July Photos and Thoughts

July has been an eventful month. We did get to see the sunset over the Marin County Fair from the top of that ferris wheel.

Erin's friend from college, Laura, came to visit with her two adorable daughters, Delia and Samantha.

We all went to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 one day.

Delia touched a shark.


And, we went down the crookedest street.

Yesterday I waited several hours in line (again) and bought an iPhone, the newest, latest and greatest in modern technology. Or, I should say, in marketing. Apple does an incredible job of making a person (me) feel like their life would be enhanced if only they/I got this one more thing, a portable PC with all the necessities in my pocket. Thing is, a bunch of people waited in line for over 3 hours in front of the store, as so many thousands of others have done since the newest model hit the stores July 11th. By standing, waiting, and purchasing, it gives the message to observers, "Hey, this must be a really cool thing." Everybody feels the emptiness inside. In some ways consuming is an urge to fill that. I even talked with the man in line in front of me about how ludicrous it is, how nobody sits and talks face to face with each other anymore. We're all more comfortable with the keyboard, the ability to delete, edit, time our carefully composed statements. Walking down the streets, many people are talking on their phones. Sitting in cafes, many people are on their laptops. In their cars, single drivers. Yet, there is a beauty to the immediate-ness of global reach at my fingertips, information, opinion, entertainment, without all that research. Also, one can publish without struggling with the opinions of an editor, without even caring about the market particularly, because nobody has to pay to view the images or my notestoself on my website. (Sometimes this gets one into trouble, but that's another story.)