ambivalent images

Halloween Politics

Happy Halloween, everyone! This is a seasonal button I got from the Dean campaign last fall as Dean was building real grassroots momentum to become the Democratic nominee for president. But since things turned out differently and now Kerry is the nominee, this has become a Kerry button.

Pumpkin Truck

Trailer loaded down with pumpkins at a pumpkin farm and sales stand near Sugarloaf Mountain in northern Maryland. For almost two dozen more shots from the mountain and the pumpkin stand, click here. If you're a knowledgeable naturalist type, can you identify this? Please leave any tips or info in the comments below. Thanks.

Indian Corn

Indian Corn closeup. Doesn't nature create the greatest patterns and colors?

---

Pic I Wish I'd Taken (PIWIT): This daffodil from Best year of My Life. It's really just a good flower picture, but the idea of putting the photoshopped half together with the unretouched half is very cool. Other cool photo fun: Camera Mail put a disposable camera in the mail w/instructions for postal workers to use it to take pictures as it wound its way across the country. The results are . . . well, it's a behind-the-scenes look at the postal system, at least.

VoteVoteVote

My absentee ballot yesterday in D.C. I went downtown (just above the Judiciary Square metro stop) to vote because I plan to be in Philadelphia next Tuesday with Impact 2004. Voting early was easy to do, and as you can see from the picture at right, I was in good company—there was a line long enough that it took at least 20 minutes to get to the point of voting. That's not long, but it was longer than I expected, and people were showing up to join the line as past as people were leaving it. I hope this is a good sign for higher turnout generally this year. Yesterday I heard that Ralph Nader was only polling five points behind Bush, so I thought about voting for Nader, since Kerry will probably win by a 30-40 point margin here in D.C. Wouldn't be great if Bush came in third here? I also thought about voting for the Green Party, which represents my view of most issues better than either of the main parties. Since Kerry's guaranteed to win here, I figured who I voted for didn't really matter. Well, that's what I was thinking, but when I sat down with that ballot, all those thoughts disappeared. Suddenly, the risk that Kerry would not win D.C. seemed real, and I thought about the popular vote, knowing it will make Kerry's win more decisive if he wins both the electoral college and the popular vote. So I knew what I had to do. My eyes searched for Bush's name first to make sure I knew where it was so my pencil wouldn't go anywhere near it, then I carefully filled in the arrow beside Kerry's name. It felt good. You'll note I used a paper ballot. I could have voted on a touch-screen machine but, well, no-thanks. I'd like my vote to count.

Caterpillar

Fuzzy caterpillar on a rock along the Blue Trail on Sugarloaf Mountain, MD. This was taken with a flash, which is why the caterpillar is a little sparkly.

Frederick Diner

Mountain View Diner in Frederick, MD. We headed out last Saturday to hike around Sugarloaf Mountain, but we missed the exit and ended up in Frederick. We ended up driving all over the town in search of this Diner, which was recommended by L.'s parents. Thanks to 411, we finally found it, and it was good. I'm not saying I'd go too far out of my way to eat there, but if you're in Frederick and want a traditional diner breakfast or lunch, you can certainly find it here. I got some nice photos from the trip and since they're much better than exploding pop cans or anything else I have time to concoct right now, I'll be posting a few of them over the next week or so.

Exploda Soda

A soda can that got a little too close to the freezer. You can't see it here, but the bottom of the can was puckered out in the same way as the top. And although the can is open in this picture, that's only because I opened it after letting the soda thaw. I took this picture because I was just a little surprised to see how much force the freezing and expanding soda could exert on this can without opening it. Kind of cool, actually.

Bike Tools

Bike tools poured out on a shelf for a brief bicycle adjustment. I have a little nylon bag purchased from REI in Berkely, CA in the summer of 1996 that carries all the tools I need to make most adjustments to a bike. Headset adjustments, no. Pedal changes, chain repair and replacement, brake adjustment, deraileur adjustment, spoke tightening and rough wheel truing—all possible with just a tiny bag of tools. Oh, and flat-fixing, of course. With these tools I adjusted and repaired hundreds of bikes all over the country when I worked for Backroads. I don't do so much of this any more, but it's nice to be able to when the need arises.

Train Approaching

A metro train approaches from the north in the Dupont Circle metro station. More and more I notice that the stations are rather neat architectually, but maybe not quite as functional as they could be. For example, don't they seem dark? And is there really no better way to route the masses of people who pass through them everyday? For example, wouldn't it be great if signs and directional markings hung from the walls or ceilings rather than sticking up from the ground so you have to go around them when you're in a hurry and in a crowd? Places like this should be as open and free of obstacles as possible to provide the maximum amount of room to move for all those people who pass through. But what do I know? I'm just an occasional user...

Exit Enter

Parking garage in and out. This is a garage for the “Universal” building, which occupies an entire upper Dupont Circle block, except for the lonely little Visions, which is now closed.

Shuttered Visions

The last Visions showing ever? I walked by the former Visions Cinema the other day and saw that they were still advertising their closing party, which was sadly several weeks ago now. Apparently there's been speculation that someone will try to open a Reagan museum there since it's close to where Reagan was shot. I'm always hearing how cool and hip Dupont Circle is, but I just don't see it. The only really cool things about Dupont Circle are Kramerbooks and Visions, and now one of them is gone.

Backhoe

The prongs of a backhoe scoop at rest on our street. This big machine has been parked in a very valuable parking spot for days now. I don't think it has a parking permit; why doesn't it get tickets?

@

Clever bookmark advertising the Ohio Center for the Book. We picked this up at the National Book Festival and I just thought it was cool.

Chairs

Empty rows of chairs await their occupants just before the wedding—the same one that featured yesterday's cake.

Wedding Cake

Wedding cake decorated w/real flowers at a great wedding we attended last week in Arlington, VA.

Giant Frapp

Giant frappucino looms over the corner of 20th and J streets NW.

---

Pic I Wish I'd Taken (PIWIT): As autumn falls by David J. Nightingale.

Resist

Adam Eidinger for U.S. “Shadow” Rep campaign poster. It's by far the best campaign poster I've ever seen, and it doesn't hurt that it's promoting a cool campaign.

Debate Bingo!

A used presidential debate bingo card. This was from the second debate, which produced no winners (funny how Kerry has talked a lot more about John McCain than bush has). Last night, however, in the final debate, L. won! The debates are over, which means (as Howard Dean used to say) we have only 19 days left until Bush starts packing his bags to use that one-way ticket back to Crawford, Texas.

CVB live in D.C.!

Camper van Beethoven jamming last night at the 9:30 Club. That's David Lowery (lead singer for both CVB and Cracker) in the foreground w/his head just sticking above the speakers, Greg Lisher is behind him on guitar, then Victor Krummenacher in the red shirt on bass and also singing, and Jonathan Segel on violin and vocals (and yes, that's a 15“ Powerbook G4 sitting behind him and in the photo to the right—it controlled most of the sound effects the band wasn't able to generate on its own during the show). Unfortunately this picture cuts out Chris Pedersen on drums. All of them did a great job. Unfortunately, Segel didn't have his own violin for some reason and so was borrowing one from someone who lives in D.C. (and who I think was in the audience). This meant some of the violin parts were, um, not quite right, but mostly everything they played sounded terrific. More details and impressions about the show here.

GW Rah Rah!

GW penant hangs outside the law school, as seen from a second floor window.

Send End

The new cell phone. So far it works like a charm. I haven't been able to take a decent picture with it yet, but then, that's not primarily what it's for.

Neal Stephenson

Author Neal Stephenson speaks at the National Book Festival. He devoted his entire 50 minutes or so to questions from the audience, at least half of which were devoted to Snow Crash., and roughly the other half were about the Baroque Cycle. L. generously gave me the first volume of the Cylce, Quicksilver, las Christmas, but I didn't get more than 80 pages in before school started and I just couldn't stay focused on it. Then during the summer I didn't want to commit to such a big book, both because it meant I would have to skip reading several other books, and because it's so darn big and heavy that it makes for horrible train reading (kind of like a law textbook). On top of that, Quicksilver is a little hard to get into. Some of the comments here suggest that it gets easier as you get into it, and that the first volume is important to set the stage for the second, which is supposed to be much better. Those thoughts echo what I've heard elsewhere so I do hope to get back to Quicksilver soon. I have high hopes for the series because every other Stephenson book I've read—including Zodiac, The Diamond Age, and Cryptonomicron—has been terrific. Hearing Stephenson speak was the highlight of the Book Festival for me, but it was a great just to be at an event that's all about writing, writers, reading, books. Here are a few more pictures from the festival. The short time we spent there made me want to read and write more than ever. My impulse is to quit law school and just find an 8-5 job so I could spend more time in the evenings and on weekends writing and reading. It sounds like a little dream. But then, I'm reminded that when I have free time, I don't use it to read or write, so the answer may not be in revamping my life to make more time for writing. That's part of it, but it's not the answer. Also, if I eventually end up producing a novel or some short stories, I wouldn't be the first person w/a J.D. to do so. The law is a profession that's all about people's stories, and it's about conflict and morality and ethical choices and life and death—all of which are the ingredients of great fiction. So a few years in this legal profession could be great in the long run for a writing career. At least that's the theory. I hope it's true.

---

PIWIT: An unidentified but beautiful coastline on Otherward Photography.

Crazy Truck

A radical soundtruck in front of the White House last weekend. Don't you just love freedom of speech?

---

PIWIT: No Name Lake in Glacier National Park by Andy Curtis. I've been there, but I wish I'd been there recently and taken this gorgeous shot.

Power Tools

Chainsaws and disc saws sit at the ready in a D.C. Police truck. This was parked at the corner of 21st and H streets last Saturday for the IMF/World Bank meetings. I wonder if these power tools have ever been used.

---

Pics I Wish I'd Taken (PIWIT): Looking West from the railroad footbridge in Laramie, Wyoming by Andy Curtis—because I love Laramie in the fall. Also: Debate at the Diner by Joe Cunningham, because of the color and the composition and the fact that it captures a moment so well.

Street Closed

Police loiter around barricades near 20th and K. St. This was supposedly in preparation for the IMF/World Bank meetings—to protect the meetings from terrorism or something. I don't know. It was ridiculous overkill, if you ask me, but you didn't. I wonder what the bill was for all that police overtime, the fancy gas-generator-powered barricades, the miles worth of concrete and iron barriers, etc. And I wonder who picked up the tab for all of that. The IMF? The World Bank? D.C. taxpayers? U.S. taxpayers as a whole (which would be the case if the money came from Congress)? Hmmm. -------- Picture I Wish I'd Taken (PIWIT): A baby elephant!

Aprirots

Apricots rot on the sidewalk near our apt. I have no idea whether these things would have been edible when they first fell from the tree, or if they'd been picked before they fell. I just know that they've made an awful mess and on hot days they smell. A lot. Here's a photo I wish I could be taking today: Early fall foliage in Stowe, VT. Another fun one: Bush and Kerry carved into pumpkins.

Uruguayan Embassy

Wooden sculpture outside the Uruguayan Embassy on J St. NW. It's neater in person.

Locked Rack

Bike locks adorn an empty bike rack on 18th street in downtown D.C. So where are the bikes? Were they stolen, or do people just leave their locks here for some reason?

My First Suit

The receipt from the purchase of my first monkey suit, approximately one year ago. It might be hard to read, but I got the whole thing (from shoes to suit jacket and including socks and underwear and tie) for $237.80. That's a lot of money, yes, but some people pay that much just for one element of an awful ensemble like this, so it seemed like an ok deal at the time. I had to buy the thing for the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Competition in which I was competing. As many predicted, I have needed the suit for at least half a dozen more occasions since then, mostly interviews and competitions (mock trial & moot court). So if I've worn it 8 times (which may be a bit generous), that means each occasion cost me about $30. Considering the occasions for which I need to wear a suit are also generally occasions I don't enjoy (both because I have to wear the suit and for other reasons), that means I've been paying $30/shot to have something much less than fun. Of course, these things are part of the price of admission to law school and a J.D., and they generally lead to better things down the road (i.e., when an interview leads to a job), so I'm obviously just complaining because I can. The suit's fine, and I'm glad I have it on those occasions when it's required. But why am I posting this receipt now? Well, the 2004 ADR competition was this weekend at GW, and instead of competing, I was a judge. I didn't have to wear the suit, nor did I have to prepare or worry about it like I did last year. I was concerned that I wouldn't have any clue how to judge the competitors, but it turned out there was plenty to say about their different strategies and what they did well or could improve upon. You don't have to be an expert negotiator to have some ideas about how a statement or question might sound in the middle of a potentially important exchange. I also found that my long hours “judging” undergrads giving presentations (mostly on accounting issues) came in very handy. When you're speaking to relative strangers, there are some things that generally always work, and others which generally always don't work. Overall, the four teams I saw did really well, and I'm glad I don't have to make any more decision about who “won” the competition overall. Such decisions are necessarily largely arbitrary, which is one of the reasons these law school competitions are so dissatisfying—they're so artificial. Sure, they may be somewhat predictive of how you'll perform in a similar “real” situation, but they also may not be, and some people invest a great deal in them, despite their relatively questionable value. Sure, I'm glad I made the board last year; it looks good on the resume. But to those who didn't make it then or won't make it this year, don't worry about it. There really aren't any clothes on this emperor.

Urban Waterfall

Water gushes from a drain pipe ten floors high on a recent rainy day in D.C. This reminded me of being in the mountains (say, in Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, California, etc.) where you'll often see spontaneous waterfalls during or immediately after a rainstorm. Obviously, this “waterfall” is pretty lacking compared with one you might see in nature, but at least the sound it made and the sight of the falling water was similar. Considering I have no idea when I'll next see another spontaneous waterfall in nature, I'll take what I can get. This building is next to GW and has been under construction since I started school more than a year ago. At the time, it was just a giant hole in the ground, but now it's getting fairly close to completion.

Leetle 'Shrooms

Tiny little mushrooms hiding in the grass in the park near our apartment.