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General Palmer, our city's founder, astride his horse in the middle of the intersection of Nevada and Platte avenues. The institutional building behind him is Palmer High School. I snapped this photo on the last day of 2010. Can you tell it was freezing out?

Austin, Part 2

I wish we'd had more time to spend in Austin, because A) it seems like a really cool town; and B) my cousins, auntie and god daughter live there, and I adore them and never get to see enough of them. Sigh. I got a laugh out of this enormous, Texas-sized doughnut that they tried to serve us for breakfast before we left. No thanks, it's too big for me!

Austin, Part 1

After about four days in San Antonio, we zipped up to Austin for a whirlwind visit to my cousin's house. Here's the State Capitol on a VERY cold, clear night.

San Antonio, Part 6

On our last night in San Antonio we were treated to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra. The place is purposely very cheesy and touristy, and I loved every minute of it -- the decor is over the top! And there are wandering mariachi musicians who hop from table to table playing songs. They were great!

San Antonio, Part 5

A view of the River Walk, as seen from the 2nd floor of our hotel. I really like San Antonio's downtown.

San Antonio, Part 4

A little alleyway I discovered near our hotel on the River Walk. I think it services a restaurant, because the lady walking in the background is wearing an apron and holding a tray. What a nice place to work!

San Antonio, Part 3

The nearly full moon, captured from the River Walk around 11:30pm on January 18th.

San Antonio, Part 2

Image #2 from San Antonio: another shot from inside Schilo's, this one looking out a high window toward the parking garage next door. The "k" is part of a large sign that reads park.

San Antonio

My dear readers, I apologize for my long absence! I hate to be away from the blog for so long, but in this case I really was away -- I was in Texas! I took a few pictures for you. Here's the first one: the interior of an old deli and restaurant called Schilo's, in downtown San Antonio. More to come!

Another sign of the times

I went to the Citadel Mall with Pat yesterday for a bit of shopping. Haven't been there in ages -- it was pretty busy, actually, which is a good thing to see, especially in January! The last time I saw this little kiosk in the center of the mall, it was advertising homes for sale. It still is, actually, only now the word "foreclosures" features in bold text on the signage. Sigh. They say the economy is slowly recovering, and I can say that things are holding steady or even on the upswing for me personally, but little reminders like this one are still sobering.

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Yesterday's sunset, captured from the sidewalk in front of my studio.

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A photo I took south of downtown on August 28th while in the middle of a portrait shoot. I don't think this district has a name. It's right up next to the train tracks and there are a lot of old, industrial buildings like this one. Plenty of grime, texture and patina -- I like it!

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This photo was taken on July 31st, 2010. It was too cold (and I was too busy) to take a picture today, so I hope you enjoy the bright colors of these garments hanging from the facade of Everest Tibet last summer. Just looking at them makes me feel warmer.

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A view southward down Weber Street, in front of my studio. It was 16F degrees (-9 Celsius) outside when I took this picture at 3:18PM. That's downright balmy compared to the 8 degree temps when I drove home later in the evening. Brrrr!

Rubbish Gallery

The instantly recognizable doors of the Rubbish Gallery downtown, in the alleyway between Tejon and Cascade south of Bijou. I took this picture last summer and forgot to blog it. Unfortunately, since then the gallery lost its lease and ended up closing its doors in October. Big fat bummer :o(

The Satire Lounge

A couple of days ago Pat and I were in Denver running errands, and we met some friends for a quick dinner at Pete's Kitchen. Right next door to Pete's is the Satire Lounge, which is owned by Pete as well. The Satire has one of the coolest neon signs in all of Denver if you ask me!

Get Smart

I've been seeing more and more Smart Cars around here lately, like this cute yellow one that I spied the other day in the post office parking lot. Unfortunately they are far outnumbered by giant gas-guzzling SUVs, just like the array of vehicles in this picture. Sigh.

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A view of snowy railroad tracks running between some industrial buildings not far from my studio.

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The view across the street from yesterday's photo. The plume of steam in the background comes from the power plant.

The Warehouse

The Warehouse is a popular restaurant on the southwest edge of downtown. It's a really cool space -- I've shot a few weddings there, and the mellow old brick of the interior walls looks so good in pictures! I also appreciate the large, gallery-like space. I wonder what it was in its past life. It's the kind of building I've always dreamed of owning (imagine living and working in an old industrial space!), but someone else always follows through and actually does it while I sit here and daydream about it. Sigh.

A hot babe on a cold day

Yesterday was the first day of the year, and it was a cold one! I grabbed a camera and went for a drive, since New Year's Day is sort of an enforced day off for most people (even the self-employed like me). As I drove past Fillmore Liquors I noticed the bikini babe festooning the entrance. Since it was only about 20F degrees out (-7 Celsius), I thought that was pretty funny. I parked the car and waited for a suitably bundled up customer to enter or exit so I could get a snap of it. To tell you the truth, I think the cold affected my reflexes, because I didn't get a shot that I was truly happy with. I've decided to go back another day and try and get a better capture. Maybe next week!

Hello, 2011!

Happy New Year! Today's the first of the year, but it's also the first of the month, which means it's City Daily Photo theme day! This month's theme is, of course, Photo of the Year 2010. I had a hard time narrowing it down. In the end I chose 15 favorites from the images that I blogged last year. My absolute favorite is the one above, take in Cañon City on Easter. I like the silhouette of the dinosaur and the way the late afternoon sun flares through the sign behind him. I think there is just enough negative space in the image. It's well-balanced, has a nice rhythm and a dynamic diagonal composition. But mostly it makes me smile -- there's something very funny about a life-sized dinosaur, built by prison inmates, standing there watching the traffic go by while everyone ignores him!

The rest of my 2010 favorites are below, in chronological order by date. Most of them were taken in Colorado Springs or the surrounding area, one was taken near Vail, and three others were taken in California on vacation. Enjoy, and happy New Year!

City Daily Photo bloggers all over the world are posting their Theme Day pictures today! Click here to view thumbnails for all participants!