Weekend

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! I hope yours is as relaxing as mine :-)
Caption this photo, just for fun!

Wall Mural

The December 2008 issue of Metropolitan Home features the home of 2 architects in Portland, Oregon. A husband and wife effort, she sewed together fabric panels and he painted a scene of a traditional room as a sort of stage set for their master bedroom. I could see this done very easily straight on the wall for contrast in a modern home such as this. I love this idea! The more sketchy the mural the better! Note to self: file this away in 'things to consider'

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone in the USA is having a great Thanksgiving full of family, friends and good food! Enjoy the Thanksgiving joke!

A young man named Mike received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. Mike tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, Mike was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. Mike shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. Mike, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, Mike quickly open the door to the freezer, the parrot calmly stepped out into Mike's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

Mike was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

Fisherman's Bastion

I've been working with stone a lot at work recently, which led me to randomly think of the Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest.Located in the Castle district, it was originally designed by the architect Frigyes Shulek between 1901 and 1903 as an adjacent structure to the Church of our Lady or Matthais Church, out of remaining stones from the nearby old castle wall. It received its name from the neighborhood it rises above, Fisherman's Town.

This point is high above the city and offers spectacular views over all the surrounding neighborhoods - because of the stunning architecture and views, this is the most popular tourist attraction in the city. Hopefully someday I'll get there to see it for myself!

Gandhi

In front of the Indian Embassy, which I showed yesterday, is a small park with this beautiful statue of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi(1869-1948). I bring this up just because my favorite quote and one that is part of my username for blogger is by him:
'You must be the change you wish to see in the world'.
Gandhi was an important man in Indian and South African history, one for revolution through non-violence. He was for change (sound familiar to our recent election?).
I'm not going to get into politics here, but I think this is one of the most important affirmations I've ever read. I started my blog hoping to write about what was important to me. I wanted to be the change, albeit in a small way, that I wanted to see. I try to bring a bit of beauty to my blog everyday to share with whomever is interested in finding it. It may be a small goal, but it is the change I want to see in the world.
Everytime I've passed this statue, I've seen people relaxing and meditating in this small garden and wondered what changes they wish to see in the world. What changes would you like to see? Thanksgiving is a day set aside to think about things like this, so please don't forget while spending time with family and friends to also give some thought to small ways you can help attain your own goals. Thanks for letting me blab on here :-)

Embassy Row

While walking home from the Hillwood Museum last weekend, I stopped by my favorite section of Embassy row for a few pictures. spooky Embassy of Cameroon at the top, not sure which 2 these are above.
Embassy row is the nickname of a stretch of Massachusetts Avenue here in DC from where I live all the way west for a few miles to Ward Circle. This stretch of road was the premier address at the turn of the last century for the wealthiest families to build their mansions. Nowadays, these beautiful buildings are too large for private residences; many are apartments, foundation headquarters and embassies (from which the road derives its nickname) Now the Indonesian embassy, this was the former home of heiress Evelyn Walsh McLean, last private owner of the Hope Diamond.

Embassy of India - beautiful but in poor condition

Not an embassy, but one of my favorite buildings along Mass. Ave, The Cosmos Club, seen above and below. This became the location for the club in 1952 -before that it was the Townsend Mansion.

Embassy of Estonia - intersting placement on a sharp corner. I've always wondered how the odd building shape was dealt with inside.

Embassy of Luxembourg - I swear this embassy is larger than the country!
This embassy is small but majestic!

Embassy of Ireland above facing Sheridan circle.

Not sure if these are embassies, but aren't they pretty?

This newly remodeled and super luxurious embassy is breathtaking and in a primo location.
And I saved the best for last. This is a private home and is probably my favorite house in Washington. It faces Sheridan circle and the facade is rounded. I love that palladian porch on the 2nd floor!The neighboring house is really beautiful too :-)

I hope you enjoyed this small tour of embassy row! If you are ever in DC it's a great place to take a long walk and enjoy beautiful buildings. I've shown just a few of my favorites but there are 100s more beautiful houses to appreciate!