The only glass plate negative I’ve seen was a magnificent one. My dad is Chilean, so on his 50th birthday we returned to his ranch home in the lake district, coming back to a country he hadn’t seen since he was 15. One of the places we visited was the farm home of my aunt’s boyfriend, a man she’d left behind who apparently never got over her. He and his wife had a rotting but beautiful old Victorian home in the country, with a barn full of piglets that my teenage self couldn’t get enough of. At night they let the single iron stove heater die out, so my other clear memory is of piling under dozens of blankets against the cold–an inverted princess and the pea.

Hanging around the living room one night, the farmer pulled out a box of little treasures that a missionary from England had left at his country church long ago. Tucked in with letters and idols was a perfect glass negative of the Titanic leaving port. Can you imagine?

The dark marks showed the Titanic in the first moments of it’s movement away from the dock. It wasn’t chipped or faded at all, about the size of a playing card and the thickness of a coaster, kept perfect by a man who traveled to rural Chile from England, and then passed around by the church caretakers. When we asked what he would do with it, he said it would always belong to the church, and someone would take care of it after him.

Russian photo link via @mikebarish, who has lots of good travel tweets.

That Zach Braff 2.0 line is from Hipster Runoff, which analyzes the hipster points of the movie. I don’t know what it is, but Maya Rudolf’s face always looks weird to me. It’s another movie by Dave Eggers (Where the Wild Things Are is also written/adapted by him). Do I want to watch a movie about babies where strollers take up an entire scene? Not sure. But that John Krasinski is cute!

By the looks of it, they throw amazing weddings with fantastic party favors. All photos: Sapex. Each photo is linked so you can check out the rest of the party. I love Flickr!

I don’t know how you Australians from six different cities found my blog, but I’d love to see your blogs. Especially anything about Melbourne. Someday, oh someday, I will live in Melbourne. Anyone know how to get a job and work visa down there? And get a cat in?

In semi-related news, I’m starting to take scuba lessons again. I’ve been certified since I was 15 (in Fiji! Heck yes!), but I haven’t been diving since Sorrento, Italy two years ago (tough life, I know) so I’m rusty. Perhaps I should run away to Australia and learn there. Every dive shop I’ve ever been in had an Aussie working there. And they’re usually quite cute. And women Australians travel alone more than any other nationalities I’ve encountered, which I respect and admire. These may be my people!

Another one from The Big Picture, of a Tibetan tradition of sticking out her tongue in greeting. How fun is that!

According to the LA Times, the tradition comes from a 9th century king who was a nasty guy and had a black tongue (not sure what would cause that?!). The unusual tongue color came to be associated with an evil heart, and eventually a sign of a demon in human form. Though less common today, Tibetans occasionally still use this greeting.

Between that video and this picture, I’d say we successfully documented our trip.

AND my camera arrived.

AND I’m going swimsuit shopping at this custom vintage style shop Popina! It’s so overdue. Maybe a cute one piece?

Though I’m also smitten by the idea of a little skirt number. My booty may be too big for that, though.

And I learned once you have an Israeli stamp in your passport, you can’t go into the rest of the Middle East. Only Jordan and Egypt will have you, for fear of terrorists. Oh well.

So, tonight I get home and both camel places have responded. Prompt camel wranglers–that seems good.

#1.) Hi there
You can choose of 2 options in the Sinai: the high range area or the sand
stone. A private tour for 2 will cost 390$ in total per day. There is an
option in the Eilat Mts as well but not as good as the Sinai Let me know

Best regards:
Erez Herrnstadt

But the second one is even better.

It’s just a bunch of photos, in two emails, with this text:

Hiking with backpacks through the magnificent Red Granite Mountains of Sinai’s High Range is an experience of a lifetime. Explore the beautiful ancient monasteries, Bedouin gardens, orchards, oasis, waterfalls and rock pools, accessible only by foot. Enjoy the incredible panoramic views of the High Range, which span the whole of the Sinai Peninsula, to the mountains of North Africa, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba and to Northern Saudi Arabia. Climbing to the summits of mountains such as Mt. Catherine, Mt. Sinai and Jabel Bab.
The hiking difficulty can be eased by using camels to carry our camping equipment and other supplies, these will meet us each evening at the days camping spot. This way we carry in our packs only what is necessary for the day’s hike.

I shall name him Honk the camel

The Sinai range

Saddle up

Pomegranites! Makes me think of Persephone.

How can that not chafe?

Now, forgive me, do these guys look like total stoners?Am I right?I am right.