Nes Ce Pas?

Bodhi Josephina Dunkel Wilker
December 14, 2005 11:49 AM

Every Where I Go

Nothing on my mind
Look elsewhere for
I seem to find
A wall, no door

Nothing will heal
So far, unreal
Fear the state
On the other side

Images and words flow from one's mind, creating an abstract reality in which we can interact and learn from. Crossroads give choices of route, but destination remains the same. All of us the mechanics to others until we all arrive.

And thus my journey begins...

I arrive at a tunnel and travel through to the other side. Yes, the infamous Rainbow Tunnel of Marin County.

Though the rainbow is only visible when heading north - and I am heading south.

Of course the gg bridge is seen in the background, just over the hills... often rising up from, or into, the fog.

I then arrive at the toll plaza.

Since I am not a regular driver over the bridge, I head towards one of the cash lanes and give my five dollars to the awaiting toll plaza toll taker.

"Nice bridge. You should charge more." ~ Syd Belidge

I then manage to snap a shot of a Christmas tree.

It is located in a small plaza on Columbus where Chinatown meets North Beach.

It also happens to be a bus stop for Muni.

And we see a wary traveler waiting for public transportation.

I then head into the financial district and come upon a typical morning commute fender bender.

This shot is taken via my rear view mirror.

The lane directly behind me is blocked by one of the vehicles.

I am surprised that I haven't been involved in one - snapping shots as I attempt to drive to work.

Which is, by the way, coming to an end.

My wife wisely figured out that a cab ride home would cost less then driving into the city is costing us.

which means that we are still awaiting Bodhi's birth.

Merry-Go-Round.

Some Days Are Better Then Others

I think the title and this photo really says it all, don't you?

I mean, it is such a perfect combo that I am tempted to just leave this posting at that...

However, there are some key photos in today's commute.

This one shows some Jedi skills I learned this morning before heading out to work via the Photoshop TV podcast.

I've practiced this a few times today so that I retain the knowledge. There are some very cool short cuts involved with creating that effect.

If you have any interest in Photoshop, I recommend checking out their video podcast. (For me, it helped to be able to see what they were doing.)

This shot is of Chinatown - looking across Broadway from Columbus. Attending the Moon Festival there is a cultural experience!

And the history of the area is rich.

I have been told that the eateries in the tourist sections should be avoided... um, we'll leave it at that.

And as promised, I finally have shots of the "Crookedest Street in the World". I must say, this one is quite beautiful.

This is at the top of the street, looking east. There are usually a group of tourists hanging out at the top.

Also, one of the cable car lines runs right past this area.

And now we are on the street, heading down towards Columbus were I will turn right and head into the financial district.

I learned something interesting about the financial district.

There are rogue, pirate black birds that are inhabiting the finacial district... seizing vehicles and taking the driver's items - such as cell phones, PDAs, etc. - which they then place on eBay.

Here we see one casing the vehicle next to me.. Notice the stealth of the bird as the drive is completely unaware of the surveillance taking place.

Hey, wait a minute.. I do believe from the looks of that picture that I was the one being stalked.

Lastly, I give you the hallway from which that first picture was taken. This hallway is on the bottom floor of the building in which I work and I walk through it on the average two times a day (working days that is).

My gut tells me I shan't be commuting this coming week due to the birth of our 3rd child, Bodhi.

But one never knows - some days are better then others.

Work, Work, Work

Okay.. I am having trouble staying engaged with this blogging thing... I mean, how many pictures can I take of the same route?

There really isn't that much interesting happening on the way to and from work.. and if there is, I often do not have a moment to stop and capture it.

It's kind of like - Hey that's really cool! And the light turns green and I have to go on...

And do you all really care about the Academy of Art University? I hear it is where the rich kids go who are also kind of... um... well, not scholastically inclined and they convince their parents to send them to this university.

My friend Tim has some much better stories about his experience with the university and some film students.

I think one of the dangers of being a young student is that one has preconceptions about the aspects of what one is attempting to achieve.. for instance, I thought a rock star partied a lot. So that's what I did as a youth hoping to be a rock star... actually playing music never occurred that much to me.

And yes, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas... every where you go.

In fact, in that photo I can see NOEL spelled out... though it's not.

I am sure that I could get much better photos of Christmas somewhere... and I never got that shot of Lombard I promised.

By the way, did you get the pun of yesterday's posting? What it really was (okay, there is a pun there... ) was an easy way to post without writing much.

As I said, this is becoming tiring.

I see dead people.

5,000 Words

A Day Off

I awoke this morning to some serious cold... okay, I know that you people living in true winter areas are laughing now.. But it WAS cold!

Jacky Frosting was in full effect last night. This photo doesn't quite do justice to the frost that was thickly covering everything.

If it had rained at these tempatures, it would have snowed.

I had to go by the bank to get money for the bridge and passed by Tam High School.

Nice school, but I wouldn't want to live there.. although I do have an excellent story about it.

Ask me some time and I'll tell ya...

This shot was me attempting to get a shot of the valley in which we live as I went over the overpass across from our home.

Not quite the shot I was hoping to capture, since you can only really see the truck and freeway, but I thought it interesting enough to post on my blog.

I then went through North Beach as I normally do when driving into the city and captured this shot from the corner of Columbus and Broadway.

Yep, that right there is the Condor - the once famous home of Carol Doda.

I recommend doing a search if you are a history buff - great stories about both entities.

This shot is the Bank of America building, often referred to as the black monolith, since it looks like one.

Hey, the bank I had to go to this morning was a BofA... interesting.

By the way, the title of today's blog is derived from my noticing that the date of my entries is always a day off. So today's posting will be dated Wednesday but is about Tuesday's commute... so, no, I didn't get a day off. :-(

Which brings us to my ride home. That is the truck I am driving into (and back from) work. It is awaiting my arrival patiently all day... of course, the space in which it is parked is leased by my at $15 for the day. Pretty steep if I am driving in every day this week... with the $5 for the bridge, that is $20 a day - $100 for the week.

Anyone need a web site?

I also do video/film work. This shot is of Adolph Gassers - the foremost camera/video/film store in the Bay Area in my humble opinion.

They are right across the street practically from work - and the lighting was perfect for taking this shot... the magic hour as it were.

And this is the "crookedest street in San Francisco", Lombard. I however am traveling down the straightest part of it heading towards the bridge... and home.

Maybe I'll go down it today to get a shot for the next entry.

Xmas Wish

Where does one's commute start? Home. Home is where the heart is... and there is a lot of love within those walls. I really am very blessed with a wonderful, loving family.

What else would I say about our home? Well...
There was a crooked man
Who walked a crooked mile...

I bravely place this photo of myself on my blog so that others know that I am willing to have photos that do not highlite my best attributes... it sure does show my gap tooth smile though.

In some weird way, I believe placing this photo live with that caption above allows me to place photos of others live... strange.

By the way, taking photos while driving is dangerous.

Yes, I am driving into work right now because we are expecting the birth of our 3rd child to our family any time and I need to be able to get back to our home quickly if called.

I was fortunate enough today to see one of the Christmas people...

With bright red hair and green pants (yes, I know they look blue - trust me, they were green), they roam the streets of San Francisco reminding people that Christmas time is here and to drive with consideration.

I also drive through North Beach and there is a park were people start their mornings with Tia Chi movements.

Two of my good friends have been practicing Tia Chi for many years now and have even taught it. They have a nice room in their home for practicing.

I also saw an old haunt from my AspenMedia days, Clown Alley.

They make great burgers with all the fixings you could possibly want. Next time you are in San Francisco, make sure you visit Clown Alley.. located on the outskirts of the financial district and North Beach. Clown Alley, a great burger.

As you may of noticed, all these photos so far were taken on the trip in... I decided to concentrate on driving on my way home. (Remember the danger factor?)

I did get this great photo of San Francisco's City Hall. That is the moon up there in the sky...

I actually took 3 shots knowing that with the lighting I was going to get a magical shot.

I think I did.

And finally we come to the part that addresses the title of today's blog entry...

Yes, for xmas, I want to... well... be in constant silhouette with lights all around my head.

Can you get that for me?

Drivin' That Car

It occurs to me that couples are a complex relationship that is often beyond understanding.. even when one finds one self in relationship, it is often beyond understanding what is happening within it.

For instance, does it seem like the two people shown here are a couple? Would have been more apparent if I had taken a shot a few minutes later when they were gently touching fingers?

I've seen this couple often on my commute and they intrigue me for what ever complex reason.

The behemoth of Lucas' empire also intrigues me. What complexities are carried out with the hallowed halls of the stately group of buildings nestled in half-moon formation on a hill in the Presideo?

I may never know but for the releases which give credit to the complexities within.

And in a big city, one needs public parking.

All three of those shots were taken on my trip into the city.

I received a ride home from a friend, and co-worker.

Nope, wasn't Mike...

She wishes to remain nameless... and apparently faceless.

She had something going on with her eyes - they were dilated - so I got to drive her car. Nice car. Couldn't take any pictures.

Another Rainy Day

It was another beautiful, rainy morning... In fact, it rained all night and most of today.

Some people complain about the rain. Insane.

This photo I like because it captured the car going by quite well... blurry background/foreground while the car looks clear. Not bad for a Palm shot, yes?

And it doesn't hurt that the lighting seems perfect. An old movie trick is to wet the pavement for an outdoor shot... you get nice reflections, etc. as one can tell from this photo.

I don't know what to say about the floating red head.

Taking It's Toll

Well, this blogging thing is taking its toll...

as you can tell.

I haven't updated it in the past couple of days..

It's too bad. Last Friday my family picked me up from work and we went home a different way and I had a lot of cool pictures.

You'll just have to trust me on that - I decided yesterday to not attempt to catch up. It would push me over the edge with this...