All Wet

I know you think I'm all wet sometimes, but are too polite to say so.
Self-portrait taken in Las Vegas.

What is she on?--a rant

I'm sticking my neck out again, something I try not to do but I can't resist this one. Be aware, I can and will delete any comments that I don't like. I reserve the right to be arbitrary and biased on this one.
First of all the juxtaposition of the article with the ad for Concerta is just too choice to miss (Concerta is an extended release form of ritalin).
Second of all, I'm sorry but since when do medical marijuana advocates recommend marijuana for school children and as a treatment for ADHD? In my mind giving pot to your kid is tantamount to child abuse. I know it is a free country but really. So your 5 year old has trouble sitting still and concentrating--what give him a little "medical marijuana"? Are we insane? This makes me so glad I don't live in California.
I am trying very hard to picture a classroom of stoned first graders. I might just have to write to the Comedy Network about this one. According to this writer, Jennifer L., there are 20 clinics in Oakland California dispensing marijuana to teens with ADHD. My brain hurts--hey, I forgot, weed helps with that too. I will not dignify Ms. L. with a link or even the use of her last name. I have no wish to engage her in a dialogue or promote her brand of insanity. You can see it on the screen shot if you use a magnifying glass and if you are really desperate for a laugh I will personally e-mail you the link. Ms. L. finishes her blog post with the following words:
"If I had a child with ADD, I think I would prefer they were on cannabis rather than Ritalin because it is a natural remedy." To which I reply, arsenic is natural too. As are ricin and tetrodotoxin. But I don't give them to my kids. What is the world coming to?

Board Up and Blue Sky

Inspiration is lacking so I'm posting some more pictures from my last few photo outings. This shockingly blue sky makes for a great backdrop for these old houses, doesn't it?

Lodebar on Princeton

One of my favorite local churches. It looks like a transplant out of Normandy. Lodebar is a biblical town which features in a story of King David doing a kindness to the son of his old friend Jonathan. I tell you this because I was baffled at the name of a church. It seemed more suited to a Colorado ghost town. In fact, it is from the Hebrew Lo Debar which is variously translated as "No word" or "No pasture" which suits this Englewood location.

Back to Gary--post number 1002

Not much more than a year ago today, I took my first and only other set of photos of Gary, Indiana. I said most of what I could say on this post last year. This year I traveled over many of the same streets and revisited my favorite row of cast concrete row houses (built around 1910, architect D.F. Creighton, according to my sources). After a bit of searching on-line, (I do so love the internet), I learned that the initial concept for these houses came from Thomas Edison (one of my childhood heroes) and that these homes were built as low cost worker housing. According to a posted application for the National Historic Register, the Monroe Terrace Historic District these homes were built for the workers of the U.S. Sheet and Tin Plate Company and are "an outstanding example of early twentieth century company-supplied worker housing that utilized experimental methods and materials of house construction." (See above link). I wonder if the application was approved. I saw no signs of improvement to the houses since I visited them last year.
Well, this was more than I had planned on posting. I wanted to mention as well that I have posted over 1000 posts! I never dreamed this blog would last this long when I started it. I am amazed at how much I've learned and at the friends I've made this way. It has been worth it.
Have a great weekend.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming . . . .

On Sunday, I had a child free afternoon so I got in my car and pointed myself in a southern direction. My goal was to take some more photos of Gary, Indiana which I'll only do when I have a long day and cold weather.



Initially, I wound up heading due south and found myself in rural Indiana, south and west of my initial goal. It was a pleasant drive reminding me that there are still parts of the country where people raise horses, cows and poultry and still own plows and harvesters.

Eventually I consulted a map, turned north and east and found Gary. Suburban and rural housing developments receded and dereliction and dismay appeared. I am hesitant to judge a town I only know as a photographic tourist but downtown Gary is painful to visit. It is a ravaged old lady with good bones. I remember thinking that I wouldn't want to be the mayor of Gary. I hope he or she is a more hopeful type than I.



In a way, Gary suits my wintry mood far better than cornfields waiting to be replanted. Winter and the stress of bad news makes me feel vacant and trashed like one of these poor houses, once someone's cherished and valued home.

Advice

I'm in the mood for a grand gesture. Should I shave my head to raise funds for pediatric cancer research? Would I be silly, grandiose, vain, or something else to go ahead with it? Would I be chicken-sh-t not to do it now that I've thought of it? What would I look like without hair?
At least I know my hair grows fast. I'd only be a grotesque fashion statement for a couple of weeks. Then I'd be fashionably punk.