Guess Where!

I enjoyed growing up in the parts of SF that I did, but that didn't really include Glen Park, the neighborhood around the house where I lived for my whole life. I'm getting to know it better now as an adult. It has a great mix of residential and recreational--not many boutiques, but I don't shop that much anyway. On this last visit, we took several walks through the above-pictured Glen Canyon (including one with Mali and Denali, wearing their hats! and one with my mom, and one with Jimmy K), ate more than a few crepes at Higher Ground (Chenery and Diamond) and had tapioca tea at Eggettes. I also finally bought some eggettes. They look like bubble wrap, smell like waffles, and taste like waffles, too, but with an enchanting range of textures. Crispy outside and chewy inside. Love it. I'm a little worried that Eggettes won't make it, though. Its footprint is on the large side. And you know those machines they have at the front of supermarkets, where you put in a few coins and a mystery toy in a plastic bubble comes rolling out? Eggettes has 48. I counted. Along with a "UFO Catcher." I would've gone there all the time in high school if it would've been closer (and open). In its current location, I'm not sure they can generate enough business to stay open. But there were plenty of customers the second time we went. They should pay me for advertising them on my blog.

Jimmy described the canyon as a "Disneyland attraction that never got finished." It does pop up unexpectedly in the middle of the city, but it doesn't seem out of place to me. The homes remind me of hobbit holes, not in their specific appearance but in the idea expressed in the way they nest along the canyon rim, living right inside a beautiful place. The weather was perfect for walking (though recent rain made the paths a little muddy), and the light was great. I kept poking Patrick and saying, "Look at how un-flat it is!"

-I wrote most of this a few days ago. We got back to Chicago yesterday. Today is Sunday, and tomorrow I'm back to school. The time for blogging is over for now!

Animusic

It seems that I'm averaging one post per month. Well, the highlights for March have been: a quick trip to California for sun, blue skies, and Chinese New Year; one 70-degree day in Chicago, which felt beautiful (even if it still looked dead and wintry, and was surrounded on either side by days in the 40s); and Animusic.
I saw less than a minute of this dazzling performance on my local public tv station before being interrupted by the pledge break. "If you liked Animusic 1, you're going to love Animusic 2!" Someone went to the trouble of creating animations of stick-like robots playing instruments, and other instruments playing themselves, as visual accompaniment to various classical and rock favorites. It's weird. And not actually a highlight of the month.



But here's a real highlight. My Bay Area visit started auspiciously, you might say, with a flight that got in more than half an hour early! And I was greeted in the terminal with lion dancing, complete with cymbals and the big drum. Thanks, Southwest! I also like the art installation in the Oakland Airport right now. A woman named Hung Liu painted some cranes on the windows. It's beautiful. There's a segment featuring Liu on SPARK, an awesome KQED show on arts and culture. You can watch streaming video here. She has an interesting process, and an interesting history. She shared an episode with Nathan Oliveira, who I met once when he donated some prints to CSMA, and Robert Bechtle, who has been painting San Francisco for decades. Enjoy the program.

Home and home

School let out on December 22. On the 23rd, we flew "home" to the Bay Area. We spent two weeks wrapped in a whirlwind of feasts at all hours of the day with family and friends, returning to Chicago only yesterday. The picturesque highlights of our trip are featured below.

A small jellyfish, just bigger than a quarter, that Patrick found on the beach in Monterey Dunes. Look closely and you can see its insides! The Lem family rented a big house that ten of us shared happily--except for the traveling stomach flu that Josh, Patrick, and I all had about two days apart from each other (so someone was always sick :( ).

We spent a day hiking around Point Lobos State Park. There were lots of mushrooms!

I have a gazillion more photos, and I just chose these two randomly ... I'll write more later, when I feel more organized. Today is a day for running errands.
It was nice to see you, everyone! Happy New Year!

Eyes and ears

While back in the Bay, I paid a visit to Uncle Ken's office and picked some glasses. (Also chatted a little with Uncle Ken, which I enjoyed; it's funny, I never went there when it was ten minutes away, but now that I have to fly to get there, I feel compelled to go. Same way with everything in the South Bay. Ate at a wonderful, wonderful restaurant on Hamilton called Osteria for the first time, even though I've known about it for three years or something. Anyway I'm glad I went. Osteria = Yum.) They came in the mail about a week ago. I like them a lot. I wear them around at school and force people to take me seriously. Actually the girls seem to like them too; I've gotten quite a few compliments.

I can't stop listening to this song by Tanya Stephens. It's on a mixtape I got at Amoeba by El Dopa. It's called "It's a Pity" and it has a bit of a reggae thing going on, which I usually am not that into, but this song is sooo catchy.

Happy days, y'all!

More photos

Here are the rest of the noteworthy photos from my most recent expedition West. A moving train; a roast turkey; Dad and Kaitlyn; more roast turkey (yes I did eat a slice); the ferns at the back of the house; scarabs at the De Young's Egyptian exhibit (Patrick is blurrily mirrored in the right corner); and an interior passageway at the De Young, with their ferns in the background. All of the images will blow up if you click on them. (ka-boom!)

I'm home with a cold, but that never stopped Napoleon! Well it might have, I don't really know ... anyway, onwards and upwards ...