Jalopnik has created a helpful guide to the douch-iest drivers in America…and what they are driving. The United States of Automotive Douchebaggery! Now, before you travel, you can check to see what cars you should look out for in any given area. And here’s a helpful hint you can take to the bank: all of the drivers in Maryland are likely to be terrible, regardless of what they are pushing!
…and I’ve got the photos to prove it! The building was amazing, the tour guides were pretty knowledgeable and overall ambiance was creeptastic. But, I think the key to taking a photo of a ghost is to have a truly cheap camera and a trembling hand because I caught NOTHING worth noting that I didn’t paint in with one of our flashlights. That being said, the photo opportunities in the hospital were spectacular – full of beautiful textures and gorgeous mixed colors. So, if I got nothing out of the experience, it was amazing photos. I apologize for the blurred images…Kate was insistent that I keep them “because they show the frenzied feeling of being there.”
On today’s exciting episode of my life, we’ll be discussing this weekend’s admittedly crazy plans. Kate and I are going to Pittsburgh come Friday to visit her parents/crash at her place/pick up her sister before we depart for Weston, WV. Why are we heading into the heart of red neckery, you ask? Well, the three of us are being locked in the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum from 9pm Saturday until 5am Sunday. Intrepid explorers that we are, we’ve signed ourselves up for an overnight, free-wheeling ghost hunt in this half million square foot, Victorian mental institution. Yes, it’s going to be fun…and totally scary.
So, I need to make a list of what to take along (we are permitted any equipment we want) and I could surely use some ideas of what to do once inside. Here’s what’s going along so far:
Any other ideas? I plan on spending an extended stay in perhaps 2 or 3 rooms after an hour or so touring the grounds. Brian has suggested that I do some long exposure photography in these areas by setting up tea lights for increased ambient lighting. Sounds like a plan. I also want to duct tape up the security cam here and there while we walk about to see if anything shows up while we interact with certain rooms…and when they are empty. Maybe we should try EVP? I personally really want to try out some provocation during the dead hour. We’ll see what Kate and Beth have to say about this. 😛
Yesterday marks the first time I’ve ever gone fruit picking in an orchard and I have to say that it was a most pleasurable experience. Kate and I bumped into Tessa and Mike while out for drinks on Friday night and were invited to go along to Godfrey Farm to pick fruit. “Sure!” was the reply and Saturday morning took us in a borrowed Tahoe (most enormous car I’ve been in to date) to the middle of Sudlersville, MD to the farm in question. With just a few navigational gaffes we found the proper rows of peaches and set to work. Little did we know that peaches grow like gangbusters and the most work you have to do to get them is put out an arm in any given direction.
And that is how we wound up with a half bushel of fresh, delicious peaches. So begins the task of figuring out what to do with them all. If you are within walking distance, expect to receive at least one handfruit this week.
Nick: “Can I place this order online?”
Verizon: “Yes, you can.
N: “Is there any fee associated with doing this?”
V: “I’m not sure…they may have charges that we don’t?”
N: “Aren’t ‘they’ Verizon, too? You are all one company, correct?”
V: “The online orders division has its own procedures and policies.”
N: “That’s totally ridiculous.”
I hate it when companies act as though their individual pieces are wholly separate entities. Especially when talking to customers. Really, it makes the MOST sense from a customer service standpoint to present one solid set of talking points – the same prices, rules and methods. Don’t make me order online because it’s cheaper and then slap me with a fee that I wouldn’t have encountered over the phone. That’s fucking ludicrous.
And don’t make me sign up for another two years of service because I want to change my account to save some money when I’ve already been a loyal customer for one and a half years. Dicks.
All along the Eastern Shore,
put your circuits in the sea
This is what the world is for:
making electricity
“Electric Feel” by MGMT
Last night marked my first ever trip to the urban landscape of Franklin, PA for a fireworks watching excursion. Usually we go to Clarion’s river hill for this, but there was just no way (save for teleportation) that I was going to be able to go to work and make it home in time on Thursday. However, despite changing tradition, we actually had a better time of it in Franklin. The show itself was more spectacular and the location – the back lawn of one of my dad’s coworkers – provided a much better view of the festivities. My cousin, Seth, took it upon himself to orchestrate a miniature fireworks display before the main event started. All of these sparkly lights provided me plenty of opportunity to play with the Nikon D80 work just bought me. I’ve made a really lovely Flickr set, which you can view here thanks to the wonder of Flash!
Disney and Pixar have an unbelievable hit on their hands with WALL-E. This fact is absolutely certain and was relatively easy to see even before the film had been released. However, after seeing it on opening day this past Friday, I can resolutely declare that it was one of the best films I’ve EVER had the pleasure of watching.
It wasn’t really particularly profound. I don’t think it really did anything groundbreaking as far as technical details were concerned. No major filmic accomplishments. WALL-E just told a simple story gloriously well – something that seems so rare these days. Case in point: its box office weekend competitor was Wanted which receives notoriety for looking amazing…and not a lot else. WALL-E set out with a basic directive to tell a lushly rendered story of robotic love in a consumer waste dystopia and do so humorously and intelligently.
And it excelled on all accounts. From impeccably executed geek jokes to rather dead-on science to a heart melting love story, the film was entirely ace.
If you haven’t yet been to see WALL-E in the theatre, go now. Don’t wait. And go again. And maybe again. Buy it on DVD. You’ll want to, I promise.
Kate, Dusty and I have started a brand new blog on the topic of the technological singularity. It’s just getting off the ground now, but I hope it can very quickly become a real time capsule of this dawning of a new era. Or whatever it turns out to be.
The singularity is coming: do you know where your children are?
For the first time in my life, I’ve become one of the “regulars” in a restaurant. Kate took me out for sushi last night – a “you fly, I buy” idea – and once we were seated, our familiar waitress said “You are not wearing your glasses tonight. I recognized her, but I wasn’t sure who you were!”
After the drink orders were placed, Kate and I looked at each other, chuckled and realized that we had been to Sushi Yama enough times to have made an impression. It actually felt great! Now, if we could only secure a table as our own…