ambivalent images

New Year's Eve Travel Scene

A father and daughter catch some sleep at Denver International Airport on New Year's Eve day.

TRUWEST

The ultimate Montana license plate: It says “TRUWEST” and it was on a big pickup completely covered in mud.

Pouting BG

My dad's dog, BG, waiting patiently for someone to let him down off of the table. When we go to grandma's all he wants to do is run around and sniff the whole house for possible crumbs someone might have dropped somewhere. This means he's not very happy if he has to stay in one room. We put him on the card table because that way he couldn't keep scratching the door to get out. Isn't he cute?

Bead Board

My sister's bead board as she worked on a bracelet for moi. Wasn't that sweet of her? Yeah, I thought so, too.

After Christmas

An overflowing trash can seemed a fitting symbol of post-Christmas America. This one was outside a Best Buy in Billings, MT.

Gingerbread House

A snazzy little gingerbread house helps make a festive holiday atosphere at my grandma's house.

Candy Merry Christmas Canes!

A bag of miniature candy canes free for the taking at some shop I was in before the holidays. It was a small gesture, but I certainly enjoyed my candy cane. I think it was the only one I had this year.

At any rate, I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Above the Clouds

The setting sun gave the clouds a beautiful glow as I flew West on Christmas Eve. This part of the flight was great—a huge new plane with neat little video screens in all of the seatbacks. Too bad they were showing some crap movie, but I had a great book to read so the time flew by. Overall, the trip was made far too long by the fact that it involved not one but two plane changes. Somehow I managed to book a flight from the middle of Michigan to Chicago, from Chicago to Denver, and from Denver to Montana. Yeah, it was the cheapest flight I could find, but that's just ridiculous.

Mourn : Honor IV

The display of the number of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq as of December 13, 2005. At right is a shot of a poster on top of the display that adds its own bit of commentary to the ever-rising numbers. Previously in this series:

1. August 15, 2005
2. March 07, 2005
4. December 18, 2004

Winter Courthouse Sky

Clouds streak the sky at dusk in front of the D.C. Superior Court.

Orphan Crackberry

The keyboard of a Blackberry handheld device that my dog found in a nearby park. The little bugger was still on and its screen was locked (see right), but the screen helpfully said “if found please return to...” and gave an address and phone number. Apparently it belonged to a Guardian newspaper correspondent who I think actually is based in the U.S., but I mailed the thing to the UK anyway. I hope it finds its rightful owner again before RIM (the company behind the Blackberry service) gets shut down. ;-)

(Ok, I know RIM probably won't get shut down, but it's fun to talk about the possibility b/c it makes crackberry heads quake in their boots.)

Treadmill Steal

Our new treadmill in the backseat of the car. L. went shopping on Craigslist the other day and found this fully-functional, foldable treadmill for sale for $75. These things typically start at $300-400 if you buy new, so we snatched it up and it works great. The only problem is that now I really have no excuses left for not keeping up with my runs.

Sugared Cork

The bottom of a cork pulled from a bottle of wine apparently past its prime. The cork was covered with a layer of sugar, which suggested to me that the bottle had been stored upright for too long, the cork had dried out, and some of the sugar from the wine had condensed onto the cork. This doesn't seem like a good thing. Isn't this why you're supposed to store wine bottles on their sides?

Mystery Squares

Can you identify this very common D.C. area site? This is an easy one. Leave your guesses in the comments.

Wheelchair Lock

A wheelchair lock on the metro. I see wheelchairs on the metro all the time but I don't think I've ever seen these locks actually in use.

Early Morning Tryst

Looking across a mostly empty Tryst at about 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday or Sunday morning. This is a rather rare sight because by about 9:15 a.m. the place is packed and it seems to stay that way pretty much all day from there. Despite my initial reluctance to like Tryst b/c of its ultimate hipness, I sort of can't help liking it. It's a good place to relax and write or talk with friends, and the Chaipuccino is awesome. Of course, you have to find a seat before you can begin enjoying yourself, but if you're at the door the minute it opens in the early morning, you'll be fine.

Pitiful Pulls At Cupid's (Rain)Bow

A photo of the best new CD I've heard in a long time. The CD is the latest gem from Elevator Ride: Pitiful Pulls At Cupid's Bow. I still want to listen more and more closely before I write a full review, but I do know that for me this is the best Elevator Ride release yet. It shows much more range than previous releases in terms of subject matter, musicianship, tone (by which I mean the "feel" of the songs or the sort of emotions they conjure), and production polish. I highly recommend this as a great Christmas gift for all the independent music-lovers in your life! (Yeah, I know the band, but take a listen for yourself; I think you'll agree this is great stuff!)

Widespread Vandalism Should Be Expected

A large sticker on a newspaper box near the corner of Connecticut and R St. NW. Does this mean that Borf is back, or that someone else has appropriated his face for this sort of thing?

White Flint Mall Holidays

A giant wreath decorates the main entrance to the White Flint Mall on Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland.

Porcelain Moo

A porcelain cream pourer in search of a good cup of coffee. I obviously get a little bored in malls so I have to entertain myself somehow...

Bunny Candy

Just a random shot of a packet of Japanese candies seen in a store. Don't they look fun? This was in a video game store in at Tyson's Corner Mall. There must be a reason why a video game store would have a fairly large selection of Japanese candy, but I'm not sure exactly what that reason might be. Is it simply that most of the games come from Japan so real game geeks want more of that culture?

Sisu at Rest

Sisu looks toward the camera only when really relaxed these days.

Superior Court Christmas

Looking North from the top of the 4th floor escalators at D.C. Suprior Court.

NPR Headquarters

NPR headquarters at the corner of 7th and Mass Ave. NW. Every time I pass this building I can't help thinking about all the great radio personalities inside. Nina Totenberg, can I be your protege?

Rock Creek Parkway at Dusk

Looking down the bridge railing toward the Duke Ellington Bridge along Rock Creek Parkway. I thought this was kind of a neat shot the way all the curves are intersecting and whatnot, but I couldn't decide which one I liked better—this one or the vertical at right—so you get both. The park is now covered in a thin layer of snow, most of which will probably be gone by tomorrow, I'm guessing.

Pasta Mia Queue

Looking into Pasta Mia as we waited in line for it to open. Pasta Mia is an Italian restaurant in Adams Morgan that it somewhat notorious for having great food at a great price that's kind of hard to get. It's hard to get because the place doesn't ever open until 6:30 p.m., and it closes at 10:30, M-S. People are generally lined up by 6:00 p.m. or a little after. On the night we went, getting there so early wasn't really necessary; we did get there by a little after 6:00 and were the third party in line. We were seated immediately at 6:30, service was great, the food was awesome (huge portions; fresh ingredients, great spices), and by the time we left at something like 7:15 there were still tables available. Recommended, though, if you're in the area and hungry during those hours. Entrees generally cost around $10-15 and you'll have plenty to take home for a second meal.

Bovine Mucus

Two cows try to catch a breath of fresh air while traffic moves slowly on the highway. L. actually took this shot and she did a terrific job, don't you think? I do.

On our drive we also saw what seemed like incredibly cheap gas (pictured at right). I don't expect to say anything less than $1.89/gallon for the rest of my life. Around here in D.C. we can still find $2.05/gallon at one or two places, but mostly it's around $2.19 and up.

Incredible Big Screen

Mr. and Mrs. Incredible tease each other on M's humongo tv. It's a good thing I don't have a tv this big or I would never be able to get anything done. Speaking of which, I think one of my shows is about to start...

First Snow

Snow creates a lacey pattern on a storm drain cover. This was the first snow of the season for us.

City Christmas Tree Shopping

Trees wait for good homes in a drugstore parking lot. L. and I were pretty surprised to see trees selling for upwards of $10/foot; some were going for as much as $140 or more and not because they were 14 feet tall. I guess you pay a premium to get a nice tree hauled all the way into the city. At right is a cool netting contraption that allows the tree seller to “wrap” your tree in a plastic net to make it easier to tie to the top of your car. You just shove the tree through the hole tip-first and it comes out the other end tightly sheathed in a tube of netting. Cool.

At the lot where M. bought her tree I learned from the lone salesman that he lives in the trailer that was parked near the trees and has to stay there 24/7 for the month of December, more or less. He's sort of a combined salesman and security guard. All the trees are tagged with a number by his employer and if he can't account for every one at the end of the season, it comes out of his check. For this work he hopes to make $1600-$1800. I'm not sure why it's variable; perhaps he gets a commission on what he sells.

That makes me sad. Why should a guy who basically spends a month freezing his arse off in the cold make less than $2k for the pleasure, while lots of other people in that neighborhood are going to make that and more for sitting on their arses in nice, warm, offices for only 40-hours/week? It just doesn't seem right...

M. did get a good tree, though, and when she paid the man the tree didn't really seem so expensive anymore.

Fire Escapes

An alley in downtown Chicago is filled to the sky with fire escapes. Chicago is such an incredibly vertical city compared to D.C., but then, what city isn't?