grieving for all those beautiful souls in our bay area arts/community, in the oakland fire this last weekend. and thinking about their loved ones,
i have no words.
thank you patti for your art, your words.

this is beautiful.

—
mi heart | Oakland warehouse fire | An Open Letter to Our Community From the Former Residents of the Recently Closed LoBot Gallery in West Oakland | People need places to gather in Beloved Community

sometimes you just gotta go for a hike ..

oh hai

sutro baths y the pacific at a rather serene noon outing, the monday after thanksgiving.

the pacific tides and the bay tides are always doing some kind ying yang cabbage patch circular dance off around this area

the view from the land’s end visitor center. there are public restrooms, a cafe and souvenir shop. also, they have it’s its.

perhaps a somewhat repetitive photo/post, i do enjoy walking around land’s end quite a bit.

sharing this from a device with the mobile version of WordPress. so silky smooth! 🤖😜

xo m.

hola.

choosing to take a breath
how is this the now?
i have so many questions.
there is so much work to do.

i hope that wherever you are,
you are safe,
that you are not seen as a threat to those who live in fear,
that you are not seen as a paper status,
a sin,
i hope that one day more people see the value of speaking two languages (or more),
the love from having two dads,
or two moms,
your grit, your multigenerational struggle,
your first generation pride,

and that those who see acts of hate,
hear voices of ignorance,
speak their voice,

take a stand,
and engage.

i am cautious,
the ugly. tyrants.
i will not live in fear.
m.

—
“ … Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge—even wisdom. Like art.”

No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear | In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent. By Toni Morrison

It's 2004, following the re-election of George W. Bush. I am staring out of the window in an extremely dark mood… https://t.co/ymXQ6SC02Z

— The Nation (@thenation) November 19, 2016

hope you enjoy a peaceful, or chaotic thanksgiving.
however this week/end goes, take a break,
and that you are surrounded with love,
your loved ones, and/or chosen fam.
m.

✖︎ on the to-read list: re-read fahrenheit 451

✖︎ INTERNETS

× The Brotherhood of Big City by the NYTimes | a beautiful set of men of all ages, and bmx bikes in new york.

The brotherhood of big city BMX https://t.co/JOOr1FAsOy pic.twitter.com/Wh2U6Dt0Ur

— NYT Photo (@nytimesphoto) September 29, 2016

×  Meet the Next Generation of Artisan Bike Builders by Bloomberg | a london jeweller-turned-frame builder 💯⚡“… Hartley, 31, a rare woman in an industry dominated by men.”

×  xenia rubinos liked the drawing i made of her 🙂
fb | twitter:

Fan art by Meli in SF 💕 pic.twitter.com/4yH9NgUrEH

— Xenia Rubinos (@xeniarubinos) September 24, 2016

speaking of her awesomeness, check out her new video — you can chose how you view… wows:

✖︎ BOOX

× I just finished reading Packing for Mars 🚀 by Mary Roach. She is a writer based in Oakland, and this very entertaining book was selected to be part of the locally known One City, One Book series, a few years ago. This is unlike any other book I have read in regards of human function, gravity, vomit and other not-so popular topics. She has a sense of humor, and great puns — however there are several terms, acronyms, timelines and such bunch of other geekery I will likely forget within a short period. However poo popcorn, is one term rather difficult to easily forget.

international coffee day self-potrait. coffee mug= daily mug face.

Have a great weekend ×

hola.
hope your weekend was restful and surrounded by things you consider peaceful, chaotic, delicious, or any combination of the three. i found jesus. i was able to recharge batteries, walked more than a few miles, drank lots of coffee y caught up on some reading.

here are four links i’d like to share with you, and a book update:

✖︎ INTERNETS

Is urban cycling worth the risk? by the Financial Times
This article provides great points I hadn’t precisely thought about in that perspective, it provides plenty of facts –though many focused in London– but certainly applicable to any big city. I loved the illustrations as well.

Just Keep Pedalling, Or How To Get Started (Commuting) With Clipless Pedals by stacy-marie ishmael
Love her Preamble. Everyone has various methods, plans and experiences regarding clipless pedals however one things is guaranteed: you will fall. and that is OKAY. 🙂

What San Francisco Says About America by Thomas Fuller
A Foreign Correspondent Comes Home, Delighted and Bewildered …

Laurie Hernandez Is Puerto Rican, Whether Anyone Agrees Or Not by Sarina Morales | ‘You can’t win. Either you’ve integrated yourself too much or not enough.’
++
great article and discussion-igniter on identity and language. i, personally speak two languages fluently. i, have many peers to whom this article hits home quite closely. language (lack of one or the other, or another) makes them no less of what+how they culturally identify themselves. ps. i love laurie so SO much!

✖︎ BOOKS

“…The sky grew darker, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night.” —Murakami. Dance Dance Dance (1994).
++
Great soft interlaced read so far, quite poetic if you play close attention. This is the second Murakami piece i read with a recurring theme in a pivotal character plot: teenage girl. i should finish it tonight after hitting Publish on the magic device connected to the webs, known as personal computer.

new yorker illustration by antony huchette ++ cute video of his illustrations for that issue here.

September and the virgos, quite a ride.
Have a great week ahead.
MELI

greetings from sebastopol, ca.

window witch brew

took last friday off work— so mi mom, ratta and i headed up north to have lunch in west marin.
instead we ended up the road by bodega and went on to occidental. afterwards, we came across the cutest evening farmer’s market and had a nice stroll amongst a talented musician, bread makers, cheese goddesses and displays of beautiful leafy greens. i met the artist dirty mat leonardo, we chatted for a bit about micron pens and birds.

a pleasant afternoon in the farmer’s market. occidental, ca.

love this neat dude + that beard.

we then continued the nice afternoon by looking for a nice dose of evening coffee before we headed back to the city, and we stopped in downtown sebastopol. it had been almost a year (or two?) since last time i was up in that pocket of sonoma and i hadn’t notice a whole area of new retail, brewery/wine rooms and storefronts adjacent to the newish (2013 or so, i believe) rialto theatre, which seems like quite a popular destination for friday nite. i love seeing movies in the theatre and wouldn’t mind planning an outing up there, looks new-era of cinema cool.

wine bike doggie

curvy derby

curvy derby

ding ding

anyway, these awesome metal sculpture pieces are everywhere in sebastopol (spotted the first one after lunch in occidental, and in bodega) they are made by local artist duo patrick amiot and brigitte laurent. <

🎨🚲🙃💯 × very groovy.
can’t wait to come across more of their sculptures, hope to return soon!

further reading:
[from 2002] sfgate: There’s art on our lawn
[from 2013] never ending voyage: sebastopol quirky sculptures.

it has been a couple of years since mi mucha música Monday series came to a conclusion. it was a little weekly musical dose of stuff that i came across or jammed to that week.

so wanted to get share these three gems with you. hope you like them as much as i did 🙂

—
1 × ¡ADORABLE! soy yo by bomba estéreo:

—
2 × THIS GIRL knows a good recipe for a video. HOT.
lonely lover by xenia rubinos:

—
3 × GRIEF this is dark and sad as it is tremendously deep. i knew about nick cave’s loss but had no idea he had this project. just tremendous
trailer:

h/t stevil 

—“What happens when an event occurs that is so catastrophic, that you just change? you change from the known person, to an unknown person.”

first single, full video:

i was floored. this is so deep.
ps. the album is screeining on thursd 9/8. see cities showing one more time with feeling here