Here we are, in the home stretch to spring, when Old Man Winter rears his head again. It seems we’ve been spared the massive snowstorm much of the East has suffered, but we still have lots of wet snow, chilly temperatures, and high winds. The weather forced us home from Philadelphia a day early (I […]

Posted on March 1st, 2005 by admin
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It has been quiet here, eh? I’ve been busy posted and commenting at the Dialogical Coffee House, and I’ve been reading some material that doesn’t lend itself to rapid posting. I’ve also been trying to find a rhythm for writing other material (ie fiction and/or creative nonfiction) that may find its way here. In other […]

Posted on February 22nd, 2005 by admin
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Today I discovered that our community group has a website. Not exactly cutting edge design, but, hey, it could be worse. Being a bit of Pittsburgh history geek, I got a kick out of a few of the historical documents on the site, including an article in the 1905 Pittsburgh Leader about Morningside Valley. An […]

Posted on February 18th, 2005 by admin
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Via Crooked Timber: It seems that owners of Habitat For Humanity-built homes in Virginia are being squeezed by rising property taxes. In a nutshell: the owners are faced with property tax bills that are greater than their mortgage payments. From the Post article: In recent months, Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia has launched a […]

Posted on February 15th, 2005 by admin
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Matt Chester has a nice little overview of his design philosophy. Most notable are some of the pics he unearthed of the early days of the TdF. The pic below is just plain awesome: Fixed gears. Dirt road. Self-sufficient. Also, the Rally Sweden started today. There was concern that there wouldn’t be enough snow, turning […]

Posted on February 11th, 2005 by admin
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Reason has chimed in on the New Urbanist movement, and, predictably, Stephen Town and Randal O’Toole aren’t impressed. The bulk of criticism focuses on the crime-friendly nature of New Urbanist developments, thanks to the copious open spaces, mixed-use areas, and alleys.

Posted on February 10th, 2005 by admin
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Google has just released the beta version of Google Maps. The initial interface is very simple, but will probably be confusing to some (for driving directions you smash both addresses in a single textbox separated by “to”). I got directions from the house to the office, and the results came back within seconds, and the […]

Posted on February 8th, 2005 by admin
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Yes, it has been quiet around here, but not without good reason. First, the discussions over at the Dialogical Coffee House have been capturing my attention, and I’ve peppering some other sites with my comments. Second, the latest issue of the New Pantagruel is out, and there is plenty of good stuff to absorb there […]

Posted on February 2nd, 2005 by admin
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We have, over the years, tried to become more considerate consumers. Realizing that materialism and consumer have overcome our society, we wanted to try to go against that grain best we could. But last night, while at the local supermarket obsessing over what coffee to get (since I couldn’t stop at La Prima in the […]

Posted on January 26th, 2005 by admin
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I’m having trouble finishing things these days. Some of you may be saying *tsk tsk* since the Rallye Monte Carlo started today, and I’ve gotten one team preview out. I’ve got two half-completed previews, and a rally preview. In case anyone cares, Sebastien Loeb is leading the rally, with Francois Duval and Marcus Gronholm close […]

Posted on January 21st, 2005 by admin
Filed under: Life, and How to Live It | Comments Off on This and That