Marienplatz

September's party
in Munich, Oktoberfest,
has lots of pretzels.

Good night, Summer

Soon we will reach the
autumnal equinox and
summer will be gone.

Wakeboarding

It's safe to say I
won't quit my day job to start
wakeboarding for cash.

Long walk

Filtered beams of light
Walking though a summer mist
Time and space are one.

Of Paradise

Flightless birds, these are.
Perched on blades of green with eyes
Cast to the warm sun.

Rocket Man

It's a long, long time
Before we'll find this rocket
Because it's long gone.

Hawai'i Foothills

A brief respite, this.
A section from the path, a
Hawai'i foothill.

Jurassic Park

While not exactly,
it does remind one of scenes
shot in the movie.

Makapu'u Beach

Oahu's eastern
most point is at the right of
Makapu'u beach.

Manoa Falls

Manoa Falls was
mostly dry due to no rain
but full of roosters.

Panoramic

Diamond Head crater
the trail is steep and narrow;
you can see for miles.

My First Hawaii Sunset

Well, here it is friends.
My first Hawaii sunset;
I say -- Aloha.

Fibonacci Poems

A
new
poem
form I must
explore and conquer;
you've got to love this poetry. . .

A Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow

It's probable that
Richard and Robert Sherman
rode this carousel.

Rivera and the DIA

At last: DIA.
I've seen the work created
At Edsel's request.

I remember Paris

Remember Paris?
And this apartment building?
It should be our home.

Lazy Sunday View

The place to be is
here, in Michigan, where I
love to spend Sundays.

A pair of flirts

Who would of thought Hayes
and Minnie would have this shot
with he who says," No!"

Scene of the crime

I took this picture
Walking down Main Street, while Hayes
Sat for his haircut.

Neon oasis

This is a night shot
Unmolested by software
It's picture perfect.


This is a complete nighttime shot facing Tomorrowland from the castle hub; film was Kodak High Definition 400 speed, shot on my Minolta Maxxum5, 35-80mm lens with night setting. Exposure was roughly 3 seconds with preliminary flash.

A brief respite

What do you see here?
It's a lovely peek inside
a courtyard in France.

Rockettower Plaza

Goodnight Moon, so long.
I hope to see you again
with Rocket Rods on.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, a time
To repent and return our
Hearts toward God in full.

Yellow, and oh so mellow

Cindy's castle here
Shown at night. A spectacle!
Framed for you to see.

Chart a Course

Surely the navy
has a height restriction, or
a step stool for Hayes.

Exotic Expedition

There's nothing finer
at nighttime than a lit sign
like the Jungle Cruise.

Big Green

This green edifice
is the mark that defines
the Plaza Restaurant.

Something and something different

I'm listening to
'The Essential Dave Brubeck';
yes, that's just a lake.

Exposition Hall

A pleasant view of
Main Street at closing makes me
grateful for no crowds.

A nighttime photo:
the Walt Disney World railroad.
We wish we were there.

Carousel Ride

Mary Poppins is
Waiting for me to leave this
Carousel behind.

The Living Seas' New Residents

Here is Hayes with his
Buddies from Finding Nemo.
What a lucky guy!

Daily Photo

Fireworks at the
'Happiest Place on Earth' are
Unlike those elsewhere.

Up for Air

Ahhh. Oxygen flowing through my lungs and the gills are on the shelf for the time being. (I'm sure they'll be back out soon.) So, what have I learned? Too much travel over the holiday is not a good thing for anyone involved; I really like taking photographs (preferably landscapes, more on that later); home is a good place to spend time; everyone should read 'A New Kind of Christian'; graduate school will be 1.) fun and 2.) not fun; I'm only slightly nerdy (take a look below.)

Information Overload

This month has been, to date, one mad dash. I only hope the time invested at work (which, of course, takes time away from more important areas of my life) yields a good return. Talk about the Protestant work ethic. Yikes. (Just read a piece on Max Weber.) Anyway, back to the grind and hope to catch a breath in a couple of weeks.

Paris Photographs

Photographs have been posted. Ah; what a trip.

http://www.geocities.com/paris_photographs/

Paris photographs;
Ah yes: Paris photographs.
Paris Photographs.

Paris in the early morning

Perhaps the most perfect moment of the trip was finding myself on the Champs-Elysses as the semi haze of nighttime yielded to morning with hardly anyone on the avenue. The patesseries were just starting to stack their carts and shelves with bread and pastries; the streets were being washed; the Arc de Triomphe looked ready to bear another day's load of traffic, history, and visitors. This Paris, not the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame, or Montmatre, felt like Hemmingway's Paris in the '20s. This was surely my moment of Paris that will stay with me forever. Eventually the myth faded as I found the 24-hr pharmacy and the Alka-Seltzer that remedied the excesses of the previous night. Paris in the early morning: there's nothing quite like it.

Paris est merveilleux!

Paris est merveilleux. Nous avons un temps et un regard fantastiques en avant à notre visite prochaine au « la Ville de Lumières ».

Paris is marvellous. We have had the time of our lives and can't wait for our next visit to the 'City of Lights'.

The City of Lights

For nearly a year
It was a thought: "Ah, Paris. "
More when we return.

On this day. . .

We are frequently saturated with "On this day. . ." type of remembrances; we hear them on the radio and see them in the media with great regularity. I usually tune these out as nothing more than white noise but I do try to listen to the "On this day. . ." segment of 'Writer's Almanac'.

So, with out further ado, on this day in 1863, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address. I won't place the text here (many of you know I'm an ardent fan of the 16th President and his writings in particular) but I will post several links detailing information about the address.

Also, a recycled haiku for today:

I wish now we heard
Political discourse
Like Abraham Lincoln's.

The only known photograph of the President at the address
The 'official' website (check out the copyrights at the bottom)
A bit of modern-day technology humor related to the address
Ben's Guide for kids (wasn't he dead?)
NPR's excellent article

MaPo

Following the huge, unparalleled success of the 1964 live-action and animation adaptation of P.L. Travers' books, the Walt Disney Company named its manufacturing unit MAPO. The official description of this acronym was 'Manufacturing and Production Organization' but everyone knew it was short for Mary Poppins, the film that cemented the Disney company as 'it'.

40 years following, the wonderful folks (namely Randy Thornton) have reproduced 'it' with their new Mary Poppins Special Edition Soundtrack. For the first time, avid listeners have available to them parts of the underscore and rare views into the process of the storyline creation. In short, a real treat. It made my day.


How to make my day?
Mention Clint Eastwood? No, just
Say Mary Poppins!

Friday Night Fights

A veritable four-course heavyweight championship culinary event to be held at Fuller's house. Thanks go out to Oprah for providing the recipes.

Whenever I think
About Thanksgiving menus
I turn to Oprah?

Moving Right Along

The election aftermath has not been as gut-wrenching for me as it has been for my immediate family members. My wife and father-in-law have been way out of sorts and my SIL and BIL are considering a move to Canada. I keep telling them that if the nation survived Richard Nixon it will survive W2. It's not that bad.

I think I'll miss the blogs (especially this one and this one) more than anything else besides the disappearance of John Edwards from the national stage. Is it time to start looking for a mid-west family values friendly candidate for the Ds? If so, look no further. . .

Voting day blog

6:00am -- Alarm rings and radio comes on. News covers decision in SD to prevent Rs from following NAs to parking lots and recording license plate numbers. News also reports decision in OH to reverse 2 lower court rulings on Rs verifying residency. Back to sleep for 1/2 hour.
7:30am -- News, news, and more news. Finally decide on my candidate for IN governor. More bad news out of Iraq; will W go down as the next Teflon president if he wins today?
8:00am -- Head out to polling station. I live less than 1/3 mi from my precinct spot and can see cars already parked in the street. Looks like GOTV really worked this year.
8:15am -- Worked indeed! There must be 350 folks in Lincoln 11's polling station and only 3 voting machines to handle the turnout. One of the clerks implores people not to sign in and then not vote as it will cause the tallies to be incorrect. For the first time ever I wonder if my vote will count.
8:30am -- I see my MIL who left the house an hour and 1/2 earlier than I still in line. She still hasn't voted.
9:00am -- I've called my wife to inform her of the madness. I've also spoken to my family on the east coast. I wonder what it's like in the contested states!
9:30am -- Thinking I might need to cancel my lunch appt in 2 hours. Wish I'd brought my coffee with me.
9:45am -- Clerk again implores people not to sign in and then ditch. This is amazing. The lack of an internet connection is killing me.
10:00am -- The demographic has changed so much I can see the old guard cringing. I'd guess we're looking at a 45/55 D/R constituency. I should've been here at 6am.
10:15am -- Closing in on the 2 hour mark. Democracy 101 is in session and people are in a generally good mood. Folks with kids present are getting to know each other well; folks with physical conditions are sitting down. It seems like community has finally arrived in Lincoln 11. I'm dying to read today's Note.
10:30 -- 45 minutes to go. There's no way we'll know tonight we'll know who has won the White House or the Governor's mansion if others are suffering lines like this one. The polls close at 6pm but it will be 10pm or later before the lines empty out. I bet there's going to be at least 2 days before we know who the next president will be. I wonder how high the turnout will be. 10 million more voters this year? 15 million? Someone actually tried to start a wave. Are folks getting edgy or what?
10:45am -- My wife has arrived and I can see her on the far side of the hall. At least she brought her French language CDs and book. The kids in front and behind me can taste how close we are.
11:00 -- Voted. Off to lunch appt with a former colleague at PeopleSoft. He waited but half an hour to vote this morning.
12:15pm -- Made it to the office and finally got my news fix. Sentiment leaning towards Kerry but who knows? Time to get to work and lay off the news for a bit. Found an interesting site that predicts the electoral college.
1:30pm -- My dedication to work faltered early and have been back searching for news. More and more outlets, websites, and gut reactions say Kerry will win. Back to work for a bit.
2:30pm -- With cookie consumed and coffee in hand, listening to Brother Tavis who has Peter Jennings on to discuss how the networks will not make early calls as they did in 2000. Kerry continues to pull out his lucky charms (the 4-leaf clover from Iowa and his Red Sox cap for starters) and the mood continues to be leaning towards the Ds.
3:45pm -- Another break to check the news; not much has changed. Responded to a NY Times forum asking people to discuss their voting experiences today. Waiting for ATC to hit the airwaves at 4pm.
5:00pm -- Elation. Waiting for the TV news coverage to begin.
7:00pm -- Cautious elation.
8:00pm -- Still waiting for the call but the exit poll data is not holding up to the results. What the heck is going on?
9:00pm -- FL is not headed to Kerry. . .
10:00pm -- Have the public been duped? This thing's going to W; he's got the plurality and the EVs. What about the high turnout? Did the Rs do a better job at GOTV?
11:00pm -- Bush will return. Amazing. Hats off to Rove. He's a genius.
12:30am -- Nobody will call OH but stick a fork in this thing.
3:00am -- Woke up thinking about OH -- it's still not good.
6:30am -- What's the future of the D party? Who will represent in 2008?
8:00am -- Waiting for concession.
2:00pm -- Finit.