Mattress Detritus

Saw this on the sidewalk just outside the entrance to my building one morning last week when I was on my way out to work. The night before, a homeless person had been bundled up and sleeping on it. It was all gone, the mattress and all the junk around it, when I got home at the end of the day.

In My Neighborhood: Martini Monday is Over

...At least for this week it is. The Lush Lounge is moving to a new spot a block up Polk Street, and they're taking their signature security gates with them.

Martini Monday

Bombay Sapphire, of course, in a glass I got free with a 1.75 of Sapphire many years ago.

Wetland

One of my hobbies is fighting to protect these areas. See an alternate take of this one here.

Egghead

One half of "Yin and Yang", a sculpture by Robert Arneson at Embarcadero and Clay (which has changed a lot since this painting).

Shadow Shot Sunday explained; a selection of last week's is here.

Boulangerie

Near the Place de la Bastille

Sorry, I've got nothing, so I'll work the archives. I busted my point-and-shoot taking personal stuff recently and I just got a teeny tiny replacement. And I have an idea worth picking up the DSLR for one of these days. So I'll be back. But, damn, do I need to go on a trip.

Travel Thursday: Motels of Hwy 395

Bridgeport, CA

Highway 395, skirting the eastern edge of California for most of the length of the state, then skipping into Nevada for a while before coming back to the Golden State and heading up to Oregon and points north, is probably my favorite road in all of the US. I've spent many, many hours going north and south on that road, and expect I will log many, many more before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Here are just a few of the motel signs that can be seen on a stretch of about 100 miles of this fascinating highway, from Lee Vining, CA, to Carson City, NV.

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Walker, CA


Carson City, NV


Lee Vining, CA


Topaz, NV


Bridgeport, CA


Minden, NV


Walker, CA


Walker, CA


Carson City, NV


Lee Vining, CA


Bridgeport, CA

Power Lines and Clouds in Asphalt

We arrived in Bridgeport late Saturday afternoon and missed the rain by about half an hour, but there was plenty of water on the ground to let us know it had been through there. This was in the parking lot of the Redwood Motel.

We were lucky to get a room there at all, seeing as how it was the big E Clampus Vitus annual get-together that weekend. All the other motels and hotels in town were full of Clampers. Dinner at Rhino's that night was a sea of red shirts and Clamper badges.

Say Goodbye to the Sawtooths

Guess where I was last week?

Lawn Chairs

At Front & Sacramento, part of the annual Parking Day festivities.

Red Light District

Early morning at Geary & 11th.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Late afternoon in Embarcadero 3.

Want to join in? Here are the rules; here's a selection of last week's entries.

Blue Dome

Russian Orthodox church at 12th & Anza.

Travel Thursday: Mono Lake

East of Yosemite, Mono Lake presents one of the weirder landscapes in California. Apparently, the deal is this: the lake is extremely saline; there are mineral springs on the lake bed; and when the calcium-rich spring water hits the salty Mono Lake water, the calcium precipitates out--creating these odd formations. All of these, of course, were below the surface of the lake at one time. Under a court order that settled a very long and contentious struggle between conservationists and L.A. Water & Power, most of them will eventually be below the lake surface again.
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At Home He Feels Like a Tourist

From a conference room near my office.

Martini Monday

...or should I say Negroni Nonday?

Primordial Ooze

Acadia National Park, Maine

Shadow Shot Sunday

Fossil Falls (which has neither falls nor fossils), a gorge cutting through the volcanic tablelands of the southern Owens Valley.

Shadow Shot Sunday rules here; a selection of last week's shots here.

Behind the Curtain

A little mystery behind a torn cover.

There Are a Million Epitaphs in the Naked City of the Dead

Eternal Rest Cemetery in Colma, CA. Uncropped (color) version below the fold.

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Travel Thursday: Seattle

It's been a couple years since I was in Seattle last. Maybe it's getting close to time to visit again...

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