Don't take it out in public or they'll stick you

I got a little tour of the Salvation Army's big facility in Denver last week (see yesterday's post for more about that) -- and when we walked past a giant bin of donated shoes I had to stop and get a picture of these Converse.  I suspect they were previously owned by a college art major, because oh-so-long-ago I majored in art myself, and I had the requisite pair of Chuck Taylors just like these, only mine were red high tops.  And I doodled all over them, just like these.  Seeing this pair sure put a smile on my face.  I hope another art major snatches them up.  Some things never change :^)

I only just threw out my pair of old, doodled-on Chucks sometime in the last five years.  I hadn't worn them in a couple of decades, but they were such a great memento of good times (and I tended to think of them as a work of art), it was a heartbreaker to toss them! Alas, they were ratty beyond belief so they had to go.  Of course life is incomplete without Chucks -- I currently have a pair of brown low tops that are nice and comfy and broken in, and I wear them all the time.

Well, at least she's wearing shoes

I was in Denver on Wednesday afternoon, meeting with one of the Captains at the Salvation Army because I am going to be doing a shoot for them next week.  What a wonderful thing these people do.  I was so overwhelmed to learn of the enormous amount of help and support the Salvation Army gives to people who are in the grip of drugs and alcohol, getting them sober and following up with them in their sobriety -- all for free.  They give their clients job skills and life skills, moral support and spiritual support, so they can move into sober life well armed and ready to take care of themselves.  It was very moving to see, and I am very much looking forward to this shoot.

While I was there, the Captain was nice enough to give me a tour of the facility where they intake and sort donations from the public.  There was everything from appliances to jewelry to furniture to china to electronics to sporting goods to shoes... and especially clothing.  Enormous, mind-bogglingly tall bales upon bales of donated clothes.  In among all of this I spied this tiny doll on the floor.  She seemed so incongruous, I had to take a picture.  She was just so adorably funny in her birthday suit and black and pink shoes, holding up her hand as if to say, "Wait -- let me get some clothes on first!" Hilarious!  I'm sure someone will notice her soon enough and put her with the other dolls.  Hopefully they'll give her something to wear while they're at it!

BTW the title of today's post is a sly reference to Thursday's post. Did you get it? ;^)

COOL DRINKS HOT FOOD

This photo was taken just around the corner from yesterday's, in Denver.  I've noticed this groovy mid-century neon sign many times by night, but have always driven right past it during the day without even looking, until I snapped this picture through the windshield of Pat's truck.  For some reason I love it by day, when you can see all the weathering and patina from the years of harsh Colorado weather.  I also love how the Las Delicias sign was added beneath it, obviously years later (it looks very '90s to me, judging by the font), and how the two signs really do not match at all.  Do you think there will come a time when we consider the Las Delicias sign a classic?  Nah. I don't think so.

For more Skywatch Friday photos from bloggers worldwide, click HERE.

A very stylish girl

I was in Denver with Pat yesterday on business, and on the way out of town we stopped, as we usually do, at the Starbucks on Colorado Boulevard and Kentucky, and there I spied this fashionable young thing taking in the sun.  I had to ask her for a photo! She agreed, telling me that her name was Renée, and kept her eyes on her tablet as I snapped off a couple of frames.  Wow!  She reminded me of THIS song by Dmitri From Paris. [Click on the link and enjoy -- it's cheeky ;^)  You'll like it, I promise.]

Lately I've been a bit, well, disturbed about the people I'm seeing around me every day.  I know that we live in a casual world, but for the past couple of weeks I've been trying unsuccessfully to get a good shot of "pedestrians crossing" for the upcoming CDP Theme Day (April 1st) -- unsuccessful because everyone looks like crap, and it's a bummer.  Pretty much 90% of the people I see go way beyond "casual"; they are, to put it bluntly, slobs.  I don't even want to take their picture, lest my readers think that no one in Colorado Springs has any style to speak of.  Actually, what I've been seeing around me is worse than not having any style.  It's not having any self respect when you look that sloppy and don't even realize it.  This makes me sad.  I was at the post office the other day, waiting in line with about ten or twelve other people, and NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM looked like they had even bothered to comb their hair that day.  I'm not exaggerating.  Every single person in that post office looked downright wretched, with baggy and stained clothes, unkempt hair, scuffed shoes (or worse yet, slippers -- talk about lazy!), ratty hems on their jeans, and correspondingly glum expressions on their faces.  Whatever happened to style?  Heck, whatever happened to just combing your hair?!?  I'm talking about the very bare minimum of grooming here.  Nothing fancy, just combing your hair and wearing actual shoes instead of slippers when you go out in public.

That's why it was such a nice breath of fresh air to come across Miss Renée yesterday.  From the smart patent leather heels, to the Fendi chain baguette, to the chunky jewelry (nice watch/charm bracelet combo!) and belt, down to the slim little headband, here is a person who cares about her appearance.  She looked smashing!  I'm not saying you have to go down to Saks and drop $1000 on a purse, but it doesn't cost a dime to look in the mirror before you leave your house to make sure your hair is combed, your clothes aren't stained, and you look reasonably decent.

And oh, leave the slippers at home.  Please.

A golden facelift

While at the Denver Art Museum last Saturday, I captured this shot of Colorado's capitol building through a window.  As you can see, the capitol is currently getting a much-needed facelift.  Yes that's gold covering the dome, which is very appropriate since Colorado came of age during the Gold Rush (you know, "Pikes Peak or bust!" and all that).  If you're curious, you can read a very interesting article about the restoration here in the New York Times:  http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/us/gold-to-the-rescue-to-fix-denver-capitol-dome.html?_r=0

I'll try and remember to visit the capitol again after its restoration is completed, so I can take a picture of it for you :^)

(P.S. This photo's got plenty of sky in it, so I guess I'll call it a Skywatch Friday shot.  To see more Skywatch Friday shots from bloggers all over the world, click HERE.)

Crossing over the street

My brother Chuck and I spent last Saturday afternoon wandering around the Denver Art Museum. It's a good place to while away a chilly day. The new wing of the museum is across the street from the older structure. The only way to get from one to the other while inside the building is via this hallway that passes over 13th Street. Pretty cool.  By the way that's Chuck in the black leather jacket.  And I'm pretty sure that's Santa Claus in the background, just beyond the girl in the red shirt and grey sweater ;^)

Black, white and grey all over

Another image from the Denver Art Museum. My brother Chuck and I spent Saturday hanging out there. It's such a cool place. Check out this little sitting area. If you look closely, you'll see that those aren't random stripes on the walls, they're giant knives.

A day at the museum

I spent Saturday hanging out at the Denver Art Museum with my brother Chuck, checking out the Georgia O'Keefe show. I had never seen these particular pieces - kachinas, architectural drawings and New Mexican landscapes -  as she is more famous for her flower images.  I love the new wing of the Denver Art Museum. It's so modern and cool.  Everywhere you look are interesting angles and sightlines, like the staircase in today's photo.

A ride with a message

Pat and I found this Volvo in the parking lot of the Galileo School last week.  It's covered in hand-painted decorations and Biblical references.  I thought it was a fantastic piece of moving, functional art, so I took a picture.

A bunny thing happened on the way to the forum

Thursday was a beautiful, early spring day. Lots of sunshine, a little breeze.  Pat and I were hanging out downtown when were treated to this rather odd tableau across the street from us.  Very strange!  Four adults and a child with bunny costumes, and the girl with the pink leggings was photographing them. She walked them around the corner and set them up in various poses.  I had to wonder if she was an art student fulfilling a class assignment.  Or maybe it just had something to do with Easter.  No matter.  I wish I could see the pictures she shot, they looked pretty cool from where I was standing!

ETA 03/18/2013:  The day I posted this, apropos of nothing my brother Chuck randomly mentioned in conversation that his friend, artist Lorelei Beckstrom, is doing an art project with people dressed as bunnies.  We put two and two together and figured out pretty quickly that Lorelei is the person in these photos wearing the pink leggings.  She plans on making paintings of her photographs, and I for one can't wait to see them!

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A view down the table at Starbucks. This gentleman was so engrossed in his music (ear buds firmly implanted), he did not notice me taking his picture as he happily bopped his head to the beat.

What we think, we become

A photo to accompany yesterday's:  the opposite shop window at Everest Tibet Imports presents a far calmer tableau, with Buddha peacefully presiding over his little slice of Bijou Street.

A questionable sartorial choice

I couldn't help but notice these child-sized mannequins in the window of Everest Tibet Imports the other day.  The one on the left is wearing an especially fetching ensemble, don't you think?  I'm all for expressing your individuality, but... yikes!

Double take

Here's something you don't see often in Colorado Springs (especially parked in front of Poor Richards!) -- a Lamborghini Murcielago.  If you were to offer me a ride in this car, I wouldn't say no ;^)

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Sometimes trees look better with leaves, sometimes they look better without.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." Albert Einstein

"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." James E. Starrs

Winter blue

Even in winter, our skies are usually bright blue here in Colorado Springs.  To see more Skywatch Friday images from bloggers all over the world, click HERE.

Auto-retrato

A self portrait taken last weekend during a sunny break in the weather.

A tree with two lives

This old tree in Monument Valley Park has been given a second lease on life.  Although it obviously died long ago, it's been left in place as a "wildlife tree"; that is, a habitat and shelter for the little critters who call the park their home.

Whitewater on Monument Creek

Well, it's the closest thing we have to whitewater in Colorado Springs, anyway! We've had some snowy weather lately, and it's given humble little Monument Creek a bit of a boost.  I took this picture on Sunday while taking a walk through Monument Park with Pat.

A good day to recreate

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Colorado Springs, with a warm chinook wind, sunshine, and temperatures in the low sixties.  It was a nice respite from the cold and snowy weather we've had lately.  Pat and I went for a walk in Monument Valley Park in the late afternoon, where we found many other like-minded Colorado Springsians out walking, running and biking.

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Just another pretty sunset from the Garden of the Gods.

March Theme Day!

Well, February is already in our rearview mirrors, which means that March has arrived! The first of the month is Theme Day for City Daily Photo bloggers. This month's theme is café chairs.  You're a little hard pressed to find café chairs outdoors in chilly Colorado Springs at this time of the year, but I lucked upon these snowy specimens in front of Shuga's a couple of days ago.  Brrrrrr!  You're much better off taking your coffee indoors for now!

For more photos of café chairs from CDP bloggers all over the world, click HERE.