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!

Happy MLK Day!

MLK Parade, King St., Charleston, SC

What a wonderful day! I am so pleased to have the day off and be part of the joyful energy surrounding the Martin Luther King Day parade this morning. It's kinda hard to focus a camera when your eyes are all teary. Sniff. I never really knew what the appropriate greeting was for MLK day but I do today, it's "Happy MLK Day!"

I'll upload more into this gallery later but I need to jump into action right now. In fact these pictures have been posted while the parade is still going on.

A room with a view

Harbor Grille, Charleston, SC

I am learning that when I walk into a place carrying an impressive camera people tend to assume I'm supposed to be there and welcome me in. Little do they know I am just curious and enjoy snooping around.

A lady who reads this blog from across the country emailed explaining that she was considering hosting an event at a Charleston restaurant and since I tend to eat out a lot (shut up) wondered if I had any opinion on the location.

The restaurant she was looking at happened to be where we had an early lowcountry blogging meet up - what was then the Toucan Reef. Here are a few more shots from that party. Lowcountry bloggers will find some familiar faces.

The restaurant is now reincarnated as the Harbor Grille but it still has the best waterfront view in town. Wow. The staff invited me in, gave me a large iced tea and encouraged me to snoop and take a few pictures. The manager explained that they mostly concentrate on private parties now but invited us to consider having another get together there.

Meanwhile, if the food is anywhere near as good as the view, I'd say it's the perfect place to hold a party.

Stephen Colbert Feels Like Dancing

This isn't exactly a "photo a day" but so much fun I think I'll be forgiven since Stephen Colbert is a native Charleston boy. As the folks at We Heart This say, Please to enjoy!

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

Crosstown, Charleston, SC

I include this building in our "Church Picture in Lieu of Attendance" series because the gentleman regularly maintains his religious themed mural on the building, touching it up as needed. Clearly visible to anyone crossing the Charleston peninsula I caught a bonus Charleston Black Cab in this view.

The text on the building reads, "Jesus is the only Fire Escape. No more water but by fire next time."

Faith bloggers seem to be one of the fastest growing group of bloggers. I got a kick out of this list of clues that you might be a Faith Blogger.

You might be a faith blogger if…

• if you sit in the back row of the church because that's where the wifi signal is the strongest
  
• if your sermons allow both comments and trackbacks
  
• if you tithe through a widget
  
• if you think committing the original sin is getting tempted by the latest Apple
  
• if you pray that God will allow you to upload your photo to the Lamb’s Book of Life
  
• if your prayers are less than 140 characters because thats all Twitter allows
  
• if you ever wonder why the domain of Satan doesn’t have its own URL
  
• if you think Jesus’ command to Peter to “Feed my sheep” was to allow RSS syndication
  
• if you think streams in the desert is a blog from Las Vegas
  
  . . . then you just might be a faith-blogger!

Look deep into my eyes.....

Comedy Festival, American Theater

I am fascinated by hypnotism shows. I have to go to them. It doesn't make any sense to me that these people are hearing exactly what I hear and yet are dropping like flies and doing whatever is suggested. I am always determined that I could not be hypnotized but love it that other people can.

This evening I had a couple of friends come over and we walked down to the American Theater to see Peter Gross do his Hypnotism show as part of the Comedy Festival. My friend Jeanette was determined to volunteer and got up on the stage but was dismissed. I suspect she fell immediately into too deep a sleep to be entertaining. There were a lot of young people in this particular audience and they were falling to sleep in the audience around us and joining in on the act from their seats.

I had my little pocket camera and it seemed okay to take a picture. In this scene they were told their shoes were cell phones and they were all carrying on conversations talking into their shoe. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Baby, it's cold outside.....

Tellis Pharmacy, King St., Charleston, SC

The glass door to Tellis Pharmacy on King St. was vandalized. The temporary plywood door has already been decorated.

The temperature is dropping fast and I still need to go out and wrap up my hibiscus. By the time I get back inside I might be able to add to Eric Zorn's collection of "How cold it it" jokes:

• It's so cold, we had to chop up the piano for firewood - it only gave us two cords.
  
• It's so cold that I actually feel like listening to Rush Limbaugh. That's how desperate I am for some hot air.
  
• It's so cold, a Chicago alderman was seen with his hands in his own pockets.
  
• It's so cold, my dog is stuck to the fire hydrant with his leg in the air.
  
• It's so cold, if you suck on an ice-cube it just gets bigger
  
• It's so cold people in court with traffic tickets were pleading guilty and beg for the electric chair!
  
• It's so cold I fell out of bed and my pajamas broke.
  
• It's so cold, Chuck Norris put on a jacket.
  

How cold is it where you are?

Art for Heart

Chef Sean Brock at the Art Institute, Heart Association benefit, Charleston, SC

I was leaving work after a late volunteer orientation session and stopped to help a poor lady who had fallen in front of the hospital when my friend Andre' called to say that McCrady's chef extraordinaire Sean Brock was cooking at the Heart Institute if I cared to stop by and take pictures.

Cool, I thought, I am into the Heart Association, and asked which hospital it was at. Between the chaos I was in and his accent it turned out to be the "Art" Institute rather than the "Heart" Institute. You can color me confused when I walked in to the Art Institute to find all the Heart Association gals I work with on a regular basis working the fundraising benefit. Do I have your heads spinning? Mine was.

Needless to say the action was in the kitchen and I've discovered I have a season pass - my camera. What fun. Sheesh. These folks were artists. I was amazed and stunned to learn I was welcome to lift forks right out of their hands to taste the delicious treats. Omigod. They had no idea I meant to warm up a leftover slice of pizza for dinner.

Charleston Daily Photo?

St. Philip St., Charleston, SC

Now that I am a member of the City Daily Photo group, one picture a day is posted on the City Daily Photo homepage. It's addicting clicking around to see what is happening today in cities all over the world. I thought I would throw a kink in the works with today's picture. Yep. This is Charleston, South Carolina. Here is a larger version.

I often stop by this abandoned building behind Memminger Elementary on St. Philip St. and take a picture of the neat old door and grumble about new smears of graffiti. I stepped in the yard automatically this time and as soon as I took the picture a security officer asked me what I thought I was doing. Oooops. I knew something was different with the Bata Shoe store sign. Turns out I was walking on to a movie set. It is already back to normal again.

Towed, Crushed & Melted

King St., Charleston, SC

When you are a Judge you can tell someone not to use your parking spot and mean it. This sign makes me smile because I am always scribbling notes to leave on cars that block my drive. I need sterner language.

I survived two days of leadership meetings only nodding off briefly during the South Carolina Hospital Association grassroots advocacy lecture right after lunch. Two days of sitting still in a chair earns me enough good girl points to order pizza.

Edit: Whoopsie. A reader in California read this post, knows Joe Mendelsohn and forwarded it to him. I just got an email inviting me to stop by on one of my walks and meet him. Maybe I'll ask where he gets his signs!

Eloping to Africa?

Two Meeting St. Inn, Charleston, SC

It's been a long day, kids but all is well. I was just going to toss a pretty picture at you while my grilled cheese sandwich is browning but I found this adorable story that I have to pass on it's merry internet way:

German Lovers - aged six and five try to elope to Africa:
It is a dream that has been shared by lovers across the centuries – the chance to elope to exotic lands. But few would have been as bold and spontaneous as six-year-old Mika and his five-year-old sweetheart Anna-Bell who, after mulling over their options in secret, packed their suitcases on New Year's Eve and set off from the German city of Hanover to tie the knot under the heat of the African sun.

The children left their homes at dawn while their unwitting parents were apparently sleeping, and took along Mika's seven-year-old sister, Anna-Lena, as a witness to the wedding.

Donning sunglasses, swimming armbands and dragging a pink blow-up lilo and suitcases on wheels packed with summer clothes, cuddly toys and a few provisions, they walked a kilometre up the road, boarded a tram to Hanover train station and got as far as the express train that would take them to the airport before a suspicious station guard alerted police.

"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Holger Jureczko, a police spokesman. He described Mika and Anna-Bell as "sweethearts" who had "decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Mika's sister".

Anna-Bell told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.'"

How adorable is that? The story ends with the police officer saying, "They'll have the chance to put their plan into action at a later date".

Maybe they can come to Charleston on their honeymoon. I understand the Inn in the picture is a romantic honeymoon destination.

Bedtime Funny

Spring St., Charleston, SC

I love this little barber shop. Maybe I should go to barber school. You'd trust me with sharp scissors up close wouldn't you?

Bedtime funny:

Better than a Flu Shot!
Miss Beatrice, the church organist, was in her eighties and had never been married. She was admired for her sweetness and kindness to all. One afternoon the pastor came to call on her and she showed him into her quaint sitting room. She invited him to have a seat while she prepared tea.

As he sat facing her old Hammond organ, the young minister noticed a cute glass bowl sitting on top of it. The bowl was filled with water, and in the water floated, of all things, a condom!

When she returned with tea and scones, they began to chat. The pastor tried to stifle his curiosity about the bowl of water and its strange floater, but soon it got the better of him and he could no longer resist.

'I wonder if you would tell me about this?' pointing to the bowl.

'Oh, yes,' she replied, 'Isn't it wonderful? I was walking through the park a few months ago and I found this little package on the ground. The directions said to place it on the organ, keep it wet and that it would prevent the spread of disease. Do you know I haven't had the flu all winter.'

Early to Bed

Poe's Tavern, Sullivans Island, SC

I met my friend Andre' for a bite to eat at Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island, and now I am suddenly very, very sleepy. No bedtime stories for you tonight.

It's time for folks living in the lowcounty to vote for Charleston City Paper's "Best of" Charleston awards. Click here to cast your ballot. You do need to vote in at least 35 categories to make your vote count. This is your chance to give your favorite places a little gift by nominating them.

Naturally Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital is the Best Place to have a Baby. We had thirty two babies in the Nursery the other day. Do they have bunk bed bassinets?

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Wise enough to be allowed to miss the next two days of leadership training meetings I am signed up for do ya think? Yawn. Don't stay up too late, kids.

Sunday Hodge Podge

mia Pomodori, Rutledge Ave., Charleston, SC

Teeny tiny Dave's Seafood Carryout is being transformed into a Pizza Restaurant after sitting vacant for months. I love it when places that seem to be abandoned are resurrected. Here is the contact info for mia Pomodori in case you want to give it a try or order me a gift certificate. Harhar. I have to keep up with all the new food options within my walking territory.

This gentleman has a beautiful Charleston flickr album.

My previous blogging platform Journalspace is no more and the domain has been auctioned off on eBay. Thousands of blogging refugees sold like cattle. Now we learn what really happened.

Local blogging buddy Chuck is the profiled feature in the Lowcountry Sun this month. I know famous people.

This is indeed the oddest and funniest etiquette book you will ever see. Don't tell anyone I sent you to it: Recently Deflowered Girl.

My kid was robbed. Did I tell you that? Arriving safely home in Portland she tucked all her belongings into the trunk of her boyfriend's car. Someone must have seen them stash the goods, broke a window and went in through the back seat to take her laptop, camera, backpack, everything she had brought back from Christmas in Charleston.

The other night my phone rang at 1:30 am and a lady asked if I knew anyone by my daughter's name. She was calling from MoJo's Restaurant in Vancouver, Washington. She had arrived home from holiday in Florida to find a bag tossed into her alleyway full of letters, mementos and pictures and found my name and address.

So, the kid lost everything with a dollar value but may have salvaged some of the sentimental items thanks to these honest people who took the trouble to track me down. If you live in Vancouver and are familiar with MoJo's please let them know how much I appreciate their kindness.

Clearly not ready for a Monday. G'night folks.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

St. Thomas Church, Cainhoy Rd.

I got into the habit of featuring a church picture each Sunday on my previous journal Walk this Way, and this is one of my favorites. I spotted it as a flash of white in the corner of my eye and found this abandoned church set back in the woods.

A lady in a house nearby had a key and let us take a peak inside. This structure was built in 1819 and is falling into sad ruin. She was desperate to get anyone's attention who might help fix it up. I've half thought of suggesting it as a Day of Caring project, even just to tidy up the churchyard. Think I could rally a team?

I hope everyone has had a good weekend.

She Sells Seashells

Botany Bay, SC

According to The State newspaper, Botany Bay leads led the 2008 list of best outdoor trips in South Carolina. Googling links for you makes me want to go back. I've never seen a beach with so many shells and someone had fun putting a sea shell on the top of each piece of driftwood all the way along the beach. More here so you can see what I mean. I was skipping from one to the next in delight.

Miss me yesterday? I was everywhere from Wadmalaw Island to a party for kids with cancer at Wild Dunes. I was supposed to meet pretty Emma early this morning to see if we could win her Miss Photogenic Hanahan High School for the third year in a row but it's been raining so far and I am enjoying being forced to be lazy with my tea and newspaper.

It sounds like it has stopped raining for now so I may walk down to Harris Teeter and pick up some blueberries for pancakes. It is the weekend after all.

Today's silly link is Freaky Face Painting from Book of Joe the world's best blogging Anesthesiologist.

Later, kids.

Looks like they built it. Again.

Pyramid Tomb, Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC

Charleston has a pyramid. Paris has a Statue of Liberty. Japan has an Eiffel Tower. Today's news claims that a gentleman in Atlanta is going to have to sell his replica of the White House and Filmmaker Ahsanullah Moni has built a life-size replica of the Taj Mahal in Bangladesh.

Shah Jahan thought he had taken care of the problem of someone copying the Taj Mahal by chopping off the hands of his top stone masons so they couldn't build another one. Do we still do that?

Let's Talk Baby Talk

Carson Anna Conrad, Charleston, SC

Do I have the best job in the world? I was asked to take a picture of this little sweetie pie. What a darling. I had to get this close just to sniff that fresh baby smell. She was born early and was snuggled up in a soft "bundle" that volunteers from Newborns in Need had made and the nurses wanted a picture to show them how it was being used. The model's mother happily agreed that I could share her picture with you.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it's comforting to know village matriarchs all over the country are busy knitting bonnets and booties and sewing up cozy "bundles" to send our babies home well loved.

I give a lot of hospital tours and end each one with a peak in the nursery. It's a great way to end the tour and in this case the day. G'night kids.

Slow Down, Humans Present

Vanderhorst & Coming St., Charleston, SC

I believe everyone has gotten over expecting my content to have anything to do with my pictures and this evening I am here to present the world's best sock monkey. Is that not the greatest thing ever? The gal's husband made him for her for Christmas. Coolness abounds.

I am dipping into my photo albums since I get to show my pictures in a larger format here. It's been a bit too dark by the time I do most of my walking to take many pictures and I have to be careful what work ones I use. Meanwhile, I have plenty of filler to last until the evenings are lighter.

Little Boxes, Painted Boxes.....

King St., Charleston, SC

It's wild and windy out there kids. Tighten your bonnets!

This is some crazy site.

Yesterday's article on the tragedy of graffiti by Robert Behre on our precious old buildings suggested that we might consider offering more authorized places for artists to express themselves like the boat on Folly Rd. Even I have painted it.

Snooping around these Daily Photo Blogs I found this grand idea for painted traffic signal boxes in Brisbane, Australia. I love it! Almost every intersection has one and they always have graffiti scrawled on them anyway. This would be a great idea. They have an application process and a book.

Naturally I will need to go to Australia to research the project.

Hearty, heart.

Morris St., Charleston, SC

I've been collecting pictures with hearts in them lately and now see hearts in everything. Odds are you have one. In a pinch I can add one. Romance is everywhere. I found this one on my sidewalk this weekend.

I have a gift for you today. Hunter S. Thompson Motivational Posters. Don't say I didn't give you anything for the New Year.

Snow Days, Snow Days

Gillon St., Charleston, SC

I've been clicking around the other sites on the City Daily Photo site and started to feel left out. Everyone has snow pictures. Beautiful snow covered trees, snow men, and dramatic icicles posted while I'm pulling off my jacket to keep from over heating while I walk and taking second showers. I remembered this shot from early blogging days taken with a little pocket camera. Yeah! A Charleston snow picture.

Don't look too closely or you will see the hose they used to spray the snow on to get this final shot.

Not that I am complaining.

Tugs. Gotta love 'em.

Charleston Harbor, Charleston, SC

Did you know you can join the Tugboat Enthusiast Society? Might be worth joining just for the membership card. A few years ago there was tug boat race with all the tugs lined up under the Cooper River bridge but I haven't heard of one since - and I have looked.

Here is a neato site with a collection of tug boat pictures.

This Nordic Tug would be my sweetie pie.

I survived my first day back at work and actually accomplished a few things. Don't worry about me going hungry, kids. I still have the most delicious leftovers from my weekend - green curry from Basil and Shepherd's Pie from La Fourchette. The Shepherd's Pie alone was enough to last me for three yummy meals.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, King St., Charleston, SC

I found your bonus Sunday joke on Belief.Net. Yes, they have a religious joke file.

Pagan Wives
Q: Why do pagan girls make the best wives?

A: Because they worship the ground you walk on.

I've been off for a deliciously long stretch but I still have to spend the last hour doing what I do each week, scrambling to pay bills, putting out trash, doing wash and figuring out if I have any clean socks to wear to work in the morning. Sob. Is the holiday really over?

Quick note of interest for the rest of the refugee bloggers looking for new homes after the crash of our blog site Journalspace - the Journalspace domain, where thousands of our blogs were hosted is currently on sale on eBay for $1,250.50.

Before & After Shots

Bethany Cemetery, Charleston, SC

Aging is tough. That is a picture of me before a skin treatment and this is after. Naturally there is a rough period when the therapy is working.

Heheh. I did what cemetery lovers do when they wake up to find on a foggy weekend morning and took my walk through Bethany Cemetery off upper Meeting St. The first is one of my favorite angel babes in Bethany. The "after" shot is from Middleton Plantation and the therapy shot is from the Garden Festival at Middleton.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I'll be back later with a Church Photo. I'm having a little trouble with the idea that reality hits in the morning.

Across the Drug Store Counter

Calhoun St, Charleston, SC

My pictures have nothing to do with content. More often than not they are from the day's walk. This one was taken over the churchyard fence.

I stopped on my walk yesterday to have a few photos printed out at one of the drug store's instant machines. The gal behind the counter looked at me wearily, clearly hoping I'd figure it out on my own. I did fine until the machine stopped printing the order halfway through and needed more paper. She sighed, got up and apologized for her slowness to respond.

I'm pregnant.

Ummm.....congratulations?

Nooooooooooooooooo. Uhuh. No.

We were alone, and over the next few minutes talked through her sudden shock of learning she was pregnant after having her tubes tied eight years ago, having a baby when you didn't want to, crippling postpartum depression, unwilling partners, tough times, abortions, adoption, taking the best care of an unborn child you didn't want, hoping you'd find a family who wanted a baby and would give it a good life.

By the time my pictures had spit out all over the floor we were holding each other across the photo register counter and trying to put a brave face on the fact that if she followed through with her inclination that day, it may well be the happiest day of an unknown couple's life. Sheesh. I'm tearing up just thinking of all she'll have to go through. Even in a country with choices life can be ever so tough can't it?

If you are so inclined, say a little prayer for drug store photo shop gals with hard decisions. I might slip my best wishes in an envelope with a dollar amount, stop back by and see if I can find her again.