Someone informed me of some landscaping changes on Main Street in downtown Richardson. The trees in the median were reportedly ripped out and replaced by shrubs. Someone said it's the second time. That can't be, I thought. The trees were just planted. The Main Street redevelopment project was just celebrated in October, 2021. Sad to say, the news appears to be true, as the photo above shows.
"Mosques stand side by side.
Minarets pierce clouds with grace.
Blue domes kiss the sky."
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| From 2024 05 06 Istanbul |
Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The Blue Mosque was completed in 1616. It was designed as an imperial show of strength. If you think the Blue Mosque is old, look next door at the Hagia Sophia, completed over a thousand years earlier in 537 CE. Hagia Sophia was a Christian church until 1453, when it was converted to a mosque. It was the world's largest building for nearly a thousand years.
A photo of Hagia Sophia is after the jump.
"East and West embrace,
bridging time and continents.
Istanbul welcomes."
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| From 2024 05 06 Istanbul |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Istanbul, Turkey, one of the world's great cities for 2,000 years. It's the gateway between Europe and Asia, between East and West, between modernity and history. Travel there from the West and it feels exotic. Arrive from the East and it feels like you are back in familiar surroundings. It's chaotic and wonderful at once.
A bonus photo is after the jump.
One President with some Girl Scouts, pitching a documentary about our oceans.
One pitching guitars for $1,500 (or, if autographed by the Grifter-in-Chief himself, for $10,000).
I miss one of these guys.
From The Cartographers, by Peng Shepherd:
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