Life in the key of E flat minor

I always think of Carl Sandburg's "Fog" when I visit San Francisco.  Here is a picture I took last week on the fog approaching the city from the vantage point of Crissy Field.  You can see Coit Tower, Nob Hill and the Transamerica Pyramid off in the distance, waiting for the encroaching fog. For a reference, this is how thick the impending fog was as it pours through the Golden Gate.

Irish for Blarney Castle, Caisleán na Blarnan is the partial ruin attraction in Co. Cork.  With some accessible rooms and battlements, this building houses the noted Blarney Stone found among the machicolations of the castle. (Machicolations are floor openings in the upper levels of a battlement, through which objects are dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall.) This is why prior to the safeguards at the castle, kissing the Blarney Stone was performed with real risk to life and limb, as those wanting to make the kiss were held by the ankles and dangled upside down from the height to reach the stone.

I’m back from Ireland and I am pleased to report that I was able to sample my  Irish Food Trinity .  I started on day two at Abrakebabra with my chips and curry and went until my second to last day to get the brown bread ice cream at Gogarty’s.  In the middle, I enjoy many pints of Guinness, Smithwick’s , Bulmers (Cider) and the odd European beer.  The majority of my drinks were one of the three well-known Irish Stout Porters – Guinness , Murphy’s and Beamish . I lauded Guinness before leaving for Ireland and I finally got to visit the Guinness Storehouse in St. James’s Gate to learn more about the brew.  First, it is truly red.  The malted barley is roasted a deep brown to bring out the flavor through the burnt sugars.  This roasting is responsible for the deep ruby red color that Guinness actually is.  If you don’t believe, take a glassful of Guinness (or some of you will just take mine) and hold it up to the light and see that it’s a very...

I wanted to post a picture of my trip so far. Somewhere on the Ring of Kelly, which trails around the Iveragh Peninsula, we pulled over to snap this picture of the visit. I can't remember where we were, but this Co. Kerry to me.

I’m not going to the North this trip which is why I feel perfectly fine with putting Giant’s Causeway on today’s Wish List. First, I know that my schedule is off.  Long weekends always mess up with my calendar. Though I know it’s Monday but it feels like Sunday, I never get over that it’s Tuesday and it feels like a Monday.  When Saturday comes around, I tend to think I’m late for work. This is a long introduction to say that I know I’ve scheduled Wish List on Mondays, but it’s late this week.  I’m not planning on trying to stick to my writing topics until I return from Éire. Many of the hexagonal basalt columns at Giant's Causeway The Giant’s Causeway is an area of mostly hexagonal basalt columns from the aftermath of an ancient volcanic eruption located just northeast of Bushmills, County Antrim.  (Yes, near NI’s favorite whiskey distiller.)  This site has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The legend of Giant’s Causeway focuses on Fion...

Walking home last night, I noticed how busy campus seems.  Students are officially back and today it the first major wave of move-in, the Class of 2015 move-in. In my heighten sense, I noticed a piece of art on campus that I have overlooked. "Black Forest," Robinson Fredenthal (American, 1940 - 2009). It's an imposing black sculpture featuring triangles to encourage the observer to view from different angles.  The multiple vantage points of the piece hope to inspire interest and lively discussion. "Black Forest" on Penn's Campus I did a little research on Fredenthal for this entry. He was born in Claremont, New Hampshire in 1940 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1963 and a Bachelor of Architecture in 1967 from Penn.  This piece is one of the artist's many studies of cubes and of what happens when he stands them on their corners, cuts through them with planes, rotates and stacks them.  I took the photo using my iPhone's HDR, High dynamic rang...