I’m so sorry — there just isn’t time to fill you in on all the hula hoops and glissades of the weekend before I fall into bed, totally exhausted. So all I can do is share three photographs from the Museum of Modern Art on Saturday, which is a building full of light, space, and interesting shapes. I loved it; I’ll have to go back soon so I can actually look at the work instead of just gaping at the architecture.

… check out the photo-essay project I participated in — we published!

That link goes to my essay, but you can easily find the others and there is some really lovely work there. Enjoy!

It’s my mom’s birthday today! And she’s on a cruise ship with the rest of my folks (except Gabriel, who by a strange twist of fate is in Colorado), so I couldn’t talk to her. Instead I was going to share a picture of her, as I do, and I was going to choose one from our wedding photos, because I thought that would make her smile (and quite possibly, cry).

But then I started going through them, and I decided — what the hell! I’ll share a picture of my entire family, instead! Because why not make it an opportunity for multiple people to laugh and cry? Why not, indeed!

So here we are on an extraordinarily lovely day, looking dashing. If you weren’t reading last year and feel like more wedding pictures, feel free to click through.

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We’re going to NYC tomorrow for three days of burlesque and ballet, so I’ll see ya on the other side of the weekend!

This month, like most months, I forgot an important birthday: Distances Between Ports turned 2 on July 17th, 2006. In that time I’ve written 385 posts (this one makes 386), which means I’ve said something of greater or lesser inanity to you a little more frequently than every other day for the past two years. I estimate it involved between 150 and 200 hours of my time. Worth it? Dudes, of course!

Just imagine the trouble I’ve avoided by spending all those hours tippety-typing away here: I could have dressed my monkey about 3500 times, almost settled a pet insurance policy claim in the UK, or gone partially bald.

On the other hand I would not have had quite enough time to crack a terrorist hard drive or obtain a patent, so I guess I ought to keep at this for a bit yet.

I just finished writing the text for the photo-essay, and I’ll share as soon as I run it by Anya and Regina to make sure I’m not misrepresenting them or anything either of them said. I know that’s not really news, but I wanted to pop in to tell you because I realized while I was working on it that… um…

1) Writing a sustained piece of short nonfiction (nearly 3,000 words) is fun, when I’m invested in the topic, I know what I’m talking about, and I’ve got a goal in mind that I care about.

2) I really can do this, and not just here on my blog.

3) If I’d pitched this article to a magazine, some (tiny niche) publication would probably be paying me (a rather small amount) for it soon. It’s not Pulitzer Prize-winning material by any means, but it’s certainly of publishable quality. It has a structure, it contains interesting ideas and information, and my voice hasn’t been totally crushed out of my throat by the formulaic pieces I’ve been writing as a freelancer.

4) If I commit to it, I can choose to write for a living, and much of the time I will actually enjoy it. I probably won’t become famous, and some months I might have trouble paying the bills, but it’s an accessible goal.

5) Huh.

Edited to add some portraits that aren’t going to make it into the more journalistic final piece. I keep saying it, but I know some incredibly beautiful folks:

I’m working on a little photo-essay about Anya’s Jungian Tarot readings, so on Saturday we had a shoot at her house with one of my other favorite coworkers. Regina is eight months pregnant; most of the cards had something to say about that, as you might expect. Apart from that, I’m writing a freelance article about the how-to’s of insect-collecting, so naturally I’m having a grand time teasing Ross about his childhood proclivities, while asking him questions to help me with my piece.

“Okay, what are some things to look out for when you’re assessing the quality of an insect collection…

……butterfly murderer?”

And he’s working on Hebrew homework, so I got a “postcard from Tokyo.” Among other things, it says “I am studying Japanese and drinking Sake with students… In Tokyo there are many theaters and supermarkets!”

Busy, busy. Today we were busy looking for an art gallery that first appeared not to exist and then turned out to be closed, which was a bummer but gave us an excuse to have lunch at the always wonderful Parish Cafe. And then we were very busy taking a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon. The toil just never ends.

“Asher, I need to go to the bathroom. Will you stay out of trouble?”

I dare not imagine what will happen if I were alone with him in the house when this happened. Do you remember that the bathroom in Bauji’s room has a dead lock which cannot be opened from inside the bathroom? The other door which opens to the back-yard is blocked by all sorts of things and therefore unable to be opened too. The TERRIBLE TWO has begun.

It has indeed — it’s the little menace’s birthday tomorrow (today in Singapore) and he’s bringing it home in style. I think as a general rule my mother ought to avoid being in the house alone with Asher, don’t you? ;-)