good news: the geologist says not to worry

The Red Cross led this earthquake preparedness campaign in San Francisco. I can see my office in the second picture, which scares the crap out of me.

I’ve done quite a bit of research on earth quakes; and most recently came across a very interesting FAQ from the Berkeley Seismological Lab (hideous site, useful answers). [...]

today I drove around the city in a “go car”, a GPS guided tour scooter. I had a great time and highly recommend this when you have guests in town!

at carnaval today, I signed this petition to rename the sewage plant after george w. bush.

this picture makes me very happy

Phyllis Lyon, 79 and Del Martin, 83, have been together for over 50 years are the first same-sex couple to be officially married in US.

The June issue of San Francisco magazine has a great story on the man behind this huge feat.

happy extended weekend!

San Francisco by one of my coworkers, SK Kim, on his first days in California.
I get to be a tour guide this memorial day weekend for my parents, who are staying for a week.  I’ll get to re-explore the joys of Golden Gate Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, and my Dad’s favorite: China Town.

baytobreakers ‘08, best one yet

40 tourists roaming the streets of san francisco:

more pictures here

b2b is tomorrow!

tourist costume recipe

I heart SF shirt
khaki pants
tube socks & tennis shoes
visor
fanny pack
map of SF
binoculars

the assembly line:

the finished product, 36 ready-made costumes:

this weather is unreal.  I am particularly excited for 80 degree weather on Sunday for Bay to Breakers.  Our costumes this year, confused tourists, are much less iconoclastic than last year’s same-sex pairs of animals in Gay Noah’s Arc, but far easier to organize and execute.

two signs that I don’t want to live in this overpriced downtown studio

the one on the left warns about a homeless person who has been sleeping in the lobby.  the one on the right informs tenants that the area contains chemicals known to cause cancer and birth defects.  wow, no thanks

why my parents can’t sell their house in suburban ohio and I can’t afford a loft in san francisco

great article in the Atlantic this month, exploring how suburbs are becoming less desirable than urban areas. city sprawl?
A structural change is under way in the housing market—a major shift in the way many Americans want to live and work. It has shaped the current downturn, steering some of the worst problems away from the [...]

 today I biked to sausalito with Pete, super-biker, who was nice enough to stop when I got tired.

protests in SF

today I was stopped by the commotion of a protest. it’s the 5-year anniversary of the war.

non violent protesters laid down across market street– stopping traffic for the afternoon. many people were arrested, including the nun pictured below.

Adobe Book Shop in the Mission

google to provide free VM to homeless

I love ideas that are simple and powerful— i.e. Google providing free phone numbers and voicemail to all the homeless individuals in San Francisco. Free email is not enough, as internet access and know-how is limited to those truly in need.  I’m glad that the company charged with organizing the world’s information can understand there [...]

good bye car, hello city-transportation

I felt a surprising bite of sentiment when the 18-wheeler took my car away– back to Ohio where SUVs belong. I had been plotting this break-up plan between the car and I for quite some time The insurance. The gas prices. The never-ending pile of parking tickets. It just wasn’t working [...]

Erica is moving to SF!

One of my very close girlfriends from high school is moving to SF from Chicago.  She works for Bank of America and is being transferred here to work closer to moi on April 1st (just in time for bay2breakers and all the other amazing SF festivals).  She’s currently looking for places in Nob Hill / [...]

correlation between a city’s gay population and technology success

This mediocre book, by Richard Florida, presents an interesting fact: there’s a strong correlation between the gay population of a city and its success in the technology industry.  San Francisco is a good example.  We have the highest GLB percentage of any city (according to wikipedia) and are also known as a high tech mecca.  [...]

no cavities!

I’m usually not a fan of dentists.  The whole idea of a stranger poking around my mouth with cold tools seems unnatural and invasive.  Plus, I hate breathing out of my nose.
Luckily I found a dentist– or rather dentist office– that is fantastic.  The experience is more like that at a spa.  The chairs have [...]

no beach this weekend (and for a while)

Just three days after we enjoyed my birthday at beautiful Land’s End, which snuggles between the Bay and the Pacific, an oil ship hit the Bay Bridge and spilled 58,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel. At the height of bird migration, the spill has caused severe ecological effects, sickening and killing local wildlife. [...]

a very san francisco weekend

It started with a joint birthday party with my roommates on Friday. Our theme? Champagne and party dresses. We like seeing our girlfriends get all pretty.

I spent Saturday brunching on Fillmore street and reading books in Alta Plaza Park.

Saturday night we bravely ventured eagerly headed to the Misison for dive bars and hot [...]

anyone feel that earthquake?

if you know me, you know that I’m afraid of earthquakes (or at least “the big one”).
we just had a 5.6 Mw earthquake that shook the entire office.  no fun!

is the Castro becoming less gay?

The NY Times has an interesting article today titled “Gay Enclaves Face Prospect of Being Passé”, where they explore the changing gay community in the famous SF neighborhood, the Castro. The article was sparked by the cancellation of the annual Castro Halloween celebration, which many consider a loss for the community.
[ side note: the [...]

And that’s how Lovefest was born

Once upon a time, yesterday, a ship originating from Africa and carrying lions and tigers and gorillas (oh my!) pulled into Pier 39 of San Francisco. The purpose was to bring these new creatures to a California zoo. However, one particular vicious and clever Gorilla escaped using his jedi mind tricks.
The gorilla, removed from his [...]

lunch 2.0 at FamilyOven.com

Thank you, familyoven.com, for such a delicious lunch today. If I stayed at my office, I would’ve missed the exotic mushroom risotto and fantastic view in exchange for eating California Pizza Kitchen at my desk.
Now the thank-you is over with, I can start to be opinionated:
I hate the name Family Oven. It alludes [...]

SF Beta- 1 year anniversary party

I’m a pretty big fan of SF Beta Parties. They’re always a lovely addition to my weekdays and it’s the only place where nerds aren’t so afraid to initiate conversation (I’m assuming the “networking event” tagline is what helps).
This week was the 1-year anniversary party, sans open bar. I dragged my roommate Michelle, [...]

1-year anniversary of Slide

Slide is fun, although I try to avoid it since I always run into this guy I used to date. Anyways, they had great music this night and we had a good group of people to dance with. I found this picture floating around the internet and think I’m making a really funny [...]

free health care for all (San Franciscians)!

I have always thought of San Francisco as the most European US city, and now we have another reason to boast our coolness factor: the right and access to health care for any citizen.
It’s pretty sad that our country is the only industrialized nation without universal health care, but the process and magnitude of shifting [...]

this weekend…

Batiq launched the beta site for student and mentor user testing
Wikipedia hit 2 million articles
I put on my party dress and went to dinner and the grand opening of Temple with Michelle, Tamara, Emily, & Annie
I sampled chocolate and watched little kids compete in a sundae-eating contest at the Ghiradelli Chocolate Festival

Fighting for the sundae-champ [...]

a frozen BMW

I can’t imagine a more interesting marriage of art than car maker BMW and contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson. Eliasson was given the opportunity to design the 16th BMW Art Car and illustrate the synthesis between industrial and organic design.
His purpose was to transform an advanced industrial form of art into a piece [...]