drunk

drunk, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

I accidentally did this in post-processing, and like it, even though it is maybe a bit cheesy.

I went to the corner store today and noticed that not only do we have an actual working pay phone in the neighborhood, but it also has a phone book that is relatively unmolested, save for the bird on the cover. Is it wrong that I think this bird is sort of adorable, despite the fact that it's supposed to be dead and/or drunk?

grand piano

Today I ventured out of the house, driven by my desire for clean pajamas. This toy piano sits between my yard and the laundry room. I'm guessing it belongs to my adorable little neighbor, though I've never seen her play with it.

Feeling much better today, although my throat still feels kind of weird and I'm really, really tired. But tomorrow I will force myself to get off the couch and do some cooking and cleaning. Because my life is glamorous and exciting that way.

sick day

sick day, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

I knew that eventually I would have to resort to pictures of my cat for this project, but I thought I might at least make it out of January. Iggy and I are camped out on the couch today, napping, watching old movies and trashy TV (including a special on women who love prisoners! score!*), drinking tea, and surfing the net. Well, Iggy is only doing the camping out and the napping.

*OMFG. Danielle Steele married a bank robber! And then had a fling with another felon! How did I not know this?

I think I am coming down with the plague

I think I am coming down with the plague, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Was out to dinner tonight, and it was delightful, as Mo Pie would say. But as the meal wore on, I could feel myself starting to fade and get weird chills. There were plans to go out after, and I really wanted to, but was also kind of relieved when everyone else was tired and I could come home and make some tea. (However, I still had the presence of mind to move the kettle to the least-disgusting burner before I took a picture of it.)

I really hope I'm not sick. But if I am, the next few days are going to be nothing but pictures of my cat. Maybe with some shots of juice and soup thrown in for variety.* You have been warned.

*Speaking of which, both boyfriend and housemate are out of town. Can someone send juice and soup?

lapu lapu

lapu lapu, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

One of my favorite street signs in the city. I mean, it says "Lapu Lapu"! C'mon! I also like the white of the sign against the whitewash on the wall. Usually when I pass by here it's daytime, and the light is much less sinister. But I had a long day of meetings down in Redwood City, and had just returned my City CarShare ride to a garage around the corner when I realized I didn't have a picture for today.

done

Of course, this would've been more timely, say, a week ago, but it still makes me smile every time I walk by it.

I wish I had something more clever to say, but I only got about 8 hours sleep this weekend, so I am off to gently abuse over-the-counter cold medicine in search of a good night's rest.

branches

branches, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

On the way to the grocery store tonight. I just liked the way the streetlight on the branches and the color of the sky looked together. The branches did not quite cooperate to make the perfect abstract composition, but that's "nature" for you. Oh, nature!

headboard

A year or so ago, I got a new, queen-sized mattress and the delivery guys offered to take away the old bed frame, leaving me with this headboard. I finally put it out in the garden with the idea of letting the vines climb around it. I think it would be more aesthetically effective if we could get anything actually pretty to grow out here. As it is, I can't decide if it's more white trash or shabby chic. Also not sure if "shabby chic" is still a thing.

Not terribly exciting, but I spent the day hungover and a little sad*, which, it turns out, is not a condition helped by watching tragic high school football dramas or movies about school shootings. Am now trying to rectify the situation with Grosse Pointe Blank. (Which, OMG, has Mr. Trick in it! And the guy who took Buffy to the dimension where all the kids aged really fast and had to do manual labor!) Tomorrow, I will venture beyond the front gate and find something really good.

* Nothing serious!

trick question

I call shenanigans! Yeah, you heard me ... shenanigans.

(Confidential to Freddie: Get well soon!)

i got roped into trivia night

... and this is something I noticed along the way. Our trivia team was called Solid As Barack, but we were robbed of victory as if we were Al Gore or something (ha! ha?). The only other team with a better name (maybe) was The Finer Things Club. So we came in second in the Best Names competition, which is doubly sad when you consider that that competition took place only in my head.

I have several other layout and color versions of this, but this is what I think looks pretty now. It is likely I will subject you to the other versions later. You have been warned.

sign of mysterious mystery

It's been hanging up on my street for years, and as far as I know, there are no estates of any description in the area, let alone any named "Heather Glen." According to Google, Heather Glen Estates do exist elsewhere, and I suppose this sign could be pointing vaguely in the direction of Texas or Pennsylvania, but as a navigation aid, that just seems ineffective. I wonder about it every time I walk by.

inauguration specials

Shot this at Brick House while I was getting my coffee this morning. Shockingly, I'm not taking advantage of this fine offer. I am exhausted, but very, very happy. Came home, ate dinner, did my taxes (I am such a fucking rock star), and watched some footage of the Obamas dancing with each other. Successfully refrained from bursting into tears yet again, although there may or may not have been some sniffling.

Am now going to crawl into bed with the photography book that Wendy got me for my birthday. Got to keep improving.

experimenting

experimenting, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Shot through the viewfinder of some crazy old camera my friend and tattoo artist Iggy Vans lent me. I have some other TLRs to play with, but no time to be in the darkroom just now, so I'm playing around to see what I can do.

The tiny elephant was a gift my coworker Golshid brought back from a trip. The plastic ram mysteriously turned up in my luggage after the annual Green Bay mini-con organized by my friend Weetabix. I'm sure there is a very good explanation.

alien broccoli

Tragically thwarted in my plan to make artichokes for our dinner last night, I noticed this crazy thing at Good Life Grocery. (Which is awesome, and staffed by delightful people. Go there!) I mostly bought it to photograph, and got some asparagus, too, just in case alien broccoli turned out not to be so tasty. It was fine. Tastes more or less like cauliflower, but looks way more badass.

tunnel top

tunnel top, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

On my birthday proper, Steven, Mo Pie, and Ian took me to Bar Crudo for dinner (which was fabulous). But first we stopped at the Tunnel Top for Mojitos of Wildly Varying Quality, and to creepily take pictures of strangers. (OK. The last part was just me.)

champagne

champagne, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

The night before my birthday, a bunch of my coworkers came out to The Brickhouse. At some point, people started ordering champagne. Which I guess explains why hardly any of the pictures I took were in focus. Or framed well. Or of anything recognizable at all. Just say no, kids.

wonton

wonton, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

There are two of these ... ostriches? ... on the walls of the alley outside my office. I've grown quite fond of them. I'm not totally sure if that really says "wonton," but that's what it looks like to me. I considered straightening this picture out a little, but I like how it looks like he's walking downhill.

Housekeeping Note of Interest to Hardly Anyone: Tomorrow night and Saturday night I will be out carousing in celebration of my birthday, so I don't know when I'll get around to uploading/updating. I will definitely TAKE pictures every day, but I might not be near a computer to update until a day or two later. Or maybe I will send drunken cell phone pictures, if I can figure out how to make that technology work. It's really anyone's guess.

reading

reading, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Jonathan reads a Christmas card from some of the regulars.

ace

ace, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Someone has affixed all manner of metal objects to a telephone poll down the street from my house, including many, many keys. I wonder if this is all the work of one person, or if people have just added random objects over the years. I prefer the latter scenario. Maybe I'll tack something up here if I ever leave this neighborhood.

I have been meaning to shoot it forever, and should probably go back and re-do it under better circumstances (with tripod and/or flash, or during the day, or when I am not in a hurry to get to the grocery store and trying to remember that we need toilet paper in addition to dinner fixins*), but I kind of like the yellow-y light and the way just that one key is illuminated. This was almost the last of 42 shots I took of this one cluster of keys.

* Remembered the toilet paper. Totally blanked on laundry detergent. Dammit.

hatch

hatch, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

It was unseasonably warm in San Francisco today, and our office-lette is sauna-like in the best of times, so we had to open this hatch in the ceiling. Well, I say "we," but I really mean Edwin, since I seem to lack both the height and strength necessary to open this thing without actually climbing onto the roof.

A little mundane today. I'll try to find some magical unicorns (as opposed to, um, everyday unicorns) or something to photograph tomorrow.

leaf

leaf, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

This kind of reminds me of the 4AD album covers I was obsessed with in the 90s. I couldn't decide which version I liked better:

open for dinner

open for dinner, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

On the way home from brunch today.

ominous

ominous, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

I didn't shoot this in black or white, or change it to greyscale after the fact. It was just really foggy and drab this morning. Weirdly, though, this picture makes me happy. Ran it through the noise filter a couple of times to get that smear-y look on the branches. This is my favorite cheesy effect.

Except not really

Except not really, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

zip

zip, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

I rented a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens for the week* and started playing around with it today. I had big, big plans, but I came home to a messy house, a pile of laundry, and a plumbing problem of mysterious origin. So here is a closeup of my favorite boots ever.

Clearly, I've got some a lot of work to do, mastering this macro thing.

* From these folks, who are awesome.

Other January shots here.

buddha, jesus

Had to shoot my picture before leaving home this morning, since we're recording the podcast tonight and lugging my camera, lenses, AND laptop around all day is insane, even by my standards. (Not that I haven't done it, though.)

These are in my neighbor's little garden, along with some other random statuettes. Another neighbor in our tiny compound* told me that the statue-owner has lived there for 30 or 40 years, is a Vietnam vet, and is also stoned a lot of the time. Which ... explains quite a bit. I no longer have to re-introduce myself to him every couple of weeks, but if you are a short-ish blond woman, and you run into him on your way to visit me, he will likely greet you with "Hi, neighbor!" He's a very nice man, and back when I used to get up and run at 5 a.m., he'd be the only person I'd ever run into on our block.

So, anyway, this is his garden.

More January goodness here.

* It's sort of like Melrose Place, if Melrose Place were made up of a bunch of somewhat rickety old buildings. Also, we have neither a pool nor an Amanda Woodward. So, I guess, not like Melrose Place at all.

glam

glam, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

I started off shooting the wee disco ball, but decided the pipe, uh, thing was way more interesting.

Other January shots are here.

lilian

lilian, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Not much time to take pictures or play with the internet today, but luckily, I got to meet my friends' baby for the first time. The pictures just took themselves. Score!

More January stuff here.

oceanview

oceanview, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Today we walked from the Panhandle to the ocean, and then up to Sutro Baths. After some cocktails at Cliff House, we found this chair by the beach. I've got tons of other pictures from today, but right now, it's time for Buffy and some soup.

Other random January snippets here.

golden gun

I am very curious about this place, which is situated on a pretty gentrified stretch of 18th. I suppose I could just call the number on the window, but I bet the truth is not nearly as interesting as my imagination. (I had to edit this one after posting, because I notice the "blog this" feature in Flickr cropped it weirdly.)

Other stuff I saw in January can be found here.

open and shut

open and shut, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Starting off 2009 with brunch at Just for You in Potrero Hill.

Outtakes from January can be seen here.