Google Earth

Occasionally, I get bored and start looking at Google Maps with the satellite view turned on. If you zoom in far enough, you'll sometimes be switched to a street view. This doesn't work everywhere, mostly in moderate to large cities in the Western world. If it did work everywhere, I'd be posting photos from Sierra Leone, Cairo, the Yukon, and rural China. But, this'll have to do.

Antarctica: Not very exciting from this angle.

Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France

There's probably more attractive views of
New Orlean's Bourbon Street.

Somewhere in Bucharest, Romania.

Bucharest again.

If all roads lead to Rome, why did it take me so long to
find it on the map?

Those strange, symmetrical formations? They're
Disney World's ridiculously large parking lots.

"Hey, guys! Free chair!"
~somewhere in Florida

Looks familiar....
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
in downtown Minneapolis

Hoover Dam

Las Vegas ~ the city that gambling addiction built.

Protesters in Parliament Square in London, 2008

Somewhere in Rome.

Oh, dear. Those pants.
(I'm kidding. She looks like she's on a fitness walk
and Savannah, GA would be a lovely place to do that.)

Vatican City

Westminster Abbey, London, England

January 24, 2012

Winter can't end soon enough. Grey snow, colored by car exhaust, is ugly. And, unfortunately, this is what most city streets look like in the winter.

The Nokomis Turkey

I let this blog fall into inactivity for a couple reasons. One: I quit smoking. The instant I did that, all thoughts seemed to leave my brain and transform into one giant "I'd really, REALLY like a cigarette now." Even with the help of Chantix (which did work for me), quitting smoking was really all that I could concentrate on for the first three weeks. After that, the cravings dropped to a tolerable level.

Also, after a while of not posting, I stopped carrying my camera with me everywhere. So, even when I did see something worth blogging about, I didn't have my camera with me. And, personally, I like having pictures in nearly every post.

But, the past couple days, I did happen to grab the camera. And I'm glad I did because I never expected to see a wild turkey near Lake Nokomis this morning, which is in a fairly urban part of Minneapolis.

The Residents of Wood Lake Nature Center

Since I find bicycling absolutely impossible in the middle of a Minnesota winter, I decided to pick up walking during the winter months. Which, for the most part, isn't very exciting. But, as I was wandering around the trails in Wood Lake Nature Center this morning, I spotted something on the trail.

"Oh my God! Is it...?" I thought as I fumbled for my camera.

It darted off the trail and into the woods before I was able to get my camera out. I sulked, certain that I wasn't going to capture it. But, wait! There was movement in the woods. I aimed the camera forward and took random shots even though I couldn't see much of anything.

At first glance, it looks like the forest and not much else. But, look closer!

 I moved forward on the trail, nearer to the sight. They didn't move much, all three of them simply looked back at me and stood fairly still.

Still not completely obvious...

 Allowing me to finally get a clear picture.

Yay! Deer! <3 <3 <3

Lincoln Park Zoo

Just some photos from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL on December 18, 2011.

And the oh-so-exotic squirrel :-)

Mostly Because of the Chantix

The Euro sign should be a dollar sign.

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Chicago Trip Cancelled...Kinda

I'm starting to think I have a curse following me when it comes to travel. A mere two hours ago, I was all prepared for my trip to Chicago to see a Morrissey concert. I was all "Yay! Morrissey! Yay! Lincoln Park Zoo! Yay! Maybe Sears Tower* if I have the time!" And, then, I logged into my email to find an email from Congress Theatre saying the concert had been cancelled and moved to December 17. For 2 minutes, my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. 'But, but, but....' I thought as the 15-year-old who wants everything "OMG! NOW!" within me howled in despair.


*I refuse to call it by its new name, Willis Tower. Except I just did.


But, it could've been worse. I could have found out after I had gotten to Chicago. Most concerts are cancelled the day of the concert (usually due to illness). Since there was some advance notice, I was able to cancel my hostel reservation before I would've been charged for a night. (Though, if I had been too late, I would've just gone anyway. What's $30 more for a second night?) I only paid $2.50 for the Megabus bus tickets so I wasn't out much for the travel. There are people who fly in from far-away states and other countries just to see a concert. Those people lost hundreds of dollars and can't easily reschedule unless they've got a lot of spare cash.


And, it's not totally cancelled. It's simply postponed until December. I've already bought new bus tickets for the December show. And, because Greyhound was actually cheaper than Megabus (Only $10.50 roundtrip!), I get to wait in a nice warm terminal instead of shivering in a downtown parking lot.


P.S. Just to clarify, I'm not angry about the show being postponed. Things happen and I'm just glad there was some notice.