Chicago is a great town. Where else can you get a gently used pair of shoes provided free of charge just when your dogs get barking from following poor directions? The Chicago shoe fairies will know and will provide.
Spirit of America, the car that set the land speed record back in the day. Very cool.
Tiny Chicago during the tiny night.
Or maybe you'd like to see another street, or a better view during daylight?
A room in the miniature castle at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. So tiny, so intricate.
Our perfect little holiday tree - the right height, shape and smell.
I really enjoy trolling through antique stores and finding things of beauty and wonder. Look at those aged designs and packages. Great.
"Nose, nose, nose, nose!
And who gave thee that jolly red nose?
Sinament and Ginger, Nutmegs and Cloves,
And that gave me my jolly red nose."
-- Ravenscroft: Deuteromela, Song No. 7. 1 (1609.)
Or maybe just a micro LED flashlight up the ol' proboscis.
I've been doing a lot of house work lately and while removing a large nasty "cedar closet" from the basement I came across this note, under the floorboards, from Jeannie to Tony.
In case you can't make it out, it reads:
"Tony - I stopped in after work to see how your Dr. appt went -- did I do any permanent damage to your incision? I got the night off tomorrow (thurs) do you want to do something? (say yes, I HATE REJECTION!) I still got lots of Jamaican! The Miami Vice soundtrack is GREAT! See ya tomorrow. Love, Jeannie."
* for those who read my site regularly, yes, I wrote about this back in June, too. Redundancy!
These old metal wheels propped against the weathered wooden box were just sitting in the side yard of a house in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Probably just put there randomly, with no artistic intent, but I found them to be beautiful with the remnants of last year's leaves surrounding them.
Up on the south shore of Lake Superior in Wisconsin there are numerous "retired" fishing boats sitting around. The only way they'll ever see the water again would probably be as pieces of "driftwood" should a big storm ever come along.
Faith in the eternal soul or faith in man's mortality...?
This tombstone is located just a few blocks from my house. It shocked me upon first viewing, with a weird chill down my back, but then it amused me greatly. Somebody, I know not who, had a sense of humor.
Or maybe this is more your style.
Who the hell buys a giant old fiberglass "moose" (and for what purpose?) ... and then tries to sell it at a garage sale for $180?
Wait, though. Who also buys a giant fiberglass "mosquito" and does the same? And what was with the hundreds of pairs of old rental roller skates?
I seriously wonder what the mental justifications were...
"The poet knows himself only on the condition that things resound in him, and that in him, at a single awakening, they and he come forth together out of sleep."
- Jacques Maritain
Meghan, poet, asleep.
"The classes that wash most are those that work least."
- G.K. Chesterton
My grandmother, a farmer, had a washer much like this. When I was a young child I used to love help do laundry by feeding the wet clothes through the wringer and seeing them come out all flat on the other side. Then out to the clothesline where I wouldn't so much as help but mainly gather up horse-chestnuts from under the trees. I couldn't reach the line.
I have little idea what these gigantic tires are for, but I think my house would fit inside one of them.
Yes, when your rubber fails you, there's nothing like a monkey grip to save the day.
"The harder they pull away, the tighter the monkey grip."
Sorry we can't provide more "XXX" for you, back here in the employee smock area, as you didn't sign and date your request. Sincerely, Human Resources.
Imposing concrete columns in the dim light of a parking garage in downtown St. Paul. Follow the light...
A Twin Cities landmark next to the Hennepin Bridge. A local guy even made a font based on this sign.
Down on the Mississippi river, near St. Anthony Main, is a big water treatment plant. Imposing towers of metal quietly lord over the flowing river.
Tower stairs on the big water treatment plant down on the Mississippi river near St. Anthony Main.
A color treatment or filter (hopefully) adds to an image's effectiveness. This is a small experiment.
An experiment in viewing rooftops, lights, blinds, angles, etc. Added color treatment to image as well.
The angles and lines of this billboard near Snelling in St. Paul caught my fancy. Plus I was actually feeling happy after visiting the tax man.
Gotta keep the taggin' on the down-low in Edina. Like down below the sidewalk in a nook of the parking garage. It amuses me that somebody actually crawled into this small space to graffiti.
Some very large food product boxes in the window at Sister Fun in Uptown, Minneapolis. Mmmm, Jello. I quickly snapped the photo while driving past.
Tiny bubbles in a water glass from last night. Maybe this picture would make a nice desktop/background image.
Apparently the height warning plastered all over Uhaul trucks doesn't do much for those who lack height perception. Or maybe they just wanted a refrigerated truck...
Antique toys in a store in Spirit Lake, Iowa. I recall playing with Crazy Ikes and Pick Up Sticks and Cooties at my great aunt Blanche's house when I was a small child. I loved those toys. They were old then, I knew, so I was always very careful and I always had fun.
He's a cool dog, even if he has this horrible only-in-a-full-car anal leakage thing that could clear out an entire gymnasium with its odor.
Blue lights in a darkened room, some trip-hop playing on the hi-fi, unspoken fantasies flitting through my thoughts...
and a desktop version for irish-girl.
Personally, I don't much understand the average person's attraction to an establishment such as this (the giant phallic neon?), but then again I've been told I'm a musical snob. Still, the neon looks cool at night.
"Motorcycle Parking Only." It would be nice if this sign held true. I mean, it does for several months of the year, but the rest of the time, it serves as a high-snow marker.
