By Any Other Nerd

What Is It The platform for boarding the subway at Oak Grove Station in Melrose. Why It's Today's Pick I was going into Boston today for a conference and was waiting at the subway station.  It was relatively quiet (given the challenges around public transportation in the last month, I wasn't taking my chances and got to Oak Grove quite early.  It wasn't silent but it was largely quiet with just the occasional footstep, car driving by and announcement.  I walked down and found this view and thought that it was indeed picture-perfect with it's nearly symmetrical layout of lights and sides, but the occasional object that throws it off such as the man standing, the cone, and the barrel.  I went with a black and white filter because I felt it help to emphasize the cool early morning at a subway station. This submission is  part of the 365 Challenge .  For 2015's submissions, check out this link to all the posts.  For access to all photos, which...

What Is It Selfie of me outside and looking upward. Why It's Today's Pick It's the morning of Daylight Savings and the clocks have sprung forward.  Typically, I used to dislike this because we "lose" an hour...whatever that means (I'm a fan of Douglas Adams' "Time is an illusion; lunchtime doubly so!").  But this year, I'm actually looking up about the time shift because it means we are closer to spring.  I wanted to take a photo that captured brighter days (and hopefully warmer) days are ahead.  If you've been following the #SelfieSunday posts or this blog at all, you'll notice I'm more clean-shaven than last week by far.  I had to spruce up for an interview and hence back to just looking scruffy rather than shaggy.  I do have to wonder though with the bald head in pictures like this where it is bright out, it's hard to tell where my head ends and the background begins. This submission is  part of the 365 Chall...

What Is It A wall of public phone mounts without actual phones. Why It's Today's Pick I came around a corner while wandering around before my interview at UMASS Boston and found this row of ex-phone booths.  I actually laughed out loud.  It reminded me of David MacCaulay's Motel of the Mysteries and made me wonder just what archeologists would think of these spaces in 100 years.  I mean do students even know what they are today?  I love the artistic person who drew a fake phone to put up there for amusement sake.  It's strange to think that it was necessary to have rows of these in buildings but now they are all but gone. This submission is  part of the 365 Challenge .  For 2015's submissions, check out this link to all the posts.  For access to all photos, which open for reuse under a Creative Commons License, check out the  full album on Flickr . Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to ...

What Is It A large statue of a man on the University of Massachusetts' Boston Campus. Why It's Today's Pick Those that know me, know I have acquired two degrees from UMASS Boston and am in fact applying now for a doctorate degree from UMB.  I was on campus today for just that occasion and I've always been fond of this statue so when I saw it today, it seemed like a great idea to capture it.  Moreso because of the mounds of snow seemed to work hand in hand with his attire.  The statue seems to be speaking to and celebrating hard work and effort.  It seems to meet the clothing, broadness and rod all indicate a memorial of sorts to the workers who have actually built the college and even the blood given (the red coloring between the boots) to make the campus stand.  I could probably spend hours looking at the interesting groves and angles of this statue. This submission is  part of the 365 Challenge .  For 2015's submissions, check out this l...

What Is It A snapshot of my starting slide for tonight's class on social media.  Why It's Today's Pick Given the chaotic nature of the day, I didn't find an opportunity to find much else to capture with the camera, so I figured I would grab the starting slide for class 2 (or 3) on social media.  I'm excited about tonight's class (and was excited about last week's class too).  We dealt with the broad ideas of social media last week; this week, we'll get into the nitty gritty.  They'll learn about some of the how-tos and why-tos of social media.  By the end of class (if things go well), they should have a firmer sense of how to technically use different social media platforms and then from there we can move into talking about what are the things you can, should, and shouldn't do as well as how to capture what you are doing with social media.  This submission is  part of the 365 Challenge .  For 2015's submissions, check out this l...

February rolled on by with its collection of snowstorms and days off.  This helped for me to actually get in some more reading and finish three physical books and another 15 or so audiobooks and graphic novels.  Overall, it was a good month for reading for me.  I found a couple gems that I rather liked and want to share with people. Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay This is a book from the 1990s and one of my colleagues introduced me to it.  It's a book about an archaeologist thousands of years in the future who stumbles upon a building in his digging and begins to make sense of it as best he can.  What he has found is an old motel and he proceeds to explain all the different artifacts he finds.  I like how Macaulay makes the reader rethink how our world can be interpreted by strangers who are both from us and beyond us.  I am always a fan of a book that makes me look at the physical world around me in very different terms and this one cer...

What Is It A picture of my cat, Pumpkin. Why It's today's Pick I know I don't want to turn this into a 365 cat-photo challenge, but sometimes, Pumpkin makes that really hard.  She's so damn cute.  In this case, she regularly does this thing where she take a few steps, then lie down, stretch out and roll over and sit in the above position for several moments.  It's like she's saying, "Look at me, I'm adorable and you know it."  Of course, she might be saying that as we continue to reinforce this behavior by responding to, looking at, laughing, and cooing at her.  There's also a bit of this that looks like she is half-passed out from some cat-nip bender.  The cutest part though must be the paws, all folded in front of her. This submission is  part of the 365 Challenge .  For 2015's submissions, check out this link to all the posts.  For access to all photos, which open for reuse under a Creative Commons License, check out the...

What Is It A selfie of me in my car. Why It's Today's Pick So I went with the car-selfie this week.  Made famous by a great many people posting such pics when bored in their car--usually in traffic.  Me, I was waiting for the grocery story to open at 8am.  Getting in at this hour on a Sunday is pretty good.  The scruffy beard is in full season right now and I didn't realize how big those glasses look on my face until now and maybe it's the angel but it seems my eyes aren't quite looking at the same things.  I also thought I had a smirk going on there but that seems to be missing too. This submission is  part of the 365 Challenge .  For 2015's submissions, check out this link to all the posts.  For access to all photos, which open for reuse under a Creative Commons License, check out the  full album on Flickr . Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and  check out some ...

What Is It An image of an article in Harper's Weekly from June 20, 1903.   Why It's Today's Pick I was visiting Witch City Consignment today and wandering through their various goods.  I found an ephemeral section with newspapers, magazines, etc.  I purchased this Harper's Weekly from 1903 along with a Life from 1943.  I thought they would make for an interest contrast of materials that I can share in some of the courses that I teach.  This particular image and article stood out to me and I figured I would take a photo of it to share.  It's an article on "The Business Woman" by Theodora Wadsworth-Baker ( you can see more of this article--mayhaps, a bit clearer, here ).  I found this interesting that we have this concept of the "Business Woman" as far back as 1903.  I plan to read the article soon and see what constitutes a "business woman"--as I have my doubts about the kind of advice and professional expectations are embe...

What Is It A sticker I received after donating blood today. Why It's Today's Pick For a long time, I regularly donated blood every six weeks.  Then I got a bone infection and got out of the habit for years.  North Shore Community College regularly has a blood drive and so it's helped me to regularly donate blood.  However, having studied monsters, I can't help but to make jokes about donating blood to our vampire overlords.  I know the nurses have heard it all before but it's fun to ask "so, do you keep the vampires in the van?"  They roll with it quite nicely and I appreciate that.  It's sometimes the only way to make what is a very strange experience less so.  I mean after all, these people that I don't know are removing my literal life-blood with the goal that it will sustain some stranger who I am unlikely to meet.  In some ways, it's like giving a child up for adoption.  You've played a pivotal role in someone's ability ...