My good friend Carol now has a wonderful web site where you can view her art and get news of upcoming shows. Please take a look and, if you want something unique and beautiful in your home, purchase some work.
As I was waiting for a latte at the most wonderful coffee bar I snapped this on my iPhone. I then used the most awesome iPhone application Camera Bag to add a Lomo feel and uploaded via Pixelpipe. Too bad I can’t upload straight from CameraBag.
Today I was reminded about just how much I truly love the Internet.
I’m sitting here at home, looking for the newest and coolest companies that are starting up in San Francisco. I’ve got just a few tabs open - LinkedIn, CrunchBase and Craigslist mainly, and I’m finding tons of companies. So I’m marching away on my hunt when I stumble upon, yes, StumbleUpon in SOMA which, though not new, is cool and hiring. Since I’ve used it only once I go to the web site to check it out. Being a lover of photography I immediately click the Photos link and find a picture of a Cylon. Being a lover of BattleStar Galactica I immediately click the Cylon to see a distressed Cylon asking for help as he has been replaced by CGI. This is where it gets good.
In the background of the image is Bloor Meat Market. I must be bored because I Google Map it and see that it’s in Toronto. Huh, I have a friend in Toronto, Osh, I wonder if he lives close because if there was anyone geeky enough in Toronto to do something like that it would be him. So I hit Get Directions, paste in his address and - whoa - he lives down the street.
Love it.
I am currently travelling in SE Asia with my good friend Dave Gerton who just got out of the Peace Corps in Westen Samoa. We plan on visiting Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in only four weeks of time. Short but so far very sweet except for the fact that Megan wasn’t able to join us.
Blogging will be sparse as it normally appears to be but since I’m on the reunification express train with little to do I thought I would make a few entries.
John’s wife, Emily, asked my if I’d like to cook for John’s birthday dinner. I found this quite an honor so, in his honor, I went all out. I don’t think I’m much of a cook so I enlisted the help of Toby Sanderson, chef extraordinaire. Together we created an excellent Asian styled menu complete with wine pairings. For the most part I thought it was very good and the patrons felt the same. The watercress salad was actually not too astringent as the dressing fought off the leaves. The Sauvignon Blanc I chose was good but could have used more body and fruit. Everything else however was well paired, especially my second shot at poached pairs. What a wonderful night and surprise that I could pull off my first ever all Asian dinner. Methinks I need to stay with that theme for a while longer.
Here is the menu.
Le Menu
L’Anniversaire de John Cornwell
Appetizers
Avocado Tempura
Champagne
Entrée
Bosc pear and watercress salad with sesame and almond dressing.
2007 Groth Sauvignon Blanc Napa, CA
Main
Seared Ahi tuna, avocado and mango chutney accompanied by sautéed Asian greens and fragrant jasmine rice.
2007 Sineann Pinot Gris, Newberry OR
Dessert
Bosc pears poached in Riesling atop Bi-Rite Ginger ice cream.
2006 Glacier Riesling, Yakima Valley, WA
Moving to San Francisco 18 months ago I found myself asking people what they called the fog. Most people simply responded with “why do you have to call it something?” I have to call it something because I like nick-names. Yeah, me and George W., we both like giving nick names. Names like Tobbie, Chav, Poopers, Nyahh, Betz, Yaaaaay, M, Snoops, Skittles, et al. If you know me and if I love you then you’ve got a nick name. So what about this fog?
After a night walking around the Mission in the fog my wife and I finally figured out a name. Fred. Fred the Fog. I’m wondering if I couldn’t turn that into a children’s book somehow. There would be chapters like “Tourist Popsicle”, “Summer Sweaters” and “60F Here, 90F There”. They must sell more sweaters at Fisherman’s Wharf than they do at all the Bay Area Banana Republics combined because of Fred. Fred - the engine of summer commerce.
Right, enough of that, just know that if you come here in the summer bring a fleece and be ready for Fred.
If you are a fan of exotic and terrifying ceramics then this is a show you don’t want to miss. Go see the latest work by artist Carol Gouthro at Pacini Lubel Gallery this coming May. The attached flyer below should tell you everything you need to know. I’m a huge fan of her work which is fearless and terrifying given all the sharp and pointy teeth she tends to add to her pieces. 
Old friends are the best. Two great friends of ours, Sven and Destiny, came down from Seattle to spend the weekend with us in San Francisco. We greeted them at our Mission apartment with hugs, champagne, cheese and crackers. After touring all 900 square feet that our place has to offer we jumped in a cab and headed downtown to Myth. The restaurant is beautiful and I’d go back if only to show off the decor. We thought the food very good but not remarkable. Both Sven and I had the duck which was undercooked and had to be re-fired. Our waiter was hilarious - he honestly didn’t even care that we were there. After Myth we walked around to Tosca for the House coffees and Spanish coffees. I love this place. The service is great and the atmosphere thick with history. I’m not from Frisco but I can tell this place is haunted by history. Great spot, we chatted for another hour before heading home and finishing up the night back at our place sipping Sake and chatting even more. It’s wonderful to sit around and catch up for so long, we could have talked for days.
I woke up early at 7:30 and made us all coffee and tea. Megan and Destiny went for a run so Sven and I jumped on our bikes and rode up to the top of Bernal Heights. What a great view and what a great street. We rode down into the Mission and roused John and Emily for breakfast but couldn’t find Toby. Back home we cleaned up before heading to The Liberties for a traditional Irish brunch. Toby finally showed up despite his laundry duties. It’s good food, it’s heavy food, beware. It has an excellent Bloody Mary so long as you like horseradish. On our way back to the apartment we got hit up by Girl Scouts and I couldn’t say no to Thin Mints and Samosas. One block later half the mints are gone and John is tearing into the Samosas. He loves sugar.
Back at the house we clean up and head to the Legion of Honor to see Annie Leibovitz latest exhibitionAnnie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005. I can’t say if I’ve ever seen such a personal collection of photos. It was humbling and inspiring. Outside we found the weather had turned stormy so we drove down to Ocean Beach and took some pictures. It was chilly so we retreated to a restaurant down the way and watched both the kite boarders and the seagulls play in the wind while enjoying tea and white wine. Saturday night was upon us so we headed home to freshen up, nap and to get ready for Greg Veen’s birthday party.
Dinner was at Millenium, a place I’d recommend for their Manhattan’s but not so much for their food. It was good but I just wasn’t blown away. Still, the company made the night and it was great to see Mr. Veen and his lovely Sig along with all our other people. Afterwards we got a great treat, a night at Bourbon and Branch. Our wonderful Sig, the girlfriend of Mr. Veen, reserved the entire upstairs for us where we had a birds-eye view of the entire place. It’s a wonderful hide out and the cocktails are marvelous. Everyone had something different and no one said anything other than ’stellar’ for each. I will return.
The next morning Destiny and I snuck out for a quick walk in the Mission. We got ourselves some coffee at Ritual then picked up fresh bagels at Whole Foods Valencia. Back home Megan and Sven were still asleep. A quick Rick Roll later they were both in the kitchen and dancing with us we prepared the bagels and salmon. Toby showed up to share the fritata he made that morning and then we were all off on an urban hike. First we visited the Seward Street Slides which I think are the coolest slides ever. After many races against Madison, the vicious 8 year old slide champion, we headed up the street to walk Kite Hill Park. Such great views of the city. We made our way back to Delores park where we laid out some blankets, drank cider and had snacks while waiting for that sad moment when Sven and Destiny would have to head back to our apartment and then off to the airport. A moment that came too soon.
This weekend I was lucky enough to help out my wife’s company. What did I have to do? Dress up like a polar bear. The video says it all as do the photos.
It’s been on my to-do list for a year now but finally I’ve done. All of my old blog entries have been resurrected from my backups and are now available again in my blog. In addition I’ve decided to delete my old site and start anew with Wordpress at the root of my site. Yep, all the old links are gone, including to all the parties I went to in my 20’s. Not the files of course, those remain, but the site is now ‘just’ a blog.
If I keep at it perhaps I’ll turn it into PlanetTroy 3.0 again with a fresh redesign. Until then please enjoy my quite boring looking blog.
-Troy
