summer monsoon

big ol storm rolled through and on its way, cooling things off for a walk through the park

almost done . . .

after almost a year of numbers marked on blue tape, i was shocked to find this at my door just now --- still missing the floor numbers in the elevator lobbies and some other misc signage

if i'm not mistaken, the project has taken three times longer than anticipated --- i hope the budget was more stable

la heure d'affluence

the cattleyan alliance

the spray on the right has been open nearly a month, the one on the left (with another on the way) for a week or so --- in addition to the visuals, they befragrance the room in a wonderful way ---- stage right, out of view, additional forces are marshalling ---- 

filling in the view

another alteration to my view-shed is emerging --- one of the two apartment towers for techies going up on spring street --- the second tower is across spring from the plaza midtown, and so will have no affect on my view-shed --- there's also the block across p'tree place from midtown marta station where another, not-necessarily-student apartment tower is in the works

color fix

it's a nice walk (abt 2.5 mi round trip) to and through atl bot gdn, even in sweatin' weather --- of course it's not entirely great aerobic exercise since you're always having to stop and smell a damn flower or whatever

and actually neither of these floral images are photo-shopped --- straight out of the not-an-i-phone --- either would make an excellent base-line for the production of plastic flowers

summer blooming

all in stone mountain

stone mountain

another vernacular georgia "excursion," this time to stone mountain (not the rock but the town) --- this little monument to 1864 (telegraph pole with wires cut, "sherman's neckties" twisted around the pole) would be swell but for the overwrought carved granite marker next to it ---

saw a nice pair of concrete houses from the 1860s and a small ruined hotel ---

learned too much about the cemetery

the old hotel rooms were used for storage by the department store that occupied the first floor until 1978 and artifacts remain from that era ---

disturbing

this bill board is always a little weird, but this iteration especially so . . . .

checking out the garden

an excellent evening at the garden --- the early rain kept a lot of people away, cooled things off, and it was a fine evening by 8 o'clock

rebuilding peachtree

wide open today ---

in addition to a bb&t branch bank, viewpoint is acquiring world of beer --- with the two new ga tech dorms going in down the hill on spring street, this part of midtown may be becoming ground zero for drunken college students making a mess of the sidewalks

finally something going into the failed lime-fresh space --- but it's some sort of eastern mediterranean, which will be redundant what with the best, cafe agora, already on p'tree place

all of that will not improve my quality of life here, but opening an ace hardware at juniper and sixth certainly will! the old midtown hardware store closed in the 1960s, replaced by the ace hdw at ansley mall, which itself closed a few years ago, replaced by cooks warehouse, all a fine metaphor for the neighborhood's changes over the last fifty years --- except for my damn doctor moving over on howell mill road, i can't think of which of my needs are not within three or four blocks 

local landmarks

i got to see another log house (c. 1840) in east cobb, the third one built by the same family that i've seen in east cobb --- plus across the river at morgan falls park, a fine stone chimney that was built by the pater familias c. 1830 ---

excepting the porches, the exterior of this one is mostly nineteenth century --- the interior has a lot of twentieth century features --- a great piece of work, but in poor condition ---

the best stringers i've seen --- one of two such on the house

1. unfortunately, a big ol limb from an oak tree took out the front porch and collapsed the main roof --- very little interior damage so maybe there's hope . 

onward and upward

from today's federal court ruling throwing out the same-sex marriage ban in indiana:

The court has never witnessed a phenomenon throughout the federal court system as is presented with this issue. In less than a year, every federal district court to consider the issue has reached the same conclusion in thoughtful and thorough opinions – laws prohibiting the celebration and recognition of same-sex marriages are unconstitutional. It is clear that the fundamental right to marry shall not be deprived to some individuals based solely on the person they choose to love. In time, Americans will look at the marriage of couples such as Plaintiffs, and refer to it simply as a marriage – not a same-sex marriage. These couples, when gender and sexual orientation are taken away, are in all respects like the family down the street. The Constitution demands that we treat them as such.

also today, the federal 10th circuit court of appeals, for the first time for a circuit court, upheld the district court's ruling last december that overturned utah's same-sex marriage ban ---

there hasn't been a single federal court ruling in favor of the homophobes

i envy the young'uns growing up in a world where they don't have to put up with all that shit --- the progress in the past decade is almost unbelievable, never mind the last forty years

historic preservation guerillas

note the signature on this: "the curators"

really fine fungal growth in front of the bank of america tower

my purties

a first time re-bloom for this little unit --- the cattleyan alliance knows how to do color and fragrance

enjoying the lawn

it is so much easier to get dog to pose when he's all hot and worn out

restoring a public space

i cannot remember exactly when they moved this piece, "sabine women," from in front of 100 colony square, but it hasn't been that long ago --- it has been stuck off down by the side of the building where it was barely visible (which is a better fate than what's happened to a lot of contemporary stuff )--- now someone has had the good sense to have it reinstalled in front of the building --- dorothy would be proud

surely they will be removing those dreadful light fixtures shortly --- it's a shame they buggered up campanile the way they did, or dorothy's piece would have a better backdrop than it does now

and an image from c. 1970, with the piece in place in front of the building