Posted for entry into Photojojo Daily Pic Pick, here’s to hoping.
Street Level Entrance in Back
This is the blog of Gray Stephen Windbigler,
Photographer, observer, and rider of the concrete wave.
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WTF!?
This is going to be eventful…I’m going to Grayland, WA which is in Gray’s Harbor County…before I go to Seattle today.
Look it up, I swear it exists.
Due time for an update I suppose.
I have been in Portland, OR for just shy of two weeks now. In that time I have decided that I want to live here, recognized the struggle to find work and housing in such short notice, decided I don’t want to stop travelling yet, and met some pretty cool folks who I will mention later. The Portland area or more specifically the urban region is really big but surprisingly easy to navigate and nonthreatening to someone from small town USA. There are as many odd little shops as anyone could ever ask for and an equally large variety of eateries to choose from for a gastronomic adventure (in a good way). More music shows happening than you can shake a stick at too, though I didn’t go to any.
A few days into my visit to Portland I decided that I wanted to try to stay here longer than a week or so, I decided that I wanted to try to live here. This as you have no doubt realized didn’t work so well for me. Job hunting went as well as can be expected given the current state of Oregon’s job market and apartment hunting went no better. All in all it has become quite evident that one must plan before attempting to move here but that said, I would still come back and certainly in the future plan to try to move here if feasible.
Despite my troubles, my adventure to the Rose City was not unpleasant. The people here are very nice, especially those who hosted me; to them I offer a resounding and heart filled thank you, you were all more helpful than I would ever have expected. You are welcome at my home if ever you dare to travel there.
Next I am off to Seattle, for how long, that depends on how much fun it is and the people hosting me (if any). I can say that I probably will not stay any longer than a week there though.
After that…who knows where.
There is hope!
I just scheduled a job interview for Macy’s for a week from today and may very well have an interview at Office Depot on Wednesday. Super Excited!!
![crashinglybeautiful:
This black and white image is the first photo ever taken from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. (March 8, 2004)
The image is actually a mosaic of photos taken by the rover’s navigation camera showing a broad view of the sky and an image taken by the rover’s panoramic camera of Earth. The contrast in the panoramic camera image was increased two times to make Earth easier to see. The inset shows a combination of four panoramic camera images zoomed in on Earth. The arrow points to Earth. Earth was too faint to be detected in images taken with the panoramic camera’s color filters.
Photo Credit: © NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M
[from: liquidnight via Accidental Mysteries]](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l2nmf7q16r1qzhl9eo1_400.jpg)
This black and white image is the first photo ever taken from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. (March 8, 2004)
The image is actually a mosaic of photos taken by the rover’s navigation camera showing a broad view of the sky and an image taken by the rover’s panoramic camera of Earth. The contrast in the panoramic camera image was increased two times to make Earth easier to see. The inset shows a combination of four panoramic camera images zoomed in on Earth. The arrow points to Earth. Earth was too faint to be detected in images taken with the panoramic camera’s color filters.
Photo Credit: © NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M
[from: liquidnight via Accidental Mysteries]
Rock Fans Outraged As Bob Dylan Goes Electronica
“We came here to see the authentic Dylan, the one with the Stratocaster guitar and signature wild blues-rock band behind him,” audience member Robert Hochschild said. “Then he walks out with these puffy headphones, some turntables, and a laptop? The guy’s a Judas.” When asked later about his musical transformation by reporters, Dylan said he had nothing to say about the beats he programs, he just programs them.
Funny enough, people said the exact same thing when he first went onstage with an electric guitar. (He was allegedly booed and ridiculed for going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, although many maintain that the booing was because of the crappy sound system. Regardless, he was booed at other venues and was, famously, called “Judas” at a concert in Manchester, England. see: Electric Dylan controversy)
(Awesome. From: uncertaintimes, youdsay, scruffyharrison, sprucebringsteen- & bobdylan-)
To explain my lack of update posts I would like to inform all that I have been in search of a job or more likely, jobs (Plural), here in Portland. This city has so much to see I think I will have to stay a while to explore it all.
Also, I really have a lot of photographs to edit and doing that on this little netbook is at best an arduous task.
in Portland, big updates later.
Update
I am now in Medford, OR with Glen and Carole. I slept well last night. This morning, eggs, bacon, coffee, then maybe a bicycle ride.
Here is what you have been (hopefully) waiting for.
This is what I believe is called Cobra Beach, all I know is that it was beautiful and there was nobody there.
These two are close geographically but I don’t remember where specifically I was, only that I was much further north than cobra beach which was only a few miles north of Santa Cruz.
These three were taken at the first “Drive through tree” that I found and the only one I visited. This particular tree is called Chandler Tree and the hole was just barely (almost too small) for a full sized pickup truck to drive through with mirrors pulled in.
This is a size comparison: your slightly larger than average suburban yard tree vs giant redwoods that were not even the biggest I saw. Some of the largest that I have seen are well over 300 feet tall.
This tree had apparently had enough…for size reference think of my car parked on top of the fallen tree and imagine that the trunk is as big around as my car.
still not the largest tree I have seen but this gives a more accurate idea of size.
next to the jetta, as I said, these trees are huge.
My campsite in the redwoods though you cannot see many of them.
I spent a full day driving through this and a good hour driving only 30mph through part of it since woke up and got moving earlier than most of the tourists.
This is Founders Tree.
I know that this is a lot of the same thing but it is hard to convey the beauty and immense scale of all of it.’
There will be more so please keep checking.
Photos soon! Today even!!
Why my day has started off better than yours.
…Also, I am eating coffee cake..with a great cup of coffee. what’s the rub you ask? It’s Nectarine Peach Ginger Coffee Cake! Fresh baked just some 20 minutes before I got to it.
This is some way to start the day.
Currently in Ferndale having driven from a camp site in the middle of the Avenue of the Giants. That drive was absolutely breathtaking and I was fortunate enough to have been able to drive along it this morning doing little more than 30mph most of the way. Don’t worry, I have photos, just not in the place to work on them again…they keep “piling” up and having the time to go through all of them on this slightly too slow netbook is easy.
Also, I have some video to upload…but that will take even longer.
…In San Francisco now, have been for two days going on three. I am currently seated in a small bar called the Little Shamrock.
Thus far I have been to The Academy of Sciences and the Art gallery across the yard from it though I cannot remember the name of it now. At one point I decided to attempt to walk the 30-something blocks to the beach from where I am at and got within 15 blocks before I decided I didn’t want to walk any longer. It should be noted that it has not been quite warm and has certainly been quite windy most of the three days I have been here.
As for living arrangements…since I have been in the San Francisco area I have slept in my car each night. Now, that has only been two nights so far but I can say now without hesitation that a Volkswagen Jetta is not big enough for someone my size…at least not with all the stuff that I have in it.
I have met some helpful and kind people since I have been here. When I arrived in Berkeley I parked in a Bicycle shop’s lot to go in and ask where I could park for the night; the employees that I spoke to said that since they were closing for the night, I could park there until ten the next morning (when they open). When I got to SF I found The Little Shamrock and ending up having to move my car to a pay lot just up the street. This is where I met a man named Daniel (the lot attendant) who was more than willing to help me find either a place to stay or a place to park for free where I could sleep in my car safely. He also gave me his number in case I needed to ask any questions while here in the city. Kindness like that I really appreciate so thank you Daniel, if you were here at the Shamrock I would toast to you.
I have more to say but I suppose I should save some for later. No photos this time, I have to have a proper place to work on them and have not yet found that location.
Keep checking, the updates won’t stop soon.
