Ambivalent

is an imperfect word that doesn't describe how it's possible to have a variety of stances toward things ... a coarse simplification of the complex feelings toward others that toss and turn inside people, toward their native country, toward all that is.

Day 10: Visit friends, not monuments

Though somehow the only photos I have from that day are of the Bean.

At least now (after three visits, a course in radical political thought, and seeing Fallingwater) I think I understand the piece of art that is Cloud Gate better.

Day 9

The Sun is still there, but his alleged Brother with his palatial raised residence and glory and splendor and vast urban center are long gone ...

Also, somewhere else that could have been your new home, except you chose otherwise. Ah, well then.

Day 8

Wouldn't it be nice?

Also the wonderful things that can be done with a simple, unadorned catenary are really quite amazing.

Day 7: There are Ducks in the House

Not quite Venice, but still a very nice canal that Indianapolis has.

Good enough for this duck and her ducklings, anyway.

Day 6

Overheard at A2SF: "If you want to give your parents a heart attack, you tell them that you're quitting your day job after eight years to become a full-time musician ... If you want them to have a triple bypass, you tell them that your wife is also quitting her day job, to become a full-time writer."

In other news, President Obama waz here (maybe that's part of the reason for the long lunch line.)

Day -7.5: On the Most Solemn Occasion of Commencement

"Seriously?"

Day 5: Welcome to your new home

Whee ...

Day 4

 "This is a nice place. We plan to be here for the rest of our lives."

The caged bird sings / with a fearful trill

of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom. 

Day 3: Well then

That's probably not true. A lot was happening in Pittsburgh in 1897.

Pittsburgh wasn't quite New York or Chicago, but it was still quite the city. It felt a lot like any of the cities around the Allegheny, but scaled up. And it still had a lot going for it, in terms of infrastructure and activity and goings-on and all, despite all that talk of decline. Guess that's all relative, really: the place has been declining, but from a high.

Day 2

Fallingwater blends beautifully---and, really I do mean beautifully---into its surroundings. But it seems to me a triumph of human design and engineering just as much as it is a statement about living in harmony with nature.

Also, meow purrr nyan. 

Day 1: From sea...

Day 0

Oh, Philly. Every time I visit you become a little more endearing, warts and all.

Day -1

Four years of quarterly visits make me a honorary New Yorker, right?

Day -2

My parents actually liked the area around Central Park enough to consider (in the loose sense of that verb) living in New York. Hm.

Day -7

May there be many more good dinners in the days to come.

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. 

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace. 

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy. 

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.

Biggest non-story of the year

“I’ve seen the accumulation of powers that Orwell could not have imagined, and not only that, but, in the hands of a relatively small number of people, this stunning capacity to track you,” he said.

And yet nobody even seems to notice anymore. Bah humbug.