Capitol

Posted on August 20, 2017 by d4vid

David Lawrence Young, Jr. (my grandfather) was born in Boise, ID.  I drove around a bit and found the state capitol building.  According to family history, the Youngs lived here for a while after David Lawrence Young, Sr. (my great-grandfather) set up his law practice in town.  Apparently, he also served in the state legislature for “a term or two.”

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Dialogue

Posted on August 19, 2017 by d4vid

Exhausted and sick, I finally arrived in Boise, ID after three days of driving.  I checked in to the Holiday Inn and walked across the parking lot to Applebee’s.  While eating, an elderly couple was seated at the booth across from me.

I heard the kindly old man say to his wife, “Well, here we are at Applebee’s, dear.”

It was like the ham-fisted first line of a bad comedy sketch.

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Snowball

Posted on August 17, 2017 by d4vid

Spotted this Rick & Morty mural off 3rd St. in San Francisco.  “You shall now call me Snowball, because my fur is pretty and white.”

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Specific

Posted on August 16, 2017 by d4vid

My plan was to drive up to Idaho for the solar eclipse, but I was fighting a horrible, rib-rattling chest cold.  I know you’re not supposed to do this, but I looked through my medicine cabinet to see if I happened to have any antibiotics I could take.  I found some, but they had the most explicit doctors instructions I had ever read.

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Pounce

Posted on July 28, 2017 by d4vid

My brother, sister-in-law, and niece gave me this Lego Wolverine for Christmas.  I’ve placed him on the door jamb, ready to pounce!

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Matchbox

Posted on July 24, 2017 by d4vid

As very little boys, my brother & I were obsessed with Matchbox cars.  For Christmas one year, my mother made us this giant 6 foot felt map of Hollywood for us to drive our cars around on.  It contains all of our favorite family landmarks:

  • Cahuenga Pass down from Burbank past the Hollywood Bowl and turning into Highland.
  • The Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd.
  • Hollywood High School (my dad’s alma mater) at the corner of Highland & Sunset Blvd.
  • My grandfather’s print shop farther down Highland on the east side.
  • The McDonald’s just south of Hollywood & Vine.  (It’s still there, tucked behind the Arclight parking structure.  As a kid, you could see it straight from the Dome across the parking lot.  Surprised that the Dome didn’t make it in as a landmark!)
  • The Capitol Records building up Vine.
  • First Presbyterian Church (where my grandfather took the Youngs for decades) on Gower just south of Franklin.
  • The windy road from Franklin up to the Griffith Observatory.
  • The Hollywood Sign and transmitter tower on Mount Lee.
  • The Hollywood Reservoir (which my father loves.)
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Luxo

Posted on July 6, 2017 by d4vid

I drove up to the Bay for 4th of July.  A couple days later, I got together for dinner with some ex-DWA friends.  My dear friend Robyn took us on an afterwork tour of the Pixar campus.

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Gateway

Posted on June 30, 2017 by d4vid

St. Louis.  Gateway to the West.  The arch was one of the last outstanding squares on my American landmark bingo card.

Lewis and Clark left for their expedition from right under the Arch.  True story.I feel like this bike rake was a real missed design opportunity.Looking back over the Mississippi River to Illinois.The view from the top of the Arch looking west.Apogee.The elevator “pods” that take you to the top of the arch were a hellish ordeal.  What was clearly Space Age technology in the 1960s hasn’t been updated since.  Several times, I thought to myself, “This is how I die.”Being late June, a thunderstorm rolled in.  The rain runs down the Arch in fascinating ways.

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Native

Posted on June 29, 2017 by d4vid

I wondered why Jennifer Lawrence’s face was plastered on the side of a building.  And then I wondered why Louisville, KY of all places was having a Hunger Games exhibition at the Kentucky history museum.  I slowly remembered that Lawrence must be Louisville’s “native son.”

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Attention

Posted on June 29, 2017 by d4vid

Not far down the street from Camp Washington Chili is the American Sign Museum.The parking lot was a veritable graveyard of signage.I kept thinking of Lisa Simpson & Paul Anka’s “Just don’t look, just don’t look…” jingle.The entrance was clearly marked.The museum chronicles the history of signage, from painted letters to light bulbs to opal letters and finally to neon.It includes an impressive research library……and a workshop.Still can’t believe this ecological nightmare was an actual logo.Incorporated into the city street façades, in the “shop” windows, are mini-exhibits with tools and art books.I was tickled by the idea that at some point in history a clock would attract everyone’s attention.The blueprint to the McDonald’s neon sign was kind of breathtaking.This Big Boy sign was right next to the men’s restroom.These modern paintings in the style of old fashioned ads were gorgeous.Farewell, American Sign Museum!

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Chili

Posted on June 29, 2017 by d4vid

Apparently everyone knew this except me, but chili is a huge deal in Cincinnati.  It was late and I was exhausted from driving all the way from Chicago, but apparently I committed a faux pas at Camp Washington Chili by not ordering the chili over spaghetti.  In the future, I know that what I want is “four-way bean” (spaghetti, chili, cheese, beans instead of onions.)

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Cincinnatus

Posted on June 29, 2017 by d4vid

I have loved the city of Cincinnati ever since I learned about it was named for Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus who lived during the Roman Republic.  The story goes that Cincinnatus was plowing in his field when his fellow citizens called on him to lead the armies of Rome against its enemies.  Once the enemies were vanquished, he lay down his power and returned to his farm.

Cincinnatus was revered by the Founding Fathers as the model of the selfless gentleman farmer.

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Fontana IV

Posted on June 29, 2017 by d4vid

“Baby, if you’ve ever wondered
Wondered whatever became of me
I’m living on the air in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, WKRP”

“WKRP in Cincinatti” is probably the earliest sitcom I remember watching and I still know the lyrics to the theme song by heart.

The credit sequence also featured this fountain entitled The Genius of Water.

Not quite as indelible as the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, perhaps, but close.

Carew Tower was also featured in the credit sequence.It’s probably the most impressive building I’ve seen outside of Manhattan or Chicago.

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Creation

Posted on June 29, 2017 by d4vid

I visited the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Okay, this exhibit actually did speak for itself.  An audio-animatronic Noah would answer a series of preset questions which could be selected from a touchscreen.  In a vaguely-Semitic-but-mostly-Santa-Claus-sounding voice, it would say things like, “Well, there are really only about forty different kinds of dinosaurs, so I only needed eighty on the Ark.”

And finally, of course, exit through the gift shop.

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Skyline

Posted on June 27, 2017 by d4vid

I was out in Chicago helping my friend Stephanie settle in to her new home.  We went on a Chicago architectural river cruise and timed it perfectly for sunset.

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