Old Friends Are Golden. Um, Tan.

A visit from an old friend of this blog.

Exit Through the Bake Shop

Thierry Guetta, a.k.a. Mr. Brainwash, visits a bakery, Tuesday, May 10, 2011. (Photo by Ted Fisher.)

Time

Above: a snapshot from earlier today at the California Academy of Sciences.

Snappish

Actually, I don't know why she's carrying something on her head. I also am not sure why everything worked out in a red, white and blue palette. It was just a snap.

An Ornament, Though We Don't Have A Tree

Oh, don't get me wrong. I've been working all day. The day before, as well. And there's a lot of change ahead.

Still, this feels the closest to a vacation as any time ... in a long time.

Re-entry

Above: a snap taken on the way back into the city Friday morning.

The Numbers Game

One of the first things we did when planning to move to San Francisco was research crime in the city. In our search for a place to stay, we avoided neighborhoods showing higher crime stats -- though we eventually realized that it's a 7-by-7-mile grid, and you can't really get that far from anywhere.

Unfortunately, as pleased as we've been with our neighborhood, this is a big city, and crime happens. While we were out of town for Thanksgiving, we saw this story and realized it occurred awfully close to home.

23-year-old identified as Japantown fatal shooting victim.

Above: A playing card found on the street Thursday morning on McAllister Street, as we were leaving town.

Strictly Rhetorical

There's just no way it's Thanksgiving already. Is there? Thanksgiving ... 2010?

I Would ... But I Need The Eggs

People behave in somewhat disheartening ways, sometimes. Okay: most of the time.

That's kind of a problem when your main interest is human nature. On the plus side: there's no shortage of subjects to make a film about.

I've been posting over on San Francisco Portraits a bit. It's amazing, if a cliche, how fast the weather changes in this city. Above: after one outbreak of sunshine and before the next.

Somewhere near SFMoMA.

Went to an event at SFMoMA. Above is an iPhone snapshot of the sunset from just after.

Eleventh Hour

I've made a blog post every day since moving to San Francisco.

Most have been simple iPhone snaps. A few were made with a more serious camera, but weren't necessarily serious photos.

But I haven't yet gone photographing, actually. Maybe soon.

Food in San Francisco: Gussie's

Sometimes, things should just be fried. Went to Gussie's Chicken and Waffles and tried catfish sliders and fried okra.

Both were good, but did not live up to fond memories formed in restaurants around 116th Street in NYC. Still, reasonable prices and good flavor, so a positive experience. Learned there's a type of drink called Soju. Will research this further....

Above: iPhone snapshot. The iPhone is not exactly good for macro work.

Food in San Francisco: Pride of the Mediterranean

Needed vegetarian chow, on a low low low budget.

Found Pride of the Mediterranean. Nice selection of dishes, several vegetarian, and Lebanese beer as well.

We weren't adventurous enough to try the hookahs, though.

Food in San Francisco: Frjtz

In the Hayes Valley, stumbled upon Frjtz. A lot of possiblities there, with a Belgian angle on things.

Above: The Matisse is a crepe with smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and chives. (Most items on the menu are named after artists. I guess that's a good idea, maybe.)

The Uncanny Hayes Valley

So far, the thing I like about San Francisco is that you walk around a corner, and there's something there that you didn't expect. And not in a bad way, as sometimes happened in The Bronx.

How to be Certain You're in San Francisco

It's easy to get disoriented in a big city. You've got to look around for subtle signs that will let you know where you are.

If you don't see any, just stop inside whatever bar you find on the corner and ask.

Incidentally, I normally look at signs and think: "What terrible typography. Who made that?" Not in this case: there's a subtle reference to "Western" fonts here -- check out that "S" -- but without getting too scrolly and frilly. The Cowboy association is blended with just a hint of Varsity / College / Letterman's Jacket text -- look at the "U" -- creating a good balance that seems right on target.

Good work, Anonymous Sign Typographer.

(Now, that "D" could be kerned a bit closer to the "U" -- but that's just a personal preference.)

Defacing Public Property, Part Two

Look, it's wrong to go around marking up advertisements. But if you're going to do it, do it with some skill ... like this example found on Geary Boulevard yesterday.

Defacing Public Property, Part One

Let me guess: that would be the 4:20 bus?

Annunciation

Ahem. We have arrived in the city.

Too Many Suitcases

Got into the city in the afternoon yesterday.