it's damp in atlanner

is this class warfare?

Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley analyzed a person’s rank in society (measured by wealth, occupational prestige and education) and found that those who were richer were more likely to cheat, lie and break the law than those who were poorer. “We found that it is much more prevalent for people in the higher ranks of society to see greed and self-interest … as good pursuits,” said Paul Piff, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at Berkeley. “This resonates with a lot of current events these days.”

is it even true?

progress

"I posted that picture on Twitter, and have gotten a steady stream of conservatives whining that it's gross and that stuff should be kept "private", which just goes to show -- nothing makes a bigger mockery of the conservative fetish over "freedom!" than two men kissing."

lenten thoughts

a little color goes a long way

cool and bright and i had to spend most of the day stuck in front of the monitor --- but that's one less thing i have to worry about this week ---

random shots

fort pulaski

built 1829 - 1847, fort pulaski was thought to be virtually impregnable, until april 1862, when union gunners on tybee using new rifled cannon took barely a day to breach the southwest corner --- unlike fort sumter which was bombed to rubble, pulaski is wonderfully preserved --- and the setting on cockspur island is really spectacular

visitor services

the visitor center (1962) at fort pulaski is a favorite of mine --- the brick, which was from connecticut, is thought to have been chosen because it was cheaper than the local savannah greys --- it was an inspired choice, whatever the reason --- 

a rich dog remembered

near the grange at dungeness, cumberland island

port of savannah

over 2,000 of these container ships, each ten or twelve stories high, pass through the port every year ---

midway

the church (1792) is one of georgia's finest pieces of architecture ---

receding vistas

the road from riceboro to walthourville in liberty county runs through allées of mostly live oak that are really quite wonderful --- in the summer, when the trees are fully leaved, it must be awesome --- several times (clearly) i stopped in the middle of the road, verklempt with the scene before me --- these images do it not justice, but should you be on a journey down i-95, it is worth the  short detour for the trees alone ---

the bank

i didn't think they could be any ruder to the bank, until they started demolishing the vault --- apparently to provide a cleaner wall line, or something ---

journey into the flatlands

flat as a pancake, i tell you, starting below macon ---

the road from waycross to folkston along the eastern side of the okefenokee and the great pine and cypress forests that flank it are mighty fine, even if the pines are just another commodity to be grown and harvested --- the stretches of burned-over swamp from a year or so ago went on for miles

cumberland island is always a fine experience

beautiful, extremely sour oranges

ancient flora

"Living plants have been generated from the fruit of a little arctic flower, the narrow-leafed campion, that died 32,000 years ago, a team of Russian scientists reports. The fruit was stored by an arctic ground squirrel in its burrow on the tundra of northeastern Siberia and lay permanently frozen until excavated by scientists a few years ago."

this is great --- thnx, jon

spring schedule

a nice long preznits' day weekend draws to a close with a spectacularly beautiful day --- now off to the coast for three days, for work, don't you know --- azaleas and all ought to be getting nice down there

the great life force

maximize the serendipity around you . . . . the envelope of serendipity

i love it

my poor bank building

i'm not sure why they have even bothered to leave any walls standing --- they've made alterations to the brickwork on the rear that made no attempt to match the excellent masonry of the original --- they will probably paint the whole thing beige --- and i have to walk past it every day to get to martha --- philistines rule the world

homage to margaret

out walking dog just now, i witnessed again a scene that has been repeated countless times over at least the last three decades --- i'm not sure when the japanese tourists, busloads of them, started stopping in front of margaret's house for photographs and to stare reverentially, but they have been a staple on crescent avenue for as long as i can remember ---- her book wasn't published in ten million languages for nothing ---- the japanese, the germans, and the poles were all great fans of her book after world war ii  --- i'm glad we have a real landmark left in midtown

another reason to dislike santorum

But there’s a lot of land out there that is land that can and should be managed by stewards who care about that land. I believe the land is there to serve man, not man there to serve the land. If we turn that, obviously, BLM, they just don’t — look, we’re not going to have the resources to manage this land correctly. The federal government doesn’t care about it, they don’t care about this land. They don’t live here, they don’t care about it, we don’t care about it in Washington. It’s just flyover country for most of the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. We need to get it back into the hands of the states and even to the private sector. And we can make money doing it, we can make money doing it by selling it. So I believe that this is critically important.

have these people really forgotten, or never knew, that we've already tried that approach? or are they just craven?

Back in my day, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.

as one among our upper management is wont to say: "are you shitting me?"

i have always admired the neatness of the little lawn in that stupid plaza on the north side of 999 --- tonight i discover that its beauty is owed to astroturf

reality check

thnx, andrew

late winter chugs

i've been a little overwhelmed of late --- by the stress of a fairly dysfunctional workplace that leaves me with way too much to do --- by apt vacancies and people you wish you could throw out on the street --- by 90-yr-old 'rents that keep falling over --- on the other hand, the hints of spring and ongoing support from the animals help correct the perspective

orchid daze

there is nothing like a surfeit of orchids on a cold winter day ----