Where I've been, updated so far for 2018

Photos you post for businesses on Google...or really, one in particular that I posted...347K views

Several years ago, I posted a photo of a lunch that others from my work and I enjoyed at a rare find in New England: an actual Chinese restaurant (as opposed to "authentic" or "real" ones that are easy to find and even more easily disappoint).  The restaurant in question is Sichuan Gourmet in Billerica, Massachusetts (of all places).  The food was great.

Typically in New England, when you are given a food rating of spiciness, hot is actually medium. medium is actually mild, and mild somehow even more mild.  At Sichuan Gourmet, spicy dishes were actually spicy!  Hot was hot!  In fact, hot was very hot!

So, what's so special about the photo I posted from this restaurant?  For some reason, over 347,000 other people thought it was significant enough to view it.  This is surprizing for a few reasons.  First, it's amazing that Sichuan Gourmet is being searched and found on Google by hundreds of thousands of people in a place like Billerica.  Second, it's amazing that my photo is being found in a sea of dozens of other photos at this location.  Third, it's amazing that the number of people choosing my photo to view is 347,000+.

Since I don't know how to see view numbers for the other photos from this location, and I don't know if this is actually a lot for this location.  I have many other photos on Google for arguably much more popular places that only received a few views.  Some of my photos have 11K+, 22K+, 60K+, and even 73K+ views for a photo of perfume at a Banana Republic (which also baffles me).  From the rarity of these high counts, my guess is that even these numbers are fairly extraordinary, even at popular places.

Side note, Billerica is not pronounced bil-LER-i-cah, bil-LAIR-ri-cah or bil-le-RI-cah.  It's pronounced BIL-ric-a, with a bit of bitterness infused into each of the three syllables. This video should help.  (Yes, this is really a really thing.)
  

Is it really Frankenstein's Monster?

Is the term really "Frankenstein's Monster" rather than just "Frankenstein" when talking about the monster?  How often has the term "Frankenstein's Monster" really appeared anywhere?   Why is there confusion about the monster's name?  Well, that's because he isn't actually given a proper name in the original story by Mary Shelley.

Without much context, a quick search on Google ngram reveals that the term "Frankenstein's Monster" does indeed show up in literature.  However, going back to 1800 finds that the term really didn't get started until well after 1870. Beyond that, the term wasn't really in use until the 1960's. Just for reference, the Frankenstein book was originally published in 1818.

So, what do we get when we compare the usage of the term "Frankenstein's Monster" with usage of just the name "Frankenstein"?

Well, usage of "Frankenstein" does occur well before 1818.  That makes sense since it is a real surname.  However, taking pre-1818 use of the name as noise, there is still substantial use of the term "Frankenstein" from 1818 and on.  "Frankenstein" appears so often that it literally relegates the use of "Frankenstein's Monster" to well below that of background noise.  Usage of "Frankenstein's Monster" is less than a blip, even nowadays.

Beyond that, is the distinction between the mad scientist and his monster really all that important, namewise?  If we count the monster as the scientist's child in a manner of speaking, the monster would carry the scientist's surname anyway.  Both the monster and the scientist carry the name "Frankenstein".  Maybe instead of trying to impose a ill-accepted term like "Frankenstein's Monster", we simply use the term "Dr. Frankenstein" for the mad scientist and "Frankenstein" for the monster.

"Dr. Frankenstein" appears orders-of-magnitude more often than "Frankenstein's Monster".  And, it's a bit more of a blip when compared to just "Frankenstein".

Fall 2016 Trip to Silicon Valley

Second time in Dallas this year

I've been to Dallas, TX twice this year, now.  Both trips were for business.  The first trip was for SOLIDWORKS World 2016.  I'm always very busy for each SOLIDWORKS World convention, so there's not much time to explore on my own.  This time around I was attending ASME Y Committee meetings.  I was able to do a bit more exploring, but not much.

While wondering around, I found this eyeball.  Even many locals don't seem to know that this thing exists and that it is in Downtown.

I also visited the Reunion Tower again to get some great photos of points of interest in Dallas.

There were a number of good restaurants that were enjoyed on various days, such as Wild Salsa, TruFire Kitchen & Bar and recent local favorite Hard Eight.

On thing to note is that it's not easy getting around the Dallas area without getting dinged for tolls.  In the week I was there, I racked up almost $20 in tolls by just driving around between places I needed to be. That is a bit annoying, especially since I have my navigation app set to avoid tolls.

The weather was great, particularly so far along into Fall.  I didn't need a jacket or long sleeve shirt at any time.

Due to a sudden opening in my schedule, I did find some time to visit Arlington Museum of Art.  I found it moderately interesting, but overall it was a bit underwhelming.  The most interesting works I found there were by Charmaine Locke, but not much was available to view.

Update on places I've been - still mostly North America

Canada

America

Mexico

My world map is still a bit scant.

Seattle, yet again.

Seattle is always a great place to visit.  Every time I travel to there, I enjoy something new.

Chihuly Garden and Glass museum near the Space Needle is wonderland of glass sculptures.

From the Space Needle, lucky sunny day gave some great views of town.

 

Had a great find for lunch while in Kirkland, DERU Market.  Everything was delicious.

I found an awesome trendy restaurant in downtown Seattle, called Purple Cafe & Wine Bar.  The waiter even provided me with a customized wine flight based on my dinner choices.

I made my way to the Everett  Marina while I was in the general area visiting Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour.  Unless you are coming out for a picnic, the marina doesn't have too much going on for a tourist visit.

View from roof of Future of Flight center.

Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, OK, surprizing find

A great find in Tulsa, OK is the Philbrook Museum.  (Other points of interest can be found previously here.)  There's actually two campuses.  The historic location is in the old Philbrook mansion in a posh neighborhood.   The other campus is downtown.  There's a pass that allows you to see both within a couple of days of each other.

There is a lot of art of various types throughout the museum, from many periods and styles, ranging from Native American, African, antiquities, and contemporary.  There's even a Picasso. I took a few photos, but I'll limit what I post here to avoid spoiling it for anyone else that finds there way here.

The Philbrook Gardens at the mansion are beautiful.  I was lucky enough to visit on a gorgeous day.

 

I found the center of the universe and stood on (not in) it, plus other points of interest in an interesting place

I found the midpoint of the famous Route 66.  It's in Tulsa, OK.  I'm not sure what qualifies this at the midpoint, but yet, here it is.

I've also found the center of the universe and stood on (not in) it.  Yup, it's also in Tulsa, OK.  Imagine the coincidence of that!

Why is this spot the center of the universe?  It's an over-exuberant name for something that's somewhat surprizing, yet fairly mundane.

If you do a search online, you'll find that open mic nights are extremely common in Tulsa, OK.  I cannot speak to the quality of these amateurs shows, however.  I was fairly disappointed.  Maybe too many places are offering venues every night for such a small city?

Here's the downtown.

Tulsa is also the home to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum.  This museum is loaded up to the ceiling with artifacts of aviation history.

Then, if you look hard enough, you'll find this guy, the Golden Driller.

There's one other place I visited while in town on my free time.  It deserves an article of its own.