Dean and Shannon

I wrote that the day before I left work at 430 and breathlessly rode to Civic.  I walked to Patricia’s Green and mom was waiting in the car with dad.  We walked to here I though the Grove was but couldn’t find it and dad passed us on the road.  We went to Stelline and had dinner ti was alright.  I told mom about receiving messages from ex-girlfriends.  We talked about other things.  We walked to the Piano Store where I met Dean and Shannon (shannonmariewolfe.com).  We watched them sing.  She had a multimedia experience where her singing was being juxtaposed against famous women singers.  There were about 25 people with a broad range from 30 to 70.  There were nearly 20 songs and it took place over two and a half hours.  There was wine and cheese.  We gave them $40.  We took the 71 and got off at 44th with no problem.  Mom said she would need to check on some of the musical references.

I copied this from my notebook 091214.  This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Car Free Stuff and Bike Lockers

I left work at 4 and went to Pleasant Hill like I do every day but on this day for whatever reason, I had trouble finding a locker.  I went through the whole area to look and barely made the train.  When I finally found a seat and had rested up I called the CSR and tweeted about it too but in the end I heard nothing.  This was the first time that this had ever happened and I think that it was no coincidence that it happened that day.  I think that at the end of the summer people return from their vacations and start classes again and want to start off on the right foot.  I know that this day was special because the incident didn’t happen again.

During that period I had been trying to get people to come to Happy Hour at Zeitgest.  I had met a lot of people via Twitter and I wanted to get to know them.  The whole affair was the result of a post I made about the Car Free Happy Hour last July.  A number of people had mentioned wanting to go.  About three weeks later I noted that I had contacted a bunch of people and made plans for the 28th.

Those that were able to come were a broad array of personalities in business, law, data, art and design.  We had gotten to know each other through the local car free scene and social media.  I noted that each one was relatively well connected in their various areas and had all garnered a modest following among their peers.  We had a pitcher of delicious dark beer and said hello to a number of other people—geographers, cyclists—from other tables that we knew.  I learned about SF2G (aka San Francisco to Google).  I also heard about the progress being made on cycling infrastructure in Oakland, commuting to Diablo Valley College for work and Google MapsGL.

When ever I do this kind of thing I always take a step back afterwards to ask, “What happened?”  In all, the effort to organize the event was difficult.  While I do inevitably fret about the experience, the effect of any successful event can leave me feeling good about myself.

I wrote another post about car free stuff about a week later when I went to a dinner put on by YPT a Madre Mia in the Mission.  We had all paid in advance.  We introduced ourselves and had a general discussion of our jobs.  For instance there were about 5 people from MTA, someone from the Bicycle Coalition, a car share person, a geodata person and a person from Code for America.  The meal was good.  I talked to people about jobs and plans for grad school.

The speaker at the meal was an administrative aide that talked about how bikes need to be “cool” and that women need to ride more.  There was also some discussion of how difficult it can be to build overhead wires for transit because the engineers are not available.  When the conversation turned to local ballot measures the conversation became especially contentious.  While some decided to keep their political views to themselves others were especially outspoken.  However, I noticed that while it might have seemed that people’s opinions were either for or against a particular measure there was subtle nuance to them.  For instance, I noted that one person was especially strident in people keeping the same opinion and another was especially well versed in managing opinions.

I started writing this piece on 082714.  It is part of an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

I went to the bar the other day.

On 090714 I rode to the Mission from the Sunset via the Wiggle and ate wurst and potatoes at Schmitt’s on Folsom.  I had the Augustine and the Jever.  I then went to Shottwell’s and the Uptown where I talked to a regular for an hour.

On 090814 I went to Java Beach and suggested to the barrista that she get a bike.  I played bocce ball in the afternoon and got to know the locals.  My bowling partner and I then rode to the Shamrock.  When I left the Giants were losing to Detroit.  I saw the local bike mechanic and the regulars.

On 090914 I got off of work and the bus broke down on the way home.  I got off at 9th and went to Park Chow.  I had a sandwich and read the NYT and watched the Nats beat the Braves.  Then I went to the Shamrock.  I bunch of people I knew were there for a friend’s bday.  An old classmate was on her first shift ever as a bartender and the regulars were getting reacquainted with a lady that used to tend bar there.  The A’s lost.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

I had made it

On the morning 090614 around 845 and went to the Bridge and continued to Sausalito.  I got coffee and sat next to the old man that is always there.  I read the paper, tweeted and rode up Bridgeway past Miller.  I got a flat on Lomita and flagged some cyclists on the way down to Tamaplais.  I went to REI then and got new tires and tubes.  I rode Lakeshore and through San Anselmo and Fairfax.  I took Olema and ended up on the pipeline trail.  I got over the top to Woodacre in eight minutes and back to the top in 20.

I returned via San Rafael and the Cal Park Hill Tunnel.  At the Landing I had 45 minutes so I had a beer and sent messages to friends and Twitter to say that I had made it!  I had a beer on the boat and left the bike at Embarcadero.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Robin Wiliams' Bike Party

On 090514 I was practically the last to leave the building after work because I was going to Bike Party.  I got off BART at Civic and went to the Falafel place there.  After that I climbed to Fillmore and continued to the Panhandle.  I met the crew and tweeted that I was unhappy.  I was abashed when I found out later that one of my followers noticed and I noticed too that the volunteer coordinator was taken aback by my attitude.  The ride started and we had a great ride to Corona Park.  I felt better about things there.  I talked about dating with one of my friends.  I know I can be rather hopelessness but it is by design.  I refuse to call a girl stupid because she isn't interested in me.  I talked to a couple of others in the group I ride with.  I would note that there can at times be a bit of confusion over who’s who when several sets of people have the same name—especially in the dark on bikes.

There was a New Yorker that I introduced to a friend from New Jersey.  They seemed to like each other.  One of them was a person that I had invited to the Happpy Hour at Zeitgeist I had organized a few weeks earlier.  I told everyone that didn't attend the same thing: It was fun but would have been awesome if they had attended.  That night I also learned that a local ride had fallen out of regular activity and that new blood was needed.

After our conversations the group rode back through Haight.  We saw the 37 bus twice.  At Dolores Park I asked one of the volunteers about how Bike Party was organized lately and later hung out on the slides with friends.  The ride left and I went home after sending thank you messages to everyone.

I had an interesting interaction on the ride home.  I came upon a (non-Bike Party) cyclist and asked about how the bike ride was going.  I learned that they have had been doing it every Friday late at night for 10 years.  I learned that alcohol was involved—maybe a trip to the bar?  I said I hadn’t noticed and but it was clear that I was joking.  I guess if I paid a little bit of attention every Friday night the interaction would happened again like it was brand new.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. I started writing this Notebook Analysis on 090614.  This series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.