Houses in motion

This fantastic building is just across the street from the convention center in Denver. My friend Jenn pointed it out to me this weekend -- I'd never noticed this before, but it moves. I had to film it for you instead of taking a still picture, because you'd never be able to appreciate the tiles moving in the wind otherwise.

And on entirely different note, I'd like to give a shout out to my mom today: happy birthday Mama!

Use your change to create change

Colorado Springs city councilmember Jerry Heimlicher came up with this great idea (inspired by a similar program in Denver) a couple of years ago: instead of giving your spare change to panhandlers on the streets, put the money into one of these colorful parking meters. Yes, we have a homeless problem in Colorado Springs, especially downtown. If you spend any time downtown, chances are at some point you're going to get panhandled. The generous, idealistic part of you wants to give these poor people money, but the realist in you understands that if you do, it'll likely go to drugs or alcohol. If you put that money into one of these meters instead, it'll go to programs to help provide food, shelter and services to the homeless. I like that!

Soupe a l'oignon in Colorado Springs

I had lunch with my mom last Monday on the west side. The plan was to try out the new tapateria, but it turned out to be closed on Mondays. No problem, we hit our old standby La Baguette instead, where we both ordered the best French onion soup known to mankind. Lots of restaurants serve French onion soup, but none of them compare to La Baguette's. Heck I've even had it in Paris, and I still think La Bag's soup was better. Just look at the bubbling, cheesy, brothy goodness of it all! It's perfection, I tell you. I can't resist it!

I saw the sign

Or rather, signs. I was driving past Koscove Metal the other morning when this tangled pile of old street signs caught my eye. I had to stop everything, turn around, and go back to get a picture. Apparently Koscove takes care of the city's scrap metal. I recognize all these street names from the east side -- a lot of streets in 80918 must be getting new signs. I love random stuff like this. I almost looks like a deliberate art piece.

Italian soda goodness

One final image from our trip to Salida last week. The plan was skiing, loafing, exploring, maybe lolling around in the hot springs... but unfortunately our adventures were rudely interrupted by car trouble! Everything went pear-shaped directly after I took this picture of the raspberry Italian soda that Pat ordered at a local cafe. Sigh. At least it was delicious!

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The wrought iron railing at our hotel in Salida last Thursday cast a rhythmic shadow in the late afternoon sun.

The Collegiate Peaks

The mountain range near Salida and Buena Vista, about 100 miles from Colorado Springs, is called the Collegiate Peaks. Here's a view of one majestic peak through the windshield last Thursday. This photo doesn't really do it justice, but it gives you an inkling of just how gorgeous this part of the world is. Breathtaking!

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Just a picture of some birds that I caught loafing at the corner of Garden of the Gods and Centennial. Probably up to no good, eh.

The YWCA Building

I took this photo yesterday in the early evening, while on a photo shoot. It's the old YWCA Building on the corner of Kiowa and Nevada (130 E. Kiowa). According to this PDF walking tour of downtown Colorado Springs (on the map, click the number 16), it was built in 1912 and designed by Nicholas van den Arend, the same architect who designed our beautiful Van Briggle Pottery building. All that gorgeous tile you see on the facade is Van Briggle. Such a treasure! For many years now, a gay-friendly quasi-goth bar called the Underground has inhabited the bowels of this building. I'm certainly no stranger to the place; in fact the last time I visited there was on Halloween, to see an old friend. The Underground hasn't changed much in the years since I stopped frequenting it so often. I seriously considered renting studio/office space in the YWCA Building at one time. I spent an afternoon checking out all the available space there -- I'd never been anywhere above the Underground, so that was kind of fun. One really neat feature of the YWCA Building at the time (2005-ish) was the fact that it had an old-fashioned cage elevator, and an old-fashioned elevator operator to boot! The nicest elderly lady rode up and down in that thing all day long, asking you what floor you needed and cheerfully depositing you at your destination. There are four or five floors (that's a lot by Colorado Springs standards) and many, many offices in this cool old building. I wonder if the elevator operator still works there? It'd be a shame if she retired!

El Paso County buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_El_Paso_County,_Colorado

Interesting historical and architectural survey of downtown Colorado Springs: http://www.springsgov.com/plan/historic/documents/RPTCOSPfin.pdf

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Casting way, waaaaaaay back into the dark recesses of my memory, I dimly recall a lecture in my college Art History 101 course about the three different types of classic columns. This is an example of an Ionic column (as opposed to a Corinthian column, which is a bit flirtier I think, or the rather sober Doric -- see, I do remember my expensive education!). The curlicue section at the top is called the capital. These particular columns hold up the porch roof on the western facade of the McWilliams House, next to Grace Episcopal Church. When I took this photo last September, the McWilliams House was undergoing an extensive restoration. I wonder how far they've gotten? Are these columns still looking a bit shabby, or have they been restored to their former glory? I'll have to go back and take another picture very soon, I think!

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A street lamp next to a turn-of-the-century building in Old Colorado City. Twilight has always been my favorite time of day. The light is magical.

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The lantern above a side door at First Christian Church on Cascade and Platte leaves an interesting shadow in the late afternoon light.

Rhonda's house

Yesterday my good friend Rhonda loaned me her beautiful Victorian home for a boudoir photo shoot. Rhonda has an amazing gift for interior design. She's one of the few people I know who can get away with mixing Victorian furniture, a leopard-spotted rug, and Buddha. This is one of my test shots before the shoot started. Buddha looks very serene and happy in Rhonda's house :o)

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On Saturday I had a senior portrait shoot, which went pretty well until the snow starting really coming down! We're going to have to finish our shoot next weekend as a result. I liked the location we were using, a warehouse district not far from my studio. There was a bright blue door with shocking orange-red text on it. Just the sort of crusty location you want for your senior pictures -- very hip!

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The last few days we have seen some extremely frigid weather in Colorado. Truly bitter cold, as in subzero temps in the middle of the day. As I understand it we haven't seen such arctic temperatures since 1998. It was so cold the other night that a bunch of bananas sitting on my kitchen windowsill actually froze! And in other parts of the country, people have endured epic blizzard conditions and feet of snow. It's been a pretty rough winter for many of us. If you're starting to feel a bit down, here's a summery image I took a few months ago, to remind you that this too shall pass.

Poor Richard's Bookstore

Locally owned bookstores are hard to come by these days. Most of the time when you think of bookstores, places like Borders or Barnes & Noble come to mind, which is a pity because a place like Poor Richard's Bookstore is a real gem. There are two used bookstores downtown, this one and the Bargain Book Warehouse, and both of them have that homey feeling that you're never going to find at a big box store. It's amazing what you'll find when you burrow deep into the far reaches of the place. I have spent many happy hours at PR's Bookstore, and from where I'm sitting as I type this I can spot numerous books that I've purchased there over the years. It may not be a big box store, but after all these years the place is still going strong. I love that.

Rico's Coffee, Chocolate and Wine Bar

The name says it all! Do you like coffee? Do you like chocolate? Do you like wine? Rico's is the less funky, more urban-chic counterpart to Poor Richard's, and it's a great place to sit and sip a glass of wine or an espresso while enjoying some live music. Bring your laptop and hang out for a while! It's adjacent to Poor Richard's Bookstore too, so it's really tempting to just spend all day there indulging in all your weaknesses. The menu is excellent too (especially the carrot cake -- it's to DIE for). I love this place!

Little Richard's

The best toy store in town, bar none, is Little Richard's, next door to Poor Richard's Restaurant (see yesterday's post). It's chock full to the rafters with imaginative, interactive toys, and not a game console or Barbie doll is in sight. The toys they sell are designed to inspire children and develop their minds. If I had kids, I'd be spending all my money there!

Poor Richard's

I can't believe I haven't blogged in depth about Poor Richard's yet! Anyone who's a longtime Springs resident like me is probably very fond of this place. I first discovered PR's, as it's affectionately known, around 1983. It was a great place for a college student to hang out. Not only was it an eclectic, eco-friendly, funky restaurant/artspace serving healthy food, it was like your home away from home: you could spend entire days there reading, goofing off with your friends, or cutting class ;o) Poor Richard's was also a cinema at night, showing foreign and cult films that you couldn't see anywhere else. I saw some great punk films (like D.O.A., the Decline of Western Civilization, and Repo Man) during those years. I also got my fill of classic French and Italian cinema, and offerings by the likes of Hitchcock and other great filmmakers. Those were some good times.

Over the years Poor Richard's evolved and was even sold in the 90's, but it was eventually bought back by its original owner, Richard Skorman, who turned it into a family-friendly pizza restaurant. It still retains its funky, eclectic charm, it still serves the same favorites from the old days (my personal faves are the beans & rice and the nachos), and the walls are still covered with local art. The pizzas are actually healthy, if you can believe that, and the sandwiches and soups are wonderful. With the exception of adding pizza to the list, they haven't really changed their menu in years and I'm happy for that!

The great thing about Poor Richard's is that it isn't just a restaurant. Mr. Skorman added Poor Richard's Bookstore next door early in the game; then came a funky toy store called Little Richard's -- best place in town to buy trinkets for the kids (the non-battery-operated kind). The latest addition to the Poor Richard's complex is Rico's Coffee and Wine Bar, a hip place to grab a cappuccino and listen to some live acoustic music while enjoying a great menu. The wine list there is impressive and it's a very popular hangout any night of the week. As for me, I am still a devoted, regular customer of all of Mr. Skorman's establishments after all these years.

I think Poor Richard's and its companion businesses are a great example of home town entrepreneurship. Richard Skorman himself, besides being a successful and conscientious businessman, has also been very involved in city government for many years; he served on city council for quite a while, then was our vice mayor. He helped create TOPS, the Trails and Open Space fund, which buys land and ensures that it remains undeveloped (gasp!), so we Colorado Springs residents can enjoy the great outdoors. TOPS is one of the things that makes our city so wonderful.

I'm happy to report that Mr. Skorman has just announced that he'll be running for mayor in April. I know he already has huge support. The people of Colorado Springs love him. He's going to make a great mayor!

Theme day: fountains

Today's the first day of the month, and you know what that means: theme day! February's theme is fountains. Unfortunately January/February is not exactly the best time of year around here to capture a fountain at its best, unless you want to see one that's covered in snow. Don't get me wrong, a dusting of snow on a satisfactorily weathered fountain can be quite beautiful, but unfortunately I haven't seen a dusting of snow (or a satisfactorily weathered fountain for that matter) for weeks! We're having a VERY dry winter. So I dug through my archives and found this lovely picture, which I took in Vail last August when I was there to shoot a wedding. Enjoy! I hope it makes you think of nice warm summer days!

City Daily Photo bloggers all over the world are posting their theme day pictures today. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.