In my experience, Japanese hotels are always clean, comfortable, and safe. Usually they are great value. Sometimes they come with a twist. I’ve stayed in a bicycle hotel, an art hotel, but, until this trip, I had never stayed in a hotel modeled on a nursing home. I stayed at this nursing home-themed hotel in… Continue reading Should I Press This Button?
Category: Write
A Man in a Machine
I spotted the machine pictured at the top of this post earlier this week. It looks a little cheaply built for a medical body scanner, but that was my first assumption. I’ve met medical imaging systems of many shapes and sizes in recent times. It’s not in the same league as this beauty I snapped… Continue reading A Man in a Machine
Frame Protruding from Back of Truck
I spotted this today when cycling across the Mississippi on the 3rd Avenue bridge, heading towards downtown Minneapolis. A horizontal frame was protruding from the back of a road construction truck. A rather agile cherry picker on another truck was conveying workers to the underside of the bridge. I cycled to connect with a path… Continue reading Frame Protruding from Back of Truck
The Time I Was Summoned to “The Kremlin”
It’s 1960. My maternal grandfather, my Aunt Madge, my brother, and I had been summoned to “the Kremlin.” Madge consistently referred to her brother’s Glasgow home as “the Kremlin.” This reflected her disconnect with her brother, Malcolm. He was clearly keeping his distance from the rest of the family, possibly for good reasons. The backstory… Continue reading The Time I Was Summoned to “The Kremlin”
The Show Had to Go On
Posted The Show Had to Go On.
The Show Had to Go On
When she was a child, my mother was acting up. My grandmother pointed to a little girl sitting passively across the room: “Why can’t you be like her?” My mother retorted: “Nobody is paying attention to her.” She was probably a little older than the toddler uncomfortably propped on the chair in the photograph at… Continue reading The Show Had to Go On
Love Hotel Amenity
[wp_quiz id=”1823″] I have nothing against love hotels as places for courting couples to get some privacy for a couple hours, or a traveler to get a cheap bed for the night if they can wait until late night to check in. I have issues with other uses that involve exploitation. I took the photos… Continue reading Love Hotel Amenity
Drooped Antenna on a Pole
[wp_quiz id=”2011″] There are about 40 of these devices scattered around the Minneapolis and St. Paul downtowns, and the campuses of the University of Minnesota. This one is across the road from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. It consists of a box, an antenna, and a solar panel. The antenna is always drooped, as… Continue reading Drooped Antenna on a Pole
Standing at the Edge of Creation
October 1983, Hawaii Big Island: I stand against an expanse of blackness, some of the newest terrain on Earth. I set the self-timer on my Canon AE-1 film camera, then dash into the field of view for a self-portrait. “Selfies” would have to wait until the 21st century. I walk around nearby Halemaumau Crater as… Continue reading Standing at the Edge of Creation
A Suspicious-Looking Backpack
[wp_quiz id=”1930″] Picture the scene yesterday. We’re in the meticulously restored Minnesota Governor’s reception room. The older nephew is listening intently to a short presentation. The younger one is wandering around at the back of the room looking for some object that he could climb. Dwight and I stand by, waiting to intervene if necessary.… Continue reading A Suspicious-Looking Backpack