Welcome to Abu Halen.

If you listen real heard, you can actually hear the good times roll. Or at least limp. Maybe crawl.

The Good Ol' Days in Saudi Arabia

Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia; Sep 2013

This is one of my favorite pictures for some reason. Maybe it's because Grace looks like she's the band's lead singer, since only the lead singer gets to look at the camera. And Violet is like the drummer, because drummers are too dumb to know that they don't get to look at the camera.

Or maybe it's because I know why Savannah and Shannon are looking off to their right. We were at a lookout point, and per Saudi policy there was insufficient railing in place to keep visitors away from the precipice. And as I was shooting the girls, Halen was sauntering up to the edge and saying something dumb like, "Look at me! I'm gonna die!" Savannah is smirking, because it wouldn't have bothered her that much if Halen had plummeted to his doom. Shannon is half-heartedly warning Halen away from the drop off, but even she isn't 100% behind saving Halen, since she'd already spent 8+ hours in the car with him on this particular trip.

You know, Saudi Arabia wasn't a bad place to live, if you're me. But I'm not allowed to miss it. Whenever I tell somebody that I actually rather liked Saudi, they say something like, "Well, sure, but you're not a woman." That's true. Being a dude made it a lot easier to live there and enjoy it. And I didn't enjoy Saudi Arabia because of its cultural and political attitudes toward women. I just thought it was a kind of fun and interesting place. I think that should be allowed. And also, drummers should be allowed to look at the camera.

The World is Perfect, Don't Mess It Up (or, "Is There Such Thing As Too Many Tacos?")

Sweet, Entitled Brats, jk: Swimming Pools and Childhood