Joans Brothers

Cannon & Coming St., Charleston, SC

I have three cool brothers, no doubt, but I've been bewildered by the number of google hits searching for "Joans Brothers".

Does everyone else appreciate Bob, Roger and Jim the way my family does?

Then it dawned on me. They are bad spellers looking for the "Jonas Brothers".

The Voice from the Basement

Charleston, SC

I hope someone helped this person.

Water Bottle Fountain

College of Charleston, Coming St., Charleston, S.C.

Why just have a water fountain when you can have a water bottle fountain?

You know you are from Charleston if.......

Model A Club crossing the Cooper River Bridge, Charleston, S.C.

These are just a few of over 600 entries on the Facebook "You know you are from Charleston, S.C. if..........." site:

You know you are from Charleston, S.C. if....

The smell of a marsh makes you homesick.
You eat rice with every meal.
You don't understand cities that have to keep electing new mayors.
You've mowed your lawn on Christmas.
You've killed a cockroach with your bare hand.
Unless a cockroach is bigger than your hand, it's just a baby - no big deal.
The construction signs say "Let 'Em Work, Let 'Em Live"
You've seriously considered climbing on top of the Coburg Cow to take a picture.
It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy.
You get excited when you see a guy selling boiled peanuts out the back of a pickup.
You know not to pick up the orange "Half Rubbers with flags" that are found in the puddles on downtown streets.
People actually grow and eat okra.
You know exactly when high tide is - even if you don't own a boat.
You've driven over all the Cooper River Bridges.

Yours?

South 4 Life

South 4 Life, Charleston, S.C.

It's that short, sweet time of year. Valentine's candy is on clearance and Cadbury's mini Easter eggs are appearing on the shelf.

The Verbal Cartoonist.

Fun Bloopers from the printed press.

Cute link from Waldo Tiny Art Director chronicles a small child's reactions to her dad's drawings as if he was making a presentation to an ad agency. Start at the end and work up to the present. This really is a gem of a blog.

Before & After

Ashley Ave., Charleston, SC

I walk the same streets often enough to follow home repair progress. Nice paint choice on this Ashley & Montague house I thought.

My son is here trying to fix a nasty virus invasion on my PC. What a mess. I had to call in the big guns and make blueberry pancakes.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Puppy Power

Greenhill Rd, Charleston, SC

Altogether now, .......say "Aaawwwww!"

I couldn't resist. They were too darn cute. They were yapping at people on the sidewalk with the confidence that only having a cannon as backup can give a little dog

Horsing Around

Horsing around, Charleston, SC

The hospital nurses held an educational fair yesterday. To build enthusiasm and attendance at these programs they tend to choose a theme. The theme for yesterday's event was "Regulatory Roundup" and it gave everyone the freedom to get out of uniform and wear denim for a change. I had been reminded frequently to expect photo ops.

When I went to the classroom I was stunned to find that the Emergency Room Nurse Manager had access to a life sized horse model. Now we are talking photo op! I told everyone that I wanted the horse out of the classroom and in the lobby for a group shot with all the cowgirls. The funniest pictures were all of them hoisting up the horse and carrying him. Perfect.

If you have to sick, it doesn't look like such a bad place does it? I've had pet therapy dogs before but this is my first horse.

Broad St.

Broad St., Charleston, SC

I have a design link for you this evening. notcot: ideas.aesthetics.amusement. Cool stuff.

The end of February. How did this happen?

Don't stop. Keep on going.

Hollywood, SC

"Don’t stop. Keep right on going. Hitch up your trailer and go to Canada or down to Old Mexico. Head for Europe, if you can afford it, or go to the Mardi Gras. Go someplace you’ve heard about, where you can fish or hunt or collect rocks or just look up at the sky. Find out what’s at the end of some country road. Go see what’s over the next hill, and the one after that, and the one after that."
Wally Byam.

I love looking at the wacky old pictures of caravans of Airstreams traveling around the world. There are incredible scenes of them in France, India and in front of the pyramids in Egypt in 1958. What a sight that must have been.

Busy Wednesdays

Charleston, SC

I'll be very upset if anyone every tries to fix this door.

Speaking of fixing doors, I've been very grateful to have a good handyman helping me out with a few things around the property lately. He recently suggested that he might spruce up my garage doors. Huh?, Huh?, Huh?, Huh? What do you think? Shall I paint them gray? It's been my only chance to boast about how many people have been in my bed.

I went to Pecha Kucha this evening at the American Theater. It was one of those events where suspense was built by not announcing the location until a couple of days ago. Creative types had a few minutes to present their projects and ideas. The evening moved along very quickly, the place was packed and we were left wanting more. They could have kept talking all night as far as I was concerned. It was terribly exciting hearing directly from these talented creative people.

Okay, okay. I added the little "follow this blog" feature. I've been trying to keep things streamlined without adding all the little widgets but a couple of folks have asked for it so I'll give it a spin.

G'night kids. It's been a very long day.

Tuesday Funny

Family Barber Shop, Spring St., Charleston, SC

Tuesday Funny
A man decides to take the opportunity while his wife is away to paint the toilet seat. The wife comes home sooner than expected, sits, and gets the seat stuck to her rear. She is understandably distraught about this and asks her husband to drive her to the doctor.

She puts on a large overcoat so as to cover the stuck seat, and they go. When they get to the doctor's, the man lifts his wife's coat to show their predicament. The man asks, "Doctor, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"Well, yes," the doctor replies, "but never framed."

Walking Quote

Charleston, SC

Blossoms are sneaking out here and there. Keep your eyes open.

Once a year I drag out my favorite walking quote for you:

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. Soren Kierkegaard

Good Stuff

Wentworth Mansion, Charleston, SC

My entries have nothing to do with my pictures. So there.

Check out this sweet story I found on MissCellania about construction workers at a children's cancer hospital in Boston who delighted the kids by spraying their names on the construction beams:

It has become a beloved ritual at Dana-Farber: Every day, children who come to the clinic write their names on sheets of paper and tape them to the windows of the walkway for ironworkers to see. And, every day, the ironworkers paint the names onto I-beams and hoist them into place as they add floors to the new 14-story Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.

Cheap Sleeps

NotSoHostel, Spring St., Charleston, SC

I've been walking Canon and Spring St. lately. This might be the solution if you aren't ready to pay the high cost of hotels on the Charleston peninsula.

NotSoHostel
The NotSoHostel is a basic but homey little compound of 19th-century homes and valuable parking spaces off busy Spring Street. Private rooms with shared baths start at $60 a night, and if you don’t mind risking snoring neighbors, you can bed down in a bunk room for $21. The hostel offers bike rentals (highly recommended for exploring downtown nooks and crannies), linens, Wi-Fi and full kitchen with a cook-your-own waffle breakfast.

Then, just because I am in a bouncy good mood here is your quote of the day:

Some people are like slinkies; not really good for anything but they really bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

I know. Terrible. But it goes so nicely with this cute little video from Fuzzco, Everyone loves a Slinky Dancer. Coolness!

Remember what you saw....

Cumberland St., Charleston, SC

Remember what you saw and what you heard...

Advice for tourists or for life? Sooner or later I find everything in the pavement.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

Second Presbyterian, Charleston, SC

Surrounded by so many trees, the Second Presbyterian Church is a tricky one to get a good picture of. I grabbed this shot just before I climbed back down the ladder from the roof of the Marion Square Embassy Suites Hotel a few weeks ago.

Not exactly a church picture but I thought you might enjoy this Buddhist temple made entirely out of empty beer bottles.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend. I am watching the Oscars, eating oranges and getting ready to pay my bills.

Chasing the Black Cab - The Citadel

The Citadel, Charleston, SC

I've been introducing my favorite Frenchman to some of my best Charleston spots on our walks. Last Saturday I showed him Charleston's own odd little piece of the Netherlands at the windmill on Plymouth Rd. in Riverland Terrace. Today we walked through Hampton Park, around the Citadel campus, peaked in the beautiful Summerall Chapel and stopped for lunch at Hominy Grill, all before he headed in for a full day of work.

I am the most boring person in restaurants. As soon as I find my favorite item on the menu I never order anything else. At Hominy Grill it is the eggplant, goat cheese and red pepper sandwich. I haven't eaten there for well over a year but my tasty little darling was just as good as I remembered. Yum. I could do a directory of my ONE chosen item at each restaurant I go to.

My friend Andre' has a new blog and is the General Manager at McCrady's, one of Charleston's top restaurants. Stop by and say hello at Out of the Kitchen.

What should be next on his lowcountry tour?

Garage on Spring

Spring St., Charleston, SC

I am a softie for hand painted signs and like the fading colors of this garage on Spring St.

SCIWay finds some of the neatest SC pictures and included my recent one of the mattress swing on Edisto Island. They tracked down the fun story to go with it!

Back later kids.

Little Shop of Colors

Spring St., Charleston, SC

I like this colorful little shop, you know I do, but it does make it odd/funny to remember that I had to have the exact shade of blue that I painted my house voted on and approved. I especially enjoy the way the number 33 in the eyeball looks like streaks of black blood.

A friend brought me a $25 gift certificate to the Terrace Theater today to thank me for pictures I took of her daughter. It was the perfect gift and made me finally get out of work in time to get to my Friday matinee and saw the Frost Nixon movie. Now my weekend can begin. What do y'all have up your sleeve for the weekend?