Home Again

I’m back in Baltimore after a whirlwind tour of San Francisco. My internal time clock, which has never really been that accurate, woke me up at 7:45 EST after being forced backwards all week.

I didn’t really get the chance to take a lot of pictures this time around, because much of my time was spent working, commuting, eating, or sleeping. The job itself is new and challenging, and I like the people a lot. While I was out there I was able to catch up with a bunch of friends, which made the trip twice as valuable to me—a lot of good people are out on the Left Coast now, and my work schedule has made it possible to visit with them and get paid for it, something I appreciate greatly.

Meanwhile, I’ve taken over some additional responsibility on a current project which should make April a very frantic month, something I view with a mixture of excitement and dread. There are a lot of balls to juggle in the upcoming weeks, and I hope I have the ability to do so.

Witness to History.

San Francisco banned plastic shopping bags today, and I was here to witness history. Imagine what would happen if Baltimore banned them too? The Official Bird of Baltimore would face extinction.

Next Exit

On the way to work this morning, I snapped this shot of a highway overpass sign. I thought it was funny.

Danger

The peeling wall of a gun battery in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This place reminded me of the old batteries on the North Jersey shore by my grandmother’s house, and the photos I’ve seen of the prewar fortifications in the Philippines. This kind of stuff fascinates me for reasons I can’t explain; I like the idea of modern concrete castles and huge guns on disappearing carriages guarding the city from attack by sea.

Spamera

Make a camera out of a can of Spam. I have too many projects already, but this is cool.

Calla Lilies

Another shot from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Point Bonita Lighthouse

Through the fog.

The Clock Is Ticking…

I have one more day (today) to prepare for my trip west, and I’m no further along than I was last Tuesday. This week has been spent putting out fires, taking care of current work, and fitting in the odd moment of personal time where I can—but mainly, it’s been a series of twelve to fourteen hour days set up like dominoes, each crashing into the next.

I have a pile of junk on my desk (the “take with me” file) and another pile of stuff on the floor (the “might take it with me” pile) which is making it difficult to use the new Bluetooth mouse I bought at the Apple Store yesterday (yes, they had Apple TV there, but no, I didn’t get to see it or buy one). It’s a Logitech V270 optical mouse, and I’m probably going to take it back for an exchange. The buttons are too hard to press—I don’t need to exacerbate my carpal tunnel here—and the scroll wheel does that annoying thing where it’s slow to start and then speeds up too fast, like selecting text in MS Word in Windows: just when I get to the thing I want, suddenly I’m seventy-three pages past it. So it’s back to the junk mouse for now.

I haven’t been taking too many pictures these days, both because I don’t have a lot of good subject matter and because time is at a premium. I’m hoping to change that when I’m in Cali, because I need a change of scenery to get some creative juices flowing. I was hoping to bring some illustration work with me to work on, but it’s looking more like I’m going to be reading a new book in preparation for a project that’s taken a completely different turn while I’m out there, as well as trying out some new software to help the process along.

Crap. It’s 5:30 already, I owe two proposals this afternoon and I haven’t packed anything yet.

Shorpy, the 100-year-old photo blog

Shorpy calls itself the 100-year-old photo blog. A new picture each day, all from an age long past, all beautiful in their own way. (via)

Magnetic Ribbons

Seen last week on one of those magnetic ribbons people seem to love to plaster on the bumpers of their cars:
Just Pretend/It’s All OK