On the beach.

This is the Canoe Island Lodge beach. It is flanked on all sides by trees and buildings. We spent several hours there on Sunday splashing in the lake and watching the passing boats.

Low rider.

I took this as we were crawling along Canada Street in Lake George. We saw a lot of interesting cars this weekend.

Canoe Island Lodge.

This is the Edelweiss building that sits right on the lake. The deck in front of it is the top of the boat house.

Lake George.

We are spending Memorial Day weekend with family and friends at the Canoe Island Lodge on Lake George in Upstate New York. Lili, who is 17 months old today, isn't enthused about the breakfast offered this morning and prefers to eat her bib instead.

Favorite physicist.

People frequently ask each other about a favorite singer, or a favorite actor, or a favorite athlete. Sometimes these discussions become heated arguments, especially when the topic is sports. But very seldom, in fact almost never, does the conversation about favorites turns to the topic of physics and physicists.

This may seem like a strange topic at first, but if you think about it for a while you will discover that it's a topic worth considering. For starters, physicists are cooler than various other scientists because they study things that vary in size from a single atom to an entire galaxy. You have to admit that covers a pretty sizable chunk of what we call the known universe.

So after all that you're probably wondering who might be my favorite physicist. The answer is Richard Feinman. Who's yours?

The test, part 2.

The text in my previous post, made from my Gmail account, did not look like it does when I post right on blogger. It wasn't formatted at all and it also included my signature. So I wanted to see if posting from my Yahoo e-mail will be any different. It turns out that the mobile Yahoo e-mail works with Blogger better than the mobile Gmail. This is kind of funny since both Gmail and Blogger are Google products.

This is a test.

This is a test of an e-mail posting system. I have added an e-mail posting feature to my blog so I can write and e-mail posts right from my cell phone since I can't log in to Blogger via mobile web. This should allow me to post more often than I do know. Let's see if this experiment works. This has been a test of an e-mail posting system.

Sunrise.

Politicians say the darndest things.

First, Barack Obama said that rural Pennsylvanians were ignorant, racist, and clung to God and guns for comfort. This statement pissed off a lot of people and resonated in the area like a church bell in the Grand Canyon.

Then the Mayor of Tunkhannock, a nearby small town, Norm Ball wrote a letter to his local paper which was reprinted by The Washington Post. In this letter Ball wrote that Obama isn't good for America and that Obama's upbringing in the Muslim world remains a mystery, thereby proving that rural Pennsylvanians are indeed ignorant and racist.

Finally, since these things seem to come in threes, The Artist Almost Formerly Known as The President visited Israel on the 60th anniversary of that country's founding and in a speech before the Israeli Senate compared Obama's desire to open dialog with the president of Iran to British Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasing Hitler prior to the break out of World War II, thereby proving that ignorance and racism extend far beyond the borders of Pennsylvania.

Flakes.

This is Lili's favorite stuffed animal. His name is Flakes and he is a Christmas bear. Inside, Flakes has a tiny bell which jingles every time Lili shakes him. She does this a lot since Flakes is her constant companion wherever she goes.

Happy birthday, Israel.

The State of Israel is 60. In 1948, in the wake of World War II, a country was craved out of a British colony and populated with Holocaust survivors. These people, having lost everything, were brave and daring enough to live in a desert surrounded by countries who wish nothing less than to finish what the Nazis began. They did not only live in the desert, they made it bloom. In the process, they experienced the greatest of triumphs and the greatest of losses. Despite these losses, the country and its people flourished demonstrating an eduring spirit similar to that demonstrated by the immigrants who carved the United States out of the North American wildreness. So, here is to many more anniverssaries and to piece in the Middle East.

Fog field.

This morning when I left my house I stepped into what can only be described as equal parts soup and equal parts blanket. The world as I knew it vanished and I found myself in Brigadoon. OK, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the fog was pretty thick and it was hard to see anything.

Stroller.

Free door.

Unnecessary quotes.

I took this photograph on the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ. It reminded me of The Blog Of Unnecessary Quotation Marks which is filled with pictures like these.

Boardwalk to nowhere.

Foggy wheel.

Morey's Piers.

On the boardwalk.

Watch the tramcar, please.

Wildwood NJ.

Bloom in bloom.

Lili's first ride.

Knoebles, a local amusement park, opened for the season this weekend. So we took Lili to the children's section to see if she could ride any of the rides. She did exceedingly well, riding several of the rides by herself. Of course, my wife was on stand by the entire time.

Chess set.

Lili and tulips.

Voting in the primary.

Today, my wife, Lili, and I went to our fire hall to vote in the Pennsylvania primary. After we parked and liberated Lili from her car seat, we discussed the people who are running for president as we walked. Since we are both Democrats, we were discussing the two historical options.

My wife said there was something about Hillary that rubbed her the wrong way. And my support and respect for Obama greatly diminished following his comment about rural Pennsylvanians being ignorant and clinging to guns and religion. I am a prime example of an ignorant rural Pennsylvania resident, hence the name of this blog, but I refuse to cling to anything other than my pillow for comfort. My pillow, unlike a gun, is not lethal and does not require a permit. Also, unlike religion, my pillow does not create barriers between people or demand sacrifices.

The voting process itself proved perilous for us. At first, the old ladies who only work during the elections could not locate my wife's name in their massive books. Then, after much searching, they discovered that my wife is still listed under her maiden name and is actually an independent. So she was not allowed to vote. And I somehow managed to screw up my ballot so I have no idea if my vote actually counted or even mattered.

Now that the results are in, and the pundits who predicted that Hillary would win in Pennsylvania have been proven right, it is time to buy large supplies of popcorn and to get ready for that most bizarre of reality game shows, the political convention. I can't wait to spend a few days in front of my television to see who gets voted out. I just hope that the candidates remember to bring their torches to the conventions.

Early morning.

Old bell.

Virginia Tech, a year later.

I wanted to write something about what happened at Virginia Tech last year and have been thinking about it all day. I remembered the numb feeling I had when I heard about what happened. I remembered the professor who having survived the Holocaust shielded the door with his body so his students could escape. And I remembered the gunman. I remembered, after the initial shock wore off, feeling sorry for him because he was tormented from within and sought relief for his problems in murder.

It is rather sad that these random acts of mass murder, especially at schools, are becoming more and more common. The loners who used to retreat into books to escape their torment are reaching for guns to physically silence those who torment them. This leads me to believe that people are becoming unable to cope with the ever increasing pace of of 21st Century American life. It also leads me to believe that human life in the 21st Century has become a devalued commodity. And these two things combined lead directly to the school shootings.

Tax Day surprise.

When I went to get my usual cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee this morning I got a very pleasant surprise. Dunkin' Donuts, to celebrate Tax Day, is giving everybody a free donut when you buy a cup of coffee. This is a great idea since we'll have to wait for the stimulus refund for a quite a while.

Ceiling.

Red fire hydrant.

Yellow bushes.

Drive-in.

One piece of Americana that has always been my favorite in the Summer was a trip to a drive-in theater. Garden Drive-in, located in scenic Hunlock Creek, opened for the season this weekend. So the entire Yann clan, with sister-in-law and her boyfriend in tow, ventured out for some entertainment.

Caturday.

A neighbor's cat occasionally patrols the area. Today our porch was among its scheduled stops and Lili admired it from a distance, safe behind a screen door.

Blogiversary.

So it's been two years since I started this blog. It's weird that the blog and I have had such a long, in the Internet terms, relationship. This relationship at times has been a rocky one. I would often neglect the blog, not posting for days at a time. Sometimes I would have a great idea, but life would get in the way and I would forget to post.

While at school, I posted on topics I found while surfing the Internet in an attempt to avoid schoolwork. But since becoming a stay-at-home dad I spend a lot of time child wrangling with very little time dedicated to keeping up with current events. Also, since Blogger added this feature, I have been posting a lot from my phone. I even upgraded my phone in an attempt to improve the quality of my photographs. I am still working on the improvement part, but I enjoy being able to capture the moment and to add content.

Originally, I did not have a specific topic for this blog. I thought that I might come up with one as time went on. I even thought that, once I got a job in my field, I would transform this blog into something more professional. But I have come to a conclusion that I will keep this personal, chronicling my life and various adventures.

Spring saw.

Tree trimming finally brought on Spring in this area. Singing birds have been disrupting the early morning calm for a while. Despite that, the temperatures steadily remained in the coat wearing range. When I was a kid, men in trees would signal Spring's arrival with the whiny mating call of their chainsaws.

There would also be a change in the Sun's appearance. The cold, gloomy Sun, which looked down on the frozen land during Winter, would be replaced by a warm, happy Sun which smiled on countless coatless hoards and various greenery returning to life.

Street scene.

The middle building, which has a green awning on the first floor, houses Phillips Eporium where local artists, poets, and musicians gather for art and coffee. My wife and I got married there on a cold winter day six years ago.

Saturday morning.

While my wife is away at a conference, Lili and I are enjoying Cheerios and cartoons on the Disney Channel. Lili showed interest in my watch so I gave her an older and sturdier one to play with. She promptly put it on her left arm to the amuzment of her left handed father.

Fortieth anniversary.

Forty years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination Barack Obama is on the verge of becoming the sole Democratic candidate for President oif the United States. I have no idea how Reverend King Jr. would react to this, but I am pretty sure that had he lived a major party would have had an African-American presidential candidate sooner. We may not be in the future he envisioned yet, but we are getting there slowly, very slowly. Perhaps the 21s Century is going to bring about a long overdue change in this country. Let's hope.

Baseball money.

While grocery shopping with Lili, I saw a magazine that featured Alex Rodriguez on the cover. So I picked up the magazine and started flipping through its pages as I like to do at the grocery store, especially if my wife isn't with me. A brief look at the A-Rod article reminded me of his $275 million contract which made me wonder if A-Rod, and other extremely overpaid players like him, think they are worth the money they get paid.

Because if I were in George Steinbrenner's shoes I would expect A-Rod to hit home runs all the time. I would expect home runs regardless of pitch or pitcher, weather conditions or time of day, batting order or ball park. Heck, I'd expect A-Rod to hit a home run blindfolded on a moonless night. Otherwise you're not really getting your money's worth.

Two days too late.

Oprah Winfrey, it seems, does not look at the calendar. According to imdb.com, she dedicated a special show, which will air on Friday, to her cocker spaniel that died last month. This would be a great April Fools joke except April Fools Day was two days ago. Maybe she should hire an assistant whose sole responsibility will be to tell her what date it is.

April fools.

-ERROR 899.5-79- 1A//ERROR-you have opened a virus to your wireless phone and all of your contacts will be deleted! Just Joking. Now go scare the crap out of your other friends! APRIL FOOL'S

Swan lake.

Lawn ornament convention.

Zoo balloon.

Roadside protest.

Look, up in the sky.

While weaving through Philadelphia traffic a hot air baloon came into view. It was partially obscured by trees and at first several attempts to photograph it were unsuccesful. Eventually the road shifted and the view changed.

Wet highway.

This image represents a combination of two Bon Jovi album titles: Slippery When Wet and Lost Highway. As irony would have it, I am on my way to New Jersey. Don't worry, I am not driving.

Panorama.

Rose Marie's.

These are the bushes outside of a local Italian restaurant which used to be a local bar. The food here is phenomenal. If you ever visit Bloomsburg, check out Rose Marie's and you won't be disapointed.

Thought of the day.

Here is something that has bothered me for a while: is the boomerang a work of genius or a work of laziness. The boomerang was invented by the Australian Aborigines at a time in human history when the rest of the known, and unknown, world was using spears to hunt. Hunting with a spear requires a lot of walking, especially if you miss the intended target. Hunting with a boomerang, on the other hand, is much easier because it comes back to you if you miss. Therefore I can't decide if the boomerang is a work of genius, since it requires a great deal of intelligence to shape a piece of wood like a bird's wing, or a work of laziness, since it is a hunting implement that comes back to the user upon failure. Just a thought.

Spring cleaning.

Once the snow melts, all kinds of interesting junk starts showing up. This is something I found during a recent walk.

Intersection.

Thought of the day.

Every fourth year enough minutes are accumulated from the previous years to make an entire day. The thought that occurred to me is how come we don't have a leap month? I don't mean February with 29 days in it, but a month made up of leap days. If my calculations are correct, this should take place once every 88 years. This new month should fit snugly right between February and March allowing us to have three full months of winter and three of spring. Just a thought.

Primary fever.

During a visit to the Kingston Armory, I spoted a third party presedential candidate.

I canoe, can you?

Go west, young man.

Yesterday, after my curiosity got the better of me, I searched for and located an on-line version of a game my wife mentioned playing in her childhood. I decided to load my wagon with family and supplies and take a chance on The Oregon Trail.

My first attempt was disastrous resulting in several members of my party drowning during a poorly planned river crossing and ending with my own untimely demise out on the prairie. My wife joined me on my second attempt to make it to the West Coast and together we were far more successful. This time we only lost two members of our party and almost made it. But a sudden blizzard, we encountered while crossing yet another mountain range, caused the computer to freeze bringing our misadventure to a sudden end.

Despite the hardships we encountered on our journey, we have not been deterred from another attempt to cross this great nation of ours in a wagon pulled by a team of oxen. If the pioneering spirit strikes you as well, you can play The Oregon Trail at: http://www.virtualapple.org/oregontraildisk.html.

In between.

Today is a no-name day. According to the Catholic calendar, Thursday was Holy, Friday was Good, and Sunday is Easter. But Saturday wedged between the Good Friday and Easter Sunday has no particular significance. I guess that's because people usually spend Saturday cleaning and getting ready for Sunday.

My wife and I had every intention of joining millions of Americans in the joyful preparation for the first Spring celebration, but after a brief Easter egg hunt at the Town Park in the near freezing wind and brunch at Panera Bread we have succumb to laziness. Eventually we will get this place shipshape and buy the ingredients to make tomorrow's feast in honor of a rabbit who brings chocolate eggs. But for now my wife is playing with Lili in the living room and I am catching up on e-mail and the History Channel.

Easter egg hunt.

The Easter egg hunt at the Town Park was organized by a local chapter of the American Legion. People, along with their children, gathered by a low fence that separates the parking area from the park until the siren sounded and everybody stampeded. If it weren't for the bitterly cold wind, this might have been mildly enjoyable.

Displays.

Mannequins are creepy. Headless mannequins are creepier than the regular ones. Headless baby mannequins are exponentially creepier than the regular ones and the headless ones combined.

Easter Lili.

To celebrate the arrival of Spring we are taking Lili to the mall for pictures with the Easter Bunny.

Goodbye, Arthur.

It is a sad day for all Sci-Fi fans. Arthur C. Clarke, the man who wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey and invented communcations satellites, has died. I remember reading 2001 in Russian when I was a kid and thinking how magical and yet realistic he made the whole experience sound. HAL 9000, the artificial inteligence commputer, was a fantasticly flawed character whose actions resulted in people's deaths because of the commands given to HAL by the people back on Earth. HAL was the first of his kind and paved the way for William Gibson's A.I. Wintermute.

If you think about it, a lesson about responsible use of computers at a time when computers were the size of apartments and had the computing power of a modern calculator was a brilliant move on Clarke's part. Even though 2001 came and went without a manned mission to Jupiter or an artificial inteligence of any kind, Clarke's contribution to science fiction and the world in general still remains valuable. And at the end of one's life that is all anybody can hope for.

Team blogs.

The Ignorant Immigrant is a one man, I say "man" because I am not sure that I qualify for personhood, operation. To put it simply, whatever I feel like writing about I write about, no topic is taboo and no topic is sacred. This is also due in part to the fact that this is a personal blog which is another way of saying that The Ignorant Immigrant ought to be called The Aimless Immigrant. But regardless of rhyme, or reason, the freedom to ride the rails is great.

This, I belive, is not so with team blogs. A team blog is first and formost a colluboration between co-authors and collaboration breeds conflict. Conflict can be good because sometimes conflict creates content, but conflict can also bring the machinery of a team blog grinding to a halt faster than a well aimed sabot. Another issue is who controls the posts on the blog. Do all team members vote on a post or is there an Editor-In-Chief who decideds if a post doesn't fit the format?

In my opinion, a team blog has to be run like a newspaper in order to provide its readers with a consistent message and quality content. Chaos, which spices up individual blogs, could ruin a good team blog if left unchecked. These are some late night thoughts that I had on this topic. Feel free to tell me what you think.

Electric chair.

Found art.

Time and the elements turned a simple sign into something artistic.

And we're back.

I have not posted in a while due to lack of a working computer. The old Compaq workhorse which ran Windows ME finally bit the tiny particles of matter. My friend Daryl was kind enough to give me an old Acer which runs Windows 98 SE. This, of course, is an improvement since the Acer actually works.

After all the grief I went through with the old computer I am a big fan of the web based software and storage. This would have solved the data retrieval problems I now face. In the past, I thought that the idea of a computer which does not have a hard drive and stores all of its files on the web was impractical since without an Internet connection you are left with a glorified calculator.

But the upside of such a device would be the ability to pour tea onto your computer and still have all the necessary data readily available once a new computer was acquired. Data, after all, is far more valuable than the microchips that store it.

Cycles.

Soda can.