booksarebetterthanboys: My two favorite buildings in Philadelphia are the Divine Lorraine and City Hall (above). (The story of the Divine Lorraine is one for another day, but trust me when I tell you that it’s a good one.)  So, here are some facts about “The Folly at Broad & Market…the monstrous inchoate municipal palace”1, “the Biggest and Ugliest Building in America”2. It’s the largest municipal building in the United States. When it was built, people really thought that it was hideous (see quotes above). It was briefly the tallest (habitable) building in the world (1901-1908). The statue of William Penn (by Alexander Calder) on City Hall is the tallest statue atop any building in the world. For a long time it was the tallest building in Philadelphia. In the 1980’s One Liberty Place was built and surpassed it which was said to have cursed Philadelphia sports teams. The Curse of Billy Penn ended when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008. The view from the observation deck is one the best in the city. (It used to be free to go up there, but it looks like it’s now $5, or included in the $10 price of the City Hall tour.) ____________________________________________ (image of City Hall, Philadelphia via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catolog Jack Boucher, photographer, August 1982) 1Newspaper headline, 18762Evening Bulletin, 1885 Totally agreed that this and the Divine Lorraine are the coolest buildings in Philly.  Co-signed.

booksarebetterthanboys:

My two favorite buildings in Philadelphia are the Divine Lorraine and City Hall (above). (The story of the Divine Lorraine is one for another day, but trust me when I tell you that it’s a good one.) 

So, here are some facts about “The Folly at Broad & Market…the monstrous inchoate municipal palace”1, “the Biggest and Ugliest Building in America”2.

  • It’s the largest municipal building in the United States.
  • When it was built, people really thought that it was hideous (see quotes above).
  • It was briefly the tallest (habitable) building in the world (1901-1908).
  • The statue of William Penn (by Alexander Calder) on City Hall is the tallest statue atop any building in the world.
  • For a long time it was the tallest building in Philadelphia. In the 1980’s One Liberty Place was built and surpassed it which was said to have cursed Philadelphia sports teams. The Curse of Billy Penn ended when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008.
  • The view from the observation deck is one the best in the city. (It used to be free to go up there, but it looks like it’s now $5, or included in the $10 price of the City Hall tour.)

____________________________________________

(image of City Hall, Philadelphia via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catolog Jack Boucher, photographer, August 1982) 

1Newspaper headline, 1876
2Evening Bulletin, 1885

Totally agreed that this and the Divine Lorraine are the coolest buildings in Philly.  Co-signed.

One of those days. (Also - hi @rosscatrow!) (Taken with Instagram at The Martin Agency)

One of those days. (Also - hi @rosscatrow!) (Taken with Instagram at The Martin Agency)

My Friends Make Cool Stuff

I think if I had a mantra right now in my life - it would be “Make cool stuff happen.”

I try to live this mantra at work and in my personal life every day.  It can apply to the smallest of things and the biggest of things.  I want cool stuff happening all around me and I want to help facilitate that.

That being said, I always get really excited when my friends get creative and do something rad.  I’m so lucky that I get to be inspired by musicians, artists, and entrepreneurs in my daily life.  I feed off that kind of inspiration.

Today I was inspired by two friends:

My friend Diana has singlehandedly launched her own online vintage furniture/housewares shop.  She goes out thrifting on the weekends, collects cool finds, and shares it with all of us.  It’s called ERA VINTAGE and I look forward to seeing it grow.

My friend and co-worker Kenny is someone who embodies the mantra.  He’s involved in so many cool projects and is constantly pushing himself creatively.  He and his girlfriend Tracy have been recording songs at home and posting them online in the form of the band Positive No.  They just posted a new song and it’s awesome.  It inspires me to want to start making music again.

When I saw them both posting about their projects today, it reminded me of how creative and awesome my friends are.  I’m lucky.

(Source: thecatcherintheryebread, via backstagebethy)

rvanews: If we were playing a game called “people of the Civil War I would not want to be,” a strong contender for me would be a crew member aboard the wooden sloop of war USSCumberland preparing to face off against the CCSVirginia. MORE It’s 1862 and we’re finally getting to some SERIOUS ACTION in my Civil War column.  This is definitely one of my favorite articles I’ve written so far.

rvanews:

If we were playing a game called “people of the Civil War I would not want to be,” a strong contender for me would be a crew member aboard the wooden sloop of war USSCumberland preparing to face off against the CCSVirginia.

MORE

It’s 1862 and we’re finally getting to some SERIOUS ACTION in my Civil War column.  This is definitely one of my favorite articles I’ve written so far.

"A lot of people are already in the full swing of backlash after this video made marathon rounds all over your internet yesterday. Steve Agee’s post alone has already garnered 15,000+ likes and reblogs. Now, most people were just asking for the video to be reblogged and at least watched because so rarely do we watch anything longer than :30 seconds unless it’s Kate Upton doing whatever the fuck Kate Upton wants to do. Are most of us adults? Yes. Is it a well directed/edited/purposefuly-emotionally-affective video? Yes. Is Invisible Children all gumdrops and barrell-daisies? No. Should anytime you are persuaded to become active in a cause like this cause you to do some research? Yes. And it looks like a lot of people have (and anyone rallying hard against this can shove the Better Business Bureau barb right up their asshole, because BBB ratings can be BOUGHT). So, sure, don’t throw your money at IC or the KONY2012 campaign. But a widespread backlash that puts such a sour taste in everyone’s mouth that might make them write off the whole thing entirely is a bit childish and irresponsible, don’t you think? It’s not like it’s completely pointless like changing a twitter avatar or inserting a hashtag. Like Chris Cantoni so perfectly put it here, everyone is talking about this now. The video in just two days has caused thousands, THOUSANDS, of us to have a discussion about Uganda, genocide, child slavery, and corruption that most of us otherwise would not be caring and or talking about. And that’s a very good thing! Because the last time a video pulled so many views and caused so much uproar/discussion probably had to do something with Lana Del Rey’s lips or Rebecca Black or a puppy teaching a penguin how to get cupcakes from a fucking ATM.
Don’t “blindly follow a cause”, sure, but don’t condemn one right off because of skepticism and being jaded about caring for anything. If only two thirds of the people who reblogged the video from Steve yesterday (and we know there are countless other strains, here on tumblr, on FB, Twitter, Google+ (jk dog!), etc) had never heard of Joseph Kony or the crisis in Uganda before seeing that video then Steve’s post ALONE made over TEN THOUSAND aware of a problem, an organization that is creating awareness of said problem, and got those ten thousand people to talk about something substantial.
That’s dope.
Just use critical thinking. Look at every angle. I wouldn’t buy a KONY 2012 OBEY KIT or whatever. But I sure as fuck am not gonna look down my nose at you for calling your senator or posting a KONY 2012 image on your blog or livejournal or locker.
Keep talkin’, my leaf-bros."
—

Alan Hanson, king leaf (via drinkyourjuice)

Backed. Co-signed.  I just watched the video and it opened my eyes to details about this situation I was not aware of.  And now tons of people in my life are having conversations about it.

Watch it for yourself:

(Source: stuckintheenglishrut, via drinkyourjuice)

"The scary thing to me about all this messaging is that there’s no accountability. That person who’s screaming on You Tube is never held accountable for what they said. So, along with this boom in social media and messaging, the accountability has gone from standing in a town square saying what you believe in and having people throw tomatoes at you, to just screaming in a giant room with a bunch of people who aren’t listening. I mean is that the death of accountability? That’s actually my fear, that it’s training young people to scream instead of think."
— Jeff Rock of Mobelux, via Richmond.com. (via unfamiliarize)
rvanews: In the first week of March 1862, only days after Jefferson gave a speech condemning Lincoln for imprisoning suspected Confederates, dozens of Union sympathizers in Richmond were arrested and imprisoned without due process. Interesting stuff. Read the rest HERE This is one of my favorite articles I’ve written for the column in recent months.  War is at the doorstep of Richmond and the government is taking steps to gain more control over the populace.  It’s 1862 and shit is about to get REAL!

rvanews:

In the first week of March 1862, only days after Jefferson gave a speech condemning Lincoln for imprisoning suspected Confederates, dozens of Union sympathizers in Richmond were arrested and imprisoned without due process.

Interesting stuff. Read the rest HERE

This is one of my favorite articles I’ve written for the column in recent months.  War is at the doorstep of Richmond and the government is taking steps to gain more control over the populace.  It’s 1862 and shit is about to get REAL!

beenthinking:

Calling Your Girlfriend: A Dialogue
By Kristen Roupenian   

You: Hello?

Your Girlfriend: Hello?

Y: Hey, can you hear me?

YG: Hello? Is that you? I can barely hear you. Hold on one sec.

Y: Hello?

YG: Sorry, I’m on the freeway, reception keeps cutting in and out. What’s up?

Y: Hey. Um, what’s going on?

YG: Not much, I’m just driving home. Where are you? What’s that noise in the background?

Y: What noise?

YG: That kind of, like, thumping noise. It’s really loud. Are you in a club?

Y: Yeah, hold on, let me just step outside.

(beat)

Y: Is that better?

YG: Yeah. So what’s up?

Y: I was just calling because, um, I think it’s time we had the talk.

YG: But we just talked like an hour ago.

Y: No, I mean, like, “The Talk.” It’s time we had the talk.

YG: What talk?

Y: “The Talk.”

YG: Huh?

Y: You know, the talk where I tell you that I’m cheating on you.

(beat)

YG: Wait, what?

Y: Yeah. So, the first thing I want to say is — and please listen to me very carefully here: this is not your fault.

YG: What’s not my fault?

Y: This.

YG: What?

Y: This. You know. The cheating.

YG: I don’t understand. Why would it be my fault?

Y: It’s not. You see, I have my reasons. Well, one reason , mainly. That reason is that I’ve found someone new, and I want to sleep with her. Well, I mean, I’ve already slept with her. I just want to keep sleeping with her, without the inconvenience of having you around. But it’s not your fault. I don’t blame you, and I want you to know that.

YG: Dude, whatever’s going on now — and frankly, I’m not entire sure what it is — I’m pretty fucking sure it’s your fault.

Y: Please don’t get upset.

YG: Don’t get upset? You called me in the middle of my commute to let me know that you’re cheating on me, and you want me to not get upset? What did you think would happen?

Y: You know, you’re always doing this! It’s like you second-guess everything I  say and do! Listen, it’s not that hard to understand: I’ve met somebody new, and I’m going to break up with you and date her. I never meant to hurt you, I just cheated on you and now I’m breaking up with you. I know this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense right now, but I want you to know that I’m still your friend.

YG: Um, no you’re not. You’re not my friend. You’re an asshole, and I think you might be mentally ill.

Y: I am not an asshole. I’m your friend.

YG: No, you’re not.

Y: Yes I am.

YG: Nope. Not my friend.

Y: I am!

YG: No.

Y: See, you’re doing it again! You’re second-guessing me!

YG: Okay, fine. This has been great. Thanks for calling me, buddy.

Y: I feel like you’re being sarcastic right now. Your hostility is really unnecessary.

YG: Is it?

Y: I’ve been trying to take the high road here. I wanted to let you down easy, but you know what? You deserve the whole truth. I wasn’t going to tell you this –in fact, I promised I wasn’t going to tell you this — but actually, this whole thing is kind of your fault.

YG: You have got to be kidding me.

Y: This new girl, she gives me something that I never even knew I missed, but which I now realize was always lacking in our relationship. I’m not sure what it is, exactly — maybe the warm feeling of unconditional acceptance? The knowledge that no matter what I do, she’ll always be there for me, without judgment? It’s something like that. Something you could never give me in a million years.

YG: Awesome. That’s perfect. Just perfect. I hope you two are happy together. Thank you so much for calling. Go and live happily ever after forever. Goodb –

Y: – Also, it’s really different when we kiss. I mean, when she and I kiss. It’s different from the way that you and I used to kiss each other. I don’t want to say it’s better … it’s just different. Okay, actually, she does kiss better. There. I said it. She is a BETTER KISSER THAN YOU.

YG: I don’t understand. Why isn’t this conversation over by now? Why are we still talking?

Y: Maybe she uses her tongue more? I think that’s it. Also there’s a kind of tingly weirdness at the corner of my lips — it was disturbing at first, but now I sort of like it. It feels like when you’ve got a cold sore coming on, but more diffuse and kind of — I don’t know, spiritual almost. Like I’m wearing a new kind of chapstick with healing lotion in it, but more intense than that. Anyway, it’s different. I — hold on one sec.  Hey, no, cut it out. What are you doing? Give me that. Hey –

Robyn: Hallo?

YG: Hello? Who is this?

R: Hallo? Can you hear me? HALLO?

YG: Who is this? Why is your voice so high-pitched? Is this an elf?

R: Hallo, friend. I just want to say — can you hear me? I know it is hard, but I want to say, the only way your heart will mend is when you learn to love again. Do you understand? You must love again! Find love! It is the only way!

YG: Is this who I think it is? Are you seriously fucking talking to me right now?

R: The only way your heart will mend is when you learn to love again!

YG: You just stole my boyfriend, and now you’re lecturing me about finding love?

R: You must learn to love again!

YG: You know what? This is bullshit. I’m going to come find you two right now, and when I do, I dare you to say that to my face.

R: Find love!

YG: I swear to God, somebody’s about to get stabbed in the eye with one of their own quirky earrings.

R: It’s the only way!

YG: I’m hanging up now. Tell your new boyfriend I’m going to dump all his shit out my window. He can come gather it up off my lawn tomorrow.

R: I hope we can all be friends! I truly do wish you the best. Maybe someday when your heart has mended, we can all grab some dinner.

(**We listened to this song numerous times on our road trip last weekend and each time, C was incredulous at how insanely terrible its advice really is. I was too busy dancing poorly to mind.)

First in line for Bjork! (Taken with Instagram at New York Hall of Science)

First in line for Bjork! (Taken with Instagram at New York Hall of Science)

close calls.

after spending the second half of the week at work distracted and anxious to get home to visit my dad in the hospital, the weekend finally arrived.  after consulting with my mom and my brother, it was decided it would be better if i drove up saturday morning and spent time at the hospital on saturday and sunday.  the news was looking good.  my brother called me friday and told me that dad was doing so well, it didn’t even really seem like he’d been through bypass surgery.  he was still in some pain, but he was up and walking around, cracking jokes, and eating regularly.  i was thrilled at the news.  there was even talk of him probably coming home on late saturday or early sunday.  i couldn’t have been more relieved.

unfortunately, things took a really drastic turn late on friday night.  my dad had an aneurysm burst on his stomach lining and started bleeding internally.  he was quickly losing a lot of blood and because it was in his stomach, there weren’t any outward signs until around 2:00am when he threw up a large amount of blood.  they immediately sent him back into the ICU and spent the next 4-5 hours draining blood from his stomach, trying to close the artery that was bleeding, and giving him blood transfusions to replace the significant amount of blood he had already lost.  it took a team of 8-10 people working around the clock for several hours.

from everything we can tell, this was just a random event that was likely brought on by the trauma of surgery and possibly the medications he was taking.  we have no real way of knowing.  it’s safe to say though, that if he had come home from the hospital any earlier and this happened while he was at home, it’s very likely that he would have died.  so it was a miracle that this happened when it did, and that there was an amazing team on hand to fix things.

dad was sedated and sleeping all day yesterday.  when i arrived in the morning, he was hooked up to a ventilator with a large tube in his throat.  it was really tough to see him like that, especially knowing how far he’d come just a few days earlier.  we stayed by his side, talked to him, knowing he was sedated, but could hear us.  it was a really rough day for all of us, but i was so glad to be home and take some of the weight off my mom’s shoulders.  this new complication really shook her up.

today, dad’s condition improved significantly.  they took him off the respirator around noon and shortly afterward removed the tube, so he was finally able to talk to us and it was the first time i’d heard his voice since the initial surgery.  it was amazing.  we spent the afternoon catching him up on e-mails i’d received from friends and family, read get well cards to him, and gave him all of our mundane wedding planning updates.  it felt really good to talk to him and see him doing so much better than yesterday.

he’s still not out of the woods yet.  he’ll spend another day or two in the ICU as he gets his strength back.  after that he’ll probably spend several days in a regular room.  i’m planning to stay up here for another few days and try to help my mom however i can.  tonight that probably means eating leftover pizza and watching the grammy’s.  i can live with that.  we’ll get up early tomorrow to beat rush hour traffic and spend the day at the hospital.

i’m trying not to think of how much of a close call we just had.  just grateful and humbled by the amazing staff who saved my dad’s life and our continued blessings and good luck.

day 11: the fireplace at my parents’ house is making me happy #febphotoaday (Taken with instagram)

day 11: the fireplace at my parents’ house is making me happy #febphotoaday (Taken with instagram)

day 10: self-portrait #febphotoaday (Taken with instagram)

day 10: self-portrait #febphotoaday (Taken with instagram)

GEORGE LUCAS, YOU’VE GONE TOO FAR!

GEORGE LUCAS, YOU’VE GONE TOO FAR!

(Source: ns4w, via justintodd)

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Themed by: Hunson