dreams of istanbul

i wander the house, camera in hand, looking for something to photograph as my photo of the day. today, the light seemed good, so i tried for the umpteenth time to photograph the beautiful little turkish shadow puppet i bought last autumn when i was in istanbul. today, i finally got a shot i liked. one that seemed to show the luminescence of the painted leather of which the puppet is made.

i love this aspect of the 365 project, tho' i will admit i'm otherwise in the throes of a february malaise at the moment. but, the fact of the need to find something to photograph every day at times takes me on a pleasant trip down memory lane. in fact, i was quite transported by this one.

i didn't have much time in istanbul last autumn, but at nearly 10 p.m. on the one evening i had, i was wandering the streets and i happened upon a used book market near taxsim square. one of the stalls was selling these shadow puppets. i must have been so caught up in talking to the artist who made them that i didn't take any photos of the stall itself. he told me about the plays which feature characters named karagöz and hacivat. the figures are stock caricatures, but of the type that say something amusing and true about those they depict - albanians, armenians, jews, greeks, turks from anatolia and turks from instanbul. i wanted to buy a whole set of the puppets, they were so beautiful, but i settled for the one with the boat. it's from a traditional story in which karagöz and hacivat are kicked out by their wives and take a job ferrying across the bosporus.  i'll admit i was just charmed by the boat. you can read more about the turkish shadow plays here. this website is run by the artist who i bought my puppet from.

i was charmed by other sights at that market as well...

i bought a book there on ottoman navigational charts, but i'll have to save that one for another day. i'm certain to be lacking something to photograph again in the near future. but for now, i'll just go on dreaming of istanbul.

365 group created

i have created a 365 group for 2010 in flickr. i called it the blog camp 365 group, mostly because there are a zillion 365 groups and that name worked as a unique name. i've made it so you need an invitation to join, but please do request one if you'd like to participate. i just thought we should reasonably know one another. at least at first. maybe i'll change my mind down the line.

i've made it less restrictive than many flickr 365 groups. here are the rules:

1.) do take a picture every day.
2.) post when you have time.

i'd also request that you do leave comments. for me, doing this is about pushing my photography, so i'm really interested in feedback - good or bad. i hope you all feel that way too.

so click on the link and request an invite to play along and then get ready to take some pictures.

energetic istanbul

despite having only a little bit of time to wander and have a look around istanbul, i was overwhelmed by a sense that it had changed dramatically in the two years since i'd been here. there's a feeling in the air that turkey is a speeding, unstoppable train. i don't feel even a whiff of economic crisis in the air here.

in the cafés, which are full, everyone is sitting around with their trendy mini net PCs on the free wireless, sipping cups of sweet tea or strong coffee. there are very few women wearing muslim head scarves and those who are seem to be making a fashion statement rather than a religious one. although the pulse is undeniably exotic and byzantine, istanbul (or at least taxsim) feels decidedly modern and progressive and despite the occasional wail of the calls to prayer from the many mosques tucked here and there, it feels very secular.

the sounds and the pulse of the café-lined side streets are hard to convey in words. music pouring forth, the sound of voices, the sweet scent of the sheesha pipes, so many impressions hitting you at once, it can be almost overwhelming.

i have this feeling that turkey's desire to join the european union has given it an energy that feels unstoppable and dynamic. it feels to me like it would recharge the EU and give it a momentum that it seems to lack.

it's interesting how the ancient and the modern exist here side by side, giving a sort of dynamic tension that feels electric, vibrant and alive. even if you've only got a few hours, istanbul is worth the trip.

thanksgiving, how i love you

thanksgiving, how much i love thee...despite the last-minute panic attacks, fighting through swarms of people in the grocery store, throwing my principles out the window and buying sweet potatoes from israel because i didn't want to make another stop (generally we don't by stuff from israel, not until the israelis are nice to the palestinians--but when the dread of making a stop at another grocery store sets in, principles are the first to go), spending far too much time on setting the table before i actually started cooking (what was that about?)...you are the very best holiday. seriously, what is it about thanksgiving that makes it so wonderful?

is it the candles, or the pretty table settings or the abundance of food?

or is it the kids eating turkey legs?

or is it the pie?

which we served like this...

...because the crust was so ultra flaky (i tried a new recipe and i have to admit that i find pie crust to be generally temperamental and never the same twice) that it wouldn't come out of the pie tin looking pretty, so we covered it in freshly whipped real cream, plopped on four forks and the adults all ate off one plate. i think more food should be served this way, it's the best.

i think what makes thanksgiving the best is a combination of way too much great food, much laughter, people who are actively grateful, and the fact that you have that festive, holiday feeling without all of the gift-giving madness attached to it. and leftovers. thanksgiving leftovers totally rock.

and i can highly recommend doing the turkey brine thing. it was the best, juiciest turkey ever. i will never go back to the old way. here's the brine i used (modified from the fabulous nigella lawson's new christmas cookbook, because i can never really follow a recipe to the letter):

turkey brine

1 orange, sliced

big handful of parsley

handful of black peppercorns

2 cinnamon sticks

4 fresh bay leaves

2 roughly chopped onions

3 star anise

1 good hunk of ginger, roughly chopped

1 cup organic sugar

1 cup sea salt

1 good squeeze of honey

1 good glug of real maple syrup (do not bother with fake, ewww)

stir together with warmish water in a very large pot (or other container that your turkey will fit into) to get the sugar and salt dissolving, add your turkey and fill with water until the turkey is covered.  allow it to brine at least overnight (two nights would be even better) in a cool place (i simply set it outside with a lid on the pot because our weather allowed that). i had a 5.5 kilo turkey (11-12-ish pounds). 

i took it out the brine, stuffed it, body-buttered it with maple butter and cooked it 2 hours and 45 minutes. it turned out perfectly (we just neglected to photograph it) and was the juiciest, most succulent bird i've had, well, ever.  we're going to do duck for christmas, i wonder if brine will work for that...hmmm...

5 places i love - #5 ephesus

yes, turkey again. i'm in longing mode for turkey. it's brought on by having stayed home this summer and by the tickets i bought for october. 

ephesus is the ruin of all ruins. in my opinion, it's better than the acropolis in athens, tho' what's cool about that is it that it's in the center of a bustling city. ephesus can be quite over-run with tourists, but if you go during the heat of the day, which we always do, the crowds thin out pretty well.

these pix are from our visit 3 years ago, so sabin's pretty little in them. i remember we were trying to potty train her on that trip. she must have been three and a half. she remembers the trip well tho', and is also looking forward to going back.

here, sabin and i are walking along paths once trod upon by john and paul of biblical fame (and probably the beatles were here too at some point). there is even a legend that john brought jesus' mother mary to ephesus. paul wrote that little epistle to the ephesians while he lived here for three years. although i'm not religious, these biblical figures were real, historical people who lived and breathed in this place and i love thinking about that as i walk the stone paths. 

ephesus is very well-preserved, there are temples and an amphitheatre, arches, columns and even a rather large group toilet that's quite amusing. 

i absolutely adore this picture of little sabin, sitting below a statue of sophia, the divine wisdom. one of my favorite moments of the whole vacation that year. sabin's twin sister, who was stillborn, was named sophia, so it's that much more meaningful to me, the notion of the divine wisdom looking down on sabin.  this one is blown up and framed on the wall in our hallway.

ephesus is definitely worth the trip and i've already made a reservation to stay here, at a fantastic chill-out place nearby, where we stayed three years ago as well. we'll be there mid-october if you want to come and hang out.

5 places i love - #1 the northwest coast of turkey

having just bought tickets to istanbul last week on KLMs fab air sale, i am looking very much forward to going there in october. we'll rent a car in istanbul and head almost immediately down our favorite route over the dardanelles past the graves of gallipoli and the remains of ancient troy and winding down the northwest coast to eventually end up near ephesus. but we will definitely stop here along the way:

on the winding road between troy and on down to the bay of edremit the fields are full of ruins. an ancient column here, a crumbling wall there, an arch or two and the evidence of an aqueduct. it's all that remains of alexander troas, a city founded in 310 BC by one of the alexander the great's generals. to drive down the winding roads, encountering this evidence of antiquity left to crumble is a powerful experience. it's magical to imagine living there and farming that land, uncovering a marble column with your tractor now and again. one hot summer day a few years ago, we bought a sweet watermelon and ate it here in the shadow of the arch above. it was most definitely a moment of perfect clarity.

then we drove on to behramkale--site of assos. this is what remains of a great temple to athena built in 530 BC. it sits high on a cliff, overlooking the aegean. the island you can see out in the background is lesbos, which belongs to greece. it is a marvelous spot. if you listen closely to the wind that eternally blows across this place, you can very nearly catch the murmur of the wisdom of aristotle, who lived here for several years.

st. paul also passed through these parts and as you walk among the columns and gaze upon the marvelous view, you feel the weight of history. you have a strong sense of how temporary we are here on this earth. the columns overlooking the aegean have stood for 2500 years and will continue to stand long after we are gone. i love to think of the scenes they have witnessed and to lean my head against them and see if they will whisper some of their stories to me.

i really cannot wait to return in october.