On a recent trip to Massachusetts, I took a hike on the Assabet River Rail Trail. I didn’t find the trail on AllTrails app, so I did a Google search for nearby trails. This was the closest to where I was staying, and it had name recognition for me since my mom worked at Assabet … Photos: Assabet River Rail Trail Hike
I hiked Hartwood Acres twice. The first was a route suggested by AllTrails, a mix of different blazed and unblazed paths. The second was the shorter, more standard Yellow blazed trail. In general, it wasn’t as scenic as I had hoped. All the leaves had fallen and there wasn’t much variation or interesting views. The … Photos: Hartwood Acres Hikes
As seen in the Carnegie Museum of Art.
Here are some photos and videos from a recent trip to Massachusetts. Lake Williams in my hometown of Marlborough recently installed a walkway across the water, connecting one end the lake’s namesake trail to the other end. I didn’t know about the land-lubber part of the trail; I thought it was just a boardwalk, so … Photos and Videos: Lake Williams, Hampton Beach, Jellyfish
Taken over last weekend, near the Pittsburgh International Airport.
I almost didn’t want to label this as a “hike,” since it was more of an easy walk through mostly-paved paths. Really no elevation changes or rough terrain. Memorial Park in New Kensington is mostly a forest. The developed section has a road, parking lot, a small soccer field, basketball courts, tennis courts, not-ice-or-field hockey … Photos: Memorial Park Hike
A ginko tree on Forbes Avenue and Smithfield Street: The Citizens Bank Tower on William Penn Place, taken from PNC Plaza. On the middle right is the old Kaufmann’s building, with a basketball court on the roof. Bottom right is the Warner Theatre sign, which I believe has been there since 1918: Fifth Avenue Place/Highmark … Photos: Pittsburgh, June 2024
A little over three years ago, we walked the same trail. Last Saturday afternoon was breezy and clear, in the mid-50s, and the trail was a little muddy from the storms the past week or so. My AllTrails app wasn’t cooperating for some reason, so I grabbed the rather low-resolution map from the park website. … Photos: Spicebush Trail Hike, Part 2
Despite there being a ton of vendors at the World of Oddities Expo, I didn’t get as many pictures as I’ve done with other conventions. It was far less costume-based, so I was left with more or less taking photos of things that were for sale. Not necessarily bad, but it can be limiting and … Photos: World of Oddities Expo 2024, Pittsburgh
Here’s a nice still shot of nineties Gen X/Millennial culture. I was home from college on Christmas break when my brother took this photo. The date in the lower right corner is correct. Some things to notice: 1. The crazy-patterned bed comforter. 2. The Jim Lee X-Men poster, view it in its entirety here. At … Photo: Jay, 1995
For her 18th birthday, I took DoJ (Daughter of Jay) to Boston to watch symphonic interpretations of Genshin Impact songs, played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I played the game for about 20 minutes once. It’s something I would like if I had the time and inclination to get into it, because there seems to … Photos and Video: Symphonic Genshin Impact in Boston
I took a trip to meet my brother and see YYNot, a Rush cover/tribute band, at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles, IL, just west of Chicago. That’s “Arcada”…not “Arcadia” or “Arcade,” like I constantly want to type or say. Here’s a photo of the Fox River from bridge on Main Street, facing north-northwest. The … Photos and Videos: YYNot at Arcada Theater
A few recent shots. The first is not at night, but early morning, walking through Point State Park off the eastern side of Route 279, facing east-northeast. The Wyndham Hotel is in the (sort of) center, the Batman-cowl looking building on on its right is PPG Place. The gray-striped building I believe are the Gateway … Photos: Wyndham Grand Hotel, PNC Park
We took a trip to Massachusetts. Here are some photos. The ducks and geese at Hager Pond in Marlborough. They have been here for as long as I can remember: Webster Lake in Webster, MA. The real name is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. The “shortened” name is Lake Chaubunagungamaug, which manageable but ridiculous for normal English-speaking mortals: … Photos: Massachusetts
A mostly easy 3-ish mile hike. Since there were some rains the night before, the tree-heavy trail was very buggy. Not a bug big deal. The trail starts on a servicing road, on the White trail, the single line you see in the northeast on the map. Getting into the loop proper, you have to … Photos: Deer Lakes Park White and Purple Loop Hike
Looks pretty much tied, but “Jagoff” is playing a little dirty. Taken at the City-Council Building on Grant Street.
The first hike of the year and season! At Deer Lakes in Frazer and West Deer Townships in Westmoreland County, PA. A storm blew by the day before: very windy but not a ton of rain. There was enough rain, though, to make a lot of spots muddy. Except for one spot that took us … Photos: Deer Lakes’ Orange and White Trail Loop
Ben Pike, an old fellow writer from the Buzzgrinder days, emailed me out of the blue with a photo. Here I am at a club in Connecticut (forget the name), probably in 2001, playing for Life In Your Way. I think we had opened for Zao, but I’m not sure. I do remember it was … Photo: Me with a Bandana and Guitar
Driving home from the gym and store, it rained pretty hard for about 10 minutes. I was treated to a nice double rainbow afterward, the one rainbow brighter than the one at the Coheed and Cambria show a few months ago. It looked like it was close by, because I could see where it touched … Photos: Double Rainbow
I don’t do environment photos on vacation, or photos much at all, but here are two photos and a video from a recent trip to Massachusetts. We were walking the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, and I saw the stained glass of the First Baptist Church of Boston, which faces north and a little west, across Commonwealth … A Few Massachusetts Photos