Random picture taken in 2009 in Merced of electrical lines

This is what the countryside looks like where I am from, when it hasn't been torn up by housing developers. This picture was taken just outside of Merced in 2009.

This is actually a scene that I saw everyday growing up, as it is what you see as you head into town. Those are electrical wires which go a very long distance. Underneath them are some yellow flowers, which only bloom for a short while.

This is looking South, from the general area of Yosemite Avenue and Lake Road. There are a couple other pictures I took in this area, like this one. Here is another of flowers, and another one here.

Half gone Moraga housing development sign

This picture was taken in 2009. This was taken roughly in the area of Yosemite Avenue and Perch Lane.

The sign says "RAGA", but it is supposed to say "MORAGA". This is at the entrance to a huge housing development (that destroyed a gigantic amount of farmland) that was started and then largely abandoned.

A gigantic waste. You can see more pictures from inside of this housing development here, here, and here. You can see a tumbleweed I took a picture of inside of this housing development. Here is also a view from the sidewalk.

Shot of the front door to the closed Mervyn's Department Store in 2009

This picture was taken in my hometown of Merced in 2009.

This picture was of the front door to a retail store called Mervyns, that used to act as one of the main anchor stores at the mall in my hometown.

You can see my reflection there in the glass. I was skinny, because I had lost a significant amount of weight.

The closing of the Mervyns made a big impression on me, and i've posted other pictures.

Yellow flowers and driftwood structure at the beach at a park in Seattle.

This picture was taken just a couple days ago. This was taken at the beach at a park in Seattle called Discovery Park. You can read the wikipedia page for this park here. You can read a website run by friends of this park here.

I liked this picture, it is pretty good. As you can see, there are yellow flowers. There in the background is a driftwood structure, and the rather still waters on Puget Sound in the background. This was taken on a very warm day.

Another picture of the Shilshole Bay Marina sign with pictures in front

This is a picture I took about a week ago. These are flowers under the sign of a place in Seattle called the Shilshole Bay Marina.

I don't know why, but I seemed to be enamored with taking pictures of flowers in front of this sign.

Anyways.

Pike Place Market random view.

I liked how this picture turned out. This was a random picture I took a few days ago at the Pike Place Market in Seattle.

I think I like how this picture looks, because that woman is wearing a very blue dress, and the man next to her is wearing a cream color.

It sort of looks like there is four squares, the partial "NO STOPS" sign, the two people, the Public Market sign, and the "Meet the Producers" sign. If the upper left wasn't so dark, it probably would be really good.

Still I like it. Here's another from roughly the same spot.

James Fitzgerald fountain in front of Jefferson Terrace.

This picture requires a little explanation.

This picture was posted by my other Brightkite account. This is a fountain in front of a housing development in Seattle.

This fountain was done by an artist named James Herbert Fitzgerald in 1969. There had been water running in it, when the fountain was originally installed back in the 1960s. There are other fountains in Seattle that were done by this exact same artist. There are even fountains, like this one, that originally had running water, but to due to neglect they no longer have.

The difference is, that the other fountains by James Herbert Fitzgerald that had have their water turned off, now have their bases filled with flowers. This particular fountain now sits empty, and garbage collects in it.

After I discovered this fountain, I decided to post some pictures of it. I also decided that that this would be a great idea for a story, so I sent it over to a cool neighborhood blog, and they wrote a story about it.

Hopefully the water that used to run in this fountain can be turned back on. If not, hopefully flowers can be planted in the base.

View of a flower in Interbay with south end of Ballard Bridge in distance

I like this picture. This picture was taken on June 18th of 2010. This is near the south end of the Ballard Bridge, which you can see in the background. This is in an area of Seattle known as Interbay.

I liked how this picture shows a colorful (yet tough looking) flower. Plus there are train tracks, and an out of focus bridge in the background.

I've gotten to know this area better recently, and I think that there are many things that could be done in this area of Seattle. I recently went on a walk with a friend of mine through this area, and we walked from here to the Fremont bridge.

Each time I have been down here, I have run into people using these train tracks as a trail. If you walk along these tracks towards the East, you will actually run into the start of a bike trail.

There is also some really cool art down under the bridge, if you follow the train tracks seen in this picture.

If you like taking pictures, I recommend taking a walk around in this area. If you do go for a walk, try to imagine different things that could be done in this area.

Interbay freight train with green plants in the foreground.

I like this picture, it is very green! This picture was taken on June 18th of 2010. The location of this picture was about seventy five yards from the south end of the Ballard Bridge.

This is in Seattle's Interbay neighborhood. The "8193" is painted on the side of a parked Burlington Northern freight train. This is actually a very beautiful area, a mix of train tracks, industrial buildings and bridges. I think that this would be a great area to extend a bike trail through.

I posted other pictures from this same day here, and here, and here.

If you'd like to view of the front of the "8193" train, you can do so here.

Low to the ground view of stream in Carkeek Park on 07/05/2010

This picture was taken in a park in North Seattle called Carkeek Park. It was taken on the afternoon of July 5th, 2010.

This picture is of a freshwater stream that runs through the park. I climbed down into the creek bed, and held the camera close to the ground - this was probably about 12 inches above the ground.

I took some other pictures of the surface of this stream that day and posted them here and here.

Sinaloa Restaurant in Merced

I was just looking back through my Merced pictures, searching for a mystery photo I had forgotten about, when I came across this picture.

I had to post this picture because, it makes me nostalgic! I used to eat at this very spot when I was a little kid.

It had a different name then (what was it called?) but I can remember going here when I was very young.

Now it is called Sinaloa. Good times! It is a little hard to see, but to the right of the Sinaloa sign, you can see a very old 7 UP sign in the background.

If you are interested, you can see another picture of this restaurant here.

Leaf submerged underwater in a stream in Carkeek Park

This picture was taken yesterday, 07/05/2010. This picture was taken in a place in Seattle called Carkeek Park.

The water in this picture is a shallow stream that runs through the park. As you can see, there is a leaf submerged underwater.

Pic of graffiti cleanup that got on a blog

This picture was taken about a month ago. The man seen in this picture is a city of Seattle worker who is doing graffiti cleanup under a bridge in Seattle called the University Bridge.

After I took this picture, I thought to myself about the graffiti cleanup process. I lived in Seattle's University District from 2000 to 2008 (except for a brief stint in Fresno).

This area under the bridge has always been a target for graffiti, largely because they keep re-painting over the graffiti with an institutional gray color!

After pondering the cleanup of this area, I sent this image over to a local news blog, and they ended up running an excellent story about it.

I, for one, hope that a mural goes up in this area. The city used to play the same cat and mouse game up on Campus Parkway, where a large wall in a tunnel kept inviting graffiti. Around 2004, the city had some local artists come in and put up murals, which truly transformed this previously dark area for the better. Hopefully that's what can happen here.

Water on a random plant in Seattle.

I don't know what kind of plant this is, but you will see this plant all over the city of Seattle. I liked this picture. Often, when it rains, these plants look really cool because they have beads of water all over them.

There's another picture of water drops on this type of plant here.

Water drops on leaves and a flower in Seattle.

Random picture of a flower and some water on some leaves. This was taken someplace in Seattle, I neglected to document the location.

Colorful flowers at 6th Avenue West & West Ewing Street

This picture turned out kind of nice. I was out walking around with my buddy Lord Tuggs, when we walked by the intersection of 6th Avenue West & West Ewing Street.

Much to my surprise, there was a small boat dock in this area. If you look, you can see it in the upper right hand corner of this picture.

This area is a couple blocks away from the Seattle Pacific University campus.

Anyways, I walked by, and noticed these flowers, which were so colorful, I wasn't even sure if they were real. But, they were! Snapped this picture.

You can see more pictures from this area here.

Random view of restaurant downtown with Smith Tower in the background

This picture was pretty nice. This is a picture of restaurant in downtown Seattle called Main St. Gyros. I have never been to this restaurant, but I would like to go.

Directly behind the sign for this restaurant is the Smith Tower, which is the oldest skyscraper in the city.

Plant in front of 6th and Ewing street signs.

This is a picture I took not too long ago. This picture is from the intersection of 6th Avenue West and West Ewing Street. This is not all that far from the campus of Seattle Pacific University.

I posted other photos from this area here.

Egret flying off over Puget Sound

This is a picture of an egret that I took just this week. This egret was taking off over the water of Puget Sound. This picture was taken a few hundred yards south of Carkeek Park.

You can see some other pictures of this bird here and here. I posted the same picture above here and here.