Josiah, one of my coworkers at Coptix, Inc., has created a flickr map of the part of St. Elmo we inhabit. Roll your mouse over this map (you should be on the one for St. Elmo North) and a number of boxes will appear. The largest one, on the upper right, is the cemetery where I often go walking during my breaks. Move from there to the box that is almost touching the upper left corner of the cemetery, and you’ll arrive at Coptix. Keep moving to the left, and you’ll see Sewasdee, the Thai restaurant where I usually get my lunch. If you continue rolling over boxes, you’ll eventually find the Cross residence, which is the birth place of Coptix. Until we moved to our current location, we could be found on the second floor of the Cross’s house.
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The baby doves haven’t made an appearance yet — hopefully I’ll have some hatchling photos to share here next week. In the meantime, here’s a white-breasted nuthatch hanging in its typical pose on my suet feeder.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. The kids over on the ark have some more creatures for you. Also, the addition to the aquarium and the Ross’s Landing Pier are opening this weekend, so perhaps I’ll see you local folks downtown…
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Today was May Day at GPS, and Emmie and I went over to watch the spectacle. Oddly, I never attended a May Day celebration while Emmie was a student at GPS, so I was curious to see if it was really as spooky as people say. The actual event surpassed even my inflated expectations. This year the weather made the event especially apocalyptic, and the ceremony was briefly delayed because of some rain.
Once the ritual finally got started, the senior class girls were presented to the spectators. The girls were dressed in beautiful pastel gowns and adorned with fresh flowers. After being introduced individually, they lined up on the lawn, looking like a huge all-female wedding party in search of many groomsmen. The May Queen’s retinue joined the presentation and then, at last, the sacrificial virgin appeared, dressed all in white and trailed by two train bearers. The maiden goddess haughtily marched to center stage, was crowned by her Maid of Honor, and then the whole May Court strolled around the lawn to be worshiped by the adoring crowd. They were followed by the entire senior class and then everyone took their seats to enjoy the May Day Pageant.
Several musical numbers followed and there was much dancing and merriment. Selections included songs from Mary Poppins, Chicago, The Sound of Music, and Annie. This was all building up to the traditional Maypole Dance, which is performed accompanied by a song about “shagging in the woods,” as Emmie puts it. The sophomore girls gathered around three maypoles, collected the attached ribbons and they all became dancers, frolicking around the phalli, weaving their magick for fertility and abundance. The event concluded with the singing of the school Alma Mater, and then everyone gathered at a reception on the patio.
And for those of you who aren’t from around here, no, I’m not kidding and no, I’m not making any of this up. Really. You can see a photo of the whole pastel-clad group here.
UPDATE: The Chattanoogan has some photos of the event.
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Jeeze, I wouldn’t even have known that a new Jobs bio was coming out if they hadn’t turned it into a news story.
Sheesh.
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I had a meeting downtown last night and caught a glimpse of an incredible sunset as I crossed the Market Street Bridge. I took a whole series of shots and they are all so different, I couldn’t decide which one to share. Finally, DD came to the rescue and fingered this one with an air of authority, so here ya go…
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There’s no doubt that he sucks at being presbyterian, but is he insane?
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Well, he’s not mayor anymore, so clearly it’s time to get busy on the next campaign. But any hope that Bob Corker might remain moderate in the face of a national political landscape that no longer tolerates moderation on the right didn’t last long. Will Chattanoogans be able to accept our former mayor if his senatorial campaign takes on the atmosphere of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge? Will people be motivated to work in his campaign and get out the vote if he starts in the gutter and then sinks lower? It’s a questionable strategy, but then again, hardcore sleaze worked wonders for Dubya…
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Not that you needed another reason to switch from the evil empire to a mac (incoherent demands for .ini and .dll files, virii, trojan horses, ugly GUIs, poor design, frequent system crashes, overpriced upgrades, and so on, ought to have been enough already), but now you do have one.
Go on — make the switch! You know you want to. You’ve wanted to for a long time. And now’s the perfect time. It’s cheap, easy and thanks to Neooffice, it’s possible to run a completely micro$oft-free machine (and don’t you know how good that’s gonna feel).
Do it for human rights and because America is not supposed to be a religious state.
UPDATE: Micro$oft is spending $20,000 a month to line the pockets of Georgia Lt. Gov. candidate and uber-conservative religious wingnut Ralph Reed. Is this why they keep raising the price of M$ Office?
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Here’re a couple of links that might suck away waaay too much of your time:
Peregrine Nest Webcam — There are four chicks there at the moment (via Bubba).
Postcard secrets — There’s some really freaky stuff (and cool art) here (via DD).
“I have had therapy for one of my guilty secrets, and the greatest thing I have learnt is that sharing it with others not only takes away the shame, but reveals how unnecessary the shame was to begin with.”
-anonymous
“…look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
-II Corinthians 4:18
(Something by Stephen Dunn)
“A wish for something moral like a wound
pitying the knife
its inability to be pleased or sad.
Or perhaps an afternoon one day a month
when everyone can say why they’re ashamed.
Something to end the talk that passes
for talk. Something the lonesome ear,
the starved eye, can take in
like nourishment from the other world
in which, now and then, we’ve lived.”
-Pennsylvania
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The Hunter Museum addition opened today on a chilly, very gusty morning. DD and I parked on the North Shore and walked across the Walnut Street Bridge to take in all the new space, which is beautiful and well designed, but we’re going to wait to see the exhibits on a day when we have more time to spend.
This photo looks from the Hunter down towards the Aquarium, over the new glass pedestrian bridge. There’s a lot of new public art scattered about, and all sorts of great places for walking, and for looking out on the river. I think we’ll be spending quite a bit of time over there now that it’s all done…
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