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!