. . . there’s a new photo up on the Monday Morning Photo Blog. Specifically, Bricks and brooms, Siena, Italy. Actually, I’m not entirely sure they’re bricks. Whatever they are, that stack would make a nice wine rack.
Stormy Monday
There’s a stormy sky on the Monday Morning Photo Blog. I haven’t yet figured out how to send an automatic trackback to YULBlog from the MMPB, so I suppose I’ll have to put a reminder here on the blork blog every week until I can figure that out.
Incidently, I’m having a lot of fun tweaking the MMPB’s template (as well as the blork blog’s). Given that I knew nothing about MySQL and PHP before I started moving the blogs home to blork.org a few weeks back, I think I’m doing alright. On the other hand, I still don’t really know much about MySQL and PHP, but I’ve learned enough to make creative – and knowledgeable – use of copy & paste. In other words, I couldn’t build a template from scratch, but give me an already-built one and I’ll have a pretty good idea of how the various elements work, and what you can do with them.
Again with the urinals
Loyal readers will recall that one of my Monday Morning Photo Blog images was picked up by a design school in New Zealand to be used in one of their promotional campaigns. Well, that images lives on. Cory Arthus has used it (with permission) to illustrate a rather neurotic but amusing instructional guide to urinal etiquette.
The whole problem of the correct way to use a urinal – or at least the correct way to present yourself when using a urinal – would be moot if builders simply put a little barrier between each unit. It doesn’t take much – just a little panel to reduce the oversharing. A lot of men’s rooms have these, but not all. Why not?
After all, not everyone is brazen or exhibitionistic with their peeing habits. But even if you’re not shy about it, there’s something weird about going into a men’s room and sidling up next to your boss or some other imposing person while he has his penis in his hand and is hosing down a piss puck. Then you have to take your penis in your hand and hose down your piss puck. Then you either have to talk about something (which is awkward), or very conspicuously not talk (which is awkward).
Or you could brush your teeth.
It’s not very elegant, and I dare say not very professional. After all, a washroom in an office building is not the same as a piss trough in a locker room. A bit of privacy would be appreciated. Who designs these spaces, and why don’t they make them more accomodating?
More photos from Italy
I’ve put up a photo set on Flickr, combining photos by both Martine and I of our time in Venice last May.
Also, a somewhat “artyfied” photo from Siena on the Monday Morning Photo Blog.