Beyond Amazing, it's Jumptastic!!!

From Drop Box

Witnessed on Saturday, July 3rd, one giant jumper made to look like Scooby and the gang's Mystery Machine.

This jumper was so amazing that my husband came home from his run in the park and told me to get dressed immediately, so I could go see it for myself. Its glory was something that had to be witnessed in person. I must say it did not disappoint. The picture may not be totally clear, but this jumper had two compartments; one for jumping, and one that contained a giant slide. OMG!!! A jumper lover's dream come true.

Wide Open Spaces

So I'm taking a break from city life for a week. I came back to Kansas to go to my cousin's wedding and to visit with my family and friends. I always enjoy coming back. It's like a totally different world here. A world I spent 20+ years of my life in and love visiting, but one I think would drive me absolutely insane if I had to spend an extended period of time here. It's quiet. There is space everywhere, wide open green space. Unfortunately, it is totally land-locked. Below is a photo of my parent's yard/garden. They own about 1/2 of the block they live on.



Things are a little slower paced, not that I feel that San Francisco is particularly fast-paced, but definitely speedier than Iola, KS. Everyone drives everywhere. Wal-Mart is not only a store but a source of amusement and social interaction. There's a handful of fast food restaurants and a couple sit-down restaurants. People have yards. There is no public transportation. Diversity, not so much. People will always notice things and people that are different and usually have an opinion about them.

I don't say these things to be negative; it really just is the way things are. For some people, it works. For others, like me, a week is about all I can take. I miss the hundreds of restaurants in San Francisco. I miss my Muni chariots. I miss the ocean. I miss the neverending cast of characters I get to see on a daily basis. I miss things going on after 9pm, besides drinking and fornicating of course. I miss the anonymity. I miss everything I could ever want being at my disposal.

I will say, I do like the quiet here, and it's hard to find a spot where the stars are brighter at night. This place has it charms, and it will certainly always be where I came from; but being here always makes me miss San Francisco.

Grass, we don't need no stinkin' grass!

A glorious jumper sighting! Seen on the way back from the Mini-Ortega library branch (currently under construction, check out their construction blog under "All Things Awesome and Amazing").



The sidewalk jumper is just proof of how tenacious and resourceful San Franciscans can be. Don't have a yard, but want to throw an awesome birthday party...no problem, set that shit up on the sidewalk! It's all good.

Backyards Galore!

As promised long ago, this post will be delving into the strange and sometimes elusive creature known as the San Francisco backyard. Given the fact that I live in the Sunset, backyards in my neighborhood are not that rare. However, they are definitely a different beast than the backyards I grew up with in the Midwest. In small town Kansas where I was born and raised, backyards were expansive and green. A blessing in the all the recreation they allowed for, but a curse in the work they required to maintain. In the city, the backyard is not a given. It is a luxury this densely packed area does not give up lightly or cheaply. With more and more condos being built, it is an amenity that many will simply live without. Being lucky enough to have access to a shared backyard, I relish sunny weekends like this one. Weekends where going to the beach or the park would be awesome, but for some reason you don't even want to leave your own backyard because it is just that perfect.

So you might ask, what is so special/weird about San Francisco backyards? First off, they rarely involve grass. You don't see many yards that are just grass fence to fence. I'm sure this has a lot to do with the soil out here being mostly sand and not very conducive to growing grass. They usually involve a lot of concrete or brick, something to keep maintenance to a minimum and to create a nice are for hanging out. For those that have the time and/or money, they are often meticulously landscaped. Sometimes they are just a strange conglomeration of whatever will grow and storage sheds. I think our neighbor's yard falls under this last category.

You can also see just how carefully the land here is parceled out. With houses so close together and yards so small, you definitely want to make sure everyone gets their fair share. Every time I look out and see all the adjoining fences it just makes me think of some crazy jigsaw puzzle or tetris game.

When it comes to our yard, it definitely has a life of it's own. There are parts that have been carefully cultivated and other areas that have just been allowed to grow as they choose. Of course there is the designated lounging area to enjoy our chunk of California sunshine.

Next door on the other side is cat heaven. This shady yard with just the right mix of plants, grass, and concrete is a favorite of the neighborhood cats. They can often be seen soaking up some rays and being lazy back there.

This is just a small snapshot of the diverse backyards that exist here in the city, a subject that is of great interest to me. When space comes at a premium how exactly do people choose to use it?

Adventures Courtesy of Muni

Any San Franciscan knows how frustrating Muni can be. Our public transportation system is seriously lacking some proper organization. Delays, packed buses and trains, waiting for ungodly amounts of time just to trek across a 49 square mile patch of land are all too common. But this post is not about how much Muni sucks because there's enough of that going around these days. Just check out The N-Judah Chronicles and the recent cover story from SF Weekly, Muni Death Sprial It's all well-researched, insightful stuff about how much Muni is failing San Francisco and how we need to fix it now. All stuff I totally agree with, but not necessarily things I want to get into on my blog.

Long ago I decided to not let Muni delays/failures ruin my day because that would just mean too many crappy days. I rely on Muni daily to get to work. We have our ups and downs. Lately a lot of downs; no electricity in the Sunset Tunnel, tracks stuck at Church and Duboce, a fatality at Castro station causing a system wide shutdown of LRVs, yikes!!! It can literally make you start screaming at crowded buses that pass you by and don't stop because they are too full. But again I digress.

I've decided to take the shitty situations that Muni gives me and turn them into adventures. With my trusty Cliq XT at my side, I have become the queen of alternate routes home. There is one great thing about Muni; it covers every fucking block of this city or close to it. If one bus is screwed up, you can usually find another way to your destination. Tuesday was the day the tracks at Church and Duboce got stuck in the direction of the J, so no Ns could go out of the tunnel. I got dumped off at Van Ness station only to find that the next 71, my favorite alternative home, was about 20 minutes off. I whipped out my trusty Cliq to find the nearest bus that would take me to the western side of the city. If I can get within 10 blocks of home my feet can take me the rest of the way. The 5-Fulton was coming up and only a few blocks away. I hoofed it over to McAllister and Gough in full rain gear (thank goodness it was no longer raining) just as the 5 pulled up. Perfect timing! The bus was pretty full, but moved along at a good speed. It was great to see parts of the city I rarely visit. Each neighborhood is just so cute and interesting in its own way. Plus the views from some of those hills are simply spectacular. I eventually made it all the way to 43rd Avenue, got off the bus and headed into the park near Chain of Lakes. I love Golden Gate Park, and the Chain of Lakes are an idyllic setting for water fowl of all kinds. I didn't see any birds on my way home, but it was still a beautiful walk. North Lake was perfect and serene.

From Drop Box

Wildflowers were in bloom everywhere. As always some of the one million trees in the park were doing their best to look impressive.

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I took some trails through the woods, witnessed some very blue post-rain skies,

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

and ended up right across the street from our block.

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So even after being totally let down by Muni, I made it home and actually had a interesting adventure in the process.

Jumper Sighting

From Drop Box

One yellow and red jumper spotted in Golden Gate Park on Saturday, April 3, 2010. Jumpers are one of my most favorite things to see in the city. To me a jumper means that some kid is having one of the most awesome birthday parties ever. Maybe this craze is everywhere, but the jumper definitely has San Francisco in its grasp and isn't letting go. This will be a recurring post,as summer approaches and I see more sweet jumpers. I definitely want to get some pictures of the popular sidewalk jumper for those afflicted by tiny San Francisco yard syndrome.

Lazy Weekend

With no great plans this weekend, Saturday was spent running a few errands. Picked up some shoes for Christina's wedding at DSW in Daly City, essentials at Target (including Cadbury Creme Eggs), lunch at El Torreador, and a spontaneous piece of tiramisu from West Portal Bakery. El Torreador is amazing. I love their spinach enchiladas and sangria...so good!!!! Although I did branch out and try the vegetarian burrito, an excellent blend of rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, and pico de gallo. Simple and delicious! Plus they have some of the hottest and tastiest complimentary salsa ever.

Tiramisu is a weakness for me, and any time I see tiramisu I HAVE to try it. The pieces at West Portal Bakery were no exception.

From Kimonade and the Big City

Defintitely more cakey than traditional tiramisu but delicious nonetheless. I really am easy to please though, and there aren't many tiramisus that I don't like.

The El niño effect has been wreaking havoc today and giving us some monsoon like weather.

From Drop Box

So the order of the day was staying in and watching Netflix instant watch movies. We watched Beer Wars, and the sucker I am it made me want Dogfish Ale so bad. Thankfully the local coop, Other Avenues carries an excellent selection of microbrews and Dogfish just happens to be one of them. We picked up a couple of the Midas Touch and some of our favorite bread.

From Kimonade and the Big City

Lazy weekends are some of the best weekends. Love it, and love drinking some good beer while watching more Netflix.