Surreal San Miguel

OK, I'll admit to having a few chemically aided hallucinagenic experience in my youth, and for a number of reasons I'm no longer really interested in giving it another go. I enjoyed the visuals, just not quite everything else that went along with it. Segway to San Miguel, ah this glorious little town that is a Felini-esque Mexican colonial Disneyland with a little Dali thrown in. Who needs LSD when you can walk down a cobble stone street at night and see this, without the chemical after effects...

Nope, it's not Photoshop. In honor of the Mexican bicentenial, French artist Xavier de Richemont is painting San Miguel's Parroquia in light every weekend until 2012. With an intense musical backup, this gothic marvel melts and transforms in a kaleidascope of colors and images evocative of Mexico's culture and history.

My photos do not do justice to this experience. Take a look at de Richemont's site. Try Googling a few YouTube videos to get a sense of the sound. To be honest though none of it matches the real thing. Sort of like trying to explain "tracers." You just kind of have to experience it for yourself.

Beautiful things: String of pearls

It's spider season. Every few years it seems the spiders proliferate in Potrero Hill. Just in time for Halloween, there are perfectly symmetrical webs spanning tree branches and fences, complementing the front porch pumpkins starting to appear.

With fascination, I've been watching the Nature Channel-worthy documentary of 2 particular  garden spiders in  residence in my front yard. Over the past couple months they've grown to fat little ladies, nightly spinning beautiful webs. I've watched them catch prey, mate - unbelievably, I was there during the whole courtship and subsequent demise of the poor suitor.... black widows aren't the only ones who kill and eat their lovers apparently, ish (and yes, I do have a life and a business beyond just staring at nature).

We must rethink what we think we know

I read/saw three things recently that reinforced the fact that the complexities of this modern era require a dramatic change in the way we approach problems, assess information and design solutions. I don't have the statistics at hand (rewind... I'm too busy at the moment to do a Google search for them), but few would argue that the amount of information we are exposed and have access to is hugely greater than it has historically ever been. We are exposed to more choices, more experiences and as a result are required to make more decisions than every before - from deciding which link to click on to which brand of toothpaste to pick up.  For better or worse, we're hyper-stimulated and hyper-distracted. I also argue that ironically, while we have more data available to make informed choices, we are relying more on our intuition and emotion because there is just too much information to assess.

Beautiful things

I had the wonderful opportunity to assist my tango friend Bob Noakes at his beginning tango class at the VA Hospital. Since I arrived early to his house, he treated me to a leisurely drive around the Sunset and Richmond on our way to the VA - districts I'm embarrassed to admit I'm not very familiar with in spite of my 20 years in San Francisco.

A hidden treasure I was completely unaware of... the beautifully tiled Moraga steps that lead to (am I told) the best view in San Francisco. Before the fog rolls back in, I plan to drive back and see for myself!

After class, Bob's wife Carolyn took me up to her studio to show me her amazing quilts. Carolyn was a programmer way back when and she's clearly tapped into her talent for patterns and logical systems to create some of the most beautiful designs I've ever seen. She's quite well known for her work - I wish I had more images to post here.

I'm heading off to Mexico in a week to discover more beautiful things (dia de los muertos!), but it's nice to still be awed by what surrounds me every day. Thanks Bob and Carolyn!

Aida and the moon

Friday night was a magical experience. One of those nights that almost seemed choreographed and that makes you say a little prayer of thanks to be able to live in San Francisco. I attended, for the first time, the SF Opera simulcast at AT&T Park.

I had never heard of this annual event, but apparently I'm in the minority since 32,000 people showed up to fill the stadium and experience Verdi's Aida. Four friends and I filled bags with baguettes, cheese, roast chicken, melon and more and hoofed it down to the Park. The weather was spectacular all night; our seats were perfect; we watched the full moon rise over the east bay hills and sparkle on the bay. And then the performance began.

Passion and Pull

Last night, courtesy of my friend Kevin O'Malley (thanks again Kevin!) I went to a Commonwealth Club program on The Power of Pull - John Seely Brown and John Hagel in conversation with Michael Meyer, CEO of Adaptive Path. I haven't read the book (full disclosure: I'm not a huge business book reader; I've read the first 1/3 of dozens of biz books which generally gives me the gist... admit it, you do the same), but I'm definitely inspired to pick it up after listening to these guys.

What I did on my (non) summer vacation

I can't believe summer is gone already. Though I didn't get the warm weather I crave, I did get a huge boost of creative energy. I've always been a DIY girl (thanks mom and dad) and would rather paint/fix/figure it out myself than pay someone else.

Begin again

Lately, as I've been building my marketing and design business, I frequently find myself telling people to "check out my blog for more about me." I cringe a little knowing that I've neglected this space for a LONG time, but I have excuses... how many people really look; I'm back in the country so what's there to share; I'm too busy writing for my clients so who has the time??

The reward

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I suppose the "what comes next" hasn't seemed terribly exotic.

But I have to say that I'm liking being an independent consultant. Working at home has it's drawbacks - I miss having colleagues around to bounce ideas off of. But it certainly has it's rewards. One of them being a variety of great clients, like Added Value, Cheskin and Brief. The other being that I don't have to get in a car, bus or train after working 10 hours.

Today, after a very stormy afternoon, the clouds parted, the sun was brilliant and so at the end of a long day, I took myself on a nice walk to McCovey Cove. Nice reward...

A decade of change and hope

As I sit here in a San Miguel kitchen recovering from too many holiday parties (with one more to go this evening), reading the NYT online, planning a Skype meeting and a newsletter launch next week for clients in the U.S., catching up with friends on Facebook and gmail, and writing this blog, it's hard to image that almost none of this was possible 10 years ago. Well, San Miguel was not much different (except for the Starbucks) but Facebook, gmail and Skype didn't exist and even Blogger (launched in 1999) was just a baby. I don't remember when I installed my first wireless router at home, but it was 2000 when I experienced the nightmare of having DSL installed for the first time.

So many in the past few days have shared their reviews of the last decade and hopeful predictions for the next, like this morning's op-ed from Bono, that I don't feel that I need to add my own two cents. But I will say that I can't help but express my hopeful belief that we will look back on this millennium's teens with awe at what we accomplished.

Here's to a happy new year and a positive new decade. Cheers!