It wasn’t until after my presentation that I had a chance to see the city. And I have to admit it was so depressing that I’ve been having trouble writing about it. I have a sick interest in abandoned theme parks and the like, but seeing the neighborhoods of all classes so destroyed, the symbols […] » about 200 words
That’s me on JetBlue Flight 481 to Long Beach, wearing my noise canceling headphones. Sandee saw me wanting them, so she was especially happy to make them a Christmas present to me. And, with all the flying I’ve been doing lately, I was especially happy to have them. I wanted the QuietComfort 2s not just […] » about 400 words
I’m back in Oakland Airport, but this time I’m bringing my own network and I don’t have to deal with Sprint’s WIFI mess. See, the problem isn’t just that it costs too much. The problem is that once you pay, you’re plopped at the login page where the login I just created doesn’t work. And […] » about 200 words
While northern-hemisphere inhabitants are enjoying their first day of winter, our cousins in the southern hemisphere are just beginning summer. And in South Africa’s Shark Bay, near Gansbaai, the great whites are departing for other waters. The great whites make their way to Shark Bay annually between September and January, though they are not hunting, […] » about 400 words
Mt. Moriah, this time better than last time. 4000 footer, backpacking, camp stove, gorham, hike, hiking, mount moriah, mt moriah, new hampshire, primus stove, summit » about 100 words
Some time ago in St Louis, I stumbled upon Eat-Rite Diner. Aparently I wasn’t the first to be taken in by its charms. Yelp notes: This is a MUST in St. Louis. However don’t go here for the friendly staff, good food, or fun atmosphere. This place is a joke! They will need to buzz […] » about 200 words
New Hampshire’s Highland Games are back where they belong in Lincoln NH. Fittingly for the Highlands theme, the weather Saturday was cold and misty, with fogs rolling over the hills. I half expected Lorna Doone herself to appear. The games, of course, are “Scottish Heavy Athletics” involving the throwing (though sometimes carrying) of just about […] » about 300 words
The Mercury News’ QA on carry-on restrictions answered a big question I had: Q Can I still carry my laptop, cell phone and iPod on board? A Those items are still OK as long as you’re not traveling to or through the United Kingdom. But a Reuters story posted at C|Net suggests the restriction on […] » about 200 words
“Take a deep breath.” I did, and with it Lisa Souza, my massage practitioner at San Francisco's <a href="http://internationalorange.com/">International Orange</a>, pressed into a knot just below my shoulder blade, deep in the <em>latissimus dorsi</em>. She worked along the length of it, not as a baker kneads bread, but rather as person wringing water from a damp cloth. Each press was deliberate, powerful. I'd asked for the deep tissue treatment. Eight hours in planes from Boston (six hours to LGB, almost another two to SFO) had taken their toll, and this, I hoped, might spell relief. » about 300 words
Woot! WordCamp kickoff party at Taylor’s Automatic Refresher (no doubt selected in part because homophone to Automattic), at the ferry Building.
But does it make up for missing Wikimania, the LibraryThing Bar-b-Que-Thing, and Napoleon Dynamite night at The Twig?
As noted here, I’m going to WordCamp in SFO in early August.
Matt describes it as a BarCamp-style event (where “’BarCamp-style’ is a code phrase for ‘last minute’”) with “a full day of both user and developer discussion.” I’m just going for the free t-shirt, of course, but I can imagine a number of folks will get a good value out of the sessions and discussions that will likely run, especially all the developer stuff.
Also, if you’ve got some suggestions about what else I should be doing in San Fran, leave a comment or contact me with any suggestions.
In yet more geolocation news, beermapping.com‘s maps to breweries will make my travel planning easier, and my travels boozier. Hey, it’s casual Friday, take off early and go find a new brewpub for lunch. beermapping.com, brew maps, breweries, brewery, brewpub, casual friday, geolocation, mapping, maps » about 100 words
A comment from TroublePup alerted me that the Principality of Sealand burned Friday. The Evening Star explained: Witnesses watched in amazement as a huge plume of smoke started to rise from one of the legs of Sealand — and boats raced to the scene. Seafront worker Bruce Harrison said: “It was quite spectacular. The amount […] » about 300 words
| I have to thank <a href="http://stealthislibrary.com/">Caleb</a> and <a href="http://www.carolinecummins.com/">Caroline</a> for showing around town, and offer my apologies to <a href="http://quiddle.blogspot.com/">Heidi</a> and Alice, who had offered me tips and suggestions that I (again) didn't have time to follow up on. Someday I'll enjoy a <a href="http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=21958955">Stanich burger</a>; someday I'll find <a href="http://www.43places.com/places/view/310884">Rimsky-Korsakoffee</a>; heck, someday I'll even get to <a href="http://www.powells.com/">Powells</a>. » about 200 words
There's plenty of public art in Denver, including a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonbisson/153444184/">blue bear</a> and this <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonbisson/153444003/">horse in a red chair</a> (<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Denver,+CO&om=1&ll=39.743082,-104.994879&spn=0.004562,0.014623">here</a> and <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Denver,+CO&om=1&ll=39.73781,-104.988291&spn=0.004562,0.014623">here</a>, respectively). Tourists can also <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonbisson/153443732/" title="Molly Brown's house on Flickr - Photo Sharing!">sneak a peak</a> inside <a href="http://mollybrown.org/" title="The Molly Brown House Museum">the Unsinkable Molly Brown's house</a> on <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Denver,+CO&om=1&ll=39.737472,-104.980824&spn=0.004562,0.014623">Pennsylvania St</a>. » about 100 words
Most travel guides simply call it the “shovel museum,” but it’s really the Stonehill Industrial History Center. Much more than shovels, curator Greg Galer tells us the collection reveals interesting facts about what we were building and how we built it over the past 200 years. Located on the campus of Stonehill College in Easton […] » about 300 words
Ian Chadwick’s In Search of the Blue Agave begins: “Tequila is Mexico,” said Carmelita Roman, widow of the late tequila producer Jesus Lopez Roman in an interview after her husband’s murder. “It’s the only product that identifies us as a culture.” No other drink is surrounded by as many stories, myths, legends and lore as […] » about 200 words
Iain Anderson‘s animated film, Aiport, shows even the most pedestrian of designs come to life with a bit of creativity. Elsewhere, a post at Copyfight, suggests that the availability of those symbols — their freedom from copyright and trademark restrictions — was a key factor in spurring their broad adoption, creating both the culture and […] » about 100 words
<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1280+Peachtree+St+NE,+Atlanta,+GA&ll=33.78967,-84.384742&spn=0.019759,0.053773">Atlanta</a> was a bit of a lark. I hadn't seen my friends for a while, and they were telling me that <a href="http://maisonbisson.com/blog/post/11242/">the weather was beautiful</a>. So why not go? Once there we did a marathon tour of museums and galleries, scoping out works by <a href="http://www.high.org/experience/chuckclose/close_home1.aspx" title="High : Experience - Exhibitions">Chuck Close</a>, <a href="http://www.rogerballen.com/" title="Roger Ballen Photographer">Roger Ballen</a>, and <a href="http://www.saltworksgallery.com/exhib/current.html" title="Saltworks">Iona Rozeal Brown</a>. » about 300 words
| We were excited in New Hampshire to have the first week of weather warm enough to go out without our coats at midday, but <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=atlanta,+ga&ll=33.749179,-84.39045&spn=0.079074,0.215092">Atlanta</a> was <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonbisson/tags/atlanta/">warm enough</a> to hop in the pool and hot tub after midnight. » about 100 words
<a href="http://sxsw.com/">SXSW</a> passes have apparently been sold out for weeks now. So what's <a href="http://robertgarlitz.com/">Bob Garlitz</a>, the MaisonBisson <a href="http://maisonbisson.com/blog/post/11002/">cultural affairs reporter</a>, to do? Hunt for celebrities around <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=austin+texas&ll=30.272114,-97.738152&spn=0.164265,0.431557">Austin</a>, of course. Here's how <a href="http://bglgy.blogspot.com/2006_03_15_bglgy_archive.html#114247430794156798">he describes his first hit</a>: <blockquote>...I decide hell, yes, it is Owen and give a tiny decisive blink. He blinks back in acknowledgment. I give him a little punch on his shoulder and say Hey, how're you doing? I'm doing real good, he says slowly...</blockquote> » about 300 words
I’ve been back from Oregon for about a week and a day now, and it’s really time to clear out my files. So here now are the attractions I had put on the list, but never got to see. I’m not complaining, afterall, I did get to see sprayfoam art, the US’s only municipal elevator, […] » about 600 words
The Millyard Museum was hosting the New England Lego Users’ Group Saturday, building LEGO replica’s of Manchester NH‘s old victorian-era houses. It turns out they’re building a scale model of the entire millyard. lego, legos, mill, millyard, manchester, manchester nh, new hampshire, nelug, new england lego users group, replica, construction » about 100 words
Howard Hughes‘ Spruce Goose now rests in McMinnville, at the Evergreen Aviation Museum. The Goose is as long as a 747 with a wingspan a third again as broad, and for a short few seconds in 1947, it flew. The docent was incredibly pleased to tell us that the tail almost broke off during those […] » about 200 words
I wasn’t just surprised to find a gallery of velvet paintings, I was further surprised to learn they were hosting a show of Valentines velvet works by local artist Juanita and had cards advertising a show of LA artist Arnold Pander’s oil on velvet works at the local Vault Martini Lounge. But the fact is, […] » about 600 words