esprit de l'escalier

My propensity to tour guide

Today was just plain, old gorgeous. It was about 70 degrees out, sunny. My co-worker Dan and I took the new guy out to lunch. (We have a new guy. It's no longer me! He's from Bloomington, IN, which is where I went to school, which is exciting for me. Dan is also from Indiana, so we had a little Hoosier lunch.) I suggested the Brown Bag Deli in German Village, and for us to dine al fresco in the park. (I am always full of good ideas when it comes to lunch.)

I was blathering a bit about German Village, and Columbus, and apologized for tour guiding. Sometimes I can't help myself. My whole life I've been soaking of information about the places where I've lived, usually coming from my parents, details about architecture and history, people and places. I love the history of places, especially ones that are special to me, or are where I live.

New guy made me think about the good tours I used to give on IU's campus. (Not officially or anything, just for visiting friends/family.) That made me think about other places I gave unofficial tours of. I gave a good one in Prague when I studied there almost a decade ago. I still give downtown Chicago tours for any newbies who might happen to be with me. (One place I always bring people: the flagship Marshall Fields store on State Street to see the Tiffany moasic ceilings. I lead them into the crush of the department store and then stop them and make them look up. People swirl around us and it's like looking up into the heavens.)

But then I was thinking, this guy is new in town and doesn't know anyone. Maybe he *would* like a tour (or maybe I'm using this as an excuse for a little project). So I think I'm going to put together a little tour of Columbus, or at least of some of its neighborhoods. I'll take photos and share them with you.

Following the winter sun

This winter I have become obsessed with tracking when the sun rises and sets. Every day I click onto Weather.com, check the day's temperature, and see what time the sun sets. Since the solstice, that time has been making minute steps upwards. Of course leading up to the winter solstice was rough, watching the days get shorter and shorter. Even now thinking about it makes me a little sad. But I have found one good thing about February (and living in Ohio): it's almost 6 when the sun sets. Of course, since I *am* in Ohio, I don't see the sun set every day. Today I did though. Tomorrow is supposed to be clear, too. Now maybe some of that ice will melt.

Meet me at the fair

My friends and I went to the Ohio State Fair this weekend. I hadn't been since middle school? High school? I can't remember. I've stayed away because generally I don't like heat and crowds, but I had a great time and plan on going back next year. We lucked out with relatively cooler weather and I fell in love with the fair. We didn't see the butter cow, but we did sit in on Holstein competition, only to discover at the blue ribbon ceremony that it was all about the utters. Which explained a lot.

My favorite place was the poultry barn. I wandered the the aisles of fancy chickens, marveling at their colors and sizes, wishing I could take one home. They had a ton of heritage breeds as well. Sigh.

I took my polaroid spectra and my holga. Below are my favorite polaroid shots. The fair was made for polaroids. See all my photos here.

A rainy Sunday

Today the sun actually shone, but the last couple of days have been nothing but rain. The yard is exceedingly green, but it's nice to see the sun. Here are some shots from a couple of weeks back, when I went on a rainy hike to Flint Ridge with some friends.

'Roid Week 2009: Day One

It's that time again! Fall 'Roid Week is upon us my friends. Prepare to be inundated. I need to get out and shoot some more this week. I can't wait! These are from a hike in the Hocking Hills a couple of weeks ago.

More naturey crap

I promise to return with actual words before the week is up (which means, tonight or tomorrow), but here are some film photos I took a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday hike at the Black Hand Gorge.

Once upon a time there was an actual hand in the sandstone narrows that cut through this area. It was thought that the hand signified that from there til Flint Ridge was a DMZ of sorts. Flint Ridge is where people from many tribes in the area came to get flint for arrow heads and was a safe zone from disputes.

I was really sad to find out there was no more hand. We blasted the hand when we widened the narrows to build the Erie Canal in 1828.

Goodbye Wonder Bread

With a great amount of sadness, I read yesterday on Columbus Underground about how the Wonder Bread factory in Columbus is closing. I'm sorry for the workers and for Columbus to lose an icon.

Anyone who grew up in the area knows the factory because of it's huge neon sign and the wonderful yeasty bread smell that emanates from it. You can see and smell it from the highway. I always thought I was lucky to grow up in a town with a bread factory, as opposed to a tire factory.

When I was a kid, there was a yearly summer festival at the little 1950s strip center down the street from my house. The parking lot would be partially closed, there would be games, Elsie the Cow (or some bovine stand-in), and a guy dressed as a bag of Wonder Bread, handing out miniature loaves of squishy bread.

Delight

My friend Mary and I took a mini road trip on Saturday to Yellow Springs, Ohio. We had figured that gas prices had dropped and the fall colors were around their peak, so a road trip was in order. Plus Yellow Springs is a delightfully cute town, and this weekend several artists had open houses to their studios.

We drove through Antioch College's grounds, which are sadly empty at the moment. (The above polaroid is from the school's fire station.) I hope that the school can come back, or at least something new and positive can take over the campus. It seemed wrong to see a campus in fall with no students lolling about.


We enjoyed wandering around the town and visiting with different artists and shops. All in all, our trip was a success.

This is as far as I'll get involved

I'm not a big football fan. Ironically it was the Ohio State Buckeyes who killed any interest in the sport, because as a young child there were often riots and burning cars and couches on campus after the team lost. As a kid I wasn't interested in being associated with a bunch of lunatics. Of course, what I didn't realize then is that you end up associating with lunatics at some point or another, completely outside of the realm of your control. (And sometimes you end up going to grad school at a school you never thought you'd go.)

Ahem. So, in honor for the big game today, I thought I'd show my support. I was raised a Buckeye, after all. Here are a couple of buckeye glamor shots I took this summer. We've got a tree in our yard - something my grandmother always felt was good luck.

I also want to wish my parents a happy anniversary. Thirty five years today. Unbelievable.

Jeni's Ice Creams

Ever since I got back to Columbus, I kept hearing people rave over Jeni's Ice Creams as being the best in town. Pshaw, I thought. Graeter's is clearly the best. What were these people talking about? But everytime I went to the North Market, there was always a line snaking through the tight aisles for Jeni's "gourmet, artisanal ice creams." I figured what was the harm in trying, right?

A couple of weeks later I found myself in the Short North with an hour or so to kill. I snapped some photos, had some coffee, and thought I'd treat myself to some ice cream. Right away I loved the decor. It looks like a modern creamery - clean lines, calm colors accented with bright yellow stools (that evoke milk cans a bit), light fixtures that look like milk jugs. Plus they had a display of enlarged polaroid photos.

The people working were extremely friendly and let me try about 7 flavors. Now, since this isn't any old ice cream parlor, but a "gourmet, artisanal" place, you don't find your normal 32 flavors. They have nine signature flavors: Salty Caramel, Gravel Road, Dark Cocoa Gelato, Pistachio & Ashland County Honey, Black Coffee, Thai Chili, Lemon Yogurt, Queen City Cayenne, plus a fresh sorbet of the day. Jeni Britton, the founder and ice cream maker extraordinaire, is all about using local foods, so most of her flavors are seasonal, and reflect the produce of Ohio.

I tried something with a lavender base, but opted for the sweet corn with black raspberry sauce. (There were still summer flavors when I visited.) See descriptions of the current flavors here. Looking over the list again, I'm amazed I ever came to a decision. Oh, and the cones are all made in-store and were delicious. It was the best sugar cone I have ever had - cone alone.

As you can see, I quickly became a convert. I don't think it's the sort of ice cream I'm going to always want - have simple tastes (plus there are a couple of Graeter's flavors that will always bring me there), but I will definitely go back. Change is sometimes definitely for the better.