CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH: TEXAS TOWN EDITION

I've never been fond of Lubbock, Texas. I never will be. But I got some nice photos there once a couple of years ago. And I've never shared them UNTIL NOW! First thing's first, though. Before you get all pumped about how pretty Lubbock is, I want to remind you of Lubbock's charred, rusty soul. This, my friend, is the Essence of Lubbock:


This was a nice park with a lake in it. I don't know what it was called. I don't care enough about Lubbock to ask questions about its parks and recreation!







We also went to this bird sanctuary out on the edge of town. It was in a housing development that circled another pretty nice lake (the use of the word "pretty" in this case is not an adjective; of course I would have used a comma if it were!).




This was a cool door underneath the deck of the bird sanctuary building.




Also near this bird sanctuary and lake community were a couple of bizarre houses.


Apparently one of those kooky eccentric types likes building houses in the area, including this metal one.


I liked the lake reflection in the window.


From below I thought it looked as if it were made out of sheets of chocolate. Good thing it wasn't because everyone knows it would have been a pile of goo like 200 years ago because of that Lubbock heat!


To escape the horrors of Tech Town, we took a day trip up to our hometown, Amarillo. For those of you who don't know, Amarillo was also home of a rather well-known eccentric type named Stanley Marsh, III. My best friend's mother once taught his children to play the piano and her name is still carved into the piano in his house. Also I went to school with a kid who was Stanley's second cousin. Anyway, Stan came up with this hair-brained project that involved putting these obscure signs all over the city. People would consent to have a sign put in their yard and before we knew it, they were everywhere! I still want to go back and make a photographic project of it and get a shot of each one but for now you'll have to enjoy this leaf-obstructed sign that was near my friend's house the day we visited.


The view directly across from my old house. They didn't have all those weird bowling balls back then. I'm guessing the original owners died and now some young, hipster family lives there.


Amarillo really has some lovely neighborhoods. When I was about 10, one particular neighborhood struck me with the desire to own my own house. I've been craving one in the Wolflin neighborhood style ever since. Maybe one day my dream will become a reality! These are various houses in older parts of Amarillo, including my former neighborhood as well as Wolflin.














This house always looks like a styrofoam cooler to me.


Perhaps you're thinking I'm being too hard on Lubbock and too soft on Amarillo? Maybe. Could THIS be the Essence of Amarillo?


This place was located on the busy street behind our second Amarillo home. Whenever my mom asked my sister and I where we were going, we'd say we were going to Cassidy's to pick up our checks. To this day she doesn't know we were serious about that!


We also joked a lot about going to Smoker's Outlet. We never actually went there but it sure looks like a happenin' place, huh? It used to be some drive-thru pharmacy and I can just almost remember the name of that place, which is astonishing given how long ago that was (that and they weren't open very long). I guess that building is just better suited for killing services than healing services.



Amarillo has a string of gas stations called Toot 'n' Totem. It wasn't until after we moved that we realized what a wonderfully bizarre name that is for a chain of convenience stores. Isn't Amarillo THE BEST?


On our way out of town we stopped by Cadillac Ranch (Stanley Marsh's most famous project) and then sought out Stanley's Ozymandias statue. Neither of us had seen it. Compared to Cadillac Ranch, Ozymandias is pretty new.




We hiked that fence to get closer. Ooooh, rebellious!


I like how it nearly looks like "hi!".

If you want to know the significance of this statue, Stanley based it on Shelley's poem of the same name. You can read it here. My more recent research uncovered the fact that now Ozymandias is wearing long sport socks. You can read it for yourself by going here.


All in all, Amarillo is a wonderful place. The only good part about Lubbock is my brother lives there. Beyond that I wouldn't go near the place, it's almost as bad as Abilene! Still, you have to admit though that the entire Texas panhandle has the best sunsets. You know they shot the sunset scene for Gone With the Wind up there.