see emily play

Five new puppies!

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:45:50 -0400

My parents’ dogs Frankie and Winston had a litter of five on Sunday. I will post pictures when I visit this weekend.

Vanity Fair cover spoofs The New Yorker. This story has really...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:18:09 -0400

Vanity Fair cover spoofs The New Yorker. This story has really been beaten to death.

At sunset.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:03:02 -0400

At sunset.

Kevin Smith’s ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ Gets an NC-17 Rating

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:58:10 -0400

Kevin Smith’s ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ Gets an NC-17 Rating : danhacker:

Is any one truly surprised by this? Not I.

Having been on set for this movie, not one bit.

The grapevine.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:46:29 -0400

The grapevine.

The apple tree.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:45:39 -0400

The apple tree.

The rose garden.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:44:48 -0400

The rose garden.

The blueberries are almost ripe!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:42:42 -0400

The blueberries are almost ripe!

My dad’s tomato plants are almost as tall as me.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:41:29 -0400

My dad’s tomato plants are almost as tall as me.

Swimming at Shady Grove on Saturday. I finally have some...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:39:00 -0400

Swimming at Shady Grove on Saturday. I finally have some freckles on my nose.

Tranquility.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:36:40 -0400

Tranquility.

Mountain laurel.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:35:14 -0400

Mountain laurel.

Flaming Lips: ”She Don’t Use Jelly” I just...

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:12:00 -0400

Flaming Lips: ”She Don’t Use Jelly”

I just had to blow my nose with toilet paper instead of a napkin because I am low, and I only buy tissues through winter and spring.

The Warhol. USA Today does its own “Pittsburgh: Not as...

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:31:38 -0400

The Warhol. USA Today does its own “Pittsburgh: Not as shitty as you probably think it is!” piece today.

attackofhubris: xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and...

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:25:04 -0400

attackofhubris:

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe

It is hard to maintain any sort of online presence when it's 90 degrees outside.

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:22:27 -0400

I live alone this summer, and I love it.

"One of the most ironic paradoxes of our time is this great availability of leisure that somehow..."

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:22:00 -0400

“One of the most ironic paradoxes of our time is this great availability of leisure that somehow fails to be translated into enjoyment. Compared to people living only a few generations ago, we have enormously greater opportunities to have a good time, yet there is no indication that we actually enjoy life more than our ancestors did. Opportunities alone, however, are not enough. We also need the skills to make the most of them. And we need to know how to control consciousness — a skill that most people have not learned to cultivate. Surrounded by an astounding panoply of recreational gadgets and leisure choices, most of us go on being bored and vaguely frustrated.”

- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (p.83)

I just started this book on Wednesday. Good stuff.

Fallingwater collage by Sergei Sviatchenko.

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:48:12 -0400

Fallingwater collage by Sergei Sviatchenko.

The hubris of Obama

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:37:00 -0400

The hubris of Obama :

There is something a lot more troubling than Obama fatique spreading across the country. I am convinced that something happened to his spirit during the Pennsylvania primary (to recap this and this and especially this) that launched a series of missteps and personal compromises as the campaign continued. Losing Pennsylvania really hurt, and he has never really regained his sound sense of judgement even as he won the nomination.

I believe he needs to retreat into a period of some serious soul seaching over the next few weeks. That convention speech needs to be amazing.

A few things have unsettled me these past couple of weeks about the Obama campaign. It is not the small adjustments to previously-held positions - FISA, the Second Amendment, Iraq. It’s a sense that Obama’s ample self-regard is lapsing into hubris. The signs of this are pretty trivial on the surface, but they are troubling nonetheless.

That simulated faux-presidential seal was both tacky, silly and presumptive - a small version of “Mission Accomplished” Obama could well do without. The decision to give his acceptance speech in a stadium, rather than the traditional convention hall is also an unnecessary over-reach. The night will be freighted enough with history; it needs no new drama to set it apart. And the drama of the first black man accepting the nomination - with Obama’s rhetorical brilliance - will be more than enough for impact. Lastly, I was gob-smacked by the Obamas’ decision to include their children in a soft-focus TV interview.

I can barely credit that Michelle Obama agreed to this and that Barack Obama went along with it - it’s not what they would have done a few months ago.

It’s a girl! Baby elephant born at zoo The Pittsburgh Zoo...

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:43:11 -0400

It’s a girl! Baby elephant born at zoo

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium welcomed a highly anticipated pachyderm bundle of joy tonight when 25-year-old African elephant, Savannah, gave birth to a baby girl.

The birth was the first of elephants at the zoo since Savannah delivered Callee in 2000.

Zoo staff aren’t saying much about the newborn, only that it was born about 4:30 p.m. and that baby, mother and father, Jackson, the zoo’s resident bull elephant, are in good health.

Awww.