Rustcycles: Girard & Oxford

If you look closely, this lovely lady can be yours for only $30.

Rustcycles is a series of abandoned bicycles and locks I've stumbled upon throughout Philadelphia.

On the Earthship, Lollipop...

Most stories on this blog have been random occurrences. This, I sought to find.

Several months ago, I found out Earthship was doing a build in Philly. I wanted to participate, but I know I'm way too busy as it is. I DID want to at least stop in to see the progress, and I finally did last Saturday.

Riding up North 41st Street, the neighborhood turns a little rough not too far past Market Street. At first, I wasn't sure I was in the right place, but then I saw the lot...

Just a foundation, and covered in snow, but awesome nonetheless. I'll have more pics posted some time. Can't wait to see what this looks like when it's complete!

Nice Rack: Passyunk & Dickinson

One thing I've noticed about every city I've visited, artistic expression is plentiful. Case in point:

If you look closely, those are actually woven covers - not paint - on the bike racks across the street from the P.O.P.E.

THE COLORS!

Nice Racks is a series of bike rack art I've stumbled upon throughout Philadelphia.

Rustcycles: 2nd & Girard

For months, when I was living in Northern Liberties, I would pass by this bicycle on my way to wherever I was going in Fishtown, and I'd see it every time I went to the grocery store that's on the same corner.

It was painted completely white and decorated with a sign reading "A memorial for Antonio Sandoval." For whatever reason, I never remembered to look up his story. Until today, that is.

He was apparently killed not long after I moved to Philadelphia, at the corner of 2nd & Girard. There was also a memorial gathering in the park right down the street from my apartment that I'm pretty sure I walked past, because we had a seminar at SHI that weekend.

Right down my street and I had no idea any of this happened. Huh...

Rustcycles is a series of abandoned bicycles and locks I've stumbled upon throughout Philadelphia.

Rustcycles: 4th & Race

You'd think the second person would have known better...

Rustcycles is a series of abandoned bicycles and locks I've stumbled upon throughout Philadelphia.

Rustcycles: 18th & Rittenhouse

I'm not entirely sure what the vandal was trying to accomplish here...

Rustcycles is a series of abandoned bicycles and locks I've stumbled upon throughout Philadelphia.

"Dumpster" Diving

I decided not to post part five of my short series. I think it ended on a good note as is.

At any rate, the phenomenon of dumpster diving first came to my attention when I was in college. Friends of mine apparently decided to raid the dumpster in their apartment complex looking for God knows what. They ended up finding a bunch of packaged foods that they decided to eat - and they survived.

It doesn't have to go to that extreme, but it can if you choose. And even though I appreciate many of the finer things in life, I'm not above dumpster diving, especially if there's potential for a good yield. One such incident with some friends behind Trader Joes netted several bottles of unopened, unexpired mustard that turned out to be quite tasty.

Though not an actual dumpster dive, I was in Northern Liberties the other morning when I saw a trash can sitting outside the front door of the residence I was servicing. I noticed there wasn't a trash bag in the can, but rather just a bunch of stuff thrown in there, mostly unwanted household items. I decided to take a look.

There was a good amount of stuff in there, most of which I didn't want, but I did manage to snag a nifty little lamp that will clip to my work/project table, a mini backpack that appeared to be a digital camera case or something similar, and two nice ceramic elephant sculptures. Unfortunately, the sculptures didn't survive the trip home, even though I wrapped them as best as possible. Philly potholes are killer.

Anyway, that old saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure" is totally true.