Passing by the life that’s passing you by

One of my favorite pastimes other than taking photos is enjoying store window displays and posters.

Another activity I enjoy is doing what I do best … adjusting and readjusting camera settings and clicking here and there.

When I came home this day and sifted through the cornucopia of pictures, (thank goodness for the chip) I saw with delight this shot.

Barcelona, 2006

I could sit here and write in philosophical terms the meaning of what we I see and of what you might see. But, why should I.

Either way,

Sigh.

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The Magic Lingers

I wrote in my last POST of carrer de Torrijos, as magical and now I post another photo of the same street but, of the other side.

I mentioned a movie theatre, a restaurant and café.

But! Who cares about that!!

I love this street.

carrer de Torrijos
Barcelona, 2006

I love the colors of the buildings and how the sun shines through the trees making wonderful shadows on the buildings façade. For me, all is well when I am here.

Definitely, Torreijos is not mentioned in the top ten of places-to-see in Barcelona guide books, but a must-see on mine any day of the week.

Enjoy!

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A street that looks like and is …

Magic.

Carrer de Torrijos is a block you should visit when you come to Barcelona.

It is as pretty, if not prettier, than what you see in this photo.

Carrer de Torrijos
Barcelona, 2006

I particularly love the light and shadows that appear on this street after 2 pm.

And for extra-added bonus there are 2 cafes and a movie theatre.

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Workin’ the Crowd

Well, it’s a little less than 2 years before the next U.S. presidential election and the potential candidates are slowly increasing their air time on radio and TV.

And you know what?! None of them, YET, excite me.

Why?

I don’t feel their caring about ME, Jane Q. citizen. Title, recognition and power are what I sense they want and need.

I don’t like their style. They appear to talk down “to me” like a child, versus “to me like a knowledgeable and interested adult.

I don’t feel their sincerity. Their smiles and laughter feel forced and rehearsed.

Sheesh! Who are their advisors?

Maybe they can take tips from this little guy.

It was a late afternoon and the natural light had a blue quality. I was practicing and adjusting when I saw a little child with an eye-popping outfit.

Workin' the Crowd
plaça de Gal.la Placidia, Barcelona, 2006

He was charismatic, waving that arm as if he had been waving for a lifetime.

plaça de Gal.la Placidia, Barcelona, 2006

\Some of his would-be constituents smiled, others were not impressed.

plaça de Gal.la Placidia, Barcelona, 2006

He even wowed the young folks, even though they were too young to vote themselves.

Ah! Yes, indeed.

plaça de Gal.la Placidia, Barcelona, 2006

He made an impression when he left.

I liked his style, his sincerity and sense of caring.

Can that be said of those who have presently announced their bid for the U. S. presidency?

Poor U.S.!

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plaça de Gal.la Placidia: Before the renovation

Today I found the only picture of our favorite park, la plaça de Gal.la Placidia, taken the summer of 2006, before the renovation.

I can’t picture that this is the ONLY photo I took. Maybe it’s the only shot I have right now in my possession. I better look some more in the next few days.

For now, the picture gives you a little idea of what I wrote YESTERDAY and in my previous post, Notice of a Rebirth.

Not just a park

plaça de Gal.la Placidia
Barcelona, 2006

Imagine! As you are looking at the park, literally cut the park in half and to your right and the street adjacent to the park now stands the temporary market de lliberbat.

You can also see people, a playground, fountains, plants, trees … ACTIVITY!

Sigh!

It’s gonna be a long 4 years.

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plaça de Gal.la Placidia: Boo-Hoo for now.

As many of you know, I’ve been in the states for the past weeks visiting my family and will be returning shortly back to my beloved Barcelona.

Meanwhile, I found out yesterday the TEMPORARY market de Llibertat has officially opened.

The market is located on the street adjacent to plaça de Gal.la Placidia. Part of the plaça is also being used to house the market.

This past year was quite a sad one for us who love the park at the plaça. Because of renovation, the regulars who congregated there have gone somewhere else.

It was a park where BIG people came to unwind, the LITTLE people played on the seesaw and dogs EVERYWHERE, running back and forth in the doggie pens.

It was a park where I adjusted and re-adjusted my camera settings and where many people were kind enough to “tolerate” me as I took their photos.

So, last night I went through the pictures I shot of plaça de Gal.la Placidia when it was “normal”, when it was tranquil and when it was serene.

And today, I select the first of a series of photos of the people, the place, the pooches and the birds.

So be certain to search the tag placidia as the series of articles add up.

The Beauty Within
plaça de Gal.la Placidia, Barcelona, 2006

How fantastic it is to see the pregnant girl of today proud of her body. I had the idea that she was as beautiful as any world-class model and better.

How lucky their child will be to have such confident and relaxed parents. Their serene manner almost put ME to sleep.

Enjoy!

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Girl in the Middle

She sat there,

as if she had just won the Olympic Gold Medal, triumphant and regal.

plaça de Rius y Taulet
Barcelona, 2006

I arrived in time to see boys do what boys do best. Run, wrestle and climb, fall, retry and eventually make it to the top of the box.

Once there, they sat, looked at another, and smiled.

In the midst of this hoopla was a little girl dressed in a white skirt.

plaça de Rius y Taulet
Barcelona, 2006

She so much wanted to play with them and sit on the metal container and keep them company.

Oh, how she tried and tried to climb.

So completely innocent and free.

plaça de Rius y Taulet
Barcelona, 2006

Eventually she made it with much encouragement from her male companions.

plaça de Rius y Taulet
Barcelona, 2006

Maybe someday she will remember this moment.

And,

Maybe someday when she feels uncertain and insecure as most woman who “grow-up” do, she can draw from the experience of this moment, smile, feel confident, forge ahead and be free.”

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Peek-A-Boo

Barcelona is a romantic city and people can’t help, intertwining, intermingling and just plain old kissing.

In the plaça Gal-la Placidia I caught a couple confirming how they feel about one another. Ah, young love.

plaça Gal-la Placidia
Barcelona, 2006

A kiss is just a kiss, and the act of lips interlocking still fascinates others.

Even me!!

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Side-Affects of the Cigarette Smoking Ban

Western society is so concerned with the health aspects of smoking that I just want to, “cough, cough” (excuse me), talk about the downside of the “smoking ban”.

Sitting on this bench made me realize

Park Bench
Barcelona, 2005

that in my day:

· I don’t know how many wedding couples gave matchbook favors with the name of the couple and the date of their, joyful nuptials. But there were countless, many.

· I don’t know how many rooms, lobbies, and bars in hotels, motels and inns had their names on the matchbook. But there were fantastically many.

· I don’t know how many people of both genders used the edge of the matchbook to dislodge a piece of “something or other” from between their teeth. But there were tremendously many.

· I don’t know how many matchbooks were used as a PDA file for giving or taking phone of vitally, important numbers between both genders. But the number is at least a google or more.

Hmm. (Musing while writing.) In one or two more generations, the children then will not know anything about the matchbook of today.

So, what will take the place of the soon demised match book that acted as an address book?

Park Bench
Barcelona, 2005

Answer: A bench’s slats.

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Converging and Diverting

Shoot! I don’t profess to be a philosopher but we’ve certainly made choices that could go either this way or that way. Are you with me so far?

In this obsessive, compulsive and fixated age of fitness and good health, it was wonderful to see how a group of young folks opted to ride the “up” escalator. My kind of folks!



The other, a young woman, trekked the stairs, all alone. (Ah. Those were the days …)

I was fascinated by a moment of human behavior. They had walked together and then separated.

The scene reminded me of Robert Frost’s overly quoted, overly written and overly analyzed poem, The Road Not Taken. But who cares, I LIKE it overly well.

Can you guess the Frost line I softly whispered to myself as I shot this photo?

Yes!

You’re right.

She “took the one less traveled by …”

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Hanging Loose

These guys looked tough, intimidating and unapproachable and I was immediately intrigued. I liked the way they sat, as close friends do, but more so, I liked the way

plaça de Rius y Taulet
Barcelona, 2006

their laughter softened their rough edges.

These seemingly rough guys were amused by an impish, little boy who was small for his age and standing up against those twice his size and bigger.

plaça de Rius y Taulet
Barcelona, 2006

They liked his spunk and he liked their attention. All were hanging loose and having fun.

And then,

plaça de Rius y Taulet
Barcelona, 2006

Yikes! When they noticed me I thought I was done-in-for.

But in the camera’s viewer I saw a wave, that friendly kind of wave (thank goodness) and I was delighted.

Enjoy!!

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Oh! What a tangled web he weaved

Did these pesky tourists know they fell into a tangled web of toilet paper?

Legend had it that once caught in the web, you were never FREED.

But luckily for these 2 guys they weren't welcome FEED.

Imprisoned Pesky Tourists
Gran de Gràcia, 2005

And the tangled web was weaved.

Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
Gran de Gràcia, 2005

Hmm. Was it too late for this little guy?

Pesky Morsel
Gran de Gràcia, 2005

Passers strolled by; some didn't hesitate to show their disdain.

Hardcore Tourist
Gran de Gràcia, 2005

Hard to imagine that it was a year and half ago these photos were taken.

We’ve walked many times down Gran de Gràcia looking for him.

And,

He’s gone.

But,

Not forgotten.

View more of other street performers in barcalunacy's Barcelona Street Artists FLCKR photoset.

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Streety graffiti

Have you ever dreamt of hitting a high note like Mariah Carey, writing great works like Franz Kafka, composing sonnets that endure a lifetime as Shakespeare has written, or sculpting like Michelangelo? I know I can go on and on but why bother. I have those dreams and maybe you do too.

But simply said, I would just like to draw a straight line without a ruler. Oh, how I marvel and sometimes envy the painter who sees colors, and dimensions that simply escape me.

Yes, I even envy the unheralded graffiti artist who I never get to see but of whom I am a big fan. I think the street artist ought to be hired by governments as they better operate covertly than the professionals used now. An interesting idea, no?

marcat de llibertat,

Barcelona, 2006

Now, by all means, I am not condoning this type of art (for in some places it is ILLEGAL and I abide by the laws as you do) but some graffiti artists do express in brilliant and dazzling colors the plight of a neighborhood or even the world situation, inspiring thought and provoking action.

The photo I took does not convey any message of deep thought but certainly did make me smile. I was charmed by how an ordinary fountain was transformed enough to catch my camera’s eye.

Good thing I thought once and shot this picture because two days later the wall was painted an ordinary, unexciting, blah color.

Enjoy!

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Befuddled huddle

When I lived in the states, my favorite Sunday pastime was football (not the football called soccer in Europe).

I especially liked the moment the players huddled, supposedly strategizing against the enemy. Actually, they were talking about their next social event.

But, for women everywhere, it was REALLY a tush check-out.

However, I digress, for the main reason for this post is to talk about the “huddle” itself.

A huddle (that is for me, a group of 3 or more) raises my curiosity. Do you get curious, too?

So what a surprise it was for me to see this young boy, surrounded closely by 3 pretty, young girls. Probably any guys dream, eh?

marcat de Llibertat
Barcelona, 2006

I was befuddled by the huddle of them sitting there and was afraid to miss the shot for I liked the composition and the mysterious quality of the scene.

So, I clicked twice.

And

We strolled further into the market, when out of no where we were surrounded by our “new” youthful, friends, yelling and shouting at us saying that we had no right to take their photos.

A vendor passing by whom we knew explained to the teen-agers that they were in a public place. We offered to call the police to help with what they said was a problem but they refused, wanting us only to delete the photos from our chips.

After about 20 minutes immersed in this chaotic scene, we left hearing them talk amongst themselves.

What was the ruckus all about? I will never know. I’ve blown up the picture as much as I can. I think that the young man was having his brow pierced, for I see string and hands around his brow.

Anyway, I look forward to real huddles for barçalunacy will be in CHICAGO for the Super Bowl.

DA Bears!!

P.S. Before and after this incident, I have not experienced any turmoil.

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An invention for ALL conditions and ALL situations

How he fell into our lap or what impish forces brought him to us I can never thank them enough.

I met him as you see him.

I asked:

Was he protecting himself from the sun?

Did he wish to be alone in a crowd and he didn’t know how to convey his need in a kindly way?

Had he been attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible?

Rodrigo
Barcelona, 2006

Was it a new diet device?

Was he protecting himself from picking his nose or from putting his elbow into his ear?

Was he protection man-kind from some fatal disease?

Was this a prototype of a new design he was testing to qualify for an entry level position for covert operations for the FBI, CIA or some parochial school?

You be the judge!

He is Rodrigo, a jewelry designer of amazing talent. We met him and his friend, Raquel, on carrer de las Carolinas and we liked him WAY before we saw him.

Rodrigo and Raquel
Barcelona, 2006

People are GREAT and Rodrigo was no exception.

I thank the powers to be for letting us meet each other’s acquaintance.

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