Blackbirds in Tree

I took this pic at the Southwest School of Art and Craft when Thien and I were over there for lunch yesterday. The children's nursey rhyme about blackbirds baked in a pie kept going through my head the rest of the day.

CSPAN's Book TV Bus

The San Antonio Public Library hosted CSPAN's Book TV Bus today at the Central Library. It was also supposed to make an appearance at Guerra Library, but had to cancel due to technical problems (the production lab being on the fritz). I was too chicken to go inside, but Thien was nice enough to do a drive by on the way back from lunch so I could get a pic.

Sunday Work

It's a beautiful day today. Blue skies and about 67 degrees. That's quite a change from the past week or two. Came in to work for a few hours. This is the view (not from my office) from 4th floor offices facing north. I like the looks of the church against the sky.

Control Valve

I've been trying to be better and taking the stairs more. I hadn't never really noticed this before, but on this day I happened to have my camera handy, and this struck me as funny, so I snapped away. I was thinking to myself as I chuckled, "I think we all need one of these."

Arctic Blast SA

Technically taken in SA as we were driving home on Tuesday, when the worst of the cold front was pushing through the area. It was exciting because it's something different and we very, very rarely get this kind of cold weather. The temperature lingered around and below freezing for several days, freezing the rain that was coming down. Shorty and I were talking about the cool sounds of the trees as they rocked with the wind. The ice on the limbs made the sound a bit spooky but we liked it! Shorty got some great shots of the ice formations and though they are in Floresville, just south of SA, I'm pushing her to post one of them for tomorrow. Go on, Shorty!

Freeze!

At least they are good natured about it all. Sonia and I passed these officers as we drove down Main downtown near the library. I did make sure to ask them for the photo before doing it just in case they have a problem with being snapped. We did wonder what they planned to do if some car zoomed by really really fast...hope quickly on the bike? Call for backup??

Stop at the blinking lights

Caught by a train. It seems when you are in a hurry this usually happens. Well, at least it's another opportunity to check out the camera and look around for a shot. And to check out the graffiti on the train cars.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Snow cones now?!

This is located at the San Fernando Cathedral downtown and a little old lady usually is selling the snow cones but as Sonia and I drove by today, I noticed she had disappeared! Sonia theorized she must have run inside, possibly to warm up?? It is so chilly out today (in the 50s) that I'm not surprised no one is buying a snow cone today. She's here EVERYDAY, rain or shine. Much like the postal workers!

Just Married

An ending and a new beginning, both of the year, and of this couple's single and married life.

More art and another bird

Hi everyone! Sorry about not posting for a while. With the holidays on us all and travels here and there, our posting fell behind. We still had a few visitors so thank you for coming back to check us out!

This is another art piece that has been donated to the library. It now sits in the lobby at the Central Library building downtown. It's a non-traditional holiday tree but I think of it as a tower. I like the cut paper designs and the light inside (though you can't fully appreciate the lighting affect since the lobby is always so lit up). I don't really understand the bird on top. And no, that is not a real bird though it's fooled many people. I wish there was a star on top or something else maybe. The bird just doesn't do it for me.

Click here for a close-up of the top.

The Birds!

When we leave the library and go south on Main, we pass the artpace gallery and I just love the place. Currently, this is the exhibit and I haven't gone in so I don't know any information about the artist or work. But I think it's pretty cool looking.

To see a different view and have a closer look click here.

Happy Tummy

This afternoon Mark and I went to Saigon Express on McCollough. I have heard several people say they've been there and of course people always ask me about it and since I had not been, I couldn't tell them anything.

I was turned off by their not-so-attractive exterior but we took the plunge and went inside. I thougth this was a nice little alter for good luck and continued blessings for the business. You see these alters in some restaurants, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai I've noticed. Many are not this nice so I snapped a shot.

Oh right, the food. Pretty darn yummy gang. We need to go as a group to see what you think. I had the equivalent of the Noodle House P31 (grilled pork with shrimp on vermicelli and fresh vegetables) and Mark had the lunch special sweet and sour chicken. Both were very delicious. I was particularly impressed by the freshness of the veggies. We also had an order of summer rolls (the fresh ones) and it was very good though a bit heavy on the veggies. The menu also included quite a number of vegetarian dishes. Two thumbs up on the food. Decor could use a little work.

Basketball Season

Thien mentioned going to a Spurs game and combined with college basketball there are always games to watch and keep track of.

I never was a big basketball fan until I went to Indiana University (a HUGE basketball school) and until I moved to San Antonio (a HUGE basketball city...since that is our only major league team!).

In the photo I was watching Duke play Indiana at a favorite sports bar, Fox and Hound.

Spurs Time!

My husband and I love the Spurs (even when they lose when they SHOULDN'T) and we get to go once in a while the AT&T Center. Last Friday night we saw the Spurs beat up the Clippers, very cool. That night was cold and drizzly, which seemed to slow people down in getting to the game as you can tell by the empty seats as the game started. By the end of the first quarter, we were full.

Some people complain that the Center is not very nice but we think it is actually quite a huge improvement over watching a game at the Alamodome, which was built for an NFL team, not NBA. There's just something about seeing in a game in person that is so exciting!

Have a great weekend!

Hi everyone, we saw this sign as we sat at a red light. It made me smile and I thought it was a nice sentiment. Everyone have a great weekend. I will probably not post until Monday. Not sure if the girls will be able to either. Tonight we go to the Spurs game and tomorrow we travel to visit family in Austin, north of here. Christmas season is here so it's off to two parties tomorrow night. Who knows, there might be some opportunities for DP photos. We'll see.

Northstar Mall

Lots of shopping going on around town. I'm almost done with mine but had to run to Northstar for a gift pick up. This is my favorite mall though there are several big malls in town, and now there are even shopping destinations like La Cantera and the Forum.

Northstar is located centrally so it's easy for most people to get to which means lots of congestion around this time of year. I don't even bother driving in that area Friday, Saturday and Sunday. CRAZINESS over there.

If you want a closer look at the famous boots, check out this shot. The boots recently got a cleaning, translation: a new paint job. It even made the news two nights in a row, that's how interested people are in those boots. Kind of funny. You will also notice there is a banner hung up with the boots. This refers to Tony Parker, of Spurs fame, and his gal Eva Longoria, yes, of Desperate Housewives fame. They just got engaged a couple of weeks ago. People are crazy for news of them. For the record, MY favorite player is Tim Duncan but I did want to post what's going on with other San Antonians.

Parking Meter Lamp

Yesterday's errand to get a parking card for Sonia turned into a photo opportunity when we got to the parking division office! Check out this funny lamp we saw. It would have been really funny if you have to insert coins in order to power up the lamp!

After this, the drive back was super adventurous (a bit of a scare) and we are still a little jumpy from it. Picture those Volkswagon commercials, you know, where the friends are talking and all of a sudden, bam! They get hit by another vehicle. It was like that for us but thankfully no contact was made. There wereloud brakes screeching and smoke from the tires. But we lived to write about it.

Friday Lunch

We were both off today, and had an errand to run, so I met up with Thien at the FireBowl cafe in the Quarry that Thien posted about a few days ago. I love their decorations on the wall, and they have added some fun Christmas decorations as well. I love at this place, you can pick your own veggies from a salad bar type area to include in your rice or noodle dish!

Alamodome

Taken out front of the Alamodome, where the NBA team Spurs used to play. Now it plays host to football bowl games, conferences, NCAA playoffs, and other events. It is also where we went recently for our city health fair!

Quarry Cinema

Sarah posted a shot of Quarry Market before. This is the theatre that is located there. It's two stories and in a great location for before or after shopping (Pottery Barn, Gap, Hallmark, etc.), dining (EZ's, PF Chang's, Alexanders, etc.), book browsing (Borders) or dessert (Amy's Ice Creams)!