Productivity

So, how you define my productivity level toady depends on what you call "productivity". If you are defining it in terms of how much work that I did on my dissertation or other research, I only did about 1 1/2 hr. That would probably be defined as a low productivity by some. On the other hand, if you look at productivity from a different standpoint, it was a high yield day.

I went on a run, returned our dvd rentals, took my friend Gerry Schwaller to the San Francisco Airport, saw the "Yosemite's Structure and Textures: Photographs by Eadweard Muybridge, Carleton Watkins, Ansel Adams, and Others" at the Stanford Museum of Art, and the one hour documentary about Yosemite entitled "Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven" also at Stanford.

By taking my friend Gerry to the airport at 3:30, I learned that rush hour traffic in the Bay area begins about this time. I was totally shocked by just how crowded it was- though not nearly as painful as what we endured on Saturday going to Half Moon Bay. Gerry was kind enough to buy me dinner at El Torito mexican restaurant in exchange for my giving her a ride. Let me say that is quite a fair exchange and I am willing to do it any time- just as long as it is at the El Torito by the airport. The restaurant sits right on the bay and we got a booth overlooking the water. We could see planes take off and land- but it was more in the periphery so we were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery. It was truly soothing to sit there. Below is part of the view from our table- but the photo doesn't do it justice.

In this other photo, there is a plane out on the runway waiting to take off. Unfortunately, my camera isn't the best so I wasn't fully able to capture it, but at least you get the idea.

Thanks Gerry for the great food, view, and even better company!

Next, I got to battle real rush hour traffic down to Palo Alto so that I could go to the Yosemite exhibit. I really enjoyed it because of how they grouped the works. They categorized them according to the landmark in Yosemite that was photographed and placed them side by side with other photographs of that same landmark. It was so fascinating to see that even though they were photographing very similar scenes, how they chose to frame it had a powerful impact on the feelings and emotions from the photo. For example, one photographer took a wide angle view of Half Dome while the other only isolated the cliff face. They were both great, but the isolated one evoked more of a sense of the sheer grandeur of it.

Here is a photo of a photo by Ansel Adams (hehehe- so funny to think about a photo of a photo). This is entitled "Thunder Clouds over Unicorn Peak"
This really didn't turn out very well since I couldn't use flash, but I just LOVE the grandeur and majesty of the clouds! So amazing. I also liked his "Clearing the Winter Storm" (I didn't take any more photos of photos since they really didn't turn out very well). I also really liked Watkins "Pompompasos- The Three Brothers". And the best part about this whole exhibit is that it was FREE!

After seeing these photos, it was time to meet up with William and watch the also FREE Yosemite Film. There was commentary from a Stanford Professor and she gave the best quote about the filmmaker calling him a "human tripod". I have to admit that he did a great job with the cinematography. It was made back in 1989 and was narrated by Robert Redford and it had some incredible time lapse images over the seasons of beautiful landscapes. It also had a political aspect to it, about trying to preserve the land, yet still have others be able to enjoy the park. They had this classic documentary scene where they have short excerpts of people trying to put up their tents- and getting part way done and it collapses. It was totally true- girls camp right there for you. They also showed these two Jewish boys who were from the East and backpacking- they wanted a decent 4 day hike and made the mistake of asking a ranger who gave them more than they could handle. Especially that they were each carrying 3 books around- one of them had a big Hebrew Bible that he showed to the camera. Now there is an example of dedication to your faith! I also learned from this cute grandpa type ranger that there are snow fleas on top of the snow. I'm definitely not as excited about them as he is- something about the word "flea" gives me the heebie jeebies (what a great word- it is truly so descriptive and even more fun to say and looks quite funny when written). Anyways, I really enjoyed it and really want to go to Yosemite sometime- not quite sure when.

I think it was a pretty productive day- except for the research aspect of it. And there is always tomorrow to do that . . . . . .