The BART Before the Storm

BART - North Concord/Martinez

While I waited for my BART back to the city from visiting my friend Marris, a storm began to roll into the station. The scene brought me back to my Art Photo 4600 days at the University of Missouri. During my second semester in the program, I started to photograph how nature affects human infrastructure and vice versa.

The photos seemed to always show how ultimately nature gets the last laugh. With bridges being overcome with flooded rivers, trees uprooting foundations or plants finding a home in the most peculiar, engineered places.

Though, on a global scale, I guess we know that nature doesn’t really win. Perhaps it was these small victories that made the photos mean so much to me.

Another Beautiful Day

It seems like the awesome fun time that happened last night continued its positive energy through the following day. Today I was efficient at getting stuff done at work, able to make it to the grocery story to prepare for a healthy week of meals and had enough free time to socialize with friends off and online.

A brisk walk through the Castro finished off the night putting me into one of the most wonderful moods. It is from days like these that I’m reminded how amazing San Francisco is. Too often stagnation and expectations blind us to the wonder that surrounds us everyday. Lucky for me there are views like the one above that remind me how lucky I am.

Chinatown

Ryan and I have this great plan to visit different neighborhoods here in San Francisco, explore their shops and restaurants, people and nuances. I’m amazed that until last night I had only left the Castro for a trip to my new favorite wine bar, Barrique, a jaunt for lunch in the Mission and a few trips out of the city. I live and work in the Castro. I grocery shop there, go to the area hardware shops and generally don’t leave it’s familiarity.

While I have technically been to the Mission and the Financial district, those trips were hardly exploratory. That’s where this venture comes in. Continue reading

Sutro Heights Park and Goodbyes

Before heading to the airport, and making our sad goodbyes, Ryan took me to a part of San Francisco I didn’t even know existed. How I never knew about the beautiful Sutro Heights Park I am not sure but I am sure happy that Ryan brought me there for some beautiful vistas, a slow long walk through the trails and a little time before I left for Missouri to talk about our future together.

The Waves from Sutro Heights Park

The thought of leaving Ryan and California for Missouri made me sick. The idea that I was choosing to live two thousand miles away from the person and the place that I love just didn’t make sense. Yet, for some reason, less than 45 minutes after making it to Sutro Heights Park, we were back in the car and heading to the airport.

Golden Gate Bridge from Sutro Heights Park

When I start thinking about how much I miss Ryan and my friends in California I’m reminded that living in Columbia isn’t my permanent future. Someday, hopefully someday soon, I’ll make some dramatic changes in my life and it won’t be long before I’m no longer visitin California and instead, living there.

Visiting San Francisco

I’ve been staring at my screen for the last twenty minutes or so trying to decide just what I wanted to title this blog post. Choosing the right title for a post is important. Will my title convey the post subject of the post succinctly? Will it capture the attention of a potential reader? Will it SEO? Will it blend? Will it give the wrong message?

Obviously I just gave up. Oh well. Better than something totally cheesy like “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” with an embedded video from YouTube of Tony Bennett singing…well you get the point.

A few weeks ago, as many of you know, I took a trip to California to see Ryan, our new apartment, our amazing friends and to get a little bit of a break from the Midwest. The trip was awesome. I had an amazing time and if anyone were to ask me, yes it was too short. My time in the Golden State also brought up the question of why I was living in the Show-Me State. Why am I living 2,500 miles from Ryan working a job that can be done from anywhere in the world?

In fact, I did much of my job while I traveled across France, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Germany. If I can do it from Saudi Arabia through a government implemented firewall, I can certainly do the job from San Francisco.

No need to dwell on my longing for California, let’s instead, celebrate the great times I had while I was there! including a morning stroll through Dolores Park!

It was a long trip out there. Started way too early in the morning and didn’t end until around 2 in the morning my time. Long day. But who can complain when you have Ryan picking you up at the airport to drive you to your new home in the city?

When we got home, he gave me the tour of the apartment and neighborhood, talked about how wonderful it would be to live there together, full-time, and finished the moment off with a climb to the roof and a stunning view of the entire city.

The next morning I went to the roof to take this picture. Be sure to click to enlarge!

Our apartment is in a great area for us. Just a couple of blocks from a Safeway, a couple of blocks from a MUNI station, not even a block from a bus station and snugged in just outside of The Castro. When I previously lived in San Francisco, I lived on the other end of Market, about five blocks from Union Square. It was a different life then. Seemed I made whatever excuse I could to go down to the area where we now live and enjoy the higher altitude, the slower coffee shops and local color. I worked near Union Square but ached for The Castro, Mission and Haight.

I think it was the second night in town when I lamented to Ryan of the good ‘ol days. The days when I lived with Mike and Kevin in Santa Rosa. It was right about the moment that I turned to Ryan and said, “You know, I really wish you could meet Mike. I think you’d really like him…” when I’m interrupted by a callout, “Justin?!”

It’s Mike and Kevin, standing 15 feet from the front door of our apartment! By the way, Mike moved to St. Martin a few years ago, a Caribbean Island not known for its proximity to San Francisco.

It was amazing. We went out for drinks, Mike and I caught up on all the changes in each other’s lives while Kevin and Ryan, likely, shared embarrassing stories about me.

I couldn’t think of a better way to close out a night in San Francisco than that.

The San Francisco Post

I swear to whatever is necessary that I have a blog post or twelve coming. Life is just too busy for me right now to really explain what’s going on. I find it ironic that this blog is my release yet I’m too busy to spend the time necessary on it to get that release.

It’s a pretty horrible situation to be in. I’m too busy to write so I get frustrated, annoyed and even a little depressed. So now I need to write even more but again… no time.

So I’ll leave you with this.  A photo I took from Fisherman’s Wharf. It was an amazing afternoon, the air was crisp and cool, the sun shining through a sky completely absent of any clouds and I was walking with two old friends to an unlimited wine and cupcake tasting. What could be better?

So, a post about all the fun from my San Francisco trip, like a month ago, is coming. It’s a two-part post. This will be followed up by a post covering my gallery show in Chicago and then another post about the future, San Francisco and work.

After that I’m thinking a few political posts and maybe one covering a musical artist I’m digging right now.

What else would you like me to write about? Leave it in the comments. Maybe I’ll make time to write if I feel there are people creating the obligation.

Philadelphia

Who knew I’d have so much fun in Philadelphia, much less miss it or the new people I met there as much as I am right now.  Tonight I am just aching to create pictures, go out with my camera and capture the world and process it into something beautiful.

I just love this picture I took while in Philadelphia, and to think I almost forgot about the entire panorama of pictures I took.

This trip Ryan and I took through the northeast was so much fun.  In fact, it was the most fun I’ve had in ages, and perhaps the most fun I’ve ever had on a vacation.  I’m a very lucky person to have Ryan in my life.  He planned out 90% of this trip and managed to keep me sane with all the travel arrangements that would normally have made me completely batty.

Here’s a map of our travels!

It looks like our next major trip will be this summer, back to San Francisco for pride. Can’t wait!  Traveling with Ryan is just about the most fun you can have.  Plus I’ll get to take pictures… though I am really aching to travel to Europe… I’ve never taken pictures there. Visited? Yes.

Anyways, time to get off the computer for a bit. Keep up to date with me on twitter, http://twitter.com/justex07

Catch you later friends!

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