My Friend Gladys

"Every year, back comes spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off

 and the ground all mucked up with plants."

~Dorothy Parker

I flew into a fit of nostalgia yesterday, and went downtown for lunch and then a drive around Berkeley. One of my favorite spots to visit is my friend Gladys. She's the lady in the photo above. Gladys and her friends sit inside a special little garden, behind a pretty unique house on Ashby avenue. Gladys always makes me smile, and reminds me about how it's the unusual in life that makes living in this world whimsical and bearable. Gladys has her affairs in order. She knows who she is. She always makes you feel welcome. And when you leave, it's a huge comfort knowing that no matter how busy, or crazy life gets, Gladys will always be a constant in an ever changing world of birds yapping their nasty little heads off.

I don't think her real name is Gladys, but that's who she will always be to me. I am going to miss a lot of things about Berkeley, and Gladys is definitely one of them!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

The Public Stairways Of San Francisco: A Sneak Peek Of The Montgomery Street Stairs

Montgomery Street Stairs, San Francisco
July 31st, 2013

"My soul can find no staircase to Heaven, unless it be through Earth's loveliness."

~Michelangelo

When you think of San Francisco, what comes to mind? Sourdough bread? Tony Bennett? The Barbary Coast? The Golden Gate Bridge? The TransAmerica Pyramid building? Fisherman's Wharf? Well yes, I can see that! Those are all the things tourists come to San Francisco to see, but there are all kinds of interesting hidden gems about the city that gets overlooked. I kinda love that because I can go and experience those things, without being trampled on. LOL. Although I think the word has been getting out in recent years about one of my personal favorite haunts... the stairs of San Francisco.

I have read here and there that there is probably some 300 or more public stairways in San Francisco. Some have been featured in movies, some are cement, some are still of their original wood, having survived the 1908 earthquake! They are historical. They are works of art, like the 16th avenue tiled steps, and all of them serve the same purpose, to get you from here to there on all these hills! If I posted one set of stairs a day, it would take me the better part of a year to show you each and every one of them. I was thinking about posting this kind of series a couple times a month... maybe. So, if I do get to post at that rate, it will be more like several years before I photograph each set!

It sounds daunting.

But I think I would like to try.

Think of the history.

Think of the beauty.

Think of the exercise.

Think of the sights you find along the way.

Personally, I am up for the challenge!

I can't wait to see what I will discover while walking on the stairs of San Francisco! I am going to do a more in depth photo session on the Montgomery street stairs. That will be coming along pretty soon, so stay tuned! I think you will be surprised by the amazing views and beauty associated with them. I know I was!

"The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane."

~Bette Davis

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

The Driveways Of San Francisco #1

"When I get real bored, I like to drive downtown and get a great parking spot, then sit in my car and count how many people ask me if I am leaving."

~Stephen Wright

In the ten years I have been blogging, I have showed off the beautiful sights around the Bay Area, and San Francisco in particular, and as lovely as the usual tourist spots are, I think it's time to venture out a bit both in my thinking, and my photography, so, how about we check out something a bit unusual... shall we?

Parking In San Francisco...

Here's the thing. If anything ever happens to Alan, GOD FORBID, I would probably never see San Francisco again! LOL. I HATE driving there, hate it with a passion. One moment you could be on a perfectly flat, easy to maneuver, nicely wide street, but make one wrong turn... and you are in HILLSIDE HELL! Honestly, the steep hillsides seem to come out of nowhere! It's downright eerie! But if the truth be told, it's also kinda cool, in a terrifying way! I jest, but really, if you aren't used to it, the whole process can be a bit nerve wracking! But it can also be inspiring. One day, in my terror, while riding up a particularly steep hill, I decided to snap a few photos of the scary driveways that go along with living on a hill in San Francisco. Personally, I think the driveways are a marvelous, and I can't help but admire the bravery of those who deal with the parking every single day, but I am not sure I would want to live there!

Take this first driveway for instance. It's kinda cool... in an odd kind of way.

Right?

This isn't the worst I have seen, believe me, so stay tuned, there is a lot more driveways to come!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)