Tales from Car Shopping

In preparation for my move back to Chicago, I made the decision that having a car in the city, and especially during the winter, would be too wonderful to do without again.  I’ve been through four winters in Chicago now, all carless and all bleak.  But, as time went on and more friends brought their [...]

What an Open!

The US Open drew to a close yesterday with Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina defeating defending champion Roger Federer for the Men’s Singles Title. A fabulous five setter, full of drama and suspense, the twenty-year old pulled ahead with a break in the last set to literally bring about an end of an [...]

What am I eating?

We went to Sam’s Club today and bought our usual store-made fresh baguettes.  Since they were made in the store, it never occurred to me that they would have anything in them besides flour, water, salt and yeast.  Today I looked at the ingredients for the first time.  Alas, I was oh so naive.
Ingredients:
Unbleached Enriched [...]

The Wedding Paradox

“How much does this cost?” I asked as we stood waiting for the cashier to find Josh’s file in the tuxedo rental store. “Too much,” Josh replied. He went into the fitting room, which is the point where I wished I had brought a book. The shop was quite large and full [...]

Suppress the urge to Photoshop

Check out this site:  Magical Photography to believe that are Not Photoshopped.

I ran across this site while looking for pictures of fish.  (I am painting mini murals in my bathroom.) I loved it immediately.  Too much Photoshop detracts from the beautiful reality of nature, and because of this I really appreciate photographers who purposefully abstain.
You [...]

There, I fixed It.

Failblog recently linked to a site I had never seen before called There, I fixed It.  It is a photoblog full of shoddy quick-fixes for everything from a homemade jacuzzi (a bathtub over a campfire) to a fire alarm alternative (A jiffypop hung from the ceiling).  The site doesn’t have nearly as many entries as [...]

Inspiration in Stone

I had the occasion to go to Washington DC this past weekend. I hadn’t been there in years, so I was really excited to go exploring. Most of all I wanted to have a Mr. Smith moment at the Lincoln Memorial.
For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is, [...]

Nerd Stuff

My brother just introduced us to Ted Talks (www.ted.com), a website of free videos on subjects ranging from the psychology of psychopathic killers to the nature of time. It is a nice way to take a gander into some of the forefront of scientific thought in many different fields. Ted Talks does a [...]

Mountain-top Eavesdropping

A few days ago I hiked to the top of Bear Mountain. Not a major feat, as it is only about a mile and a half ascent, but it was one of the top-ten days of the year, as my dad likes to say, so a nice little day hike was certainly called for. [...]

America the Beautiful

Today in church we sang America the Beautiful to open up the service. At first, I thought it was a little inappropriate if not a little bit cheesy. I love the Fourth of July, but I went to church for a spiritual message, not superficially patriotic plug. I quickly realized this was [...]