I just discovered this place. Best sauerkraut ever, (some with seaweed) Kim Chee, pickles, and — what I (who am admittedly given to superlatives) — consider the best drink I have ever ever had: a bottle of Tumeric/Ginger Kombucha (“A Naturally Fermented Herbal Soda),” bottled while we were there. This is a unique and brilliant shop I recommend to anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lacto-fermentationn gets probiotic action going in your digestive system. I think their stuff is in some stores as well. Top quality. https://www.culturedpickleshop.com/
The only thing really bad about my MacBook Air is that Apple’s new operating system, Lion, does not support Rosetta, which is the engine that makes the robust Eudora mail program run. I have used Eudora deeply for years and we can’t find a substitute. MailForge is thus far an embarrassingly krappy mail program. Anyone solved this problem?
I’m at Ritual Roasters on Valencia Street, serious baristahood + good wi-fi. BTW, Valencia between say 18th and 22nd Streets is a vital and hip part of SF these days. Just walk along these blocks and check out the cool shops and cafes.
The City Lights event last night was great. I’m getting overflow crowds. This book has hit a nerve — or nerves. Everyone seems to relate to it. People show it to a friend, and the friend won’t give it back. I feel honored to appear at City Lights, one of the most gutty, independent, and artistic bookstores in the world.
I’m just going to toss out some images from yesterday, all in North Beach except for the surfing:
I surfed in Santa Cruz in the 50s, on long balsa wood boards, and sans rubber suits. By the 70s, surfing had evolved mightily, with warm wetsuits, lightweight polyurethane foam boards, and acrobatic maneuvers. I remember meeting one of my 50s-era surfing pals, Rod Lundquist, in the 70s, for a cup of coffee in Santa Cruz, and in talking about the new surfers, he said, “You know, if we could have looked into the future back then, and seen these guys, we would have thought it was science fiction.” That’s the thought I get watching Australian Andrew Dickey here.
Only 4 of my Tuesday night running friends showed up in the heavy downpour last night. They took off up the valley, and I dressed in head-to-toe rain gear, with Muck Boots, and headed for the beach. Wow! Wind felt like 40-50mph, driving rain in from the ocean. You know how raindrops might be as big in circumference as say a pea, well, these were the size of cherries. I couldn’t look directly at the churning ocean, I needed swimming goggles. I was in the eye of the storm. Foam from waves was skidding along on the sand. The creek (of the estero) was pounding, sluicing out to the ocean. Good to be alive.
I was struck by the power of the natural world. Maybe the earth IS a living entity, and these worldwide catastrophes are the planet reacting to shoddy treatment by humanoids. Whatever…
The rain is better late than never. The soil in the woods and on the hills is moist and fragrant. Gonna be a lush Spring…
I’m in North Beach in San Francisco right now. BB King was playing Stormy Monday as I drove in along the coast in the pre-dawn darkness.
I’m excited to be doing a Tiny Homes slide show tonight at City Lights, a still vital and relevant independent bookstore.
“DestinationOM’s Studio on Saltspring Island, BC.… It happily stood up to 100km/h + winds the night before last. I built the entire studio (8′ x 12′) including all the entire trim/electrical and finishings for $2300. The floor and the stairs cost $1100! So the rest of the building cost $1200 – free windows, door, metal roofing and almost free bevelled cedar siding. The floor is made of birch ply with 5 coats of hi gloss varathane; the stairs were custom made by a friend on the island called www.toughtinywelder.ca.…
I have “content” up the kazoo these days. Don’t know what to do with it all. I’m continuously compulsively shooting pics and making notes. I’m way backed up. I’ll just toss bits and pieces out when I can. 2 weeks ago on the road I was listening to the Elvis station on Sirius radio. Are You Lonesome Tonight is a breathtakingly beautiful ballad. Next they played Elvis doing What’d I Say; never heard this version before. Same arrangement, orchestration, vocal backup as the great Ray Charles original.
Sign at sleazy looking fundamentalist Christian church on the road near Weaverville: “His blood was poured out for your sins.” Yeow! Speak for yourselves, brethren! Patti Smith said it elegantly: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine…” in the intro to Gloria on Wild Horses, brilliant song, brilliant album.
Last week in Santa Cruz I visited a friend who, like me, is, um, bald on top. When I left he said, “Keep the shiny side up.”
A comedian on Raw Dog said, “…so I took it old school.”
The Stanley Brothers: “I’ll hush up my mug if you’ll fill up my jug with that good ole mountain dew.”
