Restroom Iconography IX: La Concha, La Paz

If you've been following this blog (and, let's be honest, you probably haven't been... you've probably ended up here by some freak accident - it's okay, I welcome you...) then you know that I'm a bit of a restroom icon geek.

I love the surprise of finding a restroom that uses a non-traditional icon for males and females toilets.
Sure, it takes a minute longer for me to find the right one, but I'm engaged.
That's a plus!

This is an icon from La Concha Resort in La Paz, Mexico. You may have noticed that it's not a Mexican motif. In fact, it's Thai.
La Concha Resort is filled with art and sculpture from South East Asia. I'm not sure why, but I enjoyed it while I was there.

Regardless of origin, even I could figure out that this identified the ladies restroom. I turned around and went to the mens room. But only after I snapped a picture. I like the colors. I like the woodgrain. Most of all, I like the fact that someone took more than five minutes to think about what image would mark the restrooms...

Restroom Iconography VIII: Hotel California, Todos Santos

I've been documenting restroom icons for a few years now, and posting them for the past 6 months.

On my recent trip to La Paz, Mexico, I found the mother of all restroom icons. It's the Grand Canyon, Holy Grail, and Elvis of restroom icons.
It's the... well, you get the picture.

These icons are everything I like in an icon. Colorful, primitive, large and clear. It's hard to imagine that anyone will misunderstand these.

The icons are found at the Hotel California in Todos Santos, an artsy village located halfway between Los Cabos and La Paz in Baja Sur. It's a really pleasant place to spend a day.

There is some debate over whether this is the Hotel California that inspired the Eagles. If it isn't, well, it seems like it could have...
Come to think of it, doesn't that look like Glenn Frey on the right side?

Images of La Paz, Mexico

Swimming with Sea Lions

Angie and I spent 10 days in La Paz recently. Here are my 13 favorite images.

You can see 400 of my best at Huesimages in the Baja, Mexico section.

Traditional Dancers

Egret in La Paz Harbor

Street in the artists town of Todos Santos

2o-foot Whale Shark - La Paz Harbor

Carnaval 2009 Beauty Queen, La Paz

Jumping Manta, Sea of Cortez

Carnaval 2009 Beauty Queen, La Paz

Grey Whale Fluke - Magdalena Bay

Santa Misa Cathedral - La Paz

Sand Dunes - Magdalena Island

Grey Whale Fluke - Magdalena Bay

La Paz Sunset

Postcard from Mexico

Angie and I spent the past two days at Magdalena Bay, on the Pacific Coast of the Baja Penninsula.

Magdalena Bay is known for the number of whales that collect there in the winter months.

Over the course of the past 48 hours, we spent about 6 hours around the whales. On a number of occasions, the whales came within 6 feet of us; approaching our boat and looking at us before diving under our boat.

Add quaint fishing villages, fresh clams, great weather, and white sand dunes and you've got a great weekend.

I'll post more photos later.

Christmas Countdown I

It's going to be quiet Christmas here, as Angie went back east to visit her parents for the holidays.
When she returns, we'll head to Hawaii to celebrate the New Year with The Bangles.

In the meantime, I'll be hanging out in San Jose, working on some projects.

At work, I'm finishing up a comic-book version of one of our classes.
At home, I'm continuing a massive scanning project (I've sent all my slides to ScanCafe, but all the B&W negatives are left to me - I'm at 2000+ so far). It's a slow, but extremely rewarding project, as I get to look back at my friends and experiences.

I love photography, as it gives me an opportunity to capture images of the world I love, and omit images of the world I don't love.
If anyone ever wonders what the world looks like through my eyes - I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "What world do you live in?" - they can just look at my images (hues.smugmug.com)

For example - Angels are everywhere in my world.
I took this photo in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico - so Feliz Navidad!

Restroom Iconography I: Mexico

Maybe it's my fascination with the human figure.
Maybe it's my interest in graphic design.

Maybe I'm just odd...

Whatever the reason, I am unreasonably delighted when I encounter a restroom with an atypical male/female icon on its' signboard.

I found this elegant icon outside the ladies room at the Marquis Resort in Los Cabos. I was waiting there for my wife (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

I'm not sure that Frank Lloyd Wright had restroom signs in mind when he said, "God is in the details". At the same time, I'm pretty sure he'd approve.

Pictures from Mexico

Angie at Playa Santa Maria

The best of my photos from 10 days in Cabo San Lucas are now posted on my photo site at hues.smugmug.com.

Click here to go straight to the Cabo photos.

You'll find surf, sand, sunsets, some skin, pelicans, turtles, a mission, ceviche, margaritas, turkey legs, christmass goodies, and a hummingbird in a pear tree.

Enjoy!

From Cabo: Time to Fly

Took one last walk of the beach this morning, before packing and heading to the airport.
Our local pelican was kind enough to pose for us.

From Cabo: It's the Little Things that Matter...

Today we hiked up Fox Canyon, in the Sierra Mountains West of Cabo San Lucas.

I always hope for dramatic wildlife spottings - mountain lions, coyote, poisonous snakes... but that's rare.

We did see a coyote, but he took off before we could take photos. So, as is often the case, the highlights were found in the little things.

In this case, my little green friend was the highlight of the day. He didn't like being handled. Every time I caught him, he escaped. But I'm persistent. Finally, he posed for me.

Ladies and Gentlemen: my friend, the frog.

From Cabo: Hummingbirds, Photography, and Learning

A hummingbird at Plaza Mijares, San Jose del Cabo

A few days ago, I mentioned that pelicans are one of my three favorite birds, along with kingfishers and hummingbirds.

Today, I was lucky enough to be able to photograph a hummingbird feeding on flowers in the Plaza Mijares.

Photography is one of my addictions, for many reasons:

• photography is a tool I use for making memories (as opposed to capturing them)
• I enjoy the technical aspects
• I find viewfinders to be an excellent tool for seeing
• I find the process of interpreting a scene fascinating
• I enjoy working with the environment - light, shadow, clouds, people
• Tracking and anticipating the movements of people and wildlife is challenging. It combines the skills of an anthropologist, a naturalist, a psychologist, a musician, an athlete, and sometimes a seer
• I constantly learn through all of the above

This was a challenging shot.

The hummingbird was shy. People were milling around and scaring it away.

There were too many flowers in bloom. The hummingbird was flitting erratically from one to another and then back. It was difficult to predict where he would be next.

The light was contrasty. The hummingbird spent much time in shadows, where a good photo was impossible.

I sat around these bushes (there were 4 of them in a 50 foot stretch) for about 40 minutes. The hummingbird spent about ten of those minutes around the bushes. During those ten minutes, I took ten photos.

While this is not an award winning picture, I'm quite happy with it as a record of a beautiful day, an extraordinary creature, and my efforts to capture both.

From Cabo: Slope Soaring for the Mind

I've been watching pelicans a lot this week.

One of my three favorite birds - kingfishers and hummingbirds are the others, if you must know - these goofy guys are so ungraceful that they give me hope that even I might be able to burst into spontaneous flight one day.

They are clever, though, on at least one level. They know how to maximize their flight with minimum effort. I've been watching them catch the updraft from waves, a technique that's also known as "slope soaring".
Wikipedia says that slope soaring is "a gliding technique used to maintain altitude by flying in the updraft produced by wind blowing up the face of a steep slope". This requires a "a hill, ridge, escarpment or ocean wave, and a wind that is blowing against the slope".

That got me thinking... when it comes to creativity, what is your hill and wind?
For me, travel is my hill or ocean wave, and conversation is the wind.
When I travel and talk about it, my creative juices flow and new ideas come smoothly and fluidly - like a pelican coasting down the beach.

Without travel (even virtual travel works, checking out new magazines or websites) I'm stagnant. I have few new ideas.
But without conversation, I'm unable to get any real lift from the ideas.
Give me both, and I'm slope soaring.

What works for you?

From Cabo: Releasing Sea Turtles

Yes, I'm holding a big-eyed baby sea turtle...

This is one of the baby leatherback turtles that we released this morning.
In 2000, we watched a turtle lay eggs in South Africa. Eight years later, we're able to complete the cycle. The rangers brought 60 hatchlings down to the beach, and a group of us got to hold and then release them.

A few thoughts:

• Sense of Direction - This is so important in work and life. Not all species or individuals have it (I know a lot of folks with none), but the first turtle I released sure has it.
  As I held this guy in the palm of my hand, he always knew exactly where the ocean was. Whatever direction I faced, he would turn and start moving towards the ocean - like the needle on a compass always points north. Pretty remarkable.
• Persistence - Watching these little guys waddle through the sand, exerting huge efforts only to get tossed backward by the waves, was tough.
  Most of the turtles got tossed back three or four times. Others had it worse. Often, they ended up on their backs, straining to flip over. Those of us watching would cheer each turtle that finally made it through the surf, its' head popping up in the sea beyond.
• A Little Help from my Friends - As we got down to the final two or three turtles, it became obvious that some of these were clearly weaker than the others. Eventually, all (some with a little human help) made it to the water. They may not last long, but they all have a chance. You never know what they'll do with it.

A great morning...

Triple Your Spanish Vocabulary! Guaranteed or your Money Back!

We fly today to Cabo San Lucas (pictured to the right) for a little RnR at the Hilton Los Cabos Resort.

I love the collision of desert and ocean that occurs in Baja, so I'm really looking forward to this.

Ceviche, chorizos, chipotle, and chiquitas!

Time to start rolling my r's...

Speaking of which, I can triple the average Spanish vocabulary in one easy step.

I learned this in Mexico in 1991.

We were in Loreto, watching a parade of some type.

It looked like an election, so I asked an older Mexican man who was standing next to me.

Me: "Election?"

Him: "No comprende"

Me: "ELECTION?"

Him: "No comprende"

Me: "E... LEC...TION?"

Him: (shakes his head)

Finally, the proverbial light bulb appears above my head.

Me: "Eleccion?"

Him: as if discovering a dog could talk, "Si! Si! Eleccion!"

I realized that if I took every english word that ends with '-tion' and turned it to '-cion', I was now a master of Spanish.

I could go to the estacion and have a conversacion with the populacion of Mexico!!!

Viva '-cion'!