“I want to be an artist.”
“What kind of art do you want to make?”
“I want to make different versions of myself.”
We talked for a few minutes. She told me that she’d had a plan to join the Navy out of high school, but that fell apart because her knees were bad. She told me that she’d just finished working a 12 hour shift on a food truck. She told me that she’d moved to New York for no reason, just to get out of Kansas. “But I’m so glad I came,” she said.
“Why’s that?” I asked. Her eyes began to water.
“Because I’m so in love with a girl right now.”
Seen in Washington Square Park
“My town in Colombia is very beautiful. I don’t travel because I want to leave my home. I travel because I need to know why I’m staying.”
“I never married.”
“Why not?”
“Because you didn’t come along until today.”
After I took her photo, she stuck her cheek out for a kiss. After I gave her one, she said: “Isn’t love great?”
“Yes it is,” I replied. Then she leaned in and said:
“But sex is better.”
(via dopecinema)
“She’s compassionate.”
“Tell me about a time she was compassionate.”
He took a couple minutes, then said, haltingly: “It’s not about a time. She’s compassionate toward who I am. Every time.”
“When my husband was dying, I said: ‘Moe, how am I supposed to live without you?’ He told me: ‘Take the love you have for me and spread it around.’”
Seen in Chelsea
The Dance Lesson
Seen in Union Square.
“It’s my book of thoughts.”
Seen in Lower Midtown.
Seen in Tehran, Iran.
Mahmoud was my driver during my time in Shiraz. Perhaps the most colorful man I’ve ever met. He speaks English in simple phrases, which always involve his name, such as “Mahmoud happy” or “Mahmoud love.” Often he just says “Mahmoud,” then points at me, and places his hands over his heart.
He is the most hospitable man I’ve ever met. If I needed to cross the street, Mahmoud became a crossing guard. He would not let me open my own car door, or my own bottle of water. At one time or another, it seemed that he offered to give me everything he owned. I once made the mistake of accepting his offer of cologne, then got sprayed eight times.
My fondest memory of Mahmoud was yesterday when we laid down to rest in a garden. Mahmoud had carefully prepared two beds using mats and blankets. I couldn’t fall asleep, so I decided to let Mahmoud rest, and went for a short walk by the river. When I looked back, Mahmoud had woken up, folded up both the beds, and was running to accompany me.
(Shiraz, Iran)
