re: Happy Highways Challenges

I mentioned in the previous post that during the bus tour, attendees were given various challenges and asked to document them. I thought this needed its own post because of all the great photos that were taken.

Chinatown Challenge:
Work together and try to photographically recreate this snapshot, to the best of your abilities. You should be in the photo.



And these are a few of the fabulous recreations:







(I like the last one, because maybe they couldn't find dead ducks roasting in the window, so they made do with live ones instead. brilliant)


Upper Market Challenge:

Come up with some simple but useful information that can be made into a plaque or sign and then install it in some public place for people to learn from and use. Note: do not bother making a plaque that is witty. Think of information that you routinely wish you had, and provide it to the public.















So you see - no free rides here. We all had to work for our fun.

re: Happy Highways

I turned 31 a few weeks back, and to celebrate this year we all went on a magical bus tour of San Francisco!



The concept was based on a similar tour I had taken a few months ago called Mundane Journeys by a local artist named Kate Pocrass. The idea is to bus everyone to various parts of the city, arm them with homemade maps and suggestions of lesser noticed, easily overlooked sites, and let them explore. I wrote lots of my own suggestions, and just to shake things up, I also made sure to issue challenges at each stop (ala Miranda July).

I got this idea because I know Brad. And Brad owns a bus. Not just any bus - a big, white, beautiful school bus. He also owns a tiny broom and an awesome blue uniform.



So, I assembled this crack team of tour guide assistants:


And this good looking bunch of people:



And we were off to explore the city!










We stopped in Chinatown and were instructed to think about it raining socks and underwear when the breeze picked up (since so many people air-dry laundry there). We ate Vietnamese sandwiches in the Richmond and were instructed to propose to one another under tacky wedding gazebos. And, we ate birthday cake in the parks of Upper Market and looked for wooden snakes, faucet trees, and the Nina. Adventure!

Nobody even got (too) bus-sick, so I think the whole thing was a raging success.

See all the photos here.

Many thanks to Clay, Em, Karen, and all the other folks that sent their photos in!

re: The far as I can see ...

While waiting for my birthday bus party to start (photos coming soon!) Collin found this handwritten love note in the park and gave it to me as a gift. Someday, I can only hope to have a note this good written for me, complete with unrelated snowman drawing.


"Your are the one. The far as I can see, your the one"

Don't worry. I've already submitted it to Found.

re: Old Friends

I made it out to Colorado a few weeks ago to visit some old college roomies and friends. I can call them old friends because we have known eachother for a LONG time, and because we are getting old(er), and there are several babies between them all to prove it. I was waiting to post photos until I had dug up some old college pictures of us, but maybe I'll just wait until we are all old and gray haired and look really different so that the comparison is more awesome. For now, you should just know that these girls are some of my long-time favorites, and we got to spend the weekend up in Vail together:

And this is Amber and I with one of the babies that we met on this trip for the first time - Amelia!

Amelia's dad is a real comedian, and likes to joke with me about how my glasses get bigger each time I see him, which is true. His favorite joke is telling me that someone famous for their thick black frames called me and wants their glasses back.

These are all the people that called and wanted their glasses back while I was in Denver:










I haven't come up with a good comeback yet. "Gerber Baby called and wants their cute kid back" doesn't seem like the zinger I need it to be. Any help would be appreciated.

re: Being Born

My birthday was on Monday, and though I only have crappy cell phone pics to prove that it was awesome, you should know that it was.

First, I came home to some of these:


And one of these:


(Which rivals Heart Throb as best board game ever). Because this is how you win this game:


And then we went to eat at a delicious restaurant that serves pretty food on cute plates, and when it is your birthday they give you itty bitty pieces of chocolate to celebrate:


And then, just when I thought my birthday was over, this sign was waiting outside the restaurant...:


...on top of this borrowed vintage tandem schwin with balloons tied to the back, on which Derek and I rode all around the Mission.


I can't even go into detail about the fog machine and dance party that awaited me at home with icecream and cakeycookies:


And my mom made me a frangipan and everyone wished me a happy birthday, and so, I really can't have asked for anything better. Maybe 31 aint gonna be half bad.

re: Internet Fame

When YouTube and Google joined forces, my YouTube account sent me a message telling me that I had a very popular video and should consider putting adwords advertising on it to make a little cash. I racked my brain trying to think what I had ever posted on YouTube that might have been a big deal.

Turns out, it was this little number from the days of the New Awesome:



Bets' niece Allie has a cute lisp, so she filmed it (and an example of what happens when Allie tried to say "sit." In the tradition of true America's funniest home video comedy, you know what she actually says when she tries to say "sit"). And as it turns out, ALOT of people take the time after watching it to weigh in on the great debate - whether this makes her parents irresponsible and trashy, or if this is just a kid being cute.

The debate continues. And has. Every day for the last two years. Seriously - I get a direct message with every inane comment that gets posted on the video.

I think this is a little ridiculous that 200K people have decided to weigh in on that. (But will gladly photograph children fake swearing all the time if it makes me rich.)

re: Reality

I went home to Southern California for Thanksgiving, and took a lot of pictures in front of, on top of, and behind a whole lot of fake things while I was there. In fact, I have more photos of myself from the trip in front of fake stuff than I do in front of anything real.

But, you know? Reality isn't always all it is cracked up to be. By opting for the fake stuff, I saved myself a lot of trouble and effort to get a lot of really realistic looking shots.

For instance, I didn't really have to actually be fat, wear a tacky hat, or split peas one at a time at Andersen's to make it look like I did:


I didn't really have any embarrassing "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" moments in order to stand by the big fake fork at the fork of St. John and Pasadena avenues in Pasadena:


I didn't have to do my hair or buy a fancy dress before hanging out with the stars of Access Hollywood:


I didn't have to climb any unfortunate hills or bypass any painful barbed wire to get close to the Hollywood sign:


I didn't worry about about losing precious fingers to a man-eating shark, strung up by its tail or otherwise:


I did, however, cry real tears of joy when I saw how good our Escape from the Terminator shot looked: