Sweet wheels.

KP & mini
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

And you thought the weekend couldn't get any better - how wrong you were. This cute little beauty (the car not me, although I won't argue with you if that was what you were thinking), was our transportation for the weekend. Guess what car I want to spend my hard earned cash (!) on ? You got it, a bright red Mini Cooper convertible. Sweet.

...and not a drop to drink... but plenty of El Vino.

The fun continued and canoeing was followed by wine tasting, Catherine, who we were staying with is a winemaker and great company - the best of combinations! There is something rather exciting about tasting wine that you have watched being drawn from the barrel, and something rather naughty about the remains of your glass being poured back into the barrel. No, I didn't spit - I wasn't driving and after a day on the river I needed a drink ! Watching Catherine scramble up between the barrels brought out the tomboy in me and I was rather envious. Great fun, not only was I drinking wine straight from the barrel, but I was tasting it with the wine maker herself - cool.

Water, water everywhere.....

KP on the Russian River
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

Just the sound of it ; 'canoeing down the Russian River' sounds blissful, and it was. not a cloud in the sky, boiling temperatures, beer in the water cooler and two capable paddlers! We canoed a 10 mile stretch stopping off from time to time to swim and lounge around in the sun. We had escaped most of the other 'paddlers' (mainly large noisy families, and large can mean both individual size or numbers in the party, they are interchangable!) and had a peaceful, unbelievably relaxing day, punctuated only by our own laughter and Shana serenading me as we ambled down stream. Heaven.

I swear, if I ever become the modern day equivalent of The Lindow Man and the contents of my stomach are examined, all they will find are peanut M&M's, pizza slices and traces of Anchor Steam and Diet Coke. Not good. Sadly the accompanying 'expansion' is, well, accompanying the aforementioned diet.

Becoming a local

It's the strangest thing, trying to develop a life for yourself in a place you'll only be staying for 3 months. On the one hand it's definately not a holiday, this is no two week beach vacation, but it's not like I'm moving here for 12 months or longer, so it's an unusual situation to be in. At this point I could head off on a long emotional and philosophical ramble about my attempt to live a full normal life 5000 miles from the place I call home for a relatively brief period of time, but I won't. Instead here is a brief guide to key indicators that you are settling in and on the way to normality (whatever that may be).

1) When you head to the cafe over the road for breakfast they know what you are going to order before you've said a word.
2) You are visiting a friend in hospital (hugs to you Janette).
3) You cycle between your two jobs and any social engagements you have lined up.
4) You are cycling through a major American city, at night, and shouting abuse at idiots who get out of the car on the road side without looking.
5)You have a cell phone that rings regularly.
6)You have a netflix account.
7) When wearing jeans that are long enough to drag on the floor you know which puddles on the pavement are not to be walked through as you'll actually get a turn up full of homeless blokes pee.
8) Doing the laundry becomes a job that you are trying to 'fit in'.
9) You are reading the local paper and are actually interested in disruptions to the underground system.
10) You walk into a bar and you're asked if you would like 'your usual'

The next step is having the bills arrive addressed to me, but I'm happy to hold on that one for a while , my turn will come soon enough !

Beach bonfire

Beach bonfire
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

We rounded off the day on the beach with ... an evening on the beach. A fabulous bonfire was set up and a group of us watched the sun set, drank beer and ate S'mores. I have discovered my true vocation ; I'm a beach bum.

Boogie Board Babe !!

Boogie Board Babe !!
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

I have discovered the delights of Boogie Boarding !! Shana and I spent the weekend with friends of ours in San Louis Obispo, 'contorted' ourselves into wetsuits and became boogie board nuts ! Vanessa, Lucy, one of these days I will be in the country when you head off on one of your surfing trips; a) I'll be right there with ya b) I'll be in the water before either of you !

Wheels with style

Wheels with style
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

Check out the bikes on this website. They are enough to make you want to ditch that car for good.

Crying

Crying
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

That's good to know.

Happy feet

almost anything
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

This graffiti is sure to put a spring in your step.

San Fran lovin'

love you
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

I couldn't say it better myself

My whole life

my whole life
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

San francisco isn't perfect - where is ? However it is still a fabulous city; I can't think of any other place where the pavements (sidewalks!) would express their feelings !

Why ?

If there is one thing that I will never get used to in this city, it is the high levels of homelessness. I have never seen anything like it. It is particularly bad around the UN Plaza, the Civic Centre and the Market Street. I have no idea why San Francisco in particular should be hard hit by this problem and it is the same every time I visit, it doesn’t matter what the weather or time of year. Maybe we just do a better job at disguising the problem in the UK, maybe we do have a better system in place for helping some of the homeless in our cities and we just don’t realize it. Whatever the situation it is another example of the extremes in this country ; in a city that is known for it’s wonderful lifestyle, access to some of the most beautiful areas of countryside, fine dining, extravagant homes and apartments, you have one of the biggest problems of homelessness I have ever come across. Where is the logic ?

Mrs Elizabeth Ramell Nye

Mrs Elizabeth Ramell Nye
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

A survivor from the Titanic, she was fortunate enough to gain a place in lifeboat 11 and was rescued by the Carpathia.

History on display

Last week I made a visit to the Titanic Artifact Exhibition. It was an extremely well managed exhibition (yes I do have a tendency to walk around checking to see what the staff are up to and if the health and safety requirements are being met, I can't help it!), but it was also incredibly moving. The rooms are coridors of the ship are recreated giving you a chance to see just how much money was floating (no pun intended) around on board. you are told the personal stories of those on board and it is usually heart breaking. Everyone who enters is presented with a boarding pass for soemone who really set sail on the Titanic and mine belonged to Mrs Elizabeth Ramell Nye. I was keen to find out if she survived and on my return home 'googled' her, she had survived but it was another incident in a life of hardships. Read a letter she wrote to her parents once she had been rescued here, it is fascinating and history at it's most effective.

Lucifer lives in a replica of Trump Towers

Tuesday night I went to an Independent Press Spotlight night at Intersection - a highly approprite event for the oldest non-profit arts venue in San Francisco and which had links with the Beat Generation. Authors published by Other Magaine and Tachyon Press read their work and actors gave dramatic interpretations of some pieces. One authors piece explored the theory that zombies are slipping out of mainstream culture and monkeys are taking over ! Liz Henry had written about female bloggers and the role that some of them played in helping those effected by Hurricane Katrina, often filling the void that FEMA had disgracefully left (that is an organisation that had asked people to submit paperwork by fax, yet they didn't have a fax machine to receive them on!).
Terry Bisson and Peter J. Beagle of Tachyon Press were highly entertaining, Beagles fables telling us that "everybody knows better, that's the problem not the answer" and that "stupidity wins everytime, so long as it's stupid enough". He also came up with the Lucifer image I used as the title. It was a very laid back (in a San Francisco off beat literary kind of a way) entertaining evening, it was also quite an eye opener; who'd have thought that I would enjoy work by a middle aged zombie fanatic and a purple haired computer geek who admitted that the internet has replaced books in her life.
I'm getting excited about working at Intersection, not least because the first task of each shift is to open a bottle of wine and pour myself a glass !

Idle hands are the devils workshop

I've started working at the San Francisco Dance Centre where I'm helping to set up a new computerised booking system, and Intersection for the Arts, where I'm the House Manager for the summer. I was here for a week and I was made a manager ! Some of my friends and family back home won't be surprised by this, not because I'm hugely talented but because I'm rather like a cat - throw me in the air and I'll always land on my feet !

12 months on ..........

KP & Shana
Originally uploaded by LaMinch.

At last, a decent shot of the two of us as we (almost) recreate that fateful day. Shana was under strict instructions NOT to pick up any falling motorcycle helmets !!!! (photo published with kind permission of Max : www.max-inc.com)