Thursday, September 27, 2007

I HAZ A BUKKIT


My cat decided to join me last night in the home office, but instead of jumping on top of the desk, she hopped into an old Christmas candy tin. She also likes squeezing herself into shoeboxes and curling up in laundry baskets.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Moving House


When most of us think of moving house, we think of packing up our belongings in boxes, loading them into trucks and vans, then transporting them and unloading them inside new homes.

But other people choose to take the house with them!

A motorcycle cop was on hand to block traffic at the intersection, and the power company sent two crews to turn off electricity running through the power lines.

And no, your eyes don't deceive you, that is a man sitting on the roof of the house.

He has an important job: preventing the traffic lights from colliding with and damaging the roof. Here's a closeup of him in action:

He's a braver soul than I am, and I hope he's been well compensated for his work. Even though the house was moving quite slowly, this doesn't seem to be a task for the faint of heart.

It took no more than ten minutes, maybe even less than that, for this home to make its way across the Government Street/Lobdell intersection.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Baton Rouge Magnet High School


Here's another "castle" in Baton Rouge: Baton Rouge Magnet High School, built in 1926. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was also named on Sunday as one of the ten most endangered historic sites in our state by The Trust for Historic Louisiana. Although the high school is one of the top-ranked academically in the state, students are learning in a decaying building: water damage from leaks in the roof, falling plaster, decaying bricks. The school board is trying to determine whether the school should be partially or completely renovated, or whether it should be torn down and a new school built. Allumni of the school who hope to preserve the historic front building are gathering support for their cause through a petition drive and a Facebook group.

Here's a fun fact about BRMHS: Elvis Presley played a concert here in 1955...

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Preparing For Liftoff


When the balloon championships were in town, it seemed like competitors were taking off wherever they could find an open space. This balloonist was inflating in a vacant lot behind CAMD, which is the white building on the left. CAMD is LSU's Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Grab Your Umbrellas



Back from the dead . The office has calmed down to a dull roar, so I can start breathing again.

Above is some rain brought by Humberto to my neighborhood on Thursday night. I hope that our drought-stricken southern and midwestern neighbors received some showers of blessing from Humberto.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Tangled Webs



Last week, I noticed that under the birdbath, an enterprising spider was weaving. Its handiwork is no longer there - I think the thunderstorm we had on Tuesday washed it out - but the spider has moved on up, to the nearby white oak tree, and is spinning away again. I admire the determination of spiders. If the web gets destroyed one day, the next day start building another.