Astoria, Oregon ~ April 15, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Umbrella-mouth Gulper
London ~ February 20, 2010
Natural History Museum
I was so excited to find this critter swimming in the air behind glass. Partly I was excited because it's just weird, and partly because at the time I had one in my online store (see below). Note the teenie eyes up near the nose. This eel was about 18 inches long, I think.
This is the plastic gulper eel I had in the store. I've said it in past tense because, unfortunately, we don't have this guy around anymore. Like so many wonderful realistic toy animals, the manufacturer discontinued it. What can they have been thinking?
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
A Garden on a Mountaintop
Ravello, Italy ~ April 19, 2004
Garden of the Villa Cimbrone
Ravello was magical. I've posted photos of Ravello a number of times on this blog, including several from the belvedere at the end of this garden.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Someday I Will Go Inside
Paris ~ October 14, 2008
I love this building at 2 Rue Buffon near the southeast corner of the Jardin des Plantes. I've taken many pictures of the outside, including its very cool dinosaur sculpture and the critters attached to the outside of the building, but the doors have always been locked when I've been there. The inside of this building is the kind of thing I dream about. I can't imagine anyplace better. I should have been a paleontologist.
The early scientists are memorialized along with the animals. The name on the plaque in this photo is A. d'Orbigny. Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigney (1802-1857) traveled in South America and studied it's natural history and geology. He drew the first comprehensive map of the continent and is considered the father of stratigraphical paleontology, having noticed the importance played by the different layers in which fossils are found.
Update: I haven't been posting regularly. I've been feeling worse for a few days, but today I'm feeling better. I'm still topsy-turvey from the parathyroid disease and the surgeries in 2012. I'm beginning to figure out why my recovery may be so slow. Calcium is absolutely vital to the way the body works. It's not just about building strong bones and healthy teeth. It acts as a secondary messaging system for the endocrine system as well as a transmitter for the nervous system. Over the years my whole body had to adjust to higher calcium, then suddenly they threw it a curve-ball, removing the tumors that kept my calcium too high and causing it to go much lower. This looks perfect on paper, but everything has to adjust. Nobody explained the degree to which this could happen. I knew that the nervous system was affected, but I didn't realize until yesterday that calcium is also a transmitter for hormones, including thyroid and others. My thyroid TSH was at a pretty normal level before the first surgery and now it's quite high. I guess it takes a while to come back to normal. Meanwhile, life can be very uncomfortable. I was improving through January, and then February became very stressful and I got severe flu (or something). When I type too much I get inflammations, which is why I haven't been commenting, either. I'm doing better today, and trying to do everything right. Eating gobs of protein and taking lots of calcium helps, along with sleep and rest. I'm still figuring it out myself and with several Facebook groups, as my doctors have all been very uninformed on relevant points.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Monday, March 11, 2013
Rare Photo of Shakespeare's Fireplace
Stratford-upon-Avon ~ February 17, 2010
It's a nice old back plate and a cozy setting, but the real reason this may be a rare photo is because it's illegal. The moment after I took it, I was scolded and asked to put my camera away. We had just come in from the drizzly cold by the back door tourist entrance and entered the second building on the property where William Shakespeare was born. I guess somebody was worried that I could sell this picture for a lot of money. Or maybe they just wanted me to spend my pounds in the souvenir shop, which I did anyway. What do you think?
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Astoria Outside In
Astoria, Oregon ~ February 11, 2010
The surreal image is complete because we all know that orange cones belong outside on the street.
Taking part in Weekend Reflections
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Friday, March 8, 2013
Phantom Flyer
Portland International Airport (PDX) ~ February12, 2010
I thought up the title before I realized there were web sites and clubs with the name already. They mean something slightly different.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Heads or Tails?
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) ~ January 5, 2006
On the way to Panama. . . .
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Yellow Earth
Outside Bisbee, Arizona ~ December 28, 2004
It was hard to picture my grandparents living in this small, isolated town in the 1920s, but my grandfather had just left the Coast Guard and graduated from the Colorado School of Mines. He had gotten a degree in mining engineering, and Bisbee was all about mining.
They tried to raise two little boys here, but they soon left. One of the reasons my grandmother gave was that it was too hard on her chasing my dad and uncle up and down the hill that Bisbee was built on. I can imagine.
Bisbee, Arizona ~ December 28, 2004
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Friday, March 1, 2013
Violet with Spots
Tacoma, Washington ~ April 22, 2005
I don't know what this is. It's violet, it has spots. I think that's a good recommendation any day.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Belting, Powder, Hose, Rope, Blocks, Pitch, Tar, &c.
Sacramento, California ~ April 6, 2008
This branch of the San Francisco Cordage Agency is actually in Old Town Sacramento. I don't see any slick slogans, just list what you have, because people probably need it.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
From a Cafe
New York ~ May 6, 2009
MoMA
It's funny, I thought the obvious thing with this photo would be to crop out the odd pieces on the sides and bottom, but it killed the photo. Leaving them in made it less perfect, but more balanced or more interesting, or more something. This was an amazing day in NYC, with perfect spring weather and a long birthday walk from downtown up to Central Park.
Today I'm taking part in Weekend Reflections by James.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Friday, February 22, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Sometimes Even Ships Have Signs
Astoria, Oregon ~ January 27, 2012
The NYK Line's Neptune Leader passes downtown Astoria, giving people like me with a moderate zoom lens a good view of the pilot boat in action.
Today I'm taking part in Signs, Signs. Hop on over!
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Friday, February 8, 2013
Hello?
Italy ~ April 17, 2004
This was a surprise. I hadn't expected to see a ship's hull poking its nose over the rooftops like an eager dog as we continued our coastal drive from Rome to Naples.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Terracina's Temple of Jupiter
Terracina, Italy ~ April 17, 2004
The highway from Rome to Naples hits the beach at Terracina, which has its own roadside attraction in this huge rock cliff with the Roman Temple of Jupiter on top. I'm not sure we knew you could go up there, but I learned later that you can walk through it.
Here is a fuzzy, rainy close-up taken from the same spot as the first photo.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
This Place is a . . . What?
Somewhere between Rome and Naples ~ April 17, 2004
If you guessed it was a resort hotel in Cairo, you would be thinking along the same lines as I was, and we would both be wrong. It's a bank - at least the downstairs is. I loved seeing the occasional "came-out-of-nowhere" building, which usually also seemed to be sitting in the middle of nowhere, as well.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Monday, February 4, 2013
All Roads . . .
Leaving Rome ~ April 17, 2004
If all roads lead to Rome, then all roads also lead away from Rome. It seemed there were endless ways to get out of the city, and they were all confusing and jam-packed with traffic. I think I finally took this photo once we had cleared the madness and there was only one direction available. Time to breathe.
It's just a highway, and a dreary, rain-soaked one at that - or was it dreary? I realized that the trees looked different than I was used to at home. The buildings and even the cars looked different. The gas stations looked different. Everything looked different. This wasn't just another highway. This was Italy, and we were on an adventure.
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Here's what I mean about "all roads." I'm not sure which one we were on, but we were going approximately south.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Sunday, February 3, 2013
A Walk in the Park
Rome ~ April 17, 2004
Leaving Rome, we walked under dripping clouds past magnificent flowering trees and the pale blue Fontana del Peschiera in the Villa Borghese on the way to pick up our rental car. After a memorable few days and many sights seen, we were heading down the coast. My photos between here and Naples were, unfortunately, mainly of the drive-by type. But there were several interesting sights, and I'll try to post them over the next few days.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Monday, January 28, 2013
Lillywhites' Pink Window
London ~ February 19, 2010
I had two photos, one with this big lens in the way, and one missing the context.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Footbridge on the Cherwell
Oxford, England ~ February 19, 2010
The Cherwell joins the River Thames a few yards from here, but you would hardly recognize London's thoroughfare as it meanders small and lazy like the Cherwell past the playing fields of Oxford's Magdalen College.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Friday, January 25, 2013
More Windows, Oxford
Oxford, England ~ February 18, 2010
These lovely windows that seem to combine Gothic and Baroque (?) elements can be found near the corner of Merton and The High Street, although the main facade is on the other side of the building.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Bright Windows, Oxford
Oxford, England ~ February 18, 2010
It would be easy to do a magnificent series of windows and doors without leaving The High Street in Oxford. Much of the outstanding architecture in Oxford is either Gothic or Baroque.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Windows and Doors on the Via del Corso
Rome ~ April 13, 2004
Whether a building is pretentious or unassuming, its windows and doors give owners, architects, builders, or artisans, a canvas for self-expression. There is endless variety in windows and doors. I think that's why I love them.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Half-timbered Tudor
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England ~ February 17, 2010
Garrick Inn
Stratford-upon-Avon is known not only as the birthplace of William Shakespeare, but also for its remarkable half-timbered buildings. The Garrick Inn pub probably dates from the mid 1500s, depending on who you read.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Who's Real?
London, February 20, 2010
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
I admit, I loved Madame Tussaud's and could have gone through it a second time. The line took a staggering two hours, or close to that, and I remember the admission being pretty steep, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing figures from then and now. Some looked so real, others looked blatantly fake. For some reason I'm always startled to see that some of the most famous people are or were not very tall.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Rusty Hull, Syracuse Harbor
Syracuse (Siracusa), Sicily, Italy ~ April 27, 2004
Island of Ortygia
Like everything else we encountered on Ortygia in 2004, this boat had seen better days. Also like everything else, it seemed worthy of a photo. We are looking across the narrow harbor to the mainland of Syracuse.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Art Nouveau in Ortygia
Syracuse (Siracusa), Sicily, Italy ~ April 27, 2004
Island of Ortygia
I am always taken with Art Nouveau's graceful plant-like curves, and this discovery among the Baroque and Classical arches and columns of Ortygia was unexpected. Doesn't it look like just the place to settle in and write your own Alexandria Quartet? Like the rest of the island, this building had seen better days in 2004, but since then someone has replaced the boarded windows, and you can rent an "airy loft" for less than a stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Sicilian Plumed Horse
Syracuse (Siracusa), Sicily, Italy ~ April 27, 2004
Island of Ortygia
Sicily's colorful carts and plumed horses are famous. I wish I'd found a better background for this shot.
Today the horse was pulling a rubber-tired wagon filled with tourists. Earlier on this blog I showed a photo of a more traditional horse and cart, albeit a mural.
When my grandmother visited Sicily in 1911 with her parents and siblings, one of them wrote in a journal:
"We made it through customs without any trouble, and found the horses all dressed up with peacock feathers and pulling painted carts. The carts here were like boxes set up on high wheels, the boxes and wheels alike painted with figures of men, women, etc. in very bright colors. The horses wore tall red headdresses like dusters, and another 'duster' was fixed in the middle of their backs."
See the link above for a taste of what they might have seen.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Friday, January 11, 2013
Very Baroque
Syracuse (Siracusa), Sicily, Italy ~ April 27, 2004
Island of Ortygia
The Cathedral of Ortygia is very Baroque, and is dedicated to the Madonna.
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Piazza Archimede
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Syracuse (Siracusa), Sicily, Italy ~ April 27, 2004
Island of Ortygia
Taken by an animal motif as usual, I may not have known we had stumbled upon a piazza and fountain dedicated to the great scientist and mathematician Archimedes, who lived and died in Syracuse (287-212 or 211 BC).
My Web Page: tapirback.com
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
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