My Favorite Far Side Comic Ever

Pink Panther Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Flat

Once upon a time I didn't believe in flats. Don't get me wrong, I acknowledged that they existed. They were just for other people, not for me. To my mind, the sorts of people who wore flats were the same sort who might show up at your house unannounced. Or, who might ask you to water their plants while they're at Burning Man. Or, who might invite you out to lunch, but could you pick them up? And, since you're driving anyway, would you mind driving them to run a few errands? And, did they mention their cat has to come along because its been vomiting a lot and they need to keep an eye on it? Those tricky flat-wearers, treading so quietly in their no-heeled shoes, pouncing out of nowhere thanks to exceptional arch support and multi-surface traction, destroying your otherwise perfect day of solitude and the absence of cat vomit with their sneaky, sneaker-wearing ways. Bah! Well, that's what I used to think of people who wore flats. Used to. Sometime in the intervening years since my very dark thoughts on the matter of flats, a flip was switched and I simply stopped buying heels. It was flats or nothing. In fact, this summer, I wore Birkenstocks nearly every day. [They're on trend, damn you!]It wasn't something I had reflected on too much until this last weekend, when I had a small and sudden "what-have-I-become?" moment and became determined to remedy it by buying some grossly impractical shoes. They were gonna be so nuts. They were gonna be 10-inches tall and made of glass shards. A tiny marine ecosystem of tiny box jellyfish would be housed in each heel, and each footbed would be a tiny bed of nails. And, they would be hot. Like, actual temperature hot, molten lead – not "sexy" hot... who talks that way anymore?But strangely, as I was looking at all those terrifying shoes, captivated by their sheer absurdity, a singular and precise thought came to me: Fuck it. I can absolutely appreciate the beauty of a well-crafted heel, but to purchase those shoes, any of them, would be to throw money at yet another box to collect dust in my closet. I didn't stop wearing heels because I suddenly, inexplicably stopped buying them. I stopped buying them because I wasn't wearing them, because they just didn't make sense for me anymore.The truth is, my own taste for flash and frivolity has given way to comfort and practicality, bolstered by the fact that I've moved from a lifestyle of driving around in cars to one of standing around on MUNI (and often in the various, slippery excreta of my fellow passengers). Where my thinking went all kinds of screwy was in blaming this change on age and "giving up," when what I genuinely believe is going on is that I'm finally making choices based on what works for me and makes me feel comfortable – whether in my clothes or in myself. Feeling comfortable is awesome. There is no one that I am so interested in impressing that I would make myself physically uncomfortable to do so. If this attitude is simply a byproduct of aging, then aging is awesome and we should all do more of it.Anywho, long story short (too late), I ended up buying these very comfortable, very practical, totally flashy, totally frivolous, hot pink, leopard-print, calf-hair, slip-on sneakers. Whoever designed the shoebox is either a genius who completely understands the challenging and uneasy relationship a lady can have with her footwear and how said footwear are unfairly deemed analogous to her station in life; or is, in fact, a 14-year-old girl.I paid retail at Nordstrom for these shoes, like a sucker, but you can get them on sale on Shopbop or Revolve, if you're interested.

Sixteenth of September

Sixteenth of September by René Magritte

Spire & Smithsonian's People's Design Award

For the last few months I've been working with a small wearable tech startup called Spire. We've just been nominated for the Cooper Hewitt People's Design Award! If you have a free moment, please vote for us! We'd be grateful for your support.P.S. You can cast a new vote every day!

September Morning

Alfred Sisley, 1887[Source] 

Looking for Video Games?

A Bee's Life is the personal blog of Marie Kare. It serves as an outlet for whatever may be going on in her life that isn't video games.If you're looking for Marie's blog on everything that is video games, please visit Mariethebee.me

No-Cook Vegan Chocolate Pudding

I've recently taken up cooking and, surprisingly, I don't hate it. In fact, it involves many of my existing favorite pastimes: looking at the internet, buying things, measuring things, punching things, setting things on fire. And, at the end of all that, you get to put things in your mouth. Fantastic.As I level up my cooking skill, I find myself testing the limits of what I'm prepared to eat, which, if you know me at all, is generally restricted to foods of  the "animal" and "closely associated with animals" varieties. Needless to say, when I decided I was going to try my hand at some vegan chocolate pudding I suffered a pretty substantial existential crisis. Who am I? What have I become? What is the nature of the universe? Can this be happiness, this terrifying freedom?Thankfully, almost any question can be answered with chocolate.Here's a recipe forvegan chocolate pudding. You'll need:

• 2 avocados

• 1 cup of chocolate almond milk

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder

• 3/4 cup maple syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

• a pinch of sea salt

• a sprinkling of cocoa nibs, if you've got them. (I just happened to have received some for my birthday. Thanks, Melissa!)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. The mixture will be thick (it's pudding), so you may have to whip out a spatula and stir things up a bit manually. Makes about a dozen 1/4-cup servings, depending upon the size of your avocados. Mine lasted about a week in the fridge with no discernible change in flavor before it was consumed entirely. Your mileage may vary.I've also found that the 1/4-cup serving size fits perfectly into those little mason jars you can buy at the hardware store, as pictured above. So fancy.If you end up making a batch, please let me know how it turns out. I did a taste test at work and the majority of people enjoyed it and didn't notice the avocado flavor at all.

Fun Fact: Caterpillars

Fun Fact: The pokey things on a caterpillar's head are not "antlers." ‪#‎themoreyouknow‬ [image source]

Creativity Explored

At work, we're  producing a series of videos profiling local nonprofit organizations. Over the last week, I've had the opportunity to go behind the scenes at the video shoots, spending some quality time with a few of the featured organizations.The experience has been incredible. On a day-to-day basis, I'd say my colleagues and I remain largely removed from the organizations and individuals our platform serves. Sure, ostensibly we know quite a bit about the folks on our site. We've got data galore, spreadsheets a-poppin', charts and graphs (line, pie, venn) that show, to the very dollar, the impacts of fundraisers. But, nothing can possibly compare to seeing that impact in the flesh, up close and personal, alive and very eager to show you, say, a really cool painting of Adele he just made.That was exactly the situation in pretty much every photo above, taken during our visit to Creativity Explored. Creativity Explored is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization and visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art. This year, CE will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Most of the people I know in San Francisco, didn't even know it existed. Hopefully, they do now. :)Anywho, just wanted to share. If you have the time and the inclination, I highly recommend stopping by their gallery and studio. Here's the relevant info:

Creativity Explored (Where Art Changes Lives)3245 16th Street (at Guerrero Street)San Francisco CA 94103Studio HoursMonday – Friday, 8:30 am to 2:30 pmGallery HoursMonday – Friday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pmThursday, 10:00 am to 7:00 pmSaturday - Sunday, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Many more pics from our other shoots still to come! Please stay tuned!

San Francisco Animal Care & Control

San Francisco Animal Care & Control is San Francisco's "only open door animal shelter that accepts any animal - in any condition - of any temperament. SF ACC is responsible for the City’s stray, injured, abandoned, neglected and mistreated animals - of all species - and wildlife. All varieties of animals are available for adoption daily."

Having adopted two dogs who were surrendered to shelters (Audrey came from the Pinole shelter, Penelope from  SF ACC), I feel as though I owe decades' worth of happiness and camaraderie to organizations like the SF ACC. They do so much to enrich the lives of both people and animals. I've seen that impact first hand.Please join me in supporting the SF ACC's latest fundraiser, Bringing Music to Their Ears, which will supply the facility with a state-of-the-art sound system to sooth and calm shelter animals and the people who care for them in an often hectic, loud, and stressful environment.

[all images courtesy of SF ACC and some taken by me]

Stick

 Penelope likes her new stick so much she prefers to sleep out on the deck with it, rather than come inside where sticks are not allowed.

Nearly 40 Years Old and Not a Day Past 12

IMG_1049

Whenever Ben and I get to name a religion in Civilization 5 (we play together on the TV via Steam Big Picture – LIFE CHANGER), we always name it "Penelope's Butt." And every time we get a message that says something like "Geneva wants Penelope's Butt," we laugh out loud. We are grown-ups.

Credit Where Credit's Due

Oftentimes, my dreams will roll credits at the very end. It happens all the time.The thing is, I never, ever get an Executive Producer credit.This pisses me off to no end.I mean, c'mon.

Afternoon Walk In Golden Gate Park

Atlas

Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted.

Franz Kafka

[image source]

Penelope's First Trip to Fort Funston

Razoo Community Service Day @ Hawk Hill

The company I work for had a community service day recently. We spent a morning pulling weeds on Hawk Hill in Marin. If you have to do community service, there are far worse places you could be.

Secret: Team Building Exercises Are Sometimes Awesome

Last week, our company had a team-building afternoon consisting in a mission-based scavenger hunt that took us all over San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. It was a long, hot day full of not entirely welcome silliness, but, truth be told: there were some pretty enjoyable moments. My favorite is shown in the images below. Our team (Team Razoo Dazzle!) was asked to depict ourselves in our best possible and worst possible moments as captured by the paparazzi.I honestly think we should have won the game on the strength of these pictures alone.I feel tremendously fortunate to have been behind the camera for these pictures, and think the world of my teammates for their commitment to the project: Hillel face planted in some playground sand. Kids pee in that stuff. You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.

Meet Penelope

Our first meeting at the SFACC.

Ben and I have adopted a new dog, a 5-year-old boxer who was surrendered to the SFACC after her former owner lost his home. We're calling her Penelope. Here are a few pictures from her very first weekend with us. So many more pictures of Penelope to come.

Musée Mecanique

At the Musée Mecanique.