Insta-spiration

Who am I following on Instagram, you ask?  (Okay fine, you didn’t ask, but I’m going to tell you anyways.) You should check out these photographers I’ve discovered.  Some of them have blogs and websites you can also get lost in.  It’s like moving picture books for adults with ADHD!

I love Nicole Franzen’s Instagram.  Perhaps ironically, I’ve been receiving emails of her photo blog for months and had no idea it was the same person until I fell into an Internet rabbit hole the other day.  You’d think the connection would have been obvious, but the blog in the email is just called La Buena Vida.  Check them out, but prepare to salivate and want to plan your next exotic trip.  P.S. She has 74K followers, so clearly I am late to hop on the bandwagon.

I am just one of VuTheara Kham’s 602K followers.  602K.  NBD.  (Mom, that means “no big deal.”)  His stuff is primarily of Paris and given my love of all things Paris, it’s pretty much a given I’d be obsessed.  However, his photographs are awesome, regardless whether you’re a francophile.

I also follow Cindy Loughridge (whose Instagram photos are iPhone only), Rick Poon, and Gary Pepper (bitch gets around, literally, her life will make you jealous).

Sorry for the lack of photographs.  I would have included the aforementioned people’s photos, but alas, I wish to avoid infringing on copyrights.  And on that note. . .

© Sarah Milstein 2014

 

 

 

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Inside Alcatraz Prison

The contrast between the beautiful views outside the prison gates, and the tiny 5′ x 7′ cells prisoners were relegated to on Alcatraz is unsettling.  Right when you enter the former federal prison, you step into a room with a giant communal shower which feels like it’s straight out of a concentration camp.  Each tourist is issued a set of headphones and is guided by the voices of former prison guards and inmates around the prison cells, through the library, and warden’s office.

Want to know which cells the Anglin brothers lived in prior to their escape?  Listen in and you’ll find out.  If you do the night tour, there are a few lectures you can attend after walking around the prison.  We learned about John Paul Scott’s* “successful” escape – he swam all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, passed out from hypothermia and woke up less than 24-hours later in the Alcatraz prison infirmary.  I couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy.

Jude and I attempted to explore an area on our own after the lecture ended, and  I completely freaked out.  I don’t care if it’s haunted or not, I had the heebie-jeebies (yes, a technical term) and gave Jude a good laugh.

*During the lecture, we learned that Scott had tried to escape alone.  According to Wikipedia (clearly, a reliable source), Scott tried to escape with Darl Lee Parker.

© Sarah Milstein 2014