Geoff and I are at the J. Seward Johnson, Jr. show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Experience famous impressionist paintings as human-scale dioramas that you are encouraged to walk around. Shown on the second row here is Johnson's 2003 interpretation of Monet's La Japonaise, 1876. This is a great show for kids.

Whoa! The artist is here in person giving a walking tour! The last frame shows him pointing out a hidden samurai looking up La Japonaise's skirt. Brilliant.

- mike lee -

At the zero marker in front of The White House

- mike lee - washington dc

My wife says that when she's at her desk, her ID badge bounces around on her belly from the baby kicking. I suggested she attach a bell. She said, "uh, I don't think so."

- mike lee - baltimore

We had another great check-up this morning with the OB/GYN. The baby is breakdancing in my wife's belly, and the heartbeat sounds like a jackhammer. We start birth classes this Saturday.

It seems like I hear once a day that we should get out while we can, and savor our last days of normal sleep. You'd think a hurricane was coming ...

- mike lee - baltimore

Ben Shneiderman just concluded his talk on Universal Usability here at AARP. People are swarming and schmoozing around the stage and soon we're off to lunch, so check the Older Wiser Wired site or my main blog.

- mike lee - washington dc

I'm admiring the intricate edges of light and shadow in William Leitzman's torch-cut iron sculpture outside of Baltimore Penn Station. The fence-like installation serves as a barrier between a parking lot and the train platform. The work was installed in 1979 and funded by the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City.

- mike lee -

Our dog got her new IKEA TASSA plush toy today. This series of kid toys is stitched together very well and lasts for a few weeks before our dog disembowels it. They are a great deal at $2.99.

- mike lee - baltimore

On this first anniversary of hiptop Nation, I believe I'm submitting my 328th post here. It's been a great year of moblogging, and it will be interesting to see if I can sustain my current pace.

Tonight I'm editing the images from yet another photo shoot at a friend's house. I was there for five hours, and shot several hundred frames. It's hard work photographing beautiful women, but I'm up to the self-assigned challenge to expand my photography portfolio.

- mike lee - baltimore

I mentioned here before that a photo of mine made it into the national book of the America 24/7 project. As if that's not exciting enough, I happened on this article about the project from the August 12th edition of Newsday. Here's a snip with some incredible news:

The competition was stiff: Cohen said that in the final judging, only 32 amateur photos were selected. "But some were awfully good and will end up as double-page spreads," he said. Indeed, the first image in the book - a full-page shot of the Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan, shrouded in fog - was made just after midnight on the first day of the project by amateur Michael Lee of New York City.

I'm beyond excited that my photo is the first image after the cover.

- mike lee -

I just tested out the newly unveiled free WiFi [www.baltimoreunwired.com] here at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. MacStumbler on my PowerBook G4 shows a weak intermittent signal all around the promenade from the Science Center (where the signal is broadcast from an antenna on the roof) past the Light Street Pavillion and to the end of the Pratt Pavillion by the World Trade Center. These areas are the advertised access zone. I have never had a problem at the dozens of hotspots I've visited in multiple cities. This should just work.

Perhaps it's a technical glitch, or maybe I'll hear a lame excuse about Macs not being supported, but the choice to launch on the eve of the first frost warnings suggests more of a PR misstep. I hear the program was mentioned as far back as January, and that the vendor who donated the service only had to install $10,000 worth of equipment. Rolling this out in April would have given them an entire summer's worth of good will.

I also see no signage outside or literature in the pavillions advertising the new service. Truthfully, I'm one of the few hardy fools in town that will brave the cold to really test something like this, and merely having some signs up to hype the free access would be enough to impress tourists who are unlikely to be carrying around WiFi capable laptops or PDAs.

I'll be contacting the economic development people and the ISP tomorrow.

- mike lee - baltimore