1) Don’t ever write posts about how you’ll “finally start blogging again.”

2) Film shooting and my style of blogging does not mix. Don’t get me wrong, I love film and I will continue shooting with it, but film rolls take weeks to finish and develop, and I like to document every detail of my life as it happens. That and stories just aren’t as fun to tell when they’re written two weeks late. I need to start taking digital photos again for this blog to actually work like I want it to.

3) Just because I’m not traveling around the country doesn’t mean I’m not seeing things worth sharing.

That’s all I’m going to say about that. Here is a blog. With photos.

This week was a good week. For one, our team at 1000memories (did I mention I have a wonderful job now? I can’t remember) finally shipped a rad project we’d been working on for a while. Second, I got a new camera AND lens. I have literally been dreaming about this gear for months.

Everything arrived just in time for me to photograph a little shindig we hosted at our office on Friday night. It was great getting some of my favorite folks together under one roof (or on one porch).

Afterwards, the team (+ a few others) headed to karaoke in Japantown. Aaron and I watched, as we both hate the idea of singing karaoke with a passion we cannot explain.

Tiffany, one of our attendees, mentioned that she was hosting a Lomo double exposure walk through Chinatown the next day. Considering it was just down the street from my house, and I wanted to grab a peek of the Lomo store under construction at Union Square, I was in.

(You can learn more about Lomography here.)

I couldn’t help but snap some photos with my digital. I’d share my film shots, but, you know… they’ll probably be ready in a few weeks.

We ended the hike with a little tour de Lomo store, which will open in Union Square this fall. I can’t wait.

By that point I was completely spent and went home to sleep until Sunday.

Today Aaron and I went to Oakland to hang with Tara and her cat, Dexter.

We stopped by the Temescal street fair for a bit, moreso to eat Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich and strawberry shortcake.

After one last quick stop by an abandoned building on the UC Berkeley campus (bc we clearly did not have enough adventure for one weekend), we were again spent and headed back to San Francisco to call it a weekend.

On another note, I hung out with two other cats this week.

Malfoy, our temporary office cat…

and Olive, who is temporarily living in my apartment/sitting on my bed staring at me right now.

Ok, that’s all for now.

END!

This is a double view of the lovely weather we’ve been having here lately. By lovely I mean awful.

This is Pete and Esme. They’re a couple of awesome compadres who I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for the last year or so. They’re getting married soon, so I took a few (mostly digital) photos of them around town.

I’m slowly getting used to the fact that my camera will double-expose when it damn well wants to.

I took very few shots during my week at SXSW, but these pretty much sum up the good times. Lots of sitting on this balcony, spending time with some of my favorite people from around the country (Mark, Corinne, and Jaime included).

More shitty weather + accidental double exposures.

This was from a recent adventure day in the Mission. Aaron and I were walking across 18th + Mission when we heard a THUMP. We turned around to see a man had illegally run across the street into traffic, been hit by a car in the process, rolled over the hood, hit the ground, jumped up, and… continued to run away? So bizarre. I wonder what he was running from.

We chatted with the shaken-up folks who owned the car until police arrived, snapped a few shots, then went on our way.

We continued on our way to our next destination…

Dakota’s birthday brunch at St. Francis.

The rest of the day was full of donuts, balloons, piles of potatoes, and bacon bloody marys, as a birthday should be.

I actually have more photos from this day, but they’re sitting on a roll waiting to be developed. More to come soon!

[^ photo by Mick Frederick]

A few life upgrades since I last blogged.

Upon entering an unexpected job hunt, I reached out to the interwebs and received an overwhelming response. I am so so grateful for all of the job leads, temp offers, support and connections. I followed my gut and landed interviews with a few of my favorite organizations (a fortunate situation in itself), but knew the minute I interviewed with one organization that it was the perfect fit. Sure enough, the feeling was mutual. Within a week I had landed a new job at theMIX agency.

theMIX is a boutique PR/communications firm that works mostly with social media, technology and digital entertainment start-ups. They share all of my views on the core elements of branding, marketing, bizdev, digital and creative strategy, networking and relationship building… I could go on. The team is super intelligent, savvy and connected, and I am absolutely loving the work I’m doing. I’ve been with them for three weeks now and I feel great about my decision. Life upgrade.

In other news, I’m still taking way more iPhone photos than regular photos lately. If you want to see them, you can check them out here.

I have a few different sets of photos to roll out on here. Here are a few from a recent underground adventure I went on with another new addition to my life – Aaron. He’s an obsessive photo-adventurer like myself. He is also tall, handsome and bearded. Also life upgrade.

I honestly have no clue where this was. After some driving and some hiking, we arrived, took our shoes off and went in for some tunnel exploring. We came back with frozen wet feet and lots of photos.

Ok – more photos to come. END!

Phil and Beth are homies from Raleigh, NC (the town from which I moved to come here). They were part of a wonderful friend group who made summer 2009 the best I’ve had yet. They play in a band called Bowerbirds, and they are good. Very, very good.

They were to play The Independent on Thursday, and I happen to live a couple of blocks from it. Perfect grounds for reunion sleepover time.

The show was lovely. Julie Doiran opened, and this photo does a good job of describing her. Her voice is absolutely beautiful and she is hilarious. She apparently got her boots from North Carolina. I am not one bit surprised.

The birds have a new addition – Dan “Yan” Westerlund. I had not met him before tonight, but I traveled around the country with his brother this summer, who is in Megafaun, who was touring with the Bowerbirds at the time. I have also stayed with his best friend in Tuscon, Arizona. Worlds colliding.

Will Hackney from Trekky Records also came along to tour manage and guest on mandolin and vocals. I had never met him before, but we both weren’t sure how this was possible, as we shared many many friends while I lived in NC.

We spent the rest of the night having a slumber party, drinking white russians and catching up on life. Come morning, we were up and ready for adventure.

All of us except Phil and Beth, that is. After a couple of hours of waiting for them to rise, we decided to greet them at the bedroom door with a morning song about breakfast. They finally got up.

We grabbed a tasty breakfast at Kate’s Kitchen, passing by Beth’s new favorite store – Silky Touch. Then we headed to Alamo Square, a block away from my house, to run around and reminisce about Full House.

We tumbled down the hill for a while.

As we all got back home, Beth and I went out into my jungle yard and I photographed her new dress and bonnet, compliments of artist Monica Canilao, while the boys packed.

With that, I reluctantly sent them off to continue their trek across the US. It was difficult not to jump in the van with them.

Seriously, go listen to them right now. bowerbirds.org. That is all.

END!

The tour posse:

Mark Growden – musical mastermind/reason why all of this is happening.
Alex Kelly – cello prodigy/giggler/noise maker extraordinaire.
Helena Price – record label representative/doer of business-related tour tasks/photogger/myself.

I love my crew. We are eating fruit and listening to the Porto Franco Sampler. Mark just poured a rather large quantity of water all over his pants while driving. Things are going well.

Night one found us in Chico, CA. It was a fairly quick drive… only a few hours including some delays due to San Francisco outbound traffic and a few wrong turns along the way.

The venue was hidden quite well in what appeared to be a giant industrial vacant warehouse storage area. The exterior lot was pitch black and scattered with empty cargo trucks. Alex and I were fairly convinced that this would be where our lives would end.

However, we soon found ourselves within the venue, and my faith was restored.

The Frame. It was exactly what I previously mentioned – a giant warehouse space – but it’s been renovated into a wonderful open lofty venue area and film studio. One Night Music, a SF-based project, was presenting + shooting the show that night.

One Night Music films and showcases live performances by indie musicians around the country, incorporating quality HD film, photos, and illustration for a very Daytrotter-esque online presentation.

So yeah, One Night Music seems pretty awesome. The guys behind it certainly are – I know that for a fact. Ryan, Ian, and their Chico crew – Skylar, Daniel, + others (including the pug stage hand) – were great company and I can’t wait to see what they produce. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted when it’s released.

Small world note – I was browsing One Night Music’s website, looking at their contributors, and who do I see other than… my good friend Scott Boone?? What? Scott and I went to college together in North Carolina. Scott was riding his bike across the US at the same time as I was driving across this summer, and we both ended up settling down in San Francisco. Looks like he found himself a good crew to work with. Crazy.

We knew it was going to be a good show, as Mark used to live in Chico, so this was a homecoming of sorts for him. And a good show it was. We hung around the venue for a good bit, then said our goodbyes to our new (and old) friends, then headed on our way to friend Sara Rose’s for post-show times.

The house was quite large, and conveniently happened to have three vacant bedrooms for us to sleep in. I crashed immediately, having spent my day packing for tour + working on projects + meeting with Porto Franco + going to grad school + taking a quiz + driving to Chico + all of the above. I would probably have additional day 1 stories for you otherwise. I heard there were hot tubs involved.

On a side note -

Random projects I’ve started on the road:

Creating a photo collection called “tour diet.” Subjects generously provided by America.

Collecting and forming a general appreciation for finding two-word combinations that wouldn’t logically go together but somehow work in specific contexts. Today’s example: “dollar spicy.” It’s a grammar revolution.

On another side note -

A few ironic things to share with you.

I’m on the road with my laptop. I am shooting RAW files with my camera. I forgot that my laptop does not have the necessary software to edit and convert RAW files. So…. I can’t edit any of the photos I shot the first night! Hooray! I’ll post them once I have the means. Hope iPhone photos will suffice for now. **(Update: the regs photos are up, obviously).

END!

Tara and I decided that we would adventure to Pumpkin Fest on Saturday afternoon. I heard there would be a giant pumpkin, and I enjoy all food products involving pumpkin, so I figured it would be a good way to spend my time.

Backed up in a surprising large amount of traffic en route to the festival, we slowly creeped by independent farms, adorned with vast expanses of pumpkins and usually a central funhouse, equipped with whatever pumpkin-themed funhouses could possibly have. It was quite enticing. However, we continued on, assuming that this was simply a preview of the general awesomeness that was to be the actual Pumpkin Fest.

We finally arrive in downtown Half Moon Bay, and we follow the crowd toward the festival. I want to stop at a coffee shop on the way.

So we order two iced pumpkin lattes (it’s only logical). We are waiting patiently to receive them when we are approached by a stranger.

Enter Zephyr.

Zephyr was kind enough to, without hesitation, provide us with detailed descriptions of surrounding pumpkin farms that are far more interesting than the festival itself. It was quite enlightening.

I asked to take his photo, wrote my website on a napkin for him, and we prepared to head on our way.

Next thing we know, Zephyr is joining us for our entire festival experience.

The festival was certainly interesting (though not remotely as interesting as we had hoped), and we ended up cutting our walkabout short. We said our goodbyes to our new friend Zephyr and headed on our way.

We couldn’t help but stop at the strange pumpkin fields on the way home. We also happened to find ourselves in a giant dinosaur sculpture park as well. Just another Saturday road trip.

Sunday I found myself on Treasure Island (that is really the name of the island… it sits in the bay between SF and Oakland), thanks to fantastic lad/production superstar Will Chase. Performances of note: Grizzly Bear, Beirut, Decemberists, Walkmen, Flaming Lips. Environmental details of note: Incredible SF skyline view, fun colored lights illuminating everything, pirate ship wagon, and air that was really fucking cold. Great time nonetheless.

Lastly, mustaches. In Sonoma Valley. I really don’t have much to say about them, other than it felt right at the time.

Thanks to Tara, Elaine, and Greg for being my extremely reluctant models.

I was going to do these for a history homework assignment, so I tried to make them look a bit dated. I ended up scrapping them though.

And the extras:

END!

I now live in San Francisco. Holy mother of god.

Adjusting to your completely new hometown isn’t so bad when you are surrounded by former-hometown-folk to keep you occupied. Tim is here for another week or so, and my friend Brandom happened to fly in on the same night we arrived.

So began adventures with Brandom.

We started things off at Boogaloos, who I have already deemed my favorite brunch in San Francisco. Not that I have come remotely close to trying 10% of the brunch spots in San Francisco, but I AM obsessed with Mexican food and eggs in combination right now and they do a damn good job at providing me with it. We split a temple-o-spuds and a polenta + eggs plate. The day is a win already.

I decide that it will be best to drive Brandom to all of my favorite places in San Francisco, as I am not adjusted to the walkability of the city yet (aka I am lazy) and I figure that if I keep the car moving, I will reduce the number of parking tickets I’ll inevitably acquire. So… first stop: Twin Peaks.

Twin Peaks is the biggest hill in SF. You can see everything. You just have to make sure it’s a clear day, because 80% of the time it’s foggy and you can’t see two feet in front of you. Today we can see!

I wanted to take a jumping photo but it was so windy we thought we may die just standing up. So we took some normal photos and went on our way.

Next stop: Crissy Fields. Fun park and beach with a nice view of the Golden Gate. I’ve taken many a photo here before, so it’s fun to see how they end up changing every time I come back.

I wanted to drive Brandom around the west side of the Peninsula, where the road lines the hills and you see nothing but water below you, but we got lost and ended up at the Harold & Maude graveyard. This happens to be one of if not Brandom’s very favorite movie, so he freaked out and demanded we go in and take photos. And so we did.

By this time, the day had passed and we were tired. And so ended adventure day with Brandom.

Fast forward.

With Brandom and Tim both leaving the next day, I decided it was necessary to take everyone to Land’s End.

Land’s End is this somewhat secret location that a lot of SF folk seem to know of, but have no idea how to find. And somehow I managed to find it last year, by following really vague directions given to me by my SF veteran compadre Nick.

Basically, you take several disjointed bus rides to the Legion of Honor parking lot, wander through a golf course directly behind the property, hope you take the right path until you see another path going into the woods blocked off by a gate, walk around the gate, continue until you see a staircase, walk down the staircase until you reach a dirt path, walk up the dirt path until you can’t walk anymore, because you are standing on the edge of a cliff where the ocean meets the bay.

So me, Tim, Dakota, Brandom and Lewis found the cliffs once again. It was pretty foggy and overcast, which at first we thought would be a huge visibility problem, but it ended up being quite cool actually. The fog rested on top of the hills and actually rested on top of the Golden Gate, leaving a clear hole underneath it that you could see through. Brandom described it as a hole out of purgatory. If purgatory were an awesome oceanfront array of cliffs and giant rocks and waves.

I said my byes to Brandom, then went out for one last night of welldonetour-dom with Tim and company. My fellow road warrior is off to Raleigh tomorrow. Our 2009 phototour adventure has come to an end.

I would have some sort of profound synopsis for you here, but I really haven’t had any time to process all of the ridiculous incredible things that have happened to my life in the past six weeks. Maybe I’ll have have my brain reassembled by then.

All I can say now, is that tour made me grow in so many ways, as a PR professional, as a photographer, as a planner and a thinker and a friend and a person. I don’t think I’ll have a grasp on the amount I’ve learned through this for quite a while, but know for sure that I am definitely a different, better person leaving this tour. I got to spend my summer with some of the most wonderful people I’ve met in years. I love Bowerbirds and Megafaun and Tim and Sarah oh so dearly and can’t wait to see them again, and I’m going to stop typing now before I get emotional in the middle of this coffee shop.

END!

As many of our drives do, we had some choices as to what route to take. We could take the scenic 101 down the coast (Shaun demanded we do this at least for the Oregon stretch), or the more efficient HWY 5 route. Having slept in a bit too late, as per usual, we were logically forced to choose route 5. It was a 9-hour vs. 13-hour decision, and we had to get into town by the time that Bowerbirds + Megafaun took the stage at Cafe du Nord. We were barely going to make it.

Well, what do you know. More traffic. That + my fairly poor ability to take proper exits turned our proposed 9-hour drive into a 12-hour drive after all. Needless to say, we missed the show. Fantastic.

We did make it in time to have a beer with my dear friend Dakota, who was housing us for the night. As I’ve said in previous posts, after any drive longer than 10 hours, no matter how tired you are, all you want to do is go out, have a beer, and do something social, as you have spent your entire day sitting in the same car seat looking at the same highway. So we stopped by 500 Club, had a beer or two, then headed back to Dakota’s to crash.

The next couple of days were a swift kick in the hind for me. As previously stated, this tour was also a process of moving me and my life to San Francisco. Upon arrival to the city, I realized that I had spent so much time focused on tour that I had put several important projects on the backburner, such as finding somewhere to live, or finding a job. Both quite important.

So I took a small hiatus to hide out and figure out my new San Fran life, while Tim went off and explored the city and caught up with friends.

Things that make San Fran different from North Carolina:
- It’s colder here. Like, way colder. Between 60 and 75 most of the time. I had already discovered this last summer, but while packing for tour, I had only included clothes that were appropriate for summertime in the rest of the country. Basically, I have a few long-sleeved shirts to rotate until the rest of my “winter” clothes are shipped over. I also have no jacket. However, I am very excited about finally being able to wear boots and scarves every day of the year.
- You can be a foodie for cheap. Local/organic seems to be the baseline for food standards here, when in NC, it seems to be the exception. I have also recently realized that I have an obsession with eggs and Mexican food eaten in combination. Cannot-function-without-it obsessed. I blame Boogaloos.
- Beautiful hills, cliffs, ocean sunsets, blah blah beautiful scenery blah gorgeous awesome stuff to climb and look at etc. You can expect plenty of photos of all of this in the next three years (the time that I will be living here).
- You can’t have a car in this damn city. You just can’t. Unless you have a garage and you never ever let your car out of it.

It did not take long for me to become intimately acquainted with San Francisco parking law enforcement.

I was sitting at Dakota’s, bumming her wireless internet while she was at work. I hear a bit of streetside commotion directly outside her living window. I pay it no mind. However, after a few minutes, I become curious. It seems to be coming from exactly where I parked my car. I casually glance out the window.

There’s my car. A tow truck has attached itself to it.

Panic. I run outside. Tow man is trying to break into my car door. I vomit apologies and frantic pleas to let my car go. He ignores me.

I notice a road cop not car from me, viewing the situation musingly. I run up to him.

“I AM SO SORRY I AM NOT FROM HERE I DIDNT KNOW CAN I PLEASE HAVE MY CAR BACK I HAVE MY KEYS I CAN TAKE IT RIGHT NOW”
“You have your keys on you? Right now?”
“YES THEY ARE RIGHT INSIDE THE DOOR”
“If you go inside and get your keys, and get back out here before he breaks into your car, you can have your car back.”
(I run inside and grab keys)

By the time I get back out, I see the road cop talking to the tow guy, ideally about how he should let my car go. I take no chances. I jump in my car, still fully attached to the tow truck. I roll the window down and continue to plea from within my vehicle.

Apparently this worked. The tow guy slowly and reluctantly unhooked all of the intricacies lacing our vehicles together, and went on his way, leaving me in my car, still hyperventilating, still in a state of severe but reducing panic. I park it a block away and head back to Dakota’s with my brand new $73 parking ticket (another distinct difference between San Fran and NC… give me a $12 Raleigh ticket any day).

Fast forward to lunch a couple of days later. Tim and I are faced with a big decision: end tour here? or continue on to Arizona?

We had planned for San Francisco to be the last stop of tour. But, seeing as we missed the show, we were feeling like there needed to be some better sort of closure for this tour. We also knew that Megafaun wanted us to come down to do some more projects with them. We also knew we had places to stay and lots of fun things to do. I also liked the idea of not having to park in San Francisco for a while.

So we discuss the pros and cons over this at lunch, and by the time we pay, we have made a decision. We are going to Arizona. Why the heck not. We pack our things and are on the road a few minutes later. 11 hours til Phoenix!

END!

Kate and I head out bright and early to catch out 6 a.m. flight to Houston, TX. I have no recollection of it, as I passed out immediately once I was seated on the plane. Apparently free breakfast was offered to me. I had no idea.

We arrive in Houston. Our flight is delayed about an hour. No problem. We wander the airport for a while looking for a sufficient breakfast. I decide to purchase a breakfast stromboli. I always hate airport breakfast stromboli, but I always seem to subject myself to it whenever I have the opportunity. Can’t explain it.

Anyway. It’s about time to head to the gate. We arrive, smile at the desk attendant, and take a seat in the waiting area. I casually observe that the area is pretty empty, but we don’t think much of it. We read and play with our cameras for a while. Waiting room is still empty. Kate decides to check in with the desk attendant. Desk attendant freaks out on us. Apparently they had already boarded the gate and closed things up a while ago. And apparently it is not her job to question people that are obviously approaching and waiting on a gate, sitting within a five foot radius of her for the past 10 minutes. We tell her to chill out and let us on the plane. She complies.

Plane ride number two. I pass out again immediately, apparently missing yet another offering of free breakfast.

I wake up a few hours later to warnings that we will be approaching turbulence, perhaps due to the gargantuan storm covering the entire state of California. No biggie. We’ve all handled turbulence before.

Next thing I know, I am barfing into a bag like a damn six year old. People loved it.

We finally land, head to baggage claim to collect our goods, and prepare to leave, when Kate realizes she left her digital camera on the plane. How clever. I decide to sit on the floor in baggage claim while Kate goes to find gate passes to reenter the terminal and rescue her camera.

Camera is retrieved. We get the fuck out of the airport and hop on the train toward the city.

By the time we get off the train at Powell Station, the giant storm had completely cleared. I am famished, and am really craving vegan Asian cuisine, particularly from Golden Era. It’s really the only vegan Asian I’ve ever consumed, but regardless, I’m obsessed with it and have to eat it multiple times when I’m in SF. We head a few blocks toward the Tenderloin to find it.

Not long into the trek Kate’s rolling luggage breaks a wheel, and ceases to roll any further. She drags her giant duffel bag against the concrete for the remaining few blocks until we arrive at the restaurant.

Food is great. We stuff our faces until we are practically useless. However, we decide that it would be productive if we purchased a new bag for Kate as quickly as possible. We leave our belongings at the restaurant, and head out in search of luggage.

Soon enough, we’re back with a fresh new rolling suitcase for Kate. We repack everything casually on the floor of the restaurant, leave Kate’s old suitcase as a gift of sorts, then head on our way back into the financial district to kill time until Dakota gets off work.

Next stop is Blue Bottle Coffee Co. I am absolutely obsessed with their goods. Upon arrival, I receive the news that they are out of the coffee beans used to make my favorite iced coffee, so I end up with a baby iced americano instead.

It’s finally 5:00 and Dakota is off work. We head toward Powell to meet her. I am excited to go through my favorite alley, which is usually covered in randomly strewn orange chairs. I don’t know why, but I just really like orange furniture and concrete combined. Whatever.

Anyway, all that I found in the alley today was this. No iced coffee or orange chairs???? What kind of city is this???

We find Dakota at Powell. Our reunion is interrupted by a strange city dweller who told me I looked exactly like the woman who carried his sperm within her back to England. I quickly informed him that I was not this woman, and we headed on our way to catch up elsewhere.

Onward to the Mission, Dakota’s hood. Her new apartment is so so so great. Right beside Delores park. She was hungry, so we trekked a few blocks to a sushi spot, where we proceeded to stuff our faces yet another time.

So then there’s bi-rite. I had been to their grocery last time I was in SF, but missed out on the whole creamery deal. So I’ve basically been nerding out reading their menus online since last July, and really needed to experience it for myself at this point. We went, tried about 9 flavors total, and I decided that blood orange was the way to go. I was pleased.

Must learn to suppress the stank/primate face when on film and/or in public.

Day 2:

It’s raining again.

Dakota recommended that we head over to Tartine for breakfast. I first learned about Tartine last summer, when I was at some random pot-luck-cookout-half-birthday party in San Fran, and somebody brought some berry pastries from Tartine. I was obsessed from that point forward, and upon learning that the establishment was only a couple of blocks away from Dakota’s, I was set on going.

We were told to get the morning buns. So I did. I perhaps got a little carried away and ordered a ten dollar breakfast sandwich as well. I’m pretty sure it was worth it.

Project #2 was checking out the piers. Most of the projects we had on our to-do list I had already done last time I was here, but they are all worth seeing again, and since this was Kate’s first time in town, it was absolutely necessary.

And so began the jumping pictures.

Then we headed over to Pier 39. It feels like a glorified coastal trip to Busch Gardens.

The rain is intense and our socks are getting wet. But there are sea lions to be seen.

There wasn’t much more to see of the piers, so we headed westward to project #3: Coit Tower.

We didn’t have any plans on going in the tower itself, because it costs money and is generally anticlimactic. We just wanted to explore the hill surrounding the tower itself.

The rain conveniently stopped once we reached the top.

We noticed staircases running down the side of the hill into the woods. No reason not to walk down them.

Everything is so green here. And it’s a different green from the east. Can’t explain it.

We then wandered into the residential area surrounding the tower. Kick ass houses perched on the side of Telegraph Hill. Project #4: finding out how to either live in or have friends who live in these homes.

We continued walking down stairs for another half-hour until we finally hit level concrete. Onward to the next project.

Next stop was Jackson Place Cafe. I used to eat here all the time last summer, because it was in Dakota’s neighborhood and right across the street from her work. They have my favorite coffee ever (blue bottle new orleans iced coffee) and favorite meat ever (prociutto). The cafe is hidden in a little nook full of brick and palm trees and open flame lamps. I love.

Next stop: Haight. Full of hippies, thrifty shopping, and teenagers who pretend to be homeless after school lets out. Before curfview of course.

This was about 4 minutes before an insane hailstorm that left me and Kate completely soaked from the waist down. And broke our umbrellas.

And then we found the Grateful Dead house.

We met up with Dakota after work for dinner in the Mission. I had recently discovered that I wasn’t quite as broke as I thought I was, so I planned to reward myself with a tasty, slightly pricier SF dinner. And maybe a beer.

We decided on Monk’s Kettle. It was only a couple of blocks from Dakota’s, which I liked considering the weather was still crap.

Monk’s was on a wait, so we ended up browsing the surrounding thrifty spots around the block. First stop was Idol, which I vaguely remember exploring last July when Dakota was at work and I was wandering around the city bored.

Next stop was the bookstore next door… I also remember exploring this at some point last year. Quiet little spot… I kind of wonder how these places pay rent. The owner had just bought a couple of quiches and offered us a piece when we came in. We politely declined, to the delight of a ratty bearded fellow who continued eating the goods furiously.

I didn’t expect to purchase anything… until I ran across the book of my dreams. A gargantuan book of Philippe Starck’s work. My favorite designer. Ever. He is god to me. I immediately made the purchase and headed back to Monk’s to read it while I wait.

Monk’s was great. Very content-conscious cooking, and the greatest beer list I have EVER seen. The first page was about 50 California brews… and then continued on for another 10 pages or so. I wish I could have had the chance to explore several, but after a giant pretzel, macaroni and cheese, bbq sandwich, fries and curry aioli, I really only had room for one altbier. Then it was coma time.

I still regret not getting the Cali-brewed black currant cider. Next time I suppose.

Day three. Kate and I have a lot to explore before we head to Los Altos Hills for the night. We get up early, eat the remaining halves of our sandwiches from the night before, and head on our way.

Project 1: Tour the Academy of Art Institute’s campus. Kate had signed up for the tour of the university’s fashion design graduate program, and I was just along for the ride.

Then I started filling out a registration card. Noticed they had basically every major I have been interested in the past before deciding on pursuing a relatively uninspiring undergrad degree in public relations.

By the end of the tour, I was meeting with an admissions advisor discussing the application process. I’ll be applying to grad school in SF this week. What the fuck.

[May 09 Update: I applied. I got in. I'm moving to SF in July and starting classes in September.]

Project #2: find dim sum in Chinatown.

We don’t have dim sum in NC. Almost everyone I’ve talked to who moved from the west coast are distraught over this. Last year I managed to find a fantastic spot called Delicious Dim Sum. I am usually highly suspicious of any establishment with a positive description of their product within the name of the establishment itself. But man, this place changed my life. Nobody spoke English, and there was no menu, so I just pointed to random dumplings and the owner charged me two dollars for one of the best lunches I have EVER had. Needless to say, I was ready to revisit Chinatown.

So we arrive at Delicious Dim Sum. It is CLOSED.

NOOO.

I don’t know what to do. Of course there are approx. 342790 other dim sum restaurants in Chinatown, but it is really hard to distinguish from the good ones and the terrible ones.

We decide to make our replacement decision based on proximity. We cross the street and head into House of Dim Sum. We ordered twelve dollars worth of food. Considering my last dim sum meal was two dollars, you can only imagine how much food ended up in front of us.

We eat. We can’t finish. It is pretty terrible.

Dim sum fail 2009.

And then we headed northwest.

Project #3: Take jumping picture at Crissy Fields.

Crissy Fields jumping photo accomplished.

RENTAL CAR TIME!!!

What a pleasant surprise…. we are given a glorious minivan by Enterprise to aid us in our travels.

Yeeeaaahh minivan yeah!

[Stories continued on following blog...]