title: the beaux city of brussels

victory! here, at last, loyal readers, is the documentation of the weekend i turned 20!
my big goal in brussels was to see the mannekin pis, because quite honestly i didn't know the first thing about the city before visiting. i didn't even know they spoke french there. so yes, i saw the mannekin.but then i saw the rest of the city, and the mannekin pis is absolutely not the coolest thing there.lots of sculpture.
i also have to comment on this particular image:the view from this spot in the park looked just like some kind of city from star trek. it was so futuristic and blue.

title: herfst

the most beautiful time to be born.

title: the best trip ever

ok, let me start this off by saying: really old churches. they're pretty damn cool, right? they have beautiful sculpture, architecture, and some serious presence. we're agreed as far as that is concerned. what if i then say: really old churches to which you get an all-access, backstage tour from an expert, plus coffee and cookies. did you have a heart attack from the awesome prospects contained within that last sentence? you did, but you're still alive? good, because here's the coup de grace for your blown mind (and arteries): i did that last friday!!!!

my art history professor, rob duckers, is the curator of the treasury of the basilica of st. servatius (sint servaas in dutch). that means he deals with ancient roman glass bowls, saints' bones, silver, gold, and "pieces of the cross" (most likely just some very old olive wood, but still), among other cool relic-y type things. he took us to the town of maastricht, which is also the town in which d'artagnan (of 3 musketeers fame) was killed in 1673, to see all the dirty secret parts of the basilica. this included the emperor's special balcony, the lofty third floor where the bells used to be, and the crypt. yeah, where they keep the cool coffins and stuff.

this is the basilica of sint servaas, of which, i am sure, far better photos exist:the treasury is beautiful, rob and his colleagues have done such a wonderful job of taking care of and displaying it all. i didn't walk around in the dimly lit galleries taking photos of relics behind glass, so you're going to have to trust me on this one. there are a million things i could say about romanesque column capitals and the different periods of architectural features in this basilica, but i will spare you the details and take you to the church of our lady, star of the sea:
i roped you into reading this post with the promise of churches, but there is a bonus feature that i didn't tell you about: maastricht itself is beautiful and many hundreds of years old! oh, look, here's a little piece of history right here:those of you with particularly sharp eyes will have noticed the sign that says "hellpoort 1229". those of you who speak dutch or are simply very clever will have figured out that "hellpoort" means "hell's gate". why would a medieval city want to name one of it's entrances hell's gate? well, i'll tell you why! this was the gate which led to the gallows before the city spread outside its walls. the vast majority of the people leaving this gate were leaving maastricht for good (unless they planned on coming back as ghosts). and everyone convicted of a sentence worthy of hanging was, logically, going to hell for their crimes. so, for most people, this gate was the way to hell!
the windows above the red wooden part are cells where prisoners about to be executed were kept. i imagine it was a lovely view if you could manage to ignore the gallows in the foreground. the red wooden part itself is accessible from the fortifications, allowing the gate's guards to pour/throw whatever dangerous objects they were able to find on invaders.

the hellpoort is in the "old" (everything is relative here) part of town. across the river is the more modern parts of maastricht, which i didn't get to see much of. it is full of nice coffee shops and stores, though. here is a view of the river, with the "old" area on the left and the "new" area on the right. the bridge going between them was rebuilt in the medieval times in almost the same place and in the same style as the original roman one, which stood there for centuries before.
as you can clearly tell from the picture, maastricht is a beautiful, beautiful city. everyone staying in kasteel well should go--it's a pretty short trip from here and you don't even have to spend the night (though it is an option, there are hostels). maastricht also works perfectly with a trip to haarlem, the next stop in my ever-growing collection of photos. stay tuned!

title: nov. 17

i was looking through my photos because i am thinking of submitting for the photo book at the college, and i found this one.
i rather like it. when i was first going through photos from this day to put up here i passed this one by. maybe it's because i was seeing fall leaves freaking everywhere and i was sick of them. or maybe i thought it was too cliche. but cliche or not, it's colorful. could it be that i just miss the leaves now that they've gone?

title: thanksgiving day

i have been so busy with the end of this semester. but i'm here! these photos are from thanksgiving, still fresh in everyone's mind. i know this first one is blurry, but it's just one of those things. it has to be displayed.the following picture merits a disclaimer: it may or may not have been taken by nathan. we were both messing with my camera and taking pictures of the pie (perhaps a substitute for eating it. this was before dinner had started and it was off limits.), so this one may have been his. regardless, enjoy.usually i come out of thanksgiving with a lot more photos, but this year i was alternating family time with writing a 10 page paper on the black death. which is the only way thanksgiving should be celebrated.

happy december!

title: oct 31

this is my friend joe in full halloween costume. he was a version of twiggy ramirez, and (emerson kids that we are) we did a photo shoot. these are just two shots that came out of it. maybe he can tell me if there are some others he likes? (hint hint)

title: afternoon of nov 19

it's a bitter, bitter cold day in new england. when you look at my photos from today imagine touching cold concrete with your bare hands.

title: weekend of nov 15

i have left the blog post-less all weekend. i was out taking photos for it! and enjoying a nice family visit. here i have for you some immensely moody shots of the fells in winchester, ma:


a tiny sparrow taking a tentative peck while the pigeons aren't looking:
and something sinister:

highly appropriate since i saw the exorcist for the first time last night. imagine that staring at you in the dark! beats out linda blair in pancake makeup any day.

title: afternoon of oct 17

well, i made the mistake of thinking i was all caught up. i just found some photos from a day i went out to do a shoot of gym signs for em magazine. joe came with me and we encountered the blue reflection from the side of some bank building in downtown crossing.
after i got the pictures i needed we walked down to the esplanade and i took the archetypal esplanade picture.i realized only after taking this that i saw the same shot in developed images' (the photo club here at emerson) black and white book from last year. great minds think alike! why have i not joined said photo society? it's a mystery.
but here's one i'm sure i made up. there was a dead branch from some bush and/or tree on the steps that go down into the water (not the charles, but this stagnant pool of yuck before it), and i held it up and took some moody shots that remind me of italy for some reason.
but i will allow those who have actually left our country to be the real judge of that.