The View from a Drawbridge

Category: Observation

  • Strange Natural Encounters

    Yesterday I saw something that nearly made me drive off the road. A rainbow that was shaped like a backward letter N instead of being in an arch. A really bad picture of it is below. I wish it came out sharper. The only thing that I can think of is that it was a…

  • On Going Slightly Mad

    The definition of insanity, we’re told, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It could be argued that that’s also the definition of optimism, determination, confidence, naïveté, or just plain stubbornness. I’ve always assumed that the solution to this is to stop doing the same thing over and over…

  • “I’ll have your job!”

    The other day I walked into a pharmacy at the tail end of what sounded like a stormy customer service incident. The customer shouted “I’ll have your job!” to the clerk as she made her exit. The clerk looked down sadly and shook her head. It’s not the first time I’ve heard someone make a…

  • Kayak Angst

    While on vacation I read a book (Packing for Mars by Mary Roach—I highly recommend it) that mentioned a very interesting syndrome called Kayak Angst. I’d never heard of it before (and can’t imagine why I would have, being the land-based mammal that I tend to be), so I decided to read up on it.…

  • Bully for You, Maybe, but not for Me

    Bully for You, Maybe, but not for Me

    I am done with curling up in a ball.

  • Spiders, Spiders, Everywhere

    I dreamt of a village in a desert out west. The people had gathered around a campfire to listen to an old man tell stories. He traveled from town to town to recount the tales of their people. He told cautionary tales to teach the young ones how to behave. He told the stories of…

  • Am I the Exception or the Rule?

    I saw a commercial for a department store recently, and their main message was that they sell designer products at department store prices. It was all about save, save, save. And then they showed the price tag on a purse. $149.99. I nearly plotzed. Seriously. It was close. That’s a savings? I cannot imagine a…

  • The Best Cookies on Earth

    I used to know a guy who loved to bake cookies. He was socially inept and often felt left out of things, but when he made cookies, he became the man of the hour, because his cookies were like heaven made edible. He really should have gone into business. He’d have made a fortune. People…

  • Taking the Willy Pepper Challenge

    Blogging is challenging sometimes. So is nature. So when you combine blogging with nature, you really come up against it, so to speak. The other day I came across the picture below and after making sure it wasn’t some cruel hoax, my first thought, as is often the case these days, is that this would…

  • Ljubljana, Slovenia: Here there be Dragons

    Another delightful tourist destination that you rarely hear about is Ljubljana in the heart of Slovenia. I have no idea why. If for no other reason, it should be a part of your itinerary simply so that you can say Ljubljana. It rolls off the tongue in a whimsical way. (Listen to it here.) Not…