Pictures from Berkeley California

Statue of tender friendly leg wrapping, on UC Berkeley campus.



The "dream comes true" mobile



In Manhattan I saw several Mexican Chinese restaurants, but this is my first sighting of a Mexican Pakistani Indian establishment.



I may be mistaken, but I don't think this electrical wiring is to California code. I've seen pictures like this from Mexico, Pakistan, and India, though.



Hannah knows what I like, so she took me to the local junkyard: it's called "Urban Ore Ecopark" and is mostly like Griffin's Wrecking Yard in Greensboro (lots of overpriced old doors, windows, tiles, toilets, etc - I think if you are a regular you get a 65 percent discount) except for the various ironic ornaments, statues, etc.



And right next door is the "Hygenic Dog Food Company" - I love names which with no further commentary instill unsavory doubts and worries about the competition. Another example I like: "The True Gospel Church."



Statue/windvanes next to Urban Ore.



Ditto.



Urban Ore land of the dolls.



Ditto.



Is anybody still looking? What is this? It says "US POSTAL SERVICE" on it.



Urban Ore sculpture.



Christmas decorations sold by the pound.

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We went on a walking tour of Telegraph Hill and saw the famous wild parrots.



They were eating fruit off the landscaping, making an unholy racket, climbing around upside down, and then flying in the air in a massive flock. Wonderful. We watched the movie that night! (Documentary: The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It has a great surprise ending which Hannah's boyfriend wrecked for us, because he was crackberrying through the whole movie and telling us too much.

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It was such a gorgeous day, we went to Chavez Park for basking, strolling, and kite flying.

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Here is "Heart Smart," abandoned by the side of the road. Is this an unkept New Year's Resolution from 2008, or are 2009's good intentions already being abandoned?



This one I call "Sneaker and Existential Crisis." The book is, What Should I Do With My Life? We wondered if the person who discarded it, along with one sneaker, had figured out the answer to the question. Or was it a resolution (see above)? If I'd found a third like this, I would have called it a trend.



Sylvia, one of the old-timer bloggers on Caray, Caray!, came to visit me on my birthday. So great to meet her! She and her boyfriend are going to sell off their lives some time and sail around the world. She says there is a "Sail Mail" network you can subscribe to and read your email anywhere in the middle of the ocean.

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Of course we went to the local farmers' market. The lettuce tasted better than any lettuce I've ever had.



A pushcart! Sighted at the Farmers' Market.



I saw this spiky plant, bigger than the house it was in front of, on the way home with the groceries.



Their bathroom was cold, wet, and moldy because there was no ventilator fan and no heater and they had to keep the door closed to keep the cat out of the toilet paper. This is the fan I improvised. It looks awful but it does the job. Then I blocked up the hole in the bottom of the sink cabinet so they could hide the toilet paper and leave the door open. Problem solved.



Derek was so inspired he went out and bought a 2x6 to fix their falling apart bed. It's now very strong.