By Any Other Nerd

What Is It A stone lawn hippo in the grass. Why It's Today's Pick Another interesting find on a morning run.  I had finished my run and was cooling down with a walk when I found the hippo.  I thought he was cute but then I wondered how he might look through the grass.  From this vantage point, I feel like it slightly recreated the tall grasses of the savanna, glimpsing a look at a hippo who just happened to notice me and is not happy about it.  The lack of any color beyond the gray stone makes this fellow look rather menacing like I just interrupted him.  Lawn ornaments are always curious things.  We acquire them and throw them on out lawns and in our yards but what do we suggest or imply by displaying them?  Does this person have an affinity for hippos?  Was it just something to store a plant in (it looks like it's more of a plant holder) that they decided was cute enough for the front yard?   This submission is  part ...

What Is It A turtle I ran into on my run this morning.  Why It's today's Pick I could blame the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but I think my obsession with turtles existed well before them.  Like frogs, I sought out turtles in the swamps at camp.  In fact, frogs were easy--turtles were precious and cool.  I brought home my fair share of turtles, much to my father's chagrin as he is left caring for the one for well over a quarter century now that I'm destined to inherit.  So when I was on my run this morning, I was utterly delighted to meet this fellow who seemed to be trying to get his (or her) morning fix of SoBe.  Given how far she was from water, I figured she was looking for a place to lay eggs, but got distracted by this colorful bottom (I removed it from her immediate area).  There's just something cool about turtles.  They carry their homes with them, they have strange but intriguing faces and swim in a way that be both graceful ...

What Is It The sun hiding behind a cloud this morning. Why It's Today's Pick I had a couple good shots to share today so it was hard to just choose this one.  My run this morning apparently was picturesque, which I certainly won't complain about.  I snagged this shot while walking over the Salem-Beverly bridge.  Beyond capturing the sun behind the cloud in such a cool way, I liked the photo for other reasons.  The various levels of colors and clouds was diverse from the blue at the center to the grays and other colors in the bottom right corner.  I also liked that while the sun was hidden behind the cloud, you could see it reflecting in the water in the background.  Finally, the sun looks kind of like an eye to a strange cloud-create that is approaching a wall of clouds. 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...

I am, in no uncertain terms, a bull.  I am broad, have legs like tree-trunks--whether fit from running or not--and will never fit into anything less than large (and even that is stretching it--literally).  It is clear that my genetic predisposition set me up for brute--not skillful--labor.  I've come to utterly appreciate that about myself and my body.  Like I've said before, I'm more like a mule when it comes to physical prowess.  But getting to this certainly wasn't easy.  Our society appreciates the cheetah more than the bull.  In part, this probably results from both our Puritanical need for being productive and our Industrial Revolution desire for mass (that is, fast) production.  Though some facets of sports focus on the bull (tackling, hitting or kicking the ball), many more rely on cheetah (out-maneuvering your opponent, running the bases, getting to the other side of the court or field first).  Lacking any real cheetah-like abilit...

What Is It A frog hanging out in a frog pond at Long Hill in Beverly, MA. Why It's Today's Pick My wife and I went on a visit to Long Hill, a Trustees of the Reservation estate in Beverly, MA.  It's definitely a nice place to check out (but be sure to bring the bug spray!).  They have lots of beautiful gardens and spaces along with this little frog pond.  We only found one frog--this fellow.  I was known as the pre-eminent frog catcher at camp as a kid.  I spent way more hours than I care to remember and lost my fair share of clothing, shoes, etc into the swamp.  I'm not sure what my fascination with frogs were--besides the fact that they were in abundance at the came, they were small, and they were strange creatures.  I often heard them croaking but whenever I was near one, it never croaked.  It's hops were always amusing to watch and I think what I related mostly to the frog was the way that I swam.  I wasn't graceful freestyle swi...

What Is It A caterpillar-like insect hanging upside down on a branch. Why It's Today's Pick Yet again, I was on my way back from my run in the early morning and caught this guy out of the corner of my eye.  I'd never seen anything like it--up close and personal.  It was a strange fellow and of course, brought to mind a dozen science-fiction narratives about bug invaders.  This fellow was about as long as my thumb and half as thick.  It sat there like this, ignoring me as I played paparazzi to try to achieve the best picture possible.  I recommend clicking through to the Flickr photo as you can see the rich (and funky) detail of its skin.  Anyone know what kind of insect this is?  I think I'll name him Frank.   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 ...

What Is It A bookshelf of free books that the library has cycled out of its collection. Why It's Today's Pick I pass by this bookcase regularly.  Sometimes, there are a lot of books, sometimes there are few.  The librarians are regularly taking books out of circulation that haven't been used in quite a long.  Looking at the shelf in some ways reminds me of why I blog.  Some people think blogging is a bit ephemeral and useless.  You write a lot of posts that are "published" that go into the ether and you rarely know if anyone has ever read or been moved by what you wrote (they occasionally comment, but much more often, you see your stastics and wonders what it means).  Yet, I still enjoy it and find meaning in it.  I think the thing is that people are sometimes asking about blogging contains a bit of a comparison to supposedly more legitimate forms of writing like books.  But this bookshelf reminds me that even those books may exist on shel...

What Is It A house with it's back half made of brick and it's front half made of wood. Why It's Today's Pick I pass this house regularly when out for a run.  It's a strange house wherein it seems to have two distinct parts that by my guess would be made at different times.  There is the brick half and the wooden half.  To look at it from afar, it seems almost as if the wooden part has been partially birthed from the brick and is either trying to break free or possibly will give birth to it's own new domicile protruding from it's front.  It's a strange thought for sure, but there seems no other way of reconciling the two buildings.  I also wonder about how the inside is structure as I see near the top of the building there is an air conditioner that's embedded in the wall, but if you look closely enough, there is also an AC in the window less than four feet away.  Are these separate rooms or does the one in the wall no longer work and ...

What Is It A quote on a window in a building at North Shore Community College. Why It's Today's Pick I was in this building today--I'm not in it too often and I saw this quote on the window.  I have no clue if it has been there since the building's inception (several years back now) or whether it is relatively new.  But I liked it and found it rather appropriate for the gray and rainy day that we are having.   The quote is "Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and medium.  There is no life without water." and is from Nobel Prize Winner (in Physiology), Albert Szent-Gyorgyi.  I think we sometimes forget how essential water is because it is so disposable in a modern society and we forget how much effort it takes to keep our life-source clean and useful.  It is a luxury still not accessible to many in the world.   This submission is  part of the 365 Challenge .  For 2015's submissions, check out this link to all the posts.  ...

What Is It Selfie #20. Why It's Today's Pick Wow--#20--only 32 more to go, right?  I went with a straight on shot and skipped the running pic for the day.  I maybe should have cropped this photo a bit more.  I appear off-center.  I probably should have accounted for shadow more.  Oh well.  My left-eye (right eye to the viewer) is definitely more haggard than my right.  I blame this on allergies and the fact that they give my left eye more irritation than my right, but I'm clueless as to why.  I'm also noticing that I'm having trouble reconciling my face since it lacks (much) facial hair and I've been pretty scruffy for a few months now.  The things you notice (or don't) when trying to look yourself in the face, right? 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 th...