit camera instead. Snap. Back to sleep. Wake to fog bank. I could have sworn . . . Oh, wow.
Viroqua — The singularity. So precise, so precious, so precocious of humanity to think this way. Only brain thinks this way, the dream of one day being better, of Becoming. And the humans, with all their resea...
City of pasig — Or so it says on the chalk board in front of me. I sample their cappuccino—good, the only thing keeping it from being truly “epic” (what the cafe calls itself) is the fact that they used chocolate syr...
Alameda — A couple of months ago some vandal put orange stickers on the pavement in front of my building. I write “vandal” because it’s a form of defacing public property, after all. The stickers say “Thank yo...
Greenville — I was woken by a thunderstorm. A loud clap outside my bedroom window scared me awake and I gazed about in a daze, unsure of where—or who—I was. It took me a few long moments to remember: I was sleepin...
Paia — Dear Lorien, My smile here is completely inappropriate, isn’t it? ;-) But seriously, the saddest image in the world is that of a child’s gravestone, don’t you think? This one is found at the graveya...
Seattle — I did a little poking. It looks like an elderly man named Orvil A. Horton lived or lives there, and that’s his phone number! I’m not sure why he had it etched in metal.
Accra — This is the Bush highway in Accra. And if you are guessing why it’s called the Bush highway: It was named after the American president called Bush. I think it is the second Bush. If you’re wondering...
Sevenoaks — There’s something about books that is very hard to beat, don’t you think? I’m talking about real, physical books. Especially old books! It’s not just the feel, although that’s definitely part of it...
Ko phayam — Have to hurry. Electricity only a few hours a day and wi-fi for even less then that. What to prioritize telling you? The squid boats at night, halogen lights as boisterous as a baseball field’s. Lon...
Kihei — Dear Lorien, On the way to work this morning (at yet another Hawaiian congregational church), we stopped by this spot on the southwestern side of the island. There is no beach here, as the shore drop...
New york — I can’t say that it’s the order of operations one usually imagines. I certainly didn’t. After all, apartments are the essence of city living. I always hoped it would be a house we’d leave for. But reg...
Alameda — Sometimes I think weekends are wasted on errands. I needed to pick up and drop off some clothes from the cleaners, and was confronted by the sight of a tangled pile of wire hangers that I meant to ret...
New york — This story is for Cassie. Unlike all those uptight holidays that insist you celebrate them on a given calendar day, Epiphany spans a few weeks and sometimes months at the beginning of the year. It’s ...
Viroqua — Ed had had a lousy day. Work exhausted him and his replacements felt kinked and slow. It was obvious that he was well past the due date for maintenance. He looked at his right elbow, the cooling ma...
Sparta — When the day dies down and the bed comforts my silhouette. I can only hear the breathing of the house as I exhale through my mouth. Where I’ve rested my temple across my forearm as a makeshift pillo...
Seaside — I flew across the country to sit at his feet. That night we talked of ecotones. That delicate space, a transition area between two ecological communities—the most interesting place for a character to ...
Reykjavik — Paying $100-200+ per head at a restaurant means you’re treating yourself. You’re affording yourself — and whomever you happen to be indulging with — the luxury of experiencing something new and potent...
Seattle — If you’ve considered seeing August: Osage County, settle in for a long one. It’s not that the movie has a Peter Jackson-esque running time; it’s just an incredibly heavy storyline with lots of emotio...
San francisco — I lived in this city for almost a decade until I fell out of love with it. Romance fades, I suppose, with age and the sober realities of the practical. Even enumerating the reasons seems deflating. Th...
Viroqua — The crash. The screaming. The sound of metal twisting. Burning flesh. Then no light. Then bright lights. Then pain. The cutting. Scalpel. Drill. Bandage. Time. The doctors said I would feel th...
Liverpool — Something about the sound of the train drifting away draws me into this cheeky little picture! :)
Wailuku — Dear Lorien, The photo above is the view as we headed in to Kahului town this morning, via the airport road. That’s a Costco gas station in the foreground—a new one, Lloyd says, and one desperately n...
Viroqua — This new dog was the latest available. High speed fetching tech with built in laser tracker, “Real-Feel” tongue, and extended life 10 hour battery were just some of the new features over the last mod...
Accra — An Extract from creating the avid reader, a piece in progress. Words, Symbols….. Kwaku has trouble reading. Kwaku is ten years old and he can’t read. His elder brother doesn’t understand why, bec...
Al abageyah — Thursday. Entrance of the caravan from Mecca - entrance of the carpet [the fabric surrounding the Kaaba in Mecca, called the Kiswa, was traditionally made in Egypt, each year a new one was provided an...
London — Set into the pavement along Marchmont Street, in a section known as Marchmont Parade, adjacent to the Brunswick Centre, this stainless steel fish swims vainly against a concrete tide. As you stroll a...
Milton keynes — This was a pretty excellent ride, despite the cold weather. It’s a route I know well, so I just followed my nose. Very little traffic - in fact just the odd car, a few walkers, and one or two other c...
Viroqua — Remember when Benjamins was a thing. Atms, debit cards, checkbooks? I hold out my cup from the dusty edge of a busy sidewalk on a busier street. The exhaust and pollution choke me down here where t...
London — The windows frame a comic strip that runs along the platform. A city skyline, a bridge, a boat, a skyscraper. The prefect setting for a hero’s story. All it needs is the small figure in the sky with a...
London — The sky sends a message over London this morning. Cloudy Morse code written over a straight orange line. “Dash dot dot dash”. X marks the spot.
Charlottesville — Evidence everywhere!
Aireys inlet — Of course she would say that, good anarchist that she was. And I agree with her, both aesthetically and ideologically. How sad to think that, for many urban dwellers, roses are now so far out of re...
Kula — Dear Lorien, This is the view from the porch of the house where Lloyd lives. It is a few minutes before sunrise this morning. It’s a spectacular view, don’t you think? One, he says, that he has neve...
Ewing township — Ahhh, my work space, awash with the glow of the screen. I keep a toy robot atop the tower as a reminder to take none of this (art direction) too seriously. -He- can be a bit intimidating but I negated...
Barcelona — I read an article recently about the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival and their policy of not letting transgendered (male to female) attendees join. You can find it online via The Believer. The festiv...
Liverpool — This is my first attempt at recording the audio to go along with the picture you see. I think this will really help to convey the atmosphere of a place. In this scene for instance, only looking at ...
London — “Your honour, speaking for the defence, I would like to state the obvious: The free market economy is perfectly capable of finding its own levels, and indeed must be allowed to do so, otherwise wester...
New york — And all its attendant secrets.
Alameda — “Too Much Heaven” by the Bee Gees became the Number One song in the United States 35 years ago, on January 6. I was way too young to really know the song — in fact I only just figured out all the wo...
Duncan — Every time the news media mentioned this mass of frozen bile called the Polar Vortex (and this has been a lot, lately), I immediately thought of old Lovecraft stories. All those clutching, frozen fin...
Wailuku — Dear Lorien, It was stormy upcountry today, with gusty winds bending trees and stiffening flags. As we drove downvalley after dropping Pono and Kulani off at their respective schools, the local newsc...
Tübingen — In summertime you can see the signs on his arms, his legs and his neck. It’s the usual variety of nazi symbols just beneath the threshold for prosecution (displaying a swastika approvingly is illegal ...
Tübingen — I will grow up in about four years. What will it be like? Will I be a man - strong, serene and tender, like any other guy? It could be a transition, it could be a revolution. With so many things hap...
Cairo — Wednesday. I walk alone in Cairo, under a beautiful sun, in the neighborhood between Carameidan and the Boulak Gate (at the corner of the Ezbekieh, left when looking North). I get lost in the back all...
Cagayan de oro — This picture here was for our yearly family portrait. I was not able to join them, this year, though. These are my seven younger siblings: my four brothers and my three sisters. I am the eldest of eig...
Aireys inlet — I know that posting several moments on Hi on the subject of roses currently blooming in our garden must seem to some the height of triviality, to others simply boring or boastful, and to yet others a ...
Tucson — I grew up in Arizona’s north and moved south to go to college. I set up shop in Phoenix: the sprawling capital of subdivisions and freeways scattered with worthwhile pockets. In this landscape bloomed...
Toronto — Take a photo of the frosty window. It’s almost meditative to sit and observe the different textures created by condensation. Thanks to global warming, winters in Toronto had been quite mild since I ...
Ko siboya — We’re an interesting mix of people here — always coming and going. Nobody talks to each other until 5 PM, when it’s time for the nightly game of volleyball. Then we’re all pals and slapping each other...
London — < rant >The fashionistas who thought adult onesies were a good idea deserve to be the first with their backs against the wall when the revolution comes!< /rant > Sorry, bu...
Leeds — Here are the cultural players of Leeds sitting around tables with white table cloths at an open meeting to discuss whether Leeds should apply to be the European Capital of Culture 2023. Just a discuss...
Kahului — Dear Lorien, Today is the first day back to school, from the holidays. Well, public school. We dropped off Lloyd’s hanai (adoptive) daughter Kulani, at King Kekaulike High School upcountry; his hanai...
Tokyo — There are some nights where things aren’t what they seem. Tonight was one of them. Unexpected butterflies. Prouvé :)
Cairo — Entrance into Cairo of the princess, mother-in-law to Abbas Pasha, coming back from a pilgrimage to Mecca. We went to the palace in the Suez desert to wait for her. Pilgrims on camels, coming down an...
Sevenoaks — Another sighting on my Sunday afternoon stroll - a Greater Rhea. Why there are three of these living in a field in rural Kent I have no idea. Perhaps this is why some political parties in the UK are...
Hidden valley — The last night of a holiday can be a tough night. Sometimes you’re looking forward to getting home and your usual routine and haunts. Sometimes you’re sad to leave this temporary life you created. We...
Milton keynes — It always feels like such a slog up to Nash from any of the surrounding villages. That bench at the top of the hill is a welcome sight indeed. And yet, due to the lay of the land, it doesn’t feel part...
Aireys inlet — Wikipedia has a useful entry on the origins of the notion of the “borrowed view” in garden design: Borrowed scenery (借景) is the principle of “incorporating background landscape into the compositio...