xmas cookies

I had a fun time making Christmas cookies this year, even though it meant neurotically cleaning and moving the cookies around from surface to surface because we have a serious ant problem. They love sugar just as much as me!



I fashioned a double boiler to melt chocolate for the first time, and I'll definitely be doing that again.

couchsurfing

Last year at this time, Suzanna and I were couchsurfing in Montevideo with a sweet German couple. Here they are, doing some sleep-arranging and blowing up an air mattress.

happy holidays

25-second exposure under a bright moon on the Pacific.

twas the night before...

Hope your holidays aren't spent stuck in traffic. Or, if you're stuck in traffic, I hope your holidays are full of good music.

breakfast

Breakfast in the Westy. What a miracle to have toasted bagels and hot coffee first thing in the morning in our little campsite by the ocean.

flea marketing

rebel yell

I love how surfers run into the water, like they just can't wait to plunge into the freezing cold surf. When I used to live by the beach on Fulton or Taraval or Balboa, I would often see surfers running down the sidewalk in their wetsuits.

just pick me up some sausage

found

walking the dog

ah, fresh produce!

A farm for brussel sprouts in Watsonville.

plovers

I have always loved plovers, the way they run on the beach on their little toothpick legs. Last weekend when we were camping, a woman pointed out to us the way plovers chill in people's footprints on the beach and sometimes try to nest like that. It's not a very stable situation, which is why the plovers are sadly endangered.

campground host

I love this photo because it looks like Juan is doing some Christmas trick-or-treating in an RV park.

californians in the mist

somewhere

There was the faintest hint of a rainbow over this campground in Half Moon Bay.

when photographers bowl

Or, your Friday vertical!

7-10 split

Check out this perfect bowling form:





I'm not criticizing. She still beat me.

winter whites

I love it when people put out their clean underwear.

tuesday specialties

I'm special!



However, I would like to point out that I am improving. Not only is this a much more spectacular break than the last one, but the photo of it is much nicer. Agreed?

fantastical!

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to live in the same town as SIX FLAGS GREAT AMERICA?

welcome back

The lovely view returning to San Francisco this week.

in the nick of time

The day before I left Illinois, it snowed.

anniversaries

A year ago yesterday, I woke up in Buenos Aires for the first time. It was an afternoon nap.



This was the view from my balcony on Lavalle.

settling in

We are addicted to playing Settlers of Catan.

wednesday vertical

Another day-after-Thanksgiving tradition...the last lawn-maintenance session of the year.

joy buzzers

The house was filled with the sound of remote-controlled helicopters all weekend.



Don't ask why.

giving thanks

I ran into my friend marching in the annual day-after-Thanksgiving animal rights protest on Michigan Avenue.

happy thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the one family event that is non-negotiable, more so than Christmas. It's kind of funny, though, because in our family, every day is like Thanksgiving. We loves to eat! This is on New Year's Day, 2009, in Malaysia.

family lineup

This is what it looks like when we try to gather for a photo.

keeper of the goal

cue whitesnake

sunday vertical

This was in Segovia, Spain, in July. A lot can happen in five months.

in the end

Everything looks beautiful--if you look at it in the right way.

hikers on a hillside

thursday duo

Post office boxes in Sea Ranch (Sonoma):


And mailboxes at the harbor in Sausalito:

sunset talks

The Pacific by Bodega Bay.

never turn your back on the ocean

solitaire

It was so windy at the beach on Saturday that Juan could play frisbee with himself.

old crow

I read that crows can live to be 75 years old.

my other limo

Muni at night.

Ricky

I've known Ricky for 10 years.

a moment

Ricky and I biked over the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday on honor of Veterans' Day.

thursday vertical

lookout

The idea of having dogs in apartment buildings seems so strange to me, mostly because then you have dogs on balconies.

high-rise

From the toaster towers in front of Galileo High School.

san francisco

i need a job

Or just this bike.