Abstract with weird colors

Actually, it's a few more line people sketches from coffee shops and airports:

but "abstract with weird colors?" is one of the winning overheard quotes, along with "I need eggnog" and "That's your side of the family."

Four over-wing exits

Took a quick trip down to AZ for Christmas to see my folks, the cat, and the trains.  I flew out on Christmas day so all the attendants were decked out in Christmas colors and possibly jingle bells and antlers, and provided a warning that if you have a Galaxy Note 7 and burst into flames they will spray you with something.  There was a nice view of the bay on the way out:

and then it was brown, brown, brown, interspersed with snowy mountains followed by more brown.  The model railroad is more interesting.  To say it's complex would be an understatement: It's n-gauge with three levels of track and working lights in the emergency vehicles and a house fire.  (YouTube video)

The cat is slightly less dynamic.  Should would "sing the song of her people" at 5am, but otherwise kept the bed warm.  At 17 you can't ask too much from her.

We had a good Christmas dinner and leftovers and sandwiches and leftovers.  And popovers one morning.  And presents: t-shirts with math jokes and a Fireman CD and some cartoons in 3D.

Then it was back to the airport.  The flight was delayed since the crew was on a different plane and hadn't arrived yet. Once everyone got on the plane they pointed out the safety features, told us to put our emotional baggage in the overhead bin, and alas, they did not have wifi so "if you are next to a teenager, turn to them and explain what 'conversation' is."

Same brown on the way back, but with the bonus of coming in at sunset over the ocean.

kilowatts

There's a street a few blocks away that goes over the top with the Christmas decorations.  We're talking kilowatts here.  It's a little hard to photograph, but let's just say in order to compete you need music to go with your reindeer.

Some stills:

And a video:

Under the sea...

Well, maybe not "under."  Took a trip down to Monterey to enjoy the ocean and the aquarium.  I did some digital sketching on my iPad mini using Procreate:

It's fun using the texture brushes to get the patterns.  Also, easier to see the glowing screen in the dark.  I also did some paper sketches.

And took a few pictures of my favorites:

And I might have had an ice cream.

But not before a morning walk on a day with King Tides - that's the super-tides when the tide is at its absolute highest.  Pretty cool when it's also a little stormy.

The trip out there can be its own Magical Mystery Tour since I take a shuttle, but it was fairly uneventful with only the scenery - green hills, farmland, cows, and Garlic World - to pass the time.  I stayed at a hotel right by the aquarium that was quite nice, with the comic relief being me trying to figure out how to just boil water for tea in in the fancy espresso maker, only to call the desk a half hour later and find out "oh, it doesn't do that, we'll send you some hot water."  The trip back had a little more character  ("Bob, what's the ticking sound?"  "The turn signal.") but was dark halfway through.  I was home in time for dinner, which required a short walk to the taco shop since the fridge was empty.

Octopus action

A little trip to Monterey today. It's raining but that's ok since I spent the day inside with friends, like this Pacific octopus. They were quite active this afternoon, which is always fascinating to watch.  King tides today and the rocks were all but under water at high tide. It was dark by the time low tide rolled around, which is a shame, but we should get a break in the weather tomorrow morning so hopefully I'll be able to walk out to the tide pools in the morning.

Tails from the trail

Got in some hiking today.  We opted for a "moderate" trail way up in them hills.  20 minutes to get there as the crow flies, but if you're not a crow then it's an hour by roads through something like an enchanted forest.

On the way back we caught an awesome sunset then watched the towns along the Bay light up while freezing our fingers off. Now it's time for a hot shower and food.

The usual suspects

Sketching at the coffee shop again.  Quotes of the day:  "It smells like coffee." and "I'm not a real fan of bacon; it's too bacon-y."  Ball point pen in a Handbook sketchbook.

Fantastic sunsets and where to find them

Went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Two thumbs up!  I'd give it three if I had them.  I walked out of the theater to some fantastic clouds.

Moonrise

Cell phone pic.  Nice-looking moon.

Yes, I did

Now it's your turn.

Clouds and trees

Got in a 20-mile ride today, and stopped at the Stanford Dish Walk.  There's water in the stream now (yay!) and lots of birds in the trees.  I stopped to draw said trees before heading back over to the cafe for lunch and the second half of the ride home.

And here's some recent clouds, just because.

Halloween at the local bakery

Love how they decorate their cupcakes!

Russet moon

California Halloween

In a neighbor's yard.

work in progress

Rode my bike 4,000 miles this evening. Well, actually I rode it 7.4, but that was enough to spin the odometer over the 4k mark. Now I'm wrapping up the evening with a little more work on a painting.  Feels a little dark, but it's getting there.

Inktober

Got a few Line People sketches in this weekend for the start of Inktober; a combination of a cafe at Stanford and the Peet's down the road.  Best quote: "Over the last 10 years I've bought 5 mattresses" (she seemed to be pretty particular about everything).

Today at the office

Little friend in the garden outside.

Mud baths and sawdust

Quick trip to Peet's Coffee for a cup of tea and some sketching.  Seemed most conversations were not in English, but I did pick up the great line "Instead of mud baths you get covered with sawdust."  I guess "instead of" is better than "after."

Chicago sketches and more stories

After a blissfully uneventful flight, interrupted only by interesting scenery - rivers, lakes, unidentifiable shiny disks - I landed in Chicago.  My cousin met me there, and to his surprise the transaction was so efficient that he only paid $2 for parking.  I think he hung the receipt on his wall he was so amazed.  Here's some of the scenery:

Of course my aunt had broken her elbow shortly before I went out there, but that didn't stop us from sketching at coffee shops:

And I introduced her to the concept of drawing on an iPad using Paper 53.  Here's one of my doodles:

This was awesome for her since it meant she could draw with one finger and didn't need to hold a pen.  

We got in a few museums, starting with the Museum of Contemporary Art, which had an interesting exhibit called "M16 vs. AK 47" and included some bullet residue in ballistics gel, which makes really cool patterns if you forget about the fact that it also emulates what happens when you fire a bullet into human flesh.  The title is a reference to the weapons used in the Vietnam War.

The big show upstairs was Kerry James Marshall, who does huge paintings of black figures - as in he uses black paint.  He's making a statement in that regard, but even more interesting to me is that the viewer is pulled into the painting by the fact that the figures are looking right at you.  Not just posing, but you've interrupted their life and they are looking at you waiting for you to respond.

I got in a few nice walks, on of them to Lincoln Park, where there were some interesting tree sculptures and of course a good view looking back at the city.

Saturday we hit up the farmer's market then it was the Japanese place just across the road for bento and sketching.  The green tea ice cream was awesome, and lunch was good too, although Anna did learn that using chopsticks with the wrong hand just doesn't work.

Then it was was on to a park nearby for tea and more people sketches.

Sunday morning we went for brunch at a nearby tavern that was across from the same park.  Can't remember what I ate but the sketching was good.

And the afternoon was back to an earlier park for - drumroll please - tea and sketching.  There is a theme here folks.

The day after Labor Day I went to the aquarium.  The timing of this trip was to make these sorts of things tolerable: The museums in Chicago can be beyond crowded, but the public schools start the day after Labor Day, so the summer camp trips are over and the school trips haven't started.  There was a very reasonably-sized crowd and I got to spend some good time sketching the fishies.

That evening it was back over to MOCA for Jazz on the patio and a nice dinner buffet.

Wednesday morning I went to the Field Museum to visit Sue.  The dinosaur.  I practically had her to myself.  They have an amazing fossil collection there.  Sue has a LOT of bones and I didn't have time to draw them all, but I did a few close-ups and captured a few earlier life-forms, like bad-ass fish with skulls as big as hers.

I got through the Jurassic when my aunt texted me to let me know that she was done with her morning physical therapy and so it was off to the Art Institute to for lunch and art.  As soon as we walked into one of the exhibits, one of the guards noticed her cane in one hand and her other arm in a cast and asked if she wanted a wheelchair.  Wa-la!  She got to sit while I wheeled her around which made it much easier for her.  It's a fantastic museum if you ignore the mind-bending floor plan.  There were some wonderful Hoppers on display, along with Grant Wood, and of course the permanent collection is fabulous with Miro (sigh), Picasso, de Chirico, O'Keefe and many more.  Shapes! Colors!  Booya!

The next morning it was breakfast at the Hash House a go-go and then off to the airport.  I have TSA pre-check which means Zero wait in line, which is a good thing at Midway.  This flight was slightly more interesting in that I was sitting next to a commune-living hippie who, while nice and quiet did indeed eat an apple.  The whole apple, including the core and - no shit - the stem.  Yes, the stem.  Looked like he was having a hard time getting that down.  He later stirred his yerba mate tea with a carrot and spread butter on his rice cakes using his thumbs.  Somewhere in between the apple core and the yerba mate I fell asleep and and dreamt that Ringo Starr was making me lunch on a spaceship.  I blame my seat-mate for this.

I was home by 3:30 and in a conference call at 4.  I was also exhausted and failed grocery shopping - picking up two apples, a half-gallon of milk, 5 mushrooms and butter.  I later picked up some tacos for dinner and was asleep by 9.