Sea Castle

Sea Castle Apartments - Santa Monica  1990

This had been shown on the blog before, but looking at the scan more closely this time I realized that there was a self-portrait hidden in the image:

Sea Castle Self-Portrait - Santa Monica  1990

Escalon Sightems - 2

Azores Band Escalon - San Joaquin County  2026

Building, Clouds (Escalon) - San Joaquin County  2026

"In the early 1980s, many Portuguese migrants came to California in search of opportunity while maintaining their culture and identity. Among them was John da Silveira, who, along with local Portuguese immigrants, sought to continue the musical traditions of their homeland. Their dream became reality when they formed a small band in the Nunes dairy of Escalon, today known as the Azores Band of Escalon."

1980s? That's pretty recent.

Cataract Surgery

Cataract Eye Drops (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Mike, Kaiser Cafe Entrance - Marin County  2026

I had cataract surgery last December, right eye at the beginning of the month, left eye at the end. First operation with anesthesia, the second without, for fun. It was interesting! Surgery without anesthesia allows you to be aware of everything that's going on in the room, plus all the small talk between the staff. For example, "what's the best Chinese restaurant in Novato?" was one of the topics. ("That one near the car dealership" was the answer.)

Vision is noticeably better, but getting correct glasses for my astigmatism took quite some time. Luckily I was able to use some (quite old) prescription reading glasses which somehow did the trick until the new glasses were delivered.

In the aftermath there was a serious "flare" problem looking at headlights, particularly in the left eye. The doctor attributed the flaring to some scar tissue left over from the operation . . . he zapped the tissue away using a laser. Whoa. I still have a "floater" in the left eye's vision due to the laser treatment. Supposed to go away eventually.

Lunch at Beautiful Lake Don Pedro

Tree, Lake Don Pedro - Tuolumne County  2025

Lunch at Lake Don Pedro Overlook - Tuolumne County  2025

Sometimes I stop at the McDonalds in Oakdale for lunch. Not this time! Fritos 'n Coke Zero and cheese sticks. Yum! Then the drive home in Friday afternoon traffic.

Mirror / Toyota Corolla

Mirror, Mike (Fairfax) - Marin County  2025

Corolla SUV (Fairfax) - Marin County  2025

Free mirror up at the end of the street. Cute smaller Toyota Corolla SUV parked over in the condos.

Morning Buildings, Crows on Roofs

Building, Crow - Marin County  2025

Building, Crow - Marin County  2025

Top: iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Bottom: Olympus E-M1II, 14-150mm lens.

Carmel Mission - 4

Altar (Carmel Mission) - Monterey County  2025

Baby Jesus, Apparition (Carmel Mission) - Monterey County  2025

Religious stuff, shot with an iPhone 13 Pro Max. 

It was fun wandering around the mission grounds! I'd like to view them again when it's foggy or overcast.

Monday Cat Blogging

Della on Cat Tree - San Francisco  2025

Della on Blanket - San Francisco  2025

New arrival at the Sasaki residence . . . Mike and Hali had the privilege of cat sitting Della for two recent weekends!

Still a kitten!

Della, Mike - San Francisco  2025

San Francisco Sightems

Blue Residence - San Francisco  2025

Pizza - San Francisco  2025

Cropping and perspective Photoshop control for the top iPhone photo. Taken while walking to my lunch date with Marilyn in the Avenues.

Putting Christmas Decorations Away

Xmas Lights in Hallway (Fairfax) - Marin County  2025

Silver Ball Decorations (Fairfax) - Marin County  2025

The Christmas tree light strands are quite long. In order to roll them up I have to first lay them out throughout the house. The silver balls were outside hanging on the olive tree.

Kyoto Sightems - 2 (Window Displays)

Window Display 1 (Kyoto) - Japan  2024

Window Display 2 (Kyoto) - Japan  2024

Nicely done window displays seen during our walks.

Window Display 3 (Kyoto) - Japan  2024

Takayama Sightems #1: Gate, Flowers, Figurines

Gate (Takayama) - Japan  2024

Flowers (Takayama) - Japan  2024

"Hida-Takayama is one of those rare destination gems that reward the intrepid traveler willing to take the road (somewhat) less traveled. Its commitment to cultural and historical preservation educates and inspires. Surrounded by mountains, it’s a gateway to the natural, untainted beauty of Japan. It’s walkable, friendly, and leaves an outsized impression."

Figurines, Self-Portrait (Takayama) - Japan  2024

Yokohama Visit

Yokohama Buildings (Yokohama) - Japan  2024

Rain, Hotel Window (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

We actually stayed in Yokohama before, and enjoyed it! We wanted to pay a return visit to check out a particular fabric store located there, and also to sample a restaurant that had been highly recommended. It rained that day, the view out our window partially obscured by raindrops.

We ordered a lunch set at Tokori, featuring a quantity of various cuts of beef to be grilled at the table. Excellent! And quite reasonably priced. Also, this was the first time since Hakodate that Mike was able to have a beer with his meal!

Yakiniku Restaurant (Yokohama) - Japan  2024

Yakiniku Beef Selections (Yokohama) - Japan  2024

Shinjuku Park - 2

Chrysanthemums, Building (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

Strawberry Confections (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

We had traveled to Shinjuku Park in order to see their chrysanthemum exhibit, which turned out to be OK, but not spectacular (flowers weren't in full bloom). But of course the park is very pretty on its own. We got a tasty bento box lunch at a little diner/tea house place inside the park, with the strawberry/white chocolate combos for dessert. Yum!

We stopped off at a Uniqlo on the way back, but didn't find anything to buy.

Mike & Hali (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

Hotel Niwa (Tokyo)

Hotel View (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

Hotel Room (Tokyo) - Japan  2024

Leaving Haneda Airport we were able to experience another convoluted taxi ride, this time through the vastness of Tokyo. We had a reservation at Hotel Niwa, where we've stayed before. It turned out that the room that had been reserved had upscale Japanese décor - very artistic, but we couldn't sit at the desk in the room, it was way too low for us.

We were able to switch to the room pictured above. Very nice, and on the top floor! Great view!

Lucky Pierrot

Lucky Pierrot (Hakodate) - Japan  2024

Lucky Pierrot Interior, Self-Portrait (Hakodate) - Japan  2024

Fairly well-known hamburger place; we had dinner there our first night in Hakodate. Alas, can't give it a good review since the sauce they used turned the bun into a soggy mess. Of interest: the only beer they had was Budweiser in a can. (?)

We walked around a bit, then I returned for one of their soft-serve ice cream cones. That was good.

Lucky Pierrot Cone (Hakodate) - Japan  2024

Okawa River

Hotel View, Sunrise, Okawa River (Osaka) - Japan  2024

Sculling, Okawa River (Osaka) - Japan  2024

Our hotel in Osaka had an impressive view of the river below and the skyline in the distance. Lots of sculling taking place on the river!

Also, there was a nice walking path alongside the river with some modern sculptures on view.

Reflective Sculpture, Self-Portrait (Osaka) - Japan  2024

Construction Yard / Truth Be Told

Construction Yard, Self-Portrait - Marin County  2024

Truth Be Told, Self-Portrait - Marin County  2024

I don't know if including one's feet in a photo counts as a self-portrait (as in the enigmatic photo above). You be the judge.

Both photos taken during a very hot day last September, while taking a car repair walk.

Hanna's Birthday!

Hanna Pushing Lawnmower Toy, Mike - Marin County  2014

Somehow this is a top and bottom two-photo merge. Don't know what prompted that.

Taken with an Olympus E-M1 / 14-150mm combo.

Atomic Cafe (1974)

Atomic Cafe - Los Angeles  1974

Atomic Cafe - Los Angeles  1974

The vertical shot is from a recent scan. I like that it includes the Winston Lights billboard.

The horizontal one has a self-portrait in it!

Atomic Cafe, Self-Portrait - Los Angeles  1974