New Additions

A couple of weeks ago we took Cole's mom to the amazing and wonderful Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason.  It's a huge building, right on the water, chock full of crafters and their wares.

We were pretty excited when we turned a corner and saw Ryan Berkeley manning his stand with his mother alongside him.  We excitedly started rifling through the animal portraits, trying to decide which ones to add to our (very slowly) burgeoning collection.  It was an excruciatingly difficult decision.  The gorilla was in the running.  And the shark.  And the pygmy marmoset.  And the goat lazily eating part of his tie.

In the end, these are the guys who made it:

I love how the donkey looks so earnest while wearing what appears to be a 70s-era silvery-white tux [he was Cole's pick; she thinks he looks like Frank Sinatra].  I chose the "wait, what, you're taking my picture now?!" sea otter, looking so jaunty in his bowler hat and vest.

We now have four Ryan Berkeley prints.  That means we have, oh, several dozen more to go.

Deliciously Defunct

I just stumbled upon these photos of the soon-to-be-demolished Transbay Terminal.  I've never been in the building, although I was once outside of it last year when I accidentally forgot to get off the bus at my stop because I was too engrossed in my book.  These photos make it clear that I need to go check out the TT in person before it bites the dust this month.

For a good article on the history of the TT, check this out.

ilivehere:sf

I participated in this project.  Because if there's one thing that inspires me, it's living in this city.  And reading the stories of other people who live here and are similarly inspired.

Julie, the photographer and creator of the project/site, is having a gallery show in November that will feature 100 of the portraits taken over the course of the project.  From what she told me, it sounds like it'll be awesome.  I can't wait to meet more of the participants.

Know-It-All Pencils

Sam gave us these (and a few other awesome things) as a thank you for letting her stay here this summer.

I didn't know pencils could be so pleasing.

Neighborhood Haul

Succulents and flowers and plants of all types love Bernal Heights.  They're all so ubiquitous that a person doesn't feel bad snipping a few cuttings for herself now and then.

One such mission was conducted a few nights ago.  I personally went to bed, but my minions fanned out into the streets to procure some cuttings and THIS is what I woke up to the next morning.  Amazing!  [Everything but the sunflowers came from our streets.]

Now I just need to find permanent homes for all of them :)

Adventures of a Chair

This is what happens when you lug a wooden beach chair into the BART station, through the mall to get takeout, up to Union Square to see an outdoor movie, and then back onto BART.

{Sam at the Glen Park BART station}

{Me at Powell Station}

I mean, if you've got a chair with you, why not take a load off while waiting for your train?

The outdoor movie was Dirty Dancing, by the way.  The St. Francis looked beautiful behind the movie screen.  I fought for our right to sit in our chairs, getting into a tussle with a girl who claimed we were blocking her family's view even though we were there first and they deliberately seated themselves behind us.  

After the movie we were punch drunk.  Maybe it was the (totally overpriced) Ghiradelli hot chocolate...but just the sight of these chairs cracked us up.

{Sam on BART but sitting in her own chair} 

There's just something so hilarious about that.  Maybe you had to be there...

Pink Slips

If I could, I would hand them out like candy to the people who designed the following monstrosity, the people who physically created it, and the people who decided that it should grace the rooms of Motel 6s everywhere (or at least in Thousand Oaks, CA).

I'm all for bright colors, but 80s-era red trucks and sixes splashed all over the place?  Not okay.  Especially not for a motel bedspread.  Isn't bedding supposed to be restful?

On a positive note, after shunning that thing and casting it onto the floor, I had a good laugh. Thanks for making me chuckle, ludicrous bedspread.