Every year, during the opening faculty meetings, we as a faculty have a day where we have an in-service. This year, we had a woman speaking to us from Harvard's Project Zero about "How do we know we understand and how do we develop that?" So we started out by having people throw out the things they truly understand. Here were some things people understood:
"Baking Cookies"
"Bicycle Deraiulleurs"
"Newton's First Law"
"Softball"
"Israeli Folk Dancing"
Then my colleague (and Department Chair) yells "WOMEN"!!!
There he goes again, bringing down the house........
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Monday, August 23, 2004
You know you really are a nerdy Math teacher when....
I decided that it was time for me to actually start ending my summer, so I went to work today. The school is empty and so I have the run of the place. I did, however, get a chance to see the scores of the 15 students that I taught in AP Statistics last year. I taught one section of the AP course for the first time here at Head-Royce and the other three sections were taught by my colleague Chris, who has been teaching the course for about five years. I know that I did not do as good a job as he did, but I still have to compare my students' scores to his. Scores are out of 5, 5 being the best.
Score_____My Section_____All Four Sections
1 __________4 _________________8
2 __________3 _________________9
3__________ 0 _________________10
4 __________6 _________________24
5__________ 2 _________________12
So, how does one analyze whether or not my students scored in a proportion that is within reason of the entire four sections? Run a Chi-squared goodness of fit test of course. DUH!
After having to go back and teach myself the calculation, it comes up that there is s 25% chance (pretty good) that my distribution of scores would happen by chance given the distribution of all four sections combined. In other words, given the four section distribution, if we randomly took 15 students from that pool, there is a 25% chance that my distribution could have occurred. At a 5% significance level (meaning if the chi-squared percentage turned out to be under 5% and I should therefore think that my teaching was WAY substandard), my students scores are well within reason. WHEW!
Score_____My Section_____All Four Sections
1 __________4 _________________8
2 __________3 _________________9
3__________ 0 _________________10
4 __________6 _________________24
5__________ 2 _________________12
So, how does one analyze whether or not my students scored in a proportion that is within reason of the entire four sections? Run a Chi-squared goodness of fit test of course. DUH!
After having to go back and teach myself the calculation, it comes up that there is s 25% chance (pretty good) that my distribution of scores would happen by chance given the distribution of all four sections combined. In other words, given the four section distribution, if we randomly took 15 students from that pool, there is a 25% chance that my distribution could have occurred. At a 5% significance level (meaning if the chi-squared percentage turned out to be under 5% and I should therefore think that my teaching was WAY substandard), my students scores are well within reason. WHEW!
Saturday, August 21, 2004
A Legend in the Making
My friend, Matt, lives a dual life. His passion in life is playing and performing on his accordian, dressed up as Kielbasia, everyone's favorite Polish Grandma Lunch Lady. Here's the portrait that was painted of Kielbasia:
Kielbasia
Here's Kielbasia's website. Check out her upcoming performances!!
Here's Kielbasia's website. Check out her upcoming performances!!
Friday, August 20, 2004
The welcome home committee
I pulled into San Francisco at 3PM Friday August 20th. After doing a quick unpacking of the car, I opened the backyard the was welcomed home by these two....
Amelia (Mimi) and Isabel (Izzy) S.
The first words I heard were, "Ernie's home!!!" Luckily for me it was a "kiss and hug" day. These two girls (my neighbors nearly six year old daughters) are smart to limit the number of "kiss and hug" days so I can never assume that I'm going to get my share of affection. Smart cookies!
We rough housed and then played the math game where each one of us puts out from one to five fingers and then the two girls have to add up the total number of fingers on all three hands.
What a great way to return home!
The first words I heard were, "Ernie's home!!!" Luckily for me it was a "kiss and hug" day. These two girls (my neighbors nearly six year old daughters) are smart to limit the number of "kiss and hug" days so I can never assume that I'm going to get my share of affection. Smart cookies!
We rough housed and then played the math game where each one of us puts out from one to five fingers and then the two girls have to add up the total number of fingers on all three hands.
What a great way to return home!
Friends, Friends, Friends
This one takes a bit of set up. I graduated from The Lakeside School in Seattle. This past year, one of the administrators at Lakeside retired and the person who replaced her is the husband of a (now) former colleague of mine at Head-Royce in Oakland. Jennifer N. (aka The N), sadly, left Head-Royce in July and moved to Seattle with her husband Darryl and son Darius.
Jennifer N. (Darryl was at work and Darius was napping)
Lakeside is housing them in a house across the street from the entrance from the school. Here's a look at their house (these next two pictures are SOLELY for a certain blog reader that would hold me accountable for depriving said reader were I not to include pictures such as these)>
The N. new home
The view out their living room window is the main Lakeside School entrance
Jennifer and I spent an hour rehashing things, gossiping and making sure that she is getting a good lay of the landscape in Seattle. After Darius woke up, we took a stroll on the Lakeside campus and I schmoozed with the administrators, who although not the same ones that were there when I was a student, all know me from when I tutored Lakeside students during my year of recovery in Seattle. Just keeping the lines of communication open in case I ever desire to return to the Pacific Northwest.
I left Seattle Thursday morning August 20th. Before I hit the road for California, I went to visit my friends John and Kari G.. John and I were roommates in McMahon Hall at the University of Washington back in 1988-89 the year I went to the UW. John, like my sister, is an architect. He has been self-employed but is now working for a small firm. Now, John (and Kari) has always amazed me with his ability to design and build things. About five or six years ago, John and Kari purchased some land on Bainbridge Island, in Puget Sound.
The ferry that runs from Seattle to Bainbridge Island with Safeco Field in the background
They build their own house. Amazing!!!
The G. in front of their self-constructed home
John has always had some amazing ideas and there are some really cool design elements that I think are awesome. One is that instead of having one large refrigerator, they have a bank of four waist level college dorm room refrigerators. One for drinks, vegetables, etc. It's a pretty cool idea. I expect nothing less than totally neat things from John.
Kari, John (holding 6 week old Evan), Julia and Duke the dog
Ernie and John (it's been 16 years since Freshman year)
It's always great to catch up with Kari and John and we do it way to infrequently, but I appreciate the couple hours every couple of years nonetheless.
Leaving the Puget Sound region, I drove south along I-5 into Oregon. My best friend from high school, Dean K., is a travelling salesman and in talking with him we discovered that we were going to intersect each other on I-5. I was driving south and he north. We decided to meet at the Seven Feathers Casino at milepost 99 in southern Oregon.
The Seven Feathers Casino
I love playing blackjack, but it's always just much more fun with Dean because I taught him how to play and I love watching him play "correctly". He's learned well, plus he is just so animated and fun at the table he makes the experience more fun for everyone at the table. I put $50 on the table and an hour and a half later I walked away from the table with $225.
Dean and I then partook of the buffet, which was fine, but our server was a kick. Sandi was OUT OF CONTROL. Let's just say, we hit it off and she took home a large tip.
Dean and Ernie with our server Sandi
We arrived at the casino at 6:30PM and left at 9:00PM. What fun it is to have some great friends!!!
Lakeside is housing them in a house across the street from the entrance from the school. Here's a look at their house (these next two pictures are SOLELY for a certain blog reader that would hold me accountable for depriving said reader were I not to include pictures such as these)>
Jennifer and I spent an hour rehashing things, gossiping and making sure that she is getting a good lay of the landscape in Seattle. After Darius woke up, we took a stroll on the Lakeside campus and I schmoozed with the administrators, who although not the same ones that were there when I was a student, all know me from when I tutored Lakeside students during my year of recovery in Seattle. Just keeping the lines of communication open in case I ever desire to return to the Pacific Northwest.
I left Seattle Thursday morning August 20th. Before I hit the road for California, I went to visit my friends John and Kari G.. John and I were roommates in McMahon Hall at the University of Washington back in 1988-89 the year I went to the UW. John, like my sister, is an architect. He has been self-employed but is now working for a small firm. Now, John (and Kari) has always amazed me with his ability to design and build things. About five or six years ago, John and Kari purchased some land on Bainbridge Island, in Puget Sound.
They build their own house. Amazing!!!
John has always had some amazing ideas and there are some really cool design elements that I think are awesome. One is that instead of having one large refrigerator, they have a bank of four waist level college dorm room refrigerators. One for drinks, vegetables, etc. It's a pretty cool idea. I expect nothing less than totally neat things from John.
It's always great to catch up with Kari and John and we do it way to infrequently, but I appreciate the couple hours every couple of years nonetheless.
Leaving the Puget Sound region, I drove south along I-5 into Oregon. My best friend from high school, Dean K., is a travelling salesman and in talking with him we discovered that we were going to intersect each other on I-5. I was driving south and he north. We decided to meet at the Seven Feathers Casino at milepost 99 in southern Oregon.
I love playing blackjack, but it's always just much more fun with Dean because I taught him how to play and I love watching him play "correctly". He's learned well, plus he is just so animated and fun at the table he makes the experience more fun for everyone at the table. I put $50 on the table and an hour and a half later I walked away from the table with $225.
Dean and I then partook of the buffet, which was fine, but our server was a kick. Sandi was OUT OF CONTROL. Let's just say, we hit it off and she took home a large tip.
We arrived at the casino at 6:30PM and left at 9:00PM. What fun it is to have some great friends!!!
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Golfing with your parents' friends
On Monday morning, Mom, Dad and I (me totally asleep in the back seat) took a mini-golfing trip to the Northwestern corner or Washington State. My Dad, you see, is an AVID golfer. Rabid might be the more appropriate word. He hits the driving range nearly everyday and plays in what seems like more leagues than I can keep track of. It drives him a bit batty that I can pick up the game three or four times a year, not practice a lick, and still beat him pretty handily. It's been like this since I've been in high school. Things held true to form this week.
My Dad's friends all are turned on to golf and now they organize these excursions to play different courses across the Pacific Northwest. Our course on Monday was called Homestead something or other. Here's a picture of the group of golfers that played...
Golfers before the round starts
After the round, all of us drove across the Canadian border to eat Chinese food in British Columbia because, as EVERYONE knows, the Chinese food in Canada is infinitely better than what we can find here in the United States. You want to see Asian people get a bit rowdy? Here you go...
Imbibing gets things going
The next day, we all went to a different course, this one called the Shuksan Golf Club.
Dad makes the blog
The aforementioned Mt. Shuksan
So Dad and I played to a tie for the first six holes of the back nine. At this point, Dad was getting pretty excited at the prospect of beating me (at least for the back nine). All I knew I had to do was play my game and eventually Dad would choke. And wouldn't you know it, BOOYAH, Dad goes into a tailspin and I take the back nine 44 to 45. I played very well on Tuesday, shooting an 86 to beat all golfers.
My Dad's friends all are turned on to golf and now they organize these excursions to play different courses across the Pacific Northwest. Our course on Monday was called Homestead something or other. Here's a picture of the group of golfers that played...
After the round, all of us drove across the Canadian border to eat Chinese food in British Columbia because, as EVERYONE knows, the Chinese food in Canada is infinitely better than what we can find here in the United States. You want to see Asian people get a bit rowdy? Here you go...
The next day, we all went to a different course, this one called the Shuksan Golf Club.
So Dad and I played to a tie for the first six holes of the back nine. At this point, Dad was getting pretty excited at the prospect of beating me (at least for the back nine). All I knew I had to do was play my game and eventually Dad would choke. And wouldn't you know it, BOOYAH, Dad goes into a tailspin and I take the back nine 44 to 45. I played very well on Tuesday, shooting an 86 to beat all golfers.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Olympics Slothfulness
I will fully admit that I wanted to resist laying on the couch for days at a time watching the Olympics. The desire was there to be active, do my own thing, to resist the magnetic pull of the music, but I have succumbed. AAGGGHHH, I can't HELP but watch. One saving grace, however, is that here in Seattle, with basic cable, we are able to get the Canadian coverage, which is much more complete and obviously less American focused. It is sad, however, to constantly hear the anchor go, "So, how did our Canadian athletes fair in (fill in your favorite sport here)" and have the reply be, "Well Anchor, I am sorry to report that our Canadian athlete in this event failed to make it out of the qualifying rounds, a real disappointment for that athlete". Further down the line, it is even much more tragic to hear "Well, it really looks like our Canadian federation really needs to take some serious evaluation of its training method and the state of athlete development in Canada."
Check out this site.... All I can say is, I LOVE THE INTERNET!!!
Check out this site.... All I can say is, I LOVE THE INTERNET!!!
Friday, August 13, 2004
Mom makes the blog
A casual day here in Seattle highlighted by a haircut.
The famous Mom
Grandpa
My grandmother watching the Mariners on our family's new big screen tv (and I mean it is BIG)
Here's the view of the backyard.
At sunset
The sun has set
Here's the view of the backyard.
Wonders of the Northwest
As I travelled along the northern edge of our country, I have had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my beloved Seattle Mariners. They SUCK this season and since I paid attention to them closely back in May/June their roster has completely changed. During my travels across North Dakota and Montana, the Mariners are playing their cross plains rivals, the Minnesota Twins. Therefore each night, I turn on the tv in Dickinson (aligned with the Twins) or Butte (rooting for the Mariners) and watch the game. The Mariners won both nights.
On Wednesday the 11th, I left North Dakota and trekked across eastern Montana. There is nothing more boring that having to drive across eastern Montana. There is nothing to comment on except the great meal I had in Billings. My friend Dean, a travelling salesman, covers Montana, so I called him and asked him where to eat in Billings. Q Cuisine, again like in Fargo, had amazing hip decor (like you'd find in SF or NYC) and it's sirloin with truffle sauce was excellent. I had a second wind after dinner and drove the three hours and spent the night in Butte.
Butte is, perhaps, the most economically depressed of all the Montana towns. It has a long mining history and is still reeling from some of the pollution caused by it.
Looking down into the Butte valley
Mining equipment right in the heart of Butte
Fifteen miles outside of Butte, stands the world famous Anaconda mine. This mine was active until 1980 and has the largest open pit mine in the world. The mine is known for its landmark tower, in which the Washington Monument can easily fit into.
The tower at Anaconda
After driving through scenic western Montana (not to be confused in anyway with eastern Montana), I drove through the 70 miles of the panhandle of Idaho and entered into my home state of Washington. Washington, like Montana, has a flat arid eastern portion and a mountainous, greener western portion.
The palouse of eastern Washington State
The agricultural productivity of eastern Washington is based on the amazing Grand Coulee Dam. The word coulee comes from French and is defined as "a deep gulch or ravine with sloping sides, often dry in the summer".
In 1933, FDR, signed a piece of legislation that began construction of this great gravity earthen dam to be built in the north central part of Washington state on the mighty Columbia river. It was to provide flood control, irrigation to the farmers and hydroelectic power. In 1942, it was put into service. Here is a great historical overview of the Grand Coulee Dam. It is still the largest hydroelectic dam in the United States and number 3 in the world.
The Grand Coulee Dam, a mile long
A view of the Grand Coulee Dam from the rear
The water in the river behind the dam stretches for 150 miles and is named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The 32nd President of the United States
Roosevelt Lake
For those of you who want to see eccentric America, here's something I saw as I was driving through the town of Electric City, WA. Yup, that's its name.
Windmill Garden
Lastly, as I drove out of the area, here's a parting shot of the coulee region of eastern Washington.
Shiprock
It is now time for a week with Mom and Dad...
On Wednesday the 11th, I left North Dakota and trekked across eastern Montana. There is nothing more boring that having to drive across eastern Montana. There is nothing to comment on except the great meal I had in Billings. My friend Dean, a travelling salesman, covers Montana, so I called him and asked him where to eat in Billings. Q Cuisine, again like in Fargo, had amazing hip decor (like you'd find in SF or NYC) and it's sirloin with truffle sauce was excellent. I had a second wind after dinner and drove the three hours and spent the night in Butte.
Butte is, perhaps, the most economically depressed of all the Montana towns. It has a long mining history and is still reeling from some of the pollution caused by it.
Fifteen miles outside of Butte, stands the world famous Anaconda mine. This mine was active until 1980 and has the largest open pit mine in the world. The mine is known for its landmark tower, in which the Washington Monument can easily fit into.
After driving through scenic western Montana (not to be confused in anyway with eastern Montana), I drove through the 70 miles of the panhandle of Idaho and entered into my home state of Washington. Washington, like Montana, has a flat arid eastern portion and a mountainous, greener western portion.
The agricultural productivity of eastern Washington is based on the amazing Grand Coulee Dam. The word coulee comes from French and is defined as "a deep gulch or ravine with sloping sides, often dry in the summer".
In 1933, FDR, signed a piece of legislation that began construction of this great gravity earthen dam to be built in the north central part of Washington state on the mighty Columbia river. It was to provide flood control, irrigation to the farmers and hydroelectic power. In 1942, it was put into service. Here is a great historical overview of the Grand Coulee Dam. It is still the largest hydroelectic dam in the United States and number 3 in the world.
The water in the river behind the dam stretches for 150 miles and is named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
For those of you who want to see eccentric America, here's something I saw as I was driving through the town of Electric City, WA. Yup, that's its name.
Lastly, as I drove out of the area, here's a parting shot of the coulee region of eastern Washington.
It is now time for a week with Mom and Dad...
Thursday, August 12, 2004
24 Hours of North Dakota
After leaving the Twin Cities on Tuesday morning, it was a three hour drive to the northwest on I-94 to reach the Red River, which serves as the border between the town of Moorhead, MN and the metropolis of Fargo, ND. I pulled off I-94 and toured around downtown Fargo. I found a surprisingly hip looking restaurant on the ground floor of the Hotel Donaldson. I had a surprisingly good burger.
My home away from home in North Dakota
It is 350 miles across the length of the state of North Dakota and I cruised along for an entire afternoon (listening to The Bourne Legacy) until I reached Dickinson, ND which lies approximately 70 miles east of the North Dakota/Montana border.
Beautiful amber waves of grain
About 10 miles west of Dickinson, lies a road called The Enchanted Highway. Along this 30 mile stretch of road, residents have constructed huge sculptures. Here are two that I saw:
Flying Gulls
Jumping Deer
These are HUGE sculptures. I was so sick of driving at that point that I now regret not driving down the 30 miles to see the other four sculptures.
After a good night's sleep, I headed west to see tour the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
When Roosevelt was in his early 20's, a NYC guy, he spent a couple summers here in Western North Dakota hunting and living. He actually started up a business here as well. Over the course of his lifetime, he saw the bison that he hunted become nearly extinct. He saw that the place he loved slowly change and it was this that instilled in him the sense of resource conservation that lead Roosevelt to establish our National Park system. This area of the North Dakota Badlands was set aside as a reserve in 1946 and eventually was turned into a National Park in 1978. Here is a little of what Roosevelt saw:
Roosevelt's beloved bison
Prairie dogs
A thriving praire dog metropolis
Most people travel THROUGH North Dakota. Even though I didn't spend a great deal of time here, I did experience a bit of the amazing sense of space that draws and keeps people here. To give you a sense of how wide open it is, the entire state has 630,000 residents. San Francisco, the city, has 760,000 residents in its 49 square miles.
It is 350 miles across the length of the state of North Dakota and I cruised along for an entire afternoon (listening to The Bourne Legacy) until I reached Dickinson, ND which lies approximately 70 miles east of the North Dakota/Montana border.
About 10 miles west of Dickinson, lies a road called The Enchanted Highway. Along this 30 mile stretch of road, residents have constructed huge sculptures. Here are two that I saw:
These are HUGE sculptures. I was so sick of driving at that point that I now regret not driving down the 30 miles to see the other four sculptures.
After a good night's sleep, I headed west to see tour the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
When Roosevelt was in his early 20's, a NYC guy, he spent a couple summers here in Western North Dakota hunting and living. He actually started up a business here as well. Over the course of his lifetime, he saw the bison that he hunted become nearly extinct. He saw that the place he loved slowly change and it was this that instilled in him the sense of resource conservation that lead Roosevelt to establish our National Park system. This area of the North Dakota Badlands was set aside as a reserve in 1946 and eventually was turned into a National Park in 1978. Here is a little of what Roosevelt saw:
Most people travel THROUGH North Dakota. Even though I didn't spend a great deal of time here, I did experience a bit of the amazing sense of space that draws and keeps people here. To give you a sense of how wide open it is, the entire state has 630,000 residents. San Francisco, the city, has 760,000 residents in its 49 square miles.
Further proof that I know people everywhere
Sometime during the month of June, before I left on this great journey, I got an email from a friend of mine from my Cornell years. I knew her then as Carrie R., but since I saw her last (1994), she has gotten married (husband Gerry) and is now the mother of two kids (Teddy and Emily). Carrie attended her 10-year Cornell reunion this past June and in the process went online to look up the emails of people that she could remember and boom, I popped up.
We traded emails back in June and I threatened her with the possibility of me travelling through the Twin Cities on my journey. Everything came together and Monday night, I pulled into the suburban town of Burnsville, MN and had dinner with Carrie and her family.
Now, you have to realize that both Carrie and her husband Gerry are both big time members of Math Club. Carrie obtained her M.S in Math and another in Education from the University of Minnesota. Gerry earned a PHD in Math from Minnesota as well. Carrie taught high school math for six years, took a year off to be a mother and is now returning to the classroom at a community college this fall. Gerry is a professor of Math at a local college as well.
A shout out to the N. family for being so generous and kind with food and lodging.
Me and Carrie N. (formerly R.)
We traded emails back in June and I threatened her with the possibility of me travelling through the Twin Cities on my journey. Everything came together and Monday night, I pulled into the suburban town of Burnsville, MN and had dinner with Carrie and her family.
Now, you have to realize that both Carrie and her husband Gerry are both big time members of Math Club. Carrie obtained her M.S in Math and another in Education from the University of Minnesota. Gerry earned a PHD in Math from Minnesota as well. Carrie taught high school math for six years, took a year off to be a mother and is now returning to the classroom at a community college this fall. Gerry is a professor of Math at a local college as well.
A shout out to the N. family for being so generous and kind with food and lodging.
Monday, August 09, 2004
Getting Stuck
One problem I have in my life that continues to haunt me is my inability to put down a book that I am not interested in and just give up on it. I always make myself slog through the book even if I am completely bored by it. I think a compromise might just be to put the book I am having a hard time with aside, read something else, and then come back to the book causing me problems. Alas, in an ideal world, I would have the ability to do this, but I can't so don't even suggest it.
The book that I have been stuck reading is called Fugitive Pieces. It was recommended to be by Nils S., a member of my bookclub, with whom I usually agree with on books we like. This time, however, Nils and I are going to have to agree to disagree.
Last week, I FINALLY put the book away and went to the bookstore for something new. I picked up two new books, the first is called A Home at the End of the World written by Michael Cunningham, who also wrote The Hours. This book has also been made into a movie starring Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn and Sissy Spacek. How different an experience it is to read when one is engrossed in the book and is interested in the characters and the plot. I finished this book in three days and then promptly went to go see the movie. The movie had some different plot changes from the book, but it was otherwise true to Cunningham's novel. I encourage you all to read or see the movie.
The second book I purchased (and am not currently devouring) was Devil in the White City which is about the construction and planning of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) and the tragedy of there being a man who systematically was murdering young single women during the time the fair was being held. Again, I am enjoying the fact that I am enjoying the book.
So, I need to admit to myself earlier that if I don't like a book, to simply put it down. I have been stuck trying to read Fugitive Pieces since the last week of June. Ugh.
The book that I have been stuck reading is called Fugitive Pieces. It was recommended to be by Nils S., a member of my bookclub, with whom I usually agree with on books we like. This time, however, Nils and I are going to have to agree to disagree.
Last week, I FINALLY put the book away and went to the bookstore for something new. I picked up two new books, the first is called A Home at the End of the World written by Michael Cunningham, who also wrote The Hours. This book has also been made into a movie starring Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn and Sissy Spacek. How different an experience it is to read when one is engrossed in the book and is interested in the characters and the plot. I finished this book in three days and then promptly went to go see the movie. The movie had some different plot changes from the book, but it was otherwise true to Cunningham's novel. I encourage you all to read or see the movie.
The second book I purchased (and am not currently devouring) was Devil in the White City which is about the construction and planning of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) and the tragedy of there being a man who systematically was murdering young single women during the time the fair was being held. Again, I am enjoying the fact that I am enjoying the book.
So, I need to admit to myself earlier that if I don't like a book, to simply put it down. I have been stuck trying to read Fugitive Pieces since the last week of June. Ugh.
Minnesota
I arrived in Minneapolis on Sunday night August 9th. I spent the morning running errands and visiting the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It is a wonderfully peaceful park on the edge of downtown Minneapolis where there are sculptures to look at and ponder. Here are some of the ones I particularly liked.
Ordovician Pore
This one didn't have a name in the program so I'm going to call it "Lattice Scooper"
Prophecy of the Ancients
Walking Man
This last one is the signature piece of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the piece that most often photographed and the identity of the garden.
Spoonbridge and Cherry
This last one is the signature piece of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the piece that most often photographed and the identity of the garden.
My candidate for the tackeiest place in America
After three glorious weeks in Chicago, I packed up the car and began my journey across the northern tier of the United States with my destination being Seattle to see my family. From there, I will return to San Francisco on the 19th of August. Leaving Chicago, I drove through northern Illinois and then up through central and western Wisconsin. This mirrored my journey to Madison a couple weeks ago. About 40 miles north of Madison on I-90/94 lies Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It sounded absolutely lovely (Dells sounding quite tranquil) and there were many signs along the way advertising Boat trips along the Dells. So when I got there, I pulled off the interstate, filled up my gas and then went to go find the Dells. Here's what I found as I drove down the main thoroughfare of town...
A horrifically crowded and tourist trappy Main Street
This is not unexpected in summer destination spots. Think the New Jersey boardwalk and it's t-shirt shops and weird attractions. But it got even more weirder....
This building houses an attraction called "Top Secrets"
This trojan horse stood at the entrance of the BIG CHIEF MT. OLYMPUS GO KART facility. Go karting appears to be quite populars in the Dells as I saw at least three go kart establishments
But it appears that the MOST popular activity in the Dells is
Water slide parks
Along the three mile main drag, I must have seen at least seven or eight water slide parks. Each and every one of them had lines that stretched quite long. I only caught a glimpse of the Dells themselves. It did appear to be pretty and I really did want to take the boat ride, but I just didn't have the energy to try and fight through all the tourists. I know I am nominating Wisconsin Dells for tackiest place in America, and I know that my pictures might not convey the entire tacky experience. I hope it, however, gives you a glimpse of what I saw and got away from as soon as I could.
This is not unexpected in summer destination spots. Think the New Jersey boardwalk and it's t-shirt shops and weird attractions. But it got even more weirder....
But it appears that the MOST popular activity in the Dells is
Along the three mile main drag, I must have seen at least seven or eight water slide parks. Each and every one of them had lines that stretched quite long. I only caught a glimpse of the Dells themselves. It did appear to be pretty and I really did want to take the boat ride, but I just didn't have the energy to try and fight through all the tourists. I know I am nominating Wisconsin Dells for tackiest place in America, and I know that my pictures might not convey the entire tacky experience. I hope it, however, gives you a glimpse of what I saw and got away from as soon as I could.
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