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Posts tagged “San Francisco

Day #28 – A Photo A Day 2013

I’ve been a little fixated on the Pro HDR app lately – here is the latest addition to my iPhone HDR experimentation:

HDR Pier Light Near AT & T Park

HDR Pier Light Near AT & T Park

Taken at the pier near AT & T park – it’s a nice place to walk around!


Day #27 – A Photo A Day 2013

What a beautiful day it was today! The sun shines here in San Francisco very often, but today was just extra special despite the cold biting wind!

Chris and I decided that we NEEDED to get a coffee from Phillz Coffee so we threw on our coats and started the short walk to the Berry St. location.

We tried Phillz for the first time three weeks ago and we are hooked! BEST. COFFEE. EVER. Hands down, the best coffee experiences we have ever had have come from this place. They grind your coffee at the time you order it so it is fresh fresh fresh – also, it’s not weighted down by heavy syrups and sugar. They’ll add as much, or as little sweetening as you want, and they have many sweetener choices to choose from – even Stevia or honey!

From Phillz, we decided to continue on to AT & T park to go walk near the marina. Right next to the park is the Left O’Doul Bridge, which I find to be an endless source of fascination.

Lefty O'Doul Bridge

Lefty O’Doul Bridge

It’s a fascinating looking thing… I had never seen a drawbridge quite like this one, and I am from a city that is filled with bridges – Portland is affectionately called “Bridgetown”.

I figured those concrete “things” on that one end were counterweights, and turned out that I was correct. The link posted above is where I found some of my information – it turns out that the bridge is “a heel trunnion type bascule drawbridge” and “A heel trunnion is a pivot mounted on bearings and a bascule bridge has one end is weighted to counter balance the structure on the other end when the bridge is open.” They used concrete as the counterbalance because it was a less expensive option to iron.

My only disappointment about this bridge: there were no rusty spots to photograph. Oh well. You can’t always have what you want.

Photo taken on my iPhone 4s with the Pro HDR app.


Day #26 – A Photo A Day 2013

Another search for my CF card reader was fruitful so I was finally able to offload all of the pics from last night onto my MacBook! Wouldn’t you know… it was exactly where I KNEW that I had decided to store it, but another item in the drawer was covering it up and I must not have shuffled things around well enough.

Here is a close-up shot that I took with my SLR – I haven’t processed this one, so what you see is the raw photo:

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge - Leo Villareal Light Art Testing

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge – Leo Villareal Light Art Testing

The beautiful Bay Bridge – lights being tested for Leo Villreal’s Art display that will officially start on March 3rd.

I read that later that night after Chris and I left that the testing was even more exciting with crazy patterns flashing in the lights. What we saw was pretty cool, but by the sound of it, it’s going to be pretty spectacular!


Day #25 – A Photo A Day 2013

Chris and I took a walk to the Embarcadero tonight, specifically to watch testing of the new light display that artist Leo Villareal has designed for the Bay Bridge.

Testing began tonight, and un-scheduled tests will go on for the next month, with the debut of the the nightly display happening on March 3rd of this year.

I DID bring my SLR tonight and I got what I feel to be some pretty good shots, but I will not be uploading one of THOSE pics this night because I seem to have um, misplaced my CF card reader, and until I find said reader, I will not be able to transfer those pictures onto my MacBook. (insert sadface here)

SO, for now, here is a pic of my SLR on it’s tripod from tonight’s photo sesh on Pier 14.

Photographing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Photographing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Hopefully another search for my CF card adapter will be fruitful and I will be posting one of my long exposure pics of the bridge tomorrow evening. 🙂


Day #22 – A Photo A Day 2013

What a good day it was today! I’m finally feeling more like myself than I’ve felt in a week and it was good to actually get outside and stretch my legs for a bit!

My wanderings took me over to the Mission neighborhood here in San Francisco, which was not my original destination, but regardless of where I was going to begin with, I was glad that my wanderings ended up taking me to a couple of places that I totally did not expect to be going to.

At one point when I was way off course, I spotted some street art that looked intriguing, so I went even further out of my way to go take a look. Again, I was without my SLR unfortunately, since I had planned to go shopping and I didn’t want to haul heavy camera equipment around in a clothing store… but of course I had my iPhone at hand!

This mural was so awesome – several notable figures from mythology, some of which I did not recognize, but some I most definitely did like the ones in the picture below:

Wadjet, Horus, Anubis & Nekhbet

Wadjet, Horus, Anubis & Nekhbet

I thought that the portion of the mural with the Egyptian gods Wadjet, Horus, Anubis & Nekhbet was particularly awesome, especially since the style very much reminded me of Stargate: SG1 and I am a HUGE fan of that series. Also notable was the boom box that they have with them. 😉

I have a couple more pictures of that wall to share – perhaps in the next couple of days I will post those as well, but that may be trumped depending on what the next few days bring in photographic opportunity.


Day #21 – A Photo A Day 2013

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is today, and while I was not able to go out to take pics, I do have a nice pic of a place that I pass by and visit often here in San Francisco.

Today’s pic is of the Martin Luther King Jr. Fountain in Yerba Buena Gardens. I love the fountain itself, but one of the nice things is that you can walk behind the fountain! There you will find quotes from the man himself; in this picture, the lovely green glow behind the water is of the illuminated glass panels that bear the etchings of those words.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Fountain

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Fountain


Day #20 – A Photo A Day 2013

Oooof! Today I am feeling worse than yesterday – no fair! I had photography plans for today!!!!

Ah well. So, today I give you… another window view from breakfast yesterday. (this time, panning to my left)

I like varying colors and the worn look of the window decal.

Worn Out Coca-Cola Window Decal

Worn Out Coca-Cola Window DecalWorn Out Coca-Cola Window Decal


Day #19 – A Photo A Day 2013

Despite not really feeling well, I made a bad decision to go to breakfast with Chris. Breakfast tasted wonderful, but my stomach is quite angry at me for selfishly trying to give my body sustenance!

It is my intent to go back to this restaurant when I am well and do a proper review of the offerings there, since I really did enjoy my meal other than the pain that my body is in, which is obviously no fault of that fine establishment.

This is the view I had at the counter that Chris and I supped at:

Lunch In The Window

Lunch In The Window

It’s not a fancy place, but I think that adds to the charm. It’s lack-luster decor certainly doesn’t deter customers, as that place is always really busy.


Day #18 – A Photo A Day 2013

Sunsets – I just cannot get enough of them, and I fear that at times my photography library contains a few too many examples of sunsets.

I am certain that some of them look a bit redundant, but then again, I always find a different beauty in each one.

I have been feeling very under the weather today, and when I saw this beautiful view out of my window, I had to drag myself over with my iPhone, sick or not to take this pic. I snapped a few with my SLR, but I haven’t even checked them out to see if the turned out alright. (I am DEFINITELY not feeling well if I can’t even be bothered to see how I like my photos!)

Sunset over San Francisco on Jan. 18

Sunset over San Francisco on Jan. 18


Day #3 – A Photo A Day 2013

Since I moved to San Francisco I could not help but notice the plethora of art sculptures scattered near my neighborhood… I suspect that I have barely scratched the surface of just how many public works of art there are, and I am very excited to discover and document as many as I can.

One of my favorites that I pass often is Seasons of the Sea ‘Adrift by John Roloff. There is a plaque near the structure that reads, “This glass ship is an art work that refers to the natural and geological history of California. Sediment gathered from the ocean floor four miles off the coast of San Francisco was placed inside in 1993. This sediment contains diverse mineral and organic matter extracted from the landscape by the rivers that flow to the sea through the Golden Gate. The greenhouse environment of the ship interacts subtly with these materials producing ongoing natural cycles of growth, decay and rebirth.”

I visit Yerba Buena Gardens quite a bit, and I always make sure that I stop to admire the sculpture and nearby fountain.

At night, it is lit up with green light, which is a nice contrast to the purplish blue lighting of a building that is just to the SE.

Seasons of the Sea 'Adrift at night.

Seasons of the Sea ‘Adrift at night.

Unfortunately my iPhone did not pick up the intensity of the color of the clouds that were prevalent that night. Lights from the city were reflecting off of the low clouds, and the sky looked textured with orange and black.

During the day, “Seasons” is quite impressive as well, it’s bow jutting out from the concrete, living plants contained within. (perhaps a daytime photo for another post!) It’s a piece that I find to be quite contrasting with the area it’s been placed in, and perhaps it’s all the more at home there rather than bayside where it might have blended into the landscape more instead of surprising you.


Back to Blogging!

The time has come for me to start blogging regularly – actually it’s past time, and I am determined to keep the blogging up, especially since I’ve just moved to San Francisco and I want to record all of the adventures I encounter in my new life here with my husband! Packing up my home was bittersweet – happy to be newly married to Chris, but also leaving my family and dearest friends in and near the city that I have always lived in.

In the process of packing things up, sorting through belongings to decide what to give to charity was the hardest part, but the farther into the process I was, the easier it became.

Anything that was not used within the last year or two was given away and it felt so freeing to see all of those stored things go away! It’s also a nice feeling to know that my donations help to keep people employed, too.

In all, I donated 3/4 of my possessions and I don’t miss any of it!

It was a little stressful to prepare to leave Portland, but little did I know what would happen just before I was scheduled to leave town.

Monday the 7th was spent loading my section of a UPak trailer from ABF Freight. Chris (Sacco) and Daniel came over to help, as did my Dad so things were loaded very quickly. In fact, we had it loaded within 3 hours, so ABF was able to pick up the trailer that same afternoon! ABF was courteous and the whole process went smoothly.

As it turns out, packing things up would be the easy part.

That night was spent at my best friend’s house, even though he wasn’t home from Hawaii yet.

Tuesday the 9th I woke and began to get ready to go back to my place to get the odds and ends still left in my townhouse packed up and taken to Goodwill. While I was in the middle of eating a bite for breakfast, my Dad called to say that he was calling an ambulance for Mom to go to the hospital.

She would not fully wake up and could not talk – she had been sick for a week with some sort of “stomach flu” and at the time we wondered if the illness was getting worse.

Mom was in the hospital from last Tuesday (the 9th) until Sunday afternoon. She had been vomiting for almost a week, and that morning woke up un-able to communicate with my Dad.

They took her to the ER, and admitted her to the hospital. She had become dehydrated, and because of the stomach bug she had, her sugar levels had risen quite dangerously (over 300 points). That, coupled with infection that had spread into her bloodstream affected her brain function severely. There were several of us there in the room with her for several hours that night, but she didn’t remember that at all.

The next day, she would slip in and out of being coherent and cognizant of her surroundings. At one point, I talked to her for an hour and a half straight, but later she didn’t remember anything we had talked about… just some minor details. It was so bad that she even had some hallucinations… she thought that she was being moved from hospital to hospital and then finally stayed at the one she really was in. This continued for a few days – you never knew if she was going to be clear headed or completely foggy.
The doctors told my Dad that she’s dying, but we already knew that – interestingly, they didn’t communicate that to Mom, but perhaps that was because she was always cognizant of what was going on . They said that they cannot put a time frame on it though, that it was impossible to guess when we might expect her to pass on. Mom has known for quite a while that she’s been slowly dying, and she’s okay with it – that helps me deal with it better. She and I have been discussing this for a long time, so while it won’t be easy, and I certainly don’t want her to pass on, I am prepared as much as I can be, I suppose.
They pushed her hard to be put in a nursing home, right down to making the arrangements for a specific place WITHOUT talking to my Dad or Mom or any other family member. There were a few arguments between Dad and the main doctor, and then an argument between my Mom and the doctor. I hate how they try to push things on you. They know that she’s dying, and she specifically said that she wants to pass on at her own home, where she is comfortable and happy, yet they still tried to push it on her.
She’s doing much better than she was at the hospital. Just after one day of her being home, I can see a huge difference in the quality of her communication and her retention of conversations that we have. Her mood is much lighter too, and I suspect that this upswing in mood contributes greatly to the increased memory retention.
On a lighter note, the move to San Francisco has gone well! My things were delivered here on Monday – we used a local day labor service that was recommended by Pinterest to hire two men to help us unload and carry my things up to our apartment.

All of that took about an hour with the four of us unloading (the two hired men and Chris and I). It would not have taken that long if we had not had such a long walk through the parking garage! They made it sound like we could unload everything onto the dock and then right up an elevator… well, the dock was taken up by large trash bins and recycling bins, so it didn’t leave us much room to unload things directly ponto the garage floor behind the trailer. We would take some things out, stack it up, and then start carrying or wheeling things through the garage, up a short ramp to the next garage level, walk several yards then turn a corner and go into the elevator area. Phew! We were all very sweaty and tired after all of that, but at least it went quickly.

I have spent the past two days un-packing and finding homes for things. I discovered that a couple of boxes that I had intended to take to Goodwill got packed in the trailer, I suspect by one of my two friends that was helping me load the trailer back at my old place. Oh well! I may have more things here that I could part with as well, so I see a run to Goodwill using our new ZipCar membership in our future. 🙂 (I sold my car to my Parents since I won’t need to use a car here very often)
I still have many things to write about from the past few weeks, and I’m not sure where to start! I should have a bit of time later this evening to sort out a few pics from my first weekend living in San Francisco, and then I’ll work backward to the wedding.

Off I go to run some errands!