soon you’ll understand

Green Apple Books

On a windy Wednesday morning as I stepped outside of my apartment onto 3rd ave to get some coffee at Marthas, I realized that I had yet to do an assignment for my digital journalism class.  On my way down the street I thought of Green Apple Books on clement between 6th and 7th.  I was pretty impressed with myself considering I hadnt had my morning cup of energy. 

When I arrived at the store I went through their 1$ used section for a bit (such a steal!), and then ventured inside.  Now, from the outside this little place does not look like it can hold more than a couple hundred books, but once your inside be prepared to be overwhelmed.  The place is stacked to the brim with good finds.  I must have spent 2 hours meandering around, exploring my curiousity, and getting lost (literally).  I went upstairs to see if I could find a good coffee table book and found this amazing photography book that I fell in love with when I was in NY earlier this year.  I couldnt get it at the time becasue it weighs just about 50 pounds.  The book is by this photographer named Dave LaChappelle , his work features actors, singers, models and icons in strange sceneries.  They are amazingly interesting and beautiful.  So my random trip to Green Apple books was a complete success!

This past friday as my girls and I searched the city for a new bar/club to spend our night, my best friend cinthia remembered this bar called Double Dutch she went to freshman year in the Mission district. She said of what she remembered it was cool, played good music and had an eclectic group of people. So we gave it a chance.

When we arrived the place was packed, people were break dancing, turf dancing to old school rap, watching the action or just plain having a good time. We sat down in a booth that looked directly at the bar and people watched for a while before we got some drinks. As I looked around the small cozy chaotic place I was pleasantly surprised. I got up to join the commotion on the dance floor and had chance to notice the amount of character the place had. On one wall a framed picture of a New York tagger skateboarding through a construction site, on the wall behind me was a huge graffiti piece,
on the wall near the bar was a case filled with vintage SBs, and my personal favorite the wall behind the DJ was filled with old school boomboxes.

Most bars don’t go through the trouble of trying to create a atmosphere like Double Dutch, they figure a bar, some seats and alcohol is all you need. So if you like hip-hop, relatively cheap drinks, dancing and being surrounded by people who just want to have a good night, check out Double Dutch.

A mish-mash of comfortable, worn-in thrift store furniture, tables topped with colorful paintings and rotating art on the walls give The Blue Danube a homey vibe. A chalkboard lists coffee and tea drinks, along with breakfast wraps and thick sandwiches like the rosemary chicken on focaccia. A more leisurely pace prevails at night, when locals filter in to chat over pints or cocktails. Once in a while a local band or friends of the owners (Sandy and Jimmy, which are two of the kindest human beings I have ever encountered) come in and play music while people snack on carrot cake and enjoy a nice cup of coffee.

Not only is The Blue Danube a nice place to chill, people watch, get some work done and grab a quick bite to eat but its also a cool place to hit up if you are bored. In the back right corner of the cafe there are about 20 journals on a bookshelf. Random people have poured their deepest secrets, their hearts, poems, stories and funnies into these journals for the world to see and enjoy. Its kind of like old fashioned blogging. Check this place out on Clement street between 4th and 5th street. (check out the map) Its one of the oldest cafes in San Francisco so they must be doing something right!

I didnt have time to put up the pictures, but ill update you when they are on flickr.

The Herchell-Spillman Carousel located directly behind Hippie Hill is just another one of the oddities located in Golden Gate Park. It was built in 1914 and was originally on Treasure Island at the World Fair until it was brought to Golden Gate park in 1940. As of now the Carousel in working and enjoyed by many children who also frequent the newly renovated playground located right next door.

photos are from website above, to see more check out the site.

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Today at 11:45 we were finally allowed to enter the ’secret garden’ up on our very own Lone Mountain campus. The ’secret garden’ is managed, maintained by a very kind man named Father Tom Lucas who let us listen to his very educational and insightful ramblings for over an hour. The garden has been flourishing for over 9 years and Tom has been putting the flesh on the bones for quite some time. He is a master gardener and very knowledgeable about his passion and hobby. He says that “running water is essential to a garden, it brings in different elements, birds, fish, raccoons, different plant life and even red-tailed hawks.” Their are 25 to 30 people living in the Jesuit community on Lone Mountain and garden is their secret sanctuary. People come to eat lunch on the patio, or dinner on a warm night, indulge in a cocktail before dinner, reflect and pray, read a book or just simply enjoy the scenery or incredible view.

Father Tom Lucas had a lot to say about the importance of gardens. He talked about their great significance not only for the community but especially for himself. He better understands life through the metaphors the garden provides, the idea of weeding, watering, pruning, planting, and enjoying as a reflection of reality and the human body and should. He says “a garden gives you room, thats why we have Golden Gate Park, it provides lungs for the city, for physical health and for mental health”.

The “secret garden’ for most students might just be a forbidden place on campus, but to the Jesuit community and especially Tom Lucas it is a artistic project, a temperal artform, and most importantly a metaphor for life.

The pictures of the garden will be shown in the next post!

The AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park is simply breathtaking. I have tried to locate the memorial for some time but have gotten lost in between the Conservatory of Flowers and Hippie Hill, which is exactly where it lies. I visited the Memorial once before so I had a good idea of what it was like and what I was in for, but this time around was completely different than the first. It was so much more amazing than I remember. I went around 4:30 PM when the sun was just about to set and the lighting was just perfect. The last sunshine of the day peaked through the trees and highlighted each flowers unique form and color. The path lead you down to a circle of names of people who had been taken by their loved ones, and as you went further it brought you into a calm darkness under tall trees.

The AIDS Memorial Grove “is a dedicated space in the national landscape where millions of Americans touched directly or indirectly by AIDS can gather to heal, hope, and remember. For all the promising prospects on the horizon, AIDS continues to invade our lives, violate our past, and rob us of our comfortable assumptions about the future”.

In late 1988, a small group of San Francisco residents representing a devastated community were looking for a positive way to express their collective grief. They envisioned a serene, natural setting suitable for memorial services or individual mourning and remembrance. From this initial concept, a team of architects, landscapers, designers, and lay people volunteered countless hours to create a living tribute to those lost to the disease.

Check out my Flickr set for more pictures!

I found this book called San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park by Christopher Polluck, it looks pretty interesting and its dedicated to exploring every inch of our beautiful park so check it out!

The Conservatory of Flowers was erected in 1879 by a man named James Lick. It was opened to the public that year and was shut down and re-opened two times after due to fires and windstorms. But many people such as Charles Croker who donated the funds to restore the conservatory in 1883, and Hillary Clinton who helped start a $25 million restoration campaign in 1999, helped keep the treasure known as the Conservatory of Flowers up and running.

The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park is a wonderful place not only to relax with family and friends but also to become educated about the various plants within the conservatory. In the Conservatory there are aquatic, lowland, potted, highland plants. People are readily available to answer every question and help further explore curiosity.

There are also special exhibits that make the Conservatory a particularly unique place. In May of 2005, Ted the Titan, a corpse flower, attracted more than 16,000 visitors while it was in bloom. This year there is a exhibit called the Butterfly Zone. The exhibit features 25 different species of butterflies that are free-flying. This allows you to see them drinking nectar and getting covered in pollen. As you enter into the world of the butterfly you get a first hand account of plant pollination. These creatures play a critical role in plant pollination and the general life cycle of plants. As you walk through the exhibit, you can actually see the butterflies taste the nectar with their feet. Being so close to the butterflies allows you to truly appreciate their delicate wings and exotic colors.

(these pictures were taken from the Conservatory of Flowers website, they are amazing so check them out.)

My experience in the Conservatory of Flowers was probably like many others experience. Peaceful, educational, gorgeous, entertaining and just plain amazing. I wanted to talk to the director of the Butterfly Exhibit to ask him/her questions about it. I wanted to know about how the butterflies are transported, who funds the exhibit, how it is maintained, who is responsible, what goes into a project as big as the exhibit and much more. Unfortunately I was unable to talk to the director because the exhibit was extremely packed seeing as it opened just 2 weeks ago. I was able to speak to a worker that was gardening at the time instead but there was a a definite language barrier. Next time I explore the conservatory I would like a personal experience so I was thinking that I would talk to a volunteer who simply enjoys the conservatory and wants to be apart of it just like I do.

To see historical and current photos of the Conservatory of Flower check out my Flickr sets!