SF Day 4: Yoga Tree, Osha Thai, and MoMA

Day 4 started out fairly slowly to allow myself some recuperation time. I never really got used to the three hour time difference so when I normally would be waking up in Charleston at 10am, I was actually waking up at 7am in San Francisco. So for the first time in my life I was waking up and going to sleep at "normal" hours (perhaps I've just always been running in SF terms?). Therefore, by the time San Francisco 10am rolled around and I had already showered and had my complimentary breakfast (I think they put crack in their coffee) I was ready to roam the city. I decided, upon a friend's recommendation, that I should visit the Yoga Tree, a popular yoga studio chain in SF. I took a 10:35 Anusara class with K K Ledford, who was this tiny, far-out lady. She talked to us about this month's planetary alignment, and how all energies will be amplified. So make sure you're not channeling any negative energy this month- good energies only! Anyway, the class itself was very good and I managed, for the first time, to do an actual handstand.

I then ventured forth to the Osha Thai restaurant on 2nd street to meet Steve and Vanessa, his girlfriend. Now I must say I've never been at at restaurant where the service was this intent on serving us. I was actually surprised that they didn't try to spoon feed us our meals! At one point Vanessa got up and while she was gone a waitress actually came over to the table and re-folded her napkin while Steve and I sat silently starting with astonishment. My guess was that they were either really bored or their regional manager was visiting and they needed to get a good review. Anyway, the food was spectacular (yes Steve, I still think our local Taste of Thai is just as good) and they had these really cool elephant sculptures all over the place.

My last endeavor of the day was to go to the San Francisco MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). It was open late on Thursdays so I ended up staying there till about 9:30pm. The special exhibit that was going on at the time was the Steins collection which housed a lot of Picasso and Matisse. Now, I have seen a lot of Picasso and Matisse but it was interesting to see some of their not-so-famous work. Because photography was not allowed I did some sketches instead. The rest of the museum was filled with the fairly standard collection of Modern artists, which was also nice to see. (Sorry for the bad photo quality, there was no flash allowed)

^This one was called "Lick and Lather" by Janine Antoni. One bust was made of chocolate, which she re- sculpted by licking and the other of soap which she re-sculpted by lathering. More on Antoni and her work here.

^Vija Clemins. I love the intimacy and pencil detail in her drawings. This was beautiful to see in person. More on Clemins here.

^Stuart Davis.

^Piet Mondrian. This was another piece that was very interesting to see up close. Although I am not the biggest fan of his non-representational style, what I learned was that even though everything appears to be straight and rigid, all of his brushstrokes are wavy and curved.

^Philip Guston.

My favorite piece I think was one by Picasso during his Rose Period. It is a 1905 oil painting on cardboard titled "Seated Nude." This is the work I did some sketches of and it looks like this:

Except in person the colors look more like this:

SF Day 3: Japanese Tea Gardens, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Danger Walk

^Das me outside the SF Japanese Tea Gardens.

We managed to get a hold of a car today, which was super nice since both my mentor's and my feet were blown. I was all too excited to visit the Japanese Tea Gardens. I had my obligatory cup of tea (it was delicious), and then totally started geeking out (in a very zen manner) all over the gardens. As a souvenir I bought myself and a friend a pair of those Japanese toe socks, which I plan on wearing on a regular basis.

^There were ponds with Koi fish everywhere. They were very pretty and serene. I liked this photo because of the reflection of the sky.

^Zen garden.

^My yummy tea! Best part of the day hands down.

^The view from the tea house.

^Decorative bridge that everyone enjoyed trying to climb.

^View of one of the ponds and the pagoda.

^One of the waterfalls.

^A fountain I was very fond of outside the giftshop.

Next we drove over to the West Coast to take a gander at the ocean/beach where we took our nature danger walk. We decided that the beach was not hardcore enough and instead went and found some cliffs that used to be old bathhouses (the ruins of which were pretty spectacular) and found a cave to go prowling through. It was really pretty. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere (I might have stolen one or two) and the sun was just coming out. We climbed to the top of a high cliff and from there we could see everything. On the left we had the beach and ocean filled with rocks and caves and to the right we could see the Golden Gate Bridge and the city in the background.

^Old bath house ruins.

^Steve goofing off next to the danger signs.

^Me goofing off next to the danger signs. There was another with a picture of a guy falling off the cliff, that was my personal favorite.

^View from inside the cave.

^The view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

^Very picturesque.

We then went over to the Golden Gate Bridge and decided to walk it because driving would cost $6. It was a gorgeous view but got very windy very quickly. I enjoyed it, but felt that it was a sort of tourist must-see, got some pictures, and headed out. There were also some really ballsy stand-up paddle boarders surfing on the waves under the bridge, we decided that they had to be from an action movie and we named them Ben Afflick and Will Smith.

^Mandatory Golden Gate Bridge photos.

The day ended just as sweetly with a delicious and completely vegetarian meal at Golden Era (which I highly recommend) and some shopping at Anthropologie and Nordstrom.

Day 2: SF Street Art

Hello Hello!

Despite it being rainy and cold, I visited the Asian art museum today. There is are definitely some beautiful things in there including the fairly standard Asian-history stuff. My favorite sections would have to be India and Japan:

^Japanese pottery.

^ Japanese Kimono worn by the crown prince.

^Jade bowl.

^Chinese painting.

My ultimate favorite thing, however, would have to be the giant floor to ceiling metal mesh screens with flowers drawn on them with a fire torch. When up close, you could see all the colors. It was really stunning:

After geeking out at the Museum I got a preview of Steve Johnston's solo show at 111 Minna Gallery called "Fight or Flight." Its really spectacular! The opening night is Thursday and anyone in San Francisco should attend.

^ Look how happy he is. If you go to the show you will be happy too.

Next, I endeavored on one of the longest walks of my life through the alleys of the Mission District in search of SF street art. I was not disappointed! I found street art galore and these were some of my favorites:

^I just really like that cat.

^Old mural of elephant, Steve claims this artist and his work have been around for a long time.

^Flame-breathing fuzzy monster?

^This one might be my favorite. It's pretty sweet.

^These Koi fish were everywhere. This artist really got around.

^This one was right next to a giant Mars1 mural.

I also got a chance to visit some local stores that had trendy, artsy clothes including Uptown Playground where I got a screen printed tee. I think I walked about 20 miles and by the time I finally got back to my hotel my feet felt like they were going to fall off. Overall, though, I couldn't be more pleased.