Lost in Texas Pt II

I know I have not made a post in quite a few months. My only excuse is the lack of motivation. My photography hobby was put on hold due to life stuff.

But now I am back; so you all need not worry.

I "road-tripped" again and brought along my cameras. I packed a picnic lunch as well. I spent the day in my car with no particular destination in mind except to visit Mineral Wells again - on a day that some shops would be open.

Before I got into Mineral Wells "downtown", I noticed some signs for Clark Botanical Gardens. I decided to go eat a plum that I had packed in my lunch bag there. =D

Very nice garden. Lots of birds!

Also, a tunnel that reminded me a little of Salzburg (and you know how I like tunnels):

This is where I ate the plum (yes, that's me):

And I got a great addition to my "butts" photo collection:

And I thought this was humorous:

I left at about 11am and headed into the town.

The only store I went into was a coffee shop called Jitter Beans. You REALLY need to try the iced coffee. They make the ice cubes out of coffee as well so you dont have icky water at the end of the drink - but just more coffee. I hear they do the same with the lemonaide. the owner gave me a short history of the town and is VERY much active in getting the town behind rennovating the Baker Hotel. The hotel has a potential buyer group from Southlake, TX but the town is afraid of the hotel not profitable since HUD is also involved and the town doesnt want to be stuck with a bill if the hotel flops.

SO! Spread the word - if you ever get to Mineral Wells, stay at the Baker when it's back open. It was a grand hotel back in the 1930s - 1970s. Big names stayed there like James Stewart and Judy Garland.

Now, it's this huge monsterous shell of a building in the middle of this quaint little town.

Here are some more photos:

Here's a photo of the area on one side of the hotel. I like it because it seems to tell me the story of the hotel from grandness to delapidation (well it does to me, anyway):

 

Doorways:

         

After I went to the hotel, I ventured to the town's most famous little shop, The Famous Mineral Water Co... or something like that. The town was named after the mineral water well that was dug some time in the 1800s. The diggers (sorry, I think the name is Dismuke or something) noticed the water had a strange taste and later began to think the water was miracle water as it seems to "heal" people of ailments. Turns out the water contains high levels of natural lithium (an anti-psychotic). Anyway, this "healing" water is what brought about The Baker Hotel; which was built as a sort of sanitarium/spa. People bathed in and drank the water and were healed. =)

(yes, that is my car)

I bought a gallon of Crazy Water #3 (there are 4 different filtered strengths - #4 is my fav but is also the highest lithium content), a bottle of concentrated elderberry juice, some "texas trash" (chex mix), and some linen spray.

Random! I know.

After that, I went driving again. This time, I had NO clue where I was going and no destination in mind.

I ended up traveling further west and wound up in the hill country. I love Texas. The landscape here is so diverse. I come from the Gulf-Coastal area where the land is flat and lush vegetation (the humidity of Houston/Galveston makes things grow like crazy). Up here in North Texas, the trees are really over grown bushes and it's all very sparce and rough and dry.

I actually ended up at Possum Kingdom Lake. I'd heard about this town but had never thought of going. On my way into the lake area, I stopped off at the "welcome center" which is also a Re/Max realty place. i had to use the restroom. I got to talking with this older realtor lady and she was soooo funny and truely "Texan." Big hair and Big accent and Big jewelry that you can tell was bought at boutique-wanna-be place.

I asked her where I should go while in town. She asked me what I did for a living. I said "i'm an auditor" (didnt go into detail of what kind of auditing). She said, "Well! You need to go to Bonita Bay and have a few drinks, I am SURE!" HAHAHAHAAAAA!

Anyway, I didn't. I ended up going to the lake to have my lunch.

Then I remembered passing a sign on the way in saying "Observation Point" so when I was ready, I got into my car (again) and drove to see what could be observed.

The Brazos River:

A house on a cliff:

More cliffs:

Part of the lake (and lots of boats but I edited them out):

Then I had had enough of the 107F heat (although the breeze was nice up in the hills) and decided it was time to come home.

And that was my day.

Tomorrow, I might not be as adventurous but you never know!

Zen and the Art of Decluttering

I am a master at purging items. I have no problem going through my stuff, packing it up, and delivering to a charity or second-hand resale. I tend to go to Goodwill as it is convenient and easy. I have a lot of stuff but then I don't have a lot of stuff.


My rule of thumb is that if it has not been used in a year or doesnt fit or is disliked - toss it in a pile and take it out. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Whichever. If an item is stored and has great sentimenal value - then keep it. Like I have lots of little trinkets from all over the world. I have my memories of these travels but no place to display the actual items - so they are packed up neatly and safely... just in case.

If you paid a lot of money for the item and you are keeping it because of that - why? What good is it if you are not using it? You are paying in space taken up (especially if you live in a small apartment or small crowded house). Donate it or something.

Gifted something you never use or honestly dislike? Don't be afraid to regift or donate (even if it is from me HAHAHA). See the pattern here?

Love to read and have TONS of books laying about. Are you REALLY going to re-read all of them? Have you even finished all of them? What about all those VHS videos of blockbuster "hits" that EVERYONE has a copy of? I love Half-Price Books... I'm keeping the hard to find videos/DVDs I have... but Pirates of the Caribbean and so forth - SOOOO outta here.

I do hoarde my CDs though. I'm entitled. =)

So, anyway - that's what I do.

I'd declutter other people's homes but I just have not gotten around to doing so. Too busy. Maybe this summer since I am taking Summer semester off. The thing with this is that I have to have carte blanche on the decluttering. None of this, "oh no... not THAT! I got it on sale!" stuff.

I will ask if something is special to the owner and why. Tell me the story. If it's "I got that from the office white elephant gift exchange... I simply can't part with it...The dinner was sooo good." Sorry - that isn't special (unless it's made of gold and diamonds). But "that belonged to my grreat great great grandparents when they arrived on the Mayflower...." Then - I think you can keep it. =D

OK, back to it.

I'm keeping the rune stones Ric made me, the Japanese figurines I bought at the Japanese Garden Gift Store, all my anime DVDs, and all of my Umberto Eco books... You get the picture. Or actually Goodwill is getting the "Girl with Grapes" picture. My 11x14 framed photo of The Modern's staircase will be donated to work for the United Way auction that is coming up later in the year (hopefully it will fetch at least $50 to pay for the frame and matting - going to good causes and stuff).

Nothing New

Sorry I have not been updating. I've been super busy with work and school that everything else has been put on the back-burner. No time for hobbies or anything else.

I did, however, get an email from the wife of a doctor here in FtWorth who asked me if I wanted to hang my photos on the art wall in his office - where they like to display local artists. The wall gets lots of view time and she suggested a price list too.

I wrote back saying I am interested but have not heard back. *shrug* I take my stuff down from Starbucks this week. I might take it down tomorrow because the weekends are the only times I have available to even think about anything other than work and school.

Finals are coming up... then I am taking summer off.

That's about it. Not posting a photo on this post as I dont have anything new... or even old that I want to share.

Angels and Butts!

I went to the Fort Worth Arts Festival this morning but didn't get many photos. I was just not "feeling" it. I did, however, get this one shot that I am "happy" with after some photoshop playing. One of the Bass Hall angels (probably one of the most photographed building facades in the city).

I was also going through my photo library and came across one folder that I forgot I had... my "Butts" folder. Last year, I was at Scarborough Fair in Waxahatchie, TX and was taking random photos of whatever I saw. What I saw most of were the backends of people and animals. I wasn't "planning" this - it just happened.

When in a crowded situation, you see lots of back ends. It's like a rite of passage I guess. I dunno.

Anyway! Here's some visuals...

This guy was wearing some sort of denim leg-warmers? I did NOT know what he was trying to accomplish and what ever it was, I think "FAIL" would be the most appropriate word to use here.

The guy was a cutie - really.

Who wears heels to a Renaissance festival where there are NO paved walkways? Obviously, this girl does.

One of the "German Boys" - VERY funny. He's pretending to be a hot German male model in someone's big glam-sunglasses.

Horse and Rider...

Llama butt.

and shimmy butt. She was pretty good.

I am going to Scarborough Fair next weekend. I shall be taking my cameras as usual. Maybe I will be able to add to this collection!

Stay Tuned.

My Bucket List Getting Lighter.

Well, here's the wall of framed Andi-stuff. One photo you can't see but I've already posted it here in this blog some time back.

Anyway, not a lot of people showed but that is ok. I really appreciate those who did! REALLY!

Tomorrow I might go out and get some photos of crowds at the Fort Worth Main Street Arts Fest. I love getting lost in crowds. That is one of my other little weird quirks. You will find that I have alot of those.

Anyway, I am very tired. Today has been stressful and has been GO GO GO since 5:30am with workouts, work, and artshow.

I really am so glad some people showed. I almost left twice just as two people showed up. Crazy. I am so glad I didnt leave. =D

Now, what is next on my life-to-do list?

Ah yes... Skydive.

More on that later.