video promo for lovesick5
clinically attracted
in which i go crazy in love. (possibly NSFW)
everything is its own reward
(click for full size)
–Paul Madonna. this book is unbelievably beautiful. many thx again to Vera for the gift.
Filed in art, bay area gems, tv, books and movies | Tagged with paul madonna | Comment (1)the language of words
not every emptiness is meant to be filled
(i hope i got that right, Eve LadyApples)
last night i stood shivering with a small group on the edges of the san francisco bay. first, we looked west from the industrial edge of the oakland shipyards, and then, looking east from yerba buena island, the bright lights of the new bay bridge illuminated us and the water like a permanent full moon. we listened as brave poetic souls got up and shared their previously unsharable words under a broken sky.
it was right.
.::.
(the next time transportedsf announces a literary roving literary salon, you shouldn’t miss it.)
@ Teatro ZinZanni
this was a great show. i was a little hesitant to purchase tickets, as it is not cheap and some of the yelp reviews weren’t great. a number of people said that both the food and performances were sub-par for what you can find elsewhere in SF, which is maybe true, but the package of the 2 things together is what is important here. this show has been in SF for a long time and is leaving after the end of the year, and so despite slightly prohibitive cost and negative reviews, i got discounted tix through goldstar. plus, there were virtually no other types of theatre performances to be seen on a Mon – Wednesday in SF while Mom was visiting. i looked.
i was positively surprised at the quality of the food and service, and the performances were polished as well. yes, you might find more dangerous, avante-garde or risque cirque-type troupes in SF, but how many of them come with 5 course meals and full bar? plus, this is going for old school travelling circus vibe, not avante-garde or “cirque”, and they did that very well. so if you haven’t seen the show and have a special occasion or guest to entertain, i do recommend it. fun!
Filed in autobiographical, bay area gems, events, photos | Tagged with mom | Comments (3)BLACK V fashion event: Saturday May 21 (or: SF Fashion vs. Danielle Steele)
“San Francisco is a great city to raise children, but I was very happy to leave it. There’s no style, nobody dresses up—you can’t be chic there. It’s all shorts and hiking books and Tevas—it’s as if everyone is dressed to go on a camping trip. I don’t think people really care how they look there; and I look like a mess when I’m there, too.” – Danielle Steele, May 7, 2011 in the WSJ
well, MZ. Steele, i think you were hanging with the wrong crowd. perhaps you should have ventured out of your Pacific Heights palace (Spreckels Mansion) and away from the Marina and bourgeoisie once in a while.
San Francisco may have its fair share of REI-worshippers and 24/7 outdoorsy types who wear active gear and/or yoga pants everywhere, all the time, but i’m certainly not one of them and neither are many of my friends. yes, it’s different than new york or paris or milan. yes, we often wear more sensible shoes, because SF ISN’T FLAT. but i digress. i think my photos speak for themselves. and besides…..Danielle Steele dresses like a drag queen. as one Chron commenter wrote:
I can absolutely promise you that in Paris, Danielle Steel (“To all you messes, Danielle bids adieu,” Leah Garchik, May 12) is not chic – rich, yes, chic, no. Chic to the Parisians is simplicity – that means you don’t wear 15 diamond bracelets in the daytime, dress in couture clothing that totally overwhelms you, own 6,000 pairs of $1,000 shoes, wear makeup more suited to your daughter’s age than your own.”
AU CONTRAIRE, this saturday evening there is a FANTASTIC fashion show happening that i encourage any of you interested in the local SF fashion scene to consider: BLACK V: a night of fashion, dreams and darkness. this fashion show includes some of my own local favorites who design high-end couture. oh, and everything will be BLACK. so i am very excited.
Black V Fashion Show and Masquerade features established, independent and emerging local fashion designers and boutiques. Black V Fashion Event gives the designers a platform to showcase their designs inspired by the dark side of fashion and still remain chic and stylish.
The event will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at Madrone Studios, a stylish multi-media space in the SOMA district of San Francisco (1417 15th Street.) 6 PM static presentation | 730 PM fashion show.
In its second year, we are incorporating a masquerade to motivate the audience’s participation (READ: Dress in black! Masquerade masks encouraged!) and a pre-show static visual presentation at 6:00PM where guests will be able to see the garments up close on live models (instead of just flying by you on a runway).
Fashion for Fashion: All proceeds of this event ($30 tickets) will be donated to the Fashion Department at City College of San Francisco (501c3 organization). This year, the Department will celebrate the 10th year anniversary of its Fashion Show Production program. This program generates Northern California’s only student-produced fashion event.
FEATURED DESIGNERS:
JAY NICOLAS SARIO | HOMME BY DAHAE KIM | GB SHRIVE| LHC COUTURE | MENK | KEN CHEN SF | PHUONG MY | and CARI BORJA
Accessory: KAATJE DESIGN | GUZEL DESIGN | EUGENE HUANG
SPONSORS:
Hair: Le Burge’t Salon
MakeUp: San Francisco Institute of Esthetics and Cosmetology- A Paul Mitchell Partner School
Media Sponsor: Astonish Magazine
MODELS: FORD | CITY | JE | Look |
WITH SUPPORT BY:
Owen Buenaventura | Del Geronimo | Rick Calao @ Simms Ink. | Emily Sims | Gail Ballesteros-Shrive | Shane Stinar | Virginie Suos | Noor Rasheed | David Bui | Janice Bailon | Nazarena Sadati-Bowring | POWDER | Jo de Mars | Pigment Cosmetics | Ty Olson | Joe Yang | Henri Lui | Jean-Pierre Gueguen | James Reid
recently
performing with BadUnklSista @ the Black Rocks Arts Foundation ARTumnal fundraiser 11/20/10
Filed in art, bay area gems, burning man, events, fashion, photos | Tagged with badunklsista, butoh, NaBloPoMo | Comment (0)49 square miles
a local SF handbag company, 49 Square Miles (referencing the commonly stated area of the city of SF, which is also referenced by the name of the magazine “7×7“, but is actually not quite true), recently had a campaign wherein people were to submit poems of exactly 49 words about San Francisco and post them to the 49 Square Miles facebook page. the prize? a gorgeous $650 leather hobo bag.
like many a young teenage girl i wrote lots of poems in my journals when i was young, and had to write poetry for a number of my poetry literature classes in college. but i was always embarrassed by my attempts at “real” structured poetry, and so if you look back through my “not poems” category here on this blog, you’ll see that my style of “poetry” is very unstructured, free form, and does not follow any of the traditional elements of poetry (meter, rhyme, form, etc.). it’s just a style of writing i use when i want to be obscure, or am finding something difficult to express in complete sentences, or when things are more sensory than logical. i don’t generally think of myself as a poet.
so i did the challenge not just because i have a thing for leather hobo bags but because i liked the idea of having the extremely bounded challenge to see if i could come up with anything good within the parameters. it lasted a month and you could enter as many times as you wanted. i entered 5 times. i am not going to republish the 5 poems i submitted here, because, it turns out, i am (still) a terrible poet, but all the entries are here.
so i was HUGELY SURPRISED to learn that I WON! *so excited*. you can read my winning entry here. thx @49squaremiles!
Filed in bay area gems, fashion, not poems | Tagged with NaBloPoMo | Comments (2)kreeya.com independent fashion website launch featuring miranda caroligne
me in a miranda caroligne scarf + sweater for kreeya.com, photo by warren@after5media.com
back in september, i did a photoshoot with my good friend Miranda Caroligne for the new independent fashion website, kreeya.com, which just launched TONIGHT!
a lot of small independent clothiers don’t have the time or know-how to manage an online marketplace for their goods. even with the rise of the amazing etsy.com, a lot of my friends struggle to find an easy and effective way to sell their goods online. everything must be bought in-person, sometimes at some crazy loft/garage/basement workspace in a fringe neighborhood that you can’t find. kreeya.com is hoping to become a marketplace specifically for independent fashionmakers in the SF as well as help to promote them, which i think is awesome:
“Each week, Kreeya will feature a new local fashion designer and showcase their unique collection and the story behind it.”
Miranda is currently the featured designer and there are lots of photos of me in miranda’s awesome clothes! (omg!). definitely also check out the interview with Miranda on the blog.
you can also follow Kreeya on facebook.
Filed in bay area gems, fashion, photos, things you can do | Tagged with mirandacaroligne | Comment (0)50 Reasons to Love Oakland
(In response to “50 Reasons to Love San Francisco” which was a response to “50 Reasons to Be Pretty Damn Euphoric You Live in New York City,” which, in its response to the NYC Haters, called for everyone to make a list for their city. so i did.)
in no particular order and without catering to anyone:
50. it’s usually at least 10 degrees warmer (and sunnier) than SF, sometimes 20, especially during fog season (July)
49. a long walk around and/or gondola ride around Lake Merritt
48. the hills: Joaquin Miller and Redwood Regional Parks
47. the Oakland Museum of California
46. Jack London Square, especially the First and Last Chance Saloon
45. the cranes!
44. conscious hip hop, esp The Coup
43. The Fox + Paramount Theatres
42. Jingletown
41. American Steel
40. Old Town bars & restaurants
39. “donettes” and french press coffee for brunch at Flora
38. the Chapel of the Chimes
37. the Piedmont Rose Garden
36. International Blvd – like the Mission before hipsters!
35. the Bordello
34. The Vulcan
33. The Crucible
32. the Cathedral of Christ the Light
31. Manzanita macrobiotic restaurant vs. Chicken and Waffles
30. Mama Buzz cafe, where the hipster watching is almost as good as their veg/vegan food (last time there: a table of 3 next to us: a chick knitting and smoking a joint saying really nonsensical “i’m so high” things while another girl read her facebook page out loud to the other 2 and a guy doing the total Joaquin Phoenix “I’m still Here” thing with the bushy beard and sunglasses. dude, that was 2009.)
29. people in oakland really are as weird as they look/act/seem, they’re not just TRYING to be
27. the A’s / Raiders – keepin’ it real
26. the Grand Lake Theatre marquee
25. the Grand Lake Farmer’s Market (sunday mornings)
24. Trestle Glen – so white-picket!
23. Van Jones + The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
22. Middle Harbor Shoreline Park
21. FAIRYLAND
20. the Oakland Zoo, which i like better than the SF Zoo.
19. the Oakland Coliseum Swap Meet,, where you can find everything from on-site Chinese cupping services to your stolen bike
18. tapioca drinks from Chinatown
17. Temescal – awesome foods from Lanesplitters to Dona Tomas + now there is a Burma Superstar!
16. all the crazy incarnations of Eli’s Mile High Club
15. the Stork Club + The Uptown + 21Grand
14. the Parkway Speakeasy (RIP?)
12. “hella”
10. Chabot Space & Science Center
9. Oaksterdam
8. cheaper rent for more space than the West Bay
7. Cafe van Kleef
6. Piedmont – Rockridge Shopping
4. Art Murmur!
3. sitting on the patio drinking a local microbrew at Beer Revolution while eating Vegan Soul Food
1. being part of a truly multicultural urban renaissance
this list is not meant to be comprehensive or exclusionary. these things are off the top of my head and based on my own lifestyle/experience living in oakland – so please add more! and i know it was very hard for me to not to not list a bunch more restaurants…so i ask for you to please add things to do/places to go, not more places to eat unless they are *really* special 
and yeah, i remember the KML spoof “Oakland Tourism” video of 2009. spare me.
UPDATE 11/10: TK has now done a “30 Reasons to Hate San Francisco“. i’d take his lead again and do the same for Oakland, but outside of “gangbanger crime”, actually i’d have a hard time coming up with as many, as we don’t have your SF problems! we can park almost anywhere!
Filed in bay area gems, most linked/commented on, personal favorites, things you can do, travel | Tagged with NaBloPoMo, oakland | Comments (4)Gibbous Love
via kottke, i started reading this NYT piece on Courtney Love and her fashionista cred (it’s way more interesting than you might think) and was about 80% of the way through it when i was completely surprised by this:
After that Paris season, she went through what she describes as a “kook” phase, during which time she cut up her vintage dresses and some of the signature grunge pieces once worn by her and Mr. Cobain, and styled the scraps as ruffles and patchworks in the vein of Gibbous Fashions, a San Francisco collective that specializes in recycled fashion.
whoah! congrats to Selene for the mention!
Filed in bay area gems, culture and random linkage, fashion | Tagged with NaBloPoMo | Comment (0)
