It's Fallen and It Couldn't Get Up

It was a windy day the night before this morning. The wind woke me up with how hard it was blowing. When I saw this try lying on its side I wondered if it had fallen over with the wind or whether someone had tried to liberate it.

Roy's Taco Hut

I'm assuming this place is still open but I haven't been here since probably college. This was one of the first places my little brother took my sister and I out to eat when he first started working his ass off in college. The tacos here were huge back in the day. My little brother didn't warn us and my sister and I ordered two each and the waiters asked us if we were sure. Well when we got the tacos we knew why they asked. Location: Old Hwy 90 IIRC

Lofts?

I can't quite remember where I saw this building, but I want to see it was in the Greyson area, that street famous for the haunted house around Halloween. I'm not sure what it is but it looked like some kind of lofts. I did see some people that looked like they lived here hanging out on one of the balconies. There's a lot of lofts/condo's/apartments going up in and around downtown lately.

Fiesta Food Stands

One of the things that my family and I (and many other people I'm sure) enjoy about Fiesta is the food stands. I always like to get a turkey leg, although I feel like such a barbarian/cave man hauling around that huge leg. My sister likes to get at least one funnel cake during Fiesta. This year we both scored our hits. During Fiesta food stands pop up all over the place and many a downtown worker will take their lunch there. Just make sure you carry plenty of cash, because as far as I know they don't take credit cards. :(

Pearl Brewery

This is a shot of the Pearl Brewery sign. Of course the Brewery is no longer in opertion (as far as I know, of course I could be wrong.) The area is being redone into a whole bunch of stuff including a school of beauty, cooking school, and theater I think. This shot is one of the last ones I was able to take with my old Kodak camera. I dropped it off some bleachers at the Battle of Flowers and it just was never the same again. The black spot you see in the lower right is the lens cover not wanting to fully retract.

Fiesta Flambeau

This is a screenshot of my tv as I was watching the famous night parade of Fiesta. I don't think I've ever gone although my sister insists I have. This parade happens the day after the Battle of Flowers and happens at night and is lit up. All the participants and floats are lit up in some way or other. This shot is of a popular dance group in San Antonio. I always look forward to what they will do every year.

Showing Her Boots

For the past couple of years we've been out of our heads and gone to the Battle of Flowers parade. Every year I get at least a little bit burned, this year was the least I had gotten burned of course it helped that it was overcast for most of the parade and that it rained for bit right at the beginning.

Here you can see one of the girls on the float "showing her shoes". With all the pretty gowns and such, all anyone wants to see is the shoes. This year quite a bit of the girls seemed to be wearing boots, made to match their gowns even.

I want to give thanks to the nice architect who opened up her business for some clients. She provided a nice spread and bleachers from which I took the pics and videos of the day.

Doggy Hospital

Our dog somehow injured her hind leg so we took her to the vet to make sure things were ok. Of course they recommended we take her to a specialist so we schlepped out past 1604 to this doggy doctor. Our dog was pretty well behaved except for slobbering all over the floor and getting my niece tangled in his leash and knocking her down and making her cry.

Found out she will have to have surgery on both hind legs, but on the upside the guy doctor was really nice and helpful.

Trike Bike

We've been seeing more and more people taking the option that is not a car or truck on the road. On this day we saw this guy riding this bike. It was unusual enough for me to grab my camera, but this was the best shot I could get.

Dinner: Teriyaki Chicken

I accompanied my sister to a meeting of her grad school group. I did some blogging while they did their thing. They were doing most of their meeting at a restaurant (Koi Kawa Yakitori & Sushi Bar) so of course we ate. This was a local Japanese place that I had never gone to, and I have never eaten Japanese either. I figured chicken couldn't go wrong so this was my dish. The food was pretty good I must say. I even tried a bit of the tuna something or other another girl was having and some shrimp my sister had. I would not be averse to eating here again.

Take That Ice Cream Truck Guy

Saw this as we were heading to my sister's house for my nieces birthday. I like the advertising done by Jack in the Box. This big truck advert caught my eye and the text was the cherry on top. :D

Ingram Park Mall Elevator

Went to Ingram Mall for something or other. We dragged the kids along and of course they think elevators and escalators are free rides. I like the elevator at this mal because the back end of it is see through and you can see some of the mechanism that makes it work. Right before this shot we were getting my niece (4yo, so hopefully we wouldn't have been up for any public indecency charges if we had been seen by anyone) topless in the elevator. She had gotten her shirt dirty so we bought her another one and took a private moment in the elevator to change her into it. :D

Under the Bridge

Here's another attempt at this shot for me. Right after we come out of this there's a good chance of getting a good shote of a plan coming in to land at Lackland/Kelly USA or whatever it's called now. I usually miss the really good photo ops though, because I will just have put away my camera. After all this time you think i would learn to leave it on and ready.

Sky Watch Friday

Another Friday rolls around and another beautiful sky. It's kind of hard not to get a good shot of the sky sometimes. I like all the different colors in this shot from the blue of the sky to the white and gray of the clouds to the orange of the sun peeking through the clouds to the black of the shadowed land at the bottom.

Old Hwy 90 w

Once again going the way of the past. As you can see it was a cloudy day. Old Hwy 90 is where that old club was that was rumored to have hosted the Devil for a night. Also Ben's supermarket was and still is there. And of course a sign of the times is the traffic camera posted on the traffic light. Not sure if this one is active or if any of them are. I think this might be right around the spot that I got my finger jammed when some guy reading the paper while driving ran the light and my sister had to jam on the breaks way back in the day when I was a young one, but I could be mistaken.

Viva La Biblioteca

This piece of papel picado can be found at the Central Library's Circulation Desk. Many people might ask, what does Circulation mean? Well in this case it's where you go to check out your library materials. On the super long desk you can also get a new library card, turn in your materials and also pay fines.

I really admire the work that went into making this piece of papel picada. I'm sure I wouldn't have the patience to do something like this, much less the talent. I have enough cutting out snowflakes according to pattern. :D

Post It Poetry

April is National Poetry Month. I used to write some of this back in high school and college. I still do every once in a while. I never got around to posting on this wall, but as you can see some people got around to it. I do like to read some poetry, like The Tiger by William Blake and Invictus by Henley. How do I Love Thee? by Browning always makes me think of how I feel about my family. I still write every once in a while, but usually just what I call snippets.

Bright Eggs

Easter Monday as it's known by some found me with some left over dye. I combined some of the dyes to form these vibrant colors. I hadn't dyed any boiled eggs because quite frankly I'm afraid the nephews will try to bust them over people's heads and these might cause some damage. My 6 year old nephew had bought one of these home from a school party and he was convinced that it was a chocolate egg, even after I helped him peel it he couldn't believe there was no chocolate in there.

I let these eggs sit in the dye for quite a while, hence the vibrant colors. I hadn't had any eggs like this since that Easter long ago in Stockdale, TX where the pigs got to the eggs before we could and ruined the Easter Egg Hunt.

Cascarones

Today is Easter for a good bit of people. My nephews were going over to their grandmothers house so we prepared these in advance. They ended up with 108 confetti filled eggs ready to bust on people's heads. I don't know about you, but the kids I know just take such perverse joy in getting as many people as they can and even the same ones over and over again with an egg on the head. My nephew and niece helped me dip these into the dye, which was the old school color tablet dropped into vinegar. I did try to make a few more colors using food coloring, but those didn't end up as good as the color tablet ones.

Honorable Mention

It's getting to be that time again in San Antonio--Fiesta! Along with Fiesta comes the Battle of the Bands right before the Battle of Flowers parade. Every year there is an art contest for the Battle of the Bands. I always enjoy the artwork and every year I find one that stands out the most for me. Sometimes it's the winner, but usually it's another stand out. This one got an Honorable Mention, but it took first place with me. I liked the colors and the style.

San Pedro Park

Went to go meet some friends at Big Kahuna's which is right across the street from this park, but it either closed early or was closed for Good Friday. So I took some time and explored the park while waiting for my ride. I liked the look of these pathways crossing. It reminds me of the poem, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. I still haven't gotten a chance to explore this park as much as I would like so I'll have to go by. On this day the park was fairly full of people as they staked out their spots for Easter. It seems to be a tradition here in San Antonio. There were people playing football and futbol (Soccer) on the fields, kids in the water and music heard all about.

Silly Boys...Trucks are for Girls!

Saw this truck on the way home frome work. I thought the saying on the right back window was funny it says "Silly Boys...Trucks are for GIRLS!" I have seen something similar to this saying, but not quite like this. I didn't get to see if it was a fem driving the truck. I always think it's funny when the stickers on the vehicle don't match up with the driver. I can imagine at times the kids of the parents puttinig stickers on their parents vehicles with the parents having no clue.

Bots Gone Bad

I love to see the book displays, or just any old display that libraries, bookstores, or any ol retail store or home puts up for all sorts of stuff. This one drew my eye because of the sign. It's really simple, just black text, but the red eye in the D really caught my eye. I totally got that it was the HAL eye, but I heard that some people didn't.

The only book that I've read on the face out books is 2001. I've also read 2010 and the follow up to that. I haven't read the Veiled Web by Asaro, but I own the book, it was given to me as a gift. I have read some of her other books (the Skolian saga) and another book of hers that has bots Alpha. I haven't read I, Robot, but I saw the movie--don't know if that counts.

Beginner Reader

I love to read and always have ever since my first See Spot Run moment. I remember reading those little books in kinder. I'm not sure if my Mom read to me, but my older sister might have. Once she went to school she dragged us along with us playing school and giving us bad report cards if we didn't do everything her way. This little one was so excited that he was able to read most of the book on his own. I love to see someone introduced to reading and loving it. I also have my big brother to thank for my love of reading, he let me read his books and comics whenever I wanted--granted most of those books were mens adventure that I probably shouldn't have been reading, but still. :D

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This was part of an exhibit at the Central Library Gallery. The artworks were teens responses to Fahrenheit 451. I haven't read either the book that is the subject of this artwork of Fahrenheit 451. Diary is on my To Be Read list, Fahrenheit is not, I'm afraid I'm not too much of a fan of the classics.

You can see more pictures from the exhibit and the opening at the library's Flickr set for this exhibit.

Teen Art

Saw this at the Teen Services Department at the Central Library in downtown. I really liked the colors and the subject matter of this piece. I wouldn't mind having it hanging somewhere in my home, perhaps recreated on a bigger scale on my bedroom wall. If you'd like to see more of this kind of thing, the Teen Services department is really good about chaning out the displays on their wall, all created by the staff and teens of the department.

Commerce Street Mural

This mural is right off of the Commerce Street bridge. I like the colors of it. One of these days I need to stop and really get a good look and a couple of good shots of it. I'd like to take a neighborhood walk around this area, because there are some really good murals around here.

You can find out some more information about this mural at this mySA blog.

Sky Watch Friday

This was my view out the window as we drove into work on Friday. The black specks you see are not UFOs but just dirt on the window. I usually take the time to wash off the windows when my sister puts gas, but I don't always get a chance to do it as you can see from this photo.

Ice Cream Truck Man

We finally have semi regular access to an ice cream truck again. It's funny, I think you would call an ice cream man a paletero, but we just always say ice-crenero (sp?) This man comes around once maybe twice a week and we are lucky if we catch him once a month. I have the kids trained to run and stop him. We always mob him and I swear I usually spend almost twenty dollars every time I hit him up.

Theme Day: Yellow

The theme for this month is yellow and I went for easy...yellow flowers--it isn't the yellow rose of Texas, but it'll do donkey. I love flowers, of pretty much any kind and take photos of them when I can. This one if I recall correctly is in the side yard of Baptist Medical Center...might technically be on Romana Plaza.