Dec 31, 2013

Downtown Denver

The Brown Palace, Republic Plaza, and the Wells Fargo Center. aka Denver second oldest hotel, tallest building and most recognizable building all in one frame.
Denver, Colorado 

Dec 28, 2013

Cherry Creek State Park






Aurora, CO

Dec 26, 2013

Rocky Mountain Arsenal


Commerce City, Colorado 

Dec 12, 2013

The gamble, a chance, luck. A series of slamming doors, each slipped through.

Two weeks ago my fate was determined by two phone calls at the right time. In sales the walk-in, the inquiry, the lay-down customer are the thing of dreams.

Back to back at a time when they were needed most those two phone calls came through. warm leads, ready to buy. There was little to no selling involved.

One in November. One in December, saved me from certain death.

Yes, there were two other sales. Hard fought for, but with help from sales guru's. The old dogs, whose time in the business stamped a higher closing ratio on everything they touched.

Of three, I am the last. In a land where I speak the language at the broken level of a five year old, somehow I continue to communicate.

In an ocean far from land its easy to sink. To starve. To die of thirst. Here is where you must sell to death to close for a drink, food, and a raft.

Somehow through chance and tenacity I have made it 6 months at sea.

Dec 5, 2013

Bonsho Jorōgumo

Nephila Clavata (the spider, whose body was nearly 6 inches long) has the upper-hand. The Praying Mantis will soon be eaten. That's what happens when things fall into spiders' webs. They get stuck, the spider approaches, pounces, and injects digestive enzymes to liquefy the prey so it can be eaten without a struggle.

Curious of the lesson it would provide, I decided to watch the inevitable outcome. For nearly 20 minutes the mantis struggled in the web while the spider patiently waited. Finally sensing that the mantis was tiring, the spider crept forward.

Soon the two were within an inch of one another. As the spider lurched forward to make its kill, the mantis suddenly reared-up, brandished its spiked forelegs, and viciously attacked the enormous spider. Faced with the onslaught, the spider quickly fell back.

As mantis continued to struggle in the web, the spider began doing something strange. Using its front arms it snapped the web, making it bounce strongly back and fourth. After doing this 15-20 times, the spider was able to bounce the mantis from its web and onto the ground below.

So who was wiser? The mantis for batting against sure death or the spider opting for a smaller, but safer meal.

Kamakura, Japan

j@*!

Kamakura, Japan

Nov 18, 2013

Falls End


Togoshi, Shinagawa

Toyropolis II




Photos like the first two are my favorite, because how did I ever find this place?

Its actually rather close to my house. However to find it, first I had to be at just the right place on the street below and looking up. Then I had to notice the cage sitting on the roof of the apartment building. Then somewhere in my brain I had to decide it was a good idea to try and get onto the roof of a random building.

Luckily the buildings entrance was open. This made the elevator trip to the roof the push of a button away. Then came the challenge, the gate was locked. There was no way to get inside the cage to take a good picture.

Then I noticed it. The gap between the bottom of the gate and the roof of the building was just shy of a foot. It was obscured by netting the same shade as the fence, but could easily be moved aside. Unsure of whether I would fit, I proceeded to pour myself through the gap using the logic that if my head could fit, the rest of me could too.

 Narrowly I made it under the fence; guess I am not that fat.