When you blink your eyes...

One of the big reasons I actually decided to travel to Turkey in the first place was to run the Istanbul Marathon. I had only done a half marathon in the past and wasn't sure if I was actually ready for it but I decided months ago I was going to do everything I could to finish. I trained relatively well, going up to 18 miles 2 weeks prior to the race. I wish I had gotten in more miles during the week, but I did alright. A week before the race I strained my achilles tendons slightly carrying heavy boxes down a flight of stairs so I decided to just rest my legs until the race. I knew it was going to be tough jumping from 18 to 26 miles going in.

I thought I'd be able to register at the last minute but once I finally did the website said the registration had already closed on September 30. I decided I was going to try to run in the race even without a number but luckily they did allow me to register the day before and get a packet.

I also planned on carrying a small camera with me while running. I got the Canon S95 that had just been released before I left. I was hoping I wouldn't regret having it on the the whole time. It turned out to work great. The little running pouch I had could carry a few gels and and the camera without bouncing.

The night before the race I could hardly get to sleep at all, probably 3-4 hours max. It was the same factors as the previous night, hard small bed, thick blanket and hot temperatures, outside noise, etc. On top of that just thinking about the fact that I was going to try to run farther than I ever had in my life on less than adequate sleep in a foreign country and were my legs actually healed enough to run. Somehow I finally went to sleep. I woke up at 5:30 the next morning, we were to leave the hotel at 6:30am for a bus that would leave at 7am for the race.

Once I got all my running gear on I felt pretty good. My legs definitely felt as good as they could feel under the circumstances. However, I didn't get my usual oatmeal breakfast that morning, just some random fruit and juice and some cliff bars. Also, the night before I didn't get the spaghetti dinner I would have preferred to get. The bus came just before 7am and we rode to the Asian part of Istanbul. They say this is the only marathon in the world that goes across continents. This was my first time every being in Asia, within hours of being in Asia I would be running over 26 miles back into Europe potentially doing permanent bodily injury to myself. Fortunately, for several reasons the end of the race was right by where the hotel was located.

Here's a map of the race:

I felt pretty good up until about 16-17 miles. The lack of sleep and energy started to catch up with me. They didn't seem to have quite enough water stops. Also, instead of gatorade or gels they just had sugar cubes. I called it the "ghetto gu", gu is the common gel you usually see around. From mile 20-26 it was basically pain for an hour or so. I was running/walking along the side of the Marmara Sea. I thought about quitting a few times at the very end but I decided the fastest way back to the hotel was just to keep going towards the finish.

At about 34km or so I saw a guy walk/running near me. I wanted to finish before 5 hours and we weren't sure if that was the deadline or something. I started talking to him and asked him if he also wanted to finish, he said yes but he was in pain. So I said, if you do it I'll do it and he agreed. I told him I was from New York, and he kind of laughed a little when he said he was from the Gaza Strip in Palestine, his name was Mohammed. We kept pushing each other to run further and finish. However, he had to drop out at probably about 39km, he thought that if he didn't make it before 5 hours it wouldn't count. However, it turned to be 5 hours and 30, which I did end up beating. I just knew I was going to finish no matter what.

. Walking back, some guy stopped me and said he had just seen me on the local news. He said something about me waving to a guy with a camera which I do remember. I never saw it though. Luckily my legs feel great now a few days after. No permanant damage to my body and I'm so glad I did the race. That last 1-2 hours of the race was just very hard, I knew it would be going into it

On Saturday, I finally catch up a bit with some sleep. However, the rooms were hot and blankets way to thick. With the windows open and our close proximity to the minarets of the Blue Mosque, the Adhan call at 6am definitely helps you wake up a bit earlier than expected. I didn't actually know it was called an Adhan, I looked it up on Wikipedia just now. But it commonly has happened every where we've been so far. I actually really like the sound of the chanting from the speakers for some reason. The speakers are kind of lo-fi sounding, and the chanting sounds very emphatic. Sometimes it makes me think of the vocals from the songs of the rock band Lightning Bolt. If I would not have gone to Turkey I would have gone to see them play in Brooklyn actually during the same time.

Just before getting on the flight on Thursday I had sent an email to the travel agent that we get a guide for the Saturday in Istanbul. The time there was very short and I was hoping he could help us get more out of what we were seeing and maybe cover more ground. He was very knowledgeable and reminded me of my friend Muzaffer from New York, also from Istanbul. His name was Selahattin Erman and he was 66 years old. He said he had been a guide in Istanbul since he got out of school as a kid. He started out a bit slow for some of my traveling partners but once he started explaining the details of the Hagia Sophia and Topkopi Palace the information he provided proved to be pretty informative. The area our hotel was in Sultanahhumet was very convenient to see several of the main initial attractions of Istanbul. As the time in Istanbul went along I realized how vast the city was and knew I would never be able to get a grasp of what it was all about within the few short days I was there.

Hagia Sophia was the first stop and probably the one I enjoyed the most. The way it showed the clash of histories between Christianity and Islam in such grand detail was fascinating. It was quite beautiful on its own but the backstory behind it all as well as how modern Istanbul stopped using it as a Mosque and allow anyone to come visit says a lot about Turkey in comparison to other Islamic countries. This has a lot to do with the fact that Turkey does not have a state religion like most (maybe all) other Islamic countries.

The next stop was the Basilica Cistern. It was pretty interesting, worth a quick look in. Its where the water would end up from the aqueducts around the city. The interesting parts to look at are the way all the columns inside that supporting the ceilings are from the many different places that the Byzantine Empire had conqured at the time, around 6AD. Also, pretty cool that it was used in From Russia With Love in 1963.

The third and final stop we had the guide explain to us was Topkapi Palace. Overall, worth a trip in. A bit dry at times, also I was still a bit low on sleep but It shed some light on several points about how the Sultan setup worked. I was fascinated by the fact that the Sultans were actually not of Turkish descent, but usually from other places around the Empire.

Our guide, Selahattin explaining something to my friend Justin walking around Topkapi Palace.

I'm actually finishing writing this from Day 6 of the trip, haven't had any time to put these up online but wanted to try to catch up on a few while I have a bit of time this morning.

I barely made the connecting flight from Paris to Istanbul as the NYC flight was late, but I ran through the airport and saw my friends boarding and was able to get on. However, my bag missed the flight. It was delivered to the hotel successfully later that evening so all was good.

We had a van driver for our group picking us up. He spoke no English at all. The hotel we had booked was called "The Blue House Hotel", very close to The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, etc. It was raining as we drove in but I could see some large freight ships on the sea of Marmara as we came in. The hotel was pretty decent overall. Good location, but the beds were a bit small and rooms were too warm at night. When I first got in I had no idea how vast Istanbul was, I still don't but have a better idea. I did realize that the population of Istanbul is around 16 million which is twice the population of New York City, however that is not including the full new york metro area and Istanbul is 4 times as large area wise, but still Istanbul is massive.

The half day were were at the hotel after getting in we were already too late too see much and I was super exhausted from not sleeping for 30-40 hours. We walked around to a bar around the corner for a few of the local Efes beers which they have everywhere. Its really just a mediocre beer, drinkable but probably not better than Budweiser or something like that.

Someone in the group wanted to go to this restaurant Asitane which turned out to be a pretty long cab ride away as we found it was the worse rush hour time of the day driving along the Bosporus to the neighborhood the restaurant was in. I was very groggy from lack of sleep but did my best to push through it and just sleep after dinner. I was thinking we may be underdressed to go in as it sounded like a more formal type of place, but it was fine. The food here was excellent. The menu was supposed to be all authentic meals from recipes eaten by Sultans of the Ottoman empire. I ordered a lamb shank served over mashed potatoes inside of a pastry bowl shell, it was excellent.

After the meal, the ride back was much faster and a good thing since I was exhausted. Some other people went out but I went back to the room and crashed.

I was going to take the A train to JFK but as usual I was packing up until the last minute. Taking a taxi now just went over the tri borough. Hopefully the traffic isn't crazy. The taxi driver has a thick middle eastern accent and thick odor. I'm pretty sure he's not from Turkey, trying to think of exactly what a Turkish accent sounds like anyway.

Riding the back roads through queens. He says we make it there in less than 30 mins now, that will put me 2 hours before the flight, should be fine.

I'm excited about the trip also just kind of mentally exhausted from the work I've been doing lately. Almost more excited about not having to think about that for awhile than going to Turkey. But I have a feeling this trip will be great. Longest vacation I've had in a few years.

Embarquement prevu a 18H15. Ate a microwave pizza and a 20oz Sam Adams. The waitress was a very kind older woman she she reminded me kindness is contagious.

I paid a little bit extra for a seat that had an entire seat taken out in front of it. Almost too much leg room. However, still couldn't sleep on the flight to Paris in spite of this, could not get comfortable.

More to come soon...

First aerial video capture attempt with the iphone 4 of Manhattan after a take-off from Newark.

A few more 5 minute sketches I did today.

My sister told me about this 7" split EP from Andrew Cedermark and The Family portrait probably 3-4 months ago or something.

I listened to it on repeat 100s of times, a great feel to it. I just searched for The Family Portrait to see if they have anything else out. All I could find was a myspace page but their are some other quality tracks on it. They kind of have a retro/lo-fi/garage/poppy feel to them. Its loose and fun, but not too sugary. The track names "Mega Secrets" and "Super Cool" were perfect. Andrew Cedermark was very good as well, the 2 Family Portrait tracks seemed to spend more time on repeat for whatever reason.

Here are a few sketches I've done in the last month at figure drawing sessions that are each done in 5 minutes or less.

I was reading the text in this Klimt Drawings and Watercolors book earlier today and found it interesting when they talked about how quickly and carelessly many of them were done, not worrying about if they looked childish or imperfect. I realized I felt I liked my results when I drew quickly, but with at least enough time to partially concentrate on some details. Five minutes seemed to be a good length because it forces you to make a decision about what to emphasize and you have enough time to add partial detail.

I saw these 2 early Schiele and Klimt drawings in the hallway at the met where they often change out drawings and etchings from their collection. I forgot the date, but I liked both, just assumed they were earlier works. I saw them after the Picasso exhibit, they were probably put up because of the loose, seemingly carefree drawings and etchings from Picasso.