Apr 25, 2011, 2011, 6:12pm
Every now and then it's time to take a risk – with legs on the edge, ready to fall right into an unexpected adventure. It's that time for me.
This is my last week at The Bold Italic. I'm leaving to embark on a path towards my long-time passion for social innovation, tech, and education as a design consultant.
I started freelancing for The Bold Italic back in February 2010 when I was still a grad student at California College of the Arts completing an MFA on Design. As a freelancer, I designed several of the backstories on the site, work which allowed me to uncover the many layers of our city and validate my belief in design to influence and celebrate a community.
When I joined The Bold Italic team full-time as the Interaction Design Lead, I had the pleasure of working alongside a talented group of people, whose passion for telling stories and sharing their experiences is truly inspiring.
Storytelling helps create connection and meaning. For me, this is what The Bold Italic does best. I have enjoyed being part of a project that looks to make sense of our collective narratives and frame those through design.
I'm very grateful for having the chance to be part of
all this
and am excited for what's to come.
The warmest of good-byes (for now),
Indhi
Apr 22, 2011, 2011, 2:17pm
Last night, our microhood party returned! Hundreds of folks swarmed Valencia Street at 15th to check out the unique offerings from Four Barrel Coffee, Nooworks, Farnsworth, Michael Rosenthal Gallery, and The Common. We playfully titled the event Valencia Bottoms and were happy to welcome a couple great sponsors, Zipcar and Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, to join in the fun.
In between digging complimentary libations and unmissable deals at each of the participating shops, people relaxed on Valencia Street to soak up a bit of sun ...
Rosenthal Gallery hosted a one-night only gallery sale featuring some awesome art, while Michael from The Common mixed magical cocktails that showcased delicious and hard-to-find liquors, Root and Snap.
Four Barrel proved that beer and coffee do indeed belong together. There's nothing better than Four Barrel's affogato (a shot of their expresso and a scoop of vanilla ice cream) paired with Speakeasy's Big Daddy I.P.A.
Zipcar was on hand to sign people up for their unique car sharing service.
And Little Knock's Vietnamese food cart made sure that no one went hungry.
Thanks to our participating merchants, sponsors, donors, and everyone who came out for making Valencia Bottoms one of our best microhood parties yet. We can't wait for the next one.
Wanna see more? Check out more event photos (shot by The Bold Italic's
Nicole Grant and
Sarah Han) on
Facebook and
Flickr.
Apr 21, 2011, 2011, 9:14am
We have such an inspiring skyline here, of course artists are going to be moved to remake their own versions of it in various mediums. The pieces that stand out the most to me, though, are the ones that use materials you'd never expect. Liz Hickok's San Francisco in Jell-O series is stunning no matter how many times I revisit her colorful cubes online. (You can experience a very surreal earthquake any time, for example, via Liz's Telegraph Hill Earthquake video from 2005).
Another amazing San Francisco model comes from artist Scott Weaver, who made an incredible city-as-labyrinth out of 100,000 toothpicks. This video shows Scott walking viewers through his interconnected landscape, "Rolling Through the Bay," and he points out delicate landmarks (Cliff House, Lombard St., Chinatown, Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz Island, Ferry Building) by dropping little ping pong balls through the chutes linking his buildings.
Scott explains in this clip that it took him 34 years to create this wooden masterpiece — which includes nods to places surrounding SF as well as city markers. The sculpture is on display at the Exploratrium's Tinkering Studio through the end of June. Incredible what tiny sticks and Elmer's Glue can create (and so sweet that the tiny heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made from toothpicks thrown at Scott's wedding).
Apr 20, 2011, 2011, 1:34pm
Remember when there used to be a flower shop in Hayes Valley? I do. It was run out of a garage on Octavia next to The African Outlet. Since the day it disappeared, the space has been rather dead.
This week, I noticed the garage door is open again! Ali Golden and Sarah Tejada are now working out of the space, and have named it The Bull + The Bear. Ali has a clothing line of drape-y yet timeless pieces, and her stuff was sold at Shotwell's. Sarah makes beautiful jewelry and purses with leather studs and folk art details.
Be sure to take a gander at their goods next time you're in the 'hood, and you can also hi to Ali or Sarah at a great little shop across the street called Reliquary, where they work part time. Hurrah for local fashion!
Categories:
Hayes Valley, Art & Design, Fashion, Shopping
Apr 19, 2011, 2011, 11:00am
Last May, Bold Local N.W. Smith wrote "The Cutting Edge," a story about finding old school barber shops where he could get an old-fashioned straight razor shave. In the piece, the first place he visited was the Original Palace Barber Shop in SoMA, where he admits, he was expecting mustachioed men barbers. Instead, a motherly woman named Teresa was there to service him. N.W.'s assumption, it turns out, isn't uncommon.
While browsing Vimeo, I first stumbled upon "It's a Man's Man's Man's Barber School," part three of a four-part series called "Barber School Day" by Turnstyle Video. The video focuses on Sylvia B., a woman who works at the San Francisco Barber College on Sixth Street, and offers an interesting peek behind the scenes at a traditionally male-dominated space. As Sylvia explains in the clip, "It takes a certain girl to deal with boys all day." She started going to school because her male friends kept telling her that "guys love a girl barber," and that she'd make a lot of money. Easier said than done. Sylvia found that being a woman in this profession isn't easy because not all men want a female to cut their hair. She often has to win customers over, and sometimes only after other male barbers reassure them of her skills.
I was glad to see Turnstyle give a woman's side to the story, even if a female is a rarity in a barbershop. Here's to Sylvia, Teresa, and all the other women barbers in San Francisco!
See more videos from the series on Turnstyle's website.
Categories:
Grooming
