The Sign Says...

Travelling through the Scottish country-side. October, 2010.

Wedding Day.

Wedding Day.

At noon it rains

Those movements that brought life to earth

Those movements that instill

The "Monkey Puzzle Tree,"

Hydrangeas like archaic pom-poms,

Symbiotic Ivy clutching stone.

I sit indoors pressing my hand into the glass

I can hear the cold

I can feel the fog thickening

Where a schooner skirts the coast

A short walk from where I witness

Its three lights, a triangle.

Each time I look up

I want it so badly to not move

Each time I look up

It remains there, inside the cove, comforting.

From now on, I am not alone.

Oct. 26th, 2010.

-M.C.

Hatred is a family value.

"Die All (big rig) Truck Drivers."

Zephyrhills, Florida. March 2010. Photo by M.C..

Isabel, is a bell.

#1

"Me, I myself ending

I'm just a mime

a silent entertainer

remove my makeup"

#2

Isabel, is a bell.

What you want isabel?

Is a bell what you want?

They say life, Isabel, is a bell.

Isabel, life is a bell.

Scrawled in blue ink on a yellow wall in a bathroom in Tampa.

November, 10th. 2010.

Morality and Responsibility.

"Humans themselves are the source of good and evil, I thought. We must think for ourselves; we are responsible for our own morality. I arrived at the conclusion that I couldn't be honest with others unless i was honest with myself. i wanted to comply with the goals of religion, which are to be a better and more generous person, without suppressing my will and forcing it to obey inhuman rules. I would no longer lie, to myself or others. I had had enough of lying. I was no longer afraid of the Hereafter."

--Ayaan Hirsi Ali-- (excerpt)

Isle of Skye: Then and Now.

View down from the "Old Man of Storr." May, 2005

View down from the "Old Man of Storr." October 27th, 2010.

Scotland Vignettes.

A man walks by me in Glasgow, he's completely covered in clothing less his knuckles that fall out of the sleeve of his jacket. Tattooed across his digits in faded ink is the word "hate."
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The average life span of a man born in the East end of Glasgow: 54.

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A couple days before we arrive in Skye, A Royal Navy Nuclear submarine beaches itself on some rocks a stone's throw away from the Skye Bridge. The locals tell us there's rumor of five Russian subs circling the Island.
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A young boy climbs on top of an electrical box. In a thick Scottish accent he chants "I'm on top of the castle, you're the dirty apple."
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The Chef at a restaurant in Portree tells this story:
"When I was in the Royal Navy, I worked with a man that happened to be on board a ship during a US convoy mission. One night, the vice admiral spotted a light in the distance."

The Vice Admiral gave a warning: 'To you at -- cordinates, please move your ship.'
The unidentified light: 'I will not.'
Vice Admiral: 'If you will not move we will be forced to take action.'
The light: 'We won't move.'
Vice Admiral: 'I'm giving you ten minutes to retreat.'
The light: 'Go ahead. I'm not going anywhere. We're a light house.'"

Cycling as Therapy...

"So I began cycling three times a week to my Dutch class at Midlands College in Ede. The leaves were turning, I remember, and I felt so happy riding my bicycle through the forest, with a sense of purpose and an overpowering impression of good fortune."

Ayaan Hirsi Ali--Experiences of a Somali refugee in the Netherlands.