Pre-V Day Edition

I’ll keep the pink links to a minimum, but there are quite a few Valentine’s Week events in SF that deserve consideration. We can get the worst named out of the way first–that being “Singles & Sprinkles” at food community space 18 Reasons on Thursday. The Little Lane art studio will be helping with cookie decoration over Domaine de Montrieux “G-Spot” Vin de Table 2006 (“g” being for grapes, goofball).

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks is planning a two-day tribute to filmmaker John Hughes with three for $10 screenings as part of his “Midnight for Maniacs” series at The Castro Theatre. Non-ironic late ’80s film lovers may find back-to-back “Pretty in Pink” and “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” on Saturday perfectly Cupid-esque.

My neighborhood dance spot Rickshaw Spot will host the SF Bike Coalition’s annual “Love on Wheels” fundraiser on Friday evening (after which sitting in a dark theater may be ideal). Free valet parking will be available for the ’70s-style dating game. Participating cyclists will be quizzed on local destinations and paired for sponsor-covered dates. Bike bachelorettes, fear not: in response to the question “are cyclists better lovers?,” the invitation states:

“Clearly, yes! Cycling women are known to be low-maintenance, more independent, and more fun-loving than women who wear makeup to the gym.” (See the full invite for endurance details.)

Pop-Up Magazine, Vol. 2

Pop-Up Magazine, the local visual and auditory extravaganza, will feature its second live event on September 25. Radio, newspaper and online magazine contributors will present highlights of their work for this installment to be hosted by the women-run theater Brava on 24th.

I’m bummed to miss what should be another story re-telling-worthy evening, but it’s for a good cause: the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program’s annual fundraising ride benefiting athletes with disabilities takes place in Sonoma that weekend (and, yes, you can throw a few bucks their way if you feel so inclined). As for Pop-Up Magazine, tickets go on sale on September 10, and you’ll want to scoop them up before they’re sold out.

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Unclassed

3657462161_c493fcb319_mSoCap Conference producer and pal Amy Benziger pointed (un)classes out to me when we talked about excuses for combining yoga and biking, and I’m most grateful. The community-powered learning community was created as Rahmin Sarabi’s experiment to see what his friends could teach each other in the name of co-education following a visit to the TED alternative BIL Unconference.

In highlighting the skills that smart folks are willing to share, the site provides a good set of “what to do on a free Saturday afternoon” solutions with the classes’ informal nature and wide range of content. Peer instructors have raised their hands everywhere from SF to Richmond, and the Cloudspace-powered community offers everything from the very practical  (Intro to Ruby on Rails and Salesforce) to the fantastic (cheesemaking and Sarabi’s own Bouldering 101). Talk about the joy of learning.

Partially reposted from Josh Spear.

Simply Snik

Genius Jimi wallet creator Mike O’Neill tipped me off to a Snik recently, and I’m most grateful. With the global user base of mobile phones approaching 3 billion people, more than a few music listeners and callers find themselves in a daily tangle of headphones/bags/jackets that might be avoided if Snik creator Rob Honeycutt has his way. His product line of zipper puller and cord grooves featured on snaps and buckles relieves pressure on the earbuds (runners rejoice). “I believe there is a widespread need for this ‘interface’ between a person’s clothing and their mobile technology,” said Honeycutt, who would like the feature to become ubiquitous on clothing and bags over the next decade. For now, the small devices are available by the 6 and 12 pack, each of which is less than $20. Dangling cords be darned.

Partially reposted from Joshspear.com.

Splashy

Nike’s latest outreach to action sports aficionados takes the form of take-home video, slowed down shots, and rain, snow, and sleet. In conjunction with the marketing agency TAOW and director Jared Eberhardt, Slow-Mo spots captured surfers Dusty Payne and Casey Brown’s faces at 1,000 frames per second as they were hit with waves. The corresponding Nike 6.0 Facebook app, Splashcast, then debuted at the AST Dew Tour in Portland. Now snowboarders, BMXers, and wakeboarders alike can upload videos of themselves being hit with the most easily available form of precipitation. If you’re having a rough day and far from Orlando and Breckenridge, current Slow-Mo booth stops, watching the daily footage is a form of free relief.

Appel & Frank Eco-Chic Returns

A San Franciscan looking for, say, a gun necklace to accompany their VP candidate Halloween costume will be happy to know they can find one that was created without leaving a trace. The Appel & Frank Eco-Chic shopping event on Thursday evening at the Regency Center on Sutter combines sustainable apparel, jewelry and personal care products. I had a blast last year and am looking forward to organic and recycled jacket designer JulesElin and free wine from 7 Daughters. A portion of the proceeds go to Friends of the Urban Forest’s efforts to plant and care for groups of trees in city neighborhoods.

Monterey 3:16

High of 65, high of 65. I tried to keep focusing on good things while we biked from our hotel in Monterey to the triathlon start. It was only four miles, but at 5:45 AM on Saturday my thoughts were full of doom of gloom. Sharks. Lipstick and farm animals. Lehman.

Then I started to think about my cousin Julia and why I was out there in the first place. I signed on with Team in Training’s program earlier this year to celebrate her fantastic outlook–whether she was dancing in Rome or undergoing chemo, she wore a huge smile on her face. Julia wouldn’t be thinking the way I was while we were setting up to swim, bike and run. She’d be excited about the beauty of Monterey Bay and making comments about how good looking everybody was, even in their wetsuits.

So I decided I would too. My jokes about “Team in Dating” fell flat with the women getting ready around me, but I decided that I was going to have fun with this. Our group had raised an average of $37,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for each mile of the 31-mile course, and a strong support network had gotten me here. I was grateful for the text messages, which ranged from thoughtful (“The Lord has blessed you with great health”) to enthusiastic (“Uz gonna kill it grrl!”).

We were split up by heat and my group with lavender swim caps had a 9:30 AM start. This photo was taken at 9:28, just after I realized that I’d left my bike pump behind and would have a tough time achieving a four hour time goal if I got a flat tire. The smile almost looks authentic. Maybe I should have moved to LA instead.

My swim felt slow but steady, and the transitions between legs went well. I’m still unsure about the necessity of putting your age in magic marker behind your left knee, maybe because it forces you to do mental math when “60″ and speedy passes you on their bike. I went through about 250 Hail Marys (all slightly different–second grade at St. Rose School was a long time ago) before turning to Jay-Z, which doesn’t sound as good with half the lyrics and no bass line.

My bike computer stopped working so I wasn’t sure how I was doing time wise, but the sun was coming out and I was starting to have fun on the coastal course. I may have switched my mind frame to joy to soon though–the run was painful. Numb foot for four and a half miles painful. But there were plenty of team cheerleaders and friends, plus the narcissism of passing one of the 18-year-old uberathletes we trained with. I was a bit bummed to calculate my 4 hour, 16 minute finish time, until I did the math again. Don’t carry an extra one! It had been 3 hours, 16 minutes. All selfish pride aside, I was ecstatic to see everyone from our team and several cancer survivors finish the Olympic distance. What a great, strong group.

White wine and lunch overlooking the water with good friends ensued, and I was happy to celebrate with Virgin Triathlete Crystal English. With luggage full of lycra and a newly (and confusingly) acquired bottle of Smirnoff, I left Monterey with an achey head and sore calves on Sunday, asking when the next tri is. Maybe a mentorship with Team in Training, which I can’t say enough good things about? Maybe Wildflower in the Spring? Maybe Kona? No…an Ironman story in the Sunday Times, my ultimate athletic payoff, scared me away from that one.

Good karma and wine: Yoga class for cancer research on 8/30

In the midst of getting my eyelashes stuck in my open water swim goggles at triathlon practice the other day, I tried to think happy thoughts. People I care about…wine…good work…yoga…SF…

Bingo–what better way to raise money for leukemia research and the upcoming Monterey triathlon than a charity yoga class? Local all-star instructor Debbie Mobley has offered to lead a class next month and Bend Yoga is graciously donating space. Claire Williams will be assisting and giving us extra attention. Up dog? Yes please!

We’ll plan to get together for a love-filled, fun-for-all-levels vinyasa flow class.
Bend Yoga charity class for Team in Training
Saturday, August 30
4-5:30 PM
405 Arguello Blvd, #200
Celebration to follow

$20 suggested donation
Donations are tax deductible and enable life-saving research. You can also make contributions online.

Space is limited to the first 15, so please let me know if you’ll be able to attend. We can loan mats for those who don’t have them. Danke.

Travis Poh, Who/Where Are You?

With a shoulder that feels ripped apart courtesy of Chrome (that sounds very Valencia Corridor-esque), I’ve been looking for something to carry my items around SF in that won’t require Ibuprofin. That’s right: a backpack. No more shoulder bags; this time around, it’s an off-to-third grade two strap style. I noticed a heavy duty one from Freight Baggage at Freewheel, but the white would last about a week before I tried to leave for work with coffee before getting caught off guard by a stop sign.

I spent an embarrassing amount of time yesterday afternoon trying to track down Freight Baggage’s creator, Travis Poh. An online search for freightbaggage.com turned up one of those pages with a photo of a random lady and an offer to buy the URL. Uninterested in freight shipping quotes as well, I started asking strangers and messengers. “Oh yea,” one told me. “Travis. You can find him on Vallejo toward North Beach. By that cafe. Tell him Frank sent you.”

My fault for not getting enough information (or maybe the fact that it sounded a bit too much like a drug transaction). A Freight Baggage MySpace page says Mr. Poh is 100 years old–no big shock there. I was also told that he’s elusive and overworked. I could order one through a bike shop but it could take more than a month to arrive. Is it so wrong to want to end my search and find the maker in our seven-by-seven mile city?

All I want is a backpack, preferably in primary colors and within the range of my tax refund check. It doesn’t have to be big enough for me to fit in. You can stick that logo with a train car anywhere you want on it. But please, let’s end the search. 

No End to the Joy.

Friend and art director extraordinaire Crystal English told me this morning that sustainable clothing company Nau is back in action. They had posted a note in May to say that they were closing up shop due to lack of financial support (the clothing is pricey but well worth it). They’ve now partnered with Southern California apparel company Horny Toad to put their wares back online, leaving me excited and wondering if they’ll eventually be able to exchange the jacket I ordered too big. I wore it to work, telling my co-workers it was made of seaweed (that seemed accurate) and reddened when we discovered it was actually recycled polyester.