San Francisco

Every year seems to bring more entrants to the Northern California music festival scene. The latest is First City, a two-day festival this August at the Monterey fairgrounds that will bring out ...

Barry McGee & Steach

Surreal Maiden. 35mm film. Featured in my SF Street Series photo project. If you would like to see more Black & White images, click here. Filed under: San Francisco, SF Street Series

If there is one thing I’ve learned about writing it is this: writing may be a solitary pursuits, but having a writing career requires community, it requires support, you cannot do it alone. One of the best things for my writing life this past year has been getting involved with other writers here in Seattle. This is entirely thanks to my friend Erica Bauermeister, who invited me into her writing group and suggested me as a new member for a non-profit collective of Northwest authors, Seattle7Writers. This is how I met Jennie Shortridge. Jennie is someone who understands how important it is for writers to have community. She is co-founder of Seattle7Writers, a great supporter of local booksellers and a beautiful writer herself. Every two weeks Jennie and Erica and I meet another writer, Randy Sue Coburn, to go over what we’ve been working on. I cannot tell you how helpful it is to have both mini submission deadlines and also the critical and honest eye of three good writers on your work. If my new book is light-years better than my first one (and I know that it is), it will be in large part due to these three women. It was Jennie who, when she saw me struggling early in the process, suggested we get together and talk about how to structure a book. We meet for lunch and she told me what she had learned over writing her five books and by the end of it I had some big-picture clarity I never would have found on my own. She’s that sort of friend. Jennie has a new book out this spring, one she had finished before I joined our  group, so it was all new to me when I sat down to read it. I admit I was a little nervous—when you really like a person you want to like their artwork and what if I didn’t? There was no cause for alarm, however, I read through the book in a day and a half. It was lovely, compelling, fascinating. It’s the sort of story that stays with you. Jennie’s inspiration process is fascinating as well. Her novels start in the real world—a news story, an article in the paper. In this case she read about a man who had woken up in Colorado having lost his memory, and his fiancée who came from Oregon to take him home, even though he had no memory of her or their life together. From that kernel Jennie crafted the story that is Love Water Memory. She changes the details, and researches, and creates a whole world around this idea. In her book Lucie Walker finds herself standing knee-deep in the San Francisco Bay, with no idea of who she is or how she got there (the technical term is dissociative fugue). Lucie’s fiancée Grady comes to take her home to Seattle—to a life she doesn’t remember, with a man she cannot recall but apparently loved. The more she learns about the woman she was, however, the less she wants to be her. And what caused her break with memory? It is often the result of deep trauma. As I said, it was fascinating. Jennie is on book tour in California this week—with our fellow writing group member Erica Bauermeister. She has events all over the Bay Area, then back in Washington next month. A link to all her readings is here. Book Passage tonight, Rakestraw, Keplers. If you get a chance to meet her in person, you are in for a treat. And because it’s important to support your writing friends I purchased a copy of Jennie’s book, which she then signed, and want to send it out to one of you. If you leave a comment here I’ll pick one person through a random number generator and put it in the mail for you. This is the perfect book for this time of year—full of water and cool blues and greens. I think you will enjoy it. I found myself missing the characters of Lucie and Grady afterwards, and still occasionally think of them, hoping things are going well. That’s high praise for a novel. I also wanted to share the kale salad that Jennie made for a recent writing group meeting. It’s the other thing I can’t stop thinking about: a simple mix of curly kale, garbanzo beans, red pepper (I might have added that myself), with

A Man in a Trance on a Ledge Outside Near Some Stairs in Boston

Inspired originally by a tweet from Dan Jackson, with additional comments by BurritoJustice and others.Act ICarlos and Esmerelda are the proprietors of La Tradición, a small, independent burrito parlor that serves a loyal and grateful clientele. Each burrito is lovingly handcrafted, and they use only the finest ingredients. People come from far and wide for their specialty, the "Burrito Zafiro," made with a blue tortilla.Song: "Beans and Rice and Love"One day, Bobby, a loyal customer, warns them that a major burrito chain, Burrito Bandito, is coming to town. Bobby worries that Burrito Bandito's massive ad campaigns and cheaper burritos will put La Tradición out of business.Song: "Horsemeat and Spray Cheese"Carlos and Esmerelda assure Bobby there's nothing to worry about; people will always choose higher quality over cheaper price. Bobby is not so sure.Song: "Old Navy Blues"Meanwhile, Carlos and Esmerelda's daughter Gabriela has some exciting news: she has a new beau, Roger! She brings him around to meet her parents, and they are pleased. Roger is a nice young man who is polite and respectful, not like Gabriela's ex-boyfriend Gaspar, who played in a punk band and joined an underground anti-gentrification cell.Song: "New Love Is Like Guacamole"One day, a stranger comes into the store. He introduces himself as E. Conommy Ofscale and tells Carlos and Esmerelda he works for Burrito Bandito. They greet the stranger warmly and offer to prepare him a Supreme with Carne Asada to welcome the new business to town, but he refuses, explaining that he doesn't really eat burritos. Ofscale tells Carlos and Esmerelda that they had better get ready; Burrito Bandito is coming to town and would crush them like it crushes all its competition - with ultra-cheap mass-produced burritos, an ad campaign targeted at Thought Leaders, and plenty of Tostitos brand salsa. Carlos and Esmerelda look aghast. "What, you don't put lettuce in your burritos?," Ofscale asks. Esmerelda faints to the floor.Song: "What Have You Done To My Burrito"Gabriela and Roger arrive just as Ofscale leaves. The old couple, distraught, explain to them what just happened. Roger, who has a business degree, volunteers to try and help Carlos and Esmerelda fight the corporate behemoth. They gratefully accept his offer. Great, he says. He'll just need to look at their books. Song: "I'll Just Need to Look At Your Books"Burrito Bandito opens nearby and immediately crowds are drawn to its huge dining room and cheap prices. To Carlos and Esmerelda's shock, Burrito Bandito introduces a new, special menu item, the "Burrito de Blue Tortilla," made with a blue tortilla, just like La Tradición's Burrito Zafiro! Carlos and Esmerelda don disguises and visit the new competitor.Song: "Don't Mind Us, We're Just Know-Nothings With No Sense of Taste Here To Sample Your So-Called Burritos"Carlos is shocked. "It's the same tortilla as the Burrito Zafiro!," he exclaims. "How could they have gotten our recipe? We're finished, Esmerelda, finished!"Act IIBurrito Bandito is booming while business at La Tradición has fallen off, largely fueled by the runaway success of Burrito Bandito's Burrito de Blue Tortilla. Carlos and Esmerelda are sadly contemplating closing the store.Song: "I Will Water My Cilantro With Tears"The next day, a mysterious young man comes into the store. He peruses the menu and asks for an al pastor with no cheese and extra jalapenos. As Carlos prepares the burrito, he suddenly realizes: "Gaspar! Is that you?" The man smiles and nods, removing the Google Glass and startup sweatshirt he was wearing as a disguise. "Yes, it is I!," Gaspar says. He tells them he is here to help them battle the evil corporate chain.Song: "A Molotov Is the Spiciest Salsa Of All"As they talk, Gabriela and Roger arrive. The old lovers at first trade barbs, but it is soon apparent that beneath their frosty exterior, there are still feelings between them. After Gabriela and Roger leave, Gas

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During a Bay to Breakers party on the 2000 block of Fell, a man suffered life-threatening injuries after falling from a roof on Sunday afternoon. He fell four stories from the top of the Panhandle-adjacent building. [ more › ]