Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Metapost: What I Have Learned From JogAmericaBlog

Non-Runner Nancy left a comment on my last post, saying "This [JogAmericaBlog] is quite the concept....and I'm guessing quite the extended geography lesson." Which got me thinking....

It certainly isn't quite what I envisioned when I first thought of the idea. My very first post was at the Empire State Building, and that was the sort of thing I was expecting. Big, famous, visible landmarks. But there aren't that many of them. For every Pro Football Hall of Fame or Chimney Rock there have been a half a dozen Our Lady of Grace Grottoes or Davis, California, Amtrak Stations. More than once, I've resorted to posting generic scenic views because I just can't find anything specific to stand in front of.

I have found out that all be the smallest towns have a web presence, and that some of the things you find are pretty strange. Louisville, Ohio, has a picture of its recycling bins. In Berthould, Colorado, I visited the Auserehlian Rug Cleaning School. In Peoria, Illinois, I found the Hubcap House.

I've also found some really cool web sites. Without JogAmericaBlog, I never would have known about some of the esoterica that people put on the web. Some of my favorites:

Nancy also writes "I need to learn that photoshopping technique." To this I reply, It's really not that hard. I have a version of myself already cut out, so I just need to scale it to fit the photo, and sometimes erase part of me that would be behind something. I will admit that once or twice I've done something a little daring.

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