Friday, May 12, 2006

A walk through Hyde Park

In my little neighborhood in Austin, Texas, there is minimal division between the classes. On the same block, you see luxury homes with separate guest houses and shacks the size of efficiency apartments with rotting wood and overgrown vegetation.

Very little in Hyde Park separates the rich...

Big House



...and the poor...

Truck



...and the dead.

First Spiritualist Church


Those residents who are embodied can work out with the "certified trainers" of Hyde Park Gym.

Workout with our certified trainers


But don't expect to live up to the arm that greets you at the door:

Arm I


Our nearest cafe, Flightpath, is the most quiet and studious in town. Only the images on the walls want to mingle with newcomers.

Cafe Art

Clown Painting


I ask a grad student, who is busy studying for exams, if I can use her picture on my blog.

"What's a blog?" she asks.

Flightpath Student


The sun goes down over Hyde Park. Perhaps the spirits will peak in through our little window tonight.


Floating Window

6 Comments:

Blogger Maxine Weiss said...

"What's a Blog"

I must be missing something. I thought Texas women were into the big hairdos and frou-frou fashions? Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and all that. Is that not the look anymore? The pared-down, plain-simple look, doesn't work for me. And, certainly not in Texas, where everything is supposed to be larger-than-life.

Or so I thought.

P.S. Sweet that you asked permission. But anyone in a public place should not have an expectation of privacy.

Also, I love the ink-blot effect of the stucco on the walls. How is that done? Do you use a sponge, or blot the roller paint?

Peace, Maxine

7:19 PM  
Blogger Chris Althouse Cohen said...

I asked permission because I had to be very conspicuous about it when I took that photo. It's easier when you're taking a picture of a group.

8:54 PM  
Blogger Patry Francis said...

Great photos. Austin looks like a very cool place.

10:04 PM  
Blogger Maxine Weiss said...

Ok but......

Some advice.......you aren't going to go up to every single person sitting alone and askie them ---

may-I-please-takie-yer-pics-kind lass???

Taking photos is going to become very tedious if you have to check with each and every subject beforehand.

And of course, if you get obnoxious responses....such as

they-don't-permit-photos-because-of-all-the-oh-so-horrendous-paparazzi-and-they-simply-aren't-wearing-their-game-face-at-the-moment.....

It's an invitation to vanity/narcissim....which we don't need any more of in society.

Moi? I'd just snap away, and deal with the fallout later. Easier that way.

You don't have deal with all the vain-glorious explanations.

Maybe they aren't vain in Texas, anway?

Peace, Maxine

2:03 PM  
Blogger Ruth Anne Adams said...

I like the sinewy disembodied oversized arm outside the gym.

I also like the Elizabethan collar on the [evil-makes-me-think-of-John-Wayne-Gacy] clown.

You've got a good eye for film.

8:38 PM  
Blogger Ann Althouse said...

1. That arm reminds me of Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast."

2. It took me a long time to notice that the lamp was made out of a trumpet.

7:33 AM  

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