It's a strange location for a biker bar (Zeitgeist). But when I think of this intersection, I think of the bar. From the outside, it's an auto-dominate edge to our little almost-bike-heaven of Valencia Street, the mucky patch that you must cross before getting to main street, I mean, Market Street. My photos came out a little blurry, but this lovely lady was well-coordinated. Her shirt matched her bike. Her jacket matched her shoes. And throw in a splash of fun with the floral "skirt" over her pants. The floral print is what first caught my eye.
‘European style’ bike-sharing to begin in Newport July 8th, 2009 · posted by Pat Brennan, green living, environment editor A Newport Beach foundation will become the first to offer “European style” bike-sharing in Orange County, allowing users to grab a bike at one bike station and leave it at another.
First thing Saturday morning, I decided to reinstall my operating system. My computer was constantly full and took about 15 minutes to boot up. I recently purchased an external harddrive which made it possible to back everything up. The first shock was that nothing looked right. That I should have expected. I mean, I did expect. Consciously.
The second shock was that I couldn't connect to the internet. Dell wouldn't talk to me bc my warranty is expired. AT&T told me they could only help with the network. It turned out I needed to download some drivers that Dell had apparently forgotten to send me CDs for when I bought the computer. I downloaded some drivers at a friend's house, but they were only some of the right ones.
At this point, I had had it. The same friends had worked with a guy in Noe Valley to fix her computer, and it was a good experience. I called him. I also stopped by a place near my house where the guy was vague and looked bored when I spoke. The Noe Valley guy called me back and told me was on vacation, but it sounded like I could fix it myself. I just needed those drivers.
I went back to the place near my house. I told them I could do it myself, but this is a "boy's job." The guy said "apparently not." Finally, he told me I should drop it off, but they couldn't work on it until Sunday (this was Tuesday). I wonder why I would do that.
At this point, I could connect to wi-fi and had adjusted the interface to my preferences. But my computer and wi-fi at home have never worked for me (the wi-fi works for others, and I can connect to wi-fi other places.). I went to a cafe and started downloading and installing all the drivers (having no idea which one was what I needed -- most were not). The cafe power went out. I went to another cafe and downloaded and installed more drivers. They closed. The computer still wouldn't connect to the dsl at home.
Yesterday, I brought the computer to work to download and install more drivers. After 5 pm, under the direction of our brilliant Planner I, I, apparently, installed the right driver finally. Last night, after dinner with friends, I was able to watch the most recent episode of The Bachelorette on the internet. I was horrified by her choice.
Vélib’, Paris' famous bikeshare program, is two years old today. Here is a movie from Streetfilms on the system made in honor of its first birthday.
Since 15 July 2007 here are some of the main use trends and developments for Vélib in Paris (courtesy of Eric Britton): - 53 million rides - 36.5 million with long term (annual) passes - 16.5 million daily or weekly tickets - The Vélib street terminals have issued close to 7 million tickets - Increased use in conjunction with rail/transit stations - Stations are being extended at key use points - Continuous monitoring and technical upgrading at level of bikes, stations, distribution, and software - Increased night maintenance and redistribution - The following credit cars are now accepted: Visa, MasterCard, Europay, American Express and JCB (with computer chip only, American-style cards do not work) - Stations now offer full text instructions in English, Spanish, German and Italian, as well as French (which Pariens still occasionally use) - No bikes or parking slots at your station? Try clicking 4, then 5 on the terminal. It will show you the status of nearby stations for both bikes and parking slots. It also scrolls if you are really desperate. - iPhone on Vélib
New communes in surrounding area - 17 already have stations opened between April and June - 136,556 trips in the new areas - Program has Vélib extensions to 30 communes in the surrounding area (many of them small cities in their own right)
Charlotte from Sex in the City once said "I've been dating for 20 years. I'm exhausted." That pretty much summarizes my feelings on the subject recently... or should I say usually.
My love life can be broke down into 5-year increments: Age 16-22: serial monogamy 22-27: serious LTR 27-32: single 32-38: serial monogamy ...And here I am, tired of all the options.
For a long time, I noticed that all my exes remained single. I wondered if I permanently damage them. My sister said I pick commitment-phobic men.
My highschool sweetheart got married a few years back. (I am still close with his parents.) (I guess he had enough time to recover from whatever damage I did to him.) Then, my college boyfriend friended me on Facebook, and I learned that he is married too. Today, I got an email that another former boyfriend from that cohort who I have been good friends with for years since is planning to get hitched. I wonder if I wait long enough, if the wave of my boyfriends getting married will reach the guy I am currently dating, and he'll marry me.
What is the appropriate reaction to this information? Can you guess?
You guessed it! I cyber-stalked the boyfriend after him to see if he's married yet.
I didn't find out if he's married, but I did find out that he's placing in full marathons and winning regional awards for his cooking (he's a chef at an upscale Italian restaurant). If he isn't married, he's certainly using his time well anyway. He also strangely resembles a more recent boyfriend, and I hadn't noticed that resemblance before.
The one after that is definitely single. We talk all the time.
Years ago, this little intersection was a hub for a rather unsightly form of entertainment. The city renovated the adjacent park and put a community garden there to increase the community's feeling of connection to public space. However, gentrification is probably more the reason for the spot's shift.
Capp is a great little street to ride your bike down. It isn't an official bike route, but it's very close to Mission, quiet, straight, flat and the pavement is pretty good. Perfect San Francisco Victorians line a good bit of it. I saw a couple Voguers here recently, but what I like most about those photos is how much they look like San Francisco as opposed to any other city.
Here, she rides with green skirt flowing in the wind, boots and shoulder bag below a row of Victorians at various levels of "improved." This guy rode in a blue dress shirt and slacks, baseball cap and backpack. Of course, I wish he wouldn't ride on the sidewalk.
Talk about your all-in-one solution to the problem of riding to work and then needing a shower and/or change of clothes, the folks at Penny Farthings Pushbikes in Brisbane (Australia) have come up with the Green Pod – a solar-powered bike storage unit that has change rooms, showers, a self-cleaning device and use of recycled water. What’s amazing is that the parking, lockers, 2 showers and 2 change rooms have the footprint of your regular (car) parking space! Check out the Treehugger article on the Green Pod. It’ll likely take a while before we see anything like this in the US, but one can dream. However, Penny Farthings Pushbikes’ other bike-parking productsare the kinds of things that would be useful, practical and possible here right now.
Thanks to the hot dude, happy new Dad and my good friend, Doug Johnson, for the link.
I had the good fortune to spend the weekend in Portland recently. Portland is, of course, famous for its bicycle facilities. Recent celebration has been about their green Bike Boxes at intersections that let bikes go first and indicate to drivers where bikes are supposed to be.
Here, a lady in a red skirt uses the green bike lane. The bike box is on the roadway to your right of the tree. I've been lucky enough to never eat pavement because of light rail tracks, but lots of people close to me have. My "unique" sense of humor was tickled by this poignant signage: \ This city has no shortage of hot guys with cool bikes to admire. Even Portland art is about bikes. I saw this sculpture at the airport! This painting was at the Sunday Market. ... as was this quintessential Chic Cyclist: I'm predicting dresses with boots will be even more popular this summer in our cooler summer climate areas like San Francisco. (Seems like everyone is talking about them!) We've already been observing about the hats....
Lilia, ~1980 (2009) Food: pizza (pasta) Drink: Orange juice (red wine) Season: summer (spring) TV show: Eight is Enough (How I met your mother) Activity: Horseback riding (bicycle riding) Hobby: postcard collecting (sure) Vacation: England (Alaska) Music: ?? (Patty Griffin) Color: blue (pink, I guess) Team: ?? (??) *** Camping (drawing of a tent, a tree, and the night sky blackened with stars) Good: you wood (sic) not have to werey (sic) about loseing (sic) your flash light. And you will not ned (sic) to walk. Bad: I cannot think of enething (sic). *** One Christmas morn, I flew to the tree. I looked at the pile. there was a present for me. I tore open the box and to my surprise a ?? (might say pony) red sled with some beautiful holly.
Today, I'm writing from the far north: Anchorage, Alaska, where I can tell you with absolute certainty that people are breathing and riding their bikes. That said, I haven't seen a while lot of Chic on two wheels here. I've seen people on bikes, and I've seen well-dressed people, but the two have not definitively come together in front of me.
The style for biking ladies seems to be skinny jeans and a cute girl T, and I don't have a problem with that. I went to the Ocean's festival on Saturday, and coincidentally it was also the first time they were providing valet bicycle parking at the event. The festival has a few stalls, but the main attraction was the bands. I enjoyed watching Last Train.
Of course, Alaskan beer is delicious. Everyone at the event seemed to be healthy and youthful with kids and dogs crawling around the grass, more love than you could shack a stick at, my friends.
Margot's friend Lila was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and put me up for my 2 nights alone in Anchorage. She found me immediately which was something that worried me a little. She had all kinds of plans to showing me the baby mooses as they were going to bed, but I voted instead to see some urban life since the rest of my Alaska vacation would probably provide plenty of opportunity for mooses while my days in Anchorage were limited.
It was the first Friday which, like most places in the world, means the art galleries are open late and serving drinks. I arrived at 8:30; so, even though it isn't getting dark here until 1a, most of the parties had already ended. She had found one that closed at 10p. So, that is where we went. The party was different than most gallery parties since the artist were actually painting there rather than available to discuss their work. I didn't see any evidence that they intended to sell their work, and it didn't seem to be in sellable form. Lila said the organization was funded by grants to engage young people in the arts. These young people appeared to all be in their 20s. One high school boy lurked around. The organizer told us that he was a hot shot graffiti artist at his school but had had no exposure to real art until now.
The event included break dancers too. I'm getting that break dancing is back in style because there were a couple break dancers on The Bachelorette this season too. I wonder if when things like that come back, they come back in greater force. When I was a teenager (and pre-teen) white people didn't break dance. The guys on The Bachelorette were white, and now I'm witnessing break dancing in an art gallery. Have the affluent decided this art is cool 20 years later? I love printmaking. So, I was particularly excited to see this installation outside the gallery. It appears they carved on plywood and put them through a steam press (whatever that is). I have only carved on incredibly soft wood. So, I don't envy these artists' efforts. It looks like they may have only made one print too. It would require a huge piece of paper! This was in the parking lot. I don't know what it is, but it looks cool, and I see them all over Anchorage. After all this excitement, we went back to Lila's where I slept long and hard in the sun-lit night.
These gorgeous women posed for us together. One wore a cute black mini. The other had coordinated her top and scarf with her socks. One of the bazillion exciting things about cycling is that when you role up your pant leg, you can showcase cute socks as part of your ensemble.
Members of these adorable couples have also shown up in earlier posts on the DFF, but I liked the way they were together too.
In my on-going effort this week to paint a complete picture for you of the magnificence that was the DFF Bike-in Movie screening, I'm now going to tell you about the food.
Food carts in San Francisco have begun to tweet so that their fans know where to find them. Early in the night, several people told us they learned about the event by following the creme brulee guy on twitter.
Here, creme brulee and magic veggie curry set up: The popcorn princess awaits your order: People line up for their creme brulee including Colin the tweed ride guy: He uses the torch to crisp the top after you order your flavor, right in front of you. This is great to watch for children ages 1 to 101. I didn't try the magic veggie curry, but I heard it was excellent. Here's how to follow them - Magic Curry: http://twitter.com/magiccurrykart Amuse Bouche: http://twitter.com/AmuseBoucheSF Creme Brulee: http://twitter.com/cremebruleecart
One of our favorite celebrities present at the DFF was Gary Fisher. He was kind enough to pose for us in our "studio" as he arrived at the event. His dapper polka-dotted pannier can't be over-emphasized. Here, Kash, our San Francisco Bike-Parking God, admires Gary's pannier. Kash and friend are delighted by the idea of selling fashionable panniers at Warm Planet Bicycles and Parking at the 4th and King Caltrain station (which I also frequent).
We also met Colin, the Tweed Ride guy, at the DFF, just about as dapper as they come! In addition to being kind enough to pose for us, he also shared some critical information: The next Tweed Ride is tomorrow, June 4th, in Oakland. Here's the plan: 6:30 pm – Sally Forth from Mosswood Park in Oakland 7:00 pm – Meetup with SF Tweed at MacArthur BART End Point – To be announced.
If you've spoken to me recently, you know that I am ALL BUSES ALL THE TIME. Yes, this is new for me. "What? You're not a bicycle planner?" people say. No, I am not a wus. I am a transit planner who cares about the people, yes I do. I want to feel the "pulse of the people every day" because I am an artist. You betcha. An ARTIST! An artist who plans bus transit system. That's who I am.
You only need to read the first 2 sentences in this article: "For example a Prius says you care about the Earth, a bicycle shows you REALLY care about the earth, and a bus shows that you are probably not white." Yeah, I didn't read the rest of the article either.
Now, I am going to watch some television and maybe clean my apartment. Life is goo.
This post continues our description of the magnificent Disposable Film Festival's bike-in movie night with photos of the a few of the lovely ladies in attendance.
This girl's smile made me want to give her a big hug and then take her home to my momma. I also love the pea coat with skinny jeans.
You can go wrong with combining stripes with a floral print, but not this chick. Leggings and cleats are oh so chic.
After we set up, but before the guests began to arrive, we shot each other. Here, KT poses with one of the event's hosts, Emily of the Good Hotel. Check out her awesome use of red in her flag, bike, boots and skirt....
...and I humbly present myself, shot by KT with my camera: Bike: REI Helmet: Nutcase (rocks!) Sunglasses: Coach Sweater: Costco Blouse: Ann Taylor (yes, I came from work.) Broach: DFF Skirt: 440 Brannan (a local-designer boutique) Tights: probably Ross Body: 100% San Franciscan
Last week, KT kicked off our photo summary of the Disposable Film Festival. Now that I've set the stage, I'm presenting a series of photos of the event this week starting with some of the hot guys who attended.
You probably already know Steve from the SFBGuardian and his bright red bike. (I have a vague recollection that it used to be pink and fuzzy.) With him is Carlton, one of the event organizers. Here, KT is shooting a cutie on suped-up beach bike with monkey bars. The classic dress shirt and slacks suggest he just came from work. I don't know about you, ladies, but when I look at this face, a little voice in my head calls out "will you be the father of my babies?" OK, ditto for the next two. If they get cuter, I probably can't take it.
Also, love the sports coat, dress shirt, tie and jeans.... * * Today, I am the most in love with this one.
Hello, James Dean (again -- KT found a different one in her photo stream)....
