A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
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First Terri Schaivo, then Wil Wheaton’s cat, and now the Pope. There is something about lingering high-profile departures that let emotions build to a climax. A quick, peaceful end would have been very different – in the case of Schaivo, the circus around her death might have been avoided. Where the pope was concerned, the … Read More “Papal Vigil” »
…Old? Apparently so. This week I made some major changes to the database. I merged the blog from my old site with the data from this site. Now you can view my ramblings from as far back as 2003. I also had several entries typed on my Palm Pilot that I’m just getting around to … Read More “Out with the Old, in with the…” »
Today my father and I kept our standing annual date for the Southern Home and Garden Show. We’ve been doing this for at least ten years now – we wander through the exhibits, say hello to our friends who are doing the same, and usually end the experience with an overly expensive and not necessarily … Read More “Home Improvements” »
Two seemingly unrelated events, and yet their implications are entwined. First, over the weekend we visited our our friends, John & Kate Kaup, in Washington DC. Kate is on a one-year sabbatical from Furman, and serving as a Congressional something-or-other having to do with China. During the visit, she expressed concern about some information on … Read More “The Subtle Art of Misdirection” »
Have you noticed the number of TV commercials for medical procedures lately? Stryker Orthopedics has been particularly egregious, with advertisements for hip and knee replacements. Drug commercials are bad enough… Ask your doctor if _____ is right for you! Side effects may include nausea, dizziness, sexual side effects, loss of appetite, loss of memory, loss … Read More “We can rebuild him” »
If you’re like me, you get very VERY frustrated when you are looking for information, but all you find are pages of links that take you to even more pages of links – a circular bit of web madness insues. That’s why I feel a bit concerned that my links page has seemed to take … Read More “Links-to-links-to-links-to-links” »
I want Christmas lights. None of this “one-candle-in-a-window-pretty-wreath-spotlight” elegant stuff. I’m after “wrap the trailer park, half-a dozen Santas, three Nativity scenes, outfit the dog in a reindeer suit” displays. Fortunately, I’ve found a great website called Ugly Christmas Lights to help my with my quest. This site allows users to post pictures of their findings. … Read More “Let there be light(s)!” »
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of the liturgical year, and to me, the first official day of the Christmas season, despite what the retailers tell us. The Candle of Hope will be lit with the requisite scripture readings and the oddly appealing mournful strains of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" … Read More “First Sunday of Advent” »
One day of gluttony followed by another… It was a typical Thanksgiving, expressed by overindulging in those things for which we are supposedly giving thanks. The result for me was a massive headache and turning in quite early. …And so we come to Friday, the day of shopping madness. This morning’s Market Place on NPR … Read More “Buy Nothing Day” »
OK, Confession time. I collect data on visitors to my site. I know your browser type, IP address, the web page you just came from, eye color, location of moles, etc., etc. Don’t worry. I haven’t got the time, inclination, nor capacity to spam anyone or use any of this information for nefarious purposes. The … Read More “207.46.98.43, Who Are You?” »