Shimmering lights of the Port of Oakland (Note that there are no cars on the Bay Bridge. It was closed over the holiday weekend for construction.)
In almost every place I've lived previously, you could hear trains during the night.
In SF, you are serenaded by foghorns.
Barge emerging from under Golden Gate bridge. These are huge; the stacked containers are basically semi-trailers.
A couple of pix from a Friday night stroll around 16th and Valencia...
From top:
J and I saw Crowded House play in Oakland last weekend.
I really like this band, and have for a long time. I'd never seen them play in-person before, and I was *relieved* that their show was -- not the nostalgic live-action scrapbook that I feared -- but a messy organic conglomeration. They played the old stuff, they played the new stuff, and, as Dr Seuss says, my heart grew three sizes that day.
For a few fleeting moments that evening, a familiar creative sparkle hung in the air, complemented by the buzzing exhiliration of seeing live music. The show wasn't perfect, and I didn't know or like all of the songs. (And note to self, while quite lovely, the Paramount isn't ideal for this kind of concert. Prohibitive for dancing.) But since that night I've had this lingering feeling of hopefulness, almost optimism. And a particular sense of excitement that I hadn't really realized has faded out of my life over the past few years.
What does this mean exactly? That I should cut my caffeine/sugar intake? See more shows? Hard to say. I'm feeling inspired, though. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.
(Please note that I've edited out multiple paragraphs of content here. What exactly I like about CH. Long, run-on sentences about their music and lyrics, packed with adjectives. About their place in my existential ipod. Much earnestness deleted to spare you, my readers...)
Someone jumped the gun and lit the Burning Man!
While many at the event site were observing the eclipse earlier this week, a deviant ignited the "official" BM, the towering figure who is set ablaze every year during the Burning Man festivities. There's a scramble to reinstate the The Man... so he can be re-lit as scheduled this coming weekend. Don't worry, the offender was quickly apprehended. This story made front page of several SF papers this morning.
(park @ Yerba Buena, where Sheena and I ate lunch today. Many people had the same idea)
Speaking of hot stuff, we're finally having some summer weather in the city! "Hot" being relative, of course. The temp climbed to maybe 80-ish today, although areas outside SF are predicted to be over 100 for the next three days. With the warmer weather, today was a "Spare the Air" day. A majority of bay area public transportation was free, at least during the morning commute, to help protect air quality. (Its also recommended that you turn off any unused lights, appliances, etc, to help ease the load on the grid. Which you should do anyway.)
I'm loving the summer, while it lasts.
If this year-old foray into freelancing has taught me nothing else, it confirms that every afternoon I need a recess break.
Mornings I find I'm usually pretty focused, but if I try to work straight through the afternoon, my productivity decreases considerably and I end up "fake-working" (as Beek calls it). That's not good for anyone, so best to take a break for 1/2 hour or so.
I prefer to call it a "coffee break," as it sounds slightly more sophisticated and vaguely continental. That's a little misleading, because although 80% of the time coffee is involved, the only real main requirement is that I leave the house. (Also misleading because - who am I kidding - most of the time I'm running around in circles, so it might as well be 'recess.')
My other self-imposed rule guideline is no shopping. Unless I'm running an errand that would have to happen anyway, like getting something from the grocery store, or buying toothpaste, etc.
Anyhow, with those random parameters, I give you
Mix-and-Match: 13 tried and true Coffee Break options
1. Coffee to go. If you take your own mug, its 99 cents at the bagel place.
2. Coffee on-site. Starbucks (unfortunately) has the best outdoor seating - on the sunny side of the street in the afternoon.
3. A walk in the park. If you go after 4, you can catch dog happy hour.
4. A trip to the dollar store in Japantown. A little bit dangerous. (This bends the no-shopping rule.)
5. A stroll around the block to get one of the many free daily papers; best read on the front steps if the sun is out.
6. Windowshopping, between Sutter and Jackson. Take camera in case there's anything interesting to put on the blog.
7. A walk west down Jackson or Washington Sts. to ogle homes and landscaping.
8. A trip to Goodwill, to see if its 2-for-1 used book day (see number 6).
9. Procure a good seat at the park for people-watching and catching up on phone calls.
10. Catch-up on non-work email and surfing on free-wifi @ Tullys or Cafe Murano (see number 2).
11. A walk down the hill to Union St. and then back. Good for people-watching at the bottom of the hill; you'll totally break a sweat walking back. Take Fillmore St. back up; the little steps in the sidewalk look lame, but surprisingly they really help the climb.
12. Swing by the Super 7 to see if there's a new art show up. This comix/design store usually displays a collection of prints, by local and occasionally more well-known artists. They seem to not mind if you come just for the exhibit.
13. "Research" at the hardware store. Wander in and see what you need and what it would cost to throw up some track-lighting. Or install a shelf in the bathroom. Not that it will happen any time soon, just for future reference.
*14.* This one is a bonus, as I actually haven't done it yet (but its so obvious I don't know why I haven't)... visit the nearby neighborhood library. Closed Mondays.
New...
...restaurant from the A16 folks due on Fillmore in a few weeks. Lots of activity seems to happening behind the newspaper-ed windows. More info here from Tablehopper via MenuPages blog.
Earlier this summer we went to a Scion-sponsored event staged at Alcatraz. We checked out the prison: saw some new Scions on the way up, art in the chapel, fashion in the shower room, and nodded our heads to music in the dining hall. The island was a very interesting location for something like this, although I'm sure it was a logistical nightmare.
[Click here to view my original post + photos]
Mildred Howard's installation "Three Shades of Blue"...
is found at the Fillmore Street Bridge, at the intersection of Geary and lower Fillmore Sts. "Two sets of colored and etched glass windscreens consisting of 20 panels of glass, approximately 5 x 8' each" (from the SFAC Public Art website.)
Based on a poem by Quincy Troupe, the piece evokes images of Fillmore's dynamic meeting/overlap/clash/mash-up of Japanese/Jewish/African-American/Jazz/Beat cultures and politics. (Read a short history of Fillmore here. Its very interesting; I had no idea how culture-rich this area was and is.)
Upon not-so-close inspection, you can see the installation has been vandalized: "It's been scratched. It's been shot." And graffitied. I thought the spiderwebbed glass was intentional at first. I believe I read something awhile ago about how the city is considering relocating it to avoid further damage.
...because their tummies are full from a delicious and cheap Pakistani/Indian meal at Lahore Karahi in the Tenderloin.
Do not feel bad if the brusque elderly waiter lectures you about your dinner choices and not drinking enough water; he really only wants whats best for you.