Photographer Andrew Qzmn (just you try pronouncing that) braved last year's Russian winter to visit the town of Chukhloma, where he found breathtaking examples of 19th-century, handcrafted, wooden architecture left abandoned among the trees.

Located about 300 miles northeast of Moscow, the houses, known as Terem, are wonderfully ornate, trimmed heavily in detailed latticework much like the Victorian "gingerbread" houses found in the U.S.

Such elaborately carved homes are evidently scattered all across Russia, slowly succumbing to the elements, though some have been incorporated into open-air museums in an attempt at preservation. Sounds like an idea worthy of adoption here in America, where our urban ruins are instead fenced off and left to the weeds.

A series of photographs taken of Marilyn Monroe before her rise to stardom, which have never before been seen by the public, were discovered just last month filed away in the archives of Life magazine.

The photos depict a more innocent-looking Monroe, free of the formulated, glamorous image for which she would later become famous. At the time, she was better known as a model; her biggest film role so far was a small part in The Asphalt Jungle.

The photographs were discovered by Dawnie Walton, deputy editor at Life.com, as she was looking through the company's digital archives. Upon further investigation, Walton found that the photos had been stored away and forgotten in a New Jersey warehouse.

Life photographer Ed Clark spent the afternoon photographing the 24-year-old model and actress in what is believed to be Griffith Park, Los Angeles, sometime in 1950. ... Continued

Since discovering Christine Berrie's vintage-camera drawings, I haven't been able to stop browsing all her other illustrations.

Among my favorites are her pencil drawings of microcars, like those seen earlier at the Roadside Resort, as well as her vintage radios and images from Coney Island.

Subjects are scattered in various categories at her Etsy shop, which offers limited-edition prints of her work, so I recommend spending a few minutes browsing.

And while you're at it, I also suggest checking out more of her work at her official site, where you can catch a montage of even more of those wonderful microcars.

The ever famous neon sign welcoming visitors to "Fabulous" Las Vegas, Nevada — perhaps the most famous Googie sign in the world — has just been accepted into the National Register of Historic Places.

The landmark sign, which has stood at the far south end of the Strip since 1959, is one of very few things in Vegas that hasn't changed in the past five decades. It was designed by graphic artist and Las Vegas native Betty Whitehead Willis, who also designed the city's Blue Angel Motel and Moulin Rouge Hotel signs.

The sign was inducted into the register on May 1, but the official announcement was made yesterday by Clark County officials, who also revealed the new plaque marking its designation.

The sign, which over the years has become a hot photo opportunity for tourists, was made safer in December of last year for visitors wishing to get their picture taken next to it. The city renovated the median on which it stands and added a 12-space parking lot. Before, visitors were forced to park in the street and run across traffic to get to the sign. ... Continued