Day 8: Thursday - October 14th

Today was going to be a busy day. I was up at 5:45 and out the door at 7:00 to start the climb to Grandview Park and what I hoped was to be a nice sunrise. I was not disappointed.

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Silhouetted by the still rising sun are Sutro Tower and Twin Peaks.

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Slowly, but surely downtown San Francisco gets its first light.

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For a while I had this view to myself.

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Then I had company. But only momentarily. This is the tail end (so to speak) of a group of runners who were up and over the summit in no time.

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The clouds were really gorgeous.

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This cyclists had parked at the bottom of the steps and was enjoying the view.

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Just visible on the right, you can see a tower of the Golden Gate Bridge as well as the Marin Headlands.

I sat for a while, taking in the view then it was back down the hill to Ed's for webwork and getting ready for my 12:00 lunch date down in the Portola/Silver Terrace/Bayview part of SF.
This would be a new area for me to see and the first step was finding a bus which would take me there. A look at my MUNI map showed me this would be easy since the 44 O'Shaughnessy stops at 9th and Judah, just 3 blocks a way and would drop me off at Silver and San Bruno streets just a few blocks from my destination.

44 O'Shaughnessy Route Map

Route map for the 44 O'Shaughnessy.

Silver and San Bruno streets was about 4 blocks from my destination, a design studio operated by General Graphics Exhibits. It was here I was to meet Jon Altemus, Manager of Exhibits, who heads up a design team at GGE.

Jon's family and mine go way back - to the beginning. Jon's parents, Don (AKA "Bud") and Billie were involved in the Oglebay Institute Nature Education program in Wheeling, West Virginia in the 50s. When Bud got a job as a Naturalist in Michigan they moved and Billie then worked at Circle Pines Camp as Director.

Eventually the Altemus Family moved to Berea, Ohio where Don took a job as a Naturalist with Cleveland Metro Parks. I am not sure how it happened but eventually Don and Billie got reinvolved with the Oglebay Institute Nature Education program. Billie started directing both Junior Nature Camp in Wheeling and Mountain Nature Camp in Terra Alta. Some, I don't know how many, of the Altemus kids went to these camps as both campers and counselors. Jeff, Jon's twin brother now directs Junior Nature Camp.

As is the way with many families the Altemus Clan is now here, there, and everywhere. Jeff is in Morgantown and Jon went on to San Francisco, then Oakland. So, when I was planning my trip to SF I gave Jon a heads up and he offered to give me a tour of the design studio and I offered to take him out to lunch afterwards.

I arrived a little early and took in the sites along San Bruno Avenue.

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Perhaps this is where we would have lunch?

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Many of the old movie palaces are gone or pressed into service as warehouses, parking garages and who knows what all. This one is now the "Channels of Blessing" church.

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This window poster was announcing a badminton tournament. Who woulda thunk it...

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At this design studio they make all manner of displays for museums, as well as nature and science centers.

My first look inside the studio.
Here we have a mocked up diorama entitled "Life in Serpentine" being built for the Edgewood Natural Preserve. Behind it is the San Bernardino County Museum's "Hall of Geological Wonders" exhibit, in progress.
Note the egg shaped object to the left. Jon told me the this was a "PBR". The only PBRs I am familiar with is the kind you drink! But, this one is a " Precariously Balanced Rock". Yes folks, there are geologist who specialize in the study of these rocks living on the edge.

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I used Jon for scale to show these Switch grass models for " Bill Nye the Science Guy Climate Change exhibit" for the Chabot Space and Science Center.

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Here I am hamming it up for the camera in front of scenic leaves for another part of the "Bill Nyes the Science Guy Climate Change exhibit". These leaves have small viewing ports in them so you can look through to other displays.

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Here is a team of artists working on models for the Edgewood Natural Preserve exhibit.

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These are Linanthus petals, 20x enlarged. Of course these will all be carefully and accurately assembled into a complete flower for the final display.

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Using his fingers as a gauge Jon shows me the actual size of this California Goldfield flower.

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Jon points out the level of accuracy and attention to detail which is required to make these models. Amazing work. Note the spiraling of the individual flowers.

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These are various plant models for Edgewood's "Streams and Springs" diorama.

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Artist Kat works on an Edgewood model. The model in the foreground is a Checkerspot butterfly larva - in progress.

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Artist Frederic working on Checkerspot larvae models.

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Sketch for Checkerspot larvae model.

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Getting down to the details.

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Hairs for Checkerspot Larvae 20x enlarged. This level of detail will add a dimension of realism that is the hallmark of a professionally made diorama.

After the tour we headed out the door for lunch.

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Pupusas!

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First the chips and salsa.

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Jon and I both ordered two pupusas - on pork and one cheese.

A pupusa (from Pipil pupusawa) is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of thick, hand-made corn tortilla (made using masa de maíz, a maize flour dough used in Latin American cuisine) that is filled with a blend of the following: cheese (queso) (usually a soft cheese called Quesillo found in all Central America), cooked pork meat ground to a paste consistency (called chicharrón, not to be confused with fried pork rind, which is also known as chicharrón in some other countries), squash (ayote), or (pataste), refried beans (frijoles refritos), or queso con loroco (loroco is a vine flower bud from Central America).

The two most common pupusas are the pupusa de queso (cheese) and more popular pupusa revuelta with mixed ingredients of queso (cheese), frijoles (beans),[1], and chicharrón. Pupusas are typically served with curtido (lightly fermented cabbage slaw with red chilies and vinegar) and a watery tomata salsa.

Source: WikiPedia

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Our orders came wit with a generous serving of curtido.

Curtido is a type of cabbage relish, lightly fermented. In Salvadoran cuisine, it resembles sauerkraut and is usually made with pickled cabbage, onions, carrots, and sometimes lemon juice. It is commonly served alongside pupusas, the national delicacy. In Mexican cuisine, curtido consists mainly of pickled carrots mixed with onions and chile peppers (usually jalapeño). It is used to accompany virtually any dish and is commonly found at numerous taquerías.

Source: WikiPedia

The first place I ever had Pupusas was Nashville when in 2005 Bob took me to Las Americas. There we also feasted on Ceviche, which at the time was new to me also. Bob really opened my eyes (and my mouth) to a whole new world of food back in 2005 and boy am I thankful!

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Pupusa happiness!

After lunch I walked back to the studio with Jon and then did and about face and head back on over to San Bruno Ave.

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I spotted this nice mural on one of the side streets off San Bruno Ave.

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Detail of above mural.
I can't help but wonder if there are other cities out there with as many murals as San Francisco. I am not very well travelled so I don't know the answer. Do you?

I wandered back to the bus stop and caught the 44 inbound and soon was back at Ed's around 2:00 then back out the door again at 5:00 to catch the N to downtown and the Main Library.

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While waiting on the train I spotted this cloud with a rainbow edge. I wonder what caused that?

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Waiting for the train.

Shot from the N inbound.

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Waiting for the light.

Shot at Market and 8th Street.

What was taking me to the Library this evening? It was a " One City One Book" event.

One City One Book: San Francisco Reads is an annual citywide literary event that encourages members of the San Francisco community to read the same book at the same time and then discuss it in book groups and at events throughout the City. By building bridges between communities and generations through the reading and most importantly the discussion of – one book, we hope to help to make reading a lifelong pursuit and to build a more literate society.

Join us for an insightful discussion between Dave Eggers and author Beth Lisick. A question and answer session and book sale by Book Bay follows the event.

Source: © 2002-2010 San Francisco Public Library

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The group warmed up the crowd with songs like "FEMA Trailer Blues".

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers is the selection for One City One Book: San Francisco Reads 2010!
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian-American father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the days after, he traveled the flooded streets in a second hand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. But, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared. Eggers’s riveting nonfiction book, three years in the making, explores Zeitoun’s roots in Syria, his marriage to Kathy – an American who converted to Islam – and their children, and the surreal atmosphere (in New Orleans and the United States generally) in which what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun became possible.

Source: © 2002-2010 San Francisco Public Library

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Here, " Zeitoun" author Dave Eggers and Beth Lisick talk about Eggers book, how it came to be and the process of researching and writing it. Eggers had a lot of personal insights and observations to share as well.

This is not normally the kind of thing I would go to but The Reverend Black conned me into going to one of these discussions last year so I though I would give this one a try also. I look at this as part of my ongoing quest for literacy.

The event I went to last year was quite different. It was "Punk Passage: San Francisco First Wave Punk" - a display of 45 black and white portraits and live music photographs of original punk innovators by the San Francisco-based photographer Ruby Ray along with various Punk publications including copies of "Punk Surrealist Cafe" by G. Sutton Breiding. That night also included "Punk Live on Film" – Screenings of Louder, Faster, Shorter; Deaf Punk; and Insect Lounge Sally Remix 1978 followed by audience Q & A with filmmaker Mindy Bagdon and photographer Ruby Ray.

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When I left the Library I snapped this shot of City Hall all lit up orange. "Go Giants!"

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Last year, prior to the Library program I had a bite to eat at Tu Lan. This year I went afterwards. Just like my last visit it was all asses and elbows behind the counter. I don't know how these guys maintain such a furious pace. And it was quite toasty at the counter so I can only imagine what it was like directly in front of, and over the cooking burners. Whew!

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This burner was only open for a second as pans and hands began to fly. Great performance art!

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I love them Imperial Rolls!

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If it's good enough for Herb and Julia, it's good enough for me.

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I left Tu Lan's about 8:00 and walked up Market Street towards the BART/MUNI station and noticed this "Cheap Chic" advert.

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Last shot of the day taken in the Civic Center station. Then it was back to Ed's and bed at 10.

 

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