I'm sure anybody who ever read this has stopped reading this by now. It has been almost 18 months since I last posted something irrelevant. But, things have changed. I've moved to Arizona, to, well, study geography.... I now rarely leave my windowless office in the ivory tower (aka brick box) to explore the world outside. However, here's a picture from my most recent adventure to the Santa Catalina Mountains.

camping up north... Wow, Lake Michigan is Huge!Sleeping Bear Dunes (Empire, Michigan)

I actually tried Gumbo and Crawfish... why do people eat that stuff?

A Cajun Saturday night (somewhere in rural Louisiana)...

What? What else do you do with the Crawfish head? Eat it, store it? (Lake Charles, LA)

hmm... "Einstein Bros Bagles... NOT FRESH EVERY DAY" (Detroit Metro Airport, Michigan)

While Home Depot attempts to localize to their host city, KFC utilizes their �Kentucky� roots as a sales ploy. Even in Quebec, Kentucky Fried Chicken becomes Poulet frit du Kentucky (PFK).

yes, Wal-Mart is good, every day... Especially when it expands internationally to compete for worst employment practices... (Montreal, Quebec)

L'entrep�t de la r�novation du Qu�bec!!! What? it's not even Canadian!

I think it is odd how a chain attempts to localize itself by identifying with the host state. Home Depot is an Atlanta, GA based national retailer; yet, they claim to be the "Home Improvement Warehouse" of many states across the country. (Top: Pensacola, FL; Bottom: Minneapolis, MN)