PACIFIC GROVE GROOVES ON RETURN OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES
On Christmas day in Pacific Grove, I was standing under a canopy of monarch butterflies with my ex-boyfriend of years past. At first, it had looked as though the cluster of eucalyptus trees was filtering out the afternoon sun. I realized, though, that the sky was literally aflutter with wings….
KITSCH BLENDS WITH POSTMODERN IN S.F. NEIGHBORHOOD
FINDING AN AUTHENTIC San Francisco neighborhood to hang out in can be a problem nowadays. First, you have to resolve all that sociological terminology on what neighborhood authenticity means anyway. For me, that means fewer chain stores and more cobblers. It also means the inevitable Starbucks has to be in…
TEMPLE SPACE UNITES JAPANESE, AMERICAN DESIGN
The surprise is not that Yoshi and Gengo Akiba harbor a Zen Buddhist temple next to their Japanese-style Oakland house and garden. The surprise is that the original house, a seemingly perfect fit for the nightclub co-owner and Buddhist priest, wasn’t made for them. The Akibas used to live above…
Backyard Zen: Home of club owner Yoshi is serene Buddhist re-treat with a story
OAKLAND, Calif. _ The surprise is not that Yoshi and Gengo Akiba harbor a Zen Buddhist temple next to their Japanese-style Oakland house and garden. It isn’t that the temple happens to be next door to St. Albert’s College, whose European grandeur is just as unexpected in this residential Chabot…
Chicago’s urban landscape; is an architectural; masterpiece; Famed designers with diverse theories put their mark on the Windy City
Forget the blues. Forget da Bears, or da Bulls. For all its blue-collar bluster and bratwurst, Chicago emanates a world-class aesthetic that helped define modernism. The city echoes a condensed New York skyline and Boston’s eminent walkability, but its upstart sensibilities embracing modern art, daring architecture and stunning sculptures are…
BUILDING CHICAGO; A TOUR OF THE WINDY CITY’S RICH ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
Forget the blues. Forget da Bears, or da Bulls.For all its blue-collar bluster and bratwurst, Chicago emanates a world-class aesthetic that helped define modernism. The city echoes a condensed New York skyline and Boston’s eminent walkability, but its upstart sensibilities embracing modern art, daring architecture and stunning sculptures are entirely…
OUT THERE A stroll through Stoneman is food for the soul
What, you wonder, would the soundtrack of your life be? Some songs forever link themselves to incidents in our lives. The association can be pure happenstance, the melody churning in the background during a significant moment. Sometimes, it’s an inexplicable, momentary obsession with a tune, and its lyrical wisdom somehow…
TAKE A HIKE Bay Area’s bounty includes lovely places to go for a stroll
EITHER THE COUCH is getting smaller or the turkeys are getting bigger. Giving thanks can be a broadening experience. Unfortunately, you tend to show too much gratitude for a bountiful harvest. Afterward, the only movement you can muster is a determined waddle from the Thanksgiving table to the couch. Next…
SUBURBAN EXPLORER The street-wise shop at Telegraph Avenue
I once lived on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley between Channing and Haste streets, in “deep kimchee” as the officer in riot gear once told me when I was trying to return home during the People’s Park rallies (the ’80s version, not the ’60s tumult). I didn’t hold much neighborly kinship to the…