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Bad habits

I really need to start writing the clever things down when I think of them, or when Oz says them, rather than waiting till evening when my head empties out after a soul-crushing day of weird technology (right now I'm translating patents for automotive supplemental restraint systems that look a lot more dangerous to the vehicle occupants than oncoming traffic). The problem was compounded today with a migraine plus bonus light sensitivity. Thanks to the joy of tight deadlines I was stuck staring at screen after screen of car passenger-damaging equipment and when I finally gave up, I still had to shade my eyes every time I walked by a window. And that's with the blinds drawn. Oh, my head hurts just thinking about it, so I'll stop thinking about it now.

I had the foresight to run over to the donut shop before the dizzy spells began in earnest. (After the dizzy starts, I don't drive.) Donuts and coffee are surprisingly effective headache remedies. The donut shop lady said, "Hey, I haven't seen you for a while." I told her that I'd been going to be in a wedding and I wanted to be thin for it. She said, "Oh, we're all the same. We always starve ourselves for important events." I wouldn't go quite that far. My slack weight gain avoidance plan has a special exception for headache donuts. Actually, I have a special exception for just about anything I want to eat as long as I've been getting regular exercise.

So, how about some architecture? Get it while you can.

Murphy's Hotel, aka the Eighth Street Office Building, North 8th and East Broad Streets

Despite efforts to save Murphy's Hotel, demolition of this 1911 building will start in a few weeks, after they salvage some of the pretty bits. The state owns this old hotel and has been using it as an office building. When the fancy trim started to fall off, they built covered walkways down on the sidewalks, because that's cheaper than maintaining the thing, I guess. Now they're going to tear it down and build something new and boring in its place. It seems the new building will be a better match for all the other new, boring buildings and boring surface parking lots that are springing up all down Broad Street as older, interesting buildings are getting knocked down.

Here's a dandy detail from a completely different building.

From the Grace Street façade of Berry-Burk Co., North 6th and East Grace Streets

Though, alas, the department store is long gone, this building is not endangered and has been turned into apartments. We suspect that the dandy is meant to be Beau Brummel, noted Regency dandy. Though Mr. Brummel shuffled off this mortal coil over eighty years before this store was built in 1926, he was immortalized in a 1924 film. Coinky-dink? I think not.

Oz can't believe that anyone ever dressed like that, with a top hat straight out of Alice in Wonderland.