Sunday Observations 2.10

Friday I had just wanted to write a quick post to get my other drone thoughts out of the way before Nemo hit and my mind spiraled elsewhere. I started with following paragraph so you can see my mind always spirals elsewhere.

But speaking of Nemo, who the hell names a winter storm after a fish? Or maybe it's named after Captain Nemo or maybe I'm just putting too much thought into it and it's nemo as in the Latin word nemo. A storm named "no man." So you see how fast my mind spirals out of control. And now I have a Nemo post started ... but I never finished it. In the end the storm dumped a foot of snow on the Village on its way to terrorize New England where it left almost three feet of snow in some places. After the last few blizzards we had here, not to mention Sandy, a foot of powder on a weekend actually called for some fun. One lasting thought did come out of the storm though and that is damn the Weather Channel. Damn them for starting to name winter storms, damn them for naming a storm Nemo, and damn them for no longer having the hottest weather girls.

Nemo did teach me one thing. You really haven't lived until you have seen Fashion Week people trying to walk in snow in stiletto heels. It was totally worth the trip uptown just to see that rarest of social events.

Have you ever noticed Russian photographers are obsessed with big chunky furniture and Victorian settings? Do they teach that in Russian art schools or are they born that way? I mean seriously, simple and easy to look at they are not.

I was reading an article about population and found a bit of trivia. If it was concentrated as densely as it is in New York City the entire world population would fit in the state of Texas. There really is a smart ass comment in there somewhere which probably involves Rick Perry and contraception but at the moment I can't think of it. Now you might be wondering why I was reading an article from a two year old National Geographic and you would have good reason to. It was because the same month had a good article about the libraries of Timbuktu, the same libraries burned by jihadists retreating from the French in Mali. This too is how my mind spirals out of control but it seems perfectly rational to me.

Finally, Kate Upton is the cover girl for this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, it's her second time on the cover and yes this is important to know.

update - This photo is from Victoria Beckham's V.B. show at the New York Public Library earlier today. I'm only posting it because it could possibly be the only fashion line I've seen that looks like it was designed with me in mind. (Vogue)

Observations from the Window 7.26

It has been a draining couple of days since the NCAA announced its draconian punishment of Penn State. Draconian may not be the right word but I always liked the sound of it and never really had a chance to use it before. I didn't check so don't hold me to that statement if it turns out I did use it.  I have stressed, argued, discussed, texted, and emailed on the subject all together too much since Monday.

More than one person has reminded me I have some way more important and exciting things coming up over the next few months. Including a trip I have been dreaming about my whole life. So why did I let it get to me the way it did? Even Ash asked me that question. There are probably dozens of answers I could give but most don't hold up well. I saw a tweet from a current Penn State football player in which he said he wouldn't be transferring anywhere. He said that the team and school were like a family to him and you don't desert your family.

In a couple weeks I'll be thirty years old. Of those thirty years I have spent ten in State College. Maybe it's the splendid isolation Penn State exists in but it really does feel like family when you are there. It's just the culture of the school and town, something that one monster and a few of his buddies can't destroy. In a very intended swipe at the new
Sports Illustrated cover I'd like to say we will always be Penn State.

This subject isn't going to go away for years, if ever, but hopefully this is my last post on the subject. I'm sure it wont be my last post about Penn State because there are just so many good things I can write about. Maybe it's just time for a lot of us to move on and help
rebuild what we love.

Edmund Burke said the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

One of those lessons we just never seem to learn.