Orange October

Jimmy and I have been walking in the evenings more. It's been very easy this month. The city is aglow, bestowed in it's favorite color.

Fall Sunset

The sky was amazing tonight, dontcha think?

Marching On

Saying goodbye to the 3rd month of 2014...how quickly it flew by! Here are a few snapshots of my March...
Gandhi Statue at the Ferry Building.

Taxi and bike turning onto Market Street.

My brother-in-law works here.

Sunset on March 15th. Too cold for me to dip my toes in. Jimmy's braver than me.

Same day as above, only about an hour before. The fog lifted just in time for sunset.

A different day, the setting sun glowing on Alcatraz.

That apartment building fire was the opposite side of the ballpark from us but we could see the black smoke from our living room window. We drove by the devastation one Saturday afternoon.

Today, the last day of the month. Cold, windy, stormy. Raining sideways, umbrellas barely made a difference.

Paula Cole was in Berkeley on the 27th and we saw her at an awesome venue called Freight and Salvage. We had front row seats. No photos allowed during the performance, but I got one of her afterwards signing cd's.

Practicing barre chords. They are hard but I love them for some reason. I think because they are challenging. Although every part of learning the guitar is challenging. And rewarding. And that half gold dinosaur makes me laugh. Who would buy that??

Yes guitar is taking up most of my creative energy right now. But I still managed to do a decent bit of paper crafting too.



Our drive to the hideaway was gorgeous last weekend. A beautiful sunny spring day where our normally golden brown hills were fresh green.



California poppies.

A new friend...shy at first...

but as curious about us as we were about her.

Then just a day and a half later, we had just a little bit of snow on the ground.


"The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.
When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here."
- Author Unknown

Spring

So obviously I didn't keep up with posting more frequently in March. You may or may not know this (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before though) I tend to get very focused on something and everything else falls to the wayside. This time it's the guitar that's been occupying my every waking thought. Which is great, I love doing anything creative. But It's so hard. I think I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself though. I'm wondering why everything still sounds so cruddy, it's frustrating sometimes...but then I have to remember I've only taken 8 lessons. Oh, and watched hours and hours of youtube video lessons.

But I've definitely had time for other miscellaneous fun things. In fact today I went to my favorite art exhibit of the year...Bouquets to Art. I went with one of my crafting friends who hadn't gone before. I'm not sure what she expected, but I think she really enjoyed it. How could anyone not? It is super crowded though, which is always a challenge, but thankfully I carry quite a decent bit of patience in my back pocket. It's challenging waiting till no one is in your image.

A New View

The company Jimmy works for moved into a newly renovated building. It was built in 1925 and at the time was the tallest building west of the Mississippi. We live a mere 1 1/2 blocks thataway.

Someday soon I'll get some snapshots of the building with my real camera.

Color burst

Emergence

The Exploratorium reopened at it's new location on Pier 15 yesterday.

The Exploratorium is a twenty-first-century learning laboratory, an eye-opening, always-changing, playful place to explore and tinker. For more than forty years, we’ve built creative, thought-provoking exhibits, tools, programs, and experiences that ignite curiosity, encourage exploration, and lead to profound learning. Dive in and discover what we’re all about.

For the 1st 2 nights, they had a free light show in front of the building called "Emergence". Jimmy and I walked out to watch it tonight. So glad we caught it since tonight is that last night. They really should try to do this more. It was so awesome!

This is just a minute of video, shot across the street. The entire light show was about 15 minutes (maybe more. maybe less.) and looped.

views from my front window

Window washing season...OOPS! He caught me stealing a snapshot through a crack in the blinds.

The building across the street seems to be a little drunk.This is actually a silly technique I learned from Photojojo using the panorama function on your camera phone. I'll have to try it again, fun and silly. I like it!

collage of the day

This happened tonight:

But it was cold and raining so I stayed home and watched it online. It'll be here for 2 years and we've been seeing previews for a month, so we've got plenty of time to enjoy it when the weather is better. It's super cool.

Quilting While Caffeinated

Jimmy's on a work trip so I took advantage of my solo evening by finishing up a quick quilt. I had that flannel fabric for close to 4 years with the intent to make another rag edge quilt, but finally gave up on that and just sewed the strips that I had cut years ago.

Also, enjoyed my 1st 'red cup' coffee for the season. Starbucks is very crafty in their marketing. They bring them out right after halloween and they know suckers like myself get excited over a silly red cup simply because it's nostalgic for the season. I'm not trying to rush Christmas by any means, but there is something special about getting a hot drink in that silly red cup.

I've been meaning to try Mondo Caffe since we moved here, and since Jimmy's not home, I took the opportunity to try it. Had a delicious warm pear, gorgonzola and walnut panini, served with a side salad. I'll be back and I'm sure they have something Jimmy would enjoy, too.

Endeavour

Just a quick pic for now! Saw thw Space Shuttle fly over The City around 10:30 this morning. More pics from the dslr soon.

4.28 Saturday Evening Stroll

We walked to the water this evening before going to dinner. One of our favorite spots is Pier 14. I'm sure I've posted dozens of photos from this very spot, but it never gets old. It's hard to resist being able to stand out in the middle of the water and look back at the city.

Or enjoy the views of the Bay Bridge.

There's also the view of the silhouetted Ferry Building, Embarcadero Center and Transamerica Pyramid Building as the sun sets to the west.

We even saw a jelly fish! We've seen them at aquariums and even dead along the sandy beaches, but this was the 1st time we've seen one in the ocean.

On our way to dinner, I snapped a couple more photos before it got too dark.
We stopped at Justin Herman Plaza to snap a photo of the ferry building with a little bit of the bay bridge peaking out from behind it.

One last capture of a red flower, the tall Embarcadero Center, and half a moon.

Spring Cleaning

Lookie Loos

My SIL stayed overnight with us since the show got out late. While her brother slept in today, we were out and about

enjoying breakfast at my new favorite cafe La Boulange,

shopping the farmers market at the Ferry Building,

enjoying a latte from Blue Bottle and

being lookie loos at a condo high rise that has ridiculous views for an even more ridiculous price.

4.19 The Tenderloin

I had to drive through the Tenderloin to meet my niece for lunch today but if you keep your eyes on the architecture, you'd never know that this is one of the worst neighborhoods in the city.

From the SF Chronicle:
"Repeatedly described in most tourist guides as "the worst neighborhood in San Francisco," the Tenderloin thrives despite its bad rap. Sure, there are Tenderloinloads of drug dealers, addicts, prostitutes and mentally unstable street people, but if you can get past that, you'll find it is also one of the city's most exciting and diverse locales.

Getting its funky, florid nickname from the days when policemen were paid more to work its mean streets, thereby affording the cops better cuts of meat, the Tenderloin is moving up these days. A heavy influx of Vietnamese families in the last two decades has been instrumental in achieving -- if not entirely responsible for -- its face-lift. And then there are those incredibly delicious sandwiches you can get at the corner markets.

This area is perhaps the last frontier in SF's ever-expanding gentrification trend, and you can still stumble on unpolished gems in the form of incredible cooking, unpredictable bar scenes, independently owned stores and great live music.

The streets aren't the cleanest, and you will be approached frequently by strangers, so just stay alert and don't let it get to you. You have to hunt a little harder for your treasures in the 'Loin, but in a city increasingly headed toward high-end everything, it's a small price to pay."

and more at wiki if you're interested.

4.18 Commuting to the East Bay on BART

I had 10 minutes to kill on the platform before my train arrived.
It still fascinates me watching everyone scurrying around below ground going here and there.
A train arriving.

Boarding.

Fast.

Places to go, people to see, things to do.

On the train, waiting to exit.