what about the plastic animals?

New Seattle Sidewalk Art

My first order of business after arriving in Seattle was to walk the half-mile from my hotel to the flagship REI store (hotel concierge "but you'll need a taxi to get there.") to return a pair of hiking pants for a friend of mine. Mission accomplished I took a leisurely, roundabout, walk back to the hotel. It was sunny and sixty degrees, how could I pass up the nice weather? I came upon this tile mosaic, of what appear to be old photographs of buildings on the street, a few blocks from REI. The mosaic had just been installed in the sidewalk. The cement was still wet and the guy who installed it was loading up his truck (hence my initials aren't in the sidewalk). In my imagination I think he was impressed that someone stopped to take a photo before the cement had a chance to dry.

Seattle's Portentous Parking Garages

Two parking garages in downtown Seattle:

For those of you who might be squinting, the sign in the background does say "Bean me up Deli".

Luckily, lawful trespassing was allowed and I was able to take this picture.

Seattle Skyline

Space Needle

Looking west from my room at sunrise.

Purple sunset after it had been raining all day

Another view from the room. This one after sunset.

Seahawks stadium and Safeco field with Mount Rainier in the background at sunrise from Pike Place Market.

I was attending a conference in Seattle for the past week. While I was inside the convention center most of the time, I did manage to get outside once in a while and look at the sky. These photos are in rough chronological order from the sunny first couple of days to the rainy last few days.

On an unrelated note, my birthday is two weeks from today. Please plan accordingly.

Sprouting in Seattle

I returned from Seattle this evening. This photo from the Pike Place Market is oddly symbolic of the trip. More photos later.

Elaborate vent pipe

Elaborate pipe coming out of a school on, I think, Bedford St.

Yes, I'm reaching the bottom of the barrel on these photos. I'm flying back to New York tomorrow with pictures from Seattle.

All's Quiet at York Street

From one end of the subway station...

...to the other.

Happy Valentine's Day

Listen

Narrowest House in the Village

I was a total tourist on Sunday and went down to Bedford Street to take a picture of this, the narrowest house in Greenwich Village and all of New York. The house at 75 1/2 Bedford is 9.5 feet wide and was built in 1873. Before the house was built the space was used as an alley for carriages. The poet and playwright. Edna St. Vincent Millay lived here in 1923 when she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and founded the Cherry Lane Theater. Cary Grant and John Barrymore, Drew's grandfather, also lived here. The house to the right claims to be the oldest in the village (built in 1799). A couple of blocks to the left is the home of a semi-famous soon-to-be ex-New Yorker. Around the corner is St. Luke's-in-the-Fields Church, where Clement Clark Moore wrote "'Twas the night before Christmas" for his children. Article about the house in the Washington Square News.

Smothered Pork at Amy Ruth's

The smothered pork at Amy Ruth's is really good! While Greg was in class this evening I accompanied Michelle to an informational seminar on a couple of apartment buildings that are to be built across Lenox from my place. We ate at Amy Ruth's afterwards. Now, I've been to Amy Ruth's about ten times; always getting fried chicken. This time I decided I needed to try something different -smothered pork. The two breaded pork chops smothered in gravy were delicious, in a protein and fat kind of way.

Okay, now I really need to start packing for Seattle.

Public Shelter

Anybody out there know how old this public shelter sign might be? It is certainly older than the fallout shelter signs of the late-1950s/early-1960s. Is it from the Second World War? If anyone knows let me know.

The sign doesn't quite look like this. It took a bit of tweaking with photoshop elements to brighten it up.

I see the sign every morning as I walk along 116th St. It is attached to the Graham Court Apartments at 116th and Adam Clayton Powell. Graham Court was commissioned by William Waldorf Astor, and opened as Harlem's most luxurious apartment building in 1901. The architects, Clinton and Russell, later built the Apthorp Apartments on the Upper West Side. The building has had its ups and downs through the years. I've read that the actor Danny Glover has an apartment here. The building was the setting for the crack factory in the movie "New Jack City".

I'm off to Seattle for a week. If you're at the AAAS meeting look me up. While not at the conference, I plan on making a pilgrimage to Archie McPhee and a visit to the Experience Music Project. I suspect I shall be visiting the Pike Place Market every morning. I won't have a chance to post any photos, but I have a couple of entries lined up and will check in every day or two.