Things have been harsh lately, but this made me laugh.

I’m always a sucker for compendiums of weird signs from around the world. Here’s one. Enjoy.

This officially puts me in the holiday spirit. It’s a little long, but watch it through to the end. It’s worth it.

I came across this while taking a break at work. It hit very close to home.

I came across this and liked it: Dieter Rams’ 10 Commandments of Design…

Good design is innovative
Good design makes a product useful
Good design is aesthetic
Good design helps a product to be understood
Good design is unobtrusive
Good design is honest
Good design is durable
Good design is consistent to the last detail
Good design is concerned with the environment
Good design is as little design as possible

A few weekends ago, while we were selling photos at the coffee shop, a reporter from the LA Times interviewed us about politics and having the caucus in Iowa. I didn’t want to say anything earlier, just in case we didn’t make it into the story. Lo and behold, we did, and we sounded a bit…uh…uninformed. I swear we said more than what was listed…and we do actually follow politics. Also, we didn’t both live in Des Moines before moving back to Mason City. I did, but Derek was up in Minneapolis. Oops. Ah well. It was certainly interesting being on the other side of the interview for once. Take a look at what was published.

** I’ve noticed that the link doesn’t work properly and they want you to sign up. Rubbish! If you want to see the story, go to latimes.com, click on Politics in the left column and scroll down to the story that mentions Mason City in the headline. Ta.

Flickr has a great thread on photos of abandoned pools. Enjoy.

Everything has gotten away from me a bit. Life’s been so hectic and dramatic lately. Bah. Married life has been going great, it’s just been the other stuff that’s been overwhelming. I don’t feel like getting into it, but things are going to be better soon. I can feel it.

Anyway, I finally broke down and got a pro account on Flickr and have been uploading at a pretty decent clip. Some newer stuff, some older stuff. Take a look if the mood strikes you.