space and place

i like that the longer i've lived in san francisco (and the bay area), the more there is to this place.  there are still so many things to do, to see.  so many interesting neighborhoods, communities, groups.  just thinking about transportation, i like that i've gotten to know transit routes, driving routes, bike routes, walking routes.  all different ways of moving through and experiencing the same place.

i know it's a "thing" to move around and "see the world". afterall, i am moving to the east coast and i yearn to travel too.  but i think there's also a lot to be said for staying somewhere, making where you live really YOURS, and being part of the local community. 

my things

i don't want a lot of things.

but as i think about my upcoming move to princeton, i find myself wanting to bring all the things that make me feel like this is my space and place.  potted plants, pictures of friends and family, and kitchen stuff.

happenings

• sammy's wedding near la. good to see my college friends -- rob, drew, harry, jimmy, and kammy. i was happy to help write and co-deliver the best man speech!
• megan (matt's sister) visited sf. fun times included a 7 mi. hike near purisima creek, suppenkuche, and wicked.
• house remodel. we've been meeting with an architect to redesign the house in two phases. phase I: kitchen, phase II: facade. it's stressful but fun.
  
• jmt fail. after a 30-ish mile hike from tuolomene meadows to agnews meadow with matt, i decided not to continue with a solo hike. i'm pretty sad and disappointed. but after this first leg, i realized that i'm not prepared to walk 10 mi / day at high altitudes with big elevation changes. and i'm not yet confident to deal with camping and hiking alone. the hike was quite gorgeous though! we started with a walk near a slow moving creek, made a steady climb through donohue pass, then wound around several beautiful, beautiful lakes. we faced some challenges -- hail and thunderstorm, my flaky water purifier (don't get a steripen), a few sketchy creek crossings, lots of mosquitos, and losing the trail a couple of times. here's thousand island lakes:

beginnings and endings

i went to an out-of-town wedding a few weekends ago.  when i got back, there were two emails in my inbox -- one announcing a birth and another a death.  and recently, friends also blog about babies.

it's that time of life, i guess -- weddings fill my calender at an increasing rate, baby showers at a slower rate. eventually, the deaths of our parents.

a quiet week

• july 4 barbecue with friends.  one guest remarked, only people in california bring beet salad to a barbecue.
  
• housewarming.  nice to see everyone!  it was also good motivation to clean the house.
• finished priming the back wall.  the wood soaked up 2 gallons of primer!  started applying color this week.  almost, almost done...
• finished zeitoun and what is the what.  i enjoyed both books!  very different from that  staggering genius book. 

happenings

• last weekend, we camped at henry coe state park with matt's people. good fun -- a steep five mile hike, side trip to a great swimming hole, and good eats. super, duper hot.
  
• reading a series of graphic novels about germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s, berlin: city of stones and berlin: city of smoke. a little hard to follow at times, but good overall. picked up dave eggars' new book, zeitoun. will report back. recently purchased some how-to type books -- the key to chinese cooking and golden gate gardening.
  
• jmt delayed. from pct trail journals, it sounds like areas above 10,500 feet are still completely covered with snow. since a good portion of my hike will be at or above that elevation, i've decided to wait two more weeks for more snow to melt.
  
• old stuff with cali-asian twist. sandwiches at rhea's deli and ramen at hapa ramen. skip hapa and go for rheas.
• watched documentaries straight outta hunters point and food, inc. food inc is the same old stuff. straight outta hunters reminded me of the wire, except that it is real and hunters point is basically in my backyard.
• baked an almond cake, with great success!
• began to paint the back wall of the new house.