Cool Halloween Shadows...

Ok, first, look at yesterday's pic -- That was taken less than 20 minutes before the 5.6 earthquake that hit.

I'm relatively convinced the the dog was nervous and skittery (hence working overhard to get my attention) because he know something was about to happen.

On with the show:



Spooky, huh...

What a brat...

I was looking over some pictures I took today when Ziggy reach up with his paw and pull down the screen on the laptop. Luckily, I had my Curve handy, so I got off a quick snap.

I wish she wouldn't do that...

Sophie likes to use the bannister at the top of the wall overlooking the entryway. The problem is that this perch is about 25' above a tile surface in front of the door.

I'm scared that someday, she's gonna slip off.

SF Skyline from Crissy Field...

We went on our every-other-week beach stroll. Got this pic when I looked up and saw the skyline just above the beach

A very long way...

Caryn had a crop at a friend's house in Sacramento, and I hung out with Clayton in Davis today. It was a great visit for everyone -- we even bought Clayton a new chair (a leather recliner for an insanely good price).

Passing into Sacramento, where US 50 begins, breaking off of I-80, there was this sign. US 50 is one of the longest highways in the US, running, as the sign says, all the way to Ocean City, Maryland.

Jack o' Lantern

The winner of a jack-o-lantern contest at work.

Hol(e)y sock...

I love these sccks. They are made of bamboo thread by a division of Gold Toe. They are soft, and absorbant, and very comfortable.

Target used to sell them until very recently, but now they are nowhere to be found.

Unfortunately, most of my pairs are starting to endure the same fate as these.

I keep looking at Target (and Walmart, and Macys, and anywhere else I can find) for these beauties.

Thomas' Tatoo...

Kinda hard to properly crop -- but it had to be cropped.

See, this is his arm, but in the original pic, it appeared to be NOT his arm. In fact, his armpit looked really more like "plumber's crack".

Still, it's a cool tat, don't you think?

Spider web at work...

I'm staying at work way too late these days. Walking between the buildings I spot this guy working his mojo under the light.

First picture with my new Blackberry Curve!

They finally put a camera into a blackberry. Now, because my job requires me to pretty much keep this thing on me at all times, it also means I have, firmly attached to my hip, a 2.0 MP camera.

This is, well, guess...

Your hint is that it is on the ground.

Lights Out San Francisco...

Last night was Lights Out San Francisco -- a global warming / energy conservation awareness event where people in San Francisco were asked to turn off all non-essential lights between 8 and 9pm.

I went up to Twin Peaks to see it and snap some pictures.

I put up a number of pictures in a group on the Flickr page as well.

Ziggy's little friend...

We went on a beach walk with a small dogs group at Ocean Beach this morning.

Among the other dogs there was this one. She and Ziggy hit it off beautifully.

Look at that face though -- how freakin' cute can one dog be!?!?

Dodging the water

Another shot from the other day when I got the sunset picture.

I would have taken something today, but it is all rainy and yucky.

Don't hold back -- tell us how you REALLY feel...

It's really hard to get a handle on these folks' political beliefs, huh?

I particullarly like

• George W. Bush -- Gives plants a bad name
  
• Prius Envy
  
• Make Levees, Not War
  

Another good sunset at Ocean Beach...

I love living a few minutes from the Pacific Ocean.

I was in the city this afternoon, and on my way home, I stopped at the beach and happened to catch this great sunset.

Did I mention that I love living this close to the ocean?

Hyatt sculpture...

I went to a seminar at the Hyatt Embarcadero in San Francisco. This place has a great lobby -- I love the central sculpture.

Here's another view

Excitement in the neighborhood...

Taken by Caryn from an upstairs window, this was happening on the street just behind us.

They left after about 30 minutes, and we never smelled or saw any smoke, so we suspect it was out by the time they got there.

FYI, I have an immense respect for these professionals, and are glad we have them nearby.

Half a bridge...

BOB in the fog from Crissy Field.

If I were a mouse, I'd be scared right about now...

We "woot"ed a new camera. It's a Poloroid t37. 7 megapixels.

For those of you unfamiliar with Woot, click the link and visit the website.

This is cropped from a picture I took of Sophie from about 10 feet away. It's about a 60% cut. She's pretty unscary from that distance, but crop it a little, and she becomes quite menacing!

I like the combination of reflection and refraction of the light off of her fur. Cat fur is pretty cool stuff.

Down the drain...

First big rainstorm of the season. Walking between the buildings at work, I got SOAKED every time.

At lunch, I snapped this of the water running down the storm drain across the street. I wanted to catch the action of the stream of water falling through the grate.

The Velcro Suit

We had our annual tent party at work today. Among the festivities was a velcro wall.

A velcro wall consists of a "bounce house" type surface ending in a padded, velcro loop covered wall. Each participant dresses up in a suit covered in velcro hook. You run and jump and throw yourself against the wall where you STICK

I like the colors and the smiles.

Sunset San Francisco

We finished helping out at the church's food pantry tonight and as soon as the last people left, the pastor opened the curtains to give us all a glimpse of this...

Inside the toaster....

Artsy day... I like the contrast in focus in this picture.

Reflections

Taken on Saturday while I was downtown looking for good Blue Angel shots.

Marine Layer Moving In

We've had a number of great sunny warm days here. In San Francisco, that almost always is followed by the onrush of fog, which we lovingly call Marine Layer.

For the next few days, it will be cooler and cloudier.

Oh yeah, there will be far fewer high performance jets performing spectacular stunts in the skies above the city -- fleet week is over until next year.

Blue Angels -- Coit Tower

The Blue Angels are in town for Fleet Week. I trekked downtown on BART with the D70 to try to find some shots of the Angels against SF landmarks.

I caught this one at Sansome and Washington -- Coit Tower just peeking out from behind some of the buildings in the area.

The pups...

Ziggy looking adorable. We have a framed picture very similar to this that Caryn took after he had been digging in the dirt -- this is the "Clean" version.



And our Clemmy -- the big sister who, apparently, has no eyes. Don't you just love that happy smile?

Tomorrow, the groomer comes and they'll both look a LOT different.

Grape leaves a changing...

Crush season has started in Sonoma County. As we speak, the grapes are being started down the arduous journey which leads to the great quality wine produced in the California Wine Country.

This was taken at the Lambert Bridge tasting room.

Whipped Cream and Chocolate Sauce ...

A study in white and brown -- whipped cream and chocolate syrup up close.

It was good too -- even if it was the canned whipped cream.

A good place to eat in San Francisco

There are litterally thousands of really good restaurants near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Many of them are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive for what you get. This is one of the former without being one of the latter.

I got a huge bowl of Cioppino (pronounced "Chip-ee-no", it is a fish/shellfish stew in a luscious garlicky tomato broth that is the true "San Franisco Treat") for $19. Caryn and Greg had similarly large and good dishes for about the same.

Ghirardelli Square Fountain Statue...

Went down to Fisherman's Wharf with Greg for dinner. It's his last night here before he climbs on a plane for a very, very long time, after which he will wake up in the land of vegemite and shrimps on the barbie.

Anyway, this was part of the fountain at Ghirardelli Square. Pretty and nice kinetic action...