"World--I could not hope to touch the sky with my two arms" written in chalk at the edge of Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland on a glorious May Day. --heidi

I have the most bedside table reading selections (3) in my Portland Marriott hotel room that I've seen in a hotel. But I still don't want to read any of them.

I was kind of creeped out by the presence of the corporate inspiration book by J.W. Marriott Jr.

I'll have to rectify this problem with a trip to Powell's. --heidi

Today was perfect weather for a trip to the zoo. I really should get a real digital camera....this little sk camera doesn't quite cut it @ the zoo. Meerkats are too little to show up well with these. This chimp moved, so I just got the lower part of his face. The photo I didn't get (and won't you be glad) was the young chimp who hocked a lugie on the glass right in front of some kids.....and then proceeded to lick it off the glass. Eeeewwwww --heidi

I stopped by the latest Urban Culture Project (art in empty storefronts downtown) on my way to the bus. After leaving the latest installation on Baltimore, I walked past a pair of pants abandoned on the sidewalk. It's always a mystery to me why perfectly decent-looking pants are left frequently enough on sidewalks throughout town. Are they just blowing out of bags or what? --heidi

Just got my suitcase from baggage claim. At the Pittsburgh airport, they opened all suitcases while we had to wait until they said it was ok to go. When I got my bag after my flight, it had a red twist-tie like you use to close a garbage bag on the lock holes. Inside I found out that my suitcase was chosen for the extra physical inspection at some later point.

The flier they left in my suitcase says, "At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag, which was resealed with a tamper-evident seal." (The bolding is mine, not the Transportation Security Administration's.)

That twist-tie is oh so secure and tamper-evident. I know that if I forget to add the bathroom trash to the garbage bag, my roommate can tell that I've tampered with the twist-tie.

So how many clockwise twists signify that the TSA was last in my bag? --heidi

Best surprise: the training I attended was in the old Alcoa building, which I think is cool and is made of as much aluminum as they could stick in it from the looks of the inside. We got to go up to the 31st (top) floor and walk around to look at the views.

Best picture I didn't get: the deer that were right by the incline tracks as we went down the hill. A guy in the incline car said there are turkeys up there, too. --heidi

I'm waiting for a bus @ the Gateway Center area in Pittsburgh. Bayer has this garish illuminated sign on the South Side hill. It flashes messages in red, alternating with the time and "Bayer." The messages don't scroll though, just flash in pieces, so if you just glanced briefly up at it, you might wonder when you saw "APRIL IS CHILD ABUSE." I guess most people are still looking when it explains "AWARENESS MONTH" in a sec, but it threw me the first time I saw it. --heidi

Last week the temperature was in the 80s, and now as I stand at the bus stop, there are itty bitty snow flurries coming down. Freakin' snow. --heidi

Ooh, I love getting a new Mac! It's been too long. --heidi

I don't know if you can see this blurry dark little photo or not (boy the color sk will be good for that), but I just checked the FedEx tracking online for the iBook I ordered, and it's at my apartment waiting for me! Some of you have had them for a while I'm sure, but I have been limping along on my old iMac w/ 32mg of memory and a 266mhz processor, so I can't wait to get home and unpack my new speedier Mac and use osX! Whee! --heidi