hyphenated -
Tags


Blogroll
  • Kevin
  • Keith
  • Niraj
  • Justin
  • Lily
  • Andrew
  • Megan
  • Kat
    • Filed under

    San Francisco

     
    November 19, 2009 7:13 PM
     

    ocean beach

    Dear Pacific Ocean,

    I've only known you for five years, but it feels much longer. I think that a few years spent living so close to one of your many bays was enough for us to form a strong bond. I awoke this morning feeling that it'd been too long since I last saw you (three weeks ago today, and it was only a quick glimpse from the span of the Golden Gate Bridge) and I decided to be proactive and do something about it. San Francisco is "The City by the Bay", but visiting the bay seemed insufficient given how long it's been since I've seen you. So, I decided to put in the effort (really not that much effort, but about an hour on transit each way nonetheless) to see you in all your glory. And it was well worth it. Thank you for the fresh, invigorating air and the soft sand and the big sky. And, given the fire pits on the beach, I'm happy to note that this city welcomes people to enjoy your beauty day and night. Feel free to pass the message on to Gregor Robertson.

    I hope to see you again soon!

                             
    Click here to download:
    ocean_beach.zip (3867 KB)

    Filed under  //   San Francisco  

    Comments [1]

    November 14, 2009 6:17 PM
     

    home sweet home

    "Do you miss Vancouver?"

    I don't know how many times I've been posed this question in the past two weeks, but it's come up more than once and I find that it's difficult to answer. Part of me feels compelled to answer "Yes!" emphatically because there are so many things that I love about Vancouver that I haven't yet found in San Francisco - great, cheap Japanese food, the ability to walk to a forest and a beach simultaneously, good friends, mountains... 

    That said, I'm not homesick. I can only presume that this is because I already consider this to be home, which seems like an uncharacteristically rapid adaptation. I mainly attribute the ease of the transition to the "home is where the heart is" factor that I contemplated in a previous post. Having hauled all of our stuff here also helps. I try not to become too attached to material possessions, but climbing into a familiar bed and lounging on our sustainable couch is rather comforting.

    Then there are all the great qualities of San Francisco that serve as excellent distractions from any potential feelings of homesickness. When we first visited a few years ago, my first impression of the city was that it was an awesome hybrid between Vancouver and Montreal. San Francisco has the scenic, west coast vibe of Vancouver combined with the history, character, and charm of Montreal. My first impressions have been validated so far and I'm really enjoying life here. Being able to wear sandals in November is just an added bonus.


    Filed under  //   San Francisco   Vancouver  

    Comments [2]

    November 8, 2009 12:09 PM
     

    plenty of fish

    When we left Vancouver, our friends Mark and Stephanie gave us some money as a gift with specific instructions for spending it. Mark described a place in San Francisco that he had read about consisting of an aquarium, a biodome, and a planetarium under one roof and insisted that we visit it. Kevin and I forgot the name of the attraction, but intended on looking it up once we got settled here. 

    Yesterday morning over coffee, we were discussing weekend plans with our roommate and the latest houseguest (houseguests are a regular occurrence here). We had none and Paul was going to the California Academy of Sciences (the CalAcademy) with a friend. I asked what that was and Paul described it as an aquarium, a biodome, and a planetarium under one (green) roof. Assuming that this must be the place Mark referred us to, we went along.

    The CalAcademy was great, especially the aquarium. The re-created tropical seascape reminded me of the course I took at McGill that involved two weeks in Barbados studying the coral reef ecosystem (Kevin claims that I only enrol in programs where I get credits to travel to warm destinations - I also went to Baja Mexico for a grad school course). Many of the fish were familiar, but many of the names had evaporated from my memory. Proof of the "if you don't use it, you lose it" principle. 

    The dark rooms of the aquarium were packed full of families (consequence of going on a weekend), including small children captivated by colourful fish schooling amongst the coral in the huge tanks. Unlike me, they had names for many of the fishees, such as Nemo and Dora.

    Standing before the glass, mesmerized by the fish swimming to and fro in their limited habitat, I couldn't help but contemplate the potential for coral reefs to become artifacts in my lifetime, seen only in aquariums and natural history museums. The prospect of not being able to snorkel in natural living reef ecosystems with parrotfish, eels, butterflyfish, angelfish, urchins, groupers... the list goes on, is disturbing and depressing but highly likely, due in part to climate change:

    It is clear that anthropogenic climate change is already negatively impacting the world’s corals and coral reefs. The threat will almost surely grow over the next several decades as the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide increases and ocean warming and acidification accelerate. Predicting future impacts of climate change on corals and coral reefs is complicated given all the uncertainty about the political response, future technologies, changes in human behavior, the earth climate system and the actual effects on reef inhabitants. But even conservative forecasts suggest that we could loose coral reef ecosystems by the end of the 21st century. 
    Bruno, John (Lead Author); Mark McGinley (Topic Editor). 2008. "Coral reefs and climate change." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth December 19, 2007; Last revised August 26, 2008; Retrieved November 8, 2009]

    We didn't make it into the biodome because of the long line, but I'm thinking we'll get a membership to the CalAcademy and go back.

               
    Click here to download:
    plenty_of_fish.zip (2321 KB)

    Filed under  //   San Francisco   science & technology   sustainability  

    Comments [1]

    November 1, 2009 7:16 AM
     

    fall migration

    My aching muscles this morning serve as a reminder of the move 1531km south. The distance feels very real having driven a U-Haul for two days down the I-A. I should qualify that statement - Kevin did all the driving. Being a relatively new driver, I thought it best not to be behind the wheel of a 1-ton truck containing all of our possessions, worldly or otherwise. In any case, San Francisco didn't seem very far from Vancouver when flying, but driving across the border and two states into California put it all into perspective.


    Through most of Washington and Oregon, it rained. When we entered California, the clouds parted and the sun started shining. A good omen? I hope so. Between the Oregon-California border and San Francisco, we drove behind multiple trucks filled with recently harvested and very fragrant garlic and through long stretches of highway bordered on both sides by olive groves. With garlic and olives being favourites of mine, California gave a very good first impression. 

    We also took a detour due to the closure of the Bay Bridge. With no paper maps of the Bay Area, I plotted an alternate route using the maps app on the iPhone and assumed the duty of U-Haul navigator. Sounds like a straightforward task, but rush hour traffic, a wrong exit due to signage conflicting with iPhone instructions, and the setting sun blinding us whenever the road took a turn to the west added a nontrivial amount of stress to the journey. That said, the detour was such that we entered SF over the Golden Gate bridge with the remnants of the sunset over the Pacific on our right, the twinkling lights of the city on our left, and the awesome supports of the landmark bridge overhead. A good reward for our efforts.

    Unpacking, the best part about moving (as per my tweet, it's like a birthday where you know in advance what you're getting and everything is slightly used), has been my main focus since we arrived on Thursday. Needless to say, I haven't begun exploring my new neighbourhood and city beyond the nearest coffee shop, fish taco restaurant, and grocery store. That's the next part of the adventure.

    Filed under  //   San Francisco   Vancouver  

    Comments [2]

    October 1, 2009 6:46 PM
     

    proverbial oysters and emoticons

    I'm bracing myself for major change. Tomorrow is my last day of work and then I'm off for the next 365 days. I have no plans beyond moving to San Francisco. The world is my oyster. I'm hoping that I don't develop an allergy to shellfish.

    Like not seeing the forest for the trees, I've been so focused on the logistics of the change itself that I almost lost sight of the underlying reason for it: being together. Kevin and I have been apart for six months. We've been keeping in touch via Skype, Gchat, and Twitter and there's been some travel between San Francisco and Vancouver, but I'm sick of long distance. 

    Beyond the challenge of connecting over a bad connection (yes, the reference is to AT&T) or the frustrations of instant messaging with someone when the computer being on doesn't imply that they are necessarily sitting in front of it (hey! [long pause] hello? [long pause] are you there? [no response]), living two separate lives is difficult. I want to be there for Kevin and I want him to be there for me and, most of the time, emoticons just don't cut it. Technological advances have made long distance more bearable, but there's no substitute for a real hug.

    But in two days, I won't have to rely on parentheses, colons, lesser than symbols and 3's, x's and o's, etc. any longer. It's all still sinking in, but the forest is coming into focus ;)

    Filed under  //   San Francisco   Vancouver  

    Comments [2]