My Sick Mind

Saturday was particularly nice around here, weather wise. I had to hang at home and wait to have my dryer vents cleaned, which is not a sexual reference. They cleaned my dryer vents. Afterward, I grabbed the camera and took off for the big city. I was there from noon until 8 at night. Here are some of the photos I took during my visit. That's the courtyard of the Betsy Ross House at 239 Arch Street, where legend has it, she sewed our first American flag. It is a matter of dispute that she indeed sewed the first flag and that she lived in this house. We never let the facts get in the way of a good story around here. We have these charming things called cobblestone streets in Philadelphia. They're charming if you aren't riding a bicycle or walking barefoot. These lead you to the Carpenter House. This is the courtyard behind the Rohm and Haas building that I showed you at night last week . That's it on the left. A short jog down the brick path leads you to ... ... a ...

One of my friends came into work today (not the same sick friend from yesterday) wondering what that song was that he heard on the radio... " Why don't you take a good look at yourself and describe what you see, and baby, baby, baby, do you like it?" Immediately, I didn't know, although I knew it was a Led Zeppelin song, and I knew that they usually didn't sing the titles of their songs. OK, so I admit I had to look it up - Misty Mountain Hop, but I knew it was from "Led Zeppelin IV", which some among us refer to as "Zofo". For instance ... We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow. How soft your fields so green, Can whisper tales of gore, Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords. Immigrant Song . Sure. you knew that. Zeppelin is one of those bands that those of us old enough to know, can refer to at times as classic music, even though, at the time we didn't think of it...

I'm exhausted. News events of the past week have left me with little to do but churn out 600-word essays on the current state of American social habits and their effects on the general public. I'm reminded of an exchange in the movie " Broadcast News ": Paul Moore : It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room. Jane Craig : No. It's awful. Stop me if you've heard this: A co-worker reported for work on Monday with a voice that sounded like radio static, insisted that he was "fine" and continued about his day. Tuesday, he came back and attended a seminar with 12 other employees and took a half-day sick. On Wednesday, he finally called in sick and went to his doctor, who told him that he had an "infectious bacteria" in his throat and that his doctor told him that it wasn't contagious, so he could return to work. We know this because he came back to work on Thursday, pr...

Wonder no more, America. Photos of Elliot Spitzer's high-priced prostitute Kristen have been posted on The Smoking Gun . MARCH 12 - Meet "Kristen," the high-priced hooker who trysted with Eliot "Client-9" Spitzer last month at that Washington, D.C. hotel. The 22-year-old prostitute's real name is Ashley Alexandra Dupre (though she was born Ashley Youmans), according to a New York Times report. On the following pages you'll find an assortment of photos that the young prostitute previously uploaded to a music web site and her MySpace page, which describes Kristen/Ashley as an aspiring musician who left home at 17 and has been in New York City since 2004. The story says Spitzer spent $4,300 on her, which ironically violates the Mann Act, an archaic statute that, though rarely invoked, has Spitzer pinned because it forbids "transportation of a person across state lines for purposes of prostitution." "It's an undeniable Mann Act violation,...

We use sex to sell almost everything here in America. Video games, movies, music and food, among other things. We even use sex to sell things to allow us to have more sex and (so-called) better sex, which they tell us is longer-lasting sex, which may not be all it's cracked up to be, if you know what I mean. We have pills designed to give us boners that last 36 hours, pills that make our boners bigger (so they say) and they're advertised on the TV when children and politicians are watching. After a while, it starts to get ingrained in our heads and we start to think that erectile dysfunction is a real disease and that if we're not out boning everything that moves into our field of vision that there's something wrong with us. The trouble with that idea is that not every woman in America is all that anxious to bone us. So, we're left to pay for the privilege, and there is no shortage of women who are willing to accept money for the wanker. However, lots of guys are...

By the latest unofficial count, the page hits over the Kelly Zimmerman story is up over 700. That's about as many as I had when I wrote about Alycia Lane , or when Jane Fonda used the C-word , which was more ado about nothing. Here's a little piece from the latest story: Some Trentonians said they don't understand what the uproar is all about. "No, I don't think it's a big deal, not at all," said George Brewington, of Trenton. "That's just a woman in a bathing suit. " Right you are, George. I'd be willing to bet that most Trentonians don't understand what all the uproar is about. You guys need to do more legwork. The only one who does understand is The Trentonian that calls itself a newspaper. People love the scandal, even if they have to make it up. I think it makes people feel better about themselves if they can find perceived fault with others. They make fun of their weight, hair loss or some other genetic malady in a vein effort ...

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) smiles during a campaign rally in St. Clairsville, Ohio February 27, 2008. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA)

We didn't get the record snowfalls that people in Ohio got this weekend. We got the rain and wind. Rain yesterday and wind today. Parts of our region are under water today and most of them are without power - literally and figuratively - since I take these sorts of days as a testament to the fact that, as far as nature is concerned, we're unwelcomed visitors. Winds blow trees into homes and cars, snow piles up on the streets and rain floods basements. "Screw you, I'm Nature, damnit. Get out of my house!" It's so easy for nature to make our lives miserable, since we're so deep into the comforts that any disruption is a huge inconvenience. In the early part of the 20th century, a storm might knock out power for days and they dealt with it. Now, if the cable is out for an hour, we're in a state of panic. For instance, I was set for another trip into the city for a daytime photo safari, but was informed by the nice PATCO rep that the train was screwed ...