gussying up ponce

somebody is redeveloping the little run of storefronts on ponce east of grace methodist --- the re-design could be a whole lot worse

clearing skies

brilliant sunset and clear sunset tonight, after the tail end of winter storm magnus brought us a lot of rain and tornadoes in north georgia

skara brae

this is a place i would really love to see, along with some others

flickr/chatirygirl

Located on the main island of Orkney, Skara Brae is one of the best preserved Stone Age villages in Europe. It was covered for hundreds of years by a sand dune until a great storm exposed the site in 1850. The stone walls are relatively well preserved because the dwellings were filled by sand almost immediately after the site was abandoned. Because there were no trees on the island, furniture had to be made of stone and thus also survived. Skara Brae was occupied from roughly 3180 BC–2500 BC. After the climate changed, becoming much colder and wetter, the settlement was abandoned by its inhabitants.

big weather

i'm purty sure we're gonna get a storm today

lost souls

fundamentalists of all sorts are the bane of mankind

false spring

clouds rolling in but a nice viewshed this evening ---

lost atlanner

the silver grill (not to be confused with the silver skillet on 14th st.) opened in 1945 and was a landmark for over 60 years --- family owned and operated, kevin was a third generation behind the counter, chatting it up with the customers --- the building wasn't much to look at, except for the neon, and although it was renovated occasionally, it was never enlarged --- great cholesterol-ridden breakfasts, meat-and-three, the best fried chicken in the universe

and dear peg, who knew all her gay boys by name --- and wasn't askeered to serve them when they started dying in the fearful early days of the plague ---











and its all being replaced by faux mexican out of peachtree city and newnan!

mid-winter skies

below 50 degrees and there are not a lot of people in the park --- quince and helleborus blooming

common sense

alligators are very numerous here but not very mischievous; however on their account swimming is less practis'd here than in the northern provinces.

 from hugh meredith, "an account of the cape fear country," 1731

full moon on peachtree

a dog's life

will there be ice tomorrow?

the new poors

from the wall street journal

luziana ass-holery

i should start keeping a list of the unbelievably ass-holish things that republicans do to save a few fukn dollars --- maybe private donors will fill in the gap and maybe they won't, but what a shameful way to treat the poor and the elderly ---

If you're poor, terminally ill, and live in Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal has decided . . . most Medicaid patients will no longer receive hospice care as of Feb. 1 in that state. . . . The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals say the elimination of hospice care for medicaid patients will mean nearly $3.3 million in savings this year alone. In 2014, it'll mean $8.3 million in savings.

meanwhile he is refusing the medicaid expansion that is part of obamacare, making this all the more despicable

hail to the chief!

i have lived a full and rich life having heard the president of these united states invoke stonewall and state:

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. For if we are truly created equal, than surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

 makes me real glad to be an american

sunset glow

ninth street

this is the most obnoxious new construction in residential midtown --- two tear downs, sprawled over a double lot

winter color in midtown

loropetalum chinense

camellia sasanqua

juniperus communis

camellia japonica

purty sunsets are back

winter storm iago

3" of snow in jackson, mississippi, but nuttin here but rain, which is ok since lake lanier has risen a foot in the last few days

a poem for sunday

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then—in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life—was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent or the fountain,
From the red cliff or the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed my flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view. 

edgar allan poe

thnx to andrewsullivan

balmy night on the balcony

70° in january!

 camellias, helleborus, and mahonia are all blooming --- it won't last long

wasting midtown

midtown won't ever come together as long as dewberry owns an entire block at its heart and won't do anything with it --- except create a "pocket park" at p'tree and 10th, for which he will probably take a  big fat tax break --- what a waste

gussying up juniper

Juniper Street from 14th Street to Ponce de Leon Avenue – Embracing the principles of Greenprint Midtown, this project proposes a one-way southbound cycle track (barrier separated bike lane) along with new sidewalks, trees, high efficiency street lighting, permanent on-street parking and green stormwater infrastructure. This project was awarded a $3.4 million construction grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Piedmont Avenue – Functionally linked to Juniper as its complementary one-way pair, Piedmont Avenue between 14thStreet and Ponce de Leon Avenue is envisioned to include a one-way northbound cycle track (buffered bike lane) as well as installation of permanent on-street parking in key locations.\

thnx for the tip, sara

great structures

the 1200-yr-old great eastern temple at nara, japan, the largest wooden building in the world until 1998, when a big-ass wooden stadium was built ---

more great buddhist temples here, including this one in lhasa ---

it's not a buddhist temple, but anyway the current champion for wood-framed structures is the metropol parasol in seville

it doesn't get old

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. keats

demolishing sixth street

soon there will be nothing left of early twentieth-century midtown --- now its the ruins of sixth street, a bunch of early twentieth century buildings that had all been remodeled at least one time too many --- sixth street will change, losing the little narrowing of the street at the lot line mid-block --- midtown is determined to demolish its way to the future