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Art
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By Todd Berman and Lauren Girardin
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Tue, November 11, 2008 |
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 Mount Nemrut, Turkey | Art by Todd Berman Hi Frannie -
Thank you so much for contributing to our travel fund. This postcard is just a small token of our gratitude...
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 played high-speed catch up in a car with another traveler, Marilyn.
Lucky for us, Marilyn is an ideal road trip companion. She's fascinating – about our parents' age, she spent several profitable years working as a nurse in Dubai, then moved back to Canada where she bought a house that she rents out part of each year to fund her travels abroad. She also has a lot to share – she's embraced a life of adventure and optimism that Todd and I are ourselves in search of.
By the time the driver drops us off at the night's hotel, Todd, Marilyn and I have passively covered hundreds of miles, seeing very little besides what passes for landscape in central Turkey: dust clouds, parched hillsides, smoke from field burns, and organized rows of olive and pistachio groves.
The next morning, we leave the hotel at the pitch dark hour of 3:30 am so we can hike to the top of Mount Nemrut for sunrise. Dawn is gorgeous and cold, and the monumental, egotistical statues atop the mountain are intriguing. None the less, Todd and I decide to avoid dawn activities for a while.
XOXO
- Lauren + Todd
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Art
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By Todd Berman and Lauren Girardin
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Fri, November 7, 2008 |
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 Blue Mosque Under Spirograph Skies, Istanbul, Turkey | Art by Todd Berman Hi Mom, Dad, Bri, Mike & Gram -
I think we've been traveling too long. Todd and I have gotten too used it being just us two. It's our last morning at our hostel in Istanbul and a politely ballsy woman asks to sit with us at breakfast. Even though neither Todd or I are morning people, we manage to have an interesting conversation with Valerie, a smart Québécois who has spent the last two years in Paris earning her Masters in international relations.
After breakfast, while Todd heads off to try to rescue our laundry from the shop that's been holding it hostage, Valerie asks me if she can tag along with us on our last day explorations of Istanbul. I hesitate. I make excuses. I'm non-committal.
A few minutes later, Todd returns triumphant with our cleaned unmentionables. As I'm folding socks and repacking my bag, my brain snarls at me "What's wrong with you? That nice woman, traveling on her own, wanted some company and you brushed her off. Go be a human being."
Later, after we've skipped aimlessly along the Bosphorus on local ferries and before we slip out of our shoes to strain our necks looking up at the Blue Mosque's dome, Valerie thanks us for inviting her to join us saying, "I've gotten so tired of myself." Todd replies, "That's okay. We're tired of ourselves –" and I quickly add "and each other too!"
XOXO
- Lauren + Todd
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Art
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By Todd Berman
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Mon, November 3, 2008 |
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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 that everyone makes such interesting requests. To commission me to make you a drawing from the world, click here.
Here it is, Stinky, online and very soon, in your hands:
 Surreal Cappadocia, mixed media on paper, 8" x 10" | Art by Todd Berman
(Faithful email and RSS readers, please visit www.ephemerratic.com to read the rest of the dispatch. Full feeds appear impossible.)
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 Click to read the rest of the article or comment...
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Art
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By Lauren Girardin and Todd Berman
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Sat, October 25, 2008 |
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 Postcard: Eiffel Tower sunset from St. Mande, Paris | Art by Todd Berman Hi Scott, Stephanie, Leilani + Talia -
We spend our first day in Paris brain dead in the spectacular St. Mande home of Claude and Jacqueline, long-time friends of Todd's parents, grazing on a dozen French cheeses and reading Calvin + Hobbes. We follow it with an afternoon of mundane errands (when we used the metro tickets you gave us – thank you!). We waste a perfect, blue-sky morning fighting in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
These are all things we have not had time for in a while. It's a welcome change of pace.
Two and a half months in, we've been on the global road longer than either of us have traveled before. The hardest part has been giving up those lazy Sunday afternoons when we'd brunch at the divy Red Cafe, then return home to sprawl on the couch, read the paper, and watch a bad movie.
We get a taste of the leisurely parts of our on-hold life during a sleepover at Benjamin's, Claude and Jacqueline's son and Todd's childhood friend. While I lounge around with Benjamin and the vino-cultured Jean-Andre, Todd cooks up classic American brunch dishes like French toast and daring ones like saucisse lapin with an endive and wild mushroom saute.
Later, Todd realizes that he'd mistakenly pronounced it "saucisse la pine" at the market. Hopefully the butcher did not take Todd's mangled French literally, giving him sausage made of rabbit (lapin) instead of what he asked for: penis.
XOXO
- Lauren + Todd
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Art
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By Todd Berman
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Wed, October 15, 2008 |
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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 to see the works of the mad genius, Antoni Gaudí, in person in Barcelona.
Lauren and I soaked up the enthusiasm of our personal architect, the Baroness. She "oohed" and pointed as we "ahhed" and gaped all through Parc Güell, La Sagrada Familia, and down the Passeig de Gracia. The Baroness made extra sure that I would study Gaudi's architectural forms closely by commissioning me to draw her a picture based on his works.
It's easy and affordable for anyone to commission art. Here's how.
Here is your drawing, Baroness, both online and in the mail:
 Gaudi Gaudi, mixed media on paper, 8" x 10" | Art by Todd Berman
(Faithful email and RSS readers, please visit www.ephemerratic.com to read the rest of the dispatch. Full feeds appear impossible.)
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