See you in June

That's probably the next time you'll see a post hereabouts. In the meantime, we're packing like mad in anticipation of pulling up stakes and heading for Seattle. Thanks for everything Chicago, but it's time to make westing.

----
Photo above via laflaneuse who merits watching.

Berkeley Streetcar 1906

A trip east on Hearst, from Oxford to Euclid. A trip I took many times myself when I lived up in the Berkeley Hills. The scuffle at about the 2:00 mark is particularly choice.

Adventures in Dogwalking

The Path Less Shoveled
Originally uploaded by leespeaks.

The length of unshoveled sidewalk between us had been tromped into single-file trench. The other guy and his dog stood at the other end waving for Gordy and me to come on through. Back at my end of the trough, I was thinking about crossing the street. But Kenmore was looking pretty slushy and full of melty chemicals, so I took the other guy's offer.

Gordy is in most respects an upstanding animal, but he does tend to lose his cool around other dogs, complete with the apeshit yapping and even the occasional throat lunge. We used to have a big dog, three times Gordy's size, who thought this was a blast. Most people and dogs you meet out on the street are not so understanding.

So halfway through the trench, I scoop Gordy up and prepare my usual explanation: "This one's a troublemaker," or words to that effect. As we pass, the other guy's dog rises up tentatively on its hind legs for a polite sniff, and I say something like, "Well, aren't you a cutie," because it is indeed a cute dog, a tawny mid-sized whippet-pinscher mix. I'm about to turn and say thanks to the other guy when he erupts.

"You're not even gonna say thank you? What an ASSHOLE!"

With that, he stomps off down the little snow ditch, pulling the whippet-pinscher behind him. The next words from me were the thanks he was apparently so in need of, but his reply was a loud "Fuck you, man!" that was so wounded and plaintive and out of proportion that I'm trying not to laugh when I call out another thanks and add a wish for a good evening. The other guy, still clomping away, hollers back another F bomb, adding his hope that Gordy someday gets hit by a car. I call back another wish for a good evening and close with a "God bless!" that I'll admit strayed into Jerry Lewis territory.

As Gordy and I continued on up the street, I tried but failed to maintain any genuine sense of offense as the whole business quickly transmuted into satire. Sure, my mind churned out the usual sarcastic things that tend to come to you after such an encounter, but it was also turning every "fuck" the other guy said into "flurg." And to me "Flurg you, man!" is pretty fucking funny.

Of course, I still feel sorry for his dog.

State Capitols

The day after my hope for America came off life support, C and I jumped in the car and drove more than a thousand miles through five states. This took several days and passed through two state capitals (Indianapolis, IN and Frankfort, KY). If we'd had a little more time and stamina, we could have made it to Columbia, SC, but oh well. A couple weeks later we hopped in the same car and drove to my dad's house in South Dakota for an early Thanksgiving. We plotted the trip so as to pass through two more state capitals (Madison, WI and Des Moines, IA). In all four capitals, we stopped to have a look at each state's capitol building. The slide show above is for your viewing pleasure, should you really care.

I mention this as a way of letting you know that I have a nerdy and indefensible goal of seeing all 50 state capitol buildings. This flurry of activity in November allowed me to check of numbers 20, 21 and 22 (I'd already visited Frankfort in 1998, but C had never been there and the building is limestone remarkable).

Here are the simple rules of this geeky quest:

• Driving through a state's capital city doesn't count. Physical proximity to the building itself is required. If it's closed for any reason (after hours, holiday, fumigation, etc.), I still get credit.
• You can't make a special trip just to see the capitol building.

I have a corollary goal of visiting all 50 states (current total 34), but I figure focusing on the capital buildings will take care of that.

Subway ride 1905

Beneath the streets of New York, going from 14th Street to 42nd. You'll feel like you're in a century-old tunnel for a while, but the payoff arrives just past 5:05.

Can I get an amen?

Overheard in Chicago: A man on his cell phone in a cafe.

"So you think that your praying got me fired? Well... that's a god I want no part of."

The Annual Leaf Movie

Captured last week in Kentucky and North Carolina.