urban quilt

i have one word for you... plastics!

ever-changing view

so above are several pics from the recycling center. gosh, just a glimpse of the many seasons across the way.

extensions :)

not just fluff

blue jelly

at the water's edge

blood is getting thicker...

i had a lovely visit with my family in TX. it was the best yet, as the children settle down and we understand the parts of each other that won't change, the parts we would just be happier accepting.
our annual trip to the TX coast, port aransas, the gulf of MX. this part of the gulf coast is particularly silty, weedy and tepid. but all these qualities serve to keep it one of the most unchanged places in TX. really, i have witnessed a lot of change in san antonio and austin, dallas and all the places in between. but each time i return to the gulf coast around port aransas i marvel how little has changed since the many spring breaks and july 4th's i spent there. still a seedy little beach town with the same charm. it was not until much later in life that i realized my affinity for dive-y locales.

so, above you will find a few of my favorite pics: my lovely nieces and nephews. and a few of the marine life around. it really is an interesting place.

bay bridge

reflection on cathedral

moon over oaktown

The Things Out Your Window

i moved to a room with a view back in January. for several years i'd lived near lake merritt. i know its moods. they change with the tides and seasons. i know its friends: the grebes, cormorants, golden-eyes, herons, buffleheads, gulls, terns, pelicans and geese. wait, with friends like the canadian geese, who needs enemies? i knew when to expect the scum-sucker (my pet name for the watercraft that pulls up stinky green lake-growth on a conveyor belt). i always wanted to join the old men lawn-bowling, but never did. lakeside park was my backyard and the palmetum my private hideaway, my shangri-la.

but the apartment i'd moved into to save money after "the bust" had a view into the tacky 70's style apartment complex across the back parking lot. after returning from a christmas vacation to the yucatan i realized i found my apartment stifling. all of a sudden i could bear it no longer and learned how much time one can waste on "craig's list". how many of us have a secret addiction to craig's list? how did yours start? what where you looking for and what did you end up with? anyhoo..

i completely surprised myself and moved to jack london square. the season's aren't as palpable here but now with my view of downtown, 880 and (most importantly) a view directly into the merritt recycling center, i have a whole new circle of life to explore. the trucks full of used dented kegs, copper wire, aluminum windows panes, colorful cans, all to be gathered, sorted and shipped overseas to be turned into more crap for us :). the recycling center fascinates me!

i love my new view. i have posted a few pics for you above. i'll try to get some choice ones from the recycling center :). one never knows what will be found when new things are tried, new places explored. what new things will be learned? i earnestly believe that curiosity is the key to staying young! whether it is abroad or in your backyard.

street color

la casita

The Streets

some of my favorite subjects to photograph are found on the streets. wide angle lenses are particularly helpful here cuz you can capture a lot of the subject at close range (e.g. without having to step into traffic). neither of the 2 above needed all that wide an angle (i cropped them a bit) but they are 2 of my favorite street scene pics from CR. both were taken in Zarcero.

Zarcero is a ranching and farming community known for it's organic farming and local cheese. 4 of us had (literally) countless beers and shots, bar food and walked out with a tab less than $30. i mean, these are 4 people who can really put away the booze :). anyway, it's a charming place.

ps - color and hue were enhanced on these.

ferry underway

in Zarcero it's easy being green

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. --Augustine (354-430)"

i'm amazed that i've become even more fond of travel as i grow older. each venture leaves me wanting more. i recall hearing a piece on NPR about this woman who, after losing her husband mid-late in her life, began her quest to visit every country. she was just the sweetest, most down to earth, 80 somethin yr old lady (age at the time of taping). she hadn't traveled far in all her life before she began her quest. anyhoo - she was off to antarctica. i think her tally of countries was in the mid 100's!

ok - do i embrace my "nature"? this will sound really lame: remember that Charlene song "i've never been to me"? here's an excerpt (it's ok to sing along :)

Oh, I've been to Georgia and California
and anywhere I could run
Took the hand of a preacher man
and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces
Because I had to be free
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me...

now, i've never taken the hand of a preacher man and certainly never had an interlude with one in the sun. frankly, there is a verse about greece, the isle of nice and sipping champagne on a yaght that sounds much more appealing, but i digress. the fact is i've been to GA and CA and i'll gladly go just about anywhere once.

so will i have regrets? of course Charlene is lamenting about never settling down and starting a family. how the heck does she know that she would have been happier with another life? the fact is we make our choices. i feel sure i will neither run out of places nor friendly faces. if you are a friend, please comment and let me know if i'm right ;).

so - back to costa rica. it exceeded my expectations and i will feed in some more pics in the future, in addition to the pic below of montezuma beach on the coast of the nicoya peninsula. lovely beach and village. wish the hippies would have stayed in berkeley. maybe i'll do a separate blog on hippies. i don't mean 60's hippies. i mean white-people-dreadlock hippies. ok, i'll save it.

satisfaction