Images from Tokyo, Thanksgiving 1997

Aerial view of Tokyo. It's literally a sea of 10 story buildings for as far as the eye can see.
The Yellow Raincoat

See more shots here.

Paradise Piano della Gomma

FTP in Italian

My Library

I used to enjoy reading, when I was in the fourth grade. When I got to be a grad student I kind of lost my taste for it. 4 solid years of serious study and research, left me literarily bereft of any desire to read.

I have been unpacking a few things recently, and since I came across yet another box of books, that's the 16th, it reminded me of how good it feels to read for the fun of it. I have been reading on the way back and forth on the train everyday, and I am seeriously enjoying having an hour to read everyday.

It is always fun to meet someone new and then get to see their library. It's so fascinating. "Oh, look, Strunk and White." "She has a bird book." "There's Janson's History of Art right next to
Latin America at the Crossroads." So much to learn about a person from their library. "He has a dictionary in the bathroom."

I started a list of books in the sidebar.

Ohhh -- I Remember When ..

Slim: Hey -- want to go fishing Sunday?
Me: Sure, where?
Slim: in the ocean. In Pacifica.
Me: Really? OK.

Sunday morning we get up and go over the hill to Pacifica and rent a sixteen foot outboard rowboat and they launch (drop) us off a steep, long ramp made out of telephone poles and we paddle through the breakers, drop the outboard, and poof -- we're in the Pacific in a 16' wood (freakin) outboard rowboat. Fishing for Ling-Cod.

"Just point right at the beach and the waves will take you home -- and {stay to the left of) try to miss the rocks and you'll be ok ... pull the motor up at the last minute ..." I can remember the shoreline from the ocean as if it were yesterday, but the odds of finding it from the beach side today are impossible.

I was sixteen, and Slim was about sixty-nine and my neighbor. I never was scared, and I never felt in danger. I never caught a fish, and I never was seasick. Slim threatened to throw his teeth up over the gunwale and told a shark story or two ... "The shark bit at the back end of the boat and left a bunch of teeth in it -- see -- here's a few," and he holds out a fistful of shark's teeth tied together with a string. If he were here today, I'd get in that boat with him again.

Holy crap. I wish I had taken a camera. You can't imagine the feeling of being on the very edge of the world, beyond the edge of the world -- and out there in the water. Looking back at the land with childish wonder. Holy crap. I wish I had taken a camera. I think it was here where the pillars are in the water.

And, damn, I won that camera the year before at the county fair, by shooting little targets with serious deadly accuracy, or some other crazy game.

400+ March

Date: 31 March 2007
Mileage for the week: 82.37
March total: 407.84
On the Ipod: Nothing

Red Shouldered Hawk

I went here to Grant Park for a hike today. It's right near Mt Hamilton and Lick Observatory in Santa Clara County.

I saw one of these -- and honestly -- I don't know what it is. Suspicion tells me that this is her kill, not road kill.


"What will I tell you when you ask, me why I am crying , will I point above at the redtail gracefuly soaring, or down below at his pray, who's quietly trembling." Good Friday, The Cowboy Junkies.

shawnkielty.com

I believe that http://shawnkielty.com is actually back online -- but just barely ... After the crash, it appears that their are a few critical pieces that are totally gone. so it might be a while before it acheives it's former glory. Cool things like the photos that you bookmarked long ago -- should still be there.

I'll be working on it as time provides.

The 49th State

SO -- there was a point in my life when it dawned on me that I had traveled in 44 states. That's right. 44. I had actually been in 44 states. It was easy to list the missing states. Georgia, the Carolinas, Louisiana, Alaska and Hawaii.

And I devised a plan. To go to all 50 states by the time I was 50. After that I would see if I could get laid in each of the 50 states. But for now it's just enough to go there. So I started rolling the idea of Alaska around in my mind. Alaska.

And I started to collect the stuff I would need to go there.

A truck. Not any truck, a tough truck, a Kurdish tank. 4WD, raised, tough, and with a 50 caliber machine gun camera mounted on top. One that lives through floods, potholes, hurricanes, snowstorms, etc.

A bicycle. In case I want to go for a ride.

A camera. Oh you know -- to take pictures.

A chain saw.

Camping gear. For me.

Climbing gear. Just in case.

SwimWetsuit.

Shorts.

So I have these things. And a plan. The plan says jump in the truck and ferry up the passage, stop and photograph the white black bears in BC, go to Kenai and Sitka and Juneau, get out to the west coast of Alaska somewhere, drive to Anchorage, then go north to Prudhoe Bay, see the ANWR before it turns into Bakersfield, and go to the Brooks Range and climb see Denali, and visit the occasional friend and drive home through the Yukon Territory, and spend the entire summer doing it. And somehow manage a birding trip to the Aleutian Islands.

I want to see a puffin, a polar bear, a walrus, a brown bear, a dall sheep, a caribou, seals and whales. I am not so sure I want to see a wolf.

A little voice is telling me that this isn't going to happen right away. Another voice wonders, "Do I want some sort of boat?"

Lunch Time at Sally's

These photos were taken with my work cell phone, A Motorola RAZR. I think it has the worst camera ever for a cell phone.

We had Lunch at Sally's at 16th and RhodeIsland in San Francisco.


Pasta with chicken and a cream sauce, and pasta on the side. Eat up.

After lunch we walked over to 18th to use the foot bridge over the freeway to get back to work. This climb up 18th at DeHaro street is well over an 18% grade.

I was a Bit Bored on the Train, and I said ...

There's that little freeway crossing at 18th and it's just a few blocks to work from there and HowBadCanItBe?, after all. And I got off the train at 22nd street, which is basically a hole in the ground. From there I looked up at a sign that said steep grade ahead, so I turned right on Pennsylvania, and proceeded to climb a fairly steep grade for a long block or two.

It wasn't too bad. Coast all downhill from there to 15th and Utah. 1.4 miles, with a short, but steep hill.

If you can find a better route, I'd be glad to here about it, the start and end points are marked with a green dot. Notice that the route map is marked in three kinds of red to indicate how (incredibly ^&%#ing) steep the hills are.

Yeah, It's Raining, So What ...

Well, it is.

http://sat.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/showsat.php?wfo=mtr&area=nw&type=vis&size=4

Date: 24 March 2007
Mileage for the week: 80.24
March total: 325.47
On the Ipod: Nothing

Saturday Morning Coffee

Well, I've been over to the new Cafe of the Beautiful People, for my standard "Tall Coffee with 2 extra shots." In Pullman, WA at the Cafe of the Beautiful, everyone was college aged and the Barista gave out heart shaped love on valentine's day. In Mesa AZ, every one was wearing athletic wear, or race gear, all fit and healthy, and i.e. beautiful. Here in Bahgdad by the Bay (thanks Herb), it's much more interesting. There always is a crowd, and today's crowd was mostly pre-teen girls wearing make-up. There must be a school-sized event over at the Performing Arts Center.

But it is Saturday Morning. Last time I sat down on Saturday morning to write I was sitting at my desk in Mesa, Staring out at the Superstition Wilderness. Today, I am at my desk in California, reviewing the past.

Here's another shot from America's Loneliest Highway.

Somewhere on America's Loneliest Highway

Sobriety Checkpoint

Last night at about 10:50, I spun through the Burlingame PD's sobriety checkpoint on California Ave. at about 18 miles an hour. It was strange and odd. They didn't stop me or even seem to notice me.





This afternoon I rode out to San Carlos Airport and back on the Bay Trail and it was about 30 miles round trip. On the way back we took the frontage road from the Airport to Oracle and my Red-Headed Riding Buddy blew a tire. I had a spare that was not right, that bought him an additional 10 miles. At the bridge my Presta tube on his Schrader rim gave out at the valve, leaving him on foot. I rode to get a car and came back for him, cutting his trip down to about 23 for the day, and leaving me with about 28 all day.


Site of the Blowout.


The interesting bit is this; from my house the bridge is five miles, Oracle is ten, Holly street is fifteen, and where is twenty? Round trip, these are 10, 20, and 30 miles respectively.

Date: 17 March 2007
Mileage for the week: 85.54
March total: 245.23
Max: 29.8
On the Ipod: Neil Young: Rockin' the Free World

The Commute to Work

This is an image of coyote point. It's rediculously small for whatever reason. My commute is 22.61 miles and took me 2 hours. There are three hills, these being my first hill climbing in quite some time.

It wasn't the most pleasant ride, as a lot of it is industrial.

Showtime

I set the alarm for 6 AM, and I laid out the riding clothes for the morning. Padded shorts, tights, a jersey, and some warmers.

I went to the doctor today to tell her that I was coughing in unbelievable fits at night like I had Pertussis (whooping cough), and that I was afraid I was going to break my ribs or something, and that I usually wanted to vomit after I was done turning blue, and she said, oh -- I think you have post nasal drip, take this phergain (sp -- an anti-nausea medication) with codiene (a pint of it, no less), that should help. Sure, narcotics usually help. "You'll be fine."

As long as I don't choke to death on my own phlegm while unable to wake up, cough, or puke.

I said, "Really?, I'll never take it."

I'll be up in the morning, on my bike, trying to navigate 16 miles of unknown urban paradise. Sans codiene. Paroxysms or not.

A long way ...

I am somewhat inspired by Lauren's post describing her commute to work. Did I mention I was jealous, too. It's a very nice ride. For some time now I have been contemplating riding (all the way) to work one day morning a week, in an effort to get my weekly base up to about 125 miles. Currently, if I push it, I can break 100 a week, but even if I am busy, I usually end up at about 75. Adding 15-20 miles will help.

I washed all my riding clothes, especially the padded ones. I never wear the ride specific clothing, but rising temps combined with longer rides seem to imply occasional showers and a change of clothes, and my saddle has been asking me for a little cushioning against my sit bones. So tomorrow I will pack up a shower bag and haul it into work. I have a shower at work.

In trying to plan a route through 17 miles of the SF Peninsula, I discovered several things.

1. There's a bike route map of San Francisco from the SF Bike Coalition
2. San Mateo County has this, which looks like a scary route. I don't like two lane roads with street parking and no bike lane.
3. There are other maps, too, here.
4. It ain't easy to get there from here
5. This is a very nice article (dated) about the progress made in San Francisco for cyclists in recent years.

Maybe this week I will try the full commute. I have something that looks like a route, thanks to mapquest's (thanks fritz, for sharing) "avoid freeways" option. I run the Bay Front trail out to the Airport and then ride Bayshore into South City, and on past Potrero Hill. With an occasional deviation that I'll need to navigate when I get there.

If I can get to work it will mean I can get across the GG bridge which will mean I can get to Alaska... it's all in the journey ...Wish me luck.

Date: 11 March 2007
Mileage for the week: 112.43
March total: 159.69
Max: 29.2
Time in the Saddle: 10:15
On the Ipod: Jackson Browne, Farther On

Fernando's

Behind the Scenes

A bike race seems to leave spectators standing around looking at each other as much as watching the race. Here are a few shots from behind the scenes at the Velogirls Menlo Park Grand Prix . Enjoy.