Can the weekend be just one day longer?

A weekend of gardening, a beautiful wedding, hanging out with friends and hiking Land's End --it's gone by way too fast. Time for me to take some of the 3 weeks of vacation I've saved up! Damn...

Discoveries of the weekend: grab a cup of coffee at Trouble when you're at the end of the N Judah, or a coconut, or a thick slab of toast, Trouble's other offerings. They're on beach time, so don't be in a rush, but do expect deliciousness. Pizza Orgasmica is so worth the cheesy innuendo. Mmmm...thin crust.

And small people like me are good for these new MUNI portraits...

I'm in love.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down. The Independent 07/31. Be there and fall in love with a girl who can play a mean banjo.

The fog line captured!

Arguello at Irving. Just before the N-Judah does the S-curve. That's right, this is the fog line. To your left, it is a beautiful sunny day in Cole Valley, and probably impossibly hot in the Mission. To your right is the Inner Sunset, my house, just a few blocks away. Here's where I have to stop, put the groceries down and begin to add the layers.

A moment of silence...

We loved you, we tried to save you, but what can I say, I'm a cacti killer. I'm sorry. this beauty is now deflated. Yes, a deflated cacti. Something I never knew was possible before. It was the soil this time, I know it.

And my body says stop. Slow down.

Feeling sick today, just sick enough to know I need to slow down or I'm going to get even sicker. I'm realizing that when work is stressful I really can't go out right after work...I think I need to figure out ways NOT to get stressed at work.

Today is all about some serious sleeping, soup making and reading...and catching up with my blog....and listening to the goodness that is Stereo Reindeer Test #5.

early morning walk...

Pushing the bounds

Over on my other blog 'from the desert to the bay' photo challengry is taking its affect--making me try that which I'm totally scared of, taking photos of people, in particular, strangers. I'll probably do a little bit of cross posting, this whole two blog thing is pretty new still, but I started this weekend on this new people photo thing...

Another step in the food revolution?

Not a Community Garden, but a Garden of Communities--the words of SF Victory Garden designer John Bela. Just two weeks ago this was a 10,000 square foot lawn, now it is a gorgeous vegetable, herb and native plant garden created by hundreds of volunteer hours from all over the Bay Area--whether people gathered to help with the community planting day, or helped propagate the plants, or fought to convince the Mayor that this would be an incredible idea, this garden has already touched so many people in the Bay. It is an inspirational transformation.

I'm so glad I showed up to the opening--there was a palpable energy in the air. The celebration continues, I can't wait to see what happens in this place and to the people that visit it in the months to come. Yes, it is temporary, yes there's much you could criticize, but I think it's more important to focus on the possibilities of this space, the potential to change the way people view space, their food, and their community. If anything, there's a poignancy to the place--as I walked back to the BART station just a block away, and you see one of the biggest populations of the homeless in the City. One essential take away from the Victory Garden: as Alice Water's said at the ceremony,good, clean, fair food is a right not a privilege.

History Making...

I'm moving slow this morning--couldn't stop hitting the snooze, just finished a bagel and am slurping down a cup of coffee fresh from the french press. I'm getting ready to check out history in the making. 10,000 square feet of lawn in front of City Hall was pulled up almost 2 weeks ago now--making way for the first Victory Garden in SF in over fifty years. Check out their blog here.
So EXCITED! It's going to be a mad house...

Inspired Cooking...

101 Cookbooks is pure love.
I won't steal her beautiful photos, so beautiful you can practically taste them...just go LOOK at this beautiful food blog.

Tortilla Soup: I made this with the first kiss of summer's cherry tomatoes from the Tuesday Market (yes that's tomorrow, and that's what makes Tuesdays beautiful) I added a little cabbage from my CSA box, FANTASTIC the easiest veggie tortilla soup. Ever. Even better the next day, try it with a fried egg on top, I didn't, but I bet it's damn good. And yes, make those pretty little tortilla matchsticks, they really don't take that long and they make such a big difference.

Broccoli Pesto w/ Fusili: So this recipe sounds weird no doubt. But even a gross broccoli tree, farmed by a big ass monoculture organic farm in Salinas was revived by this recipe. Recommendations: add a little spinach and a few leaves of fresh basil to the pesto. And use whatever tasty cheese you have in the fridge.

Lime and Peanut Coleslaw: the best way to get rid of your CSA cabbage. I used it for toppings on a black bean/veggie fajitas. Don't be shy with the lime.

Inspiration from an incredible four course meal made with love by a beautiful French couple I'm proud to call my friends: Frisee in a Mustard Vinegrette, so perfect for a sizzling hot summer day.

Hope for Urban Transformation

Copenhagen's urban planning 'rock star' Jan Gehl to revision our streetscapes for a more walkable SF. Read all about it in this SF Chron interview....

"Q: What sparked your interest in improving urban public spaces?

A: Well, I got a degree in architecture in 1960. And then I married a psychologist. And the psychologists I met through her started asking me why I was just interested in buildings and not the people who use them and are impacted by them. So I began looking into the relationship between life and form, how the physical environment affects those who live in cities.

Q: What factors determine if a street can be successfully converted to a pedestrian street?

A: You know, I hate that kind of question because it misses the point. What you want to aim for are high-quality walking routes in your city. Don't just focus on converting one street or another for pedestrians.

Cities that take that approach often end up with short pedestrian streets that are nothing more than open-air shopping malls."

Memory and thought

I've been really fascinated by anything I can pick up on memory lately--heard a good program on 'To the Best of our Knowledge" today: How We Remember. My own memory is a complete mystery to me--I remember faces from the first time I meet someone and have a conversation with them, but when you ask me what that book or movie that I absolutely loved was all about, I struggle to remember details...I can get it after thinking about it for awhile, but what is that about?

Reading...
Rebecca Solnit's A Field Guide to Getting Lost & this one:
Check out the blog here: www.stuffedandstarved.org. The author will be at both Modern Times and the Commonwealth Club at the end of August!

The view from Flathead Lake

Back from Big Sky country!

Hello my little forgotten blog--I'm back from Montana with a new rock collection, mean rock skipping skills, a LOVE of rivers and rafting along their rapids, and a renewed joy for being home in SF for a bit. Not bad for a work trip! More photos soon...

Today=renewed love of biking. I've left my heavy bike in the basement for way too long--got a new helmet today (it's a beautiful blue Citi helmet with salmon swimming along the sides) and yes I feel like a dork, but I also feel invincible. Rode to the ocean and had a pale ale on the lawn at the Beach Chalet. Beautiful. 3 day weekends are the way to be.