ninja roadtrip

what better excuse to break in the new car (a diesel volkswagen golf) than a roadtrip to surprise and freak the crap out of your friend whose two bands are playing together in austin?

those two bands were american analog set and paul newman. you should buy their stuff. you should also go see them when they play in your town.

on the way down, we stopped off in st. louis to see tadao ando's pulitzer foundation for the arts, in memphis for some damn fine barbecue at rendezvous, and in little rock to see the clinton presidential library.

once in austin, we discovered that the sixth street district is a tiny slice of hell, and that it's a hard city to get around. one way streets, twisty, turny streets, and 60mph streets with stoplights give you the feeling that you can see your destination, but you can't get to it! on the bright side, it's a hilly, beautiful city full of spectacular homes.

in austin, we visited the lbj presidential library, which is a fine example of oppressive modernist architecture. the museum also sports a creepy life-size lbj automaton that tells jokes.

we also toured the capital building, where we learned that texas is very, very proud of how big everything is in texas - really proud. at one point the tour guide told us, "our capital building is the second tallest in the nation, but it has the most square feet of any capital complex - and that's all that really matters." i guess that attitude helps to explain the big cars, wide roads, and insanely tall exit ramps in texas. make no small plans! go big or go home!

on the way home, we stopped at yet another tadao ando museum - this time , the modern in fort worth. then, it was on to norman, oklahoma for dinner, and an overnight just outside of tulsa. the one thing i regret missing on this trip were the world's largest praying hands! bummer. i'll be sure to catch them the next time i'm passing through tulsa. actually, being the world's biggest, it's surprising they're not somewhere in texas.

all in all, we put 2500 miles on the car in 5 days. our calculations tell us we got about 45mpg of diesel. hot damn.

you can peruse the pictures and movies here.

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who knits on the toilet?

in a bathroom stall in fort worth, texas i saw this little sign on the feminine product refuse container.

now, there's a little symbol for a tampon, but what are those two sticks?

is it just me or is that top stick a knitting needle or a xylophone mallet?

or, is it a gross misrepresentation of those sticks that some tampons come with for insertion?

but wait - in their infinite wisdom, the sign designers have depicted a cross-section through the garbage receptacle. apparently, the sign designers feel they need to aquaint us ladies with how the trash can works.

so don't throw your knitting needles away yet. i'm sure they're working on the equally confusing, yet appropriate sign for the appropriate receptacle.

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graffiti heckling

i found this on the southbound ravenswood platform of the metra today.

it's graffiti heckling.

you'll need to click the photo to enlarge it. it reads:

"go to school. learn how to spell and draw. gang members suck at drawing."

i think this is the best thing i'll ever see on a train platform.

i'm still trying to figure out what the crown means. at first i thought latin kings, but then some research led me to the information that the latin kings tend to use 5-pointed crowns.

so, it's still quite the mystery.