Why take pictures without people in them?

The hotel security folks really ruffled my feathers! This evening I was taking some shots of the lobby interior architecture and decor because I liked how it looked. When I was preparing to take another shot because the previous ones were blurry, Security at the hotel asked me why I was taking so many shots of the lobby because "usually people take pictures with people in them." What a poor and ignorant argument! I happen to like pictures without people in them. It's called artistic vision you bugger!!

About the picture: The NYSE draped in the Stars and Stripes
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Big Apple arrival

Sitting in a shuttle bus headed toward our hotel Westin at Times Square, I am struck by the intensity of the city. Countless cars, yellow cabs, honking, colorful people and energy everywhere you look.
The hotel is really central, but they could improve on the decor on the floors. It's too dark and outdated.
One thing I will never understand is why trash bags pile up on the street. It's an eyesore! Haven't they heard about trash containers? See picture.
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Off to See the Wizard...

Tomorrow I'm off to see the city of all cities - New York! I've been there twice before, but still it will be good to have a change of scenery as much as I love San Francisco. As you can see from the picture above, I'm all packed and just need to put in some items tomorrow morning. I'm leaving the old laptop at home, but fear not! This trusty blogger will try to provide daily updates from the field. I ask for forgiveness in advance for the fuzziness of the pictures since they will be taken with a camera phone. (See previous test post)

As for my progress with Espanol, I now know the numbers from 0-30! Hurrah!

With respect to my Hitchcock film addiction, today I saw Vertigo (again) and 39 steps. Vertigo is one of my faves because it features famous San Francisco sights. 39 steps is one of Hitchcock's earlier films produced in England. In brief, the film is about a man who is falsely accused of a murder of a spy and he has to prevent state secrets from leaving England. There are many parallels to the film "North by Northwest". I highly recommend Hitchcock if you are a fan of thrillers.

Test

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The Good Daughter

Jasmine Tea*

I treated my parents to a dim sum lunch at Koi Palace in Daly City. The ingredients used in the dishes tasted pretty fresh and consequently the end products were fairly good. If you've been to San Francisco, but haven't tried dim sum, you've missed out. It's a must have experience. This place Koi Palace is a pricier than the tea houses in Chinatown because they're very high tech and the surroundings are cleaner looking. Their receipts are computer printed and their menus have pictures with the dishes translated from Chinese into English. For all these amenities, you pay a little bit more. My only gripe is that for a restaurant that calls itself Koi Palace, I expected a couple more koi than just the 2 I saw in a mini pond.
Also, I saw some mini-celebrities there such as Martin Yan aka "Yan Can Cook" and Leland Yee, one of the senators in the California State Senate. Apparently the pair was at the restaurant holding a press conference about noodles legislation Yee is proposing. Read all about it on sfgate. I feel so connected to the news now. Ha ha

Since I'm still on vacation, I've finally found time to execute on some of the ideas that have been floating around in my head. For one, I've always wanted to get some free weights to combat arm flab. Just got two 10 lb free weights today. When I get back from NYC, I'd like to rent out a camera lens with a wide focal range. I learned from my instructor that renting is a good way to test out lenses before investing heavily in a lens that may not be right for your camera.

Yesterday I watched Hitchcock's film "North by Northwest" starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. It was ok, but I prefer "Vertigo" because San Francisco is the backdrop.

*Taken with a BlackBerry

Black and White

Expo Leftover

This is the Palace of Fine Arts in the San Francisco Marina District. It was a leftover structure from the 1915 Exposition. Read more about its history here.

The Other Side

Man's Best Friend

About the Photo: I captured this shot of a man and his dog on Crissy Field. The camaraderie between man and dog drew me into capturing this scene. It seemed like such a carefree image of dog frolicking happily back to its master with ball in mouth and tail waving like a flag. After the ball throwing, they both just sat there contentedly enjoying the day.

About my Photographic Journey: I'm stuck. I haven't shot anything that good (in my own opinion) in a long time. Although I have heard that sometimes you need to give yourself the freedom to make bad pictures before you can move onto better work. This must be my phase. Bring on the brilliance, I say! I'm waiting!

Elevation (Thank you U2 for the inspiration)

Victorian Filigree

I'd like to elevate my photography from snapshots to fine art photography. One way to do that as recommended by the instructor from RayKo is to set limits for your work. For instance, one parameter could be focusing on flowers or taking only black and white photos thereby beginning to develop a cohesive body of work and a focus. I quite like the concept and will try to implement it.

P.S. - I went shopping today and for some reason repeatedly heard German speaking customers at three different locations - Old Navy, J. Crew and then United Colors of Benetton. How weird!

Aging Gracefully

Mystery!

I'm slowing getting the hang of watching Mad Men, AMC's acclaimed original series Sunday nights at 10 PM. (Has this reached Germany yet?) It's about people who work at an ad agency in New York City during the 1960's.

In one of the scenes, two people are talking about their father and father-in-law respectively, who needs some help because he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The family can't decide if they want to send him to a nursing home or take him into their own homes. One of the characters says that the lesson learned from this experience is "Don't get old". Very funny. Unfortunately, aging and all its associated aches and pains is inevitable for each and everyone of us, like it or not.

Deciding how to take care of elderly parents as in the Mad Men episode is a hot topic. Case in point, read this NYT article about a young medical student specializing in geriatrics spending time in a nursing home. Everyone has heard horrible stories of neglected or abused old folks at such homes. The question is what can be done to improve the experience for the inhabitants. When I read the article, one of the most interesting parts was about a nursing home occupant and former specialist in arthritis, who was slowly being disabled by the disease he specialized in. Also, it was interesting to read about how elderly at nursing homes quickly forged friendships over conversation because that's all there was. Whereas adult friendships need to be nurtured slowly over dinners and other meetings.

This is one of the reasons why it's so important enjoy yourself when you're still young and healthy. Food for thought . . .

Bitten by the Travel Bug

Creeping Fog

My sissy and I are planning a NYC trip. Planning a trip/going on a trip is the best way to get to know someone very well. First of all, you need to make joint decisions about things like hotel, restaurants, activities. Sometimes when you're traveling you get on each others' nerves because people may have differing priorities, food preferences and personalities.

This evening we ironed out the itinerary for 6 full days in NYC. That's a long time for one destination. In hindsight that might have been too long. As of now, the Saturday before we fly back to SF is still pretty open. If you have suggestions please leave them here.

About the Photo: This is a picture of the fog rolling over the San Bruno Mountains. Although I live in a hood that some people think is scary, we are blessed with the best weather and unobstructed views.

School Days

!Hola! Me llamo frankfurtsanfrancisco. Que tal?

That's some of the basic Spanish I learned today in my Spanish 1A class at City College. It's fun learning a new language because everything is so novel and fresh. Above you'll see some snapshots I took around City College.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good bye!

The Foot of Market Street

Buh-Bye old job. Hello 3 weeks of freedom!

After lunch at Slanted Door, which I had to chip in for myself (!) and a macaroon from Miette (exquisite, but expensive), I had an exit interview with HR. Then it was time to vamoose from the office. There were hugs and handshakes all around and then I said adios amigos.

I've made it my mission to sample most of the food stalls at the Ferry Building. I've been fortunate because it's been quite a delicious experiment so far. My only disappointment has been with the sandwiches at Acme Bread Co.

Why is there no news for me to blog about? Nothing in the press has gotten me worked up enough to entice me to write about it.

A Streetcar Named Special

There was recently some brouhaha over the First Lady's choice of vacation wear, namely a pair of shorts. Some people criticized her for dressing so casually, but really, don't we have better things to discuss as a nation? I thought what she wore was fine and fitting in the hot temperatures of their family vacation destination - the Grand Canyon.

So, I really want to "unfriend" this one person on Facebook because of a pattern of behavior I've noticed. It has not been very friendly behavior. I did some research and also based on stories from others, I found out that the person whom you unfriend does not receive a notice. The only way they would discover this unfriending is if you happen to show up in the cycle of people that FB suggests you might know.

About the Picture: I risked my life to capture this shot as I was crossing the street and stopped briefly on the tracks to snap this photo of a streetcar named "Special". That's what made me take the photo. I like to think I'm special, in the positive sense of the word. Ha ha!

Countdown

Straight Shooter

Only 1.5 more days and then I have 3 weeks off before I start my new gig!

Please forgive my uninspired shot of an office building. I was starting to dose off in the afternoon and took this picture when I went outside for some fresh air. Tell tale sign of when I can no longer keep awake is my handwriting. It becomes illegible and I have no idea what I'm writing.

Fortune

Fortune Teller

About the Picture: This is one of the other mechanical toys at the Musee Mecanique. The caption at the bottom says "Have Grandma Tell You Your Fortune!", but I think she's dressed up like a gypsy, not a grandma.

About Random Things that Popped into my Mind:
On my last trip to the airport, I noticed a poor turban wearing guy who was pulled aside for a search. Hmm... I wonder why they selected him and not me for instance? I feel sorry for those guys. Just because you wear a turban shouldn't necessarily increase your chances of being selected for a pat down search, but it does.

Someone at work asked me to get onto Facebook when he heard I was leaving. Well, I already am on there albeit with an alias, so that's why he can't find me. I checked out his friends list and noticed he has 177 people on there, some of them being other colleagues. I probably won't connect with him for two reasons. One being he already has 177 friends. What's the value add of adding me? I would just become one of the herd and get lost in the crowd. Secondly, I like to try to keep my work and private life separate. Facebook's more for my personal life and weird observations, many of which are not suitable for my work colleagues. Ha ha!! LinkedIn is for my professional life where I like to maintain my professional facade.

I'm glad I can write in German, but sometimes knowing German messes with my English skills. For example, I occasionally will write certain words all stuck together and not think there is a problem with that. I actually wanted to stick the words fortuneteller together. Had to google it to check that it's written as two separate words.

Okay, that's the end of my random thoughts for the day. It feels good to get them out of my head.

Beloved (or Not)

Crimson Rose

So this morning I sent out my bombshell of an email announcing to my wider group and acquaintances that I would be departing and that Friday would be my last day. It was an interesting experiment because I can gauge the intimacy of the working relationship based on the response or lack thereof. Some responded with good wishes. Others were shocked and asked where I was going. There were no responses from someone whom I've known for over 7 years. How disappointing! Don't worry, I'm not stressing over that though. This is one way to figure out who your "friends" are. This week I'm going to try to meet up for a farewell lunch/coffee with those whom I click.

In the Studio

The Thing

This was my final class in Digital II at RayKo. It was fun being in a photography studio today. I felt like a pro playing with all the different lighting set ups.

The first set up I tested was the soft box. This photo below is a picture of one of the other students in the class. The benefit of the soft box is that it diffuses light nicely. The second set up we got to try was a hot light. The results of this were pretty poor so I will spare you the pictures. Finally I photographed an object (see purple blob like object at the top) using a table top set up with a seamless gray backdrop. I really liked this. Now I want my own equipment so that I can have a home studio. That would be superb. If I'm doing portraits I would also need a stool, but I'm not much of a portrait photographer. People are too temperamental.

Artist Date #1

Laffing Sal aka Laughing Sal

San Francisco used to have an institution named Playland where kiddies were brought to be amused by amusement type things like rollercoasters and fun houses. It closed during the 1970's so I have no recollection of this place. However, Musee Mecanique close to Pier 39 is still alive. Admission is free, but it generally costs 25 - 50 cents to make the various machines move. The photo booths cost $3 though.

I've always wanted to check it out because I've heard so much about the old figures that moved and were creepy. Stepping inside is like to traveling back to a simpler time when video games and the Internet never existed. Above you see a picture of Laffing Sal, a mechanized figure of a towering woman who will lean forward and break out in raucous laughter if you drop 50 cents into the slot. I have to admit, she is kinda scary.

There were a bunch of other cool machines there like a zoetrope with a crank that you have to turn in order to see an old fashioned car race. These machines are not politically correct, so don't be offended. For example, there is a gypsy (not Roma/Sinti) woman who tells fortunes. Also, there was an "Opium Den" machine that featured a Chinese figure and a machine that showed two buffaloes running over an "Indian".

About the Title: You may wonder what the title refers to. This is a term used in Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way". It essentially means treating yourself to an experience that would help you reconnect with your creativity.

Free as a Bird

About the Photo:
I was back to my wandering ways now that I'm almost a free agent. As I was walking along the Embarcadero, which I will sorely miss, I came upon this scene. I was struck my the wavy roof of this bus shelter. Also, I thought the people on the platform were also nicely arranged. The funny story behind this shot was that the guy on the right was aware that I was taking the picture. That's why he is striking a pose for the camera. Ha ha! This is hilarious!

About my Journey:
I think I'm gradually learning to enjoy this thing called free time. At first, the thought of all this free time scared me somewhat because I didn't know how to best use it, but this fear was only fleeting. No worries, I have plans. :-)

Today, however, was an exception. I just went with the flow because I didn't bring lunch or snacks. For lunch I had chicken udon and salmon sashimi on the side. It was a spur of the moment thing. Then for my afternoon snack I had a frozen yogurt with raspberries as a topping.

Transitions

Tabula rasa

I got some flak for yesterday's picture not matching the title of a new chapter, so here's the old college try. The picture represents a new start at a new place and hopefully a positive lifestyle change to one of more work-life balance.

I will hopefully have my weekends to myself now for the most part at least. We'll see how the new employer is. Unfortunately all these years in corporate America have made me very jaded. I cannot presume that they will be better than my current employer unless I see a lot of tangible evidence that I will have more control over my free time.

New Chapter

About the Picture: This is a photo of the gummi candies sent from Frankfurt. Thanks again, Herr Gummibaerchen! They are a nice treat. Plus, everyone who tries these gummi candies are just blown away by their taste because they are much better than the rubbery things they sell here in the States. I should open a Bears and Friends/Baeren Treff franchise here and introduce them to a wider American audience.

By the way, today I made a major decision to change employers. I feel lighter already and rid of a heavy burden. I believe this new chapter in my career is a step in the right direction because this change should give me more control over my schedule and my weekend. I am tired of having my work demands run roughshod over my personal plans. The last straw that broke the camel's back was when I had to miss a photography class and was not reimbursed for it. I truly hope I will now have more time to devote to my personal interests like photography and foreign languages! I am very excited about this change in my life.

Story Time

It's story time. For my Digital II photography course I am supposed to tell a story using pictures. The teacher so far has not even had time to look at our previous assignments, so really I don't even need to do it, but I figured I would try anyhow. Telling a story with pictures is difficult because I don't have models that I can work with for a more involved story. To compromise, I used stuffed monkeys as my models. They were cooperative enough and didn't talk back to me.

Click each picture to see the narrative. It's based on a real experience I had while riding the bus when I was in high school. There was a thug on the bus who was terrorizing students and stealing things from their backpacks. He even threatened me by approaching me and asking what I had in my coat pocket. I defended myself my yelling at the top of my lungs that he should stop bothering me. My yelling drew stares and the attention of other riders, which is what the thug wanted to avoid, so he said "D--n" under his breath and shuffled away from me. Good riddance to bad trash!

Experimenting

HDR

Why is it so hard to do something that would benefit yourself?
Today I took a day off to recover from the previous week of intense work that gave me a little health scare. So what did I end up achieving? Not much tangible. I just keep obsessively checking my BlackBerry when the red light flashes, visiting Facebook (bad, bad habit), checking my emails, reading New York Times and sfgate online, spent 30 minutes on the Wii.... Actually I want to draft a business plan. My ultimate dream would be to start my own successful business and be my own boss. No, I'm not going insane and am not planning to quit my day job. This dream will take time and discipline, but I'm determined to give it a try.

I'm sick and tired of seeing others who have an idea, just go ahead and pursue it and become well known. They may even have less talent or skill, but what they do have is courage. Courage to go out on a limb and believe in themselves.

Often when I'm toiling away in the office, I think to myself - why can't I work this hard for myself?

About the photos: The top picture shows my first experiment with High Definition Range photography. It's a photographic effect that combines photos with different exposures to make one photo with a wide range of light. It can create pretty surreal results, if that's the effect you're going for. In this case I took a photo of tools in three exposures and combined them in Photomatix. It's fun, but gimmicky.

It Isn't Easy Being Green

Parking Lot

Kermit the Frog famously said "It isn't easy being green," but this could also describe bus riders like me, who are acting "green" or are just too stingy to fork over big bucks for a car, depending on how you want to spin it. I don't own a car, so have to ride the bus whenever I want go downtown. The advantages of not owning a car are numerous. I save money. No need to pay for car insurance, parking, gas, etc.

However, you have to be able to put up with the limitations of public transportation and there are many of those too. The bus is often crowded, smells and there could be crazies, pick pockets and public nose pickers on the bus. Today as I was headed out for my photography class, I witnessed an elderly man who was digging into his nose very publicly. As my mother likes to say - he doesn't even know how to write the word shame! Then when I came back I saw a middle aged woman picking her nose too. That's just disgusting because when you think about it, these people then go and touch the same bars that all the other passengers hold to steady themselves if they are standing. This is the reason I disinfect myself after each bus ride.

If I eventually succumb and get a car, which I know I need to do sooner or later, I might want to get a Smart car or a Mini because these small cars would be easier to park than larger ones. I'm not very skilled at parking. On the other hand, fuel efficiency and cost may just nudge me into getting a Japanese car. Those things are so reliable!

About the Picture: I did this panorama in class today using Photoshop. It was so easy. You need to take several pictures in portrait orientation with about 10-20% overlap. The software then just stitches everything together. The subject of this panorama is pretty boring though I have to admit.

Splurge

Salon

I splurged and went to Oxenrose for a wash and haircut. It's been overdue because my hair started to grow out and it looked like I had a mullet. Now that's been taken care of. Oh, how relaxing the head massage was! The junior stylist who cut my hair was Anthony. He was ok, but not that talkative.

About the Photo: This shows the interior of the Oxenrose salon. I like the composition because the stairway and the lighting points up at the guy in the upper left who is looking suspiciously into the camera. If there were a cartoon bubble coming from his head it would say, "What the heck is she doing, taking a picture in here?"

Chatty Seatmate

Security Line at ORD

I had a pleasant trip back to SF and a chatty seat neighbor. I probably found out more about him during the 4 hours than I have about some people I've known for years. For example, his favorite vacation destination in Europe is Santorini in Greece and he also really likes Molokai island in Hawaii. In 2005 he was there and wrote "Molokai 2005" in the sand with his foot and photographed that. Plus, I know all about his all expenses paid weekend plans in wine country that's being paid for by a winery. He was a pretty talkative and said that he was glad to see that I was his seat neighbor because he didn't want to sit next to "large" people. Funny!

I guess it's good when someone's chatty because it helps pass the time when you're stuck on the plane. Might as well make the most of it if you have to sit for so long in close quarters. I would not classify myself as a talkative person, but I tend to get along with people who do more of the talking because then I can be lazy and just lean back, listen, be entertained and ask questions or interject my 2 cents when I feel like it.

Sleepy Head

We went to Uncle Julio's yesterday for a group dinner. See picture above. It's Mexican food. I'm not usually a fan of Mexican, so I just ordered a grilled salmon. Luckily the meal was paid for by the partner so I didn't have to fork over money for dinner.

Anyhow, project is over so I get to go home. Yay! A lesson I learned is that when a flight is over 1 hour or so, it's a good idea to pack a noise cancelling headphone and a lot of reading materials.

I've been watching a lot of TV from my hotel room. Entourage on HBO, the Office on NBC, 30 Rock, the Cleaner with Benjamin Bratt, and others. Reclining on a Heavenly bed just staring at the large screen is a huge luxury after a stressful day at work.

Apologies if I'm incoherent. I need some personal time away from work and my colleagues. We were sitting together in very tight quarters and got to know each other very well.

Countdown

I'm counting down to when this project is over. It's sucking the life out of me. I usually find some time to take a break and take pictures, but I'm just plain pooped. Plus, the client seems to be disrespecting our boss and our team in general, mumbling under their breath the whole day within earshot of my boss that we're working too slowly. We're all busting our butts already and they don't appear to appreciate our hard work.

Anyhow, I forced myself to blog at least if I can't take a picture per day. I'm sitting in the lobby of the Westin right now, next this very relaxing waterfall thingy. It looks like a wall of water. I could sit here and just watch the patterns of the water the whole night, but I'm not because I need to sleep.

Offline

Apologies for the silence and lack of daily photo starting Friday evening through yesterday. I've been deployed to a Chicago suburb on a project. We work 12 hours a day generally and the bad thing is that I don't have Internet in my room! I have to go down to the lobby to be able to access my emails. What a hassle! Anyway, it's 10 PM now and I still haven't eaten, so I'm very grouchy now. I'd better go before I starve myself and make myself more cranky than I already am. A boxed salad and a Westin Heavenly Bed are calling and I'm answering.