DISQUS

I take all my vacation time every year, but rarely do any significant travel. Mostly, I just visit places within a few hours drive of home (Philly) -- places like Baltimore, Manhattan, the Poconos, Lancaster, etc. For instance, a couple years ago, we had a great time biking and rafting the Lehigh River Gorge.

I also love checking out interesting architecture. I've been wanting to make it out to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters for years now. To this point, the only Wright design I've been in is the Guggenheim.

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3396910937_289f98a1c1.jpg" width="400" alt="Penmanship"></img>

I stop by Crane & Co. in King of Prussia once in a blue moon (though, when I'm lucky, I might also come across Crane paper at a Barnes and Noble). The Crane thing has been a ritual for years. I don't write as many letters as I used to, so a couple visits a year to the store is all I need -- which probably helps explain why normal stores won't keep that stuff in inventory.

I'm with Chris and you, Colin. As the proprietor of a less well-traveled site, I hardly have cause to hide from the trolls.

That said, I also know how many comment-worthy items I come across. Even if I intended to blog about them (or tweet, for that matter), I'd get sidetracked before I got my next chance. Commenting is so much easier, at least when I have the time to add something non-trollish ;)

Thanks for the mention.

It's not entirely in haiku, but pretty close. It's just a way to keep myself from going on and on.

I had heard of a ratio like this before, but (apparently like a lot of people) I had never really given it much thought when evaluating a meteorologist's performance. I suppose most of us would rather have someone to blame when things to go as we expect.

That said, I do like the idea of rating the coming snowfall, rather than predicting in inches -- but I'm fairly certain even that would result in complaints from the peanut gallery.

Jessica - thanks. I have surprisingly few of myself to resurrect the past, but this one has been a prominent one for me.

Heather - as I recall, Tarzan was a definite influence on me at the time of this particular photo. ;)

I've come to accept that other people in these situations often fall under the heading of collateral damage. It's rarely intentional.

I think I just maxed out on the voting (using both the online and the text voting, so don't tell anyone)

It'd be good to see Burrell get a little recognition after all these years of dealing with us ;)

thanks so much. it was a really good day.

Thank you, Heather.

Now that I think about it, it actually reminds me of the movie Dogma, where God was disguised as a homeless guy on the Atlantic City boardwalk.

It was easy once the image got planted in my head, courtesy of you ;)

Tangentially, I've always enjoyed poetry where line-ending words are spelled the same but not pronounced so. That may have fueled the word choice a little.

I was in Baltimore for a few days last summer, during which I spent a few hours in the aquarium. The number of people who knock on the glass right after being told not to amazed me. If this person (and his/her cat) are dealing with anything like that phenomenon, they have my sympathy ;)

That's just what I was trying to portray.

I've had this type of thought running through my head for ages now, but it was just the other day I had a conversation with a friend who emphasized how her boss at work was all about appearances. In the business world, I get that appearances can be meaningful, but in any facet of life it's possible to go way overboard worrying about how things look (as opposed to how they really are).

I was reminded of it again when reading a news item about a family that sued because because their teenage daughter died after having liposuction. Of course, I assumed the teenage daughter must have been morbidly obese for them to pursue this option, but instead she was an athletic girl apparently trying to avoid gaining her "freshman 15." I can't believe we've come to a point where people are so fixated on appearances that they'll undertake surgery to correct relatively minor issues.

I think we sometimes get drunk on the empty notion that improving appearances will make a meaningful difference in our lives when what we really need is a change beneath the surface - even if the change is simply to learn to accept ourselves.

PJ - exactly. I like that story, too.

Qazse - thanks. That line was kind of the jumping off point for the poem - it only took me a few days to settle on a word ("introspectors") that apparently doesn't exist.

Sometimes I just can't believe that we, as a society, get off on being so blind to our own mannerisms and faults. Even when those mannerisms are pointed out and obvious, we don't counter by changing anything about ourselves, but rather by attacking the observers as traitors to our delusions. Odd. And sad.

Agreed.

Someone (famous, I think) once said that when you're handed a gift, you are also handed a whip. The whip is for self-flagellation only.

I've always liked that. I find that I get lost most easily when I focus solely on improving people and things that aren't me ;)

Thank you. It's high praise indeed when you surface to compliment my minor poetry ;)

I was thinking about this one for weeks, which betrays how little I've accomplished in that time. But I wanted to reflect what I've been feeling about the conservative brand of political correctness that tries to shame anyone who attaches even a shred of self-awareness to U.S. foreign policy.

Oddly, though, I only started to feel comfortable with this one after I started thinking of how it applied to my personal dealings. Maybe that's fitting.

Erik - ah, a holdover from the old site. Welcome to the new place.

Heather - you're absolutely welcome. In case you couldn't tell from this post or the comment I left you, I found your post extremely thought-provoking.

Happy Mom's Day to Mrs. Frank and all the other mothers out there. Just based on my childhood memories, I'm sure it can't be an easy job - especially if your sons were anything like I was as a kid ;)

I couldn't laugh too much, because I have had one or two similar experiences (except for the coverage issues, thankfully).

In one instance I called AAA, but they took so long to get there that I just went ahead and risked it. In the other case I decided it wasn't that busy on the highway, and then the traffic magically picked up as soon as I got the wheel off the pavement with lugs already loosened. By the way, I've found the stand-on-wrench method quite effective.

Having related that, let me just say I'm glad you (and whatever's left of your dignity) made it through the ordeal. ;)

I'm still a bit jealous you got close enough to snap some of these great shots... but I'll get over it if I get the chance to see Obama at a campaign event, say, in September or October.

My polling place this morning was busier than it was last November (not saying much, but that's the only other voting I've done since I moved last fall) - which I guess is good for a primary. They say the typical primary turnout is around 20%, but they expect closer to 50% today. And I'm thinking turnout is going to mean everything.

cool campaign coverage, Frank!

I wanted to be there too, but alas, my work schedule kept me from it. It sounds like it was a great atmosphere. Now I'm anxious to see how we do in Tuesday's vote.

Good to hear from you, Eric. And for the record, nerds are welcome around here ;)

I will bow to what I know is a superior scientific mind on this one.

Perhaps to explain where I was coming from, I should point to the example of the amusement ride they used to call the "Rotor", which a teacher of mine once referred to as an example of centrifugal force.

It's still one of my all-time favorite rides, btw.

As a former jock, I can admit there may be a tiny bit of truth to what you say, Heather. Sports can be a bit rough on those not so inclined, but hopefully "sportsmanship" is a bit of a kinder concept.
:)

Thanks Rob.

I'm glad you stopped by and found this. I think it sums up the way I hope my life will someday be seen.