Enjoy the moment, slow down

Spotted in my neighborhood. Thought I'd post it as the thought for the day. Here's another view of the sign, below. I cropped it philosophically. (The full text of the sign is actually, "Traffic calming measures ahead - Enjoy the moment, slow down")

Updates: mushroom hunting, fiddle fest, sewing chic T-shirts, decluttering

Other recent activities:

Mushrooms mushrooms mushrooms! We went to the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair last month, as well as the beginner foray in Santa Cruz the following weekend. There was a good diversity of mushroom species at the foray.

More recently, we went on a trip organized by the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz and the Bay Area Mycological Society to the Albion Field Station near Mendocino. What fun! We met some nice people and learned a lot from the experts there. It was my first time to the Mendocino coast, and it is beautiful. The Albion Field Station had really nice digs at a bargain price. We paid $80 total for two nights in a newly-renovated, heated cabin with private bath, and also had access to a huge common room with board games, couches, and a piano, as well as a spacious, fully-stocked, industrial-sized kitchen. We had to chip in with a couple of camp chores, but that was minor. My appreciation was heightened by knowledge of what it costs to stay at any other place around the Mendocino coast! The heated cabin was really a luxury in view of the very wet weather. Would you want to camp in a tent when the weather warrants this kind of attire?!?!

The first day, Saturday, we went gourmet mushroom hunting with a large group led by an expert. It rained constantly the entire time we were out that day. We didn't find too much the first day, mainly because we were with a big group on a schedule, we stuck to the easily-accessible (and thus picked over) areas, and we were unfamiliar with the best spots to look.

However, in the evening, we enjoyed a massive, delicious, gourmet potluck that included a lot of freshly-foraged mushrooms. I got to try three kinds of soup, three kinds of dessert, two kinds of homemade apple wine, and countless other fabulous dishes. They had to roll me out the door at the end of the night. Oink oink!

Sunday, we went out by ourselves. This time we were able to take our time and explore further out - and we hit paydirt. We took home a basket and two buckets of mushrooms:

The kinds we collected were black trumpet mushrooms and hedgehog mushrooms. They look nothing like the deadly types. We were excited to find the black trumpets because they are difficult to spot (they look like holes in the ground, or black petunias), so it is like a challenging treasure hunt. But once you find your first batch, your eye gets trained to recognize them more easily. The black trumpets are prized because of their intense flavor, like mushrooms on steroids.

Here are the hedgehogs getting fried up for dinner. They were delicious! If you look closely, you'll see why they're called hedgehogs - the underside of the cap has spine-shaped structures, instead of gills.

We also found two golden chanterelles, a lucky find since it is late in the season for that species. There's another type of chanterelle called the yellowfoot that is in season and that other foragers found in abundance, but we didn't find any. Maybe next winter!

I was pondering whether we broke even on the trip, considering the retail value of the wild mushrooms, which can go for $20-30/pound. I don't think we quite did, but we made a dent! At any rate, we had a bunch of fun.

Another recent outing was the Cloverdale Fiddle Festival last month. This is more of Sugar Daddy's shtick, but I enjoyed the event too. They have bands and a contest (we carpooled up with a contestant). Sugar Daddy wasn't competing, but he did get to jam with some of the other musicians. We saw some mighty good musicians, including some adolescent fiddlers who were really on fire!

I've been working on some sewing projects, mending and modifying clothes. Some of my favorite recent projects were inspired by the book Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt. It's kind of a punk approach to repurposing your old T-shirts. As some of you know, I am the T-shirt Queen, but I don't really need all those shirts; also, there are some T-shirts that I want to wear because they have cool designs, but they don't fit well. So I went to work on altering the shirts, and here are my resulting creations:



I also cut out a bunch of T-shirt squares intending to make a T-shirt quilt, but then I realized that I don't actually need a quilt...I want to keep the squares because the T-shirts they came from have sentimental value, but I'll have to think of something to make with them that I would actually use.

Meanwhile, the decluttering quest continues, and I've been slowly purging stuff and unloading it via Freecycle and similar websites. How liberating it is, to feel the clutter load lighten, and to send the stuff off to people who want to give it a good home!

Recent reading: National Park deaths!

I've been on a rather macabre reading kick lately. I'm not even sure why the topic has so fully captured my fascination. Perhaps I get morbid pleasure out of vicariously falling off a 2,000-foot cliff, due either to tragic happenstance or profound stupidity. Recent reads:

Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite

Shattered Air: A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome

Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon

Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park

Camp 4: Recollections of a Yosemite Rockclimber

Possible future reading in the same vein:

Death, Daring, & Disaster: Search and Rescue in the National Parks

Fateful Journey: Injury and Death on Colorado River Trips in Grand Canyon

The Greatest Search and Rescue Stories Ever Told: Twenty Gripping Tales of Heroism and Bravery

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

We Swam the Grand Canyon: The True Story of a Cheap Vacation that Got a Little Out of Hand

Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure

High Crimes: The Fate Of Everest In An Age Of Greed

Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters

Fundamentals of Search and Rescue

One thing I've learned: those SAR (search and rescue) guys are studs. I like the Friends of YOSAR website.

Singing updates: NATS recital bust, Stanford master class, opera previews

Updates on my recent singing activities:

The Fortnightly Music Club's Centennial Concert finally arrived in January, and our chamber chorus sang a spirited and enjoyable (well, at least to me :) performance of the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes. And let me tell you about the free-flowing food and drinks...yum.

I attended the NATS Student Recital in Danville last night to size it up, and decided that I would not be out of place performing there. I applied for the one in San Jose this month, but unfortunately they were full, so I've been waitlisted. There are recitals in the North and East Bay this spring, but I can't justify driving two hours to sing for six minutes. Will try again in fall and scout out other opportunities in the meantime.

Last week I attended Amy Schneider's master class at Stanford.

I listened to three more operas: Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini, Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni, and La Traviata by Verdi. My current goal is just to get a sense of different opera composers' styles.

Last week, I attended a short preview of Opera San Jose's production of Rigoletto, and tonight I'll go to the short preview of West Bay Opera's production of Così fan tutte. They are great programs and are free, which is good for me because at the moment I am too damn cheap to buy opera tickets, which are decidedly not cheap.

Also earlier today, I finished voice lesson #17.

Serendipity strikes again: classes at SF Conservatory

I was surfing Craigslist recently, and serendipitously came across these two classes being taught at the San Francisco Conservatory. It's funny that I found them just as I was looking for more opportunities to 1) perform in a solo setting and 2) learn more about the classical vocal repertoire. Even better, they are being offered through the adult extension program, so classes are in the evenings and don't require enrollment in a degree program (or a conservatory audition, heh). The only hitch...the performance workshop conflicts with my Monday rehearsals, and the German lied class just happens to conflict with the spring dress rehearsal.

I will cross my fingers that this class will be offered again, preferably in summer when Monday evenings are free.

German Art Song Class for Singers and Pianists
Reply to: event-533870129@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-01-09, 2:40PM

New exciting performance class at the San Francisco Conservatory's Adult Extension!
SIGN UP NOW!!! Registration is limited!

GERMAN LIED PERFORMANCE (for Singers and Pianists)
http://www.sfcm.edu/prep_adultdivisions/adult_courses.aspx#course11
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 6
San Francisco Conservatory of Music / Room C01
10 classes, $350
This class - taught by a native German singer - serves as a hands-on approach to the preparation of German repertoire ranging from Mozart and Beethoven, over Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Wolf to Strauss, Mahler, Schönberg, and Berg. All songs will be performed and discussed in class. Students will work on song repertoire that can be found at SFCM's library. This class will conclude with a public recital.
Covered topics will include:
· International Phonetic Alphabet
· German Diction for non-German speakers
· History and background of discussed composers and poets
· Tools for translation/interpretation of German poetry
· Musical interpretation and execution
· The singer-pianist relationship
· How to plan a recital
· Breaking down the formal barrier between performer and audience
Prerequisites: Open to intermediate/advanced singers and pianists

Classes
Students may register for classes by completing the form below and mailing or faxing it to the
SF Conservatory of Music at 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102 or (fax) 415-503-6299.
Students may also register over the phone with a credit card by calling 415-503-6229.
Fees for classes must be paid before the first class meeting.
A $15 non-refundable registration fee is required to enroll.
Remember to mark your calendar with class dates and times.
Registration Information
http://www.sfcm.edu/prep_adultdivisions/adult_registration.aspx
Registration Form
http://www.sfcm.edu/pdf/AdultExtensionApplication_Sp2008.pdf

Instructor:
Anja Strauss, Soprano holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Musikhochschule Luebeck (M.M.), Germany. She is active as an opera, concert, and lied performer. Appearances include Carnegie's Weill Hall and Lincoln Center, New York City; San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Fremont Symphony, Mozart Society of California, Olympic Music Festival WA; opera performances with Sacramento Opera, San Francisco Lyric, Lamplighters Theater, Pacific Repertory Opera, Pocket Opera, Oakland Opera, and German companies of Luebeck, Kiel, Potsdam and Detmold. In addition to her active performing schedule Anja Strauss is equally in demand as a teacher. 
As a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, she maintains a thriving private voice studio in San Francisco and serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory's Adult Extension and Preparatory Division. She has recorded with Dabringhaus and Grimm and offers German, Italian, French, and Spanish diction.

Original URL: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cls/533870129.html

Classes for Singers - Performance Training
Reply to: event-533841918@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-01-09, 2:14PM

New exciting performance classes for Singers at the San Francisco Conservatory's Adult Extension!
SIGN UP NOW!!! Limited Registration!
PERFORMANCE TRAINING
http://www.sfcm.edu/prep_adultdivisions/adult_courses.aspx#course12
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Starting February 4
San Francisco Conservatory of Music / Room 207
6 classes, $215
This class will provide a safe environment for singers of all levels to enhance their performance skills. The class will meet weekly and each participant will present a selection of their choice. Students are encouraged to critique each other. We will then work on improving stage presence, such as introducing yourself and your repertoire.
Covered topics will include:
· Stage presence (introductions, bowing, etc.)
· Body language and acting tools (How to get into character)
· Musical interpretation and execution
· Breaking down the formal barrier between performer and audience
· Auditioning
Prerequisites: Open to singers of all levels

Classes
Students may register for classes by completing the form below and mailing or faxing it to the
SF Conservatory of Music at 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102 or (fax) 415-503-6299.
Students may also register over the phone with a credit card by calling 415-503-6229.
Fees for classes must be paid before the first class meeting.
A $15 non-refundable registration fee is required to enroll.
Remember to mark your calendar with class dates and times.
Registration Information
http://www.sfcm.edu/prep_adultdivisions/adult_registration.aspx
Registration Form
http://www.sfcm.edu/pdf/AdultExtensionApplication_Sp2008.pdf

Instructor:
Anja Strauss, Soprano holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Musikhochschule Luebeck (M.M.), Germany. She is active as an opera, concert, and lied performer. Appearances include Carnegie's Weill Hall and Lincoln Center, New York City; San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Fremont Symphony, Mozart Society of California, Olympic Music Festival WA; opera performances with Sacramento Opera, San Francisco Lyric, Lamplighters Theater, Pacific Repertory Opera, Pocket Opera, Oakland Opera, and German companies of Luebeck, Kiel, Potsdam and Detmold. In addition to her active performing schedule Anja Strauss is equally in demand as a teacher. 
As a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, she maintains a thriving private voice studio in San Francisco and serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory's Adult Extension and Preparatory Division. She has recorded with Dabringhaus and Grimm and offers German, Italian, French, and Spanish diction.

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Original URL: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cls/533841918.html

The Story of Stuff, and an angry letter

I recently watched the video The Story of Stuff with some friends. (Warning, previous link has sound...) In a succinct twenty-minute whirlwind, it does a broad survey of the often-overlooked environmental and social problems caused by our modern-day consumer economy. The tone was irreverent and frequently over-the-top. I found that amusing, but it could likely be off-putting to those who don't already have a concern for these issues. Nevertheless, I was impressed by how the filmmakers neatly outlined the problems and listed some of the solutions, in such a short video.

On a related note, I bought some pantyhose the other day, and when I opened it, I was disgusted at the amount of packaging it used. Really, there was more packaging than pantyhose. So I fired off a quick note to Hanesbrands, Inc.:

I recently bought a Hanes Luxe Solutions Comfort Thigh High. When I opened the package, I was appalled at how excessive and environmentally-unfriendly the packaging was. There was an outer vinyl(?) package, a cardboard cover, an inner plastic sleeve, and another piece of cardboard backing. This amount of packaging is totally wasteful and unneccessary.

As a consumer, I am perfectly capable of evaluating a product without it being overpackaged for my examination. As a global company, Hanesbrands Inc. is perfectly capable of the minor degree of innovation required to redesign the package to use fewer and more eco-friendly materials, while still protecting and displaying the product attractively. Furthermore, reducing the amount of packaging could even reduce manufacturing and transportation costs for Hanesbrands.

After this recent product experience drew my attention to Hanesbrands, I researched Hanesbrands' track record for environmental and social responsibility on the Responsible Shopper website, www.responsibleshopper.org. I was very disappointed at my findings. I hope that Hanesbrands make a more sincere and substantive effort to address its tarnished record, perhaps starting with a simple reevaluation and redesign of its product packaging. Until then, I will take my business elsewhere, away from Hanesbrands.

I try to take a few minutes to send a note to a company if I feel strongly that their practices could use improvement. I know that my letter is only a drop in the bucket, but hey, with enough drops you can overflow the bucket.

More green job leads/resources

Making a note to myself about a couple of green job leads/resources.

First, the Sierra Magazine article Hot Jobs for a Warming Planet gives some ideas and includes links to green job listing websites. They forgot about engineering, though!

Also, my friend J. emailed me the following:

"My friend is starting a social venture called Taoit.com up in Berkeley. Please read about it at http://www.taoit.com/what. If you are interested in learning more I can put you in touch with him. He was doing his PhD in environment engineering at Berkeley and took a leave to pursue this company with his advisor."

And here's the job description from Taoit:

Taoit - Web Developer

Do you want to use your talents, skills, and creativity to change the world? So do we. Taoit is building an information platform and suite of tools to inform consumers about the environmental, social, and health impacts of products and companies, and to empower them to take actions to improve their lives and the world around them. We are a top-tier VC funded startup at the forefront of integrating science, technology, and consumer research to empower consumers around the world. We are located in downtown Berkeley, steps from BART, great restaurants, coffee shops, book stores, and the University of California. We are looking for a superstar web developer to join our founding team and to help us change the world. The web developer will help to build all aspects of the Taoit website, from front-end to back-end, through the use of world class programming skills employing Ruby on Rails/Agile/TDD/REST.

DUTIES
• Implement key website features with speed, agility, and precision;
• Be involved in the entire application stack, from back-end database to user interface implementation;
• Collaborate with small team of developers.

REQUIREMENTS
• Ruby on Rails programming skills;
• Extensive and demonstrable experience building consumer-facing web applications;
• Driven by agile methodologies, test-driven development, and a deep sense of pride in written code;
• Passion for writing concise, clear, and elegant code that supports accessible web standards;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Master of key web development tools weapons, including RoR, MySQL, HTML, XML, CSS, Javascript, Ajax, and Flash.

COMPENSATION
• Competitive base salary, benefits, and early stage equity.

To apply, please send your resume to: WebNinja@taoit.com