allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong

March 17, 2018
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Hawaii Is Beautiful Day 1

I have so many thoughts about our Hawaii trip, and getting all the words I have to say about it out will take hours. Here’s the summary. There was more rain and overcast days than we were expecting. But it felt so liberating to wear shorts and flip-flops and the scenery was so stunning we were thrilled regardless of our missed expectations. I’ve had the privilege of traveling quite a bit, and Hawaii is probably the most naturally beautiful place I have ever been. I have more to say, but for now, here’s some pictures. Note that both Jeannine and I took these, so this isn’t just my shots.

It felt so liberating to wear flip-flops and shorts that we didn’t care about the rain.

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Exploring the north shore.

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

The Dole plantation

Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Waikiki beach.

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Waikiki beach at dawn.

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

It rained almost every day, but the rains were light and pretty short in duration. I meant that we saw rainbows all the time.

Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Waikiki beach at dawn. Dawn and twilight were often overcast, so we didn’t see many spectacular colors.

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Dole pineapple plantation – Oahu

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

The Polynesian cultural center.

Dole pineapple plantation & Polynesian Cultural Center – Oahu

Edinburgh At Night

February 22, 2018 by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong Leave a comment

Old bricks breathe and in Edinburgh they seem to sigh in defiance of the gaudy shops hocking scarves and scotch. That it held any character at all was all due to the rock and stones that have been here for hundreds of years. I was happy to walk those streets and crawl through the underground. Ghosts walk there among the barely living.

I am sure it smelled in there like unwashed humans and poo.

This is one of the newer buildings. It is a memorial for all the Scottish soldiers who’ve died across the years. And as this visit to this castle made clear, they have been legion.

This man will aggressively shove you with his menacing shield.

It did feel a bit like standing on the top of the world.

This was their solitary confinement cells. These structures were build a bit later than the big community jail cells.

The Middle Age version of good guys with guns.

I’ve just found this caption feature. I can do them all in bulk. This is a massive improvement, but it also might encourage me to run on a bit. Uselessly.

That’s the jail. Jail at any time would suck, but I think it would be extra terrible during the middle ages.

This was a little chapel that was probably among the oldest parts inside the castle walls. I guess no one wants to tear down a church.

Horse butt.

I’m pretty sure Mary Queen of Scots had a baby here. Like I said before, this happened four months ago.

That fire place is the size of most people’s bathroom.

Edinburgh Castle. This area was called the promenade. That junk was built in in the middle ages.

This fire place was also enormous. Apparrently all that tech to figure how best to heat a living space via a fire place had not yet happened.

I am sure I read the plaque that this guy had, but that was 4 months ago.

This gallery contains 32 photos

Olde Edinburgh

February 21, 2018 by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong Leave a comment

I stopped off for a few days in Edinburgh. I tried a lot of Scotch. It was delicious, but bourbon is still my jam. I checked out Edinburgh Castle. If I make it back there again, I want to get a look at the country.

This gallery contains 34 photos

The English Countryside Is Also Charming

February 20, 2018 by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong Leave a comment

Because my friends Sue and Mark are wonderful humans, I got a chance at a home-cooked meal and a hike in the English countryside. It was a much needed antidote to a week in a cubicle.

Forests all look like forests, except they don’t. The trees were all just a bit too gnarly and the underbrush had too many ferns and grasses and not enough shrubs and brambles. It was home, but also obviously not a hike in the Pacific Northwest nor the Midwest or Appalachian Mountains.

This gallery contains 41 photos

Newcastle Upon Tyne Is Charming

February 19, 2018 by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong Leave a comment

I spent a couple of weeks in Newcastle in November. I spent most of my time in a cubicle learning how my co-workers move billions of dollars around, but when I had some free time, I got to see the city a little.

I won’t get into the details, but am having technical difficulty using Lightroom which means that I am unable to edit this stuff. It’s a little maddening, because I think these would have more punch with a little judicious cropping and color adjustments. But hey, I have procrastinated putting these up for long enough.

This gallery contains 17 photos

February 2, 2018
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100 Books While 40: GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL

Book: Guns, Germs, and Steel
Author: Jared Diamond
Published: 1997

White people came to dominate the globe not due to inherent superior intellect but due to geographical advantages. Also, people are horrible. That’s my summary of this book.

This book is fascinating, but also very difficult to get through. History’s story arc is mostly thus, bully takes advantage of the powerless to pointlessly expand his power and yet still dies anyway. The end. And the retelling of this same story arc is exhausting. The science parts of the book are fascinating, but cannot over come the emotional drain.

The only way I was able to make it through this book was by listening to the audio book. Which essentially means I could zone out for some parts when I couldn’t listen to was felt like the 115th story about people killing off species of animals or other humans just because.

This dark reality was particularly hard to take given politics today. That story… Bully kills and consumes with impunity until he dies. The end. Here we are again.

February 1, 2018
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 2 Comments

100 Books While 40: ALICE MUNRO: SELECTED STORIES

Book: Alice Munro: Selected Stories
Author: Alice Munro
Published: 1996

I lost control of the URL for my blog. It took several months for me to reclaim it. That would be a good reason to have several months without a post. But it has been more than that. I haven’t been to shows or reading, and since those were typically my topics I haven’t written.

I’ve been missing the blogging, not so much because I’ve had much to say, but because it motivated me to read. I’m not sure why I can articulate why I withhold reading from myself. So. Here’s a halting start to the blogging so as to start the reading.

I finished Alice Munro’s short stories months ago, and now I am only left with a vague feeling of wistfulness for her stories with their domesticated desperation. Regardless of the objective level of drama in our lives subjectively we still have the highest highs and lowest lows. I put down her stories with the gentle ache that we each face our own unique circumstances to the same universal heartbreak and joy.

In this way we are all the same.

Now then. I am swirling in a nest non-fiction books that are very long and very detailed. I think it will be weeks before I manage to finish one of them. I am looking at you ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN and TEAM OF RIVALS. *sigh* I will be back. I just don’t know when.

September 25, 2017
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MPMF17 Sunday In Pictures

Lightening thoughts. Flint Eastwood dresses and talks like the little girl in True Grit, except for all the cursing. She commands the stage like the most epic arena rock god. That show was a whole bowl of stuff that makes no sense together. That’s what made it something I will never forget. Go. Go see her crazy ass.

Charly Bliss was super stinking fun. Also, go, go see them. Urban Renewal Project has an army of horn players, and a rapper who will improvise a rap about whatever flotsam and jetsam you have in your pockets or purse. Familiar refrain. Go. Go see them.

It was fun to shoot, although I am terribly out of practice. I forgot how to format my memory cards, that’s how long its been since I’ve done any shooting.

It was great to see so many different acts. This location is no MPMF of old, but it’s a massive improvement over the parking lot. The line-up was great. My only suggested improvement for next year is to get more food trucks. They had some, but considering how limited the options for quick evening eats are around The Taft, I think a wider variety of trucks would help.

See you next year!

MPMF17 Saturday

MPMF17 Saturday in Pics

September 24, 2017 by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong Leave a comment

MPMF17 Saturday

This gallery contains 36 photos

September 24, 2017
by allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong 1 Comment

MPMF17 Sunday Schedule

First thing. Moving from the roasty toasty parking lot to The Taft and The Masonic Center is a big improvement. Second thing, It was a little weird to be in a daytime music fest inside. But, like I said this is hugely better than the parking lot.

Second thing. Good god Broken Social Scene is great. You know how talented musicians who play prog-rock-like stuff tend to have like thirty instrument changes and many minutes between songs to tune? THEY DIDN’T DO THAT THING. They literally passed 2 bass guitars around between members as they all switched out playing different stuff. They passed around a Fender Jazzmaster too. And! They clumped together the songs in which they were each on a particular instrument. OMG. Thank you for thinking of your audience, who doesn’t really want to watch you tune fifty times. THANK YOU.

Really, I enjoyed almost everything I saw yesterday. So, good on you whoever negotiated the line-up.

Here’s what I want to see today:

2:10 Coastal Club
2:45 Moonbeau – Taft
3:55 Sphynx – Taft
6:00 Automagik – Taft
6:30 LEDGES
6:50 Charly Bliss – Taft
8 Urban Renewal Project – Taft Ballroom
8:25 Flint Eastwood – Taft
8:30 Noname – Masonic Cathedral
10 BADBADNOTGOOD – Masonic Cathedral
10 Walk The Moon – Masonic Cathedral

Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

Author Archives: allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong

Hawaii Is Beautiful Day 1

Edinburgh At Night

Olde Edinburgh

The English Countryside Is Also Charming

Newcastle Upon Tyne Is Charming

100 Books While 40: GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL

100 Books While 40: ALICE MUNRO: SELECTED STORIES

MPMF17 Sunday In Pictures

MPMF17 Saturday in Pics

MPMF17 Sunday Schedule