Veteran's Day Links

Just in time for Veteran's Day, take a look at "Ian Fisher, American Soldier," a photo essay capturing 27 months in the life of a young serviceman.

After that, you know you'll want to check out this collection of soldiers' dogs welcoming their owners home from overseas. (I've linked to one of them back in October 2008).

Random Link Dumping...

...because my bookmark file is getting unruly.

1) Awesome collection of photos, courtesy of The Big Picture, marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The before and after ones are pretty amazing.

2) Metaphors people use to describe their lives. Most days, I'll go with "a journey," although sometimes it feels like "a battle" (yes, I am being dramatic), and when I am teaching, a lot like "a performance."

3) A blog of bank robbery notes. This one is a bit addictive. And lord help me, some of these read like little found poems. I love how some are so short and simple (one simply says "$250,000"). Others are (perhaps not surprisingly) marked by some serious spelling/grammar mistakes. And who knew so many robbers were concerned about dye packs? Finally, gotta love how many of them say please or thank you.

4) Are the Dexter fans out there aware of these animated webisodes about our favorite serial killer's early adventures? Very cool.

5) Poor Dollhouse. It's probably too late to do anything to save this show, but that doesn't mean people won't try viral marketing campaigns.

6) In better Whedonesque news, check out what Nathan Fillion has to say about more Dr. Horrible.

The Photographic Dictionary...

Have fun exploring this site. Should I add a time-sucker warning? Probably... (Via Andrew Sullivan.)

By the way, this is a dead-on description of how I felt on Saturday.

Touching Strangers

Anyone but me think this is kind of awesome? Read about the photographer's project here. You know, some days I am the most cynical-leave-me-alone person you could imagine. But even then, there is, deep down, a part of me that gets all mushy for these kinds of images.

City of Shadows

Check out this post on long-exposure photographs of crowds in St. Petersburg. Amazing visuals!

The Big Picture

A cool new (or new-ish) blog at the Boston Globe website is "The Big Picture" -- each day, a single dramatic photo that tells a story. Below are a couple that stood out to me. Be sure to click on the pictures to see them full size (for maximum effect).


"Brazilian Indians ride a bus in Altamira, Brazil, Wednesday, May 21, 2008. Amazon Indians and activists continue to protest a proposed hydroelectric dam on the nearby Xingu River. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)"


"A couple reacts immediately after an earthquake struck during their wedding photo shoot at a deserted catholic seminary in Pengzhou in southwest China's Sichuan province Monday May 12, 2008. Five couples were having wedding photos taken when the earthquake struck, and all escaped without injury. The century-old seminary was destroyed in the quake, which left tens of thousands dead in Sichuan. (AP Photo)"


"An Afghan Special Forces policeman walks through a poppy field as he searches for Taliban fighters in the village of Sanjaray in Zhari district early April 26, 2008. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)"

Photo of the Day...

Check out this fascinating story and follow the link to the gallery of 18 years worth of daily pictures. It's amazing to see a man's life play out this way.

The world is bigger than our imagination...

I would have thought there were no more "uncontacted tribes" in the world, but check out this photograph and story from National Geographic.

Mind-blowing stuff--and a really cool picture.

UPDATE: Some more pictures and an explanation of what we are seeing in the first picture here and here.

YoungMe/NowMe

A fun gallery of people re-creating photos from their youth. Makes me want to find an old picture of me (when I was probably about two) happily sitting in a huge garbage can...

Lost and found pictures...

I was really struck by this news story about how an old picture helped solve a mystery. Side note: the picture was taken not too far from where I grew up. Ultimately, it's a sad story, but at least the family has some answers.

On a related topic, check out this cool new blog I found through a link from PostSecret: a blog for Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures.