Current Photo

If you're not tracking the RSS feed, there's a new Current Photo on the home page.

Current Photo RSS Feed

I've configured my home page to produce an RSS feed of the current photo. Those of you using RSS aggregators--and who have the inclination to see my humble photographic efforts--can now subscribe to the feed and see the latest photo when I update the page.

The current photo is a detail of Ghiberti's doors to the baptistery in Florence (the "Doors of Paradise"), and the current photo RSS feed is here.

For those of you not using an RSS aggregator but reading blogs, it's really time to get with the program. Click a button and you can "subscribe" to any web page that uses a technology called "RSS" (which stands for "Really simple syndication"). When the site updates its page its RSS feed sends a signal to your aggregator that says "Hey, I have new content," and very often, sends the new content along as well. This makes staying current with web pages very easy: You don't have to remember to check in with Seat 1A--when I add a new post, my RSS feed will alert your aggregator and send the new post along for you to read (or, in the case of the current photo, see). Really great technology.

(As an aside, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention I was seatmates with Dave Winer, the creator of RSS. A genius, and he's really done the Web world a favor in RSS.)

Blogs aren't the only sites that produce RSS feeds to which you can subscribe. Most web pages now do (they typically display an icon to indicate they have a feed, often like this one), including every news site in the known world (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and likely, your home town paper). For an aggregator I use Bloglines, with which I keep up with 107 different web sites. It's free and web-based, which means there's no software to download and you can log in and read your feeds from any computer with an Internet connection. I use Feedburner to publish Seat 1A's RSS feed (even though the TypePad service publishes one automatically), and my feed for the blog is here.

Returning Home

We're back in Milan after a wonderful vacation with family (and no easy Internet access). Since the last post we've enjoyed Florence, Lucca, Verona, and Venice, and tonight's our last night together. Tomorrow we depart for points west, with Kate and I flying into Washington and spending a final night with family before returning to Philadelphia.

It's been a wonderful trip: Hot, warm and cool; astonishing and sublime; invigorating and tiring; above all else, beautiful. I've not written much, but we've taken (literally) thousands of photos, and I'll try to post some while memories are fresh.

As a starter, here are one of Kate and my favorites from each city on the trip:

Milan

A photo from atop the Duomo, which is a city of statues in itself (some 3,400, in fact).

Florence

A crew boat on the Arno, crossing under the Ponte Vecchio at first light. (As an aside, I kept with the marathon training during the trip, and had the wonderful experience of logging some 12 early-morning miles through Florence and her surrounding gardens last Sunday. Truly extraordinary.)

Lucca

St. Michael's basilica by moonlight.

Verona

The ancient Roman amphitheater, still used today (and primarily for opera). In the background they're tearing down the set for Aida.

Venice

The Rialto bridge, complete with requisite gondola.

Sea Lion Morning

As with nearly all my posts this week, I'm moblogging this post from my phone (and typing with my thumbs).

First, the Oregon coast: Blew. Us. Away. Absolutely stunning.

This morning Kate and I awoke to the calls of sea lions, wafting up from the cove well below our room at the Lost Whale Inn, perched high on the cliffs North of Trinidad, CA.

We took the early morning as an opportunity to hike down to the cove below, where we were alone, save the many sea lions lounging on the rocks, the sea birds, the rocks, and the ocean.

This was the view (shot with my phone in black and white). There are sea lions in this photo, but they're difficult to see. Now, South ...

Cape Disappointment

From atop the North Head lighthouse at Cape Disappintment, WA -- the best $1 tour in North America.

City Hall

The best city hall running: ours in Philadelphia (the architecture, not the government).

Phils v. BoSox tonight ...

Wacker & Michigan

One of my favorite corners in the world: Wacker and Michigan Ave., Chicago. The flag-lined bridge over the Chicago river in front, the spectacular Wrigley building on the left, and the equally spectacular Chicago Tribune building on the right -- the greatest skyscraper of its time (and one of the greatest gothic skyscrapers to this day).

Crown Fountain

 

Millennium Park, Chicago