It's All in the Content, Apparently

Dudes, we need to talk...

Writing a blog is tricky.

I've noticed this... thing... about my blog posts.  Some receive more views than others.  This sounds extremely obvious and elementary, but there's more.   There's always more. Some receive far more views than others.   As in, way, way, way, way, wayyyy more.  For the past few years, basically since I started this blog, which I have a difficult time accepting was more than two years ago, yet, it's a cold, hard fact, so let's move on, I have been attempting to figure out why the heck that is the case.  Why do people like some of my content, and ignore other bits of it?  Why are certain posts essentially avoided like the plague while other ones are viewed by fifty people within the first four hours?  You won't get the plague from them.  You don't even require a creepy bird mask for safety purposes.

I have discovered the answer: content.  Duh, right?  It seems that I am not at your intelligence level, unfortunately, because this took me a few years to solidify from beyond the realm of intangible, unnamable concept into usable data.  Congratulations on your smartness.  We're all very pleased with you.  Proud, too.  Snaps.  I am not as intelligent, or perceptive, or something, as you are, because this has only now really installed itself in my brain.  The world there is most likely meant to be "instilled" but I thoroughly enjoy the idea of something being installed in your brain like it is in your computer.  Imagine... if you could say, "I'm going to install back handspring today" or "I'm going to install super stick fighting abilities, downloading, estimated completion time 20 minutes".  That would be so obnoxiously rad.  What a fun moment in which one could relish the wonders of technology.  Science, kids.  Science!  

Science!!!!

If these Google glasses ever take off, because, oh yes, Google glasses are now a patented thing... 

If there's a way to connect them to your brain and download TED talks, I will figure it out.  This shall be deciphered!  Okay, so, maybe I am as smart as you are... just in slightly different and nerdier ways.  Possibly less useful ones that involve science fiction style devices, back handsprings and stickfighting instead of basic problem-solving skills...

But, I digress.

Back to content.  You guys like it when I actually have something to say.  Once again, this probably sounds blatantly obvious and kind of stupid, but I'm blonde, so just bear with me.  I've put up a lot of articles here where, frankly, I was just trying to think of something to post.  This happens to me often.  Honestly, almost daily.   I'll be scrolling through photographs, looking at what I have, and grasping at straws.  Some days, I go in to this ritual with an idea.  There's a story on my mind, I'm fixated on something that happened earlier in the day, or perhaps I'm bothered by something, since our world is certainly not a perfect happyland of bunnies, cotton candy, and rainbows.  Many things are right, but many things are wrong here.  That's another post.

Other days, I've got nothing.  I'm sitting there, staring at a bunch of seemingly unrelated, artistic, but uninteresting photographs. There will be a lot of posts of flowers, or street art.  There always are.  Those happen often because flowers are pretty, thus, they attract my attention and I have a tendency to photograph them, and I live in New York City, so, when I'm meandering around snapping away, graffiti and murals are generally some of the most vibrant and eye-catching sights in view, or, some of the most ignored.  Both of those cases attract my fancy, and my lens. So, I will be scrolling through my files, staring, bewildered, at all of these flowers, spray-painted gang signs and stickers, pick a bunch of them that were all taken in the same place, and crank out some mediocre post about how flowers are really nice, or, oh, aren't I so edgy and modern because look, it's graffiti!  

No, I'm not a hipster.  I just live in Brooklyn and am attempting to prove to you that graffiti and property defacement are valid forms of decorating the world.  These concepts are unrelated.

Point made, hipster cat, point made.

My point, though?  The posts like that... they suck.  They really do.  Let's not mince words.  I wrote them, and I think they suck.  Occasionally, I'll have one that's a zinger, but when I don't know what I'm writing about, the result is almost consistently boring.  Sometimes, a good photograph or two will save my sorry, lazy, uninspired butt, but, usually, I'm just making a last ditch effort to produce an article because somewhere, in my mind, I harbor this feeling of adult responsibility to post here as often as possible.  Preferably, daily.  I'm never sure if I feel this for my readers or for myself, because, let's be real here, there aren't that many of you readers.  That is one of the reasons I thank you all so often- you are really the vanguard, putting yourselves on the line for me, all ten of you.  Okay, so, there are more than ten of you, but frankly,  you are mighty, but a mighty few.  

HOWEVER.  When I do have something to say... this place explodes.  It's like 11pm or midnight when the club blows up and people actually start dancing.  Tiesto is pumping and the roof is on fire.  Hands are up in the air.  Drinks are on the house.  Everyone is weeping tears of joy as they dance their worries away- especially me.  

Not going to lie, when one of my articles becomes very popular, there's this wonderful feeling of gratification, partly because something I've done has reached many people, validating my existence, but also because the posts about which I feel the best are also the ones upon which I worked the hardest.  The soul-dumping, heart-baring posts are the ones you lovely reader people seem to like the most.  This is awesome, because it gives me a little bit more freedom to do what I want.  It's also taxing because, well, I feel like I have to deliver more.  I've put up a few of the more "sucky" type of posts over the past few weeks after sharing a bunch of really good articles lately, and I was very disappointed in them.  

Wow, screw the past tense, I still am disappointed in them.  They are out there, on the internet, being all mediocre and stuff.  I could have done so much better if I had simply taken twenty minutes out of my day, and riffed on something I care about instead of "ooh, pretty flowers, spray paint, woohooooo!!" (That's not a direct quote, but you get the picture).

So, um, yeah. Expect some decent content, for three main reasons: 

1.  It's more fun for me to write, and for you to read.  

2. I avoided this for a while, but, I'm a nerd, and you seem to enjoy this.  Cool.

3. I'm so sick of writing posts that are lame- I might explode.

 This new, awesome content is not going to come every day.  I'm too busy for that.  Sorry.  I know, I know.  You can't really experience life until you've had your morning coffee and Travel and Toile.  I get it.  I feel similarly.  But, I'm going to try to bring the ruckus, and the good, no, freaking fantastic content.

Cheers, all.  Let's see how this goes.

Thanks!

Best,

Emily

Sunday Style: This Is Far More Difficult than Expected

I wanted to write a blog post today.  I've been dressing okay lately... not as stylish as I aspire to be, but not awful either.  There have been a few outfit "zingers" in the past few weeks, and I've been pretty appropriately proud of all of them.  This makes me happy.  There have also been a lot of jeans and sweaters because it's cold, I'm lazy, and I don't like waking up too long before I have to leave the house.  Also, I somehow manage to forget where things are sometimes.  But, yeah.  I've been doing well on the fashion spectrum.  Despite not going to martial arts a lot the past few weeks I haven't put on any weight (woot) and I guess that means I'm eating less.  Nifty.  Now I'll look even better when I start working out more hours again.  And there will be pictures, at that time.

At this time, there are no pictures.  

I admire fashion bloggers a lot, because they have to do more than I ever thought.  Getting your hair, makeup, and outfit model-perfect every day could be fun, sure, but it could also be painstakingly hard work.  Doing my hair sometimes takes me a full 10-15 minutes depending on how straight/ curly/ generally organized I want it to be, and don't even get me started on outfits.  There have been far too many times that five minutes before I need to leave the house, I find myself sitting in a pile of dresses, tights, socks, cardigans, and boots, silently sobbing.  Okay, I'm not always silently sobbing, but you get the idea.  Not always.  Only every other day.  Indecision is a cruel mistress, and makeup has to be reapplied every time you cry.

Why, clothes, WHY??!??

My standard go-to outfit is a dress, tights, boots, and a sweater, or, perhaps a blazer if I'm feeling particularly sassy.  In summer, there is no sweater, probably no tights, although, maybe, if they are sheer, and some sort of little sneaker-shoe.  A scarf could be worn around the neck with any of these outfits, along with some big, vintage-y earrings, and the three silver rings I have on every day.  Sometimes I get creative and wear, oh my god, jeans.  Or separates.  Like, a skirt and shirt.  That go together.  On occasion, I even belt them.  I know.  I can't believe it either.  Then, every once in a while, the sky melts, and... I ... I put a scarf in my hair.  Or an equivalent thereof.  My clothing is moderately creative, but there are really only so many options.  I have a whole bunch of little dresses, but I wear the same 12 or so most of the time.  Likewise with shirts- I own many neat shirts, ranging from blouse to tee and back again.  Given that generally, dresses are worn, there aren't too many opportunities for shirts that cannot be used for the purposes of working out.  Thankfully, I work out a lot, so the shirts appropriate for such tasks don't have to feel abandoned or unloved.  The other ones get neglected quite often.

I did buy a pair of tights the other day with a pirate print.  They are in the mail.  Necessary?  No.  Wait... necessary?  Yes.  They have f****ing narwhals on them.  Fighting.  What did you think I said?

So, uh, yeah. FASHION.  I'm wearing PJ pants and a sports bra right now.  True story.  I clearly am beyond qualified to write fashion posts.  Both articles are from Target.  Big budget.

I swear, one of these Sundays, this will be a real fashion post again.  It's just difficult because....

1. 

It's cold.  You know what you don't want to do when it's cold?  Pose outside wearing anything that isn't a warm, snuggly winter coat.

2. 

I only have two warm, snuggly winter coats, and I've showed off both of them already.

3. 

I have no backyard.  I have to find somewhere outside to do this, because my apartment isn't the best setting, and everyone, including myself, looks best in natural light.  This means going somewhere.  This also means that using a tripod is maybe not the best idea because I'm outside in New York City.  A skinny little white girl by herself, kind of close to, but not touching an expensive piece of machinery.  I might as well run down the street screaming, "take my camera!  Free camera!  Take it!".  This means I need a buddy.  And, I'm just not quite narcissistic enough to steal an hour out of someone's day just to get photographs of myself.  

All of these things will be resolved, but just to let you know, I admire fashion bloggers because they have apparently gotten over all of these things.

In the meantime, here are some cute things I've worn.  In the past.  I do wear clothing.  Pieces you will probably see again, when I have real fashion posts.

This one is what I wore to the Sleep No More Valentine's Day Party on Tuesday.  It's the only picture, because it was dark, and I felt tacky about using flash.  This dress made me so happy, though- it's a floor-length black casual gown with slits on the site that let my ribs hang out.  Since my ribs are the only part of my body one might describe as "bony," I feel like I might as well show them off.  That handsome guy is Danny.

This was taken on Thanksgiving at my parents' house.  The lady on the left is me, and the one on the right is my  little sister, Julianna, who is doing her first print modeling gig this week!  I'm excited for her.  We're all printy and full of happy smiles here.

This was taken on my birthday, in Texas.  That's our friend Alex Stevens on the right.  It's an actual full-body shot of me... not too many of those exist.  You can see how short I really am.  But, you can also see how rocking that dress is that I'm wearing.  It's one of my favourite dresses, but I've been having issues figuring out how to adapt it for winter.

Now this is a rarely-seen sight.  That's me.  IN SHORTS. Next to what may be one of the weirder tags I've seen, in Austin.  Also, I'm wearing a Batman shirt, because, I can.

And, in this one, Danny is wearing a Batman shirt.  Because, well, he can.

Really, though.  I'll have a real post next Sunday.  I'll get over this.  Don't be stunned if it involves Batman too.  Between the two of us, we have five Batman shirts.

Happy Sunday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers in or from the USA!

Here is a silly photo of me with the cute Thanksgiving card I received from my mom!

I love this holiday.  It's such a great time to spend precious moments with friends and family, and eat massive amounts of comfort food.  The holiday feels warm, safe and comfortable.  It's nice.  Today we're in Pennsylvania, celebrating with my family. We just got here this morning.  Danny will have to leave tomorrow morning, but I will be off to Maryland to see some more family.  He is working on a show at the moment, and they have a performance tomorrow night, so he kind of needs to be back in New York for that.  You know, that work thing.

Anyways, I'm thankful about a lot of things today.  I'm thankful for my family, friends, and so unbelievably thankful for Danny.  I'm thankful that I have a job, especially in this market.  If I didn't, I'd be spending my time protesting and searching for one, like the brave men and women of Occupy Wall Street.  But, for some reason, I've been lucky.  I've worked hard, but I've been stupidly lucky.   And every day, I thank my lucky stars for that.  Terrible things happen to wonderful people in this world all of the time, and I've been magically spared from awful tragedy.  For this, I feel blessed.  By who, or what, I can't say I'm truly certain.  But, I feel grateful.  I don't know why my life has been generally free of hardship.  I question this every day. Why me?  What did I do to deserve this, other than be born?  That's not fair, is it?  There are lots of questions.  I do know, for certain, though, that it's not because I'm deserving, or because I've worked hard, or am entitled, or anything.  Yeah, I have worked pretty hard, and done a good job, in general.  

How does that count for meriting a life free of serious difficulty?  I don't know.  I think it's luck.  I think that concept goes the other way too.  Some people work very hard, are extremely good people, educated people, and don't have jobs.  They can't find them.  (In the USA, there are four unemployed people for every available job right now.) Some people have loved ones die.  Some people lose children.  This happened to some friends of ours just the other day, Danny's best friend, to be exact.  His wife was pregnant, and the child died.  At term.  I... I don't know what to say about it really.  Tragic, sad... they all sound completely inadequate.  Devastating?  Maybe.  

I'm not attempting to bring down your day by sharing this- it's just something affecting me in my life, right now.  So, I think it's important.  I want to, no, need to put it out there.  As I share this day with my family, I'm thinking of them; Ben and Meg, and what they've lost.  I feel for them.  I don't want children, but I understand their want to have a child, and I also understand that I do not and cannot have any idea what they are going through. 

I like to think of myself as a realist.  As a matter of fact, I wrote a post about "being a realist" last week.  Events like that, however, both make me acknowledge that I'm a militant optimist, and shake my resolve.  

The manner in which I achieve my optimism is nearly mathematical, like I wrote about in this post.  No matter how bad things are, I acknowledge that they could certainly be worse.  Something, or many things, could make the situation more awful.  This makes me feel significantly better about whatever is wrong.  Also, no matter how bad things are, something is always good about the world.  There will always be people doing good, there will always be beauty in nature, and art, and there will always be someone with new or interesting information to share.  People fall in love despite everything, the sun still rises, and the flowers still bloom. Mathematically, more things seem to be going "right" in the world than "wrong".  Thus, I justify my tendency towards believing that the world is beautiful, that all people are inherently good, and that life is worth it.  Life isn't futile.  We can achieve wonderful things in life, and enjoy the gorgeous world around us.  Life is awesome!  I've proven it with logic.  Bam.

I cannot figure out how to logic away the death of an innocent, though.  I can't... there is no way to do that.  How do you do that?  I can say, "Well, it's unfortunate that you were late for work, but look outside at that park!  It's gorgeous!  Think of that guy who held the door for you as you ran in, and how comfy your sweater is.  Think of puppies.  And rainbows".  But, I cannot say, "Wow!  Your baby died?  That's awful.  Don't worry though, flowers are pretty".  That would make me the biggest asshole in the world, and I do try not to be an asshole.  The death of a baby does not compute in my system.  I can't make that compute.  It's like a geometry theorem with no solution.  I've just attempted to divide by zero.  System failure.

The world sounds a little less beautiful and fabulous to me when I hear about tragedies like the one that just happened to our friends.  Ok, that's an understatement.  The balance I so desperately seek gets lost in the shuffle, and I stare off into the void, mourning the lost potential, the crushed hopes and unfairness of it all.  That goes beyond unlucky to me, and makes me want to believe in karma- that good times, and lucky moments are on their way for people who have experienced such tragedies.  I don't know if I believe that, but it sounds so nice.  Karma is a pretty attractive concept.

After many hours of contemplation, I've come to a conclusion.  What happened to our friends is just unmentionably awful.  The death of a newly born baby is a travesty, and I'm disrespecting the concept to minimize it to that.  I don't know how to deal with it.  I definitely don't know how they are dealing with it, if as a friend who lives across the country, I've been spun into a minor existential crisis.  I think that it's those good things in the world, that I spoke of earlier, which eventually help us to move on.  They will never make up for what was lost, but they can help us heal, and regain hope.  One must always have hope.  We can look at the world, those flowers, puppies, and rainbows, and remember that even though life is sometimes incredibly awful, it can also be good. Something out there is at least decent.  People will be there to support us in times of difficulty.  I don't know.  No matter what, though, what I do know is that we have to look towards the sunlight.  We have to see the beauty in the world because it's one of the main things that can keep us going.  At least, I know that's what gets me through hard times.  Maybe it works for other people too.

  In any case, I find myself very thankful today.  I'm thankful for Danny, my family, my friends, my job, my career, my art, my life... and my luck.  I'm thankful that I've been lucky. What else could I be?  I can't be proud of it, because it hasn't been completely my doing.  I don't take credit for things I haven't done.  I wish, as my Thanksgiving wish, that others will be lucky too.  Or, that, at least, the world will continue to the have the balance I so crave.  The balance I want so badly to believe in.  The balance that not only gets me through the day, but creates my optimism.  My belief in that balance is a cornerstone of who I am.  I'm thankful for that.

May optimism always carry all of us through.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Woah!  It's been a full week since I've updated!  That wasn't meant to happen.  Oops.  But, no worry.  I'm updating now.  This past week has been a bit busy, what with work, martial arts classes, a guest staying, and this unexpected flu-like sickness I'm just getting over.  I've been a bit of a wreck the past few days.  Thankfully, I now have internet in my apartment, so I can start to share the wealth of photographs that are stored from my digital cameras with you.  That will start within the next couple of days, as soon as I locate my little piece of hardware to transfer photos from my memory sticks to my computer.  It's... somewhere in those boxes that I haven't unpacked yet from the move.  I got very motivated to start on that project yesterday, but we have a guest at the house, and I felt bad about ripping through our stuff with someone else there.  Perhaps that will be a task of mine this weekend.

I just have so many photographs to share!  A photoshoot with my friend Jen, snaps from Texas, around town, a day I spent in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn... so much stuff, and so much to say about all of it!  It's times like these when I'm facing a complete wealth of content that I get very excited about this blog.  When I run out of photographs, or am not feeling very inspired, or, even more importantly, have no idea what to say, it's hard to write posts.  Every blogger must feel that way, I guess.  And I could just crank something out every single day, just to make sure that the date stamp is filled, but I'm not that kind of person.  If I'm going to do it, I want to make it quality.  I want to make my article, post, whatever, about a topic or idea that doesn't just mean something to me, but means something to the world.  An idea that shows people something about life that they hadn't thought of before.  A new way of looking at things.  

This world has so much to offer, and the more I see and experience, the more unique and amazing everything seems to me.   Some people don't see the world like that.  The more they see and experience, the more jaded they become, and the more everything looks the same.  Every place is less exciting, every trip less fulfilling.  Every new food less tasty, because, well, they've tasted something kind of like it, and so they can't possibly learn anything about this new thing.

I never, ever, ever want to live like that.  The day that small things stop making me excited, the day that I can no longer find beauty in seeing something anew, had better be the day that I die.  Otherwise, I'd be like the walking dead.  If we don't look at the world slightly differently every time we wake up, what's the point in waking up?  You might as well stay asleep and dream about how great things used to be, your own romanticized version of the past that's always better and significantly more awesome than it actually was.  We do that.

Wake up and smell the coffee.  

 Smell the particular flavor it has that day, how you added a little bit more grounds than usual, or maybe not as much sugar.  Notice the differences.  Otherwise, why are you living? To experience new things?  Because your own biases are keeping you from doing this.  Your own jaded feelings, those ones you have to try and protect yourself, to make yourself invulnerable.  You aren't invulnerable.  You're stunting your own growth.  I'm not saying that you should go jump off a bridge, I'm saying, change your attitude. You know that you have control over that, right?

 Because coffee is delicious, life can be great, and you don't want to miss out.

If you want this world to suck, guess what it's going to do?  Suck.  If you go into an experience wanting to not have a good time, guess what's going to happen?  You're not going to have a good time.  If you go into an experience thinking that you already know everything, guess what?  You're not going to learn anything.  If you talk to someone, thinking that you're better or smarter than them, guess what?  You're not going to learn anything about who they are, where they are from, or what their unique human experience has been.  If you go somewhere hoping that it will be somewhere else you've already been, or go on a date with someone hoping they will be just like your ex, or get food at a new restaurant hoping that it will taste just like the food at your favourite restaurant, guess what?  You will be disappointed, might even hate it, and will miss the uniqueness and new flavors, personalities, sights, or experiences that you could have had if you had dropped your own preconceived notions.  Stop falling prey to your own self-fulfilling prophecies.

Stop going into things with expectations, and stop having opinions about things you don't know.  All you are doing is missing out on seeing how things truly are, because *gasp*, this might even help you grow.  And if you aren't growing, what's the point?  I think that's the point.  That's why I do this.  That's why I look at the world like this.  And, that is why I will never, ever stop.  

I want you to join me.  For your own sake, please, join me.

What IS Travel and Toile?

... I don't know.

Travel and Toile is currently having a bit of an identity crisis.   

What is it?  

It's not a fish...

It's not a fashion blog.  I don't show photographs of myself, or anyone else modeling cute outfits. It's not a lifestyle blog either.  Though it was a photography blog for awhile, it has morphed away from that.  I write too much to justify calling Travel and Toile a photoblog these days. Also, I sometimes sacrifice photographs of quality so that I can have something more interesting to say.  By that, I mean that I don't necessarily post my best shots, I post what I think will serve the overall entry.

Hmm... entry...Is it my diary?  No, I don't write what I do every day as it happens.  I kind of write what I'm thinking about and couple it with photographs I have taken, or pick out some photographs I have and come up with something to say that will weave it all together.

But, what is the classification for that?  Is there one?  I write a blog... blog.  Have I allowed myself to be so random that I defy classification?  I know I'm nerdy and let that show though, but have I only overextended myself by writing about what I'm thinking?

I keep coming back to the idea that I'm an awful photographer, a terrible writer, and an ugly, good-for-nothing, lousy web page designer and overall person.  But, I do have some readers, so that obviously isn't it. My readers are way too nice, classy and cultured to be reading a crappy blog.

  Maybe I don't advertise and put my blog out there enough?  I feel like I do though.

My conclusion... my skirt is in a bunch.

My actual conclusion:  I have no niche.  This blog is rather general haha. 

What is Travel and Toile?
 How can  I end this identity crisis?

Walt Disney World, Florida, USA
Photographs of me taken by Daniel Garrison.  As usual.

Nunchuks and Such

These photographs were taken in the China area of Epcot, in Walt Disney World!  Danny and I are both big fans of Chinese culture.  Well, we can kind of claim that.  We've never been there.  We don't have any really close friends who are Chinese.  But, we do hang out in Chinatown a lot.  We both love dumplings and could probably survive off of just them and stir-fried vegetables.  Danny does martial arts and likes Bruce Lee.  However, we've never been there, so I don't really know much about the culture.  I do love what I know, though!

I know that I like pandas.  They are cute, vicious, endangered, and not actually bears.  They also look absolutely adorable on umbrellas.  It started raining the day that we visited Epcot, and there is a part of me that is still having shoppers remorse for not having bought this gem of an accessory.  But, in New York, I probably would have just been labeled as a teenage Harajuku girl wannabe.  Honestly, I do want to be that, but I'm generally more discreet than a giant panda umbrella.

I also know that the movie "Mulan," is set in China.  It is based off of... a Chinese legend?  I think?  I'm pretty sure she wasn't completely real.  Though, I might be wrong.  In any case, I seriously doubt that she had a talking dragon.  And, as funny as he is, I know he didn't sound like Eddie Murphy.  First off, he would have spoken Chinese.  Don't think Eddie Murphy speaks Chinese.  

Check out how beautiful that Mulan is!  She was lovely.  Talked in quotes from the movie and everything.  She was also very gracious to everyone who came up to her in a way that wasn't totally fake- a lot of the character actors around the park were extremely facetious, and overly spunky.  It made them slightly unpleasant at times. 

OK then, back to China.  Nunchuks.  I associate China with nunchucks.  Like these dandy little foam ones:

So fun!  Grr, I'm about to whack the crap out of those puppets... no not really.  I have no idea how to use nunchuks.  I'd just swing them around a lot and make angry noises.  I'm obviously super effective.

You know, it's weird.  I feel better about how I look in the nunchuck photograph than the one of Mulan and me.  It took me a while to figure out exactly why that is, but I think I've nailed it.  In the nunchuk pose, I'm not trying to be pretty or attractive.  I'm attempting to be quite the opposite, in fact.  Thus, there is no pressure to look particularly good.  I can be goofy and have face dimples and eye creases, and it doesn't matter because I'm pulling a Tina Fey and ignoring the fact that I could be potentially pretty for the sake of humor.  Not that I think I'm as pretty as Tina Fey, but you get my message.

Oh!  And now, for two more things I associate with China, quickly, as this post has gotten a big lengthy.

Gorgeous patterns with red and gold in them.  Those seem Chinese to me.

Also, the clay soldiers.  Those ones are Chinese, for certain.  I know I'm right on with this one.

As a closer- I hope I didn't offend anyone with my assumptions about what is Chinese.  Really, I tailored this to the photographs I happened to take while in Disney World.  I know quite a bit about Chinese history and culture from books and such... but I haven't experienced it.  If you feel like I have to, I would not be opposed to a trip there.  Especially if it was paid for.  

Anyone want to pay for me to go?  Anyone?

... alright then.  :)

Walt Disney World, Florida, USA

Smart

Smart Cars are fabulous.  At least, I think so.  I don't really like cars- and in an urban situation, I cannot figure out for the life of me why on earth you  would ever want to drive one.  Public transportation in New York is generally pretty great, and a million times cheaper and faster than driving a car.  It is so incredibly easy, environmentally friendly and cheap, that I feel like if it was implemented everywhere, our world would be an even lovelier place than it already is.  Not that I have anything against driving a Hummer, or an SUV or anything.  My boyfriend used to drive a truck, my dad has a truck, and my mom uses a small SUV.  A lot of places, you need a car.  And I can understand loving the feeling of driving a big car on the road.  But, in a city, I think that, if you must drive, a Smart Car makes total sense.  

What doesn't make sense is that this Smart Car was... in the middle of Madison Square Park. Umm...

Like this?  Take a look at The Little Ship for a slightly more miniature means of transportation.