Please forgive the pun. Spring is such a beautiful time to visit D.C., and it’s practically synonymous (in my mind) with cherry blossoms. After I got back from a decidedly chillier version of spring in Scandinavia, I came across these beautiful pictures of D.C. cherry blossoms and just couldn’t resist sharing them or being a little cheesy about…
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What Surfing Mavericks Can Teach You About Conquering Your Fears
Just north of Half Moon Bay, which feels like a world (maybe even a universe) away from nearby San Francisco, there’s a spot in the Pacific about half a mile off the coast where the waves can reach staggering proportions, regularly cresting at 25 feet and topping out at over 80 feet after a big…
Ocean Beach, San Francisco
Today I have a photo for you from a rare sunny day at Ocean Beach and a quick preview of my next post on surfing… Don’t worry it’s not a first hand account from me. I hate deep, open water! It’s an unconventional account from an experience surfer of tackling fears in the form of a notorious surf…
The Curated Commute — The Birth of a “San Francisco Treat”
Learn a little about the birth of an iconic American product in 1940s San Francisco… If you suspected from the title that the San Francisco treat was rice-a-roni, well then you’d be right. Today’s featured podcast is a little shorter than normal, but still a lot of fun. It’s from NPR Morning Edition’s series called…
The Allegory of California by Diego Rivera in San Francisco
This is the second post in a series where I’ll be visiting all four Diego Rivera frescos located in the Bay area. The first fresco I visited is located maybe a mile or so from my apartment, and as a long time fan of Rivera’s work, I was very excited to discover it right around the…
The Making of a Fresco by Diego Rivera in San Francisco
There are four murals painted by famed Mexican artist Diego Rivera in the Bay area. Seeing a mural by Rivera has been on my bucket list of life experiences to accomplish since I studied his work in college. I love the storytelling nature and accessibility of his art so I’ve set out to see them…
Along California’s Lost Coast
The Lost Coast is about 230 miles north of San Francisco. It begins in northern Mendocino county and continues through southern Humboldt county, where Highway 1 juts inland to avoid the steep terrain and rocky coastline. If your perfect bliss is the total absence of civilization . . . the romantically named Lost Coast is…
Kitchenettes & Onion Fumes on Chicago’s South Side
During the 1930s and 1940s, times of struggle resulting from the Great Depression and WWII, the term kitchenette was used to describe the conversion of existing houses or apartments into much smaller units by predatory landlords in neighborhoods predominately occupied by African Americans on Chicago’s South Side. Entire families lived in one very small, single…
A Tunisian Martyr in San Francisco’s Mission
Much like the assassins bullets that tipped off World War I, the flames that engulfed the body of twenty-six year old Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor living in Tunsia, on Dec. 17, 2010 tipped off a wave of revolution in Tunisia and throughout the Arab world. As a response to the country’s rampant corruption, Bousazizi’s self-immolation served…
