On Thursday, January 1, 2009
I will fold 3 paper cranes,
photograph and post them HERE.
I will fold 2 or 3 paper cranes everyday in 2009.
By Thursday, December 31, 2009
I will have folded 1000 paper cranes.
Me practicing folding cranes in Monterey, CA bar – Christmas night, 2008.
Photo: k. hirai
1000cranes2009
Day 319 - Nov. 15 - Ikebana, Salinas, CA - Today is my brother in law's birthday so we decided to order some take out from the local Japanese Restaurant, Ikebana. I thought the stones in this extra long planter resembled a calm stream.
Day 318 - Nov. 14 - University Ave., Downtown Palo Alto - I discovered this wonderfully painted utility box while walking through downtown Palo Alto.
Day 317 - Nov. 13
Day 316 - Nov. 12
Day 315 - Nov. 11 - Posed in the de Young Museum Tower overlooking Golden Gate Park and the California Academy of Sciences building.
Day 314 - Nov. 10
Day 313 - Nov. 9 - Autumn colors in San Carlos, CA
Day 312 - Nov. 8 - Powell Street, San Francisco, CA - While outside Urban Outfitters in Downtown San Francisco, I snapped this photo while an inbound cable car operator was taking a break.
Day 311 - Nov. 7 - Himawari-Tei, San Mateo, CA - Japanese Noodle House
Day 310 - Nov. 6
Day 309 - Nov. 5
Day 308 - Nov. 4
Day 307 - Nov. 3 - Hillsdale, San Mateo, CA - California Pizza Kitchen
Day 306 - Nov. 2
Day 305 - Nov. 1
Day 304 - Oct. 31
Day 303 - Oct. 30
Day 302 - Oct. 29
Day 301 - Oct. 28
Day 300 - Oct. 27
Day 299 - Oct. 26
Day 298 - Oct. 25
Day 297 - Oct. 24
Day 296 - Oct. 23
Day 295 - Oct. 22
Day 294 - Oct. 21
Day 293 - Oct. 20
Day 292 - Oct. 19 - Luggage - I was cleaning up our closet to store this new piece of luggage. I thought the lines with the stitching were pretty cool.
Day 291 - Oct. 18 - San Francisco International Airport - I was passing through the International Terminal Garage walkway to pick up my wife and noticed this huge Cathay Pacific airplane.
Day 290 - Oct. 17
Day 289 - Oct. 16 - Hillsdale Mall, San Mateo, CA
Day 288 - Oct. 15
Day 287 - Oct. 14
Day 286 - Oct. 13
Day 285 - Oct. 12
Day 284 - Oct. 11
Day 283 - Oct. 10 - San Carlos, CA - Art and Wine Festival
Day 282 - Oct. 9
Day 281 - Oct. 8
Day 280 - Oct. 7
Day 279 - Oct. 6
Day 278 - Oct. 5
Day 277 - Oct. 4 - San Mateo - Pete's Coffee
Day 276 - Oct. 3
Day 275 - Oct. 2
Day 274 - Oct. 1
Day 273 - Sept. 30
Day 272 - Sept. 29
Day 271 - Sept. 28
Day 270 - Sept. 27
Day 269 - Sept. 26
Day 268 - Sept. 25
Day 267 - Sept. 24 - Sketchbook Pro 2010
Day 266 - Sept. 23 - Train Station - San Carlos
Day 265 - Sept. 22
Day 264 - Sept. 21
Day 263 - Sept. 20 - Costco Parking Lot, Foster City
Day 262 - Sept. 19
Day 261 - Sept. 18
Day 260 - Sept. 17
Day 259 - Sept. 16
Day 258 - Sept. 15
Day 257 - Sept. 14 - Mediterranean Fusion Cuisine - A wonderful place in San Carlos to get a gyro pita wrap.
Day 256 - Sept. 13 - Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro Station - Posed while picking up my sister from the Metro Station.
Day 255 - Sept. 12 - The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 3630 Quesada St. NW Washington DC - Attending the funeral mass of my Aunt Juliet.
Day 254 - Sept. 11 - Starbucks on Lee Highway in Fairfax, Virginia - Posed on a Washington Post newspaper cover commemorating 9/11.
Day 253 - Sept. 10 - Chinatown, Washington DC - Posed in an alley about one block away from the Verizon Center.
Day 252 - Sept. 9
Day 251 - Sept. 8
Day 250 - Sept. 7 - Labor Day
Day 249 - Sept. 6 - Pleasanton, CA - Pho Hoa
Day 248 - Sept. 5 - Pleasanton, CA - Hilton Hotel stay for Syd and Ed's wedding.
Day 247 - Sept. 4
Day 246 - Sept. 3
Day 245 - Sept. 2
Day 244 - Sept. 1 - Menlo Park - Fed Ex pick up.
Day 243 - Aug. 31
Day 242 - Aug. 30
Day 239 - Aug. 27
Day 238 - Aug. 26
Day 237 - Aug. 25
Day 236 - Aug. 24
Day 235 - Aug. 23 - Stanford Campus, Palo Alto - Rodin Sculpture Garden outside the Cantor Arts Center.
Day 234 - Aug. 22
Day 233 - Aug. 21
Day 232 - Aug. 20
Day 231 - Aug. 19
Day 230 - Aug. 18
Day 229 - Aug. 17
Day 228 - Aug. 16 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Sitting at the three card poker table at the MGM Grand.
Day 227 - Aug. 15 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Posed while walking to the Bellagio.
Day 226 - Aug. 14
Day 225 - Aug. 13
Day 224 - Aug. 12
Day 223 - Aug. 11
Day 222 - Aug. 10 - Hillsdale Shopping Center, San Mateo - Posed outside the Macy's entrance.
Day 221 - Aug. 9
Day 220 - Aug. 8
Day 219 - Aug. 7
Day 218 - Aug. 6
Day 217 - Aug. 5
Day 216 - Aug. 4
Day 215 - Aug. 3 - 4th and King Train Station, San Francisco
Day 214 - Aug. 2
Day 213 - Aug. 1
Day 212 - Jul. 31
Day 211 - Jul. 30
Day 210 - Jul. 29
Day 209 - Jul. 28
Day 208 - Jul. 27 - Haight Street, San Francisco - Blue Front Cafe... one of the best places to grab falafels in The City.
Day 207 - Jul. 26 - Intercontinental Hotel, San Francisco - Facing Howard Street, South of Market.
Day 206 - Jul. 25 - Angel Island, California - I've lived here almost 10 years and this is the first time I've visited this historic place.
Day 205 - Jul. 24
Day 204 - Jul. 23
Day 203 - Jul. 22
Day 202 - Jul. 21
Day 201 - Jul. 20
Day 200 - Jul. 19
Day 199 - Jul. 18
Day 198 - Jul. 17
Day 197 - Jul. 16 - Martin Yan gave a presentation at our local library. I love how he adds humor and self deprecation to help hock his books and knives. He's a brilliant entertainer.
Day 196 - Jul. 15
Day 195 - Jul. 14
Day 194 - Jul. 13
Day 193 - Jul. 12
Day 192 - Jul. 11
Day 191 - Jul. 10
Day 190 - Jul. 9
Day 189 - Jul. 8
Day 188 - Jul. 7
Day 187 - Jul. 6
Day 186 - Jul. 5
Day 185 - Jul. 4
Day 184 - Jul. 3
Day 183 - Jul. 2
Day 182 - Jul. 1
Day 181 - Jun. 30
Day 180 - Jun. 29 - Trans America Building, San Francisco.
Day 179 - Jun. 28
Day 178 - Jun. 27 - Posed on the dash while stuck in stopped-dead traffic on Highway 101 north near the Broadway exit.
Day 177 - Jun. 26
Day 176 - Jun. 25
Day 175 - Jun. 24
Day 174 - Jun. 23
Day 173 - Jun. 22
Day 172 - Jun. 21
Day 171 - Jun. 20
Day 170 - Jun. 19
Day 169 - Jun. 18
Day 168 - Jun. 17
Day 167 - Jun. 16
Day 166 - Jun. 15
Day 165 - Jun. 14
Day 164 - Jun. 13
Day 163 - Jun. 12
Day 162 - Jun. 11 - Mongolian Hot Pot, San Mateo.
Day 161 - Jun. 10
Day 160 - Jun. 9
Day 159 - Jun. 8
Day 158 - Jun. 7
Day 157 - Jun. 6 - Placed on the Post Office counter while the worker retrieved the parcel sent by my brother-in-law.
Day 156 - Jun. 5 - Taken of the Cobb's Comedy Club stage before the show started in San Francisco. Filipino-American comedian Rex Navarette was headlining.
Day 155 - Jun. 4
Day 154 - Jun. 3
Day 153 - Jun. 2 - Costco, Foster City - Yes, those cans of tuna are 4 lbs. each
Day 152 - Jun. 1
Day 151 - May 31
Day 150 - May 30 - Folded with pieces from an SF giants/train brochure. We attended the 7:15pm giants vs. the cardinals game last night but was not sure I'd have time to upload them before midnight. This morning I was downtown and snapped the pic with the cranes a block away from the giants stadium (sbc park) on 2nd street and king.
Day 149 - May 29
Day 148 - May 28
Day 147 - May 27
Day 146 - May 26
Day 145 - May 25
Day 144 - May 24
Day 143 - May 23
Day 142 - May 22
Day 141 - May 21
Day 140 - May 20 - I took my break and folded some cranes and posed them (on my desk) on top of the infamous pets dot com sock puppet, whose "...high public profile during its brief existence made it one of the more noteworthy failures of the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s. US$300 million of investment capital vanished with the company's failure." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pets.com
Day 139 - May 19
Day 138 - May 18
Day 137 - May 17 - Cinemark Theaters, Redwood City.
Day 136 - May 16
Day 135 - May 15
Day 134 - May 14
Day 133 - May 13
Day 132 - May 12
Day 131 - May 11
Day 130 - May 10
Day 129 - May 9
Day 128 - May 8
Day 127 - May 7
Day 126 - May 6
Day 125 - May 5
Day 124 - May 4 - Orlando International Airport
Day 123 - May 3 - Hampton Inn, Orlando International Airport
Day 122 - May 2
Day 121 - May 1 - Running at Planet Fitness in Cocoa, Florida.
Day 120 - Apr. 30
Day 119 - Apr. 29
Day 118 - Apr. 28 - Taken of the Target parking lot in Titusville, Fl. The buses were probably for a tour group going to Kennedy Space Center.
Day 117 - Apr. 27
Day 116 - Apr. 26 - Taken after 10:30am mass in Cocoa, Fl.
Day 115 - Apr. 25 - I picked this station specifically for the Orlando Int'l Airport sign in the back. Also, the gas was $0.01 cheaper at this Sunoco station than at the BP across the street.
Day 114 - Apr. 24
Day 113 - Apr. 23
Day 112 - Apr. 22 - Rotary Riverfront Park Pier, Titusville, Florida - I was driving along US-1 N and stumbled upon this area with a nice view of the NASA Kennedy Space Center in the distance.
Day 111 - Apr. 21 - Second day at the Parrish Medical Center but today was able to walk the grounds outside.
Day 110
Day 109 - Apr. 19 - From this spot at Robert Nicol Park along the Indian River, you can see the main building at the Kennedy Space Center. The cranes are hiding between the bench planks cause it's super windy.
Day 108 - Apr. 18 - Cocoa, Florida
Day 107 - Apr. 17 - San Francisco International Airport - United Airlines Gate
Day 106 - Apr. 16
Day 105 - Apr. 15 - In honor of my friend Oliver Mendoza who passed away April 11. He shot this cover photo several years ago. I just attended his wake in Daly City.
Day 104 - Apr. 14 - Blackout
Day 103 - Apr. 13
Day 102 - Apr. 12 - Irving Street, San Francisco - My birthday meal at Marnee Thai.
Day 101 - Apr. 11 - Flight back to California
Day 100 - Apr. 10 - Boca Raton, Florida - Our stay at Embassy Suites
Day 99 - Apr. 9 - Delray Beach, Florida - Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
Day 98 - Apr. 8 - Key West, Florida - Southernmost Point of the United States.
Day 97 - Apr. 7 - Key West, Florida - Mallory Square
Day 96 - Apr. 6 - Key West, Florida - Sitting on the beach at our resort.
Day 95 - Apr. 5 - Cocoa Beach, Florida
Day 94 - Apr. 4 - Folded with white note paper and the words "united" written on them. The cranes are flying for the very first time.
Day 93 - Apr. 3
Day 92 - Apr. 2
Day 91 - Apr. 1
Day 90 - Mar. 31
Day 89 - Mar. 30 - Redwood City DMV. Wait time: only 40 minutes!
Day 88 - Mar. 29
Day 87 - Mar. 28
Day 86 - Mar. 27
Day 85 - Mar. 26
Day 84 - Mar. 25
Day 83 - Mar. 24
Day 82 - Mar. 23
Day 81 - Mar. 22 - We stopped by this "Store Closing" Home Depot in Concord, CA. So sad.
Day 80 - Mar. 21
Day 79 - Mar. 20
Day 78 - Mar. 19
Day 77 - Mar. 18
Day 76 - Mar. 17
Day 75 - Mar. 16
Day 74 - Mar. 15
Day 73 - Mar. 14 - "Forever After Books" in San Francisco.
Day 72 - Mar. 13 -
Day 71 - Mar. 12 -
Day 70 - Mar. 11 -
Day 69 - Mar. 10 -
Day 68 - Mar. 9 -
Day 67 - Mar. 8 -
Day 66 - Mar. 7 -
Day 65 - Mar. 6 -
Day 64 - Mar. 5 -
Day 63 - Mar. 4 -
Day 62 - Mar. 3 -
Day 61 - Mar. 2 -
Day 60 - Mar. 1
Day 59 - Feb. 28
Day 58 - Feb. 27
Day 57 - Feb. 26
Day 56 - Feb. 25 - Chinatown, San Francisco - Cranes folded with white paper and the word "chinatown" written on them. This was taken from the hotel (on Kearny Street, across from Chinatown) hosting the Transit Conference.
Day 55 - Feb. 24
Day 54 - Feb. 23
Day 53 - Feb. 22
Day 52 - Feb. 21
Day 51 - Feb. 20
Day 50 - Feb. 19
Day 49 - Feb. 18
Day 48 - Feb. 17
Day 47 - Feb. 16
Day 46 - Feb. 15
Day 45 - Feb. 14 - Background supplied by wife's 4th grade students' generous gifts. Cranes folded with a Longs Drugstore Valentines mailer.
Day 44 - Feb. 13
Day 43 - Feb. 12
Day 42 - Feb. 11
Day 41 - Feb. 10
Day 40 - Feb. 9
Day 39 - Feb. 8
Day 38 - Feb. 7 - Oyster Point, South San Francisco - I originally wanted to shoot in San Francisco but ended up passing through South San Francisco and the Oyster Point Marina instead.
Day 37 - Feb. 6 - Clement Street, San Francisco - Parked in front of Kamei Restaurant Supply in the Inner Richmond District.
Day 36 - Feb. 5
Day 35 - Feb. 4
Day 34 - Feb. 3
Day 33 - Feb. 2 - Sumatra - Cranes folded with a Pete's Coffee "Sumatra Blue Batak" flier.
Day 32 - Feb. 1 - Taqueria - Folded with green notepaper. And yes, that's an Arizona Cardinals player on the background television showing the Super Bowl. Go Steelers!
Day 31 - Jan. 31 - Hourglass - Folded with coupons for taxi service, hamburger lunch specials and house cleaning.
Day 30 - Jan. 30 - On The Ledge - Folded with a Starbucks "Shared Planet" brochure.
Day 29 - Jan 29 - Green Label - Folded with green note paper and a small section of the latest IKEA catalog.
Day 28 - Jan. 28 - Direct TV and Closet World junk mail inserts... on their way to the recycling bin anyway.
Day 27 - Jan. 27 - San Carlos Library - Folded from another credit card application, the Virgin America ‘Absurdly Simple’ Visa Signature Card. Cell phone photo taken at a newly discovered oasis while walking back to work.
Day 26 - Jan. 26 - Gong Xi Fa Cai! Lunar New Year. Paper cranes folded with red paper. According to the Chinese zodiac, it is my year.
Day 25 - Jan 25 - Fore! Paper cranes folded with a Jamba Juice "Gogo" catering service brochure.
Day 24 - Jan. 24 - Burlingame - Another cloudy day in the Bay Area, California. Cranes folded from Starbucks' promotional volunteer campaign card: "Are You In"
Day 23 - Jan. 23 - Doodles on note pads with my favorite pen, which I thought I lost. Cranes folded from same note pads.
Day 22 - Jan. 22 - On balcony with neighbor's cat.
Day 21 - Jan. 21
Day 20 Jan. 20 - Inauguration Day - Live CNN broadcast in our office auditorium streaming the swearing in of the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Day 19 - Jan. 19 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - At a celebration gathering in his honor on his day, San Mateo Train Station.
Day 18 - Jan. 18 - Off the beaten path: White* paper cranes sitting in the mulch and cloverleafs at the north end of Lake Merced, San Francisco. The white paper cranes have the words "get more exercise" written on them.
Day 17 - Jan. 17 - Posed just down the street from where I lived when I first moved to San Francisco, CA: Baker Beach in the Presidio.
Day 16 - Jan. 16 - Special thanks to Macy's for sending us junk mail with "Beyoncé" and "P. Diddy" perfume inserts. It took me an hour to get the stink off my fingers. The upside: the cranes were perfect squares.
Day 15 - Jan. 15 - Sesame Street's Big Bert, Little Bert and three white paper cranes. The white cranes have a smiley face drawn on them.
Day 14 - Jan. 14 - Waiting for the novocaine.
Day 13 - Jan. 13 - Two in, one out: on the tennis court.
Day 12 - Jan. 12 - Cranes folded with an American Eagle Outfitters credit card application, sitting among the negative earning reports in the New York Times business section (Sunday edition).
Day 11 - Jan. 11 - San Francisco - Cranes folded with a room service menu door hanger and City Dining magazine on the 19th floor of Hotel Nikko, San Francisco.
Day 10 - Jan. 10 - Cliff House, San Francisco - It was a beautiful day with a beautiful view. When I lived in the Presidio, we would come here often.
Day 9 - Jan. 9 - Ambiance clothing store on Haight St., San Francisco - I folded the cranes with a Money Magazine subscription card and posed them on a gold jewelry display case. The consumerist angle was not intentional... wink wink.
Day 8 - Jan. 8 - La Tosca in San Carlos - Dinner was wonderful in this Italian restaurant. The lighting was just about right to set the mood.
Day 7 - Jan. 7 - Yelp - At work, I received several business owner Yelp postcards showing our business ID and login information. I was a big fan of Yelp at the time. Today, not so much. You know what they say, "Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one and no one thinks theirs stinks."
Day 6 - Jan. 6 - San Carlos - I was trying to show the cost of housing in the Bay Area was still high. It was hard to focus in on the prices, but a 1950s 2 bedroom 1 bath ranch style single family home was still trying to fetch $650,000.
Day 5 - Jan. 5 - On our dining room table. I thought of playing around with something witty while testing out simple lighting effects with a candle. Not too successful considering it was shot in the mid afternoon.
Day 4 - Jan. 4 - I really liked the way the light reflected off the lamp. This was also the first set of many cranes that I folded with white paper. I decided to mention the reasons for writing on them in the original post: "Note about the white paper cranes: Kathy, a friend of my wife, said folding a white crane is bad luck because it symbolizes death. I don't consider myself fully superstitious, but out of respect for her culture (and to possibly hedge my bets), I decided to write a little note on all the white cranes I fold. These three have the words "no death" and the date."
Day 3 - Jan. 3 - Still in Salinas, I found this interesting article about the famous painter Kinkade. I didn't realize the extent of controversy surrounding the way he markets his artwork. It makes sense though.
Day 2 - Jan. 2 - Starbucks in Salinas, CA.I find their brochures interesting. These in particular were extremely thick and hard to fold. I noted to try and avoid these kind of paper cranes in the future.
Day 1 - Jan. 1 - New Years Day. As a tradition, my in-laws play mahjong to ring in the new year. I thought it was fitting to fold them with money as a sign of good fortune to the Asian culture.
Day 2 - Photo 2Same cranes, different light setting. I'm still trying to get a sense of what to focus with my crane shots.