Resting
There was an odd moment during the trek across Wisconsin last week. I’ve been known to photograph restrooms because I find their oddball décor strangely compelling. I was exploring this example, which featured an odd deer hunting motif in carefully detailed porcelain tiles ringing the room at eye level. It was really striking in its position just above the urinal (where you usually find graffiti or advertising billboards) but I couldn’t find a good point of view to photograph it there. I settled for this more complex construction.
Just after I finished taking the photograph, a guy walked in. I think he suspected that something perverse was afoot. In a bizarre coincidence, when I stopped another sixty or so miles down the highway at a rest stop, the same man pulled up beside me. He walked away quickly, as if he thought I was stalking him. Strange.
I remembered all this when I stumbled on this article ranking local restrooms. I’ve only visited one of the landmarks mentioned—the Turf Club. I’ll have to file the rest.
Hiawatha's Grandmother
Rundown (2)
On the Riverwalk
The second part:
Last Friday, I spent most of my time at the SPE conference. I arrived a little late and couldn’t get into Martin Lister’s standing-room-only presentation, “Photography and Information.” Thankfully, I ran into him on Saturday and he said that he would email the paper to me. I’m looking forward to it—it fits into the interesting space between aesthetics and technical communication. I went to the exhibit hall instead, and met A.D. Coleman. While I’d like to support his photocriticism cyberarchive, it’s difficult for me. This information should be open access (in my opinion), not sequestered in a pay-to-access archive. This does not diminish my appreciation for Coleman’s criticism, it only makes me question his politics.
Rundown (1)
Save on Ink
It’s been a hell of a week. The first part:
Drove to Chicago on Tuesday, and discovered more cheesy sites in Wisconsin. Had to get up before light to drive to Palmer House to register for the conference—I spent a long time talking myself out of going to CCCCs this year. We had to get reservations at a hotel at the outskirts of town we could afford, and I hadn’t preregistered. So many people backed out of the blog workshop that there was a serious problem—there were only five people of the original ten listed actually present. Because I initially retracted, my name did not appear on the printed program. This may be the last of these workshops, primarily because the people who have been doing it for the last few years want to move on and no one has stepped up (that I know of) to recruit experienced bloggers to expose other educators to blogs in the classroom. It’s sort of sad, but organizing bloggers has much in common with herding cats.
Suits Me
I hope I can post a rundown sometime soon . . .
Cheese
