Central Library Shots
Here are some pictures I took a couple weeks ago of the "new" library downtown.











Hey, who's that dork with the camera?









Holding it all together...




Northeastern corner (5th Avenue) looking skyward.



Southeastern corner, looking back toward my building on 5th Avenue...

The Early Bird Gets...
Their picture taken!



This crow was just sitting around (waiting for me?) when I left the house this morning at 5:30.











This crow flew past soon after...











This was a gull flying east across the street from my bus stop (circa 5:40 a.m.)

The Bee's Knees (Part Two)
OK, so there were two things I got curious about regarding my last bee posting. One, the phrase "the bee's knees," and two, what these light yellow colored blobs around the bee were...both my questions were answered in one fell swoop by the following piece of information: "A bee's "corbiculae," or pollen-baskets are located on its tibiae (midsegments of his legs). The phrase 'the bee's knees' meaning 'the height of excellence,' became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s." So, if the blobs are his pollen-baskets, he looks like he has pollen aplenty. He'll make some queen bee very happy.
http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/mifbeesknees.shtml

I LOVE This Poster
A beer fest always piques my interest, but with a poster this good, I'm going to HAVE to make a point of attending. Not just thinking about it, but actually going and reliving fond memories of the time Dave, CJ and I went to the beer fest and got buzzed enough to think that going to the RV show (also at Seattle Center) was a great idea. We were not wrong. We all had a great time, touring the fanciest RVs they had.

I still occasionally wish we somehow had access to the EuroPremier that we all liked so much...what a road trip we could take!

The Bee's Knees
I was just trying to take a picture of these flowers, when a very busy bee swooped in to collect his share of pollen from them. I let him do his buzzing, he let me do my clicking, and we both got what we wanted.
 

Beach Finds
Piece of crab shell:












Tiny wooden foot: 

Brach's Royals
As a kid, I used to buy these in the bulk candy section of Safeway. I saw a bag of these on sale the other day at Bartell's and couldn't resist, because it has been years since I've had them. These flavored caramels aren't quite as good as I remember, but the orange one is still my favorite.
Flavors:
Chocolate
Vanilla
Butter Rum
Maple
Orange
Raspberry

Food Crushes
It turns out that my latest food "crush" is actually good for me. They just started carrying this brand of yogurt at my grocery store, and it is EXCELLENT (and expensive). But for a non-guilty pleasure, it is worth it. This plain, fat-free yogurt is smooth and creamy and it's delicious with strawberries or bananas and it's equally good in savory applications as well. YUM.




A guiltier pleasure: Dark chocolate peanut M&Ms. The stuff dreams are made of. This limited edition candy came out late last summer/early fall. Because Dave and I are both fans, we ended up buying bags and bags of these limited edition delights. I sealed several bags with my FoodSaver and have been hoarding them ever since. I figured it was time to open up a bag to see how they were holding up, since the last time we hit the stash was for Thanksgiving. They are still quite fresh tasting, although the texture of the coating seems to have deteriorated a little. 

All Aquiver for Copper River
Yesterday, I purchased this slab of Copper River salmon at Jack's Fish Spot at Pike Place. I hoped I had enough charcoal to grill it. I didn't. (But sweet Dave on his way from the home from the airport today stopped and bought me some more charcoal.) So this afternoon, I prepared a little rub/cure of brown sugar, kosher salt, pepper, and the zest of two lemons and one lime. I let it sit on the salmon for about an hour in the fridge and then I threw it on the grill and cooked it. Then I gently scraped off the rub and lightly brushed some olive oil onto the salmon. It was pretty darn good. Although next
time I think I would take the rub off before
grilling the salmon. (It seemed borderline salty.)
Anyway, there's plenty left for me to do further taste analysis on... 

Red Hot Poker
I never knew what these were called (until Becky told me), but I've always thought they were pretty mod flowers (even without a name).

Foxglove
It has been raining off and on all week long. When I went out for a walk last night, almost everything was still covered in raindrops. I thought the foxglove wore them particularly well.

T & Me
After hitting happy hour (and a half) at Lola yesterday afternoon and before giving me a ride home, Mike had to run up to his Madison Park office to pick up some documents for a signing later that night. I snapped this picture of his Mr. T air freshener while I was waiting in the car. I pity the fool who has to work on Friday night! 

Seen Today:














Morning Poppies









Morning Callas










Afternoon Iris








Afternoon Poppy

Two More Postcards
From Kinokuniya Stationery in Japantown, San Francisco U.S.A.













Artist: Tatsuya Ishiodori















Artist: Munehiro Nakamura 

San Francisco, I Miss You...
Lately, I have really been wanting to go back to San Francisco. (It's been over a year since our last trip.) The other day I came across these beautiful postcards that I purchased at Kinokuniya Stationery in Japantown several years ago (these photos don't do them justice). But finding them made me want to go back to San Francisco even more. I LOVE Japantown, but I especially love that stationery store. (Almost as much as I love my favorite restaurants/cafes in North Beach...Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe, Il Pollaio, and the sweetest one of all, L'Osteria del Forno.)









Artist: Hiroshi Senju




















Artist: Hiroshi Senju
















Artist: Reiji Hiramatsu














Artist: Reiji Hiramatsu