A President's Job is Hard...

You're the most powerful man in the world but everyone wants a piece of you. You start out able to do no wrong but public opinion turns and you can't seem to do anything right.

Before—2008:

From Squeezing My Mind Grapes

And after—2010:

From Spock Is Not Impressed

Remember When We Thought Computers Were Used to Educate People?

From the bowels of a box of stuff:

The disks were gone but the box graphics sure are pretty.

Endorsed by Alex Trebek!

Increase your SAT scores by 200 points!

Success Pack!

Step by Step. So many CDs.

A curriculum that covers third grade through college.

Knowing big words makes you rich!

Testimonials. (Which makes me wonder if anyone who actually used this program are actually reading this; if so, how was it?)

It even comes with its own diplomas!

Get a load of those system requirements. Note how much more memory the Mac version requires and the long list of add-ons required for the PC version. But also notice how much more powerful a modern smartphone is than a PC or Mac of that era.

Caught in the Act

On last Thursday's Community, a furry little paw grabs Annie's purple pen:



A second later, it's gone:



Let's go to the video:

Also available in animated .gif format.

Screenshots From The Aerodynamics of Gender

I loved Abed's Terminator vision in last week's episode. Here are some screen shots:

Something Else to Take a Look At...

While browsing through books at Borders, I came on a surprising juxtaposition. Near the top left of this picture is Sarah Silverman's book The Bedwetter. Near the bottom right is a biography of Mao Zedong. For some reason I find the similarity between the covers of these two very different books to be absolutely hilarious.

For Your Sitting Pleasure

There is a building in downtown Chicago which has been under construction for quite some time. While it still is under construction, several stores have opened making for an interesting contrast between shiny, new stores and unfinished ones. It also has the coolest looking bench:

Christkindlmarket (sp?) in Daley Plaza

A lot of German-American food, tiny shops selling holiday and Germanic themed trinkets, and a lot of people milling about. And also a puppet show!

Took a Walk in the Park...

It was about 34 degrees Fahrenheit today when I took a walk through the park, just barely above freezing. Usually the water fountains of Piotrowski Park are broken even in the summer. But on the way home, I chanced upon this one:



There's just something so interesting to me about the water in the fountain wears away the ice from previous, colder days.

Textured Clouds

I like the mix of bright, thick, and fluffy clouds layered on top of dark, thin, and wispy clouds. The scene in both pictures was originally much brighter than what my phone's camera could capture but I think I like the pictures just the same even if I'm pretty sure that it's the edge of my finger at the bottom of that second picture....

Art Near the El

I usually start my day by taking the train and there is some pretty interesting—is mural the right word?—near the station I usually use.

There is some pretty artsy Batman graffiti adorning a local parking lot:

And a more aspirational installation on the side of a church:

Are Pink Clouds Effeminate?

I took this picture last month during the afternoon before Thanksgiving. My phone doesn't do it justice but I really liked the subtle interplay of the wispy pink cloud against the blue sky and bright, nearly full moon.

A Cell Carrier Goes Underground

One of the most frustrating things about a long commute can be going into a subway and losing your phone signal. So an ad like this one can be rather hearkening:



I have T-Mobile and my G1 has been getting better coverage on the Blue Line subway in recent weeks. Unfortunately, this improved coverage doesn't help as much for data usage. T-Mobile's 3G coverage is already relatively slow to begin with and my G1 tends to drop to EDGE speeds in a subway so checking email and web browsing can be slow. On the other hand my Palm Pre tends to lose both voice and data in the subway so T-Mobile is ahead of the game here.

Wherein My Obsession With a Lone Flowerpot Continues...

I guess it's another sign that winter is coming when the Chicago Cultural Center switches from weird flowers to nothing to pine:

Halloween in Daley Plaza

This Halloween I went to Daley Plaza for "Chicagoween." The place looked great.



And there was a showing of Young Frankenstein.


Funny movie but I was a little disappointed. Last year they had live entertainment.

Then Pyrotechniq came on to the stage....