Month: May 2012

  • Recent Photography Roundup

    I haven’t posted many images recently. So here is a quick roundup of events. Of course, we start with a cat.

    Overexposed Cat
    What do you do when your image is overexposed? Mess with it, of course.

    Strata
    I was out this morning taking pictures of the Ashford Dunwoody construction. This image shows where the contractor is moving fill from its current location to the new ramp. The lighter color dirt is original virgin Georgia earth, undisturbed since back before that guardrail you see was constructed. The reddish dirt is the newer stuff that was placed on top of the virgin earth (fill!) in order to build up the ramp that has that guardrail. It’s really not that exciting, but there is also a significant difference in density between the lighter dirt and the darker. I walked up and gave it a kick with the ‘ol boot.

    Old GA Power Office Building
    This is the old Georgia Power building at the corner of Forsyth Street and the MARTA tracks, right across Forsyth from Five Points Station. Nice crop of trees.

    Mural at Underground
    I cannot for the life of me figure out the meaning behind this mural. “Please God, suck me dry?”

    Lots of AC
    This is the back of a building that fronts on Marietta Street in downtown Atlanta. What caught my eye was the amount of refrigeration on the roof. That’s a lot of air handling. Turns out it’s an IT network company. Guess they want to keep their electronics nice and chilly.

  • Test Drive a Diverging Diamond Tomorrow!

    An aerial view of what the Ashford Dunwoody DDI will look like.
    Come one, come all! Come test drive a diverging diamond interchange tomorrow at Perimeter Mall. The press release is over at the Perimeter CID website, but the upshot is 10AM to 2PM, at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody near the Season’s 52 (north east parking lot by the corner of Ashford Dunwoody and Perimeter Center West). We’re setting up a course that people get to drive with golf carts!

    I’ll be there all day. Come out and see us, and see how the construction is coming. The interchange is just down the street. I’m proud to say that this is my project, and it’s looking well. The big weekend is (depending on weather) June 1 – 3, 2012. That’s when the contract will switch the interchange from it’s current partial clover/diamond configuration to the diverging diamond.

  • John Scalzi and White Privilege

    John Scalzi posted an essay two days ago entitled “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is.” It has set off a nutty firestorm in certain internet circles. Prior to reading my comments, you may want to go read his essay. ((If you come back hours later, it’s because you stayed to read the comments.))

    I find it fascinating that the commentary on his original essay and on the followup postings, both at the Whatever and at the reprint on Kotaku, have focused almost exclusively on items that didn’t seem to be the point. Let me summarize my perception of Scalzi’s article:

    • I, John Scalzi, have been trying to find a new metaphor for White Privilege
    • Here it is

    The whole point to his essay is stated in the first sentence:

    I’ve been thinking of a way to explain to straight white men how life works for them, without invoking the dreaded word “privilege,”…

    The rest is an elucidation of a method for describing why white people, white male people, and especially white straight male people have it easier in America, all other things being equal. The furor that erupted in the commentary was amazing to me because it seemed that most people either didn’t read the article and just knee-jerked their way to a response, or didn’t get it.

    For the record, I think this is a good metaphor. It has flaws, yes, but it’s overall a good one. However, where I think Scalzi missed the mark, and especially so in his reactions to comments, is two fold: He didn’t emphasize enough that he was searching for a way to describe privilege without using the term, and he didn’t acknowledge that there is a fundamental assumption behind the whole edifice, that being the existence of white privilege.

    Again, for the record, I think he’s spot on in his description of things being easier if you’re born male, and straight, and white. Do I think “White Privilege” exists? Yes, but that term is so freighted with baggage that it’s not useful to have a conversation surrounding it. Thus, the essay. We just came back to that first sentence I mentioned.

    The comments on Kotaku and the Whatever seem to indicate that this is a topic that, like Social Security, can’t be discussed in a reasonable fashion in the public square. People have their opinions and some stick by them no matter the situation.

    I’ll end by emphasizing what I got out of the essay:

    Outside environmental factors, wealth of parents, genetic inheritances and other factors, if you are born White, Straight, and Male in America, life will be easier for you than if you were not. Personally, I think that’s a statement of fact, rather than opinion.

  • Fond Memories of Baseball

    A kid from nearby Sandy Springs, Georgia turned an unassis ted triple play last week. I’m proud to say that I belong to that select club as well. When I was a kid in little league, playing shortstop, I caught a line drive, stepped on second (catching the forced runner off the base) and then ran down the kid who was coming from first. I recall the look on his face to be a little horrified.

    It’s not the highlight of my childhood, but it’s a fond memory, along with all the other times playing baseball and soccer.

  • Great Scam Spam Emails

    Just received this. This is great spam messaging. I should have taken a screen shot, but you’ll have to trust me that the artistry involved is quite good. Just a hint of fear to make you click on one of the links. I especially like the “…it may take a little while for this payment to appear…” Yeah. Just a little while.

    PayPal

    You sent a payment
    Transaction ID: 7X858882VY968883I
    Dear PayPal User,
    You sent a payment for $899.59 USD to Krista Holloway.
    Please note that it may take a little while for this payment to appear in the Recent Activity list on your Account Overview.
    View the details of this transaction online