screaming bighead

That's me and my friend Keith. It was his "hmm hmm" birthday party. I don't remember why I was making that face, but I am posting this shot because it's very unusual that I allow myself to be photographed without a pose....I think Gilly (Keith's wife) got this shot on the sly.

sweaty big head in front of Angkor Wat

When I was 9 or 10 I was obsessed with the family copy of Strange Stories Amazing Facts , this book put out by Reader's Digest. I read it forward and backwards, it was my Bible, I got it all manky and ruffled from so much poring over it. It was all about world history and the oddments of civilization, perfect for a history geek like me. From it I developed a yearning to travel and see places like Hay-on-Wye in Wales, Versailles, Venice, Stonehenge, Loch Ness, Karnak, Abu Simbel, Angkor Wat, Ephesus and Petra. So far I only have Petra left on the list.

I'm so freaking lucky. I always wanted to see those places, but never in a million years thought I would. Yet somehow things worked out so that I could. Damn. Amazing. And Strange.

Angkor was astounding, life changing, and I get to go again over Christmas.

when a bighead pic goes wrong

Party time!, originally uploaded by karlakp.

This picture of me and Grant is an example of abject failure as applied to bighead photography. The general idea is to get the heads INTO the picture.

OK, yes, we were drunk.

Arctic Russian bighead with Swedish flag

I was lucky enough to get to join in on a geological study trip to Svalbard, in the Norwegian Arctic. It was the trip of a lifetime, and I will never forget it. (Plus i celebrated my 40th b day there!) The thing that made this experience beyond special was the people, my coworkers.
This is my very sweet Russian coworker Evelyne, in front of the Swedish flag. (The boat we traveled on was of Swedish register.)
She always has a smile on her face, I've never quite met anyone with her golden sunny view of the world. She shoots the idea of the dour Russian straight to hell. Here's to Evelyne's big smiley head!

big head little Norwegian lake

My big head in front of the Semsvannet in Norway. The lake is really quite large, quite gorgeous and one of my favorite places in the world. I walk around it frequently. See the tiny cow in the background? The cows there all wear cow bells. It feels so damned European, you know?

FYI I am wearing my Barton Creek Golf baseball cap and my beer Lao t-shirt.

Big head small coliseum

Here's my friend David in Rome, sticking his big head into an otherwise lovely shot of the Coliseum. Cheeky monkey (he's British, they talk like that) had to sneak in the book just to make sure everyone knows how FABULOUS he is to be in Rome. Like, ok, I haven't been there yet, but am I bitter about it?

Yeah. Maybe a little.

Cheeky English git.

Neuschwangrant

Neuschwangrant, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Big Grant, little castle. Neuschwanstein, March 2008

big head Lee

There's Lee's big ol' Texas head.