Blog Archives

I returned home late last night from a few days in DC attending a conference. The trip certainly had its highlights–a fantastic conference, an all-too-short visit with James and Ginger, a delicious tapas recommendation (Jaleo in DC) from fellow-traveler and co-worker Anders, and fun conversations with my Virginia coworkers who I don’t see often.

But there are hard truths of business travel as well. One is that no matter how much you fly, you will still occasionally end up in the back of a full plane. (This plane was FULL of young teenagers heading to or from Spring Break.) Another truth is that the world can look pretty darn similar through your hotel window…no matter the city. (Below, you can check out DC and Atlanta from an “executive level” room. Don’t get me wrong…it could be much worse…I know.)

Regardless…I returned home to my loving partner, a comfy bed with just-right pillows, and a refreshing light rain.

Today was a beautiful Easter Sunday in San Francisco. We indulged in some chocolate Easter candies, decorated some colorful eggs, and prepared a delicious pot roast for dinner. Before those festivities, we drove south along the coast to Año Nuevo State Park, which is famous as a breeding ground for Elephant Seals. This time of year, this adults have left the young pups on their own. The adult males head north to Alaska, and the females south towards Hawaii. The pups (pictured here) eat, grow, and practice swimming in the protected rocky shoreline.

I flew to Atlanta today for a client meeting tomorrow. This evening, with a few hours to kill, I walked from my hotel over to the Olympic Centennial Park. I didn’t notice much going on, but I did snap a few photos along the way.

First is this shot of two downtown buildings with no fewer than six or seven connecting skyways between them. Clearly, these people do NOT want to go outside!

I had read about the Postal Service’s promotional mail box coverings to promote their new Star Wars stamps, but I had not seen one of the R2-D2 mailboxes in SF. I spotted this one by the CNN center. (James, this shot is for you, since you had mentioned the stamps.)

Finally, I just had to snap this photo of the local PTA (yes…the Parent Teacher Association) and their odd neighbor, the Goose Bumps Adult Fantasy Bar.

It has been a while since I last posted some graffiti photos, but not for lack of interest. I still travel through my favorite back streets in Bayshore a few mornings a week, but nothing has jumped out at me. Nevertheless, industrial neighborhoods are ever-changing, and I found some new shots this weekend that caught my eye.

But I suppose the big news of the weekend is the unexpected demise of my beloved Audi A4…a car I have enjoyed driving for the past nine years. It seems that the hills of SF are quite a wear on an aging manual transmission, and this week my A4 cried out “Uncle!”. So, rather than pay exorbitant cash to temporarily band-aid my aging car, I test drove a few replacement candidates and took the plunge. This time around, I decided that look for a city-sized car…but still keep a sense of style. I instantly fell in love with the zippy Audi A3.

One of my favorite aspects of wandering though Europe is noticing the layers of civilization–one era folded carefully (or not) into another. For the most part, the U.S. hasn’t had to fold back in on itself yet, so our re-purposing of old structures is less noticeable.

For example, the Musee de Cluny. In the 3rd century, it was a Roman Bath. Then in the Middle Ages, an abbey was built on top of the foundation of the baths. Along the way to becoming a public museum, the building was a religious college, a private home, and a “dissection room”. Today, those overlapping purposes are exposed to create a home for Medieval art, including famous unicorn tapestries (below).

The Tomb of Napoleon was constructed in a prominent location in the grand Dome Church within the Invalides.

My favorite museum in Paris is probably the Musee d’Orsay, which is a breathtaking transformation of a beautiful train station built for the 1900 world exposition. Prior to becoming a museum in the late 1970’s, the building was a WWII package center, a movie set, and a hotel.

On the opposite side of the Seine from the Musee d’Orsay is the recently remodeled Musee de l’Orangerie, which houses several of Monet’s famous Nympheas paintings. The building was formerly a greenhouse for orange trees.

Finally, one of the coolest blendings of old and new is the brand new Musee du quai Branly, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. As you can see in the photo below, the museum has a classic Parisian frontage which melds into newly-built modern design wings.