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My stepson, Jeremy Robbins, and his roommate, Brent Boeken will record the Jayhawk's progress in this year's NCAA tournament in a BIG way.

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It took them 5 hours to create their 13x7 foot bracket. In the process of repainting their house in northwest Lawrence, Brent suggested they put up a bracket on this wall before they finished the job. They were just getting ready to fill in the midwest regional teams as I took this photo.

I'm taking a long holiday weekend and calling it a vacation. Still I made an effort to find a subject for an IPS photo this week.

I failed.

There are some beautiful sights to see in Lawrence and I've spent a lot of time looking for them. The university campus is something I didn't appreciate until many years after I graduated. Old West Lawrence has too many beautiful structures to count, and east Lawrence has a character and diversity that I've come to appreciate. I even think downtown has it's charm, I've probably posted more photos of the back side of buildings on Mass than I have of the fronts. I'm not exactly sure the point I want to make there, it's just an interesting fact. Well, it's interesting to me, anyway.

Just in case you're wondering, I have been careful to limit the number of subjects form KU and West Lawrence. There are plenty of interesting and beautiful subjects in both places, but my goal has been to keep the subjects varied as well as interesting. I've tried to pick subjects all around town, near both my home and yours. Subjects that are historically significant, or an everyday visual treasure that you might have missed.

However, to borrow from Shakespeare:

I come to criticize Lawrence, not to praise it.

So this week, instead of a picture, you'll just get to listen to me whine. Up until now, I've tried to give the impression I'm a mild mannered, easy going, likable kind of guy. Don't know if I've succeeded, but this week I'm throwing caution to the wind and telling you what I really think.

Driving around Lawrence as much as I have, I like to think I've developed an appreciation for the subtle, yet unique, pockets of beauty and charm that are scattered around town. I'm sure I haven't found all of them, but the search is becoming more difficult.

As I drive around town looking for these bays of beauty, I sail an ocean of drabness and desolation. For every tree lined street there is a housing development with cracker box houses painted with "neutral" colors. For every park and statue there's an apartment complex spreading like gangrene across the city. And for every quaint shop downtown their is a strip mall with a bar and liquor store.

I don't so much mind the bars and liquor stores as I do the visual blight that the strip malls the inhabit spread across our landscape.

Now my house is not a cracker box.... well, I guess it kind of is. But it's not painted.... well, yes it is.

OK. I guess I really need a vacation so I'm going to spend a day or two, out in the woods, communing with nature, appreciating the beauty of country roads and unlandscaped (is that a word?) scenery.

So, can you dispute what I've said? Or will you admit that a left-brained computer nerd is more sensitive to the lack of taste, charm, and grace that torments this city?

(Yes, I know I'm laying it on a little thick, but don't stop me now, I'm on a roll).

I challenge you to dispute my pronouncement.

Make...

My...

Day!

After a quick Google search, I believe that I am at the cusp of bringing a new term into the common vernacular.

So far as I can tell or remember, I have not heard it used before. It does show up on the internet, but not in the context I mean it. You may discover differently.

Like all really good words, it has two different meanings. Even better, I believe you can tell what they are just by looking at it

So, for your etymological pleasure I give you the word:

smartastic

Perhaps there are even more meanings than I realize.

No, this was not something I dreamed up in the middle of the night. It came to me one evening when my wife and I were having a "philosophical discussion of our divergent viewpoints".

George Will's column this week struck a chord with me.

His column was about denim in particular and about how casually we all dress in general.

My interpretation from the many comments which expressed outrage is that he's struck a nerve. People don't express outrage over things that are obviously ridiculous. They express outrage when they're not certain and want to reassure themselves.

Am I the only one that notices that dress everywhere has become more casual? I don't mean everyday at the store, but at weddings, funerals, graduations...

When we go to a funeral, our dress is an expression of respect. Whether it be a funeral, wedding, or even an event such as a child's concert, dressing nicely indicates that it is an important event. By extension it tells those involved that they are important to us.

And if we dress causally, or shabbily, what does that say to them? That they are not worth the trouble?

It's really not the clothes, is it? It's the message we send by the choices we make.

Many will say that the clothes we wear don't matter. I will tell you, unequivocally, that that is absolute <insert strong epithet here>.

Several years ago-- well actually many years ago-- I was working as a computer system administrator for a moderately large company in Kansas City. I spent my days working with many different people, solving problems and coordinating between departments. Being able to gain the cooperation and assistance of those people whom I was charged with supporting was critical to my ability to do my job successfully and with a minimum of headaches.

It was about this time that casual Fridays became popular. OK, it was A LONG TIME AGO. But my point is that after a while casual Fridays expanded to casual Thursdays, and then Wednesdays....

It was a busy and challenging time in my (professional) life. Many days I wouldn't make it to my desk before I was hip deep in problems and broken systems I had to fix.

It occurred to me that if I dressed more professionally it might have an effect on my dealings with people every day. So, as an experiment, I started wearing slacks more and jeans less.

Let me be clear, even when I wore jeans they were nice jeans and I was more than presentable. I found, though that, without a doubt, I received more cooperation and faced fewer obstacles on those days that I dressed in slacks and a nice shirt.

Having said all this, I'll admit that even though I've been assimilated into management, I almost always wear jeans to work. I thought it was a techie thing, but now I'm not so sure.

Does anyone know if Penney's has any sales this week?