Above three photos sure signs you're in the mission.


It would be very easy to miss Clarion Alley. But there's a lot going on here today.








The Tamale Lady!


And my tamale.

::Download Flash Video::

It's easier to capture it in a movie.
(I have to apologize that I shot this movie holding my camera the wrong way. I rotated it in QuickTime Pro, but exporting it for estrip it got stretched again. D'oh!)

Today was pretty insane. Three street fairs (that I know of), two within a short walk of my house. Guess it's the last blow-out before the rainy season.

I hit this one fairly early, since it's a short walk from my house. It's still pretty mellow.
























Took the opportunity to get a picture of this house around the corner from me. I need to start thinking about paint colors for my exterior.

Decided to try the Postcard Row shot during the day time. Got a late start, so it's kind of hot and hazy already. Grabbed a few more shots along the way.


Fall color


Fillmore Street


Drum practice in the park


Hazy.


You can see the dome of City Hall, and I can pick out the Bay Bridge too in the distance too, but didn't really capture it here.

Since it was so hazy I decided to grab some shots in the shoe garden.

Well, the jury is still out. But let's see how these look online.

Keep in mind, by the time I got the thing home and charged the battery, the fantastic light from earlier today was fading fast. So these are mostly in much lower than optimum lighting, especially if you haven't read the manual yet.


If I had more time I could frame this right. Check out the ordinary citizens exercizing their dogs off-leash in front of City Hall. Don't forget to scoop!


I'll have to try this shot again. Was hoping for more detail.


Civic center buildings are still impressive, nevertheless.


This is not my container garden.


Folks enjoying the California "summer" weather at Moma Toby's, down the street from me.


Even in this light you can see why they call this Postcard Row. If I added 5 stories to my house, this would be the view from the top floor, haha. In the meantime, I have to walk four blocks uphill to see it.

These photos are not really "wowing" me, but I have 10 days to work on my technique and decide. Although I'm afraid to take the manual out of the shrinkwrap in case that won't count as returning it in it's original packaging. D'oh!

(Photos all shot between 6:10-6:50PM within walking distance of my house using the Canon PowerShot SD700.)

Paul, we just missed Eddie Brickell at The Fillmore last Tuesday. It would have been too damn depressing to go by myself so I missed it. Although I could have borrowed Larry's friend's stealth bootlegging gear and taped it for you, haha. But then you wouldn't have gotten to see all the concert posters. Cell phone pic below does not do them justice. All the walls upstairs are covered with them.



Oh well. Gives me a good excuse to change my usersound to your Eddie Brickell opening track. If my life was a movie, the isolated Alameda years would be cut to this tune.

Speaking of lousy cell phone pics, I have to either get a new cell phone or camera SOON! Or both. It dawned on me the other day while I was hunched over my computer reading camera reviews and examining sample photos, the last time I did this would have been October 1999 when I was still with Mark. I know this because I spent weeks researching digital cameras online and in stores. The house was strewn with highlighted and annotated camera reviews and it was all I could talk about.

Then Mark bought one for me at CostCo as an early Halloween gift. It wasn't any of the cameras on my short list, but you can't really be mad at your boyfriend for buying you a digital camera, right? I mean, it was great having it in time for Halloween (I was going to order my top pick online and I knew it wouldn't make it by Halloween, so I was holding off making the decision.) Still, it wasn't just about timing or money - it was about choosing the one I wanted.

Anyway, I have bought another digital camera since then. I knew I really needed a new one just for me when Alamedalink came along (which would be the "birth of a child" scene in my life movie). I was stoked to deck out my new baby with photos and banners to show that godforsaken island just how cool it could be. I had a tough but inspiring act to follow with all the cool photos and banners on (e:strip) from (e:Paul) and (e:Matthew) and countless other peeps. I just wanted to get the hell out there and start shooting - so I did a minimum of research and bought the best camera they had at CostCo.

I thought I was getting a step or two down from (e:Matthew)'s camera, but turns out mine wasn't even in the same league. Not that it would have made that much difference, since I still would have been the photographer. But at least I would have had a fighting chance.

I don't want to make that mistake again. A camera is not something I'm going to buy that often (I hope), but every time I look at the pictures, I don't want to wish they weren't so blurry, grainy, captured .07 seconds too late, etc. The rest of their defects I take complete responsibility for. ;-)

Anyway, I was remembering all this because I'm freaking out about getting a camera before (e:Paul) and Halloween arrive. In fact, I really want one before tomorrow so I can take pix at the [inlink]twisted,452[/inlink] block parties. The weather has been unbelievable lately. I didn't want to say anything because I know it's been crappy there, and I don't want to jinx it for Paul's visit. Larry was complaining it was so hot he had to walk on the shady side of the street yesterday. Which is pretty much the definition of "hot" out here, haha.

Speaking of Halloween, I happened to notice tickets for the Cramps are going for $72 online for some reason. That's crazy, since I'm pretty sure I can still bike down to the Fillmore and buy them for $25, which is still a lot, and there's already plenty happening on Halloween. But maybe I'll pick up a pair anyway. If we decide not to go I can always sell them to some out of town yahoos for $72 bucks, haha.



Ok, I really have to get out there now peeps. Time to "winterize" my container garden, which means throwing in some more pansies. Then some serious camera shopping. Wish me luck!