Simple

The weather in San Francisco finally cleared up today and the sun also made an appearance, so I spontaneously decided to venture out to test my camera. Armed with my trusty black Manhattan Portage shoulder bag, the camera, and the book "Walking San Francisco", I set out to "see" the familiar streets of SF in a new light.

I spent most of my time strolling the Embarcadero where extremely nice waterfront promenades, complete with bench seating and hanging flower baskets are accessible to the public 24 hours a day. You can soak up some rays here if you don't mind the wind.

Being at the Ferry Building, I could not resist peeking inside at the charming shops and specialty stores. Everything about the Ferry Building screams "Organic!", "High-end!", "Do I really need this or is it just packaged attractively and smell really good?" All facetiousness aside, it is quite a nice market that I would highly recommend to locals and tourists alike. To find out more, click the following link http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/
(Tip: For organic pastries that taste just right and natural (i.e. not sickeningly sweet) try Frog Hollow Farm)

As I was walking along, with a camera around my neck, and book in hand, a funny thing happened. In fact, it happened twice. I was asked if I needed directions. Me - a native San Franciscan! Apparently the Scottish flag patch on my black bag sent the message that I might possibly be from that land. A second time, I was standing at an intersection thumbing through the book when I was approached with an offer of help. Both times I graciously declined and thanked the people. They may be wondering nonetheless what this strange person is doing exploring and taking photos of her own city. Horrors! Only tourists do that!

By following the walk recommended in the book, I actually was led to a new little corner I had never seen before. With nice clean wooden benches, a small stream and plenty of trees, this public space was an extension of Levi Strauss Plaza. This goes to show - you learn something new everyday!

Taking stock of my excursion, it's clear to me that I need to pay attention to the available lighting much more when I am taking pictures and learn to adjust my camera settings accordingly. Also I've learned that I look like a tourist! It's quite fun. You should do it sometime as well.

Fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables extend your life span according to many scientific studies. Here's a picture of leafy green veggies we're having for tonight's dinner.

Floating

One of the rubber duckies shown above is sharp, but the other isn't. I've still got to learn how to make everything in focus using my new camera. Both of these rubber ducks were brought over from Germany.

Rear view

Figuratively speaking, rear view mirrors play an important role in our lives. Looking back forces us to contemplate highlights in our lives or wrong turns, both of which help us improve on our next journey.

Maybe a wrong turn led to a dead-end or forced us to reevaluate the route we chose. Or maybe a "wrong" turn wasn't all that wrong because it led us to a place with a nice view.

Have you looked in the rear view mirror lately?

New arrival!

My much anticipated new arrival (Canon digital SLR) was delivered yesterday evening at an impressive shipping weight of approximately 5 lbs. Here I am cradling it in my hands and testing out its capabilities.

There is still much I need to learn about how to be a good photographer and make the most of all the bells and whistles built into this little bundle of joy. With the trusty guidebook at my fingertips and a helpful photo forum online, I hope to unravel the secrets of photography. ;-)

Surprises

Life is full of little surprises when you least expect it. Some are nice and some are not so nice.

For instance, someone happened to view my website www.glendychangallery.com by accident, liked it and communicated this back to me. (Very nice!)

On the other hand, I had to take the bus halfway around the city today to pick up some textbooks because of a lack of disclosure in an email confirmation I received. (A pain!) Relatively speaking though, that was merely a small annoyance to be soon forgotten. As the closing song in Life of Brian recommends, we should "always look on the bright side of life." Start by checking out the beauty in this orange colored bell pepper!

Quality time in Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park showed some signs of the storm today as I power-walked my way through the park. Here you can see a detail of a light post with pine needles and pine cones strewn haphazardly by the whims of the wind. Despite an overcast sky and saturated rain clouds that threatened to release its burden any second, bicyclists, joggers, dog walkers, baby stroller pushers, power walkers, rollerbladers, skateboaders, exhibitionists and that guy who plays the didgeridoo every Sunday were not deterred.

Black and white

Just finished watching the silent, black and white film "Metropolis" directed by Fritz Lang in 1926. My thoughts? I liked Lang's other film "M" better. The music in Metropolis at times did not really match the mood or action of the film.

Regardless, it was still interesting to note how the silent actors had really dramatic eyes that stand out due to make up. Plus, they had to carry most of the film based on their movements alone.

Sturm und Drang

The weather's been wreaking havoc in the San Francisco Bay Area today. The wind howls and the rain pounds the house and windows. Take a look at this picture of a garden fence blown over by the wind.

SFgate, the online presence of the San Francisco chronicle highlighted the storm's impact here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/04/MN87U9H6F.DTL&feed=rss.news

My favorite is the one about closing down the zoo to prevent potential animal escape! At least the streets will be hosed down after this. SF streets are notorious for certain unsavory smells.

When the munchies hit...

... raid the snack pantry. Hopefully it will be well stocked. Mine was running low, hence the trip to Trader Joe's. (It rhymes!)

Trader Joe's is an alternative grocery store with heavy branch concentration on the west and east coasts of the United States. Today's pictures show the huge salty snack aisle and a drink display.

Sunrise - San Francisco style

Apparently I will need to vary the themes of the pictures I take, otherwise it will be a drag for anyone who follows this thing. This was a tip from someone who also did a 365 pictures a day thing. Here's a link if you're interested in starting a project like this as well

http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

Today's theme is waking up early in the morning to catch dramatic skies like this one here. The two best times to take pictures are at the crack of dawn or at dusk. One non-photo related advantage of waking up early is to be able to fit in a workout prior to the start of the work day. Drag yourself out of bed early one day and you may just learn to like it!

It's a beautiful day

This being the very first day of the new year, I thought I would take a picture of something bursting with new life, like these fresh green tendrils here.

This is a tendril of the chayote plant, which is also known in Asian cultures as the closed palm squash because it is said to resemble the closed palms of Buddha.

Picture a day in 2008

Happy almost New Year!

My resolution is to take a picture a day to practice photography. Here's one of an SF neighborhood. Enjoy!

The film M by Fritz Lang

The last DVD I watched was M by Fritz Lang.

This film is a black and white film with dialogue in German, but English subtitles.
What I liked about it was that I was watching a noir type film. The scenes were artistically filmed and the whole film had a Hitchcock-like air about it. Also, there were funny bits in it, although it is supposed to be a crime thriller.

The plot revolves around a serial child murderer named Hans Beckert. He is portrayed by Peter Lorre, a man with wild eyes that open so wide that you can see all of the pupil and the whites all around. The police are scouring the town and conducting extensive raids in search of the murderer. The increased police raids disturb the underworld. They too are against the serial murderer, whom they believe is spoiling their reputation as honorable theives and crooks. As a result, they have decided to take the matter in their own hands and use their network of beggars to help find the murderer.

Ultimately the beggars network successfully identifies the murderer by his characteristic whistle. His coat is "branded" with the letter 'M' for murderer, so that they don't lose sight of him. The underworld wants to bring him to justice and try Hans, but eventually the police come on the scene and interrupt the proceedings. The last scene in the film is in a courtroom with the camera focusing on a weeping mother in mourning, who says that everyone should all pay closer attention to their children.

Bottom line: This film is a good way to pass approx. 1.5 hours.

Life of Bwian

I watched the film "Life of Brian" recently because a British co-worker said that this movie was a classic. It was really funny if you like absurd comedy, which I do. It's the story of how a normal guy named Brian is mistaken as a wise man or messiah.

One of my favorite scenes was during a "Children's matinee" in a Colosseum-like setting. They threw a scrawny slave into the ring and had a burly gladiator type person fight him. The slave began to run around in circles with with huge gladiator lumbering after him. After a while of running in circles, the gladiator collapses from a heart attack while the slave ends up winning triumphantly because he was physically fitter.

Then another memorable moment is at the end when some people being crucified start singing "Always look on the bright side of life" and whistling cheerily.

Also, the lisping of Pontius Pilate was also hilarious. This is a must see!

Renaissance

So, I've decided to rev this blog up and make more regular postings, hence the fitting title - Renaissance.

Stay tuned...

Ess Eff

Here are some impressions from my S.F. trip.

My itinerary was eat-shop-sleep-eat-shop-sleep and repeat.



(Above) The Transamerica building is a San Francisco architectural jewel.


(At the left): A line of palm trees and the Bay Bridge in the background.







(To the right):
Grace Cathedral at Nob Hill. This is our closest thing to a European style church.











(At the left)

I was lucky enough to have my camera handy to snap this one of a squirrel with a peanut in Golden Gate Park! Squirrels I've seen in Germany are rust colored.

That's the hammer!

German's have a very interesting phrase that's used to convey enthusiasm for something. In German it's, "Es ist der Hammer." In English it translates literally into "It's the hammer!" Maybe it's the same as "That's awesome," which is used way too often in the US, particularly California.
A variation of "It's the hammer" is It's the insane - "Das ist der Wahnsinn!" Keep this in mind the next time you want to say something is awesome.

:-)

Bomb explodes during construction work

An old bomb from WWII exploded this morning as a result of a construction machine accidentally detonating it. A construction worker died immediately. The A3 Autobahn was detoured.

Remnants of a war decades ago still linger to this day in Germany.

Dishwashing gloves

I needed to get gloves for washing dishes this weekend. The generic brand that I bought had gloves only in one color - pink.

Does this indicate that the manufacturers think that only women wash dishes? Would men be happy wearing pink gloves? In the US, the common color for dish washing gloves is a neutral yellow.