mashup

Suz and I hit up the DNA Lounge with my friends Leah, Charlyn and Jeff. it is a crazy place, kind of gothish, complete with legal Absinthe (I did not partake in it)- funny that SF seems to have missed the memo that the drink is illegal everywhere else in the US- all kinds of laws don't apply to us San Franciscans. Looking around the dance floor, experiencing the house band, rocking out to the DJ's I feel that I saw a deeper part of my city. Jumping around and singing at the top of my lungs I saw a mix of people whose stories I will never know but I am still sure that they are powerful. I cannot put it into words, but that mashup of people affected my experience as much as the music did. It was as if everything in the world separated us and nothing did at the same time.

 

here is a photo of the after effects of dancing:

we are all sweaty and my hair is messed up...

maybe this is why baptist think dancing is a sin? it has to be a sin to look this good!!!

btw: I am excited about hosting another Texas friend this week! I am overwhelmed by how much I am loved, and by the opportunity I have to share wild my city!

But I'm still glad that I came

i wasn't even thinking of moving to San Francisco when i got this CD, and although I love this town i often feel this way about my new home so here are some lyrics that describe my life:

Ballad Of San Francisco

CAEDMON'S CALL

So I'm walking down the street somewhere outside of San Francisco 
But, I don't really know my way around 
And I'd love to stay a day or two and get into some trouble
But tomorrow I'll be in another town 
There's at least one coffee bar for every single couple 
And there's at least a couple in this place 
Strange the things you notice when the walls are closing in 
And the walls are closing in on me today 

So where, oh where, can I find someone, anyone 
'Cause there's no way outta here 
Well, here is where I live and so I guess that means 
The carrot's gonna dangle for at least another year 

I love anonymity and I love being noticed 
Just the same as anybody else 
Years ago I told you how I loved to be alone 
These days I'd be perjuring myself 

It's like you gave me up like I gave up drinking coffee 
So I guess I would have done the same 
Now I know I'm lost somewhere outside of San Francisco 
But I'm still glad that I came

Green Slavery? and Independence Day...

Thursday morning before I ran to catch the bus for work, and with the best of intentions, I set up out to make arrangements to rent a Prius. Christen's flight was scheduled to arrive at 11 pm and we were journeying to the mountains for a Independence Day getaway at Adam's family cabin. The computer flashed an error message; I called the rental company; I was appalled by how much the rental was going to cost me; I decided that doing something good for the environment was worth the extra $12; I busted out the plastic (because that is all they take); and everything was set. 

Enter Leah to save the day- she decided to come along and drive her car. With the fabulously cheaper change in plans, and a superb addition to the road crew, midmorning on Friday we left the fog behind and hit the road. 

So did I mention the best of intentions? Because what I meant by that is that I almost supported slavery. This afternoon I read on the Not For Sale website about forced labor in Japan on the Toyota Prius: taking away passports, forcing workers to live in overpriced apartments (so they end up owing all their money to their employers and cannot actually make any for themselves), deporting workers who try to leave the apartments or transfer factories, paying them less than a third of minimum wage, forcing them to work 16 hour days- 7 days a week.

Not For Sale said it on their site and I have to say here: concern for the environment has to include concerns for humanity and human rights. 

By the way the weekend was glorious! Thanks Adam and the Klein family for hosting us! 

  

Memories in the making!

The pictures scrolling across my laptop screen remind me of the adventurous life I have had.

The photos of arms linked, glasses raised, candles lit in prayer, exposed ruins, sunsets, beaches, mountains, and most of all friends- these images remind me that I posses the gift of life.

Still as I reflect on those moments I know that in those moments I was so completely unaware of how miraculous those moments were. I was often thinking of the next phase, the next place, or the people who were not there. BUT those were glorious moments. As Lela drank her first legal glasses of wine. As I hugged friends at an outdoor concert waring a shirt declaring that I was willing to be displaced for a night in honor of those that have been abandoned for years. As my niece hunted for her first Easter eggs. My life was happening all around me. It is all the little moments that are often the most extraordinary. 

I am posting the lyrics of one of my favorite songs because it reminds me of this truth so often.

Photograph

Her name was written on the photograph,
right next to her red, sunburnt face,
it all had happened in that long tall grass,
about a mile from her old place,
I can't remember how it started and if it lasted that day in the sun.

We said that we were going to study hard,
we held our books instead of hands,
she held a blanket over cans of beer,
I can't deny I was so full of fear.

It's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
and it seems like another person lived that life a great many years ago from now,

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
when I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.

And there's the first time that I tried that stuff,
I think I look a little green,
I remember throwing up behind a bush,
and I found it hard to use my feet,
and who's that easily led little boy who's really off his head?

It was the same night that I kissed that girl,
the tall one with the auburn hair,
I remember laughing coz to kiss me,
she had to sit down on a chair!
she tasted like the schnapps she'd drunk,
and the cigarette she'd stolen from her mum.

And it's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.
When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.

~Jamie Cullum~

I just wanted to take a moment to remember the importance of being present. Being here and being now.

I am waiting in eager anticipation for a visit from a college friend. We are heading to the mountains. Memories are in the making! 

YAY FOR FOOD!!

So in the journey to live more simply, to be more connected to the world as a whole, to purchase food that is more likely just (it is estimated that 7% of slavery in the US is farm based), to have a more positive impact on the global economy, and to generally live a more holistic life, I have started to work on cooking more, and buying locally. 

Also in the goal of connectedness I want to offer hospitality when I can. So I invited a bunch of friends over yesterday for some great food! (plus I have a hard time motivating myself to cook great food for just me, but I am working on that; being single and living alone seems an even better excuse to make great food cause i has to cost less to make great food for one, but anyway.)

It was a great day. I went to the farmers market at the ferry building (too expensive but super cute). I bought my produce and then went to trader joes and rainbow for the rest. When I was cooking I was inspired to take some photos of my amazing meal as it was being prepared. (this post is really just an excuse to post these pics so enjoy!)

these are the amazing black berries (which by the way taste so much better from the farmers market then they do from the store) on the cheese clothe, just before I squeezed all the juice out of them. It was so messy! I had purple all over my hands, SO FUN!

These are the tortilla strips I made myself!! They were super yummy! And that is not grease it is olive oil (EVOO is the best! it adds great flavor to everything!) Also making the chips myself seems like it was way cheaper then buying chips and they tasted better hot out of the oven. You should try it!

These really were to inspiration for the photo shoot. OMG! I used to think I did not like tomatoes, I was wrong! I just don't like tomatoes that have traveled 1500 miles to the grocery store (most food in the US travels at least that far to make it to our tables! crazy!). So yeah, fresh local tomatoes are so much better! And look at all the colors! They all have their own flavor. I never knew tomatoes came in such wonderful varieties! They were so good in the soup, and they were delicious as I popped some in my mouth as I was preparing the soup!

So this is my post on food, amazing, wonderful, local, homemade food! The dinner party was a blast! We ate, drank, sucked helium (thanks to Adam and his randomness!). It was a fabulous night!

FYI: I got the recipes from 101cookbooks.com. 

  

trying again...

so i posted that we were in the news a few weeks ago, but the link isn't working... oopsy!

http:www.contracostatimes.com/bayandstate/ci_9495041

I can't decide!!

So my amazing friend Melody Gates is an fabulous photographer (you should hire her if you ever need photos). I needed a bio pic for my job at ReIMAGINE and I might need one for my job at Soul Shoppe. So we did a photo day... now I have to pic a picture!!!