I really couldn’t ask for better people to be honorary third wheel with. First round was with Kelly and Jim. I spent last Sunday with them shooting some engagement photos. I still feel like a total novice when it comes to shooting people… with a purpose or objective… the pressure is intimidating. But they were fun and cooperative and took lots of breaks to eat diner food and dumplings (in two separate meals). My kind of folks.

This weekend I found myself with my mother and her boyfriend, Barry Barrington (who I will always refer to by his full name because it is incredible), visiting from NC. It’s much easier photographing cute couples outside of any assignment whatsoever, as it was free and pretty much comes with the territory of hanging out with me and my camera, and they can’t get mad at me if they suck.

We adventured through the city on Saturday, then rented a car and ventured northward on Sunday. Lots of good food and good views. I was pleased.

Day1:

Somewhat relevant story (that I still need to tell Andrew):

After hanging out on the top of that epic hill above, we all walked down the path that takes us back down and around the other side, towards the Castro. I suddenly found myself quite overwhelmed with deja vu. I then realized I was in fact on a museum property that I had trespassed on just a year previous while vacationing in SF (having no idea I’d be living here a year later). It was the site of one of the photos I used for my grad school portfolio (that contains the Andrew of note). I actually wrote about this experience in my old mass-travel-email-list that I used to maintain before I started this whole blog thing in May.

An excerpt from July 2008:

Once home, I got a message from Dakota to meet her in the Mission.  We had a date.  Our friend Zack, who we met at the cookout my first weekend in town, had offered to take us out to dinner at an eclectic little spot called Delfina, on 18th and Guerrero.  Italian/American/French-inspired cuisine, big emphasis on fresh ingredients and innovative food combinations.  Sounds like my cup of tea. 
 
On the way to dinner, I pass Delores Park, and see a phenomenon I could have never fathomed – bike polo.  Really.  Like… polo.  On bicycles.  How awkward and amazing!
 
We all meet up at Delfina at 9:30.  We split a bottle of sauvignon, a sheep ricotta w/ zucchini, bitter greens with pancetta and walnuts, strawberry farm short ribs with gouda polenta, rabbit something or another, salmon something or another, and some sort of puff pastries filled with espresso gelato.  Jesus Christ it was awesome.
 
As we were finishing up, we were discussing things I must do before I leave, and Zack brought up the fact that Twin Peaks is one of, if not the, best view of the city.  So I say, “well, we should go.”  Zack says, “right now?”  I say, “Why not?” 
 
So Zack bikes home to grab his car, while me and Dakota head to Amnesia to grab a drink and wait.  Oh how I love this bar.  Yet again playing eastern-european-inspired-americana-bluegrass as I walk in the door.  We order a couple of their cocktails, all made with koju, a Korean vodka that seems pretty popular in the city.  Before we know it, Zack has arrived with his chariot.  We head out, but have one extra stop before we head to Twin Peaks – we have to go pick up his friend Andrew, who is visiting from Santa Cruz, and who has apparently been drinking alone at Zeitgeist for four hours after his friends left town.  Andrew is tall (6’8″ to be exact), drunk, and hilarious.  Oh my god.  He is one of the funniest people I have met in a long time.  And I don’t think it was because he was drunk.  He made it to my favorites list quickly. 
 
So we are driving straight up windy roads that should eventually lead us to Twin Peaks.  We quickly become enshrouded in fog.  We get to the top.  We can’t see five feet in front of us.  So… you can imagine the view.  Just fog.  We could vaguely see the few lone cars in the parking lot with couples in the backseats.  Not much later, a police car came by with a spotlight and said cars were eliminated pretty quickly.  So we hung out on the edge of the highest point in the city, but saw nothing.  We decided to drive somewhere of a slightly lower altitude and maybe catch a view underneath the fog. 
 
We arrive at some museum, whose name will remain unsaid (simply because I don’t recall what it was).  The property was sitting on the edge of a cliff and seemed to have a pretty good view.  Unfortunately, the gate to the property was locked.  Good for us, we are traveling with primate-like men who can scale fences and unlock doors from the inside.  So began our scenic trespassing tour.
 
I wish I had some sort of scandalous story for you, but no cops came, the dogs were not sent for us.  We just wandered around forbidden museum property and enjoyed a fairly good view.  We eventually tired of being bad asses and headed back on our way. 

Day2:










(PC: Barry Barrington)

In other news: I leave for tour today. BTW… I’m going on tour? I’m pumped. I’ve been having tour withdrawals for a couple of months now. I’m supporting Mark Growden w/ Alex Kelly, and representing Porto Franco Records. Best job ever? It might be. If you live in CA, OR, or WA, you should come see us. It would be neat. Just sayin’.

More on that as we hit the road. Until then…. END!