These are the rest of the pictures from that early morning in Bridgeport; I should have probably spent the first half hour driving out to the lake, but I figured I might as well spend some time in the town, and it ended up being worthwhile. There were no people when I first out at first light, but by the time the sun actually came over the mountains, there were a fair number, and a bakery right on main street had opened, and sold me a ham and cheese pastry.
One last view of the mountains and cows. 
There’s a feeling of spaciousness in the west, room to spread out. That includes just leaving stuff outside, in the alley. When there’s no limit to the space you have, organization looks different. 
Sunrise next to the bakery, where I sat and drank my coffee. 
This bird was awfully friendly; from his roundness, I think he was probably feeding off tourists’ leavings. He didn’t get any of mine, at least. 
Didn’t notice this place open while we were in town; I don’t think they cater to the 6:30am crowd. 
The general store where we got champagne and beer and snacks. Full disclosure: this picture has been cropped and perspective-adjusted.
Posted on 2016-12-31T23:58:03Z GMT
We came into Bridgeport through the pass north of 120, I disremember which road it was. Stopped at an overlook, maybe half way down, that had a good view of the valley we’d been coming down, out of the sierras. Switchbacks the whole way, and I was driving, so didn’t take too many photos (since I’ve nearly killed myself doing that, I only take the risk when I’m alone).
Got into Bridgeport, checked in to the motel there, and then went to see what we could see of the lake. It wasn’t quite golden hour, but the closeness of the mountains meant that the whole lake was in shadow a couple hours before the official sunset. I took a couple pictures with the film camera from a nice overlook, which are still undeveloped, four months later. We proceeded to the visitors’ center for the national monument, which was closed, so I ran around taking photos anyway. Then we lost the light so we went on to dinner and then back to the motel.
The next morning, I woke up early and went for a walk. There’s not much left of Bridgeport. A couple bars, a couple hotels, and cattle ranches all around. And great big beautiful mountains.
There’s a saying, ‘The perfect is the enemy of the done,’ that I’ve been contemplating lately. I have a hard time letting go of stuff that isn’t perfect. Not only that. It’s very hard for me to start something that I can’t see the through line to completion. A friend on facebook brought it up in the context of cleaning, but it applies to blogging all the pictures, too. These are four months old, for crying out loud. They’re pretty good. I think the third image is going to look great printed very large (40x60, for those that care). Anyway, this is me, not trying to get it perfect, but just getting the thing done.
Posted on 2016-12-31T07:56:29Z GMT
Blogger’s note: I wrote this yesterday morning, and then got distracted looking for a link, and then work really got going. So, A double good morning to you.
My internet (and occasional real-world) friend Robin Sloan has this thing he calls the ‘good morning’ tweet, specifically a picture of breakfast or coffee or whatever. I’m never content with just one photo, of course, so here’s a good-morning photo essay. I was lucky that it was foggy this morning.
I’ve been thinking about the events of last week (indeed, continuing events) and what the hell to do. There’s a fight ahead, to be sure. This is a good start: rules for survival. There were some other guides, things to read, like Solnit’s Hope in the dark. I can’t seem to find the link that led me to that book, but it’s out there. Also: Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt is worth a re-read at this point. Or a first read, if you’re new.
Posted on 2016-11-14T18:04:53Z GMT
A short post without much to say for itself, while I’m waiting for my laundry to dry here in the city. This, to balance out the super long post I made two days ago. I shut off my facebook last night. We’ll see if I turn it back on or not, but this is an indefinite hiatus, brought on by their attempt to push me into Messenger and off the web.
There’s something to be said for hosting my own thoughts; nobody can push me around. Well, anonymous hackers could take down this little server pretty easily, but it’s more about controlling my own words and pictures. There’s no EULA to post these pictures and words to my own server, running free software. No rights grab by the hosting company, and nobody to say that I have to install some shitty chat app except me. The only way to save the open web is to stop playing in other people’s gardens, no matter how nice they are.
Violets, on my walk to work. This was before the move, I’m pretty sure. 
Ship headed out to sea, from the Bay Bridge. One of those days where you know fall is coming. 
The pyramid at the Contemporary Jewish Museum.
Posted on 2016-11-03T18:57:13Z GMT
