My mom took this photo in Miyajima, an island off the coast of Hiroshima. She traveled there on New Year's Day, 1965.Unlike many Asian countries, Japan celebrates the new year on January 1 of the Gregorian calendar (this practice started in the 1870s when Japan stopped … [Read more...]

I've been watching New Year celebrations around the world on t.v. as I wait out the last five hours of 2010 in balmy Chicago. (Yes, that's right; we reached 60 degrees Fahrenheit today.)As I'm prone to do on major holidays, I like to think about where I spent the New Year in … [Read more...]

When I lived in Asia, I just loved dining al fresco. There was something about a sub-tropical climate that lent itself more to dining outdoors than somewhere like Chicago, where I live now.So my heart skipped a beat when I found this slide among dozens my mom took at the … [Read more...]

I've probably scanned about 600 slides and have 300-400 more to go. Since the rest of the boxes are actually marked (all from Japan), I've probably scanned the entire lot my mom took in Cambodia.Before I embarked on this grand project, I imagined finding slides of noir Hong … [Read more...]

Happy Boxing Day to those who celebrate it in Great Britain and Commonwealth countries (plus Austria).Although this photo has nothing to do with Boxing Day, it's a fun shot my mom took in London during the summer of 1967.Because without London, there'd be no Boxing … [Read more...]