braindump

As in: ComicBlog , Comics , Thoughts from the "L"

The responsible man

As in: Thoughts from the "L"

As I neared the El station this morning, I saw a woman struggling under an awkward burden. She wore a knee-length black raincoat open in the front with a hood up over her head. In front was a forward-facing baby carrier, shrouded by a multicolored day-glo blanket. Her hands were full trying to manage her umbrella, her cigarette, and her handbag; her messenger-bag briefcase, slung over one shoulder, thumped against her left thigh as she walked. I thought perhaps she was grumbling to herself or talking to her baby; then I decided she must have a hands-free cellphone, since her expression looked more like she was a-phonin'. As we passed, I realized that she had jury-rigged her own hands-free cell phone by wedging her handset into the space between her cheek and her hood.

I was reminded of one of my favorite paintings, "The Burden of the Responsible Man" by James Christensen (which you can buy me a print of for $3K). I like the blend of fantasy and poignancy that the image evokes for me, but I decided my hedgehog briefcase could hardly compare to this woman's morning walk in the rain.

I expect you to die...

As in: Thoughts from the "L"

On the way home from my birthday comics spree at Chicago Comics, the coolest comic store ever, we sat behind a Chinese man reading a Chinese-language book. Oddly, the title and some of the captions in the book were in English. The book: Gold Island Baccarat Strategies. The only place I imagine anyone playing baccarat is in a James Bond movie. The things you see on the train.

The Most Cluttered Office (OR) How I Learned to Stop Being Afraid of Camera Features and Love "Sports" Mode

As in: Photos , Thoughts from the "L"

A month ago, staring absent-mindedly out the window, I noticed that the Green Line runs right by The Most Cluttered Office. Championship clutter. Olympic-caliber. I've been in Greg Ulmer's office—I know clutter. Yesterday, I got a window seat on the right side of the train, so I thought I'd see if I can get a pic of it. I turned on "Sports Mode" and sat poised by the window, catlike. The kid in front of me looked at me like I was nuts.

It occurs to me that perhaps the piles shield this guy from the terrors of working with the el going by every 10 minutes. My eyes keep returning to the leaning tower of booklets in the left window: how many more can he add before it topples?

Saturday Photos

As in: Photos , Thoughts from the "L"

Things you expect to see on the way to work:

A street light


A tire swing


Maybe even some low-hanging clouds rolling off the lake.


But you generally don't expect to see A barell on fire Well, maybe you do. Aside: I didn't notice until later that I caught the 'ol CTA rumbling by as I took my burning-barrel photo.

The dangers of reading on the train...

As in: ComicBlog , Thoughts from the "L"

How to Lie with Maps

As in: Reading , Thoughts from the "L"

Two passages from Mark Monmonier's book that struck me today. First, a funny one:

A more personal example of creative cartography is Mount Richard, which in the early 1970s suddenly appeard on the continental divide on a county map prepared in Boulder, Colorado. Believed to be the work of Richard Ciacci, a draftsman in the public works department, Mount Richard was not discovered for two years. (5!)

The second passage struck a chord with me:

...using outside contractors for compilation or drafting requires a strong commitment to quality control buttressed by the bureaucrat's inherent fear of embarrassment. (43)

I think this passage strikes me because it highlights the difference between a bureaucrat and a good politician ("good" in the sense of being good at politicking, not in the sense of being good for the people). Both Clinton and W seem to be without any sense of embarrassment. Both know when they need to spin, but neither ever seems ashamed in the way the media and the public think they should be.

Weather

As in: Thoughts from the "L"

There are some days when you're glad you own a really warm, if silly, hat.

The Song of Roland

As in: Thoughts from the "L"

More ruminations inspired by the train. I noticed a Borders books price sticker stuck on the wall of my Green line train this morning. The sticker was from my favorite medieval poem, The Song of Roland. I read it for a class as an undergrad, and enjoyed the story. Roland, Charlemagne's number one fella, is ambushed by a bunch of Basques and killed at Roncesvalles pass. Charlemagne comes back and slaughters everyone. A nice story.

A buddy and I decided that the temporary Basque victory over the French money train deserves some sort of commemoration. Thus, we designed (but never made) this T-shirt:

We drew on Gary Larson's cartoon about the Alamo, of course. Alas, I've never had the gumption to make the T-shirt because I'd never wear it. I just can't bring myself to wear rude shirts. Even pseudo-rude shirts. I never wear my "Make 7-up Yours" T-shirt either. Sigh.

Music, serendipity

As in: Media , Thoughts from the "L"

1. As the train pulled into the Clark and Lake station yesterday morning, I was pulled out of my reading-trance by someone's earphones. The music was just loud enough that I could make it out; the song blended the speedy first notes of "Chorus of the Bells" with a hip-hop rhythm that I found pretty fascinating. The sounds blended pretty well. Glancing to see who was listening to the music, I realized that it was not, as I'd thought, a clever hip-hop Christmas song, but rather two separate passengers, each listening to his own music.

My musical interlude brought to the surface my PCA proposal for this Spring. The idea of randomness producing interesting/useful meanings seems like a key way to understand electronic media and the logic of the internet.

2. I'm listening to Crash Test Dummies' Give Yourself a Hand this week. It took me a while to like this album, in part because it's different than CTD's other albums. I've come to appreciate the album for its different approach to lyrics, which seem to be more about how they sound than what they say. Reminds me of Soul Coughing.

My favorite line is from "A Cigarette Is All You Get" Brad Roberts growls:

I want to listen to EL-VIS
I want to shake my PEL-VIS

Reminds me of Ulmer's Internet Invention and of Jeff Rice.