Walking around San Francisco

eve and wall-e in the mission

2008-08-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

in the mission, we have plenty of amazing murals and street art. this humble piece was done literally on the street -- the sidewalk that is. it's survived for almost a week and it makes me smile every time I pass it on my way to work. I especially appreciate the intricacy of the wall-e figure in pastel chalk. I can't remember the cross street but it's on Shotwell around 25th street.

a mission christmas: santa che guevara

2007-12-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas time on Mission Street means the arrival of Santa dressed in his Che Guevara T-shirt shaking his booty in the window of the variety store on Mission around 25th. (OK, you would think I could remember the name of the store and the exact cross street after walking past it everyday for the past 3 years!) Sorry, he's not for sale.

dogpatch still good

2007-12-04T19:14:00.001-08:00

Dogpatch is one of my long-time favorite SF neighborhoods. I'm fond of the shipyards and the Hard Knox Cafe. The neighborhood has changed a lot since I moved to SF in 1989, but the essence remains. I'm reassured knowing that Dogpatch is still SF headquarters for the Hells Angels. And you better not try to park in front of the clubhouse!

I love the cornmeal-fried catfish with sides of greens and macaroni and cheese at Hard Knox Cafe. I know the fried chicken gets rave reviews but memories from my childhood beckon me to order the fried catfish every time.

art along the way

2007-12-04T18:38:00.000-08:00

Walking down Third Street through Dogpatch, I came across an installation of flowers on foam core staked against a cyclone fence at regular intervals for about a block. That area could definitely use some flowers - it's mostly weeds and garbage. The images were stunning.

Further down, at the Ferry Plaza, I discovered a fabulous Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture. The shadows it cast give the spider an especially ominous appearance - the spider is stalking towards us. Louise is in her nineties and still creating these physically imposing metal sculptures - i'm impressed!

kitties invade Macy's! (and stretch out for a nap)

2007-11-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

they're here!!! The annual SF SPCA holiday windows at Macy's with kittens and puppies for adoption. After reading Kiska's blog announcing opening day, I rushed over on Saturday to see who would be in the window. A black and white tuxedo kitten was sitting on a bed looking out a window at a painted view and her roommate was a frisky tabby ambushing a mouse. There were two buff-colored puppies and an adorable black and white spotted kitten, but my favorite kitten was the Siamese mix splayed out for a snooze. I high-tailed it out of there before the temptation to come home with a third cat overtook me. I dread the holiday crowds and wondered if there was any other time of year that this would work? probably not. From a marketing view, it makes sense: high density of people, everyone's in a generous mood, multiple shopping visits means more opportunities for donations.

Check out the event webcam to see the ever-changing pets on display.

daily garbage explosion

2007-11-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

While I haven't posted for a couple of days since i was out of town and didn't have internet access, I have been actively thinking about blogging and even took some photos to post. I was dragging my suitcase to BART and decide to walk along South Van Ness rather than Mission -- thinking it would be less of a litter mine field of gum, spit, and other things I'd rather not think about being on the sidewalk. Was I ever wrong. It looked like a garbage bomb exploded and in the middle of it all was a mattress leaning up against a tree. Look carefully - what's missing from this street? If you said A GARBAGE CAN, you would be correct.

more on the derby (I missed)

2007-11-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

I dug up more information about the derby. It's held every year on the last Sunday in October. Here's a link to the "sponsor" Telstar Logistics. Get it in your calendar for next year: October 25, 2008 1pm! Great poster this year.

gum or goo?

2007-11-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

I was thinking more about my previous post about gum on the streets in the Mission ("dirty little city"), and wondered whether all those black globs of goo are really discarded chewing gum? Maybe some of them are construction tar or some other construction residue? it's hard to imagine they are ALL gum!

guilty carbon pleasure

2007-11-12T18:19:00.000-08:00

I love the smoky smell in the air of fireplaces lit in the fall. It's become a guilty pleasure, since burning wood is contributing to global warming. Apparently fireplaces built before 1980-something are bad. I guess that puts me in the bad category. I can't imagine giving up BBQ and fireplaces. Luckily, i don't do either that often. Why am I writing about this? I'm bummed that I'm now aware that lighting a fire in my fireplace is not an innocent act anymore - it has consequences. I'm not saying it will stop me but I'll be thinking about it as the fire is blazing.

bernal hill soapbox derby

2007-11-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to dorksessions.com and YouTube for showing me what i missed AGAIN...the annual Bernal Hill Soapbox Derby. It takes place in one of my favorite places to walk - at the top of Bernal Hill.

unappetizingly trendy

2007-11-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a friend yesterday who lives near Tartine bakery and I was surprised to find out the reason he never goes there: because he doesn't like waiting in line with people who are "just too precious". I found this really interesting. My husband has a similar response - he hates trendy places. For me, it's all about the food. I love the baked goods at Tartine and I'm willing up0n occasion to brave the irritatingly-long line. I don't notice the people, but I do get bugged by the inefficiency of the process: 1) I can't see the food until the moment i'm ordering since it's blocked by people in line 2) people in the back of the line save tables so when you get your food, there's no place to sit. But, back to the "precious" people...it's hard for me to understand how the type of people in line would spoil the experience -- maybe because i'm such a foodie and focused on the end goal -- the morning bun. I guess it's a matter of who you feel comfortable with -- your peeps. When it comes to food, I'm comfortable with chains and fine dining. Starbucks and Ritual both do the trick for me. Starbucks is convenient and consistently good. Ritual has wonderful coffee but few locations -- i don't necessarily identify with the customers of either place and it doesn't really matter to me. I'm lucky my appetite for good food isn't adversely affected by the people in line with me or eating next to me.

most scenic bus route

2007-11-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

Looking for a way to get to my dentist at UCSF I stumbled across the 44 O'Shaughnessy MUNI bus which travels from Bayview Hunters Point to the Richmond. It travels through beautiful Glen Park, past Laguna Honda reservoir, and has stops near the De Young Museum and Academy of Science in GGP. It's a fast-paced, bumpy ride as the bus barrels around curves with no time to waste. I felt like I was on the night bus in Harry Potter. I recommend sitting in the very back or a single seat if you don't want to end up squashed against the person next to you. I discovered a photo of the new hybrid buses which are running on the this line and found a blog entirely devoted to the N-Judah which features a Duboce "dog of the week". I wonder if there's a blog for the 44?

kitties and squirrels

2007-11-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

The best part about walking around SF is seeing all the animals, especially kitties. One small cat nearly followed my husband and me home last weekend and we weren't sure what to do. Cats don't usually follow you for more than a block. We thought he might be lost or abandoned. He wasn't wearing a tag (although he had a collar). We walked him back to where we originally spotted him thinking that maybe that was his home, but the gate was padlocked and the house didn't look like anyone was living there. Finally, after many blocks he stopped following us. He seemed to be healthy so we think he was just a curious kitty with a large wandering territory. For fun, I make a game of spotting kitties during walks. There are plenty of cat lovers in the city and we spot many kitties sunning themselves and watching us walk by from their window perches. Here's a cute one that lives on my street. We was rolling around on his back this morning as I passed by.

Feed me! The squirrels in Golden Gate Park in the Botanical Garden are particularly fun. If you even look like you're thinking of eating something, they run right up to you for a taste. It's forbidden to feed them, but that doesn't seem to stop anyone.

Here's another squirrel I pass every day on my way to work -- it's the best bank logo I've ever seen, Banco Salvadoreno's squirrel with a nut.

dirty little city

2007-11-06T12:20:00.000-08:00

Election day makes me reflect on where things are headed in SF and my own place in the city. My top 3 peeves about living in SF:
1) litter
2) litter
3) litter
Walking through the Mission, it looks like a bomb exploded -- a garbage bomb. So what am I doing about it? Mostly complaining. A couple of ideas I had recently: 1) organize a block party to clean up my immediate street and get-together with neighbors for a potluck afterwards. 2) And, since I like walking so much, bring along a bag and pick up litter along my path. I like the first idea a lot -- mostly because it's a great way to get to know my neighbors. The second idea evokes feelings of resentment for having to pick up someone else's garbage. It doesn't seem like a very good long-term solution, but on the other hand, I don't really know how i'll feel until i try it and maybe other "urban hikers" would join the effort. Where it might make the biggest difference is in places off the beaten path where there's no regular cleanup.

The Examiner wrote in January 2007 about increasing street cleaning to 3 times a week. I don't know that this is the answer. I'd like to see more strategic placement of garbage cans as a first effort (see an interesting article in the Chronicle from June 2007 about how they removed garbage cans from the streets.) Street cleaning to me says "go ahead and throw your garbage in the street and someone will sweep it up for you". I like the pro-active approach used by Keep California Beautiful (their website wasn't fully working, but it looks like it's aimed at the coast, highways, parks, etc.), Don't Trash California (roads again), and Erase the Waste sponsored by the California Water Boards. The best example I found was the PR campaign "Don't Trash Oakland, It's Home" sponsored by the City of Oakland (Keep Oakland Beautiful). There are a couple of interesting program on sfgov.org about keeping SF clean (Clean and Green Programs).

A few things contributing to the mess I've noticed:
-people rifling through recycling bins and garbage cans leaving a trail of garbage.
-no garbage can for blocks around.

My number one litter peeve is GUM. In the Mission, you'd think they employed a team of school kids 24/7 to deposit gum all over the streets. it's disgusting.

street art

2007-11-05T20:17:00.000-08:00

what makes walking around SF so great? you see things up close -- like street art. my husband is a big Shepard Fairey fan . you can still see his work stenciled around the city. i found this interesting database of street art - Transit with an example of some of the Obey stencils. i don't know who did this mural, but it's my latest fave -- the iGod mural on Valencia street (from flickr http://flickr.com/photos/livenature/213783446/):