Sunsets

Have you ever happened to come upon a beautiful sunset and just had to take a picture of it? These pictures were taken in 2010 and 2011:

A pre-Hurricane Earl sunset with bands of  bright yellow, desert rose, and light blue, September 2010.

An ultraviolet winter sunset, January 2011.

A golden vapor trail lit up by the sunset, November 2011.

An yellow gold setting sun caught in a swirl of blue and orange clouds. November 2011.

Last week I tried to take a picture of a pre-Thanksgiving blustery sunset, which consisted of bands of blue-ultraviolet and hot fuchsia with an red orange sun, but I could not get a good photo.

Art and graffiti seen here and there

Ever since I moved to my current neighborhood seven years ago, I have seen many things. One of those things that I have seen is street art or graffiti. Which comes up but doesn't stay for long. When I first arrived I remember seeing spray paint stencils of grizzly bears with a bright red heart. I have also seen some really nasty and vulgar street art which I will not talk about in this blog. I was going to include a graffiti stencil of a teddy bear with a toy machine gun painted on glass, which I took this past Sunday, but I thought it was tasteless and decided to delete it from my phone. I am not endorsing graffiti on this blog, but I am posting these pictures as an observation what I see walking through my neighborhood. Here is some of the street art that I have encountered:

Here is a graffiti tag of Marilyn Monroe taken last year. It looks almost photographic in a sense. When I took this picture, I ended up missing my bus, and to wait an hour for the next one.

Same Marilyn, but wearing 3-D glasses, taken in June of this year.

Pac-Man graffiti taken in August of last year. I see a great deal of Pac-Man graffiti art in this area from time to time. This the only picture I could get.  

Banksy may have been a inspiration, but it does not compare to a work like his. This was taken last year and I found it to be sloppy, and it was removed the next day. Notice the Pac-Man influence, on the upper right corner.

Came upon this while going from one garage sale to another, earlier this year. I thought it was cute, even though it was on someone else's property.

My favorite, took this in early April of this year. The cats with question mark shaped tails, seem to point to an uncertain future. I have always had a affinity to cat related art.

Face Off

Last weekend I happened to pass by the old San Antonio Sam's restaurant, which is now being remodeled into a Chipotle burrito place. During the remodeling and construction, engineers and construction workers have been encountering structural problems, in which I would see buttresses on the side and front of the building from time to time. I didn't know the structural problems were that bad, when I went by. From the photo, the whole front of the building has been removed, giving it a bombed out look. There were still buttresses holding up the side of the building (not pictured). I was kind of sad to see the front go, which was semi Art Deco with a front patio for outside dining.

What the heck happened to the front?

Studies in light and shadow

Last week I took these pictures of my cat Spot. The pictures seemed to capture light and shadow in different ways.

Both shadow and light play off the curves of the magenta towel and green blanket, as well as the layers of Spot's fur.

Photo of Spot taken with a 'daylight' filter. Notice the glow and aura, giving a peaceful look.

Same photo, but with a "incandescent" filter, thus darkening the surroundings and  making the subject more elegant.

Post Halloween Pumpkin

Another Halloween has come and gone. There were hardly any trick or treaters at all last night, maybe it was because of the rainy weather, but for the past several years the numbers have been getting smaller and smaller. I noticed not many people decorated their homes either. Halloween isn't what it used to be. However walking home today, I did notice a Halloween pumpkin, still out on someone's doorstep. It was a big pumpkin that just ate a small pumpkin (notice the small pumpkin's expression). I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Help me! I am trapped inside!