Caution: Singularity Ahead [DEFUNCT]

Various photos taken via my phone camera arond the Bay Area. "We Are No Longer the Knights Who Say 'Ni'" - this was tied to a tree in a grove on the Berkeley campus, along with several other variations of the phrase. It was obviously part of a puzzle hunt. I'd sat down to read some books I'd picked up nearby and there was a regular flow of students coming past to take notes. "This is Your Utopia - It Sucks" - sign seen by a garbage can on Columbus "Space Invaders" - saw this Atari 2600 cart in front of the Crystal Towers apartments on Taylor while walking the dog. Moments later, the next person to walk by stopped and picked it up. "Red Tailed Hawk on Jansen Street" - it was hunting a pigeon that was trapped with a plastic bag around the neck. An onlooker freed the pigeon, and the hawk hung around for a bit looking disappointed. "Meow" - sidewalk graffiti "Cruise Ship" - seen on my walk home. ...

So I'm walking to work today, starting from my house in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. I start off on Greenwich and turn a half-block later at the intersection with Columbus ("Nu-cle-ar wessels?") I follow Columbus several blocks. Further on I pass Fresno Alley on Grant (Yellow Pages house - now a bar called "The House") I turn off Columbus just before I get to Pacific ("Double dumb ass on you!") I pass by a newspaper stand and what's the cover story? Two humpback whales are stranded in San Francisco Bay Too geeky not to share.

The Exploratorium had a Pirate Party for its annual Member Appreciation Night. We went all out and rented costumes from the ACT , which is conveniently on Market Street. Lots of fun. Fortunately there was free food and drink (beer and wine, can't be a sober pirate). Our costumes were a hit (although there were lots of other great ones there), and we were the subjects of much photography, although Caspian was playing shy. A swaggering gait was natural once we were pirated up. Also entertaining: we got to POFA (mmmm, tasty) by taking the 30 Sansome from our house (it goes right there) dressed in full regalia, which was entertaining for all involved. On the grounds of POFA we ran into some tourists who took their pictures with us. So who knows where we'll pop up on the ol' interweb. Incidentally: ran into Zero Linden (from work) and his family, but we only crossed paths the once which was a shame. It was very crowded.

Not a terribly exciting day, but pretty relaxing. I took Nika for a walk first thing (that's 10am), and we headed straight north to Fisherman's Wharf. Rather than diverting to the usual directions (either towards Pier 39 or Fort Mason) I just kept going through the parking lot. Little did I know there's a submarine parked there open for tours every day, and a " liberty ship " (assisted at the landing at Normandy in WWII). Huh... well then, there's something to do with Caspian when he's back. The next pier over from that is just a tiny little spur that's got a big bell on it (which used to be at the Embarcadero Ferry Building ), but no docking positions. It was completely empty except for Nika and I - the whole pier. A nice sit in the sun, watching the bay, all to ourselves. Nice. Home again, after grabbing some pearl tea (for me) and some bloodworms (for the mollusc ). I puttered around for a bit at home, then took Nika up to Michaelangelo playgrou...

In the vein of a Jeopardy "Before and After" category, I took photos of the Art Deco buildings I pass on my way to work if I take the Columbus/Broadway/Sansome route. The Bank of America building is pretty darned cool. Not only does it have the imposing figures, but it's got that humongous burgular alarm. If I come home via Sansome/North Point (a block out of my way now that the Francisco stairs are open again) I pass by the cinder block "North Point Water Treatment Facility" which has touches of Art Deco goodness, indicating that someone has taste even on a municipal budget. I'll take photos of that some time soon.

This has been up on our street since just before we moved in. I hope they found their cat; I thought the name was particularly appropriate.

At the very least, folks playing with very sharp weapons.

This is just a few blocks from my house - the game is afoot!

So a couple of times lately I've been walking home from work along Francisco which is pretty quiet, and realized that I'm plugged into my MP3 player and reading RSS feeds on my Pocket PC Phone .  I think it was about the time that I paused to look up " Barbary Coast " on Wikipedia that I had managed to tune out most of the world and should really pay attention to things like traffic and driveways. Right now I'm typing this on my phone as I head out to Ocean Beach on the N Judah. With the phone's always-on net connection I don't need to carry maps or really have a destination. If I know there is likely to be some service I need in the direction I'm headed I don't have my usual nervousness about the unknown. Of course, I'm still treading on familiar ground. I finished reading Robert Reed's Sister Alice this morning (over waffles, yum!). Reed has a very interesting style. Unlike many other authors who tackle the challenge of narrating the ...

Today was my first full day back in San Francisco. And while I wanted to get out I wasn't feeling particularly adventuresome, so after sleeping in I visited some old haunts. Sloat Garden Center is a few blocks from where we used to live, in the Inner Richmond district. Hidden in a residential block, it's a pretty nice gardening store for urban gardeners. The Toy Boat Cafe on Clement St. has food, deserts (lots of ice cream) and toy - on display and for sale. I hiked up to Green Apple Books and picked up a new Stross ( Glasshouse ), a new Vinge (Rainbo's End) and an old Reed ( Sister Alice ). Both Stross and Vinge's writings are heavily influential on... well, the entirely forward-looking community that I'm trying to get myself formally indoctrinated into. Reed's work is very different. I'll admit that most of my favorite contemporary authors (Stross, Morgan, Doctorow) and even some of the old standbys (like Vinge) are excellent authors but the stories ha...

After nine years, today was my last day at Microsoft. Starting at the end of June I'm off to new adventures in San Francisco.

SF MUNI is making their money on us this weekend, and it's a good thing Caspian likes public transit. We started off the day heading to the Palace of Fine Arts . Only the "Birds Eye" feature of Windows Live Local (nee MSN Virtual Earth) comes close to doing this justice in pictures. We wandered around, Susan took pictures with our real camera and I snapped these with my phone. I'm beginning to like the look of the cheap camera - the pictures come out "pre-aged" due to the low resolution, fixed focus, and poor light gathering. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing. Caspian fed a swan, which tried to steal his stuffed tiger, and talked with some artists who were setting up easels to paint "pofa" as Caspian has taken to calling it. We didn't go into the Exploratorium since Seattle has a great science center and C wouldn't appreciate the difference yet. We wandered over to the Marina to grab lunch and sit and enjoy the scenery - the One True...