For many people, the car represents masculinity. For me, a car can probably represent two things, among a few others: art, and a way to travel. A car for me does not represent masculinity. In fact, I do not know how many of the major things in my car work. I do not like car magazines, nor do I prefer to obsess with cars. Same thing with cameras. I like cameras a lot, though my love for camera starts only around the picture arena. I personally do not care if a camera has 1 megapixel or 18 megapixels. If the picture that comes out is good, or if I can take a good picture, I am so happy that I start focusing on photographic dreams.

Observation, on the other hand, can be an obsession that results in a liking. And this car is no different. My best friend Katie has a lot of interest in things like color, and I myself seem to have started appreciating it more after having married Katie. Living a life where we both do things together, the way we did as best friends, there seem to be very few, yet distinct, situations where I realize, or have to, that we are married and thus we are doing something or going through something. I like that concept a lot.

So what does that have to do with this car? Many things. First, Katie and I are both reflected in this picture, even though I thought I was taking a picture that may probably show me more than her. Second, focusing on a color concept seems to be a very important thing in many pictures. Colourlovers.com is a site that Katie loves. Looking at the colors outside in the world, I can get a small feeling as to why she and millions of other people do.

Long time ago, Ford created cars with only one color: black. Henry Ford, while a visionary in terms of car production time frames, was a narrow minded industrialist who thought that people would only want the colors that he would produce: black. Well, when demand increases and so does competition, a good sales person, a good stereotypical sales person to be precise, can change his or her own words. And back when female sales people were probably not to be found anywhere in the car industry, Henry Ford’s company decided to introduce cars in more colors. Not only that, many believe that Henry Ford shared similar views with Hitler when it came to the Jews. In 1920, it has been said that Ford told a New York World reporter:

The international financiers are behind all war. They are what is called the International Jew — German Jews, French Jews, English Jews, American Jews. I believe that in all these countries except our own the Jewish financier is supreme… Here, the Jew is a threat.

So here is a Ford F1. What year? I do not know. What model? Hmm, an F1? What specifications? 4 tires, 2 doors, 1 back hatch, and windows. What colors? Ohh, red, white, black, silver, and maybe a color or two more. Oh, and some green. Even if Ford did not want it.

What is it about Elmo that excites you? Nothing. In my case at least. It is probably SpongeBob that excites me more. Way more. That is like saying exciting excites me. The trains also excite me. I think. BART excites me. Except when I feel I am about to be eaten by creepy people.

So here I met Elmo. Hi Elmo! On the Bay Area Rapid Transit [BART] train to San Francisco. What a happy personality he has! This is the Bay Area, so the destinations are aplenty. Or more than the turns on Sesame Street. The Bay Area Rapid Transit [BART] will take you to San Francisco. And to Richmond. And to Berkeley. And also back to where I boarded this train: Pleasant Hill.

Where is Elmo going? Oh who knows. Or who cares. In an area where many things happen, Elmo could be going to eat Thai food. Or meet his gay lover. Or become the new spokesperson for the National Rifle Association. Or he may be on the train simply to meet me and be featured on my site. Not sure. Many people react differently to the strange things happening on trains. I wonder if I was being ignored by others on this day, because of taking pictures of a red creature who needed to hold onto the seat in order to look at me sitting in the seat behind him.

Maybe they were scared of being eaten by the creepy Elmo and his photographer.

When? Taken July 6th, 2009, at 4:20pm. Somewhere between Pleasant Hill and San Francisco on BART, probably around Orinda. I don’t remember: I was busy thinking of more pictures.

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Electric Towers Fading Against The Sky.

Electric tower against the sky,
what are you doing?
You stand there flaunting,
where are you going?

The sky looks at you,
wondering why you cry?
You start gesturing back,
enabling civilization to survive?

No one comes near you,
for the fear of death by you.
Everyone wants the sky,
for the fear of mortality in you.

You are all alone in the deserts,
and in the backyards of those homes.
Your loneliness is hard to notice,
even though loneliness is in your bones.

So there you stand,
all alone and against the sky,
fading away with civilization,
wondering why no one else cries.

Location: Unknown. Somewhere in the Californian Deserts.

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What do you see when you look at this?
A shape, a form, a shadow, or your thought?
What is it about this piece that defines it?
The color, roughness, or just what you were taught?

Is it the shape?
The shape that creates the shadow that you see?
The shape that defines the way you see it?
The shape that makes it visible to you and me?

Is it the shadow?
The shadow that makes it more prominent?
The shadow that differentiates it from the rest?
The shadow that makes it very dominant?

Is it the color?
The color blue that is darker than the rest?
The color blue that exists only near the top?
The color blue that you may consider to be the best?

Is it the roughness?
The roughness that shows that the piece had actually felt?
The roughness that shows that the piece has been weathered?
The roughness that shows that the piece has some life left?

Is it the lifelessness?
The absence of life to show that life is not the only beautiful thing?
That life is not the only one with a shadow?
That lifelessness can also create a lot of zing?

Is it the distance?
The distance from reality and your social networking?
The distance from the other pieces and other colors?
The distance from your life and your philosophical meaning?

Is it the contrast?
The contrast in the shadow that creates the simplicity?
The contrast from the background that defines its form?
The contrast in everything that creates its main complexity?

Is it the difference?
The difference that creates the main value?
The difference that creates the real meaning?
The difference that gives living objects a real clue?

Is it your comparison to it?
The way it is more relaxed than you with its shadow?
The way it is more complex than you with its motto?
The way it is more lifeless than you with its own show?

What do you see when you look at this?
Life, lifelessness, a shadow, or what is and is not true?
What is it about this piece that defines it?
Is it the way it can define itself, in contrast to you?

Location: Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon St, San Francisco, CA 94123.

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Sky watches Sun and Clouds battle.

Get the popcorn and buy a ticket,
for the sky is sitting around,
the greatest battle of the day is here,
between the sun and the clouds.

There is no need for special effects,
this move one has a natural feel,
light and shadows collide brilliantly,
to create the wheel of life and zeal.

Funny, that this may not be mentioned,
on your social networks and in e-mails,
Facebook and MySpace will not hold their breath,
and Digg and Twitter will simply talk about whales.

Come, living creatures,
you can also watch if you want to,
figure out if the sun will come up,
or if the clouds will push it down the view.

This happened when Window 95 came out,
and this happened way before it too,
this happened when apples fell to the ground,
and this happened way before that too.

A big battle is raging on here,
one that affects you all everyday,
the clouds and the sun go at it repeatedly,
like life itself praying on preying on the prey.

You can watch this while you drive,
and die while marveling at the beauty,
you can take pictures to hold on for a while,
and feel like Flickr memories are your duty.

So sit and enjoy, for what you are about to see,
may keep on happening, even after you are gone,
or maybe it will stop, and an outcome will be seen,
in your lifetime, to this battle for the night rages on.

Location: Sparks, Nevada, USA.

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Statue of Liberty Wants Money in Vegas?

The story of Lady Liberty,
she is in Vegas and she wants your money,
she wants you to live a happy life,
you can let her guide you through the Vegas delight.

This is life, the patriotic life,
the one that you must obey,
this is where you gamble your life,
and try to keep debts at bay.

Nothing is wrong, everything is right,
Lady Liberty watches over your head,
forget the pledge, and forget your heart,
for only your wallet is needed on the bed.

Do not take me wrong, I am not just after your money,
I want to show you how all of this can be funny,
you work hard to try to make the day more sunny,
you should realize this is why I call you honey.

Relax, sit, and think of your life goal,
you are to rest, to make up for the lost soul,
whether others around you know you or not,
you have to run with the others and let the money roll.

I help protect you from the sand,
and I oversee any good deals for you.
think of me first when you think of Vegas,
for I am a monument and a tourist guide too.

I attract like a beacon, making people think who I am,
I am bright enough to have people write about me,
I am the one that brings you food, drinks and rooms,
I am important enough to have people take pictures of me.

A few question my reality, asking who I am,
I am the Lady Liberty, and I live here in Vegas,
ignore anyone else who looks like me elsewhere,
for I am the one with the real glow and money.

Location: New York New York Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. 3790 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV, 89109.

History: Taken with Katie in Las Vegas, while going to New York New York from Excalibur.

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The angel of the graveyard, staring like a guard,
sitting over here, overseeing the dead,
waiting patiently for each new body,
to be brought to its final resting bed.

People think of angels,
to feel alive since birth,
though this angel can feel them,
dead and deep within the earth.

We are told to think of angel wings,
to feel shelter and comfort,
but this angel uses its wings,
to induce your death and inert.

It sits there with its wings,
overshadowing its own shadows,
it watches directly in confusion,
over the dead tombstone rows.

They take its picture in the day,
feeling attracted to the design of the tomb,
they feel it is a symbol of life and death,
and a feeling of what lies beyond the doom.

People putting down flowers,
and also pictures to weep,
the angel finds them interesting,
the memories people want to keep.

People hate the angel of death,
for everyone says that angel kills you.
But why should we hate it only,
when it is one of angels too?

Let it oversee us and the dead,
for we are all headed somewhere too.
Let it sit there waiting for us,
for we are somehow waiting for it to move.

Photographer: Katie.

Location: Mountain View Cemetery. 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611, USA.

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