Optimism and egotism at Mount Nemrut

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Mount Nemrut, Turkey | Art by Todd Berman Todd and I barely made it onto the tour to Mount Nemrut in central Turkey. As it was, we decided too late to leave with the van of other tourists, and so…

Surreal Cappadocia – Art from Turkey

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Our friend “Stinky” is an epidemiologist whose work has taken him all over the world. When he chose Cappadocia, Turkey for the subject of the drawing he commissioned, I knew that it must be a truly wonderful place. I hope…

Sometimes the best art is free – Spain and Portugal’s street art

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Street art in Lisbon, Portugal | Photo by Lauren Girardin Spray paint sales are doing well on the Iberian peninsula. At night, artists and hooligans make their marks all over the walls of Spain and Portugal. Our guidebooks told us…

Voting by fax from abroad – Yes Obama, No on Prop 8, and our other endorsements

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Voting for Obama from overseas | Photo by Todd Berman The California ballot for the November 2008 election is a doozie – seven pages long. As we mentioned a few months ago, we downloaded our ballots from the San Francisco…

Inspired by Gaudi – Art from Barcelona, Spain

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When traveling around Madrid and Barcelona, I recommend bringing along your own talented architect who can help you fully appreciate the beauty of these well-built Spanish cities. Most especially, you can feed off the architect’s bubbling excitement at the chance…

A day in Granada with tinto de verano

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When I told my friend Cristina that Lauren and I would be visiting Spain, she got very excited, telling us that we had to visit Granada, the Alhambra, and drink lots of tinto veranos. During her semester-long study-abroad program, she…

Dining (mis)adventures in Morocco

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Escargot aux espice in Casablanca | Photo by Lauren Girardin I like snails. I like them steaming hot on a cart in Casablanca. Stick a toothpick in their cute little head and yank them out of their shell. The meat…

Voting from the global road

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Patriotism for sale as neckties | Photo by Lauren Girardin “Will you vote absentee? How does that work?” asked Jennie, five months pregnant, sprawled on her couch in the South Philly row house she shares with her husband Amos. I…

PhaNam cheesesteak fusion in Philadelphia

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Philly Fusion | Photo by Lauren Girardin There is a genius at work on the border of Philadelphia’s Chinatown and Old City. I wish I’d been hungry enough to eat at Cafe 900 where the signature sandwich of Philly has…

A room without a view, my last day as a San Francisco substitute teacher

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Mike in Summer School | Art by Todd Berman I’m writing these words in pencil, old-skool style, sitting in a windowless room in a fog-shrouded building perched near the top of Twin Peaks. Throughout the next five hours I get…