1. Illustrating What It Feels Like To Leave San Francisco. After seven years in San Francisco, illustrator Amelia Altavena says goodbye to the city in this touching comic. I have said goodbye to so many of these things too, without having to leave San Francisco. Goodbye to walking home tipsy from theme parties in the Lower Haight–a neighborhood I rarely visit anymore. Goodbye to friendships that were wonderful and then painful and then over. Goodbye to having my heart broken. Goodbye to the creativity and art that used to saturate these streets but could not survive the rising costs. Goodbye to my 20s. To my prior self. To a part of me that no longer lives here because it no longer exists.
2. My Bones. Love this claymation video made by my creative [and hilarious] friend Lindsey. She never ceases to amaze me, whether it’s her acting, her comedy sketches, her craft skills or the fact that her headshots have an “add dinosaurs” feature.
3. This Quote From Henry Rollins.
“I have burned more hours than I would like to admit in slow agony, ransacking my brain for an idea to write about…The first draft is handwritten and then, often moments later, is rewritten into a computer for the second draft and worked on from there. When I am off the road, this is often my big Friday night out.”
4. A Surprise Visit. This clip of New Zealand newscaster being surprised on air by his favorite musician, Sharon Van Etten, went viral this week. His coworkers organized the surprise after learning he had tickets to see her that night but couldn’t make it due to a conflict.
His reaction is so lovely and unfiltered and moving. “It’s pathetic really,” he says. “I’m 51 years old. But music sometimes, it just keeps you afloat, doesn’t it?”
5. The Horse Raised by Spheres. This horse basically knows exactly how I feel at parties / around strangers.
6. The [un]Lucky 13. Though not surprised, I’m sad to read of the possible plans to close San Francisco’s beloved Lucky 13 bar to make way for condos. Though not surprising given the demand for housing in the Bay Area, it’s hard not to shake the feeling that San Francisco has somehow become an occupied ghost town. Change is inevitable, of course; but often heartbreaking, nonetheless.
