Despite the proliferation of online media, the printed page retains a certain cachet. Maybe it’s a perception of higher quality, or maybe it’s the limited nature of the resource.

Regardless, people want to be published. That’s why I found the relatively new photography magazine JPG so interesting. Readers can submit photos on the web site. If enough other readers vote for a photo, it will appear on glossy dead trees. Spiffy!

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

It was a rush to watch the racers finish with a burst of speed. Even after 86 miles, nobody had managed to make a break from the peloton. I was there cheering them on, caught up in the frenzy around me. What a neat feeling. I wanted to be among those racing.

Comic relief, in the form of a kid’s race, came in the interlude between the men’s and women’s finishes. They should have co-branded it as a parent’s 5k, for most of the very young children were chased by their jogging parents around the course.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

While I subscribe to the theory that there are no stupid questions, some people seem bent on testing my resolve.

I am trying to sell my beloved BMW. Today, I talked to a potential buyer. Things were going well until he dropped this bomb:

Will you take a personal check and sign over the title tonight?

Why, yes of course, for there is no possible way that transaction could go wrong!

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

A few days ago, two very large, highly-leveraged Bear Stearns hedge funds faced margin calls after sustaining enormous losses from the subprime mortgage collapse. One of the creditors, Merrill Lynch, seized over $800 million in collateral and began to auction it off.  As a result, the fund is near failure.

I hope this doesn’t mark the beginning of a hedge fund meltdown.  The private equity sector is looking a bit scary too, if only because of the unchecked hubris.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

I looked up and found the last light of the day burning the cauliflower clouds. To my left, a giant mushrooming cell. To my right, a massive anvil-topped thunderhead. Above me, open sky.

I’m glad I didn’t have a camera, for I would have ruined the experience by trying to capture it.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)