Lost in navigation

The navigational assistance that America provides for its citiens on the road sometimes becomes self-defeating. Looks like this soul's cognitive server finally crashed, and she proceeded to give some vent to her emotions - "I'm on horseback! Where do I go?!"

Laugh while the sun shines

For its 50-feet drop, the Minnehaha Falls (Laughing Water) is quite the talk of the town. But hush! no more. The big freeze is coming, and I want to come back to the Minnehaha Park in a couple months to see the falls turned into a hulking column of ice. And maybe snap a still.

 
Surely, you mean a car wash. 

The Handwriting Project

Technology sometimes (often!?) kills good, old habits. My handwriting for example. Over time, it has gone from very good (like my father's) to bad, to 'I can't write' and 'I can't read', depending which side of the writing you and I are. I know many bloggers would be proud of their writing, but of their handwriting? I think it is connected to Geetha's offline post today in a strange way. 'Handwriting' almost suddenly sounds like a retronym.

Last week at work, we began this project of interviewing some aviation domain experts, and, as interviewers, one expectation from us is to write fast and fully using good ol' pencil and paper. The loud key taps prevent us from using the computer.

Anyway, so I realized in the middle of the interview that my knuckles were jamming fast with all the writing, and the writing itself quickly becoming illegible.

And so, I'm now working on a personal handwriting project. I've given it a tagline too - writing for better handwriting. On my after hours tours in and around the cities, I write for about 15 minutes with pencil on paper. It's sort of a 'moment capture' using handwritten words.

This may not be the write time to share the stuff that I write (recall - I can't read), but I do take a picture of my journal and pencil at the moment and place of writing. That's what you see here - my trusty backpack, my journal and pencil and the camera cover, framed in Rice Park, St. Paul.

Maybe when I see signs of improvement in my handwriting, I will post scans of the pages that I wrote. I'm quite excited about this new personal project, and desperately hope I can bring my handwriting up to my father's high standards.

Amen.

The fencing's around another freak - Mr. Smith.

Watch this with your children

Here's help from AMC theaters on the cryptic parental guidance codes that appear at the start of a Hollywood movie. This one's coded 'G' so you can safely leave the baby sitter home.


Running time: 00:45

Back to school

Back to school
Originally uploaded by Rohan Kohli.

It's been three weeks now that children have gone 'back to school'. Schools started a day after labor day here, and the 'yellows' have since been busy as bees hauling the kids and their new sharpeners, pencil boxes, notepads, mabe even laptops to and from school.

Kids aged 16 and above who think jumping on the yellow is uncool, just drive their trucks to school.

Music on the go

Thinking iPod? Get real. Enjoy the good old sax and clip clop.


Running time: 00:14


Running time: 00:08

You may have watched this St. Paul drummer earlier too, cashing in on the honk and blare on the road. And the manic African drums at the Midtown Global Market.

Roadside Museum

 
 
 
 
Richfield, MN, boasts of this collector's item languishing by a roadside paintshop. Question: Can you identify the car? 

Bright spot on a Fall morning

 

Fall is here. Icy cold winds are here. Bone chilling work breaks are here. Frozen fingertips are here. Single digit temps are here. I can't imagine how the winter could get worse. 

Art Weekend August

Three art fairs came to town one weekend early August. I did all three on board the Art Hop bus. Here's an account:


Running time: 04:41

Oops, no Pic 5

This morning I deleted all my files. Simple. Shift+Del. I've been in varying degrees of misery since then. Meghna gave me a pep talk on the phone, which made me feel a lot better. Thankfully, all my videos are posted online.Regular posting at Window Seat will likely start tomorrow.

Once again, thanks to all who read. And if you wondered why I called the 4-pic series Squinted View, here's why. I clicked all four photos this summer, and had to squint everytime I looked up to read the signposts and banners. Minneapolis winters are harsh, but I realized the sun in the summers here can be quite unforgiving too.

A Squinted View: Pic 4

I have to tell you that this banner is a little dated; you don't see it anymore around town. Minneapolis Mosaic was a big spring/summer event that brought with it a bunch of artists, art fairs, and special museum showings, and high visibility for this banner too.

My Pic 4 of the most definitive TC images in the summer.

Part of a 5-pic series of images that I think are a great reflection of the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

A Squinted View: Pic 3

After 26 blocks of shopping in St. Paul's Grand Avenue, does 17 blocks of eating at Minneapolis's Eat Street sound like a good idea? It sure does to me. Whatever your taste - Greek, Lebanese, Continental, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian...Eat Street panders very well to your basest desire - hunger.

And it's not all hurried snack and go, most restaurants here have a crisp tablecloth and jolly waiter to serve you.

This 17-block gastronomic delight is number three on the Twin Cities' most definitive images list for me.

A Squinted View: Pic 2

Grand Avenue. A meandering St. Paul street where the 'local flavor' rises to the top. Small curios, arts, and crafts shops; restaurants for thick or thin wallets; dessert outlets; coffee shops; hoary pubs...they all line up alongside old, stately homes. But we're more concerned with our 'Welcome to Grand' street sign, which is all over the place too.

My choice for the second spot of the most definitive Twin Cities image list.

A Squinted View: Pic 1

Today, I start a series of about five or six banner and sign pics that are as symbolic of the Twin Cities as, say, the Mall of America or the Metrodome. So here's the first one, and it couldn't have been a more fitting start.



The Grand Rounds is a 50-mile long scenic byway around Minneapolis's bountiful lakes and parks, a haven for walkers/joggers and bikers. Hugging the Mississippi riverfront for miles, coiling around the four major lakes uptown, and lazily grazing the Minnehaha Park, the Grand Rounds is my Pic One of Minneapolis's most definitive images.

Check out Grand Rounds on Wikipedia.

Hi 5

Route 5 becomes part of the Metro Transit's hi-frequency network, and that means more bussing around the city - more frequently - for me.

For now that's one bike less on the Grand Rounds.

Picnic on the spot

On a lovely summer afternoon, it's hard to find an open space that hasn't been converted into an impromptu picnic spot. City parks, lakefronts, camp sites, historical sites... they're all full of picnickers.

Maybe the big freeze of the later months spur the Minnesotans to drop their anchors, weekday or weekend, by the closest lake, patch of green, or a public grill. Throw in an open air concert, and you've got a bunch of folks that might never want to return.

Amsterdam, we have a problem!

This is Schiphol. Check out everyone cooling off after a long, hard flight with a well-deserved smoke. Also check out the 'No Smoking' sign feeling totally ignored. Niet roken. What's that?

Also, during my layover a few times at this airport to and from Bombay, the PA crackled to life a number of times to warn errant passengers to board their flights immediately or risk offload. I don't have the exact count, but I heard close to a dozen such announcements in a half-hour period. I was obviously struck by the peculiarity and regularity of this phenomenon at Schiphol.

You can listen to one such announcement too, and pardon me for the audio quality.