verklempt

out of the blue, an architect friend just sent me this image of the collection of readings I put together for our class  last century at GSU --- and a note: "y’all did something right, this sits on my desk as a reference - almost 20 years now"

rear window

winding down the dog days of summer

a decent day today --- especially with the cascade of defections from trumpistan --- we can hope for an end to our national nightmare ---







and excellent weather for august and so an excellent evening for checking out the atl bot gdn with robt ----

 

 

wasting space

in spite of waking up to this, i got stuff done today

words, words

military history isn't really my thing, but i liked the cover design --- ha --- a fairly important bit of scottish history that i knew virtually nothing about, and this was a quick easy read, especially if you sorta skim the movements of the various battle formations

it's one of those books, however, that is twice as long as the need to be

last evening

today --- look quick --- i'm liable to kill it anytime

five stars

urban histories are a favorite, and this one is really really good --- the chronology begins with abraham's building of the kaaba, with ishmael's assistance, ca 1812—1637 BCE --- the author does an amazing job weaving together the physical environment, religion and tradition, global politics, town planning, and architecture

unfortunately it appears that the saudis have destroyed virtually all of the historic city --- much as with the chinese communists who have destroyed nearly all of old beijing, the saudis' total disregard for cultural heritage is really shocking, but part and parcel of their view of islam  --- fundamentalists suck 

thinking about the sky and listening to the sirens

broken, but not destroyed

it's still impressive, even without its upper half --- one of a handful, or less, of really great trees along piedmont avenue --- there was a row of poplar behind our house when i was a kid, always the first thing to leaf out in the spring and first thing to yellow in the fall and i've loved them ever since --- liriodendron tulipfera, magnificent for its size, its age, and the way they hang on sometime  --- some of the best survivers are at joyce kilmer memorial forest near robbinsville nc ---

when in doubt, it never hurts to prune

it's not st louis

me and my holiday

i haven't felt worth a shit for a couple of weeks and today woke up with nausea like i haven't had much except in the run-up to the heart event after new orleans --- and feeling light-headed, ennervated, and what not --- martha to the airport anyway, zoomed thru security in 5 min, got to the gate, and a few minutes before boarding, chickened out and canceled the trip --- i have full physical already scheduled for next week, so i'll see what it shows up, and ask doc again about the efficacy of the pile of pills i take every day --- re. the hart, i thought that they fixed everything that needed fixing in december, which adds to my confusion

but i have my nitroglycerin, so i oughta just tough it out and go, i guess

bypassed

kaskaskia, illinois, was a big deal 200 years ago, but the river moved east, and although it's still in illinois, it's on the west side of the river --- since i'm going as far as ste genevieve anyway, i need to check it out, just for the flatness

triumph and tragedy

the miltoniopsis is reblooming for me! it's got a funky fragrance, but great, long-lasting blossoms

on the other hand, i guess i've killed the mad palm and the jade, although I haven't given up on them yet --- too much water from me and/or the weather

st louis!

another new american city for me --- and first time in missouri, too --- i remain sad that they tore down all of french st louis in the 1930s to create the gateway arch (1947), comparable to demolishing the entire french quarter in nola --- within a few months, new orleans passed landmark zoning legislation to protect and preserve the french quarter ---- anyhoo, st louis still has great architecture (louis sullivan!) and fine parks and cemeteries and what not all over

a day in st genevieve (ca 1740), a national historic landmark district 65 mi south of st louis, oughta rock my world --- too many historic structures to shake a stick at, and a lot of them 18th c --- plus a bit closer to new madrid and the ever-present chance of a major earthquake, as in 1811-12, which was right after the great comet freaked everybody out --- it would have been swell to have witnessed all of that

and i will finally see cahokia, the center of the mississippian culture (etowah, ocmulgee, etc) a thousand years ago, and site of largest earthen structure north of mexico --- a thousand years ago its population was as large as 40,000, twice that of london --- it's one of 23 UNESCO world heritage sites in the usa --- just piles of dirt now, but still . . .  i like piles of dirt

for whatever reason, travel has not appealed to me of late --- but john is still dead and dog is healed, and god knows i need the diversion, as it were, so imagoin --- like this week

i go out walking . ...

the last couple of days i've amped up my walking by leaving dog at home so i can really walk --- 3+ non-stop mi yesterday , 4 + mi today, which is not all that, but is better than i have been doing

dog days

i have been so loving the weather this summer, because i know how lucky we've been for several years now in avoiding the wicked hot weather everywhere else in the world ---

sliding through august

it's definitely still summer (although we have had many that were far worse), but not too early to dream of fall