What I saw:

random items

Easter Island meets 20th Avenue (left) and a chesspiece-looking seat in a pagoda in Golden Gate Park (right)

sunglasses-wearing martial arts-men (artists?) somewhere along the south side of Irving Street

unfinished mural (on a street perpendicular to Irving Street)

a lot of birds and a few ducks

Golden Gate Park

pagoda in the park

English garden in the park

a garden in a park—is that nature doubled or squared?

sundial – sun (+ hands)

outside the California Academy of Sciences

(crazy trees)

The Living Roof

inside the California Academy of Sciences

rays swimming in the artificial lagoon

fishes in one of the many aquariums

stuffed gophers

skulls

some of the stuff was a lot like the L.A. Natural History Museum, except this one only had an “Africa room,” no other continents

In this “historic time” (as people enjoy saying), it’s interesting (though admittedly not necessarily that worthwhile) to consider how we’ll be viewed through the lenses of history—what true facts will remain and what misinformation will have crept in. Misinformation—from the entirely unbelievable to urban legends to “old wive’s tales” to little white lies/fallacies—used to be spread by word of mouth. Now we have the internet.

This is a very roundabout way of not talking about the “historical” things in progress (is that an oxymoron?), but instead talking about what things and how things become “historical facts” (or just facts). Take Bannerman’s Castle:

There is what I would describe as a “castle” on an island on the Hudson River that you will pass while riding the Metro Rail North south from Beacon to Manhattan. I finally remembered that I wanted to find out more about this castle, so I looked it up online. It’s on Pollepel Island, aka Bannerman’s Island, and was set up as a residence and advertisement for Bannerman’s army surplus business, post Spanish-American War. (The business’ storage facilities were also on the island.)

HOWEVER, I get this information from Wikipedia, and this is where it gets sticky. The Pollepel Island page says “[Bannerman's Castle] remains one of a very small number of structures in the United States which can properly be called a castle.” At this point I wonder: “Is ‘castle’ one of those things that is very specific, but we use the term all-inclusively, like ‘Champagne’ or ‘Kleenex,’ or is it just a general architectural term?”

So I do some internet research. In a footnote, Wikipedia’s page on castles says (with no reference point): “Although it should be noted that there are no true castles in the United States.” So which is true? There are or there aren’t castles in America? Is “no true castles in the U.S.” just one of those quirky (and actually untrue) “facts” that gets spread around?

FURTHERMORE, in the end does it matter? When it enters general consciousness as a fact, does it become a fact? If enough people say the phrase “he did a complete 360″ instead of “a complete 180″ and enough people post it online and enough people read it and enough people repeat it, doesn’t it become fact? (After all, that is to some extent the way words enter the language.) And the people who argue for the true truth become “sticklers” or just plain annoying.

What of today, what of yesterday will end up as true legend, exagerated legend, false legend? Does it matter?

[x]

Mayor Kevin Hagan White, apparently a very large man:

Boston Irish Famine Memorial… with food smashed on it:

more fun statues:

politics:

Paul Revere Mall, Mr. Revere on horseback

There were SO many mailboxes in Boston. I may have spent more time pointing them out that I ought to have, but really, there were a lot. In addition, the trash cans look like mailboxes. I’m not sure what this means, but I’m working on conspiracy theories. I have read The Crying of Lot 49, after all.

Chinese McDonald’s?	along the Freedom Trail + four amazing shoes

The pigeons and squirrels there were pretty fat. My brother pointed out this is because it is cold in Boston. He’s pretty smart sometimes.

There were several cemeteries to see along the Freedom Trail: Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, Established 1659; Granary Burial Ground, 1660 (John Hancock, Samuel Adams, etc.); King’s Chapel Burial Ground, 1630

Buildings along the Freedom Trail:

advertising on historical spaces

This is Paul Revere’s house:

This is what I was looking at while my brother was photographing Paul Revere’s house.

U.S.S. Constitution (above), U.S.S. Cassin Young (DD-793) (below)

Breed’s Hill, site of the Battle of Bunker Hill:

the view from Breed’s/Bunker Hill

Hartford, CT

I used to listen to the Get Up Kids song, but didn’t realize what the Mass Pike was until this moment:

Most of the rest of these pictures are my brother’s. He has the same camera as me and takes better photos, go figure.

The view of Boston from our hotel room:

Grand Lodge of Masons (above), a few from Boston Common (below)

From Wikipedia: “Above the bas-relief stands a female figure, ‘Free America.’ With her left land she clasps a flag about to be unfurled, and in her right hand she holds the broken chain of oppression. Beneath her right foot she crushes the royal crown of England, which lies torn and twisted on the ground. At the left of the figure, clinging to the edge of the base, is an eagle. Thirteen stars are cut into one of the faces of the monument. Beneath these stars in raised letters are the names of Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, and Patrick Carr.”

I did a report on Crispus Attucks in elementary school, in front of my classmates and a video camera, the highlight of which was: “Crispus Attucks—2 legit 2 quit.” (The teacher required we end with that or “It’s Hammer time.”)

I am pointing out the Native Americans in the lower left corner, who are (incredulously, one might suppose) watching the people land their boat on the shore and disembark. This was the day before Thanksgiving, I thought it was an appropriate thing to point out.

pesto penne in Little Italy; my brother got a cannoli afterward and we walked back to the hotel room and called it a day.

Mendota, IL:

Naperville, IL:

somewhere in upstate NY:

The difference between driving through this country and riding the train through:

They [whoever] put all the un-aesthetically pleasing things near the train tracks not near the highways. Luckily, actually I really enjoy the scenery. There are miles of nothing (i.e. seemingly untouched land), then you get to a city and you can see: basic tagging, intricate graffiti, junkyards, heaps of trash, abandoned buildings, junk car lots, abandoned appliance lots, railroad ties (this is actually a logical place for those), and sometimes shanty towns (well, single residences). The train was moving to fast for me to catch worthwhile pictures of any of these things.

There’s also the on-train scenery:

My seat neighbor from L.A. to Chicago, who currently teaches UFC fighting in Detroit (he’s originally from the L.A. area), had traveled all over the world. I learned from him, for example, not to drink ice cold liquid when you’re in Northern Africa on a really hot day—apparently causes heat stroke.

And in Chicago’s Union Station were several Amish/Mennonite people, many commuters, and one young man recently released from prison who needed money for a train ticket home (but refused the actual train ticket in lieu of money).

yes, the view, of course, the view

but the thing about being there is you can’t really take it in because you are there—too close to actually see it all. (see pointillism.) that doesn’t stop you from trying to fathom it, though.

we hiked three miles down on the Bright Angel Trail, from 6860 feet in elevation, down to 4748 feet. the trail started out very populated, but the crowd began to thin out as we went. (see thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.)

we saw goats

and leaves and squirrels

and many many footprints.

we met an older woman who had hiked all 9 miles down to bottom the day before and was now hiking back up. we walked alone and together at various paces.

we saw nature at its finest

and nature being helped along.

We stayed on the South Rim at Mather Campground. Then we drove home.

It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.

[x]

lotsa similar scenes:

nice sky

a place to sit

oasis from afar

oasis from anear