I've tasted the sour which allows me to appreciate the sweet.

For reasons of which I will only briefly elaborate, I am drawn to images of disaster and loss. This link caught my eye on one of my favorite blogs, Space Invading: http://www.spaceinvading.com/entry/project_id/Pollution_in_China200910231256314791

There's something about human nature that is revealed within the photographs that grabs my attention the most. Pollution, what I think is our biggest human error, is revealed as an upsetting sort of beauty.

It is human, I think to strive for progress, creating situations that create photographs that create such dichotomies.

Paying Attention

I got stuck in front of a very slow moving train today. I got a little caught up in the excitement of living in a new region as I saw the cars go by, particularly this giant round one with a huge piece of graf on the side...Other cars clued me in to the train having been to Canada. I never saw Canadian rail cars in Ohio and noticing them, observing them and their subtle intricacies reminded me how new the Upper Midwest still is for me. While I've been here over 3 years, being out of school affords more focus and attention on my environment. Alberta Rail Cars: while I don't know your proper name, I appreciate the two languages on your side, the creeping abstracted wheat pattern, and the super outdated font. Thank you.

There's exciting news to post. Of course. But in lieu of ranting about what's going on with me, I'll rant about what's going on with my city.

My city is confused, that's what. We've had two days of snow. The first day was sort of exciting. Today just freaked me out. It was snowing thick full flakes while the ground was still warm and green. Two very different opinions at war with one another. And we are all stuck in the middle. I felt very torn today. Not wanting to express an opinion really, just wanting to experience when winter imposed itself upon fall. This is what I observed: Skeleton stick-on window decalse next to snow-covered faux furs. Icy melting sidewalks and driveways. Blue peaks covered in wintry grey clouds. Seat warmers. Hot mochas. Heavy jackets. Bikes not yet winterized.

Just conflicted today. Very conflicted. I fear that fall might fall in a withered defeat, giving in to the flash freeze and revealing more fallen green than red, orange, or yellow. But that is fall. My first snowfall Fall.

In other news, I'm shopping for a superb travel mug and a seam ripper and taking suggestions on both....

not what?

Check this out. Neato.