It is a good and a bad thing that there is a Starbucks one block from my office. It is good because when I need a break, I can wander down the block and head over there for a coffee.
Why is it a bad thing? Well, I used to have a 3 pm coffee addiction, and it seems to be returning.
During my trip yesterday, I noticed these three gentlemen sitting in the corner of Starbucks having a lively debate. Ah, the joys of retirement I thought. Or maybe it was, ah . . the joys of having somewhere to hang out besides your living room.
After having brunch with my parents, I took the Monongahela incline home. The incline has been a way for pedestrians to get up and down the steep hillside of Mount Washington. There are two inclines that are located on the hillside.
It is a pretty incredible view of the city and a great way to travel on public transit.
There is nothing like sitting in a stadium with 103,000 other people on a Saturday afternoon, watching your almi mater win. Hanging out with my sister, the great weather, meeting up with everyone at the tailgate, the feeling that your team can pull it off, makes it a great day.
While I was sitting in the stands, the horn section of the band was walking around and happened to walk up into our section next to our seats to play a quick tune.
I snapped a couple pics and this one of the young, clean faced Blue Band member bathed in sunlight summed up the day for me. It makes you believe everything is good in Happy Valley.
One of the advantages of having an apartment on the hillside overlooking the city is that you get to experience mornings like this one.
With the sun just coming up and only the tips of the buildings peeking out of the fog, it makes for an incredible site. Only a short 30 minutes later, it was all gone. If you didn't wake up early enough or lived in a different place, it is like the moment never existed . . except on my camera and on this blog.
Enjoy!
The other day, I was out for a walk and had missed to stop because the bridge was being moved for a boat on the river. At first, I thought of it as an incovenience, but I was able to see the spinning bridge in action and get this great pic with my phone.
I have always thought the lift bridges in Cleveland were interesting, but this spinning bridge is one of my favorites. It is an interesting way to make the use of a tight space.
As I was walking home from the west side market a couple of weeks ago, I had noticed this chair sitting on the top of the roof. The building is a manufacturing building, and I thought it was a bit strange that there was a chair up there.
Even better than that was the fact that is was this aqua blue and stood out like a sore thumb. To be fair, you can see downtown from up there, so maybe they were getting ready for the air show or something. Or maybe they just need somewhere to get away.
Like James Taylor said, "When this old world is getting me down" he goes Up On The Roof.
Over the weekend, I was visiting my brother. Since the weather was incredible, we were outside and I noticed this old rotary phone in his garage.
Yes, it is a genuine phone that works . . . believe it or not.
I felt like the dusty old phone was so appropriate because my guess is that anyone under 25 has NEVER seen a real rotary phone. They might not know how to use one. Do they even make rotary phones that are toys anymore?
While I was at the Dublin Irish Festival, I stopped at a little stage where all of the artists play acoustic only. This band, the Grafton Street Band, was great. They played some more contemporary Irish music like Van Morrison and U2, but had a great sound.
It reminded me of the buskers on Grafton Street in Dublin, Ireland.
On my daily commute into the office this morning, I got off the bus and cross the street on the eastern side of Public Square. When I looked up, there was an amazing reflection of the Terminal Tower in this building. I have seen reflections in other building before, but never one that looks to vibrant and the sky so blue.
You have to really enjoy these summer days when the sun is shining and it is cool in the morning and warm during the day. No better time of the year.
Did you ever ask yourself - "How far can I throw a 12 pound stone?" or even better "What if I wore a kilt when I was doing that?" Well, I have found the sport for you.
While I was at the Dublin Irish Festival, there was an exhibition of Celtic Sports including the Stone Toss. I think it had a more official name, but I was too busy being fascinated by guys in kilts throwing huge stones for it to register.
What you cannot tell by looking at this photo is that it was about 90 degrees at 11am in the morning, so I am sure throwing this big rock was even more difficult than usual.
On my recent vacation to Ocean City, I went for an early morning walk on the beach. I found a couple of these crab shells washed up on the shoreline during my quick jaunt.
I also found a live hermit crab later in the week that my nephews adopted and took home from the shoreline.
There is nothing like finding something great when you are at the beach. In addition, my nephews found a huge crab shell while they were playing on the beach after breakfast with my dad.
Many downtown areas in cities throughout the country have old building that feel like they are part of an older or bygone era. It always breaks my heart a little to see these buildings go. I can always imagine the glamor and excitement of these places in a different time. There are flashes of that from Downtown Pittsburgh when I was a small child.
In this particular case, I really hate it. The Columbia Building is being torn down to make way for a casino parking lot.
Now, I will say my mom loves to gamble, I am have been known to pull a few one-armed bandits, but personally, it makes me sad because I don't view it as progress to tear down the things we have cherished for a century to make way for out-of-towners pulling on the penny slots.
At any rate, I just wanted to capture a little piece of it, while it is still here.
Yesterday, I met a friend for dinner at a place in Ohio City. In order to get there, I got off of the bus in on West 25th Street and walked a couple of blocks. On my way over there, I noticed this Post Office engraving in over the door of a building they were renovating.
I always think that these types of signs are pretty cool, and this one had some nice embellishments. Ironically, as part of the surround, were crosses that were crumbling apart . . . not very church and state of the post office at the time.
The other day, I was waiting for someone in the lobby of my office building. As I was standing there, leaning against the wall, I looked up at the ceiling. It was pretty incredible. It is funny the things you walk by every day and never notice.
The ironic part of this story is that my co-worker walked by when I had this pic in Photoshop and asked "That is a beautiful ceiling. Where is that?" He almost didn't believe me when I said in our lobby.
A couple of weeks ago, it was my birthday. I try to keep this fact under wraps until the event is past. Long story. At any rate, I went to see Cowboy Mouth at the Beachland Ballroom with my brother.
Cowboy Mouth is a really fun band, and I find it interesting that the front man is a drummer. He sits front and center on the stage and REALLY high on the kit.
Even more than that is the fact that Fred, the lead/drummer, has so much energy. I call him Reverend Fred because I imagine this is what people spoke like at old time revivals.
One thing about Cowboy Mouth, you always leave there a little sweaty and feeling good about life and yourself.
Not a bad way to spend a birthday.
The other day, I took a bus to a meeting in Gordon Square Park. I took a different bus than usual, and while I was headed to the stop, I noticed this great statue outside of the Federal Reserve Building in Downtown Cleveland.
The statue reminded me a lot of the statues outside of the Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephen's Green.
My first experience riding a pony, or horse, was at Conneaut Lake Park. In the back part of the Kiddie Land was a pony track. It was a treat every year that we would get to go on the pony's once during our week long vacation at the park.
It is a testament to Conneaut Lake Park that it is still a park that is old fashioned, that a pony track still exists.
There are so many great memories of the park, but the old time pony track just seems like something you won't see at a modern park.
Cleveland is going to widen the Inner Belt Bridge and they are knocking down a series of bulidings in the process.
On this day, I was walking home from the West Side Market, and noticed a crowd of people watching the building coming down. These two guys backed up their car, dropped the tailgate and enjoyed the show.
I guess different people have different ideas about entertainment.
During a recent trip back to Pittsburgh, my mom and I went to breakfast at Pamela's Dinner in a small town called Millvale. Yes, it was right near the mills on the Allegheny River.
After leaving, I noticed this sign. First, I love old signs. This one, I thought was funny because it says "Let Gary Modernize Your Home" on it. Yet, I am sure the sign has not be updated since the 1060/70s area when the store was new.
Love it!
For my recent trip to New York, the team was working on a pitch that primarily focused on mobile. We had been extensively discussing how people use mobile devices (phone, iPad, tablets) on a day-to-day basis.
When we jumped on the train on the way to the pitch, I noticed a gentleman sitting there using his iPad. Being the covert photographer that I am, I used my mobile phone and snapped a pic of him.
While I was in New York for a pitch, our team got on the subway at the Franklin Street subway station. One of the things I love about NYC is that there are great gems around the corner.
I loved the tile work for the street address in this station and had a second to snap a quick pic.
It reminds me a bit of contemporary versions of the great time street signs in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Excuse me sir, would you like a banana with that cash? At least that is what I thought when I saw this banana sitting on the ATM machine in downtown Cleveland.
At first, I couldn't figure out why the heck it would be there. Then, it dawned on me that the Cleveland Marathon had been the weekend before. A runner probably carried the banana with them after the race and just left it there in the post-race mental hysteria.
Or maybe Huntington Bank started a new program where you get a banana with every ATM deposit
While I was waiting for the bus yesterday, I had a ton of extra time, and I decided to take a spin around the part of the Mall in Cleveland near Key Tower. During my little stroll, I discovered a statue of Abe Lincoln. The bottom of the statue has the Gettysburg address on it.
I never realized the statue was there, but even more so I got a chance to re-read the Gettysburg Address. As we are coming up on Memorial Day, it has reminded me of this country's incredible history and time when we had taken up arms against each other.
I think it is the thing that is incredible about living in an older city - there is history around every corner.
On my daily stroll from the bust stop to my house, I get to walk through my neighborhood of Tremont. I spotted this little gem on my way home yesterday and thought it was so cute that I took a picture of it this morning.
On my way to the dentist, yes the dentist, I noticed this incredible door. The building on Euclid avenue is being renovated, but the door from the Cleveland Trust is still there.
The ornate nature of the door and the incredible iron work caught my eye. Or maybe I was trying to distract myself on the way to get a cavity filled.
Either way, the door is incredible. Makes me wonder what the inside of the building looked like in its heyday. The building has an incredible rotunda and is perched on the corner of Euclid and East 9th street, one of the busiest arteries in downtown Cleveland.
It makes me want to go inside the building.
Every day on my way to catch the bus after work, I pass by the Cleveland Public Library. On this particular day, the street address numbers on the building caught my attention.
I like how the numbers were not so straight forward, but stacked a bit and different sizes. It adds a little fun to a 'serious' location.
On the is a great museum tucked away in the corner of city centre Dublin. If you walk past Ely House. This part of Dublin has maintained it Georgian architecture, and the houses and entrances are incredible.
This door in particular caught my attention. The ornate knockers and well-polished mail slot was a great example of these doors. A lot of them have plastic business signs on them or are neglected by the landlords.
One day, on the way to the Brazen Head, I took an alternate route and stumbled across this site. It is the Dublin City Wall and Gate from 1240 AD.
Two things occurred to me. First, that Dublin was not much bigger than it had been back then. Second, there are some many old things in Europe as compared to the United States.
It very often is staggered in between something new as well. You see a new office building next to ruins that are hundreds of years old. Awesome
One of the things that you start to notice when you have gone to a city several times, is the number of signs or placards that are around for places that are not there anymore. Sometimes it is obvious because they have been converted into something else .. like the Dillards sign on the Cleveland Visitors Building (soon be become a casino).
In this case, the Royal Bank of Ireland building is now a pub. A very cool, upscale one. Regardless, the sign is dutifully polished on the outside.
During my early morning walk on the Indians' day. The weather was a bit on the chilly side and there was some great steam coming of the stadium as they were preparing for that afternoon's game.
While watching a documentary on Irish music, I learned that the band Thin Lizzy was actually an IRISH rock band. Aside from that completely shocking fact is that the lead singer, Phil Lynott was black. His mom was Irish and his father was Afro-Guyanese.
I guess it makes more sense to me why Thin Lizzy actually performed the song Whiskey in the Jar. And it also makes sense that there would be statue of him in city centre Dublin.
The statue is just off of Grafton Street outside of a place called Bruxelles, that has great music as well.
For all the times I have gone to Dublin, I have walked by Neary's pub so many times. I think the lanterns being held by the hands are interesting. They are kind of a landmark for the establishment just off of Grafton Street.
For the people who get weary from their shopping adventures on Dublin's business shopping avenue, it always seemed like an Oasis. Until this year, I had never gone inside. Encouraged by the rain and my lack of an umbrella, I ventured in. There was not an open table or a seat at the bar. I did a u-turn and headed back into the rain and for an alternate location.
The inside was like walking into Dublin 20 years ago. The crowd was much older and it just seemed more sedate and genteel. Maybe how Ireland was before the Celtic Tiger and the recent economic downfall.
While I was in Dublin, I stopped at Donahue's pub to get a Guinness. While I was there a made a couple of notes about the places I had gone and the things I had done.
Since I go to Dublin pretty often, the trips have started to blend into each other and I really wanted a way to capture (aside from my photos) the things I had done during the trip.
This was my first Guinness during the trip. Lovely!
I was woken up this morning by the sound of the wind violently pushing through the trees. The branches beat against each other and the power lines outside of my wind.
Even more frightening is that some of the gusts of wind were so strong, they literally shook the house.
Although it was snowing, the sky was filled with occasional bits of thunder because of the raging storm. It is called "Thunder Snow."
Things like thunder snow and lake effect rain are some of the things that make living in Cleveland interesting.
When I left my house, I noticed that there were some unusual snow drift. The one in the photo was incredible. There were inches of snow everywhere, but you can clearly see my brick walkway. Actually, a fair amount of this managed to drift right in front of my garage.
Snow can be a pain, but it can be really beautiful. And remember, shoveling is REALLY great exercise.
While I was visiting Pittsburgh, my brother and I eat a late breakfast in the Strip District. We went to a restaurant called Delucas that has been in business for 70 years. One of the things that I really like about the place is the mix of people who go there for breakfast.
Since it was a Monday, some of the workers who load and unload the produce trucks were there for breakfast. I snapped this quick picture of a couple of them. Even better, the breakfast sandwich I eat was sooo yummy.
As I get closer to trip to Ireland, I keep thinking about all of the wonderful trips I have taken there in the past. I found an online album of some of my favorite photos. I almost forgot I had shot this photo on the way to the Cliffs of Moher with my friend Orsolo.
Although I won't be headed there on this trip, anytime you get outside of any city, and it doesn't need to be very farm, the warmth of rural life surrounds you in Ireland.
A scene with a farmer crossing a herd of cattle is something that I never saw as a kid, even when we ventured into the country side. It feels like a throwback and something that makes Ireland the low key place that it is.
You often hear about what Ireland is like, and that national lore serves them well. However, there are things that are true about Ireland. Some of them are dying out, but some traditions are still going strong.
While I was driving home the other evening, the song "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley. It was snowing lightly and just such a wonderful scene.
It is one of the times that I was really able to enjoy the snowfall in the city and how wonderful it makes everything look.
This photo reminds me a bit of the photo of Tremont in the winter that I took in 2009.
It makes me really appreciate the great part of living in a city during this time of year.
If you have been hibernating, you might not have heard about the huge snow storm that hit every state except Florida.
I found a ruler in my house and measure the snow. This was not the deepest point in the yard, but I get snow drifts so I wanted to be fair.
Personally, 9.5 inches or so in two days is pretty impressive.
I love winter in Cleveland. Did I mention we are expecting 3 more this weekend?
As a resident of Cleveland, I have seen more than my fair share of LeBron haters, but I was surprised to see the trend in Boston.
OK - LeBron is still a rival even though he is at the Heat. However, I thought these t-shirts were hysterical.
I had seen these t-shirt being sold outside the arena, and was surprised how many people inside were wearing them.
Even better is the way the guy wearing the shirt is pointing at it. Love it!
This year, I spent New Year's Eve in Boston. Althought I was disappointed the Celtics lost the game I flew to see them place, the balmy weather made getting around the city great.
On the morning I flew out, we make a short trip to Faneuil Hall. The Christmas tree was still up - much like my own one is - and I was able to snap a photo before it started to rain.
Ironically, I had just seen a tidbit that the tree is donated by the people of Nova Scotia as a gift for supporting Halifax through some tragic events.
Overall, it was a great trip to Boston, and a great place to spend the holiday.
