If you don't know already, I'm a big fan of trips to places that no one else cares about Today's trip to Cincinnati with friends was a great break to an otherwise stressful week. The street-level pictures are from the increasingly gentrified Over the Rhein neighborhood just north of downtown, which was settled in part by German immigrants who fled Europe after the failed revolutions in the late 1840's. Findley Market is also in O.t.R. The other pictures are of Carew Tower, which in it's heyday was one of the tallest buildings in the U.S. You can see the ornate architecture of the old Arcade, followed by the drab and nearly-vacant mall that was connected to it in the late 1980's. (You'd think the mind-numbingly bland architecture and impending desolation of such cookie-cutter malls would have served as a warning for city planners, but alas there is no logic to the flows of capital.)

I was in Detroit this weekend for the half marathon. My first ever, since you asked, and I finished in 1:53:15. On the way out of town we stopped by a local art project in East Detroit called the "Heidelberg Project". The pictures say enough.

I spent two splendid weeks in Germany this summer, including a first-ever trip to Berlin. I stayed with friends in Mainz, attended a geography conference at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, went on a field trip to Berlin with folks at the aforementioned conference, and visited friends in Meiningen. I took my real camera with me, but somehow left my battery charging in the wall at home. This turned out to be just as well, since it reduced the weight of my bag a little and saved me the distraction of taking photographs. All the following pictures were snapped with my phone – which didn't turn out to be too shabby actually.

I finally got my film pictures back, and I really like this roll. Makes me want to shoot up another roll. But the $20/roll price tag doesn't.

I spent four terrific days last week in Toronto. I was there in 2004 and loved it, but didn't make it back until this year. These are the digital photos from the trip. I took my film camera and I'm hopeful that those turned out really well. I'll post digitized versions of those when I get them.

I don't usually post random pictures, but I will today.

The AAG conference was in Seattle, Washington this year. The city was wonderful, and the trip north to Whidbey Island and Deception Pass was even better. (Thanks Twyla and Deej.)

Spring break means... Cancun? Puerto Rico? Key West?

Try: Cleveland! Miranda and I spent three days in the city up north, walking around the magnificent downtown, eating fine local meals, and generally enjoying ourselves despite the chilly lake effect. This was our first-ever trip to Cleveland and it was much better than I imagined. The city is really filled-out and appears to be quite livable. Euclid seems to have been recently re-designed as a complete street –quite good, too– and there's even some rail connection in the city. 

My favorite space by far was the Arcade. It was built in 1890 and, unlike most current malls, the space itself was made to be enjoyed, not just to guide teenagers from the Starbucks to the Hollister. I can't quite explain it, but I could just sit in there for hours and be content.

You may have heard of the OSU Buckeyes. I went to three games this past season and enjoyed it more than I expected. Here are pictures from the final game of the season again Michigan, in which the Bucks gave our friends to the north a steady pounding.

A symptom of schizophrenic post-modernity is the availability of aged images without the inconvenience of waiting. These photos were taken with Instagram for iPhone, which allows you to add filters that resemble various cameras and film.