Shattuck Sliver

Had arrived at the Downtown BART to run errands and took a shot of Sliver.. the entrance beckons but the relocated pizzeria is awaiting final approvals and all.

A Black Tie on Telegraph

My Peet's app had a free birthday drink offer which would expire on the 22nd. So happened to visit the Telegraph & Dwight location with only a couple days to spare.





Telegraph Ave from the bus shelter near Dwight:

2018 Reading Challenge IV

Where did the time go??


I am about 10 books ahead of schedule, (not sure if GRE vocab cards should count as a book so not really counting that) but I barely put a dent in the STACKS of books I had waiting for me to read this Summer break. I can't say I spent the weeks doing much of anything but relexing and catching up on all the sleep I was missing out on this past school year.

I don't expect that I will get to read much outside of school-related things for a while here on out, but I will keep at it!

Oori Rice Triangles

I spent Friday failing most my GRE exam, and when we got back to the East Bay I was super hungry having not dared to leave the testing area to have a snack (it takes some time to wait to sign out & sign back in I observed while waiting to sign in to take my test).



Oori Rice Triangles had opened a while ago and so I was finally getting around to checking it out. It's a short walk up College from the Rockridge BART station (near Claremont). One of the things that made me wary of places like this is that the rice triangles are wrapped in nori. I don't eat fish of any kind, nor do I eat seaweed. I wasn't sure if I would find something I would want to order, but fortunately, they had plates (small and large).

I ordered a *small* rice plate with Teriyaki Chicken:

It's a simple dish that is served with shelled edamame. It was plenty of food and I was filled up. I think this is the sort of meal I should have head before heading to the testing center.

SeanYoda was with me and ordered the "3 Meat Plate" which was about $10.95 and was a choice of 3 types of meat served over rice:

He went with the Chicken as well as the Short Rib and Spicy Pork. He let me try his Short Rib and the Spicy Pork and I liked the Short Rib best of the three. The flavor was really good and a bonus was that the bones had been removed. I would probably order the small plate with Spare Rib next time.

SeanYoda said he'd give the Rice Triangles a go next time.

Drinks are from a cooler as well as water and hot tea.

Streetcars on Market

One of the things I like to do when I head to the City to visit the Main Library is to take pix of the old streetcars that run along Market as part of the "Market Street Railway"(an active moving museum of historic streetcars from around the world).


You can learn more about the Market Street Railway here. If you want to see the streetcar livery yourself (not the cable cars), you'll want to hang out near the Ferry Building (or along the Embarcadero) or somewhere on Market. There are several cafes where you can see the streetcars just fine.

5 July 2018 I snapped a couple shots:

Birmingham, Alabama No.1077 (Built 1947)


San Diego, California No.1078 (Built 1946)



From here on out, I'm going to try and do a series of posts whenever I find one of my old pix or take new ones. I figure that way they're all in one place!

updated 6 August 2018

Through the Gate

15 July I spent the afternoon with a friend walking the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Bridge with Fort Point in the foreground:




We made it to the other side... Marin County sign:



After the walk, we hung out at the Roundhouse Cafe to drink some Cocoa..


...and then watched one more ship pass beneath the bridge.

2018 Reading Challenge / Summer Reading III

I'm about 4 books ahead right now..


I am several in right now. School kept me busy (many of these titles are things I read for school or because of papers I was writing.

Most books below I've acquired at book sales over the last year and picked up at used bookstores when shopping for other books. I don't have them all gathered in one spot, but there's enough to give one an idea of what I'll be keeping busy with the next couple months:

My current reads (including a library book):

current reads...


and several of the books I hope to read:


Right now I"m having trouble relaxing enough to feel comfortable reading. I keep thinking I have homework I should be doing, so there's the relaxing and not feeling guilty for reading for pleasure right now. Hopefully, I can get it together & hurry up & relax!

End of Year/ Summer Reading II

*looks at calendar* Where did the time go??

It's the end of my first full year at the new school. I've been busy reading but not much else. I have a whole 'to do' list of things I want to catch up with this summer since I won't be taking any classes but here's s short list including finishing the books I am currently reading:


(haven't updated my Goodreads status in a bit but at least the titles are accurate)

00. Update my GoodReads status! (LOLz)
01. Finish "Rebel Lawyer" (it's not a very long book but had to temporarily set aside for papers & finals!)
02. make a to-do list of Spring Cleaning projects
03. schedule & take my GRE exam
04. sort through/organize my bookshelves (again) to find some space for new books
05. get at least 10 of my 'summer reading' titles read, (nothing too academic)
06. sort through/ organize all the photos that have auto-uploaded onto my Flickr account the last year.
07. Share (via back-dated blogger posts) anything interesting maybe.
08. attend a few History talks
09. catch up/ delete some ancient things off the DVR.
10. Get some walks in!! (got to lose that end of Semester binge weight!)
11. post new things/adventures
12. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge
13. Try some new cafes/ new food places.

I'm sure there's more... that's it for now.

Summer Reading

The Bay Area Festival of Books is happening this weekend. I don't plan to attend (originally I did, so we'll see) as I have way too much to get done this weekend. I have Midterms next week. I was thinking I would at least walk the tables but then I gathered up the books I randomly purchased (intending to read when I have more time) and realized I have my summer reading stack:



I probably don't need to pick up more books at the Fest. I should read the ones I have and then send them back out into the world. Several of these I found on "The wall" at Half Price Books, and several I picked up at $1 Book Sale at the Doe Library. I think of all the titles I am looking forward to reading "The Disappearing Spoon (and Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World From the Periodic Table of Elements)" which I picked up at the campus bookstore for like $4. Last summer I read "Radium Girls" which was about the radium dial painters. This is totally different but it fills that niche for me I think: informative and fun ...science stuff.

Then there's my other things,(keeper books on my shelf):



So many titles (& a random library book) I'd like to read including the biography of August Vollmer. He was the Berkeley Chief of Police who brought many things that people take for granted in their local police department: the use of lie detector tests, bicycle (and later motorcycle) patrols, and he required his police officers to have college degrees. And he was born in New Orleans but made Berkeley his home. But no, I haven't read the book yet. This is just a few things I've learned about him over the years. So many books.

We'll see what I actually get done. I won't be taking a Summer course, so I have plenty of time to read, right? I had thought to put together a list of true crime/noir titles like Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, James Elroy and Dashiell Hammett of course along with some other random shorts to check out from the library or read what titles I have here. I imagine there must be a literature course somewhere where you read stuff like that, but since I don't have space in my life for any literature classes, I would create my own reading list. Unfortunately, I may need to wait another year!

I have enough to read for now.

Willard Middle School Mosaic