Google+ Georgia On My Mind: June 2008

Monday, June 30, 2008

More Georgia Blogs for the Blogroll

A Servant's Journey- As I began to prepare this post I opened up my email to discover overnight Servant had sent me a note letting me know he had found Georgia on My Mind and wanted to join our community. Head on over and welcome Servant as he writes about being a servant to One as well as a servant to all. A recent post at his blog is titled We are of the Second Man where Servant states, “Jesus is known as the Last Adam. In that, He took all that was of Adam, our fallen nature, to judgement and death on the cross.”

Photographic South- This is a brand new photography blog brought to us by BJ Wright. The tagline states, “Images of the Southern USA including historical notes, observations, related stories.” I particularly enjoyed BJ’s image of the backroad to the Tunnel Hill battlefield seen here. BJ’s other blog, Foothills & Highlands, is already on the Georgia blogroll here at GoMM.

BlogBrunswick- Many thanks to the administrator of this new blog for bringing it to my attention. The tagline states, “An online resource for Brunswick, Saint Simon’s Island, Jekyll Island, Little Saint Simon’s Island, and Sea Island.” I look forward to finding out more about an area of the state people like me (Atlantans) don’t get to as often as they should. If you are a Georgia blogger and live in any of these areas this is also a great resource for you as the administrators have a great local bloggers list going as well. This recent post concerns a fire on beautiful Cumberland Island.

Around the first of June I posted a new category for the left-side bar for music blogs. Rich over at Cable and Tweed let me in on some other great Georgia blogs for music. In my classic snail-like fashion it’s taken me a bit to “git-r-done” but here they are:

OhmPark- The OhmPark Staff have been busy all weekend at the Corndogorama in Athens which I take it to be more about music than corndawgs.

Confessions of a Music Addict- Wouldn’t ya know it? Just as I get my act together to do the add….they go on hiatus. Hey, that’s ok. I’m linking anyway cause it appears there’s still some great stuff to explore here….for example, this recent concert review for Ladytron.

That Truncheon Thing- this blog is also on hiatus….probabably permant, but like their
Good Night and Good Luck post states, “[we are keeping the blog up because] it’ll be like a time capsule for music in 2007.” Sounds good to me….

Underneathica- first of all since I’m a word freak and love language….this is a cool mash-up of words for the title. You’ll find lots of music stuff including great postings and lots of links.

Blank Crisis- Again, this blog is inactive, but if you like music you may find some great links and other stuff to explore here.

Captains Dead-a “lots a music stuff blog” with over 537 readers with Feedblitz….wow, I’d like that kinda stat over History Is Elementary. A recent post includes Titus Andronicus' the Airing of Grievances.

Fear of Arthropods- the tagline here says, “Music and wordsmithery…not necessarily in that order.” A recent post includes Paste Band of the Week: Bowerbirds

Paste Magazine- their website states they are one of the fastest-growing independently published entertainment magazines in the country and I’m told they are are based right here in Decatur, Georgia. Their website also states they pride themselves in being the premier magazine for people who still enjoy discovering new music, prize substance and songcraft over fads and manufactured attitude, and appreciate quality music across a broad stylistic spectrum---indie rock, Triple-A, Americana, folk, blues, jazz, etc. Check out the website for many, many different BLOGS.

The last two additions are band blogs….

Deer Hunter...the Band-currently on tour you can see them in action here and their Wikipedia page here

The Black Lips – they also have their own Wikipedia page here

If you have requested an ad and I have forgotten you please accept my apologies. Please remind me by contacting me at gamind@mail.com.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

A Carnegie Wish

Due to the philanthropic nature of the industrialist/Robber Baron, Andrew Carnegie (depending on your point of view), many of Georgia’s small towns and larger urban areas were the recipients of library grants in the latter years of the 1800s and the early part of the Twentieth Century. The city of Atlanta, at one time, could boast it had three Carnegie libraries. The main building was located at the corner of Forsyth and Carnegie Way. The grant was issued in 1898 with the building being finalized in 1900. It is pictured below:

The building was demolished in 1977 to be replaced with a newer and more modern facility. Fortunately part of the building lives on……It exists as a column structure at Peachtree and West Peachtree across from Suntrust Plaza. It is known as the Carnegie Arch.


Another Carnegie library found in Atlanta is located on Moreland Avenue and is in the Little Five Points district. Earlier this week I shared many pictures from an exploration of Little Five Points that I made the other day with my daughter.

The final location within Little Five Points that my daughter and I visited was the store called Wish. Wow, what a great use of space! Their website can be found here. I loved the clean surface of the plain plywood everywhere. The simple displays are refreshing. As you enter the store you see raised boxes on either side of a walkway that has a clear floor with clothing and accessories displayed underneath as seen in the picture below (snagged from the Wish website).
Dear Daughter bought one of their signature t-shirts with the Wish logo as well as the words Little Five Points, and as we made our purchase the staff members were talkative. They certainly didn’t seem to mind that they were placed in the position of having to converse with a 40-something lady who is anything but hip. In fact when one of the clerks, a 20-something, tatooed, tanned man missing most of his shirt found out I was a history teacher he admitted he was a history geek as well.

It was at this point the young man reminded me I was standing in a Carnegie library. Wow! Thank goodness the folks in Little Five Points didn’t let this gem of a building go the way of the wrecking ball. The people at Wish have done a fantastic job of preserving the building’s architecture while creating a funky space.

The name of the store also fits in with a Carnegie library since it was the wish of many communities that they would receive a Carnegie grant.

The lower level of Wish really blew me away. It is here where you can find almost many trendy yet hard-to-find footwear styles….many of them limited editions. While Dear Daughter ooed and ahhed over many different styles she had never seen before I was mesmerized by the décor.
Look at the wall above the shoes in this image (taken from the Wish site). Those are books….Carnegie library….books….get the picture? All the books in this area had plain black jackets with gold lettering on the spines which added to the interesting placement of each group of books on the shelves. So cool!


In another section of the lower level books are used again, however, they are turned with the spines facing inward. I thought it was very interesting way to cover a way....especially in an old library space. Though they probably didn't want us to take a picture I had had Dear Daughter snap the one below rather quickly.

As we left I had my daughter take some shots of the outside of the building. Earlier, when we crossed the road from The Junkman’s Daughter to return to our car I was so tired, but I’m so glad at Dear Daughter’s suggestion I ventured into Wish.
The image below shows the side of the building where the original cornerstone designates the site as a Carnegie library.

Over at History Is Elementary I’ve posted some more information regarding Carnegie libraries.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Crazy and Cool Little Five Points

So I asked Daughter Dear, “If you could explore any part of Atlanta which part would it be?”

Without hesitation she said, “Little Five Points.” Now, as far as I know she has only ridden through Little Five Points once when we were on our way over to the Carter Center to see one of the original Dunlap broadsides of the Declaration of Independence that is owned by Norman Lear, so I was little surprised at her answer.

I was also a little taken aback by her answer because I had never walked the streets of Moreland and Euclid even though I was born in Atlanta (a Piedmont baby, thank you very much). I had driven through many times…..As I mentioned yesterday, Little Five Points is one of those places I’ve always driven through to get to somewhere else.

Little Five Points was originally formed by the interesections of Moreland Avenue, Euclid Avenue, and Seminole Aveue. Today, many consider the fifth point to be where McClendon Avenue crosses Moreland since Seminole was incorporated into Davis Plaza.

Well, last Thursday Dear Daughter and I threw caution to the wind and we went explorin’.

It was a glorious day of art in your face, funky clothes, crazy shoes, insense and some other smells I recognized :). We also met lots of folks with various lengths of hair, interesting clothing choices, body art, and folks full of hellos and how are yous.

We started out by parking in the lot across the street from The Junkman’s Daughter and we walked down Moreland Avenue, crossed Euclid, and then down past Zestos we discovered we had an interesting choice of lunch at Front Page News or Sabroso. Dear Daughter felt like Mexican was the cuisine for the day, and we soon found ourselves sitting on their patio enjoying their fountain and interesting metal sculptures. I like the picture of Dear Daughter hidden behind the menu…..The service at Sabroso was excellent, and the our soft tacos were perfect.

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After lunch we headed across Moreland and began the trek down Euclid with Dear Daughter snapping pictures as we went. Art is everywhere….from the buildings themselves, to the items inside the store windows, to the sides of buildings where murals are displayed, back fences behind buildings, and yes, even the street signs and telephone poles contain someone’s idea of art. It’s great!
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The insides of the stores were just as great. It was interesting just to see how each store used their space…..Dear Daughter bought a pair of earrings at Envy…..she found a really cool white sundress, but I nixed the $80 price tag. Maybe if I go back in a few days the price will be lower. Her favorite store was Rag-O-Rama where they sell gently used clothing. I loved all the retro stuff, and Dear Daughter got a little tired of me showing her clothing items I had as a teen. She chose a Pepe Le Pew t-shirt that had been slashed down the front, back, and sleeves. We decided she could wear it over her swimsuit. I did relive some high school moments by putting on a few pairs of platform shoes and extreme high heels just to see if they still felt the same. They were worse. :) I’m soooo over THAT fashion trend.













Soon we found ourselves back up to the point where Euclid and Moreland cross so we Dear Daughter snapped some pictures of the goings-on in Findley Plaza. It was here where we tried on old hats at Stefan's Vintage Clothing

Then we had a quick sojourn in Findley Plaza and backdown Moreland towards The Vortex and The Junkman’s Daughter…..with a quick look around Davis Plaza as seen in these pictures:

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The Junkman's Daughter was one of my daughter’s most favorite stores. Lots and lots of quirky stuff to look at, and we kept finding article after article of “must-have” clothing. She finally settled on a couple of tops that left with her as she journeyed to Panama City Beach this morning with her youth group. I mean, really….how can you go on a trip without a new article of clothing….or two….or three…..you get the picture. Luckily she has a job, so…..Daddy isn’t footing the whole bill. :)

We can now truthfully say that Little Five Points is one our favorite Atlanta must-see and must-experience districts. BUT OUR MOST FAVORITE PART of Little Five Points……well, I will share that tomorrow. Be sure to tune in.
Little Five points information and history can be obtained here and here.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Act Like a Tourist

Whether you live in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, or Athens I’m sure there are parts of your town you’ve never explored as a citizen or as a quasi-tourist. For some reason most people would prefer to venture at least fifty miles or so away from home to learn local history or to experience the culture.

Those neighborhoods you pass through on your way to somewhere else just never get the credit they deserve.

Maybe you have been to Lenox Mall, but have never taken the time to mosey through the various shops up and down Peachtree. Perhaps, like me, you were born in Atlanta but have never taken the time to explore a place like Virginia Highlands or dared to leave the safe confines of your car to walk up and down Moreland or Euclid better known as Little Five Points.

What about the Governor's Mansion, the Swan House, the birthplace of Dr. King, or the Herndon Home? Maybe you have never taken the ride up to the top of the Peachtree Plaza or heard the magical words, “Whadda ya have? Whadda ya have? Whadda ya have?” at the Varsity.

Well, what’s your excuse? I’m too tired…We’re running late….Maybe next time….I’m not sure if it’s safe…..

Quite frankly I’m tired of having my own excuses. This is my summer – my summer for being a tourist even in my own hometown, and I’m starting with Little Five Points because that’s where my fifteen-year-old daughter wants to explore (post and pictures later this week)

Leave me a comment and tell me some great places located in Georgia you should explore, but never have.

What great places do you pass through on your way to somewhere else?

Friday, June 20, 2008

Georgia Carnival: Edition 38

Welcome to the Georgia Blog Carnival!

The next carnival will be hosted here at
Georgia on My Mind on Friday, July 4th. Submissions will be due Thursday, July 3rd.

If you maintain a Georgia blog and would like to host the carnival at your site e-mail me to set up a date. It’s a great way to put your own personal spin on the carnival.

The last edition of the Georgia carnival can be found
here, and the carnival archives are found here.

Now… on to the highlights of Georgia blogging during the past two weeks.


Travel and Things to Do

I think I’ve heard of everything now….Claudine shares Canine Cocktail Hour at Hotel Indigo posted at The Atlanta Traveler, saying, "Cute dining option for pets and their owners at Hotel Indigo."

Over at The Q Family Adventure, Amy has posted Take Me Out to the Ball Game... sharing their last family outing to the ball game at Turner Field.

Tushar Mathur provides Maui After Dark posted at Travel-Eat-Sleep. Wouldn’t a Hawaiian vacation (without the kids) be great?

Over at Exurban Adventures Buzz Brockway presents Ground broken at Gwinnett Braves Stadium that includes some video and pictures of Jeff Francoeur, John Schuerholz, and others at the ground breaking ceremony for the Gwinnett Braves new stadium.

In case you missed it I went to Chastain the other night.

Issues and Opinions

Paw Paw Bill provides in interesting look at the increasing gas prices along with a smidge of supply and demand economics with SUV Wars

Tushar Mathur presents Simple Foreclosure Solutions posted at Everything Finance.

Freddie Sirmans discusses the gas crisis and what must be done to keep the trucks rolling

Religion and Related Matters

From Bill Reichart over at Provocative Church, "Don't Come to My Church!?" Is it true that a pastor would really say that about his church? ...read more to find out what he means.

Over at Got Bible? I relive a few memories in my post Memories Old and New: Vacation Bible School.

Education

It might be summer vacation, but the issues don’t take eight weeks….

Ethan over at Never Clever Whatsoever gives us Another Rant about Georgia's CRCT Scores. I’ve already told him what I think….now it’s YOUR turn.

James presents SPLOST: A Case Study and Questions About Those SPLOST 3 Bonds posted at The Other Athens.

James is also concerned about his local system system rejoining the Consortium for Adequate School Funding in Georgia with his postings Second Verse, Same As The First and Running The Numbers On The Consortium. And of course, we always need an overview with On The Clarke County Board of Education which is apparently where Chaos Reigns.

Over at History Is Elementary I recently responded to a CBS News report regarding truancy with my post A Cure or Placebo?

Politics

Paw Paw Bill provides a thoughtful response to the phrase “one of us” with his post Your Father's Oldsmobile.

James presents 10th District Campaign Update posted at The Other Athens.

Over at Mostly Media SpaceyG takes it upon herself to critique the latest political ad in Georgia’s U.S. Senate campaign with Making the Least Out of New Media.

Water Woes…They Aren’t Gone Yet

Over at Beer Pong is Never a Good Idea Russell responds, “Water this.”

Getting There is Half the Fun

The Georgia Road Geek shares A New Toll Road For Gwinnett County?

Forget the Roads….Give Me Some Nature

Fighting the traffic in Atlanta and her suburbs we forget the simple pleasures in life. Enjoy Terrell’s nature romp with Give me home where the cone-flowers bloom... posted at Alone on a Limb.

Literature and Online Reading

Tushar Mathur has an angle on a Free: Website Magazine posted at Everything Finance.

Over at Grasping For The Wind John shares his latest review of Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson.

The latest issue of Moonshine, a magazine of the southern arts is available online (& free) here.

Please support these fine Georgia bloggers by letting them know you have visited them with a comment. Your continued support with your links and shout-outs at your site helps to alert others to what we Georgia bloggers have to offer:

The next edition of the carnival will be found at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, July 4th.. Posts can be sent to gamind@mail.com or use the handy submission form.

Submissions are due by Thursday, July 3rd by 6:00 p.m.Thanks for your continued support of the Georgia Carnival!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Georgia Blog Carnival: Call for Submissions

The next edition of the carnival will be found at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, June 20th. Posts can be sent to gamind@mail.com or use the handy submission form.

Submissions are due by Thursday, June 19th by 6:00 p.m.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Saturday Night at Chastain

My husband and I have fallen in love with Chastain Park Amphitheater. It is just the most unusual place to attend a concert. Last October we enjoyed Diana Krall and Chris Botti. This past Saturday night we enjoyed Chris Botti and Paula Cole. We were hoping for more of our favorites from the Italia CD, but it was still a fantastic concert. Luckily the rain held off.

The ambiance of attending a concert at Chastain is so unique…..the candles, the little tables, the food concert-goers bring in. It’s always interesting to observe how others set up their area and the different things they bring in….you get so many great ideas. We dined at Stoney River Steaks, but took cheese, grapes, crackers, and cheesecake along with us.

Below is a video I found on YouTube of Chris Botti performing Cinema Paradiso which we were able to experience at Chastain as well. The video isn’t the best, but the sound is great. Along with Chris Botti are Billy Childs on the piano, Billy Kilson on drums, James Genus on Bass, Mark Whitfield on guitar, and Gil Goldstein conducting.

Enjoy!

Monday, June 9, 2008

Georgia Bloggers: Music

The following list represents the Georgia’s Blogs on the blogroll here at Georgia on My Mind that discuss music on a daily or regular basis.

A Cup of Coffey

Barnes Storming

Blank Crisis

Brazilian Music TV

Cable and Tweed

Captains Dead

Caribbean Music TV

Confessions of a Music Addict

Deerhunter...the band

Fear of Arthropods

Georgia Soul

GPB Midday Music

Jamaican Music TV

KISS Atlanta

Mara Davis

OhmPark

Paste Magazine

Puerto Rican Music TV

Poop and Pie

Radlanta

That Truncheon Thing

The Black Lips

The Georgia Jukebox

The Underwriter

Underneathica

Do you know about a Georgia blog regarding music I haven’t listed? Please contact me at gamind@mail.com to let me know, or to advise any corrections that need to be made.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Georgia Carnival: Edition 37

Welcome to the Georgia Blog Carnival. School is out, and the summer is on.

The next carnival will be hosted here at
Georgia on My Mind on Friday, June 20th. Submissions will be due Thursday, June 19th.

If you maintain a Georgia blog and would like to host the carnival at your site e-mail me to set up a date. It’s a great way to put your own personal spin on the carnival.

The last edition of the Georgia carnival can be found
here, and the carnival archives are found here.

Please support these fine Georgia bloggers by letting them know you have visited them with a comment. Your continued support with your links and shout-outs at your site helps to alert others to what we Georgia bloggers have to offer.

Now… on to the highlights of Georgia blogging during the past two weeks:

Have you noticed the category links on the left sidebar? So far I’ve categorized Georgia blogs into creative arts, journalism, education, lawyers, legal matters, nutrition, online media, recipes, religion, restaurants, spirituality, and sports. I have many more blogs to categorize as you can see by the ever growing list of Georgia blogs on the right sidebar. One of the largest categories is politics. While some blogs like Tondee's Tavern or Peach Pundit are most certainly political blogs, there are others that I’m not so sure about.

If you write about politics (local, state, and/or national) and want to be included in the politics category please drop me an email at gamind@mail.com with your blog name and url so I can include it. Remember that you also get a second category listing as well. However, I would venture to state that most political blogs could also be included in a category for “issues and opinions”. I hope to tackle the political category in the next few days as well as many, many more. Other categories I’ll be utilizing can be found here.

Well, today is June 6, 2008 and we are remembering D-Day once again. Over at History Is Elementary I remember my uncle and all of his comrades who spent the early morning hours of June 6, 1944 gliding into D-Day.

Katie Byrd over at SharpMom.com is a former Atlantan living in North Carolina, but still hauls the kids back to the ATL to for weekend trips. The Atlanta History Center is one of their favorite places to visit. She offers up her post titled WWII Remembrance Day at Atlanta History Center.

Speaking of soldiers, Peach Pundit pointed me over to this post by Obi’s Sister providing information about Operation Love. A goal to send 5,000 cards, letters, emails, etc. to soldiers is a very worthy goal indeed.

Rusty over at Georgia Podcast Network shares a video journal he and Amber took through Middle Georgia this past weekend titled Things We Look For on Road Trips.

Shana from Science on TV shares her review of Man vs Wild Episode 3 - Ring of Fire.

Georgia’s own Hamilton Jordan finally lost his battle with cancer at the end of May. Paw Paw Bill provides his eulogy of Jordon with his post Rhymes with Burden.

Obi's Sister writes about Georgia’s most favored song (by many including me) “Glory, Gloria to Old Georgia”, and also lets us know what came before glory, glory.

Over at Got Bible I provide a few one liners…..Christian One Liners, that is.

Fluffy Flowers own Felicia shares a mother of a weekend where she relates her thoughts and feelings after the Mother’s Day tornados ripped through her town, and she’s trying to maintain by staying positive.

Amy presents 13 Fun (Free) Things to Do This Summer posted at The Q Family Adventure, saying, "Summer fun in GA".

Shelia Scarborough has posted Family Friendly Must Sees in Georgia over at Education.com.

Over at Everything Finance you can find Five Online Resources for Forex Beginners….Forex as in foreign exchange markets.

Paw Paw Bill provides an excellent history and government lesson regarding the popular vote as Hillary Clinton took it down to the wire this week with his his post Vox Populi.

Savannah Red doesn’t want Obama or McCain mucking around with the everyday problems he faces. Afterall, don’t we have the the Ahmadinejad Strain to deal with?

Paul over at Cries of the Heart has some thoughts on suffering.

Over at Alone on a Limb Terrell shares a bit of miscelleaneous nature. Wonderful images!

I think it’s wonderful when we have a change of mind. Russell over at Beer Pong Is Never a Good Idea has had a change of mind regarding Atlanta where everyday is an opening day.

Find out the latest art and cultural news for June by visiting the Georgia Art Exchange here.

The next edition of the carnival will be found at Georgia on My Mind on Friday, June 20th. Posts can be sent to gamind@mail.com or use the handy submission form. Submissions are due by Thursday, June 19th by 6:00 p.m.

Thanks for your continued support of the Georgia Carnival!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Sometimes It Takes a Child


The story from the WSB-TV news page explains:

Haden Stusak, 6, of Fayetteville (the boy on the left) is being called a hero after he dived into a pool to investigate a shadow on the bottom that turned out to be his friend.

Josiah Buddah, 5, and Haden are buddies. Haden is a good swimmer, but Josiah can't swim without his water wings.

On Sunday, Josiah took off his water wings and sank to the bottom of the deep end.

Head over to the link and watch the video if you missed it…..they are so cute!

AND parents….watch your kids!
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