words.

"aforementioned"


"caveat"

"methodology"

"apprised"

"disseminate"

"verbatim"

(and another one I forgot before I could write it down), all words used by my Greyhound bus driver yesterday while addressing passengers on a (very slow and very delayed) Chicago-Milwaukee trip.


And he mentioned knowing some French and German, but not Spanish (when a cell phone kept ringing and he thought the owner might need instructions in Spanish). As I left I wanted to say, admiringly, he was the most loquacious driver I'd ever had. I'm glad I didn't, because although he was a bit talkative, the word I really should have used was "erudite."

That might be my favorite bus-related story this year. I've had many trips by Greyhound and/or Megabus in 2008: Detroit (5 trips, one including Ann Arbor); Pittsburgh (1); New York City (1); St. Louis (2); Cleveland (1); Milwaukee (5); Minneapolis (1); Des Moines (1). As well as seeing Gary, Hammond, and Whiting, IN; Ames and Nevada, IA; Elgin, Aurora, Kenilworth, Waukegan, Bensenville, and Joliet, IL; and Kenosha, WI, by commuter train and/or bicycle, and sometimes even by car (someone else driving, always).

I'm drowning in thousands of photos I took of these places, of course. But the upside of having so many photos and trying to not post them too quickly is that I can build up sets of images. I've been photographing similar places in many cities and can post them here, or on Flickr, together. Beautiful old train stations and grand hotels and theaters, main public libraries, farmer's and gourmet markets, light rail systems, shopping malls and arcades, major league ballparks...and of course, Greyhound stations. Top to bottom: Milwaukee, St. Louis (former station), Des Moines, Minneapolis, St. Louis (new station), Ann Arbor, Cleveland. I have more. And many shots inside the stations, or from the bus. And the story of the driver who made a few personal phone calls--to me, after a trip--but that's part of whole strange story of my summertime accident, which I have yet to tell in full here.