"some" rain.

we have certainly had our share of rain this summer unlike summers past where we were praying for rain. this morning i awoke to thunder, lightening and lots of rain. in fact while driving down the interstate at o'dark thirty, i saw lightening that was sideways! i took this photo from my window, the "cloudiness" is actually rain being blown across the road. of course this means that the afternoon communte is going to be an absolute mess!

in this house.

this house is to the right (if you're looking out my window) of this apartment building that i normally blog about-found out last week they are filming a movie inside. one of my bosses's window looks right into the front door-i guess all the junk on the porch is because they are having to do a bit of renovation first. i've been checking out this website for details on the movie, and i sent in a tip. have not heard from my source.  it's going to be an interesting 3 months. happy thursday-it's gonna be gorgeous-get out there and enjoy the sunshine, i know i will!

southern charm at it's best.

last night the margaret mitchell house literary center hosted fannie flagg who was signing her latest book i still dream about you. i'm nearly finished with the book and it's delightful. fannie talked about her life and the inspirations behind fried green tomatoes and i still dream about you.  she's had a very interesting career as a writer, actress (tv and broadway), and as a former pageant contestant (important to the latest book).  she was funny and charming, and. . .

she agreed to hold my sock!

ryan and jason lets do lunch.

as if. well the change up with ryan reynolds and jason bateman, is back in atlanta doing more filming-today they have taken over the georgian terrace last week it was the pond at piedmont park.  i think i'll have to check out this film to see if i can tell what was or wasn't filmed in atlanta-i thought jennifer anniston was in this movie, but she's in the wanderlust that's also being filmed in atlanta and clarksville. although she has been spotted at local restaurants in midtown, so who really knows. i still stay it was ryan reynolds who walked across the street in front of my car-i find this all strangely fascinating.

for the engineer in all of us

so, it's the continued saga of the tree removal across the street. i looked out the window on friday, and low and behold-there's a dude in the tree-no cherry picker insight, so i'm guessing he drew the short straw and got the job of climbing up to cut down the limbs. as i monitored his progress i realized that perhaps georgia tech should have sent some engineering students to observe the happenings. many thoughts crossed my mind as i watch the acrobatics required for removing the limbs.
1. what in the heck would your mother say about you being in that tree with only a drop line and spike boots keeping you in place-then-i saw this

2. dude you did not just step from that tree onto that roof top- seriously?
3. i almost can't bear to watch-but it's like that whole rear window (alfred hitchcock) thing

4. he steps back again-egad-thing is these are not a really big/substantial limbs -so i'm wondering just how in the heck is he gonna manage as these limbs get even smaller and the places he has to stand on get fewer.
5. so now there are 2 drop lines, and a pulley set up to lower the branches-it's almost too frightening to watch-i was ready to call 9-1-1 should he take a tumble-hey, the least i could do after gawking for 2 days at this phenomenon.

6. i think every engineering major would benefit from a field trip with a tree removal service. they'd probably get some additional life skills they don't teach you in school-okay scratch that idea-there's ladies about.
7. now i'm a little less worried for the dear lad-he's a bit closer to the ground now, so any fall would probably only result in some bumps and bruises-nothing Mercurochrome and a band aid won't fix.

8. whew-glad the job is done-you'd never know there was a tree there.

tree removal in 9 easy steps

1. ride the cherry picker up and over a roof top

2. assess approach to removing top limbs
3. hand off the limb you just sawed off via a drop line-don't hit your buddies down below
4. put severed limb into wood chipper parked on the very public sidewalk-repeat steps 2,3 & 4 until . . . now this is key considering what happens next.

5. have an indepth discussion with a police officer about what you might be doing wrong. either no permit to remove tree-or blocking a public sidewalk and road way without permission might be a no-no.

6. use this time productively by having a very extensive and well deserved smoke break, while you wait for a verdict, or perhaps consider the meaning of life.
7. repeat step 6 while another officer comes to take evidence photos.

8. return to the cherry picker; which will take you back over the roof tops so that you can begin to vacate the premises.
9. after receiving your orders to cease and desist, clean up, and vacate . . .
yes, it was a slow day at the office, but quite entertaining.

it's not central park.

but it was the best i could do. had plans on thursday to meet keri for dinner, and was also able to fit in a very nice walk around midtown which included a trip through piedmont park. it was a beautiful afternoon. after a quick shower at the office as it was a tad bit warm at 4:30. we had dinner here-good food, wine and company. always fun to get caught up. made plans to get together again next month. got a chuckle when keri took her heels off for the photo, i still have mine on!

morning commute

i wasn't sure about crossing the newly opened 14th street bridge, cause like i told steve, when the city of atlanta completes a project ahead of schedule, you gotta proceed with caution. so anyway this morning (this was taken at about 6:45) here i am getting ready to make a left over the bridge- the columns are really cool and they are located at intervals across the bridge. there is also some really pretty iron work on the bridge instead of the ordinary chain link fencing, that has a leaf motif on it, very pretty- green light,

blue light- i was impressed with my "night-time" photography- the pillars also turn red, and i think yellow, can't remember. very pretty.

Girls Night at the Spotted Dog

Here we are at the Spotted Dog on the corner of Peachtree and North Avenue. It is the #11 fire station from the early days. Didn't want to stand in front of the bar for photos-that whole looking like a tourist thing- ya know- a great shot of the lovely British phone box, minus the phone--pay phone what's that?













Of course I had to bring my knitting, and the Union Jack bag felt very much at home,

I learned that I can't knit, carry-on a one-on-one conversation, and drink beer all at the same time! Now if all I have to do was nod my head, and make a small comment every now and then, that would be different. I tried, doesn't work, and will now have to take all that I did manage to knit, out- can you say rippit! ?
Anyway, the bag and knitting made a good show, the burger was fab, and the Coronas (light with limes) were refreshing. Steve picked me up right on time- and away we went.

Look forward to an opportunity to when we can actually sit outside, and watch the world go by--

Here are the girls, me on the left, just barely, Nichole doing the long arm shot, and Carol Ann on the end, no she did not have too much to drink, but I thought the photo was too cute (and goofy) to delete!

TTFN