Shadow Skull

Deer Skull Study, Pittsburgh, 2016


I liked the idea of the skull emerging out of shadow.

Hold The Salt

Red Chair Fallow Field, Pittsburgh, 2012


Seldom is the evening that we find our selves dining out at a restaurant.  The reasons are pretty simple:  1)  I enjoy being in the kitchen.  2)  It's easier to prepared healthy meals at home (less salt, less fat, less sugar).  3)  Cost. 
What annoys me the most about dining out is the amount of salt used in basically every single dish.  Chain restaurants are the worst offenders for salt and fat.  Although, Emeril Lagasse, a supposed master chef who should know better, is right up there with the worst of the worst.  Anyway, couple of years ago we were given a gift card to Outback Steakhouse and since there's one within a few miles of our house, we went there for steaks.  The American Heart Association recommends that an adult consume no more than 1500mg of sodium per day, and that steak alone contained nearly half of a daily allowance (740mg).  Once you factor in the accompanying house salad with light balsamic vinaigrette, and plain baked potato, your sodium intake tops off at 1860mg.
Why?  Why so much salt?  I don't enjoy an overly salted meal at all, but this seems to be common across the board in American restaurants, from high end establishments to Burger King.  Is it possible that high sodium in restaurant food is simply a default result?  Because sense of smell is linked to our sense of taste intrinsically, and because these two senses vary widely in the general population, particularly between men and women, have the restaurateurs chosen to cater to the lowest common denominator of taste, to over salt everything?  And you know, the old adage holds true; it's easier to add salt than it is to take it back out.  Why not leave that choice to the diner?  I know that some foodies are hysterical when it comes to proper seasoning, with Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio often going off on contestants who under season food, but to me this makes no sense.  Given the differences between individuals in their ability to taste, or process what they are testing, how can anyone set a standard for salt?  Especially once you consider the health implication.  Shouldn't it be imperative to under season with salt?  If the person eating that dish wants to salt it like Dick Cheney, then let them assume that risk.  I for one don't want some clod in the kitchen who thinks that the more salt the better is the way to prepare food making that choice for me.

The Return of The X-Files

     The X-Files have returned!  Despite the premier episode of the 10th season garnering lackluster reviews, I was on board no matter what.  I mean, come on!  It's The X-Files, the show that paved the way for all of the weird science-y, crazy theory shows that have followed in its wake.  And I'm glad that I read the bad reviews of the first episode.  That set the bar so low for what I might expect that I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the 43 minutes of set-up and exposition wasn't nearly as clunky as I thought it would be.  Don't get me wrong, it was still clunky, but not unwatchably clunky.  The one main thing that I'm really pleased about is that Mulder and Scully are no longer a couple.  That didn't work for me, and felt forced.  It would've felt organic if the agents had fallen in love in the second or third season, but by the time the powers that be saw fit to have them hook up, it just felt wrong.  They are better as friends, colleagues.
     The biggest and best thing about the 6 episode run of The X-Files' return is that nothing is left dangling.  There isn't time to drag out tired plotlines or construct blind alleys.  There can be no misdirection episodes because there isn't time.  The short series order has worked really well for Marvel's Agent Carter as well.  You can almost hear someone yelling, "Snap to it!" to keeping the story moving forward.  So, instead of finding out in the season finale whether or not Scully's got alien DNA, we found out at the end of the episode.  Yay!  Just tell us everything!
     I didn't read the reviews for the next two episodes (three episodes were made available for review), but I do know that they were reviewed much more favorably.  Now I just want to enjoy the ride while it lasts.  Revel in that alternative world of conspiracies, monsters, and Gillian Anderson once more occupying the skin of Special Agent Dana Scully.

Peregine Falcon on the Ledge

Photo Credit:  Yarone Zober, Pittsburgh, 2016


Though I'm fairly active on Facebook, I kind of find it vapid.  Not so this morning, when in my feed a friend had shared this photo taken two days ago in a high rise in downtown Pittsburgh.  Peregrines have been nesting on the ledges of Pittsburgh buildings for decades, but seldom have they been photographed as stunningly as in this shot.  Zober is not a professional photographer, and to the best of my knowledge, isn't even an amateur shutterbug.  He was simply at work and because every cell phone has a camera feature - voila!  Of course this draws into focus the changing nature of photography, how anyone and everyone is really a photographer now, a documentor of their world and experience.  And thank God because I wouldn't want to miss seeing a shot as stunning and perfect as this. 

Arctic Blasts

Arctic Blast, Zelienople, 2016


This winter the weather has been extremely erratic.  55F one day, then two days later it's 7F with a subzero windchill.  This morning I felt lucky that my car started as I had places to go, people to see.  Unfortunately after my first stop the engine refused to turn over, but fortunately I have AAA.  When I called their emergency roadside assistance line (15 minute wait on hold), I was informed that it would be a two hour wait for a jump, and FIVE hour wait for a new battery.  I opted for the battery to be jumped.  I called the people I was supposed to meet and explained that the ten year old battery in my Subaru Forrester was mostly dead and I was stuck in a shop staying warm until the auto guy showed up.  Which, as it turns out was a lot sooner than two hours - in more like ten minutes.  It seems that he was at a business nearby giving someone a jump and when he saw the proximity of the call, he decided to pop in.  Incredible!  One of those rare occurrences where you end up feeling lucky even while dealing with an ice cold hardship.
Anyway, it started right up with the jump and the guy said rather emphatically, "Go straight to someplace that can replace the battery, don't turn the car off."  I drove home, left the car running, and dashed in to check online if Advanced Auto installs batteries.  They do!  I thought they did and they do.  I called and told them to expect me in ten minutes.  That's pretty much the entirety of the story, such as it is.  And, if there's anything to be learned from this it's that I knew two years ago that the battery struggled mightily during the polar vortex to start the car, and that it was the original battery that came with the car.  Yet, I resisted replacing it, even though I knew better!  Today could've been so much worse, and I hope in the future I deal with ultra cold weather and my car in a more progressive manner.

Speck

Speck Fine Particle Matter Detector, Pittsburgh, 2016


Speck (tm) is a fine particle matter device that allows you to easily monitor the quality of the air in your home.  Developed at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute, its primary application is for individuals with lung and heart ailments to better be able to control their indoor environments.  While neither I nor my wife suffer from these sorts of illnesses, I got a Speck detector on loan through the Carnegie Library system in Pittsburgh.  
Pittsburgh has the most polluted air in the country outside of California, and it's all fine particulates that you can't see, except when you're cleaning, and then there's a fine black filth adhering to the rag, resettled airborne residue from nearby coal burning power plants.  I was curious about our indoor air quality because we do have a dog and a cat, and most winter nights I have a fire going in the wood burning stove.  When I took the picture above, the furnace had just kicked on and the PM indicator began to spike.  Well, what do you know, someone forgot to change the filter in the furnace this past fall.  I took care of that first thing this morning, installing an allergen plus to cut down on the circulating dust.
Tomorrow I'll move it to another room, the instructions tell you to monitor throughout your house.  I pulled up all of the wall-to-wall carpets last year, so I'm not anticipating much change.  I am curious to see what we'll find when we take it over to my mother-in-law's house.  Like a lot of old people, she doesn't think that she needs to clean very often, and almost never vacuums.  She's very asthmatic and prone to bouts of bronchitis, so maybe if we can show her the PM level indoors, maybe she'll make some adjustments.  I'm not holding my breath, though.

Downton Abbey

Lurching toward its series conclusion, Downton Abbey in season 6 is something of an empty vessel compared to what it was in season 1.  The only constant, for me, is what a colossal buffoon Lord Grantham remains.  The character is such an unmitigated twit that how has he managed not to choke to death on a button that he mistook for a toffee?