Chasing the Black Cab - McCrady's

Unity Alley, Charleston, SC

British Black Cabs improve any scene and I'm amazed that they even fit in narrow Unity alley leading to McCrady's Restaurant. General Manager Andre' Guillet, has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve for the season including a special $35 menu and a combo Theater/Dinner package, but these musical evenings caught my eye. If I could sing myself I'd be dangerous.

SUNDAYS AT MCCRADY'S
Enjoy a three-course dinner, featuring musicians and vocalists. Seating begins at 6:00 p.m. in The Long Room. $45 per person

FEBRUARY 8, 15 & 22: SERENADE FOR MY SWEETHEART
An evening to celebrate life and loved ones. Vocalists will perform some of your favorite music from South Pacific, Romeo and Juliet, and more. Featuring Robbi Kenney (violin), Lisa Gray (harp) and Norbert Lewandowski (cello).

MARCH 15, 22 & 29: LULLABY OF BROADWAY
Enjoy Broadway favorites from 42nd Street, Anything Goes, Cabaret, Crazy For You, and more. Featuring a jazz trio and vocal ensemble.

APRIL 5, 19 & 26: APRIL IN PARIS
Featuring music from Moulin Rouge, An American in Paris and more!

Hmmm. Andre' is actually a Parisian in America but we'll let that pass.

Voting Day

Morris & King St., Charleston, SC

Vote for your color preference. I'll let the Board of Architectural Review know what we decided. ;)

I vote for "B", the dark shade to contrast nicely with the white windows.

Blogitea?

Charleston, SC

I admit I didn't take this one today but it fit the theme.

Tea party! Tea party! If a summer picnic for bloggers is called a Blognic, is a tea party a Blogitea?

There is a new tea shop in town, kids and we need to check it out. I made emergency contact with Uniquely Tea, Pat & Kathie and Kittens on the Keyboard. The last tea Pat and I drank together was in Edinburgh.

Join us if you can! Call the number and say you are with Joan Perry's group for Tea on Tuesday, 2/3 at 2:30 pm.

That's right. We are sneaking out of work early. Sssssh.

Proper afternoon tea is $26 (ouch) but I guarantee that will include enough wee tea sandwiches and scones to make a meal. All welcome. We won't make you drink tea with your pinkie out except perhaps for a picture.

Fuschia Tea Emporium
One Thirteen Church Street.

For ladies and gents so inclined to elements refined, you must take a peek at Fuschia bouTeaque. We'll serve you our tea, scones, salmon and soup, objet d'art to fulfill the loop. You'll be treated with grace. Alter your pace. We're much more than tea....Come - you'll see! By Patricia Merelo

Telephone 843-937-0502

Doesn't matter. Makes me smile.

College of Charleston Cistern, Charleston, SC

One of my favorite pastimes is looking at what search words people entered that landed them on my site. Sadly this is what folks they found when they looked for Brunch on King. A popular search seems to be for pictures of the College of Charleston so we'll feature one of those today. I could run the whole show by producing pictures of what people looked for but it would still be a day late. I want to run after them yelling, no! come back! I really do have what you were looking for!

Meanwhile, since I've gathered you together, I am going to share some of the nifty quotes that amplesanity finds to begin her entries.

"My mission is to kill time and time's to kill me in its turn. How comfortable one is among murderers." Emile M. Cioran

"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later." Mitch Hedberg

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." A. A. Milne

"Creative work only seems like a magic trick to people who don't understand that it's ultimately still work." Merlin Mann

"But what could one possibly do with that?" "Doesn't matter. Makes me smile."

No Hairstyles for Heathens

Christian Beauty Salon, Charleston, SC

Sorry kids, atheists are going to have to cut their own hair.

Every once and a while I am hit with a pang about something I lost on the old blog and one was a great collection hair salon names. Not to worry, the Name Your Salon generator blog comes up with a terrific list every time you refresh the page. Here are a few that made me snicker:

Top Shop
Hairapy
Head First
Hair I Am
Croppers
Hats Off
Head Shed
Ship Shape
Stranded
Fringes
Top Knot
Honeycombs
Shear Joy
Headlights
Hair in One
Lady Killers
Hairitage
Head Case
Hair'Say
Cut The Crap

A horse, of course

Pinckney St., Charleston, SC

Sooner or later you see everything on the streets of Charleston.

To go along with the horse theme I am borrowing a joke from oldhorsetailsnake:

Young Chuck in Montana bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. The next day came and the farmer arrived without the horse. He said, "Sorry, Son, but I have some bad news. The horse died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then, just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Well, then, just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, "What ya goin' to do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse."

Chuck said, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened with that dead horse?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off. I told 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998."

"Didn't anyone complain?" the farmer said.

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. I gave him his money back."

Chuck grew up and now works for the government. He's currently figuring out how to give us our money back.

The time has come........

Charleston, SC

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes-and ships-and sealing-wax-
Of cabbages-and kings-
And why the sea is boiling hot-
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

Lewis Carroll - 1872

Not sure why it fit but it does. He seems to be on the look out for ships, no? I love the person who had the sense of humor to put this fella on their roof.

You can't hurt brown sugar and butter...

Broad & East Bay St., Charleston, SC

I am not allowed to make pralines when I am alone. House rules. Some people can't drink alone but it's brown sugar, cream and butter I can't be trusted with. I had friends over before one of the comedy festival shows a few weeks ago so the rules were off. As long as I make them for other people and then eat the leftovers it's cool. If guests only eat two and I eat the rest of the batch it wasn't premeditated so it doesn't count.

Charleston Pralines
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
dash of salt
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Combine the sugar, whipping cream and water in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil - stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (236 degrees). Remove from heat, stir in butter, vanilla and salt. Beat with a lucky wooden spoon until mixture is creamy and begins to thicken. Stir in the pecans. Work quickly to drop by teaspoons on to a greased wax paper or foil. Cool. Scrape the pot. Lick the spoon. Yum.

If you toast the pecans for a few minutes in a warm oven it takes the chill off and makes it easier to mix them in with the candy.

If you don't have company coming over any time soon, Market St. Sweets has praline samples out and that helps. Sometimes a taste is all you need. It's on my regular walking route so I have to wear disguises. Hair up, hair down, french braid, ball cap. Stick on mustache. I don't want to appear greedy. My goodness! Free samples today?! Thank you! How kind.

The Distinguish Gentleman

The Distinguish Gentleman, 11 Cannon St., Charleston, SC

This barber shop delights me, probably because it is so carefully hand painted. Check out the cool vintage sign hanging above. The golf tee on the door is an indication of the general golf theme inside.

Wonder if they would trim my bangs? People start to notice that I've been doing it myself.

I am off to hunt and gather. More later.

Rambling Tuesdays

Bogard St., Charleston, SC

I'm feverish, congested, curled up in the corner of my couch and babbling to myself this evening.

The Trattoria Lucca may be a delicious and happy (noisy) treat for Bogard St. but couldn't they have given me the Patio Famous Tea Room sign when they renovated? It was a favorite thing on Bogard along with the little lady with the statue garden and Snookies Little Sweet Shop.

Waldo led me to Matt Alber. Wow.

According to a commenter (thank you) the cool piece of graffiti from Trapman St. wasn't written by an despondent artist in love but is a fragment of a Phish lyric. It isn't quite the same looking at the enlargement on my wall now.

I spoke your name for many days
Pronouncing it in several ways
And moving letters all around

And when you heard the end result
I told you it was not my fault

If you were here more of the day
It wouldn't twist around that way .

Repack your bags. There is no more smoking in Bhutan.

What language does your dog speak?

Okay. I'm going to take a little pre-bed nap now. Aaachoo. Y'all turn the lights out.

For real? I'm famous on the internet?

Byron, King St., Charleston, SC

For real? I'm famous on the internet?

Byron is my King St. toll. $1 usually allows me to pass freely and earns a hug into the bargain. On the odd occasion (no cash on hand) I've treated him to breakfast. Once and a while I grab a quick picture so he can be a participant in the exchange.

Byron asked what I did with my pictures so if you happen to see him on King St., and you will, tell him you saw him on the internet. And pay the toll.

Polaroid Film Saved

Magnolia Plantation Gardens, Charleston, SC

Artist Katherine Schneider tries to stay a step ahead of my camera with her canvas but I have the scene she is calling Garden Bridge in Winter as a Polaroid Image transfer done quite a few years ago. Not that that is much to boast about, since the sign on the bridge boasts that it is one of the world's most photographed scenes and has a live web cam.

It's been a while since I played with polaroid film emulsions and image transfers. I recently gave away all the equipment I had, but I was pleased to read this month that Polaroid Film is Saved!

If all goes to plan, the Polaroid factory in Enschede, Amsterdam, will soon be making film again thanks to its new owner, an eccentric Austrian artist and businessman named Florian Kaps. Mr Kaps, 39, has dedicated the past five years to instant photography. He set up Polanoid.net, the biggest Polaroid gallery on the web, and the first ever Polaroid-only art gallery in Vienna, called Polanoir.

Now he plans to save the film. "The project is more than a business plan; it's a fight against the idea that everything has to die when it doesn't create turnover," said Mr Kaps.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

Bethany Cemetery, Charleston, SC

This sweet little chapel is from a cemetery walk I took in the fog a couple of weekends ago at Bethany Cemetery on upper Meeting St.

For our Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance entry this week, I am borrowing this poem from Sun Pours Down Like Honey in honor of Robbie Burn's Day. My grandparents were Scottish so this is very familiar to me.

The Selkirk Grace
(attributed to Robert Burns)
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit

I hope everyone has had a good weekend. Now I am off to scramble to do all my chores in the last few hours of the weekend. In a few minutes I'll have the dishwasher running, the clothes washing, the dining room table cleared off and all my bills and paper work lined up to take care of while I watch "Big Love".

Tom Brokaw Gala

Beth Caldwell, Nichole Cassells, Stacey Dodd, Diane Story, Me

I've been asked for pictures from the Tom Brokaw gala so here we go! It turned out to be perfect being the Priest's date. I was able to run around, take pictures and everyone got a kick out of it. Every time someone asked where my date was I said he was probably off flirting with some other woman. Heh. I am kidding - Father Terry Fleming was a terrific dinner companion and I felt very lucky to be included. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The evening started with a special reception and opportunity for the high level donors to have their picture taken with the guest of honor in the Gucci store. I was alone, so I wandered in with all the invited couples, acting like I belonged (a camera is such a handy prop) and said I was by myself. Mr. Brokaw posed with me and said it could be our "prom picture".

I work with Councilman Tim Scott's mama so I am going to have to find out who this adorable gal is. Tom Brokaw was seated with Governor Sanford. The two ladies in matching dresses found each other and had a laugh knowing they both looked great and came to find me for a picture. I got to meet Shepard Fairey's mother (in the peach dress) and asked if they had his Obama poster framed on their wall (it's not framed but they do).

I adore Dr. Samuel Rosen and his wife had on the most beautiful vintage dress that had been her mother's. Besides my saintly date, I got to sit with Susan & John Kresse, Chris Kerrigan (Director of Trident United Way) and his wife and everyone's dearly beloved Dr. Angus Baker and his wife.

Since I generally pile my hair up in a clip it was pretty obvious that I had a special "do" for the occasion and that Sabriam at Whisper's on Wentworth had primped me and pumped at least two cans of hair spray on to hold a curl. We were lucky the camera flash didn't ignite my hair.

Much fun for a worthy cause and certainly an out of the ordinary event for me. I had a great time. The theme for the event was Casablanca and the folks from Stello Photography were the professional photographers for the evening. I appreciate their patience with me and I tried my hardest not to trip them while they did their job.

Playing with the big kids

Emma, Charleston, SC

I started out my walk this morning meeting sweet Emma at the Governor Thomas Bennett House gardens to see if we can't win her Miss Photogenic Hanahan High School for the third year in a row. What do you think? I didn't look like this when I was seventeen. I pity the boys at Hanahan High.

I'll be at the big shindig at the Charleston Place Hotel this evening, sneaking into the over booked event with camera flashes and batteries crammed in my coat pocket. Tom Brokaw is the guest speaker so it's quite a big deal. I shouldn't be there at all but I have an important date. One of the Directors thought I should attend and called to remind our Senior VP who happens to be a Catholic Priest that he had an extra ticket and that Joan should have it.

Yep. My date is a priest. The gals at Dillards were falling over laughing when I bought my dress and I am instructed to report back to make sure I haven't corrupted a man of the cloth.

I spoke your name for many days....

I spoke your name for many days, Trapman St., Charleston, SC

I had a chance to be featured in a publication once and in the initial interview I was asked what I was passionate about. I think I said, "Uuuuumm, finding a real good piece of sidewalk graffiti?"

Needless to say the interviewer probably scribbled, "This one is nuts," and that was the last I heard from them. Heheh.

See what I mean? Who would write this in wet cement? This one is a short story.

Watching the parade go by

Bicycle Rickshaw, King St., Charleston, SC

This Bike Taxi driver knew he wasn't going to get anywhere during the MLK parade so he leaned back and enjoyed the show passing by.

Oh, oh, oh.....go check out this Obama doll. The suit is a terrible fit but the likeness is amazing.

Bicycle Funny

George St., Charleston, SC

Here is a funny from a collection of Ten Best Bike Jokes:

A Nerd and His New Bike
A nerd was walking down the sidewalk one day when his friend, another nerd, rode up on an incredible shiny new bicycle.

The first nerd was stunned by his friend's sweet ride and asked, "WOW! Where did you get such a nice bike?"

The second nerd replied, "Well, yesterday I was walking home, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up to me on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, 'Take what you want!'"

The second nerd nodded approvingly, "Good choice. The clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

Y'all behave. I have to go hem an evening gown for a date with a priest on Saturday night. No one could make up my life story.

Guess Where?

Extinct Species Graveyard, Charleston, SC

Anyone recognize this lowcountry spot? I expect it will look familiar to local moms of small children.

The Presurfer led me to a page of photographers taking funny pictures of photographers

amplesanity said, "There's a new sheriff in town who speaks precisely and coherently, but I'm sure we'll adjust."

j-walk is talking about how to identify a Canadian again. Nope. Can't spot me. I can pass for native. I'm bilingual. I can say "eh" and "y'all" in the same sentence while sipping ice tea on ice skates.

Just kidding about the ice skating. I haven't tried that since I was 17.

Dr. Joe from the Book of Joe warns that the "ovaries may pull off and be a choking hazard" on your Plush Uterus toy. Don't you just hate it when you choke on your plush ovaries?

Where were you?

Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Women's Waiting Room, Charleston, SC

Where were you when Barack Obama was sworn in as President?

I was where I've been for most historical moments in my lifetime - gathered with friends in a hospital waiting room, pausing to help visitors find their doctors, watching proud parents go by with new babies, scurrying to find a wheelchair and directing a student to her mentor. We ate our sandwiches watching one of the most exciting events in my lifetime. What a happy day!