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With all due humility, WE TOTALLY ROCK!
In a triumph of new-ish parents over the constraints of dull reality (time, energy, nap schedules, etc.), Kate and I made a “fairy ring” around the magnolia tree in our back yard this weekend: we dug an eight-by-eight inch trench around the tree, mixed the soil with peat moss, then planted several hundred(!) spring bulbs…
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The 20th Annual Turkey Pro National
The first Sunday after Thanksgiving, Kate’s dad Bob “Snuffy” Smith holds the Turkey Pro National, a mellow motorcycle rally featuring “hot dogs on the buns and on the bikes.” His hand-drawn flyer is a hotly-requested item each year: it contains an average of two traditional motorcycle jokes (“Pray for rain, the sissies will stay home!”)…
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I Meet the King of the Galley Attendants
I catch four Amtrak trains a day: 640 from Exton to Philadelphia, then 180 from Philly to New York, and I make a similar switch on the way back. As a train pulls in, I look down the train to find the smooth steel plate behind the number sign that says “food service car.” Cafe…
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Ad aspera, per astra
We spent the weekend in Avalon, New Jersey, in the rental house you can see in the background of this picture. There was some speculation as to which Smith Family Infant approach to the beach Lydia would inherit: her mom’s approach (stay on the towel, daintily brush sand off the corners) or her uncle Matt’s…
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“Thee found my journal HOW?”
I installed web-stats-package Mint two days ago, apparently in a bid to destroy my productivity. Mint is a bloggers’-eye-view of your web stats: that is, it doesn’t focus on what users are doing on your site so much as how they found you in the first place. Mint uses javascript to record data in real…
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Back from blog hiatus
Okay, back from blog hiatus. The events of late summer kind of built to a crescendo, so I’ll just wade in with the stuff: Kate, Lydia, and I just got back from Albuquerque, where I married my brother. That is to say, I officiated at the ceremony, which my seminary degree and some internet paperwork…
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Ultimate Water Gun Pontani Adventure Photo Shoot To-Do List, Three Weeks Later:
Finalize copyright ownership details with Julie: not done Get final model release from World-Famous Pontani Sisters: not done Get model release from American Helicopter Museum for use of facility: not done Sort heap of hardware sitting in center of garage, where it was piled after the shoot: not done On the other hand… Get freaking…
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Here’s the part where Kieran freaks out
From: John Young To: Kieran Downes Subject: BEHOLD THE MAJESTY I’m sorry to do this to you, my friend. I’m aware that your grief at not being there in person for the photo shoot may break you, but I have to show you this preliminary photo: Angie says “hi”, by the way. From: Kieran Downes…
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Pontani Photo Shoot on Saturday: primary, secondary, and tertiary missions accomplished.
The preliminary pictures are so good I’m not even going to post them yet. You must have time to prepare.
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Do you use your powers for good, or for AWESOME?
Since the Ultimate Water Gun was BoingBoing‘ed in June, I’ve been getting requests from Dutch photo editors for high-res pictures of the gun. Now, I’m a sucker for European press. I was called “New York Ideas Man Johnny” in the bilinglual Dutch/English magazine Pulp after doing this photo shoot with Consuelo and Oraia; how can…
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