Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Scenes from the Weekend: Arizona.


Home from a spectacularly lovely weekend in Arizona with my friends and their families. I had a wonderful time celebrating their engagement (and being a shutterbug), playing with the kids, and generally soaking up rays and the serene beauty of the desert (the Sonora Desert Museum is a must see when in Tucson!).

Friday, May 25, 2012

Jetset.


En route to Tucson, Arizona to celebrate Judy and Greg's engagement!!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Class of 2012.


I could not be more proud of my sister who graduated with honors from Yale's School of Nursing as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner this weekend!!  She has devoted unwavering passion and dedication to the realization of this dream, and it was an honor to share in the celebrations with her and her classmates. (And now... we endeavor to tether her to this coast!)

Congratulations to the Class of 2012!!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Manhattan Main Line.

Say what?! There's a beautiful untouched subway station in the belly of New York City that has been all but forgotten about?! You've peaked MY interest!!!

By Sophie of Travelettes:

Deep in the belly of New York’s subway system, a beautiful untouched station resides. Stunning decoration with tall tiled arches, brass fixtures and skylights run across the entire curve of the station, almost a miniature imitation of Grand Central Station…

It was opened in 1904, with the hope of making it the crowning glory of the New York subway system in elegant architecture and a place for commemorative plaques to honour the work that had resulted in such a successful underground mass transit system. It was to be the original southern terminus of the first ‘Manhattan Main Line’; however the station was closed and boarded up in 1945. The gem of the underground began gathering dust, forgotten by the general public, as passengers were forced off at the Brooklyn Bridge Stop before the train continued on to the terminus to make its turnaround.

The reason for its closure was that newer longer cars were required to match the demand of passengers that passed through the system. But as the stations tracks were severely curved, a dangerous gap between the train doors and the platform was formed making it an unsafe area. This combined with the fact that only about 600 people used it, resulted in its closure with only mythical plans of turning it into a transit museum. But this was never followed through.

However, now you don’t have to take my word that the secret City Hall Station exists, as the 6 Train will now allow the passengers who have been enlightened with the knowledge of its whereabouts to stay on the train during its turnaround and see the Station. You won’t be able to get off, but you’ll be taken for a slow tour of the platform and see what a beauty it was in its heyday!


*Sigh.*  I love public transportation.

Human Pylon.


While travelling through rural landscapes, at times the only architectural design that exists to remind us of the high energy urban environment we've left are electrical pylons - and let's be honest, they aren't very interesting. In an attempt to create more inspiring markers, Landsnet, an energy supplier in Iceland, has commissioned an international design competition to yield some new designs. Check out “The Land of Giants”, by Choi + Shine, in which the pylons are shaped like human bodies!



Via Pop Up City. 

Friday, May 11, 2012

Nesting.


The Clemson Clay Nest was a public land art installation by Bavarian artist Nils-Udo that was constructed in the botanical gardens at Clemson University in South Carolina in 2005. The nest was built with the assistance of numerous students and other volunteers using 80 tons of pine logs harvested from the local Oconee County pine plantation and hundreds of bamboo stocks. You can see many more of the work in these photos by Dylan Wolfe.


This is a momentous weekend for me as I move out of the only home I've known in the city and begin to build a nest. I've cherished every moment in Russian Hill with the ladies I've shared my home and life with for the last six years, and hold these memories and friendships very close to my heart.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Antelope Canyon.


I am having dinner tonight with a good friend who just returned from a fantastic journey in Moab, Utah and I'm looking forward to hearing all about her adventure. Coincidently, this afternoon I ran across these magnificent images from Antelope Canyon in Arizona and they've made me even more anxious to see her photographs! (I know, not even close to Utah... but still... similar, stunning formations!)

Via Love These Pics.

Wind Maps.

Currently in awe of these wind maps by Fernanda ViĆ©gas and Martin Wattenberg of HINT.FM. They take real-time wind data collected from the National Digital Forecast Database and to reveal the wind’s gorgeous, intricate and fluid pathways across the United States. 

Monday, May 7, 2012

King of the World.


Immensely amused (perhaps I shouldn't be...) by TEA.Tanic, a stainless steel tea bag holder designed by Gordon Adler that is made to look like... well, you can guess.

Friday, May 4, 2012

New Twist on the Classics.


Photographer (and cellist) Nikolaj Lund has created a new twist on the classics in his series of classical musicians - taking them out of the orchestra pit and into the world.

(Secretly, I'm concerned for the instruments.)

Hamburg's Giant Pinhole Cameras.


Check out the Trashcam Project, an extraordinary photography project in Hamburg. Some 1,100 garbage containers in the city were converted into pinhole cameras by drilling a hole onto one side of the dumpster so the image is projected onto a giant sheet of photo paper inside. The project wanted to show Hamburg from the perspective of the sanitation workers by enabling them to take snapshots with their containers.

The city’s sanitation department asked Christoph Blaschke, Mirko Derpmann, Scholz and Friends Berlin and Matthias Hewing to come up with something special for the bin men. “They wanted to show off the city they love and take care of on a daily basis in all its glory so it had to be something pretty special”, explains Derpmann.


via Pop Up City.
Happy Friday friends. Hope these prints by Ex Libris Journals make you smile.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Dissassembling Spring.


Inspired by Todd McLellan’s Dissassembly series, I love how Qi Wei captured the energy of spring in Exploded Flowers .

via Anthology Magazine.