guatemala

tasha with the kids at our house in guatemala, i could never remember their names. lala and rosa?

i've started to work with my 35mm film from central america, developing and scanning and processing. i noticed that i have all these tragic photos of animals. photos that i don't really know what to do with, as they are kind of shocking and heart wrenching (for me at least). what do you do with photos of starving puppies who die the next day? what do i do with all the photos that i was forced to take because it was the only thing i could do? i don't like the spectacle of suffering, but i did take them. the photos don't even leave me with hope, only sadness.


fortunately, there were a few animals we could help out a little. my favorite was gusanita, a little kitten who would tear holes in the bread bag and ruin loaves of bread. she didn't even eat that much of it, cuz she doesn't even like bread! here's gusanita with some chicken scraps we brought her.

nebraska cola

still in nebraska. a place that most people don't get. when we were in guatemala city, we shared a taxi with a bunch of american boys and their surf boards. here's how the conversation was started, after they'd tied their boards to the roof of the car.
them- "where are you two from?"
us- "nebraska"
them- "ha! oh... is that susposed to be a joke?"
us- "no. but is it funny to you?"
them- "well..."
us- "because it's not."
them- "sorry"
us- "so where are you from?"
them- "virginia"
us- "sorry."
them- "ha! oh... you're not joking again, are you."
us- "no."

and they're feeling all uncomfortable because we made them look stupid (they may not look stupid here, but trust me, in real life it was great). so this is about how all interactions go when it comes down to people finding out i grew up in nebraska, and i don't care, i will always represent. not our football team, or the assholes who killed brandon teena, but i love nebraska. it's kind of like doing coke, when you do it you love it so much and think that this is the way the rest of your life should be because you're suddenly so awesome and everything rules. but after a two week visit you're ready to go home and figure out your life again. and where else can you find such awesome things like this stuff!!


fossils! just lying around for the taking! turn your room into a museum!


a frosting covered barbie doll!


my dad woke me up to show me these boots he found for me at a garage sale of some old girlfriend. (who he didn't recognise-oops) we went back later to look at a film projector he wanted, and i found this beautiful box set of art:


i was wearing my new boots and carrying around the kitty block puzzle when the old girlfriends' sister said, "now, what grade are you in?" this kind of shit drives tasha crazy, but i always get a kick out of it, especially since i just turned 29! (tuesday)
san francisco is the best place for one to be 29 and nearly unemployeed, because it's still acceptable to be old and living hand to mouth and not be starting on your "responsible" life yet, like all the people you know back home are doing.
but i still love nebraska, and that's what this will end on.

nicaragua