Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Marin Headlands Art Ride

Every year, Andy Thornley of the SFBC leads a group bike ride to the Marin Headlands Art Studios during their Open Studios (in October). (He calls it his "fetish.") I joined the group 2 years ago, and again this year (deeply flattered by Andy's personal request that I attend).

The ride was stunningly beautiful of course. Really took my breath away. The buildings too always leave me with a feeling of awe of their patina beauty. (Turns out I love patina beauty.) This year, the art didn't overwhelm me. But I have complete faith in the creative process and its ups and downs.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Copenhagen, 1937 -- The Original Cycle Chic

Porchlight: A Storytelling Series

"Porchlight brings together an eclectic mix of story tellers for an evening of entertainment and inspiration. Each storyteller tells a ten-minute tale about a specific theme without using notes or memorization."

Not long ago, Porchlight had an anniversary party on a non-Monday which was awesome, and everyone came. Here, one chic cyclist has arrived and is about to start looking for parking.

I post this today because it's not too late to hear tales tonight. The subject is "Creepy" and it's "Porchlight's Open Door" which is sort of like Open Mic. Get in to the Halloween Spirit!

Monday, October 26th, 6:30 - 9:30
Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk Street, San Francisco
$5 at the door
21 and Over

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Medium, or Adrienne's Birthday

A few of us met at a local coffee shop to wish Adrienne a surprise happy birthday. But, since it was a surprise and she didn't know about it, she decided to sleep in instead.

The good news is this bike was parked in front of the coffee shop. Those little size thingies for hangers in shops are so cute, and someone had the creative idea to put them on their spokes.

Here's a detail shot of the decoration.

Finally, here are the mums I got for Adrienne, a week later, having enjoyed their life in my kitchen instead.

Friday, October 23, 2009

unique use for the Muni Fast Pass

This bike was parked outside Rockridge BART. I love this use for expired FastPasses. They are beautiful! We should use them to decorate things we love like our bikes!

Monday, October 19, 2009

HSB

With the evening plans spoiled by:
1) traffic (I got home too late to go to yoga)
2) inertia (fuzzy slippers on)
3) hulu (I've already watched everything)
I find myself at a loss of what to do. Of course I should just go to bed, but I haven't had quite enough interaction for the day yet. So, I won't.

I have photos I should process and networking I should initiate, but not much interest in either. Instead, I'll try to catch you up on some of my latest adventures. I have been doing my very best to make the most of this one little life.

The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is still my favorite thing to happen in San Francisco all year, and I love a lot of things that happen here. Overall, it was way too crowded -- I want to tell them to charge a small fee or make the stages more spread out or something, but I doubt any of that is feasible.

I made it Friday night to see Lyle Lovett and his big band, most striking was the man with the unbelievable low voice. I said to Danielle: "If you were born with a voice like that, you'd be obligate to sing." I don't care for the cheeseburger song -- I think it makes light of lost love, which is sacred, but I enjoyed many songs they played that I hadn't heard before. We both loved Keep it in Your Pantry which makes light of lover's paranoia which is not sacred. I love cookies too. The moon rose over the trees and broke our hearts again.

Saturday, I arrived in time for Steve Martin who was funny every now and then and played some nice bluegrass. Then, I went to another stage for the Songwriter Circle, and Dar talked about urban chickens (one of my favorite people talking about one of my favorite things). Allison Moorer had an unbelievably beautiful voice, she kind of overshadowed everyone else. Next, another stage served Nick Lowe well -- I discovered him last year at this Festival. Then back to our little green blanket at the big stage for Gillian Welch, who is awesome, and had Emmylou Harris join her on the stage for a couple songs. I snuck away right after Steve Earle began to play as it was getting cold and I exhausted.

I had big plans for Sunday but again got trapped by my fuzzy slippers. It sure was a magnificent weekend.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Tonight at Zellerbach

Todd kindly got us guest tickets to Zellerbach tonight. I only discovered Ani in 2005. So, I hadn't seen her preform before, but, watching her, I felt afraid that she would burst into flames on stage she had so much energy. The muscles in her tiny arms rippled as she struck the guitar violently but with obvious purpose. Youtube doesn't offer much official to share; so, I'm posting a recent pirate video because, except for the sound quality, it was similar to what we experienced.

I know this is an old song. Tracey used to say it reminded her of someone she was in love with when living in SE Asia. I told that story to X last year, and he got defensive which is funny because now the song reminds me of him because of its content. He must have known it describes him.

My bitterness bores me when I feel it... which isn't that often. Chatting with a family member about the city vs. the country, I realized that I love the City because I love other people's feelings (ie, art). This family member loves the country, and I'm not sure finds empathy all that fascinating. So, while my own bitterness bores me, Ani's has retained all its strength ...even old bitterness she no longer feels. It doesn't matter that she is now happy and in love, this song about romantic disappointment brought tears to my eyes.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Ghost Bike


Beautiful, and incredibly sad, ghost bike photo by Michael Simonitsch

Dog-Lovers Bike Parade in NYC

...and another one... how did I miss this?

The First-Annual Doggie Pedal Parade: Dog lovers and bike lovers combined at the First Annual Doggie Pedal Parade in lower Manhattan. Sponsored by the environmental organization Time's Up!, the parade celebrated the city’s animal rescue groups and highlighted green means of transportation. Organizers also held a "Pup Your Ride" event, but even pedalers without pooches were encouraged to participate – by dressing up as their favorite animal.

Women bike for peace in the Middle East


Muhammad Hamed / Reuters
Pedaling for Peace & Empowerment: "Follow the Women," a group of 250 cyclists from 26 countries, ride through the streets of Amman, Jordan during an international — and mobile — peace protest. The group kicked off its tour in the mountains of Beirut and traveled through Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank. "We're hoping to dispel the myth that this region is only full of conflicts," the tour's founder, Detta Regan of Berkshire, England, told The Christian Science Monitor. "We want to tell stories of the hospitality and the love of people."

I stumbled on this photo randomly but delightedly.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

El Camino BRT Cycle Chic

VTA is planning to install full-scale Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a rail-like bus system, along three corridors in the County. BRT on El Camino and The Alameda is scheduled for 2014. As part of that planning, we have been scoping out current and potential bus stops.

People bike in Santa Clara County but usually either in spandex or ...very baggy pants. I was delighted to see cyclists at our first BRT bus stop on The Alameda; the first one in a lovely white sweater, boots with heels and riding a mixtie.


A moment later, another cyclist passed by porting much more your typical San Jose look and also typically riding on the sidewalk. The South Bay has pretty good bicycle roadway facilities, and the pavement is good, but without a culture of cycling both the cyclists and the automobile drivers don't know how to share the road.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Pigeon Point Bike Ride photos

Pigeon Point 2009
Chris, Daniel, Danielle, Kathy, Lindsey and I rode our bikes from our respective homes to Pigeon Point Lighthouse and back again. These photos show views of the ocean and the ridge, of breakfast, second breakfast and lunch, and of all of us having a whale of the time. Let's do it again soon, guys!

Friday, October 09, 2009

Poster party!

I'm participating in this event.
It's 7:00 - 11:00p. See you there.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Vélib' = bike freedom/free bikes

Tomorrow, I'm giving a talk on the Paris bike sharing program Vélib' at San Jose State University. In honor of this event, I'll post some of my remaining photos from this summer's Paris visit of people riding the bikeshare bikes.




Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Admire my tomatoes.


These are the first of this year's crop.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Women's happiness

My mom sent this over. It's interesting.

What's Happening To Women's Happiness? by Marcus Buckingham, September 17, 2009

I can't provide a whole lot of insight since I am relatively happy, and I'm a sample size of one. But comparing this life to my idea of my "perfect life", I would prefer to spend 80% of my time playing with my children, gardening, raising chickens, cooking together and listening to music made by people I love.

New York Bicycle Wedding photograph

I was delighted to see this wedding photograph as the lead photo of my TA StreetBeat this week.

Here's what it said: T.A. staffer Ryan Nuckel married longtime member Rachael Myers last weekend. Our sincerest congratulations to the happy couple.
Image courtesy Andrew Hinderaker

Thursday, October 01, 2009

The evening saved.

Sometimes I want to call this blog "Chronicles of My Amazing Life"... like today for example. We were going to do some field work which would have caused me to get home by 5:30 instead of my usual 7p. But a meeting happened (that I wasn't invited to) where people realized they had made a huge error. Since the deadline was this afternoon, I was then called into a follow-up meeting and then required to do some reconciliation to account for the error. So, I took my usual bus home.

After work, I had an errand. The website of the place said it closed at 9. So, I dashed over there, arriving at 7:15 to find it closed at 7p. I nearly cried to the security guard; another customer reminded me "It's not his fault". I knew that. I just wanted the correct time on the website.

My mood was low as I rode my bike towards home. I took Hayes St., which is unusual for me, and a former grocery store was having an art gallery opening party. This is my native habitat; so, I locked my bike and sauntered in for a complimentary glass of delicious red wine. It's "joby inspired" and huge writing on the wall asked the guests to finish the sentence "I feel inspired when...". Everything was made from those flexible tri-pods including lamps, a bicycle, and a toy robot. On display were also film cameras without view lenses. I bought a book designed to "make you a better photographer" that really was just a series of cool art projects. Drunk shopping -- my part to boost the economy.

The event had a newspaper. The bios included "Derek Chen... recently returned to his first love, furniture." "Liz Kinnmark... hopes to join the circus someday." and Rich Hansen and his wife's "most ambitious project to date, daily photographs of their children." (I'm totally going to do that!) I don't know how I didn't know anyone there; these felt like my peeps.

A bicycle rally was planned for Gestalt House. I swung by since it was on my way home. Well after the starting time, the crowd was still thin ("bicycle time"). I saw two people I knew. I went over to recruit to our table another woman we recognized (she was alone) but got waylaid by a couple cute guys hitting on me. Eventually, I had to get away without the girl, but I sure was flattered.

The moon rose fast; so, I went home before turning into a werewolf. Here, I watched Chuck . Is it my nerd fettish or is he the most attractive character ever?