Graffiti in Egypt — several temples have been tagged by European visitors in the early to mid 19th century. The oldest I saw was at Abu Simbel, dated 1802. That’s all the way at the Sudan border on the southern frontier of the country, so I guess if you could get there in 1802/1816/1853 you’d want to add your name to the eternal record. Of course the early Christians had a habit of chipping off the faces of any ancient Egyptian deities they found, and a few wrote some pretty elaborate stuff on the wall of Ramses IV’s tomb.
The Great Pyramids— When we went to Egypt in November, we visited the pyramids on our first full day on the ground. We had already received a crash course in what to expect from Cairo the night before: tons of people, tricky navigation, and general chaos. The first photos here show the pyramid complex more or less as I had always seen them presented: remote monoliths with a handful of people and camels milling around. You can get that angle if you really hunt for it. The last four slides show the reality of visiting, made even more ridiculous by our attempt to squish ourselves out of the “locals” gate, then into the building across the street. Turns out the internet was right: the best view of the sphinx and the pyramids is from a combination Pizza Hut/KFC run by bored teenagers willing to let you onto the roof for 50 Egyptian pounds.
YEAR IN REVIEW — some moments I will remember for a long time:
1. Snow in Pensacola, and a shitload of it— something I never in a million years would have expected to see
2. Getting crunchatized at Pensacon
3. My absolute favorite sweater, bespoke by @kimasauraus
4. Fondue next to a canal in Annecy on a wet afternoon
5. Mission Impossible in a French cinema
6. Wedding at a jaw-droppingly beautiful Provence vineyard with the dang woman of my dreams
7. Ricard in Marseille at sunset
8. In disguise to spy on @racheldoesotherstuff
9. Private solo and ensemble
10. Blue Angels never disappoint
11. Beaver time at Dragoncon
12. The most New Orleans moment I have ever witnessed— a tamale vendor in the gigantic sombrero serenades a drunk lying on the street in front of Lafitte’s while ghost tour patrons and a daguerreotype photographer look on
13. Cover show at Halloween
14. Went through some serious shit to get this photo of the great pyramid from a Pizza Hut
15. Hanging out with the coolest guy in the Aswan Nubian village
16. Sunset from the Nile
17. Karnak, the largest temple in the Middle East, at golden hour
18. Going deep into Cairo’s 800 year old spice market
19. NBD, just the most famous artifact in history
20. Mike
