Apothocurious

Zilz project!!

2011-05-30T13:51:00.001-07:00

You get to vote!!

2011-05-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

Which route shall I take?

OR

I am excited to hear that my friend Kendra might be joining me for my Portland to Eugene leg!!

If you sublet here...you would be looking at pictures of your house right now

2011-05-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am headed off on a summer adventure, but my room gets lonely! Want to sublet it from me from June 13th (ish)-Sept 30th(ish) (aka, dates are semi negotiable)?

This is the front stoop.

This is the glorious kitchen

And this is my room. excellent mattress, room for 2 people to do yoga at the SAME TIME!, no closet, but nice shelving/hanging space. It gets GREAT afternoon light. the room can come with guitar and mandolin if you are into music...

The house… is small. It has been rented for many years "as is" so it is a little rough around the edges. we have four bed rooms, a decent sized kitchen (with stainless steel prep table and lots of good cooking stuff), a small bathroom with a sink, toilet and a shower, and a storage room with a futon in it(used for storage, guests, and dinner party over flow). No living room. Located in the panhandle neighborhood. One block from the 21 and the 5 bus line, 2 blocks from the park, central and fulton, google it! The rent is 450/mo + 35/mo for internet, electricity, toilet paper & dish soap. I would like either all money up front or some sort of deposit/agreement. most apartments in SF are expensive, the smallness of the apt is one of the ways we save on rent.

The roomies:

2 cats: rainbow and bean. Friendly, potty trained, and otherwise tolerable/cuddly

roomie 1: in his 40s. works a lot, keeps to himself, but is very enjoyable (in my opinion) to be around, mediates

roomie 2 (me): in her late 20's, working at a cafe and Hayes valley farm, riding bikes, yoga, and living the city life. vegan

Roomie 3: in her late 20's, musician, fun gal, works @ a cafe, loves life, and is going on tour this summer, so she will be gone for a few weeks too.

The vibe: the house is small & the walls are thin. We are open to establishing rules/expectations that help everyone share space in the most comfortable of ways. We all ride bikes, and keep our bikes in the hallway. We live light, or at least try to. We mostly enjoy the party outside of the house, but have friends over for dinner occasionally.

Underground Market!

2011-04-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

Posted by one of my favorites:

Greetings!
In other fun events this weekend, tomorrow is L'Oven Kitchen's grand debut at the SF Underground Market. What is L'Oven Kitchen you say? The culinary, collaborative brainchild of myself and Mr. Ben Chambers that is taking on the cutesy, cupcake empire that has taken over the city one grain of salt at time. Tomorrow we'll be joined by the one and only Slam Johnson of Apothocurious together we'll be reinventing delicious with our SAVORY CUPCAKES + SWEET TACOS and FROSTING BAR. It shall be a scrumptious affair indeed!

We'll be dishing up our goods between 11am and 4pm at the Market, which is going to be taking place at Public Works (161 Erie). Entry to the Market is $5 and there will be a grip of other vendors serving up their homegrown delicacies as well.

L'Oven: you know you want some.
Hope to see you tomorrow!

Cass + Ben + Slam

Throw Down on 4/15!

2011-04-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

Apothocurious will be THROWING DOWN some sort of food bar (tacos, fancy grilled cheese, tdb) @ the Schoolhouse Friday night. I need one volunteer to can help me serve up the deliciousness. Any takers? let me know ASAP

Grant Prix!!

2011-04-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

Dear ALL,

We went to help make your dreams come true.
If you have a project, an idea, something wonderful, you no longer have to wait for moolah.

This coming THURSDAY, The SchoolHouse is throwing their first ever GRANT PRIX.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

1. Everyone is invited to join.
2. At the door at 7PM, people pay $10 for dinner and a ballot.
3. We eat, enjoy live music, and then 6 projects are presented in 5 minutes each.
4. People vote for their favorite project.
5. The top two are given one additional minute to present.
6. Another vote and the winner is decided.
7. All money from tickets go to making that PROJECT COME TRUE.
8. And you have a lot of backers!

That's probably about $300-$500!

- Want to ride a unicycle across America?
- Finish a new robot to serve people ice cream?
- Start a new bike program in a middle school?
- Make a mural on an underpass

This is for you.

"SO WHAT DO I DO IF I WANT TO APPLY?"

Email Sam Haynor with your name, contact, and short project description by this MONDAY AT NOON
The final 6 project contestants will be notified by 6PM.

AND THEN COME TO GRANT PRIX.
Invite all, and whether anyone wins or not, you will have exposure, meet great people, and start bringing it to life.

<3,
100 Days of Spring

Urban Eating League

2011-04-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

The Urban Eating League is a monthly locally-sourced progressive meal with a competitive tilt. Host sites buy and cook food (the cost is covered by the entry fee from the eaters). The teams of eaters travel around to all the different host sites. Eaters score the host sites on various categories (flavor, execution, hospitality, and creativity). The scores are tallied at the dessert potluck after-party and prizes and awards are handed out to the host sites.

Interested in being a host? Read the details below and e mail UEL@wiggparty.org to sign up for our next brunch (April 17th, BRUNCH! Or May 15th, in the evening!)

Host have the opportunity to show case their food, hospitality, and creative skills with a captive audience. The hosts are really the most important element of the event. These are the folks who put in the hard work to make sure the eaters have such an amazing time. Top scoring host sites win prizes, fame, and Internet publicity (posted on multiple bay area community websites). Plus, it’s FUN!

The hosts are responsible for planning a menu, finding the local ingredients, cooking the food, setting the environmental ambiance and overall experience, and generally making it all possible. To help entice people to be hosts (because it really is a challenging workload), we make sure to line up prizes to be awarded at the end of the evening, and we also offer anyone who helps on the hosting end status as “Very Important Eaters” i.e. they get first crack at being eaters in the next event (a serious draw considering the demand far exceeds the supply of eating slots in each UEL event).

We recommend that each host site has at least four people there to help during the event. The host sites need to be able to greet the teams upon entry and engage them in some sort of “front of the house experience” (e.g. performing a ceremony or a skit, setting expectations for the menu, explaining the theme, etc), have at least two people focused on cooking and plating the food, and have someone available to wash dishes in the time between each duo of teams leaves and the new duo arrives (we’ve found that 30 minutes at each site and 15 minutes to travel between sites works well - that means each host site has 15 minutes to “turn things over”).

Interesting in being an eater? Sign up at the Grove st. (@ Divsaedero) Farmers Market starting at 10am till we sell out (we usually sell out before noon).

2011-04-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

Do you love Biking? Do you like camping? Do you love combining biking and camping? Do you love bike touring and want to share your stories? Are you curious about doing a long distance or multi-day bike tour but don't know where to start? Make friends! Learn new skills! Share your stories!

On April 12th we will be hosting a bike touring story telling and skill share night. Starting with stories from new and experienced bike tourers, we'll share ideas and resources to have maximum fun on your bike. Afterward, small group discussions will give you a chance to get in depth, ask questions, and get support around things like choosing a touring bike, camping on the down low, DIY bike gear, and anything else you want to talk about!

We'll also be doing bike maintenance skill shares from 5-6:30 PM for anyone who wants to learn more about basic tools and skills you need to keep riding all day long.

WHAT: Bike touring storytelling and skillshare, brought to you by the Social Fabric, catered by Apothocurious

WHEN: Tuesday, April 12th, 7-9 PM

WHERE: At the Schoolhouse, part of the 100 Days of Spring project
1592 Market St, San Francisco (at the convergence of Franklin and Page)

COST: The Schoolhouse is a community school space that rents its space at a reasonable cost to support community, education, and sharing. We're asking for donations of $5 to cover the costs of using the space! Donations are also accepted for Apothocurious.

Please RSVP to elinordye@gmail.com and let us know you're coming! Or check out the facebook event here!

******Take what you learned and join us on our first community bike tour for all(most everyone) on April 29th, 30, may 1st to the Marin headlands! More details coming soon! ******

The Pink Bike

2011-03-31T11:31:00.001-07:00

I talk to youth almost every day about bicycling. I hear about their favorite bike stories, their family members who ride, and their reasons for not being able to bike. We spend a lot of time talking about the reasons they can’t bike; their parents wont let them, they live to far away from school, they don’t have a bike or a helmet. Often times the situations are overwhelming and the kids have already given up hope of ever being able to ride their bikes to school.

We talk about all the reasons to love biking instead of driving. It produces less traffic, less pollution, more exercise, and of course more fun! We talk about predictability, awareness and communication. In the yard, we practice the skills that will keep them safe on the road.

I spend three 1-hour class sessions with each 4th grade class. In our conversations, stories, and fun, I get to experience the unique personalities of the students. After session 1 of my most recently sequence, a student came up to ask what they had missed while they had been away in music class. He expressed great excitement about the rumors he has heard from classmates claiming we would be riding bikes in the yard. I confirmed the rumor and encouraged the student to ride his bike to school on the day of our big road-eo. The mood shifted, and like most situations, provided a reason why he couldn’t ride. He admitted to owning a pink bike and being too shy to ride it to school. I assured him that the color of the bike did not matter, and that it was the fact that he was able to ride to school that made the experience awesome!

After our third session, where we rode bikes in the yard, we practiced; riding in a straight line (so we are predictable), riding with on hand (so we can communicate our turns and stopping), and looking over our left shoulder (so we can be aware of what is around us), I surprised the small class with the special treat of keeping the helmets we had given them for the day. The class was overjoyed, and I walked away hoping it would mean at least one kid would be able to ride to school more safely.

Well not only was my dream correct, but I was able to see it with my own eyes! Two days later, as I was riding past the school on my way from another class, I was stopped at a red light. Just over the car next to me I could see the top of a familiar red helmet on a cyclist on the sidewalk. It was pouring rain and school had just let out. In head to tow rain gear, I saw the same student who had complain about a “feminine” bike, stand up to pump this infamous pink bike across the street!

Spring!

2011-03-06T11:54:00.001-08:00

Fun Events!

March
6. [FUN!] 100 Days of Spring, Market @ Franklin, 7pm-late, Grand Opening, Community for 100 days.
16. [Volunteer/Fun] Bag Stuffing Party, Presidio, 11:30am-1:30 pm and 5:30pm-8pm, Free Food!
17. [Volunteer/Fun] Bag Stuffing Party, Presidio, 5:30pm-8pm, Free Food!
19. [Bikes/Youth/Volunteer] Community Hubs, Sunset, 10am-3pm
20. [Food] Urban Eating League, Panhandle, 6pm-10pm, Sign up 3.13@Grove Farmer’s Marker 10am-2
21. [Bicycling/Hauling/Delivery/Volunteer] Bag Distribution, San Francisco, 9am-5pm
29. [Bike Tour] YBike staff & Friends Spring break Tour, March 29-31 160 miles up north

April
2-3 [Bike Tour] Trip to Regenerative Design Institute W/ The Wigg Party!
7. [Volunteer/Bicycling/Fun] Bike to School Day! San Francisco, 7:30am-10am
14. [Ice Cream] Volunteer Ice Cream Party! Downtown, 5:30pm-7pm
29. [Bike Tour] Tour for all! 60 mile riders meet up with 15 mile riders to celebrate bike camping!

May
[Fun!] Queer Camp! <100 miles from bay area, Vote now, May 20th-22nd OR 27th-30th

100 Days of Spring,

We will be providing 100 days of 100 events, classes, and performances. It's YOUR space too! It's perfect for whatever you want to offer to the community...DAY 1 is Monday, March 7th. Food, Drinks, Banjos, Clowns, Friends, and everything else you could dream of. It is where the impossible is still impossible, but we strive for it.

Monday, March 7th-June 13th. 100 Events • 100 Classes • 100 Days
1592 Market @ Franklin, 7pm-??,

SF Bike to School Day - Bag Stuffing
Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for our yearly SF Bike to School Day bag stuffing party at the YBIKE headquarters. Over lunch and 2 nights we'll stuff 3000 bags for student riders in this year's SF Bike to School Day on 4/7/11 at over 40 schools across San Francisco. Delicious meals are provided. For more info or to volunteer email rose@sfbike.org or call (415) 431-2453, ext 314.

Wednesday March 16th, 11:30-1:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Teen Center, Letterman Gym, at 1151 Gorgas Ave

Wednesday, March 16th, 5:30-8:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Teen Center, Letterman Gym, at 1151 Gorgas Ave

Thursday, March 17th, 5:30-8:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Teen Center, Letterman Gym, at 1151 Gorgas Ave

Community Hubs - Family Bike Fest!
Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Safe Routes to School staff and the YBIKE program for family bicycle and pedestrian safety training as part of the "Community Hubs" program. It's the perfect place for young and old to learn to ride, learn helmet fitting, safety skills, safe street crossing, and how to ride safely on the road. Bring a bike to donate to the Bike Swap or pick one up for your family. As part of the event 50 bicycle helmets will be given away. For more info or to volunteer go to http://www.ybike.org/communityhubs or email volunteer@ybike.org.

Sat., March 19th, 10am-3pm, Francis Scott Key Elementary School, Sunset neighborhood

Saturday, April 9th, 10am-3pm, Webster Elementary School, Potrero Hill neighborhood

Saturday, April 16th, 10am-3pm, Alamo Elementary School, Richmond neighborhood

Saturday, April 30th, 10am-3pm, Commodore Sloat Elementary School, Balboa Terrace

Urban Eating League-Panhandle
UEL is a progressive dinner, teams of 3 walk from house to house within a neighborhood. Each host site integrates local foods, communal dinning, costumes, competition, and 5 courses of delicious local food. IT costs $15-20 (sliding scale) which does directly to the cost of food. Form a team of 3 hungry folks, good costumes and your epicurean standards and be the first in line (line forms at 10am) at the Grove St. (@ Divisadero) Market on March 13th. Individual spots are available too. E-mail uel@wiggparty.org for more info. Dessert potluck/talent show, open to all, at the Sunshine Castle at 10pm.

Sunday, March 20th, 6pm-10pm, Sign up March 13th @ Grove St. (@ Divsadero) Market 10am-2pm
Sunshine Castle, 1571 Fulton Ave. Dessert Potluck follows, 10pm-?

SF Bike to School Day - Bag Distribution
We are going to deliver 3,000 bags to 40+ schools all over SF. We will need help completing such a task. Do you have a bike and like to haul stuff? Do you have a car and want to take a few boxes to a school near you? E-mail rose@sfbike.org for more details.

Monday, March 21st, 9am till we are done!
YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1151 Gorgas Ave

YBike & Friends Spring Break Tour- Northern Exploration
If it’s your spring break, time for a vacation, or time to take fun-employment on the road, this is the trip for you! We leave Tuesday, with everything we need on our bikes, head north, camping, biking, laughing, and playing along the way. All are welcome! E-mail rose@sfbike.org for more details.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, March 29-31
A Route of 160 miles up north, bike camping

Bicycle Touring Trip to Regenerative Design Institute
With the Wigg Party!
This is a two day bike touring trip to the RDI for a tour of the Common Weal Garden. Tour is on Sunday morning from 1-4pm. The bike tour will leave SF early Saturday morning and will camp out somewhere along the coast. Possible stops along the way: Stinson Beach, Slide Ranch, some hidden waterfalls. Option to bus back on Sunday. Email Clint (clint@wiggparty.org) RDI website for more details has info on the garden tour. it is necessary to register with RDI for the garden tour

Sat and Sun, April 2 and 3, Bicycle Tour
San Francisco to Bolinas and back, all by bike!

Bike to School Day!
Help youth ride to school on April 7th. All over San Francisco, 3,000 youth will ride their bikes to their schools. You can ride with them! Visit www.sfbiketoschoolday.org to sign up your school or e mail rose@sfbike.org to sign up to volunteer today!

Thursday, April 7th, a flexible 7:30am-10 am,
All over San Francisco!

Bike to School Day-Volunteer and Organizer Ice Cream Party
Celebrate this year's event with pictures, stories, food, and "make-your-own ice cream sandwiches." Family friendly and bring some toys for the little ones. E-mail rose@sfbike.org for more details.

Thursday, April 14th, 5:30-7:00pm
SF Bicycle Coalition Office, 833 Market St., 10th Floor, Near Powell St. BART

Tour for all-Marin
A bike tour for anyone who can ride a bike 10 miles
With two riding options, its like a choose your own adventure bike tour! Those interested in riding 30 miles per day and can take Friday off work will ride up to China Camp on Friday morning. On Saturday the same group will ride 20 miles (or more) back to the Marin Headlands and meet up with our second group of riders who opted to leave SF on Saturday morning and ride 10 miles to the Marin headlands. We will meet in the headlands and Celebrate bikes, friends, and camping! On Sunday, after lots of bacon, we will return to the city and ride in the huge (and still to-be-announced) bike parade that will be taking place in the city.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, April 29th-May 1st
A Route of 160 miles up north, bike camping

Queer Camp! <100 miles from bay area,
This is a big dream of mine that I am finally putting into action. Come one, come all, to Queer Camp! All are welcome regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or anything else that we attempt to homogenize in this culture. The weekend will have a summer camp like structure (cabin groups, talent shows, and making out in the woods) without the hetero-normative, put my box in a box, boys v. girls bull shit most of us had to suffer through at other summer camps. Vote now for which weekend you want, sign up to be a cabin leader, and counselor or support staff. There will be some cost of this event, which goes towards food, location, and necessary supplies. Want to be on the planning team? E-mail Johnson.rose@gmail.com, we are forming a planning team.

Vote now, May 20th-22nd OR 27th-30th Or June 3rd-5th
Location is still TBD-do you have access/connections to a big piece of land (w/h2o) where we could camp?

Good Morning Bike to School Day Volunteers!

2011-03-02T10:19:00.001-08:00

Thank you for the hard word you put in last year to make Bike to School day a success! This year we are anticipating 3,000 riders! We have tons of ways you can contribute. Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering and where and we will start putting you on the map!

Community Hubs - Family Bike Fest!

Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Safe Routes to School staff and the YBIKE program for family bicycle and pedestrian safety training as part of the "Community Hubs" program. It's the perfect place for young and old to learn to ride, learn helmet fitting, safety skills, safe street crossing, and how to ride safely on the road. Bring a bike to donate to the Bike Swap or pick one up for your family. As part of the event 50 bicycle helmets will be given away. For more info or to volunteer go to www.ybike.org or email volunteer@ybike.org.

Sat., March 5th 10am-3pm, Cesar Chavez Elementary School

Sat., March 19th, 10am-3pm, Francis Scott Key Elementary School

Organizers Meeting

Meet other organizers are schools near you, hear the low down on the 3rd annual Bike to School day and have your B2SD questions answered at our next Organizer planning meeting. Dinner provide. E-mail sfbike2schoolday@gmail.com to RSVP!

Tuesday, March 8th, 5:30pm-7pm

SF Bicycle Coalition Office, 833 Market St. (near Powell St. BART), on the10th Floor.

SF Bike to School Day - Bag Stuffing

Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for our yearly SF Bike to School Day bag stuffing party at the YBIKE headquarters. Over lunch and 2 nights we'll stuff 3000 bags for student riders in this year's SF Bike to School Day on 4/7/11 at over 40 schools across San Francisco. Delicious meals are provided. For more info or to volunteer email rose@sfbike.org or call (415) 431-2453, ext 314.

Wednesday March 16th, 11:30-1:30pm,

YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Wednesday, March 16th, 5:30-8:30pm,

YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Thursday, March 17th, 5:30-8:30pm,

YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Bike to School Day!

Help youth ride to school on April 7th. All over San Francisco, 3,000 youth will ride their bikes to their schools. You can ride with them! Visit www.sfbiketoschoolday.org to sign up your school or e mail rose@sfbike.org to sign up to volunteer today!

Thursday, April 7th, a flexible 7:30am-9:30 am,

All over San Francisco!

Volunteer!

2011-02-28T12:50:00.000-08:00

Interested in Volunteering with Youth Bicycle Education Programs?

Here are some upcoming event where we need volunteer help!

E mail volunteer@ybike.org to sign up today!

Community Hubs - Family Bike Fest!
Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Safe Routes to School staff and the YBIKE program for family bicycle and pedestrian safety training as part of the "Community Hubs" program. It's the perfect place for young and old to learn to ride, learn helmet fitting, safety skills, safe street crossing, and how to ride safely on the road. Bring a bike to donate to the Bike Swap or pick one up for your family. As part of the event 50 bicycle helmets will be given away. For more info or to volunteer go to www.ybike.org or email volunteer@ybike.org.

Sat., March 5th 10am-3pm, Cesar Chavez Elementary School

Sat., March 19th, 10am-3pm, Francis Scott Key Elementary School

SF Bike to School Day - Bag Stuffing
Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for our yearly SF Bike to School Day bag stuffing at the YBIKE program. Over lunch and 2 nights we'll stuff 3000 bags for student riders in this year's SF Bike to School Day on 4/7/11 at over 40 schools across San Francisco, Food is included. For more info or to volunteer email rose@sfbike.org or call (415) 431-2453, ext 314.

Wednesday March 16th, 11:30-1:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Wednesday, March 16th, 5:30-8:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Thursday, March 17th, 5:30-8:30pm,
YBIKE Headquarters, Letterman Gym, at 1152 Gorgas Ave

Bike to School Day!
Help youth ride to school on April 7th. All over San Francisco, 3,000 youth will ride their bikes to their schools. You can ride with them! Visit www.sfbiketoschoolday.org to sign up your school or e mail rose@sfbike.org to sign up to volunteer today!

Thursday, April 7th, 7:30am-3:30pm,
All over San Francisco!

Save The Date!

2011-02-28T00:22:00.000-08:00

UEL March 20th, 2011 Panhandle 6 PM

The Urban Eating League is a night of community dinning. We form teams, dress up in costumes, and walk from house to house to enjoy food created by our community from local, organic and sustainable food! Sign up March 13th at the Grove St (at Divisadero), line forms at 10am. We have room for 8 teams of 3 and 6 individual spots.

Mid Week Bike Tour March 29th- 31st, 2011

During spring break, my co-workers and I will be going on a bike tour. Come with us!!

Weekend Bike Tour April 29th- May 1st, 2011

I am organizing a bike camping trip that will be accessible to anyone who can ride a bike. There will be two options depending on distance and availability. Those that are able to take Friday off and want to ride 30 miles will bike north to China Camp. Those unable to take off work on Friday or more interested in only biking 10 miles will depart on Saturday morning and meet the Friday crew (who will bike 20 miles south) in the Marin Headlands.

Gay Camp! May 20th-22nd, 2011

For one glorious weekend all adult children will meet again. We meet in the woods, in our short shorts and high socks, with the fresh smell of freedom on the iron-on nametags on our underwear.

Sign up to be a counselor, a camper, or a support staff (kitchen, life guard, camp director, etc). We will form cabin groups, share collective meals, and have activities (skill shares, nature hikes, or sneak off and make out, we don’t care!) throughout the days, just like summer camp! We are still looking for the perfect space, preferably some place within an hour of the bay area with a swimming hole. Any ideas? Interested in being apart of the planning party? E mail me, we will have a planning meeting very soon!

Apothocurious is...

2011-02-14T10:34:00.001-08:00

Apothocurious is...

Apothocurious is a dream that has manifested into a name via a thesis. Instead of going in directly to grad school after college, I decided to create my own thesis and see what I could discover in the world.

The thesis: I will research communities, transportation and food distribution. The infrastructures that support them, the systems that break them down, and the human experience that enriches it all.

All three are tied together, an individual’s access to one, often defining their access to another.

Apothocurious has fed many bellies, hosted many events, sponsored communities in need, and stuck stickers far and wide. It fills a need for me to create, to share, and to interact with others.

After hosting the Urban Eating League last night, I am reinvigorated to let Apothocurious out of the closet, no longer afraid of the power this name holds.

keeping it simple on tuesday

2011-02-08T08:36:00.001-08:00

Wanna be a Volunteer?

2011-02-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

We are looking for Volunteers on Saturdays and Spanish speaking bike volunteers on Tuesday Afternoons.

Every other Saturday we are hosting events throughout the city in a different school yard across the city. From 10-3 we will be teaching families how to ride, how to ride safely, and how to ride as a family. We will need volunteers to help with registration, bike mechanics, and teaching bicycle skills.

The first 4 Community Hub events are coming up!
2/12/11 Longfellow Elementary School
2/26/11 Monroe Elementary School
3/5/11 Cesar Chavez Elementary School
3/19/11 Francis Scott Key Elementary School

Volunteer on Tuesdays! We are also looking for a Spanish speaking volunteer who is available on Tuesday afternoons. Everette Middle School's Bike Club has an 80% crew of only Spanish speakers, but our instructors are only conversational Spanish speakers. If we find another adult rider who is fluent in Spanish and English, we could take them on the streets!

Email Volunteer@ybike.org to sign up today!

Don't forget! San Francisco Bike to School Day is April 7th, 2011! Last April 1,000 youth rode to school, this Bike 2 School day, we aim to have 3,000 participants!

Do you work at a school or know someone who does? Feel free to pass this San Francisco Bike to School Day information along to them!

Sign up your school today! We will be distributing posters to publicize around your school and bags to celebrate those that were able to participate, order your supplies today! You can also see if there is a school near by and team up!

We are currently running our Annual SF Bike to School Day Poster Contest. The theme is "My Family Bike Ride." It is open to both public and private K-12 SF schools. The contest runs until February 11th, 2011, so there is still time to submit! Poster Contest

Dove Speed

2011-02-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

I have found that I am most happy on Saturday mornings when I have an adventure buddy. Yesterday I was so stoked to be adventuring with my co-worker Matt Dove. We had the responsibility of scouting the yard space for the up and coming Community Hubs events. Next Saturday YBike, Safe Routes to School, and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition will be hosting an awesome family bicycle event at Longfellow Elementary. Can’t make it on the 12th? Don’t worry, we will be hosting one at Monroe Elementary on Feb 26th and at 9 other schools through June. Are you interested in volunteering? E mail volunteer@ybike.org.

Matt travels at my favorite speed: “not rushing,” and everything seems to turn into a community supported adventure. So when we met up at 9 am, our first mission was of course, to grab a snack. We were astonished to discover that when it is sunny and warm, people actually get out of the house at 9 am. There were lines EVERYWHERE! We found ourselves at the new Arizmendi and enjoyed some tasty baked good as we watched the crowds roll by.

From there were took San Jose to Alemany. I was very excited to see new lines on the road with designated new space for Bikes: a left turn box, a bike lane that went all the way to Alemany and one that went back to the high way. On the way back we discovered a counter flow bike lane that saved us a couple of blocks of riding! That little area still needs a little bit of signage and maybe a few kinks worked out, but I am super excited about the new change!

Unfortunately bike lanes don’t prevent flat tires and Matt’s little wheel took a screw to the rim. We had to use a screwdriver to get it out of the tire! We sat down and enjoyed the sun as I watched the pro fix flat tires. It was pretty ironic because while we were enjoying our baked goods back on Valencia, Matt divulged a secret about flat tires. Most of his Bike Party adventures the night before had consistent of Flat Tire support. Matt gets a huge kick out of helping people have a good time while they fixes their flat, so I made sure to provide the moral support this time.

From there were made our final approaches towards Longfellow, but wait! What’s that?! It’s a cell phone on the ground. Let’s find the owner. In the midst of this we make it to the Longfellow and discovered the gates were locked. The Community Hubs grant was created because the SFUSD declared one yard in each of the 11 school districts to be open to the public every Saturday. It was very important for us to see that just because it was a declaration doesn’t mean it was happening. We will have to arrange for it to be open next week.

After scouting the yard from the fence we made our way to Monroe stopping along the way to meet the neighbors, check the yard sales, and enjoy the warm sun. Monroe was unlocked and we were about to map out a course, eat some fruit and meet a family coming to play basketball. We had gotten a tip that the owner of the cell phone would be playing bingo at the first Samoan church on 26th between Dolores and Guerrero, we decided to head over there. Matt got on the bingo caller’s mic and announced who were looking for in order to return the phone. The woman was stoked, the church confused, and the kids excited about these strangers with bikes showing up at their Saturday morning hang out. A few more blocks home with belly dreams of lunch concluded our Saturday morning adventure. It is always a good time with Matt Dove.

follow through and bike parties

2011-02-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

What comes before Bike Part B? BIKE PART A! BIKE PARTY!

I had such a stellar time at the San Francisco Bike Party last night. One defining characteristic of the ride is that participants are encouraged to follow city bicycle laws. It is very easy to feel the power that comes with a large group of cyclists, and take advantage of the ease at which we could fully take over the streets. This ride prides itself on stopping at stop signs and red lights. I witnessed many fellow participants reminding other participants to ride on the right hand side of the road, to get off the sidewalk, or to allow cars to have a turn through an intersection.

Accompanied by bumping sound systems, the group of 200+ riders cruised along a preplanned route. Stopping at red lights led to packs of 20-50 cyclists traveling together on each block. It was easy to reconnect with friends at each of the 3-5 different designated dance party locations.

One of the main reasons I rarely participate in critical mass is due to the anger and disobedience I witness between bikes and cars. That vibe seems to influence riding style, and I feel less safe riding in such a large group of anger bikers. SF Bike Party did an impressive job of maintaining their dedication to leading a ride that followed the rules in order to improve the relationship between cars, bikes, and streets. And I had a lot of fun!

Today I am off to do a site visit at Longfellow Elementary School and Monroe Elementary school for YBike’s Community Hubs. Project. Community hubs is an event that happens at 11 schools throughout SF on select Saturdays and will involve many cool youth and family bicycle activities. We will have a bike skills area, a safetyville, a learn to ride area, a bike swap, bikes for sale, family bike rides, and so much more. Come out on Feb 12th to play bikes! We will be at Longfellow Elementary School, in the excelsior, from 10am-3pm. Email volunteer@ybike.org if you are interested in being a volunteer!

The Plan

2011-02-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

When is the last time you walked to the top of Corona Heights Park (in SF)? It is one of my new top 10 SF Urban Hikes. I had the privilege to walk up there with my older brother who is in town for the weekend. As far as older brothers go, he upheld his responsibilities and helped me get a little mental structure in order to set some goals that will help me follow my dreams and fully seek/experience happiness.

Annie Londonderry (the first woman to bike around the world circa 1884) said that every good adventure starts with a wager. My brother and I shook on a deal that challenged me to grow my love of biking and food into a way for me to not only support myself, but also send my nephew to college. I am not sure I can win or lose our bet, if i succeed i am to finance Avery's college, if i loose i just have to buy him a bicycle. Regardless, my nephew is adorable and awesome and i couldn't be more excited to have him as my motivation to dust off the old blog and get back into writing.

I start with the first goal of spending one hour, hopefully in the morning, every otherday, blogging, researching other blogs, and setting some structure into this fare fetched plan.

Tonight I will take part in San Francisco's 2nd ever Bike Party! I hope to see you there!

Carrot Mob! Natural Selection! BYOQ!

2010-10-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday is full of so many fun events. Here are the three I am going to attempt to attend.

Carrot Mob

Natural Selection

Bring Your Own Queer!

photos!

2010-08-12T13:56:00.001-07:00

photos have been posted!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2470949&id=12301287&l=a34993bbda

The Experience Part Du

2010-08-05T13:35:00.001-07:00

It is quick & easy to record and display the mileage and the locations of our adventure, but I find myself much more interested in dancing with the details of decision making, grocery shopping, and hill climbing.

On Day 1 I was pretty oblivious to the side of the map that showed the topography for the days ride. On Day two I took a look at the route sheet and let the fear of the climbs get into my head. I was totally capable of it all, but I let the anticipation take over my thoughts. The hills were tough, the heat was tougher. As I climbed up the hills I found myself putting my anger and frustration into my travel buddy. I was continuously questioning her motives, paranoid about her dislike and distrust of my actions. By the top of the day’s hardest hill I finally came to the realization that all of these thoughts, fears, and anxieties had absolutely nothing to do with my her and they were built fully on top of my insecurities. Not only is this a very unstable place to store feelings, its pretty false. By the time I made it to the top, I sat on a rock and wrote down what was on my mind. I was able to tier my insecurities. Rachel, who has sensed some hostility, asked if she had offended me. I transformed the satisfaction of reaching the top of the hill into confidence and shared my insecurities, my flaws, and my false thoughts. I asked her to simply listen, accept, and if she had thoughts, to fully process them and then we could discuss later.

At first I felt raw. “Ew, why did I share those things? I’m so exposed.” Then, to my great delight, Rachel treated me no differently than she had before my intimate disclosure. From then I was able to feel proud of my personal processing, my strength to share, and the dissolved ill feelings and insecurities. Throughout our entire journey I felt gratitude towards the safe, supportive environment we created as a team. That was my ode to hill climbing.

Early on in the trip planning Rachel and I realized we would be grocery shopping everyday on our 20 day adventure. It was the only practical way to travel by bike, and it was predicted that we would see plenty of markets along the way. The prediction was fairly accurate. There were a wide range of markets on our journey. We saw everything from corner store to farmers market to self serve farm stands to generic large grocery stores with florescent lights. Early on we also realized that our individual talents and joys would lead us to a pleasant division of labor. Rachel took on the responsibility of setting up the tent each night, occasionally going the extra mile to lay out our therma-rests and sleeping bags! I took the role of head chef and would race to finish dinner before the final zipper zipped on our freshly assembled home. When we sat down to dinner we were both grateful to arrive to a completed meal next to a completed tent set up, the surprise and gratitude never got old. Being head chef left me quite a responsibility in supporting the grocery store mission. We scoured boxes for ingredients, always staying away from high fructose corn syrup, suspicious of yellow 5, and frustrated with the endless waste that came with a bag in a box and a 1,000 mile journey to get it to our shelf. The good days we were the ones where we found a local market serving freshly picked, spray free or organic, local goods that we could steam and mix with our perfectly portioned bag of quinoa from the bulk store. Always adding some tasty (ideally, but not always) organic cheddar cheese. I strived to make every dinner taste different than the last. With one pot, one stove, one (very small) cutting board, and a limited amount of spices, this only slightly tricky. Our meals ranged from pasta with veggies and mozzarella, to beans, rice, salsa, and cheddar, to a creamy mac cheese with a roasted chicken. We didn’t skimp on our food. Almost ¾ of the money we spent on our 20 day journey was on food.

The third thing I wanted to write about was decision making. That was such an intense and valuable experience for me that it will have to wait for another blog entry. I have many things to say about the richness, honesty, and new discoveries that came with the experience. You can look forward to that next timeJ

It is time to write

2010-08-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

It is time to write. It is time to find a nook and some how document the past 10+ days. At 9 am on a Sunday morning, after a night like last night, finding a quiet space to myself is pretty easy. The kitchen table of a radical bike co-op house will easily provide me with what I need.

The Experience:

On July 20th, after a 4 day vacation/adventure of bicycling around Vancouver with new friends and unloaded bicycles, Rachel and I packed our rigs and headed north. With four+ saddle bags and a guitar each, the weight, hills, and heat were a challenge at first. With winds on the third day we figured out how to work together. Rachel would often draft me on the down hills for more speed, and we began trading drafting/leading positioning on up hills (most oftenRach and straightaways with big winds. It was not only physically easier to have less wind on the drafters bicycles, but emotionally powerful and inspiring to be following my cycling partner or have her relying on me. At the end of the day we were tired. At the end of Day 5 we were the most tired because our ferry dropped us off on Orcas around 6:30 and we still had 15+ miles of hilly riding to do to arrive at our camp site. We also got accidentally split up for the first (and only, hopefully) time this trip. Each night, when we rolled into camp, We set down our bikes, dug out our eating and shelter gear, and went to our roles. I was in change of cooking dinner, and each night my goal was to provide a nutritiously filling meal that tasted different than last night. While cooking, Rachel would be seeking out flat land for our temporary homestead, setting up the tent, putting out our sleeping bags. Over dinner we were both equally stoked to be sharing a completed meal next to a fully set up tent.

Day 1: Vancouver- Porpoise Prov. Park 40+ miles
Day 2: Porpoise to Saltery Bay 40+ miles
Day 3: Saltery bay to powel river and back down to Parksville75+ miles
Day 4: Parksville to San Juan Island via Crofton, Salt spring Island, Swarz bay to Sidney 45+ miles
Day 5: San Juan loop-Orcas Island Moran State Park 45+ miles
Day 6: Our first day off! Hitched/hiked our way to the top of Mt.Constitution 5-6 miles walking
Day 6: Orcas-Lopez 20 ish miles
Day 7: Lopez to Victoria: 25+ miles
Day 8: laundry, showers, explore Victoria 10 ish miles
Day 9: Victoria to Galiano Island 2 miles (+luxurious van ride with family from VI to GI)
Day 10: Cinnabun in Galiano to Vancouver 15+ miles
Day 11: finally writing this post.

3 minutes remaining

2010-07-27T17:24:00.001-07:00

i have 2 minutes remaining to write a post. life is sweet. we are in the san juan islands telling folks we are the minstel cycles and serenading them. i am happy.

2010-07-20T08:03:00.001-07:00

More pictures have been acquired!

(Pic 1) These were my festi posse for Oregon Country Fair. (pic 2) Coco and I were co-workers, friends, family and shared a duplex back in the Headlands days. He and Clare Owl worked at Rosie's Desserts (pic 3 crew of co-workers) and I played music outside in exchange for free cheese cake (pic 4). What a rad deal. (pic 5) I made a hip Aussie friend too. Enjoy!

HEading out today!

2010-07-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Its 7 am and everyone in the house is either still asleep or already out for the day. We leave today, which means as soon as i wake up, i'm up. Its a curse and a blessing all at the same time, just like everything else.

We will head north from here (Vancouver BC) for our first real ride! We plan on riding 40 miles today. We are going north, then west (over Strait of Georgia and onto Vancouver Island) , then south to Victoria and hopefully the Olympic Peninsula if we have time.

here are some pics of maps of our route for the day and for the week/BC area.

Surprise!

2010-07-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

I found internet in Canada! It wasn't that hard. In fact many (if not most or all) of the features found in America can be found in Canada. Minus the high rates of crime.

Rachel and I found our way from the train on Friday evening to our weekend home in Vancouver. A co-op of people like us, took us in, gave us beds, food and friends, and will remain in our hearts for the duration of this trip and longer.

We have had fun bike adventures, breakfasts, beach visits, wiener dog races, and much much more. Yesterday we spent the day with rad biking folks who biked us all over the town. We biked 30+ kilometers going from house to house, to races, to beach. its a hilly town, but it's bike friendly and no one in our group seemed to mind the distances. we were a very happy bike posse.

Today we have few plans, i want to buy a new helmet and attach a light to my bicycle. Rachel is upstairs rocking out on the guitar.

i am recovering well from the poison oak. its a bit itchy but no longer spreading, which is AWESOME!

We are planning on heading north tomorrow. We try to anticipate certain things, but really we have no idea. so our main plan is to head north and eventually get on a ferry west. we have tent and stove, so i think we are good. keep your thoughts on for good weather ey?

hope this finds you well.
Smiles
rose

ps rachel says hi

i found 3 more!

2010-07-15T15:29:00.001-07:00

many pictures have been taken, few have survived

2010-07-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

I know in the past 2 weeks I have smiled for many a photo. Packing light and with minimal valuable electronics (cell phone and pen drive) I am reliant on the distribution of the photographers. In this case the photos have been provided by face book. So here you have the four photos that have made their way back to me to puzzle piece capture my journey. If you have more, please send them my way.

In other news hourly cleaning with tecnu and aloe are working magic tricks on my inner knee and shoulder and topical steroids are on the way. i try to keep it natural, but in the name of poison oak, i am owned by western meds.

Hope this finds you well. I am headed to Canada tomorrow. I bought my travel health insurance today and Rachel is probably going to buy her's this afternoon. I may be out of communications for the next 20 days. I imagine we will find a library or generous host here or there, but just in case, farewell until then. I will dream of you fondly:)

P.O.

2010-07-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today I write from my bed/friend’s couch in Seattle. I arrived Monday evening and have been recovering from a doubt of poison oak for the past two days. I tried the herbal route, but it doesn’t seem to be nipping it in the bud the way I need it to in order to head out tomorrow. I am moving on to militant hourly cleansing with Tecnu. If that doesn’t work I am hoping for a prescription of something a little stronger. Know any good doctors in Seattle?

In my distracted state of festival living I was assuming the itching was bug bites and was scratching away. Now I am healing a big patch on the back of my knee and a smaller patch on my shoulder, small spots on my stomach, and little dots on my ears and under my left eye. Gross, yes, but that’s what comes with reading my blog. The trials and tribulations of being a “diseased” house guest SUCK! But my hosts are nice about it and luckily have a washing machine so I will wash my clothes many times.

Rachel arrives tomorrow and we set off on our adventure to Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the little islands in between (which ones is tbd), and The Olympic peninsula. Rachel flies out of Seattle on August 3rd. This year has been a great year for our friendship. We have discovered similar passions, beliefs, and frustrations with the world. We have enjoyed become best friends while riding our bikes, spending time with our crew of friends, and processing the world. A big part of me feels like I have been looking for this type of friendship my whole life, and I am so grateful to have finally found it. Now we get to spend 20 days together, hopefully we won’t kill each other : ). In September Rachel will move to Santa Barbara for a master’s degree in environmental science. She is one smart cookie, and I am so proud of her taking the next step. While I am sad we won’t live in the same place next year, I know we will be friends for the rest of our lives.

Well the Oregon Country Fair was a trip. Yes, the west coast sure does have an excessive amount of rave-esq weekend long parties and this was another one of them. Each one definitely takes on it's own unique vibe and I am grateful that I have been lucky enough to experience the similarities and differences of so many over my west coast sabbatical. The OCF is a ferrie hippie constructed, using mostly natural resources, with 30+ years of detailed and care, shopping mall. Booths and booths of hand crafted consumer goods line the paths way with the occasional beautifully decorated stage. I recently heard it described as a really great party that no one could afford to throw, so they invited the public. From 11am-7pm every day 20,000+ people stroll the streets of the fair to shop, eat, and watch talented performers. From 7pm-11am the workers take back the streets and shop, eat and watch talented performers with fewer crowds. I haven’t had enough distance to really conceptualize the whole experience to write more than that, but I’m glad I made it inside. I saw and experienced things that I imagine exist no where else in the world.

I'm off to take a nap and rest up for our big bike journey! I hope you all are well!

Smiles
Rose

week 2 ish

2010-07-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends,

miles traveled:972-ish
by bicycle:38
by fully loaded bicycle: 20.5

It is that time again. I have landed by a couch, computer, and friendly faces. I made my way from Eugene, OR to Seattle WA. I rode my fully loaded bike from the festival to Eugene today. It was roughly 20 miles. I had planned to catch a ride instead of bike but as I was attaching my bike to a car two rad ladies showed up with fully loaded bikes and invited me to ride with them. We cruised through the country side talking about dreams, experiences, and how to make biking more practical for all. It was the first ride of my trip, and I couldn't be more inspired, comfortable, and supported by the experience.

After another week of festivaling i am excited to hang out in seattle with very few things planned. I think I have picked up a bit of posion oak while camping and will spend tomorrow washing clothes, buying some technu, and relaxing. I will hopefully make phone calls and write e mails, so if you feel like connecting, give me a ring!

I will write more tomorrow. until then, sleep:)

Smiles,
Rose

Hello from the road

2010-07-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

miles traveled:668
by bicycle:10
by fully loaded bicycle: .5

I have been traveling with Joe Peace (who is a total GEM to travel with) since Monday morning. Being on the road for the past week, it appears both Joe and I are happily sunk into living room furniture and the internet.

On Wednesday, June 30th I was picked up from my SF apt around 1:27pm by my two friends Liz and Erin. After a few urban pick ups we hit the road for High Sierra Music Festival. The festival was a blast. I scored with camping and was stoked out with a bunch of sweet ladies with tasty food. We camped in the center of the festival, next to the building that hosted the acoustic performances, chill evening shows, and really comfy inflatable red things. There were many rad city friends up for the weekend. I did yoga every morning. Sometimes normal yoga, sometimes acro yoga, and sometimes both. In the afternoons I helped Joe pass out his peace medallions.

I made a point of taking really good care of myself. I hid out in the tent or in the "living room" while I slowly adapted to the festival vibe. I got to send really great quality time with close friends who were attending the festival. I was much more interested in hanging out with my current friends than making new ones or going to see shows and that felt really good.

Joe and I hit the road on Monday morning and camped along the way a few miles away from Mt Shasta. We found a cool campground and I got to enjoy nice evening and morning hikes. Joe is a super chill travel buddy. We both enjoy tasty and healthy food, taking it slow, and talking about peace/life.

I will be helping Joe and his wife Ashley out at the Oregon Country Fair. I have to start looking for a ride up to Seattle. I will be meeting Rachel there next Thursday (the 17th) and while I could ride my bike, I don't think i could do it quite in time to meet her, so I am hoping to find a road trip buddy who is interested in taking a day or two to get there. I wouldn't mind visiting friends in Portland. So folks, if you know anyone heading from Eugene to Seattle next week, please direct them to me! (434 825 2890)

Most importantly, I feel healthy, happy and grateful for my opportunity to ride the waves of travel, experience, and joy. Smiles, hugs, and connection to all of you. Thanks for taking the time to read (all or some of) this.

Smiles,
Rose

good byes, adventures, and cup cakes.

2010-06-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

It’s Wednesday, June 30, 2010. I didn’t think this day was ever going to come. In fact I thought tomorrow would make a better today, but my ride leaves at noon, and in my commitment to flow with the current of the world, I will go with it. I am headed up to High Sierra, a music festival with 5-6,000 participants, and a crew of some of my favorites.

I will be prancing around with homies, dancing to good tunes, and helping my friend Joe Peace spread his message to the world. Peace. Joe makes peace medallions and spreads the peace far and wide at festivals throughout the year. He suggests a donation of $3-10 for one of his necklaces. People gather from all directions of the festival, grateful for the perfect memory and message. For years Joe has been on my radar. I received my first medallion at a festival 3 years ago. I wore it every day and on my travels. I ran across people all around the country, who either wondered what it was or knew because they had interacted with it before. This message of peace is spreading far and wide and it comes in a million different languages. The benefit (and dream) of this message is that is folks from different cultures and languages recognize this medallion on an enemy speaking a different language, hopefully they can find a common ground in their mutual desire for peace. It’s a big dream, but the option of monitoring the showers vs. spreading the peace train, is an easy choice for me.

After High Sierra I am off to Oregon Country Fair. From there I will find a ride (fingers crossed) from Eugene to Seattle where I will meet Rachel for our 17 day bicycle tour around Vancouver, Vancouver Island, The Olympic Peninsula, and back to Seattle for Camp Ten Trees (Gay Camp!!!). I plan on being back in the bay by September 1st, but am very hopeful that I can do this without a plane ticket. I am tempted to ride, but it doesn’t look like I will have the time (I despise this excuse).

I was inspired to write this blog this morning because I was reflecting on what a delightful gathering I was apart of last night. My close friends have been getting together for dinner every Tuesday for the past year.5( at least) and last night was an array of new and old faces and long hugs. I couldn’t feel more grounded in my community in preparation of my departure. It also couldn’t be harder to leave such delightful faces. But that’s why I decided to go for 2 months at a time instead of 2 years. So to any of you reading this, and any one reading this, thank you for being such a wonderful, supportive, and open friend along this journey we call life.

Well I am to finish packing/cleaning. Smiles, hugs, and tasty food.

bragging rights

2010-06-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Greetings to new and old friends, and a special warm hello to those I have not spoken to in far too long. I was featured today in a blog as queer female leader in the SF bicycle movement. I am beyond honored (and therefore bragging:). If you would like to read the article: http://www.sfbike.org/main/rose-johnson-pride-month-profile/

I am about to take off on a 2 month adventure, you can read all about it at apothocurious.blogspot.com. I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue to search for truth, happiness, the way, and whatever that may mean.

I hope this finds you well!

Smiles,
Rose

Apothocurious

THE CSCA

2010-06-24T08:51:00.001-07:00

Check out Apothocurious.com!

Apothocurious

Minstrel Cycles

2010-06-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

As Apothocurious takes a Hummus Hiatus, it is only natural that this bicycle powered urban culinary adventure takes a nibble on a bicycle powered coastal adventure. This summer is serving up double doses of festivals, summer camps, and a self-propelled minstrel cycle.

While I was working hard in the kitchen, delivering hummus on bikes, and educating the youth on safe ways to do what we do, I found myself restlessly day dreaming about the simplicity of living off my bike. In the dream I am, for once, doing just one thing: ride my bike. Due to limited storage; I, for once, only carry the necessities. With the freedom achieved from low cost, self-propelled travel, I, for once, am open to the currents of the travel ferries!
The agenda looks something like this:

June has been full of Yosemite adventures, Ohio Weddings and Virginia homesteads.

July 1st I head north (in a car…) for High Seirra. I will be working with my friend Joe Peace who practices peace by making peace medallions and offering them to festival goers in exchange for suggested, or available, donations. I am also hoping to rally a crew of good people to enjoy the show together! If you are interested, I hope you will join in the festivities! From Quincy I will travel with Joe (again, in a car…warming up or something) to the Oregon Country Fair where I will help and practice peace too! I will hop out of the peace wagon in Eugene, OR, and make my, one way or another( hitch, train, bike?), to Vancouver where I will find Helmet on

July 17th-Vancouver! With only 20 days of bike touring freedom, my fellow minstrel and I will travel from Vancouver to Seattle via The Vancouver islands, The Olympic peninsula and, of course, the occasional, and necessary, ferry. In preparation, my partner in crime, Rachel Freed AKA Helmet, is currently riding the AIDs Life Cycle. I am, circumstantially, sitting on an airplane. On a proud side note, on a parental visit this past week; I was able to get both of my parents out on a short neighborhood bike ride. Woot Woot.

Helmet and I will enjoy the sites of the city lights before we head north, west, south, south, and then east into Seattle. We have a tentative route mapped thanks for Biking the Coast. Aside from the rough outline of a route, I think the only things on the agenda are: bikes, island visits, family adventures, farmers markets, tasty food, new friends, adventure, and music (hence the name of our team, the minstrel cycles)! I will try to keep you updated as we discover life on bikes!

August 6th-28th. I will spend the rest of the month in or near Seattle working at Camp Ten Trees. Camp Ten Trees, often references as Gay Camp, has two unique sessions. The first session caters to youth coming from alternative families, Queer parents, Poly families, and everything in the spectrum. The second week caters to youth who identify as queer. For this session they have girls town, boys town, and gender-landia. I will be working with the oldest group from Boys town. I am excited because I have never been a leader for a boys group before.

I am traveling without any of the technology that would allow me to update this blog. No camera, no computer, not even an Ipod or smart phone! However, I have a feeling this blog will get updated throughout the summer. So stay posted! Let me know if you would like to receive an e-mail blast when I post. Though I bet if you are tech savvy (unlike me) you can figure out how to make the computer do that for you!

Planes in the air

2010-06-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

As I sit in my isle seat, zone 4, of the airplane that will take me clear across the country and then to the “middle,” I gaze at my desktop as I wait for word to open. My desktop is littered with an assortment of photos that have recently come into circulation. A diverse collection of memories from past adventures, silly college photos, and an array of bicycle shots that accompanied a recent blog feature I did on women who bike. Perhaps I will include some of these random photos with this next blog posting. The feelings that are stirred up through these visuals are unique beyond words.

I have begun my decent into the warm pool on a cool summer day. Instead of my usual behavior of jumping in and catching my breath later, this time I creep in. In my dedication to seasonal employment, keeping the school schedule alive, I find myself on the cusp of completion and reflection. What have I completed? I am so glad you asked. This year I started my own business, shared committed and communicative relationships, and worked with the YBike program to get kids riding bikes safely in the streets of San Francisco. I did really cool work this year. But I can’t ignore what happened last summer. I found freedom, self-reliance, and a spark for more. I find myself back here again. I am on the edge of adventure, departing from paradise to pursue such great unknown.

All spring I found myself restless from the unrelenting winter. I took on a lot of responsibility, risk, and stress this year. Stress, which I am morally against, took a nibble on my soul. If it’s not fun, why do it? Can you have responsibility and risk without it? I started asking big questions, but instead of answering them, I daydreamed. I daydreamed about the ways I want to live simply, on my bicycle, within nature, and in peace. I also dreamed of ways I can live within the densely populated environment and still hold onto my values of natural space, simplicity, and spontaneity. The goals of this summer adventure are based on that curiosity. I will fulfill my daydreams through action. A number of things could come from this. I may dissolve the illusion of daydreams by living them. I may change my city behavior based on what is learned and loved in this adventure. I may decide to continue more fully towards this daydream. Perhaps, and more likely, something completely out of the ordinary and unexpected will happen. The world may never know, but soon I will.

leg one

2010-05-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yo-sem-ite.

Last Monday morning I received an e-mail invitation from my sweetheart for a visit in Yosemite. My weekend has been spent struggling with the dense population, overly paved public spaces, and the tininess that is my home. The decision to go was simple, the tactics for getting out of work were reasonable, and the transportation would soon present itself.

I was lucky enough to connect with a fellow “city lover going to visit her country lover for the weekend,” to travel with. We made the adventure together on Thursday morning. Each stop made along the way was delicious, mysterious, and reassuring that the world had our back. Stop one, gas station, central valley, CA. I snuck into the bathroom and on my way back found a large black truck, tires taller than most of my students, blasting fox news. I offered the stout man of color a strawberry. He, sensing our contrasting appearances, began explaining how he listens to fox in addition to many other liberal radio stations. He began explaining his dislike of larger corporations, blaming them for all of the unjust in certain political situations. Even though this man and I were living very different lives, I felt very communally human in the experience.

Next stop was a cherry stand. We paused for a minute to pick up a few more rations. The woman selling us our fair was so friendly and offered us delicious, spray free, pre washed cherries. She made friendly conversation and told us to come back and get some cherries for our mothers on way back. Needless to say, I picked up three baskets on the way back.

Our third stop was in Oakhurt, the last town before Wawona, where our lovers were co-leading English emersion courses for 12 students from the area. We found ourselves at a small gas station, with a friendly man who graciously shared his filtered water.

We met our country lovers at work and enjoyed a tasty lunch on the porch of the hub of education programs within the park. I was lucky enough to borrow a bike for a exploratory adventure. It was delightful to wander the open spaces. I was able to leave the bike unlocked to sit on a large rock next to a rushing river. Later, the crew would reunite to jump in the same river. The next day I climbed to the top of the river to see some snow holding out for waiting for warmer weather.

Long dinners, simple cabins in the woods, Yosemite adventures, drastic views, wonderful company, backyard music festivals, and a safe ride home (acquired at the music festival) made for a wonderful start of my summer adventure. Thanks to everyone who helped made it possible.

blogging is the new journal

2010-05-28T07:04:00.001-07:00

I'm back

2010-05-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

I just had my planning meeting with my bestie who is joining me for a few weeks of my summer journey. I am counting down the days until I am done working. I am buying and building all the infrastructure for my bike. I am talking to friends who have been here, seen that, or know this. I am getting all googly eyed over google maps. I am getting ready!

I believe in seasonal employment. And the season for employment is up. I've worked my ass of this year, working 2-5 jobs, starting my own business, biking all over town, DIYing, trading, and saving to go on this journey. It is time. The first leg of the rest of the journey of the rest of my life.

July 1st sub-letter moves in (thanks seth!) and Rose hits the road with bike, mandolin, and one pair of pants. The route will take me by van-again and truck to two festival, High Sierra (see you there!) and Oregon Country Fair. From there I will have one week to meet Rachel in Vancouver where we will travel for 3 weeks, north, west, south, south, and east, to Seattle via the gulf islands. The rest of August will be spent at Camp Ten Trees and around Seattle.

I have no clue what this journey will bring me. Last summer brought me solo camping and Apothocurious.

I spend a lot of time day dreaming, and I am finally following out those dreams. I dream about living off my bicycle. I dream of cooking food. I dream of meeting strangers and trading stories, tables, and hugs with them. I dream of freedom. This is one step closer to finding it. I dream of writing again. Here we go!

The Latest

2010-05-19T21:56:00.001-07:00

Hello ApothoCustomers!

I hope this e-mail finds you well. After April reflections and system modifications (fancy words for taking a frickin’ break) I have decided that next step to being a culinary adventure is to go on a culinary adventure! June, July and August will be full of bicycle travels, northwestern adventures, and new personal challenges. I will continue to learn about food production, ethics and cooking! In September, when the hibernation winds start blowing I will probably (unless this biking around the world dream just takes me away) put my roots back into the SF ground. Apothocurious has had so many successful experiences this year that I am excited to see what direction it takes next!

The future:
If Apothocurious is going to go on it needs a big kitchen, a business plan, and maybe even a business partner. The last two are already in process, but I need your help on this kitchen dream. I am putting out my feelers for a big (low-to-zero cost) kitchen (preferable in the NOPA area) with lots of fridge space. Ideally this is not in a personal home, though details can be worked out. Maybe even on with sweet equipment!
Jars
You are probably wondering what you should do with those fun jars you are juggling. Well you can either A. consider your deposit a donation/investment for the future to Apothocurious or B. Request either your second set of jars or deposit to be delivered to your door. E mail for more details!

This year:
Apothocurious delivered Hummus, Salad, Salsa and Pesto biweekly to over 30 customers. We hosted a Sidewalk Brunch feeding over 100 folks. Throughout the year we took on a variety of specialty customers, personal dinners, raw foods, and catering events. We even had a wonderful intern help us for 5 months. I declare this dream a success.
Donations
With the help of supportive customers like you, Apothocurious was able to make a $200 donation to two local women’s shelters in SF. We even got the money matched, totaling $400! The donation was made in honor of all of the wonderful volunteers, customers, and supporters of Apothocurious. We couldn’t have done it with out you, and we wouldn’t have wanted to.

In closing, thank you to everyone who helped make this dream come true. I am infinitely grateful. Stay tuned for updates from the journey!

a million thank yous,
Rose
Are you Apothocurious?
Apothocurious@gmail.com
434 825 2890

Sidewalk Brunch!

2010-04-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

Apothocurious is hitting the streets and we want you to come along!

On May 2nd we will be hosting a sidewalk brunch with live music, delicious food, and community dinning! Please come out to 642 Balboa St. (@8th St.) between 10am & 1pm to enlighten your taste buds!

Featuring organic, local, and unique flavors from Apothcourious we will be serving food, family style, on every half an hour. All you do is show up (feel free to bring your own plate, cup, or fork (it takes a village:), sit down, make some new friends, and enjoy a casual brunch.

Apothocurious supports local, sustainable, and happy food production, strives to pay a living wage, and donates proceeds to local community resources centers. Donations for this brunch are requested, $5-$20, but no one is turned away!

Want to play music, loan us some extra dishes or chairs? Read below for more details! Otherwise, see you on Sunday!

Ways that you can help!

We need:

Chairs
Silverware
Plates
Reusable napkins
Performers!
Tables
Pans, bowls, etc

Volunteers!
Want to be a server, a dishwasher coordinator, or sous chef, or transport stuff on bikes? All in exchange for a delicious meal? We will be prepping food on Saturday and will need help on Sunday too. Let me know immediately if you are interested!

Wohoo!
Rose Johnson
Apothocurious.com
434 825 2890

FUN Events

2010-04-08T21:59:00.001-07:00

Here is a list of some awesome events coming up. This is a massive invitation to you to participate or volunteer!

April 10th-this saturday!
9 30 am FARMERS MARKET ADVENTURE!
meet at the Presidio YMCA Main Post, 63 Funston Ave

April 15th BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY!
7 am-talk to me if you want to volunteer or check out http://sfbiketoschoolday.org/ !!
Places that need volunteers:
Schools:

Balboa High School-1000 Cayuga Avenue (Excelsior)
Longfellow Elementary School- 755 Morse Street (Excelsior)
Monroe- 260 Madrid Street (excelsior)
James Lick Middle School- 1220 Noe Street (Noe Valley)
Sunnyside- 925 Chenery Street (Sunny side)
Bryant Elementary School- 1050 York Street (Excelsior)
Lowell HighSchool-1101 Eucalyptus Drive (Lake Merced)
Bryant Elementary School-1050 York Street (Mission)
Most schools are meeting early like 7 or 8am, but its worth it, and you get sweet bike schwag!

April 22nd-first round of an attempt to get thursday afternoon ulitmate frisbee games started. meet in the panhandle at Lyon at 530/6.

April 23rd
9 pm-11pm MOON LIGHT RIDE! We ride while the cars are asleep and the bikes can rock the streets and find a nice place to enjoy some cookies and milk!

April 24th
8 am exercise ride-advanced-40 mi+
meet at the Presidio YMCA Main Post, 63 Funston Ave

May 8th (i will not be on this ride)
8 am Leisure ride
meet at the Presidio YMCA Main Post, 63 Funston Ave

May 22nd
8 am exercise ride-advanced-40 mi+
meet at the Presidio YMCA Main Post, 63 Funston Ave

Oh Ten!

2010-01-04T10:37:00.001-08:00

2009-12-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

apothocuious.com

Spandex

2009-12-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

I hope this e mail finds all of you well. It has been brought to my attention that today, December 1st, is World AIDs Day. I am brought back to warm memories of one amazing week of my life, last year, when I rode from San Francisco to Los Angeles with 2,000 of my newest friends. What an epic week it was. Waking up before the sun to fuel the beast and hop on the bike. The best “gay-cation” I have ever taken. Thank you for taking the time to continue reading about why I do what I do and how you can support the dream!

I signed up last year because I love to ride my bike, I have signed up again this year because of the deep connection I have found with the organization, the community, and the support that is The Aids Lifecycle. This year I have raised my fund-raising goal to $5,000. I was warmly surprised with the generous support of all my wonderful friends and family last year. This year I want to stretch my ability to raise funds, rally the troops and to help connect those that want to support with those who are in need of support. As we all have heard, and hopefully not experienced, there are systems within our country that fail to fully support those in dire need of health care, education, and community. With grim financial outlooks, budgets are being restricted and the programs set up to support those affected by AIDS are being cut left and right. The SF AIDs Foundations and LA Gay & Lesbian Center fund-raise all year to support those who are left on the other side of the door. I believe in what they do, the programs they run, the message they send, and the way the holistically work with a diverse range of communities to work towards health. I ask you to support my ride, our dream, and everyone’s future. Any donation, no matter large or small, is action in the right direction.

You can check out my ALC homepage to see pictures, donate, or read more about why I do what I do. (http://www.tofighthiv.org/site/TR/AIDSLIFECYCLE9/AIDSLifeCycleCenter?px=1637441&pg=personal&fr_id=1210)

Thank you for being awesome!

Rose Johnson

434 825 2890

PS If you are in the bay area there are a few big events happening in my life I would like to invite you to:
I am performing (and catering-with my newest dream Apothocurious.com) with a friend at an art studio benefit for Big Umbrella Studios (906 1/2 Divisadero) on December 13th @ 7pm!

I made reservations for NYE at the group camp site in Muir Woods-Alice Eastwood, ALL are welcome! E mail me for more details.

I am planning Highway 1 in California and New Zealand Bicycle tours in the very near future!

Cooking is alchemy

2009-11-02T11:32:00.001-08:00

Cooking is alchemy

So is a sink full of dirty dishes, or an empty one? I have finished my Monday Apothocreations and am, for the first time in a few weeks, feelings energized and relaxed by the completion, versus rushed and concerned about the next step. This week, and next week, I will only have two customers. It means my Sundays are mine, my Monday mornings are relaxed and there isn’t even any work on Tuesdays. Holy Cow! I will resume full delivery services on Nov 17th and will move into a bi-monthly delivery service.

This has been a crazy two months. It has been frightening, exhausting, and stresfull, but also so rewarding, exciting and successful! I am learning the balance of perfecting business practices and harnessing potential growth. I want to make sure I am keeping this sustainable, personal, and detailed. I am also excited for the future of Apothocurious. I have been making really exciting connections around the city. I am meeting folks leaving their jobs to create their dreams, building local gardens and urban farms, and everyone is cooperating and sharing the abundance of the bay area!

I am most stoked about:

The awesome farmers market down the st. from my house, grove and divis, every Sunday, every awesome veggie!
The free farmers market at 23rd and treat, you can donate abundance and take up gold!
My friend Allison is making and selling delicious custom ice cream and we trade!-ask me how you can get ahold of a quart!
SourFlour, this guy is giving away 1,000 loaves of bread, he is try to figure out funding to continue to give away bread for free!
Other fun friends who are in to sharing/trading goods for goods!
Experimenting with turning raw goods into tasty treats!

November is looking mighty tasty!

2009-10-27T09:10:00.001-07:00

Apothocurious!

2009-10-22T18:02:00.001-07:00

Www.Apothocurious.com

October!

2009-09-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

I am sending you a little of the info that will be going up on the (currently being created) website! Including the menu for October! Wohoo! I am ready to take on a few more customers, so feel free to spread the word!

For those of you who don’t know…Apothocurious is my dream: The CSCA, a variation on the theme of the Community Supported Agriculture veggie box, a popular food sourcing model in the Bay Area in which local farmers supply our communities with tasty, local veggies. Apothocurious, a Community Supported Culinary Adventure provides you with a weekly (or bimonthly) supply of freshly made spreads, sauces and salads to fulfill your nutritional needs, and dazzle your tastebuds!

In each delivery you receive 4 products: a hummus, a pesto (or other equally delicious dip), a salsa, and a salad. Each week will feature a different selection of the spreads ranging from Honeyed Hummus to Peach Salsa to Arugula Pesto to Sweet Potato Avocado Salad.

The ingredients are selected by season and as local, as organic and as sustainable as possible. Apothocurios creations will not include meat, often include nuts, and occasionally include dairy. However, special dietary restrictions will be accounted for.

In the future we will include other local artisan goods such as a variety of baked goods, kombucha, and even local yogurt!

Here is how it works.

its like a combo milk man & CSA box, a Hummus Chick...Pea...if you will...

Once a week (or every other week) you receive four beautiful jars filled with a variety of gourmet; locally, organically, and personally inspired food.

each week will come with:

16oz of uniquely flavored hummus

16 oz of seasonally inspired salad, often vegan and/or raw

8 oz of decadent pesto

8 oz of wild salsa

All you need to provide is a secure and cold location for your deliveries each week.

Most customers have an off street space with a cooler, a basement, a gate between the street and the front door, etc. Each household is different, and we will work with you to provide you the easiest delivery possible!

The cost is a sliding scale of $25-$35/wk with a $14 jar deposit.

Jar Deposit

This is where the milk man comes in, each week I will deliver 4 jars to your house and pick up 4 jars from the previous week. The $14 is for four 16 oz jars and four 8 oz jars and makes for an easy jar swap each week! At the end of your service you can either keep your jars or receive your deposit back.

Probably the motivation to read through the whole e mail:

What’s cooking this month

October Week 1:

Polenta Hummus

Watermelon Heirloom Salad

Cucumber Salsa

Cilantro Pesto

Week 2:

Basil Hummus

Heirloom Salsa

Broccoli Salad

Red Pepper Pesto

Week 3:

White Bean Hummus

Roasted Zucchini Salsa

Beets and Carrots Salad

Basil Pesto

Week 4:

Sept Hummus

BNS Salsa

Tabouli Salad

Cranberry Pesto

If you are interested in subscribing please get back to me quickly, the spots tend to fill up fast and I hate saying no to friends!

Smiles,

Rose

Apothocurious@gmail.com

Apothocurious.blogspot.com

apothoCRAZY:)

2009-09-22T14:44:00.001-07:00

So I totally spaced on taking a picture of the fleet this week and the deliveries are done. But they looked oh so beautiful. And I could have made it a group shot because I had two amazing helpers this Monday. And whooooo did it make things run smoother. My awesome roommate brad washed dished the entire time, it just goes to show how many dishes there are to be done. Elisa helped with the jarring and pesto perfecting. Next week maybe max and ruby will be my Sunday crew!

It is great to have a lively kitchen, friends fed, fresh food being creating into magic, and the power to explore, learn, and practice! This week we had honey hummus (my secret (not so secret anymore) favorite) capRAZY salad (vegan, with grilled zucchini), garbanzo bean salsa, and arugula pesto, which was a a little bitter, but can be heated up to tone it down. Brainstorming on the menu for next month and how to take it to the next level, both in service and quality! Wohoooo!

the apex of apotho

2009-09-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

wooohooooo

I have the slightest hint of internet through my windows in my apt and it makes me so happy to be able to connect. I have been reading up in the blog world these days, yay for blogs! right? Its friday, im in between week 2 and week 3. getting the feed back, dreaming about the future and mashing on some surplus hummus and salsa:)

to be honest i am feeling like this project is way bigger than i am, and its a crazy amount of responsibility. the demand is unbelievable. i think i could sign up 15 new customers today if i wanted to. and i want to, but i cant. i don't have the fridge space. that's my first limiting factor. its also crazy to think about the risks involved with feeding people. i started this because i love it, but i think i would stop immediately if i ever got anyone sick. i am using my best practices, washing things every time i use them, washing hands, table tops, everything, as much as possible. but its still crazy. it makes me think about going vegan, perhaps that would eliminate some risks? the third issue is quality. it is just so much harder to make a slamming hummus that has to reach out and make 13 customers happy! So im working on it. my PR bestie is encouraging me to keep track of ingredient, but i am just not that diligent (she knows it, thats why shes pushing so hard. if you really want the details, this week, to attempt to increase efficiency i am going to jar as i make instead of storing in a larger container and then storing morning of. i will see if this affects freshness, and will douse with olive oil to ensure.

this weeks menu is exciting!!

Honey Hummus and Arugula pesto are two things i am so stoaked about! also a caprazy salad, a variation of the standard capreezy salad that is just gunna get a little crazy, and it gives me the freedom i thrive on! this is where i hope no one actually reads this, because i am going to make roasted corn salsa and i have never made it before! wish me luck! (or send recipes and tips!)

my other job with the after school bike program isnt really happening this week and is very part time till oct, which is a blessing for getting apotho of the ground, but im excited to go back. even though i sure have been enjoy my really really under employed life style.

today i will cook some lunch with some buddies, check out park(ing) days (if i was really good, i would link that to a website so you could learn more about it-but like i said earlier i really dont think anyone reads this) and hopefully get a chance to volunteer for a gala i wish to attend tomorrow!

Smilesssss
rose
i hope you find your dreams in your days.

2009-09-10T08:48:00.001-07:00

Wowzers. Never have I ever made a gallon of hummus, but yesterday I did! And what a joy it was! I made ½ gallons of pesto and salsa and another gallon + of cucumber salad! I am looking forward to all of the learning I get to do while working on this project! So far people are stoaked about it! I have 12 customers, I had about 4 oz of extra hummus this am, and I am going to deliver all of these tasties in a bit, amongst other fun errands!

I wrote that mid process on Tuesday morning. Monday was my cooking/prepping day, Tuesday my jarring and delivering day. The process was successful. I managed to make all 9 deliveries (some customers are add ons and every other weekers) and feel great about having 11 folks to get to next week! The menu next week is exciting! A wild rice salad, ginger hummus, peach salsa and a tziki sauce.

I am feeling great about the future of this and being able to juggle it with my other job. So I am figuring out publicity, website stuff, and where to go from here! But I suppose I should wait and see how week 2 goes…

2009-09-02T08:14:00.001-07:00

online casinos accepting US playershit counter

Dreams do come true. Oh yeah.

2009-09-02T07:55:00.001-07:00

As you read in my newsletter, hummus is all I can think about these days! My wonderful friends have been helping with the foodie brainstorm, experimenting and taste testing, and they don’t seem to mind. I currently have 10 “families” signed up. I am at my max, my original goal for the trial period was 5, but I really didn’t want to say no, so everyone who signed up with the in first 24 hours of the announcement got a yes! And YES, I am excited!

I have been experimenting with hummus this week. Polenta, honey, wasabi, and spices have all been dancing in my cuisineart. Week one is pretty standard, Flavor Slam Hummus, Basil Pesto, Cucumber Salad and a Heirloom Salsa. I am going to buy 10lbs of dried chick peas, 20 bunches of pesto, gosh maybe 20 big heirloom tomatoes, maybe 15+ cucumbers. Luckily I know that if I have extra I will just feed myself (and my friends) for the week, but it’s crazy to buy so much food! I LOVE it! I love shopping for food, navigating where it is coming from, how it was grown, the right price, etc. and then, even more, I love preparing it! And that’s what I will do next. I think I will spend a little time on Monday making the pesto and the salsa. They both have olive oil in them and time will not affect their flavor, only enhance it. on Tuesday I will make the hummus (Monday evening I will soak the beans) and the cucumber salad. If all goes well I will start my delivery route by 1 pm on Tuesday and with a 3 hours break between 3 and 6 pm, I will hopefully visit everyone by 9 pm! I am so excited! I cant believe how much stuff needs to be done, I gotta find the best jar sales in SF, get my bike all set up for the delivery, work out the logistics with folks about the delivery and get all of my ingredients.

Oh yeah ingredients, this is the most exciting part. I am so jazzed to be able to have a full hand, head and community supported distributor (me!) in the mix of creating a PURE business model incorporating the fair treatment of others, buying Local, Sustainable, Healthy and happy vegetables! I have found a. organic USA source of chick peas at Rainbow (the local co-op), they also sell local (ish (napa)) olive oil and other good ingredients, so I will stock up there with my dried goods. I will continue to look for a more local chick pea source too! If I can get my act together I will do it on a Wednesday or Thursday so I can get 20% off!

Every Sunday there is an awesome farmers mark four blocks to the east of me. This Sunday I will do my huge shopping there. I am excited to make more connections with my local farmers as I preparing to buy in bulk from them for the next four weeks, and hopefully longer!

This project is feeling great! I am hoping these four weeks go well because I have huge dreams for where this could go. I have talked to so many friends who make awesome (local, organic, PURE) artisan goods. It would be so fun to support their dreams and promote their talents by having a section on my website where people can check a box and order whatever good they want that week. I have very talented bakers interested, a friend who is working on a milk source to make raw yogurt, a co-worker to who makes amazing chai in wine bottles, and the doors keep on opening more! But I gotta take it one day at a time, and week 1 is looking good! Whoooo hoooo.

My Dream!

2009-09-01T08:51:00.001-07:00

This is a dream I want to share with all of you!

Please contact me with interest, questions and curiosity! Feel free to share this with others who might be Apothocurious.
Best,
Rose Johnson
Apothocurious@gmail.com
I am Apothocurious! Are you?

yeyahhu

2009-08-22T07:20:00.001-07:00

Hello friends

Wow, in my new form of travels where I visit with old friends and wander around my old living environments I have become detached from the blog, my deepest apologizes! But all has been going very well. I have been floating on the good vibes of the Michigan Womyn’s Festival where I became so empowered in my own personal strength, in my sisterhood, and in the possibilities of the world. In Ohio I have been doing lots of that too! I stopped in Toledo and visited with my buddy Boo and her wonderful family. They took me in, fed my belly, and let me do my laundry! Boo and I had wonderful adventures full of bike riding, aqua jogging and silly games that entertain our competitive selves in silly fashions. Boo and I headed south and continued the visits with friends in Columbus and Athens. Our other college roommate came down and we had more fun adventures. After Boo and Jen headed home I met up with my travel sister Wormz and we found good ways to get into trouble in Athens, enjoying some of the finest eats and treats in town! I am continuing to wander around the greater southeastern Ohio area by visiting Columbus, Yellow Springs and more! I am most excited for the wedding this afternoon which will be a reunion of many great Athens people! I’m here till Sunday when I do the last leg of the drive to my folks house.

My nephew Avery Layson has been born, and is now 10 days old. I can’t wait to go visit him. My mom is there now and says he is adorable, woohooo!

I am grateful for this time to visit with friends, explore health, music, food, and people. My biggest challenge/focus? Staying present. I am very excited to get back to SF and put my roots back into the water there, and am trying to set my intentions without being too distracted from being right here, right now. I am attempting to incorporate what I learn in this moment, towards what I want for the future, but momentum, expectations, and patterns always challenge that, but I bet you know that.

As i mentioned before i am hosting a We are here and we are all older party in SF at Dolores Park on Saturday afternoon (1 or 2 ish?) the 29th, please bring a dish to share, a game to play, and a smile!

And in other cool news, a room is opening up in my Apt, oct 1(or sept 15th if nec) i live with two guys and two cats, in a small, quiet apt in Nopa. If you want to join our family, lemme know if will give you more details. rent is cheap, the place is small, but the potential is HUGE, we are going to establish community, respect, and communication, this is a perfect time to join and create with us!

Winding down

2009-08-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hello friends

Wow, in my new form of travels where I visit with old friends and wander around my old living environments I have become detached from the blog, my deepest apologizes! But all has been going very well. I have been floating on the good vibes of the Michigan Womyn’s Festival where I became so empowered in my own personal strength, in my sisterhood, and in the possibilities of the world. In Ohio I have been doing lots of that too! I stopped in Toledo and visited with my buddy Boo and her wonderful family. They took me in, fed my belly, and let me do my laundry! Boo and I had wonderful adventures full of bike riding, aqua jogging and silly games that entertain our competitive selves in silly fashions. Boo and I headed south and continued the visits with friends in Columbus and Athens. Our other college roommate came down and we had more fun adventures. After Boo and Jen headed home I met up with my travel sister Wormz and we found good ways to get into trouble in Athens, enjoying some of the finest eats and treats in town! I am continuing to wander around the greater southeastern Ohio area by visiting Columbus, Yellow Springs and more! I am most excited for the wedding this afternoon which will be a reunion of many great Athens people! I’m here till Sunday when I do the last leg of the drive to my folks house.

My nephew Avery Layson has been born, and is now 10 days old. I can’t wait to go visit him. My mom is there now and says he is adorable, woohooo!

I am grateful for this time to visit with friends, explore health, music, food, and people. My biggest challenge/focus? Staying present. I am very excited to get back to SF and put my roots back into the water there, and am trying to set my intentions without being too distracted from being right here, right now. I am attempting to incorporate what I learn in this moment, towards what I want for the future, but momentum, expectations, and patterns always challenge that, but I bet you know that.

As i mentioned before i am hosting a We are here and we are all older party in SF at Dolores Park on Saturday afternoon (1 or 2 ish?) the 29th, please bring a dish to share, a game to play, and a smile!

And in other cool news, a room is opening up in my Apt, oct 1(or sept 15th if nec) i live with two guys and two cats, in a small, quiet apt in Nopa. If you want to join our family, lemme know if will give you more details. rent is cheap, the place is small, but the potential is HUGE, we are going to establish community, respect, and communication, this is a perfect time to join and create with us!

2009-08-14T07:52:00.001-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2360018&id=12301287&l=7701af4f67

And yet again I "pause"

2009-08-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

Of course I would like to believe that pausing is what I have been doing for the past 40 days. I can’t say that is 100% true, but I’ve been trying, and I suppose that is all we can do.

I have been so blessed, loved, and am overwhelming grateful for the experiences, conversations, exchanges, and smiles I have had along this journey.

Where am I?
Where am I coming from?
Where am I going?

I am in Toledo visiting my bestie from college and her family. As an out of state roommate, Boo and her family consistently took me into their home, fed me, and offered support throughout my time in Ohio, it is heart warming to be back in their home for a pool side visit:)

I am coming off of a week in the woods with 4,000 womyn. A gathering in the state of Michigan, one that offers music, workshops, communal vegetarian meals, and a one of a kind of living experience has officially stolen my heart. I could write pages and pages of my experience, but I will try to brief. I have been exploring the festival scene for a few years, looking for myself inside of these cultural events, attempting to conceptualize what it means to be festive, to retreat, to get our feet off of the ground. Witnessing the community and connection of annual festival goers at each festival, I have finally found myself inside of this one. Communal meals, participation (each person is expected to volunteer for two work shifts), ultimate Frisbees, flirting, hugs, smiles, connection, oh woman oh womyn friends, my heart bubbles with joy as I recall the happiness, blessing, comfort, and fluidity I found on that land. I will do everything in my powers to return next year, and I will gladly bring friends if you wish to join:)

Where am I going? Gosh I don’t even know. I mean I know where I am going physically, but in side of my heart, I just don’t even know, and I am so excited!

Physically, I’m gunna enjoy the bumming around with boo (who is on a summer vay-kay from law school/internship) and then head down to south eastern Ohio for the next two weeks. Visiting Columbus, Athens, the hocking hills and then a wedding in yellow springs! From there I head to my parents house for a few days of recovery before I head back to SF. (I return Aug. 27th. Meet me at Dolores park on august 29th for a b day picnic potluck!) Also, in other SF news, I have a room opening in my apt and we plan on creating a meditative, communal, warm home, with reasonable rent (a major perk) if you are interested, please let me know!

My friends, I cannot even begin to describe the joy I have discovered on this journey. In the past I was able to produce these really intense e-mail updates, about my internal processes, my struggles, the pain in my heart. I was probably pretty discrete about it, but travel hurt my heart, it's solitude, it's unknown, the fear, doubt, and reliance on the universe, but on this journey I am finding so much fluidity with all of that, my heart is melting with love for myself, for others, and for the human experience, for the ability to share, communicate, grow, help, exist. Every day I am blown away by the curiosity I find with each new experience, I didn't realize this continued to happen, that I was going to grow in this direction, but its happening and I am so ridiculously GRATEFUL! I left with the goal of doing it alone and finding a way to have fun with myself, to find that joy and peace in solitude I couldn’t find as a child, and I am flirting with the discovery of presence, curiosity, belief, and truth. Thank you for all of your help along the way.

I will give you all some fun stats from the past 40 days:

Nights slept in a tent: 31
"Rent" (all camp sites and hotel costs): 160 (40 being the one time I stayed in a hotel with friends)
Days where FBI (full body immersion (into water (and sometimes rain or rowboats counted☺) was successful: at least 27
Miles: 3500+
Smiles shared: 1 million and counting
Number of PBJs consumed: 14
Miles on bike: 127
Ok the last few stats were simply educated guesses.

What's next?

2009-08-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

So what’s next you ask? Well I am headed back into the woods, this time, not alone. No I don’t think much more of my trip will be alone. I have friend dates up the wazoo for the next month. On Sunday I meet up with California friends in Hart, Michigan. We (4,000 or so Womyn) will all be attending the Michigan Womyn’s fest, a high light/purpose for this “detour” through Michigan. On the 10th I meet up with my best friend from college, Boo, and we will bike tour some part of Michigan, probably Sleepy Bear Sand Dunes on Lake Michigan. Then on down to Athens, where we learned how to drink, I mean learned about important stuff and majored in it, and meet up with our old roommate, teammate and great buddy, Jen, and live up the nostalgia of our old college town! I will do some more Ohio friend visiting in Columbus and stop off in Yellow Springs to help celebrate the love of two wonderful friends of mine, Michelle and Brian as they get married in the Little Miami. Not on it, not by it, but IN the river. I can’t wait. This is the same river where I took a handful of leaders in training ( 8th grade girls from Camp Oty Okwa) on a canoe trip my first session as a summer camp counselor many years ago. The place holds many other important memories from me, and I look forward to visiting an old home and heart (hart) friends.

and awaaayyy we gooooo, awaaayyy wee goooo

2009-08-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hello wonderful friends.

Blessed with the beauty and peace of hiking, camping, and swimming, I am smacked in the face when I return to civilization to deal with computers that don’t stay powered without being plugged in and bankcard issues. You don’t know how much I wish I could run back to the woods. Not this time. From my huddled spot by the wall outlet, I will attempt to document the beauty of the past four days. If I can’t cover it in words, I will try pictures.

I departed Minneapolis, Minnesota on Tuesday morning, pausing at the Honda dealership to get an oil change. While waiting for them to clean out the rocks from the tires, which had been making a peculiar clicking sound, I was scouring the map for my next destination. I spotted a pretty looking green patch on the northern part of Wisconsin titled “Apostle Islands National Lake Shore.” Being a National Park junkie (and a NP map collector), you know you can count me in! I headed that way, taking my time to talk up visitor center employees and other locals throughout my journey. I also hit up the St. Croix national river/scenic high way, which was a bonus, and also came with a map!

My goal was to get dropped off on an island for a few days with just my backpack and guitar. It didn’t quite work out that way, the ferries only run so often, and I only wanted to stay for a few days, so I rocked a kayak day tour, enjoyed a lakeside walk in campsite, and made myself at home. I made a few friends on the tour, and shared s’mores with them one night. From there I headed to Pictured Rock National Lake Shore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This spot has been on the map for weeks, and boy did it stand up to its expectations. I started the tour off with a 3 hour boat tour (not as sexy as Gilligan’s island unfortunately, but geologically stunning for sure)! The rock cliffs are spectacular and their colors are so unique! After the Glacier retreating, certain land masses shot out of the ground ( I love it when geological talk sounds quick) to make these drastic cliffs which are decorated by different minerals (and colors) being forced out of the rock via underground water channels, it’s pretty breath taking. I was most excited about this park because of its back packing trails! The lake provides a clean water source (filter needed), stunning beaches, and chilly, but beautiful, swimming.

I signed up for a backcountry site about 3 miles out from a parking lot. Not too much distance, but I haven’t been backpacking in years, and wasn’t sure what I could handle. The hike was relatively flat, beautiful, woodsy, but man am I out of back packing shape. It was difficult to carry all my stuff, plus without filter, I carried two days of water, and I drink a lot of water!

It was amazing to be out there, it took me back to the backpacking days I miss so much! There is something so magical inside of my heart when I walk through the trails and am so far from cars, banks, and telephones. It’s challenging, rewarding, and peaceful! There were a few others out there, going in different directions, sharing a campfire, and I was lucky enough to borrow a water filter for a few minutes. I am so grateful for this moment because it took me down to the beach, and it was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever shared in nature. The water was calmly bouncing against the beach, the sun was still lighting the sky from where it has just set, and the colors of evening were spectacular. I had heard that lake superior was stunning, but not until this moment had I really seen its beauty.

The am was spent hiding out in the tent, waiting for the morning showers to pass, a short swim in the chilly waters, and book and journal time!

On my hike back to the car I talked to a few folks that seemed surprised that I was doing this adventure solo. It’s funny how apparent it is that I am by myself when I am walking through the woods with everything on my back. Less so when I run into a gas station to buy a coffee. I suppose my partner in crime could easily be waiting in the car. I have been thinking a lot about the solitude as of late. Finding quite a bit of comfort in it really. Now that I have gotten used to the fears of sleeping alone, the responsibility of solo decision making, and the feelings of wanting a familiar face to understand who I am and where I am coming from. I have come to find a lot of joy in my current way of life. I am able to do whatever I want. From sandy feet in the tent, lots of raw garlic in my meals, and ability to get up and go, or stick around for a while, I rarely get too cranky with my travel partner;)

I have traveled alone in the past. Each time gets easier and easier, but always, always, always challenging! I never thought I would be a solo traveler. I know I won’t always be. I look forward to sharing these experiences with a companion(s). And I get to, from time to time, fellow travelers, or locals, welcome me into their lives and we are able to share stories, walks, or pints of ice cream along the way. So when people ask me if I am alone, I answer first with yes, second with, I am never alone, and third with yes, and I eat as much garlic as I choose!

When it comes down to it, as far as my reality reaches at such a young age, it appears that life is all about the relationships we hold. And relationships are time spent with something, quality and quantity combined. And in order to have the beautiful relationships I have been blessed with in my life, I must spend this time with my self. Paying close attention to how I choose to live, how I treat myself, and how I experience this world. I think, hope, intend for it to, make me a better partner, friend, and community member.

In love, in awe, in smiles,
Rose

Visual documentation:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2355476&id=12301287&l=990330cec4

2009-07-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family,

As I write to you, I prepare to depart from my luxurious family stop in Minneapolis and head out for my final solo leg of the trip. Today is July 27th and I am attending a festival on August the 2nd, so that gives me about 5 nights on the solo road again. I am excited for this time. After the festival I have friend dates, weddings, parent visits, and I just bought my plane ticket back to SF (Aug 27th!), so I will be social social social!

My time in MN was great, i had a sweet beach spot on the lake for tenting, a family to watch movies with, and conversations to remind me of where I am headed. Now I going! I am hoping this will continue to be a positive, self strengthen journey, full of joy, accomplishment and safety, but I also feel like I should just let go of all of that and just see what comes.

So many thoughts, feelings, memories, realizations, come and go all of the time. I have these “insights” of how things can be, are, or are changing, and then I forget them. Sometimes they are able to calm me, help me be present, other times they are powerful, but dissolve after their appearance. But aren’t those the moments of life we find to be the most amazing? I suppose they often come after hard work or suffering. I can’t wait, I can’t force it, though I am grateful for them for sure.

Anyways, I’m off to see what comes, hoping to find my energy, explore myself, and see the UP (upper peninsula of Michigan)

I try to remember, and it’s difficult because it’s not what I want to hear, that often these trips are most powerful in reflection. But as I work on having 2020 foresight (by reflecting on my 2020 hindsight) I am frustrated by ability to be present, but I bet that doesn’t help me get there any faster, ha!

I have been thinking a lot about dreams, reality, and imagination. How we live, how we wanna live, how we can live. How I live, how I wanna live and how I can live. Gratitude, (or my lack there of sometimes), sharing, being special, responsibility, strangers, energy, chemistry, lack of fulfillment, happiness, exploration, and about a million other things. What are you dreaming about?

Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2354178&id=12301287&l=aadd6d87d2

Videos:

1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNF0v4l0l2c
1: movie from yellow stone of a small steam hole

2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p53bedxm7w
2: a 20 second experience of what it is like to ride in my car

3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTeJ1GotOpQ
3: an accidental video that i have included anyway.

where i have really been

2009-07-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone

with a lazy morning comes lazy computer time. i updated my route map. here is every where i have been. i would love to add details to each spot, but i just do not have the technological patience to do it, sorry:) pictures will be uploaded today too! i can invite you to my google map page if you are in love with maps like me and want to see which high ways i took, i have enough patience to do that. back roads whenever possible!

and this is where i am headed:)

Time to get real

2009-07-27T07:37:00.001-07:00

Time to get real. And how do we do that? We talk about FOOD! Visiting Minneapolis has been a tour of friends, lakes and FOOD!. Without a really good cooling system, which a lazy cooler doesn’t suffice, I have had limited meat consumption. Have no fear, I have made up for it in this town! Japanese bbq, Michael Jackson tribute bbq and the dinner I shared with my buddies last night, I am sitting in protein heaven right now:)

While discussing my route with my wonderful friend Cassidy, we arranged to meet in Minneapolis to visit her family along the way. Two other friends were able to join in the weekend fun as well. After a tour of the city’s lakes and rooftop bars, we ventured to this amazing restaurant. There was a special deal; any salad and entrée for $19. Most of their entrees were well over $23, and they had ever reason to be. The restaurant was a very innovative, well thought out, gourmet spot that did it right! Everyone had the arugula salad, which has baby fennel, an orange puree, ginger sauce and a piece of grapefruit, that I didn’t hate. For the entrees; I order the venison, accompanied by cherries, a chocolate sauce, some sort of noodle delight, and peanuts, Ben had the lamb roast, Morgan the Halibut, and Cassidy the Duck. I am grateful for friends who do not mind sharing bites, because everyone’s food was unbelievable! I have been grazing on peanut butter, broccoli and bread and cheese for the past month, so this weekend has been such a wonderful treat of good eats! Thank you Minneapolis!

I have taken up shop on The Favor Family’s’ Volley ball court which is on the edge of the lake. It makes for beautiful sunsets, sunrises, and great nights sleep. I am grateful for the hospitality and fun this family has provided me!

This trip has been broken down into sections. Each time I pause from the solitude section, I am grateful for family or friends who allow me to clean up, connect with folks far away, and prepare for my next leg of the trip!

From here I am off on my last solo trip. I am venturing up to the upper peninsula of Michigan. I am not too sure what I will find. I have scoped two amazing national sea shores that I would like to check out, so I imagine that is in the cards, but am afraid they might be pretty busy!

I am kind of hoping to find a spot to stay for most of the week, but want to enjoy the last moments of being solo. So if anyone knows of a spot where I can set up shop and hang for a minute with my guitar and clean water, maybe even a cabin in the woods, let me know!

Best,
Rose
434.825.2890
Johnson(dot)rose(at)gmail(dot)com

pre brief

2009-07-25T12:38:00.002-07:00

So last night when I arrived in Minnesota I wrote a summary of my week long journey in the woods. It was wild to attempt to recap all of the things, people, and thoughts that I have intersected with along my path. This is a wild journey, and it is always so shocking to come back to reality with my feet on the ground and friends and family around me.

I have been spending so many days driving in the car, looking around me, on the country roads, feeling the towns. I cant wait to do this by bicycle! I think I will post the long detailed posting, but don’t feel obligated to pick up every detail. This post is just details, I’m waiting for the bulk of the feelings, goals, and future production to come out.

Something I didn’t mention was that yesterdays drive was spent mostly thinking about pate, I cant wait for access to a kitchen to my my apothocurious dreams come true.

Here are the details. Soon coming are some reflections.

landing on land

2009-07-25T12:38:00.001-07:00

Well well well friends. I seem to have landed yet again, someplace warm, with a soft bed, and my feet back on the ground. I am excited for a shower, laundry, and a few days of perishable food, specifically the kind that isn’t perishing due to adequate fridgeration systems☺

Where to begin, I don’t even know. I feel like the place where I left off left so many stories untold, and here I am again, faced with the opportunity to share. I guess I should warm up at first.

So I left Bozeman and headed to Yellow Stone. It took me about an hour to reach the park. Fearing crowds, lines, and traffic, I attempted to calm myself and just flow with the park. The first stop was the boiling river. A little secret near the north part of the park where two rivers, one hot, one cold, meet and baths have been formed from rocks so that soaking is ever so delightful. This was a wonderful treat. A great opportunity to get my head back into the traveling game after a few days of city living. I spent the whole day nervous I was getting seriously ill, so I ate vegetables, meditated, and tried to be gentle with myself. A very tricky thing to do in an over populated volcano. Along one of the shorts trails I decided to venture down I met a woman named Vicky. As fate would have it, she was on her geological field study in yellow stone and was able to give me a very detailed and individual geology lesson, flavored with a little astronomy too! I am very grateful for this woman sharing so much of her time, knowledge and passion with me. I find it easiest to take in information in a one-on-one conversation.

Once I had my fill of Yellow Stone I decided to head south to the Grand Tetons hoping to find some less populated space. I ended up squatting on a camping spot with a mother and daughter duo that was on an adventure from Nevada. The daughter had spent 20 years in SF and just moved to Nevada to kick it with her mom. Needless to say we shared hours of getting to know you conversation. They took off the next day and I maintained the home land, but hit the trail. This time on bike. I did a 50 mi bike ride through the Tetons. The roads are pleasantly rolling, but I was mentally and physically out of cycling shape so it was a challenge. That evening the campground filled up again. A Swiss family who arrived late was searching for a fire to cook their banana dessert. It was a beautiful camp fire with three adorable kids playing games, eating marshmallows and shyly sharing the few words of English that they knew.

The next day I headed for the Bad Lands in South Dakota. I have fallen in love with back roads, and have begun taking my time along them. With the sunny days, comfortable window weather, and cruise control I have become quite accustomed to 10+ hours of “driving.” Driving is in parenthesis because I do plenty of stopping as well:)

I made it to Mt. Rushmore, meetting tons of people along the way, saw the site from the road (meh) and made it to a camp ground with enough time to jump into the pool (swim in body of water each day, check) and set up my tent in order to pass out from a 13+ hour driving day.

The next day I woke up and headed to the park. It was a scorching 98 degree day, and I was feeling mighty tired from my previous day’s drive. Once I finally got myself to go climb up one of the hills, I was lucky to meet two friendly Canadian travels on a similar mission, have fun without getting dehydrated. We proceeded to wander the valleys and scramble up the mountains. After a while we decided to search for submergible water and cold ice cream. Success was had. After many logistically confusions and what not I decided to hit the road to get a jump on the drive to Minneapolis the next day. I spent the night in a small park in Fort Pierre. The town right outside of the town Pierre, which is the capital of South Dakota(!) I was awoken early by the automatic sprinklers, apparently I wasn’t really in the designated camping spot. After enjoying some of my novel and waiting for my stuff to dry I hit the road with Cassidy’s house on my brain (and the pre-mentioned pate dreams). I arrived here a few hours ago and have been swimming, eating, shopping, and hanging with the family. It feels great to be in a home, to be with a family, and to be excited to see my bestie tomorrow morning!

About 1 million other things happened between then and now and tomorrow, but I can’t possibly pull them all out. Good night

This is me sometimes

2009-07-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it is time. I’ve got to load up my car with all the luxuries of life I have unloaded into this house. No more bug free evenings, yogurt, or Internet for a while. I mean life on the road isn’t that bad, its not like those things aren’t hard to find. It’s actually quiet amazing how connected I can be if I want to, or how disconnected I can be if I get to!

I am headed a bit south and a bit east today, to check out Yellow Stone, then on to the Bad Lands. I will see Mt. Rushmore too. My friend has sent me on a mission to see the back room! I am slowly getting into the rhythms of travel. I tend to adapt quickly to things, but that has a 2-week expiration date, and then I have to take big steps back and adapt slowly. So I am trying to be kind to myself, adjusting to camping, solitude, and new places. I haven’t been totally committed to my goals of this trip, for example, I sure as hell do not do yoga every morning like I had hoped, but I am hanging solo, working on my guitar, and paying attention to my inner workings, to the best of my ability at least.

I have seen some very cool stuff, and interacted with some amazing people, and I bet that in the past 17 days you have too! These people and things are amazing lessons in magic. Frustrating, pleasant, or silly, it is a fun experience to have, process, and grow from! I encourage you to share you stories with me or with others. I believe we are just want to be loved and accepted and that hopefully comes through relationships, and sharing our thoughts, feelings and experiences, definitely helps form relationships, right?

I don’t know when I will be back on the internet, it probably wont be too long. I have to stop in a town soon and get an oil change, so I will probably find internet there. I will be at a friends house next weekend, and can provide you with an address if anyone wants to send anything!

Best,
Rose

Wow, Wow, Wow

2009-07-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Hello wonderfuls!

Wow, Wow, Wow! I cannot even begin to describe everything that has happened and still believe that you would read to the bottom. So much. There is never nothing happening. This is true everywhere. And if anyone can name the movie/book from which this expression I quoted, you will receive a post card!

I am currently being showered, laundered (improper use of the word?), fed, connected (internet/phone style) and rested in Bozeman, Montana! Three.5 days of camping, hiking, solo exploring and EVERYTHING! I am not gunna pretend like it doesn’t nerve me to camp solo. I am ok with the solitude, I have actually enjoyed it since the west coast portion of my trip has been VERY social, but it’s amazing how much I have to trust the world that I will be kept safe. So I am getting used to that, but grateful for indoor sleeping space for the next two nights!

From here I will continue on a solo camping stint through Wyoming and south Dakota and on to Minnesota for another break from camping.

I feel like I have had a million thoughts, experiences, processes, that I wanted to share with all of you. I suppose as the evening settles in I will have more. But until then consider this a post to tell you I have made it from one big destination to another, and show you some pictures! Later I will tell you about the mud bath, music needs, and traffic thoughts!

Oh, I must tell you about my camera really quickly. I have had it for over 5 years now, and its kind of loosing its brain. The viewing screen doesn’t work, which means I have to wait till I plug into a computer to see how the shot came out. That makes for about 50% good stuff, the other 50% I don’t really post☺ I also think that sometimes when I take pictures I forget to look in the moment, so I don’t carry my camera too often. In retrospect I have often feel sad that I didn’t capture a new friend’s face, a cool camp site, or a funny sign I walked by. Alas, they are memories I will have somewhere inside of me forever.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2350749&id=12301287&l=8f22def0f2

im also posting this video, ah technology!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27qfFuahYnM

And we're off!

2009-07-15T08:41:00.001-07:00

Good morning Friends,

As I am slicing my dumpster dove bread from a Seattle bakery’s parking lot, I am struck with my inspiration for travel. I do it for the people. By choosing to leave my bed, my job, my grocery store, my community, I am forced to find short-term replacements at each location. At each stop I get to form new connections, or build from past interactions. I enjoy reflecting on each experience for its distinction from and parallel to my own life; past, present and future. I am fascinated and inspired by the challenge of creating by own momentary life by sharing the lives of those around me.

The bread struck this thought because I “scored” it with two friends (pictured above) who generously showed me their secret bread spot, after welcoming me into their home, their couch, and filling my belly with tasty food and good stories. I made a connection with both of these friends while we were volunteering in New Orleans two winters ago. I am moved by their generosity, dedication to volunteer work and joyful hearts and open minds which keep us connected through our distance.

Along my west coast travel, and part of the reason it has taken me so long to leave, I have been graced with visiting many friends, and I am a million times grateful for their willingness to connect their hearts, minds, and lives with mine. As I get ready to jump off into a little more solo time, park land, and self reflection; a million thank you’s for the beautiful conversations, awesome swims, and tasty ice creams that I have shared with you along this west coast, it will keep me coming back for more: )

Seeing all of the diversity in this world strengths my life in unimaginable ways, and I am forever grateful. I am also forever encouraging others to take a similar, but individually unique, journey as well. I secretly believe (and hope) that everyone kind of already does. That is why I share my experiences. I am motivated by the ability to prove that “it can be done.”

I hope you find your dreams in your days.

this is my buddy Ethan from the OCF he is an observationist too.

Changing plans and running late, in such a good way

2009-07-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Here is a quick update. If I spend too much time near the computer I will never leave the house. Some plans changed, as they always do, and I have been running late, as I tend to. I made it to Seattle yesterday by lunch time, caught up with my buddy Daniel, hashed out music theory with my buddy Michael, and had an adventure with Rae. I am pretty committed to this tent thing, and ended up setting up my house in my buddies back yard. The car is my home, and the tent is my bedroom. My bedroom stays a whole lot neater than the home because I have to break it down every day.

I might stay in Seattle till Wednesday. I think I will have plenty of time to have a solo journey across the country, through the parks I want to see, even if it is just for a few days at each park, to make it to Minnesota for the MJ dance party.

I am grateful for this time to reflect, experience, and SEE the enchantment, demons, and truth that exist here in our culture.

I am off to ride my bike around Seattle, enjoy the Honey Hole, which Natalie says is the best sandwich is Seattle, and find some woods to romp around in. Hopefully crossing paths with fun friends this evening☺ Hope this finds you well!

Best,
Rose

This is this is amazing.

2009-07-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

I am coming down from the festival life, amazing connections, tent sleeping high; winding into a high way driving, chill music listening, coffee shop writing mood.

Where am I, where am I coming from, where am I going? I am so glad you asked.

I am in a coffee shop in Portland, coming from the Oregon country fair, doing a few computer connections before jumping off for an adventure with my buddy Eric.

Just to catch us up to speed. On Wednesday night I ventured to a hippie Samba Ja concert in the park in Eugene. Thursday morning I went on a fantastic bike ride through Eugene to pick up my ticket to the Oregon Country Fair, an ever growing hippie festivals in the woods outside of Eugene. Once I made my hippie costumes with one of my awesome hosts of Mandy, Tony and Jessie, I headed to the fair grounds where you can pay for park/camp by the car per night, and wandered the OCF outskirts. I was serendipitously connected with a friend of a friend, Oblio who was able to connect me with the Moon Lodge, a Women’s only space at the fair. The space is located in a little alcove of tress, and is beautifully decorated each year with couches, pillows, flags, and love! I worked there on and off throughout the day on Friday. I also wandered the streets of the Fair, met up with old and new friends, and took it all in. The experience was full of lessons, adaptations and enchantment.

The Fair closes to the general public at 7 30 pm. It is my personal goal to go back and be a part of the night life there, because I will be forever curious and envious otherwise. On my way out for the evening I spotted a backpacker wandering the pathways as aimlessly as I was. I offered him space on my 20’X20’ camp site on an impulse. We ended up sharing dinner, stories, dreams, a fire opera, and a wonderful 12 hour (and probably future) friendship. I am forever grateful for the wonderful conversations we had!

So I departed this morning for Portland, picked up a random craig’s lister along the way, and am just ramping up energy to meet up with my buddy Eric. Eric and I connected two years ago when I was in Portland visiting friends and family. We chatted life, swam in the rivers of Washington, and even made fleeting plans of a birthright adventure together. I am excited to share a hug, bike ride, and picnic with him soon!

From here I will travel north to meet up with some friends who was doing the STP (the Seattle to Portland 2-day bike ride) and make my way to Seattle for a reunion with both California and Ohio friends! After that I am headed East, I swear!

I hope this finds you well.

Craigs list Ad

2009-07-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

Going east via national parks (glacier, yellowstone, etc)

Reply to: comm-yvdvk-1261240968@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}
Date: 2009-07-09, 9:07AM PDT

hello fellow travelers!

I am on an adventure and i have room in my car for another person and some stuff. I am departing seattle on monday or tuesday (13th or 14th) and heading east.

destinations are as follows, and are somewhat negotiable. glacier, missoula, bozeman, yellowstone, grand tetons, center for the pole, rushmore, badlands, iowa rag brag, minnesota by the 24th. it will be a 10 day whirewind, and i might drop some of those destinations depending on how things go. i will be camping or couch surfing along the way.

heres a little bio:

i am a 25 year old queer female. im strong, independent, and very DYI. i camp, i cook my own food, i carry my own meals/snacks. i love to ride my bike, i work with kids, and i love to get to know people who i can relate with (mostly travel with women or gentle men), who are into things i am into. that may sound limiting, but i am interested in a lot of things and i see many things in many things. i am interested in health, awareness, bicycles, adventures, gratitude, the human experience, sociology, queer stuff, laughing, camp games and songs, stretching, good music, community, instruments, and many other things. So if you want to jump on my adventure from seattle, thats easy, shoot me an e mail, we will hang out and see if we can get along for a few days, if you want a ride any where along the way, it might be a little more complicated because i dont know when i will be where, but if there is a place i can throw down my tent, i will probably head your way.

best,
dickens
434 825 2890

ps, you can check out my blog to see if you wanna hang out with me. apthocurious.blogspot.com

Location: glacier, yellowstone, etc
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Already!

2009-07-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

So much to say and I just posted this morning. Man oh man what a day I had! And it only started at noon. I went for a bike adventure with two thirds of the family I am staying with. One mom, Mandy, and the 10 year old son, Tony, and I toured the amazingly flat, bike friendly, and sunny city of Eugene. We hit up the community bike shop, the used book stores, and the same hippie restaurant I enjoyed for dinner last night! This is such a crazy hippie town!

After that I headed out on my own, picking up a book on free camping all over the western 17 states, wandering miles and miles of bike paths throughout the city, and catching up with a few friends via telephone. I also caught a sunset park concert with Samba Ja. At first I was shy to dance solo, then I was so empowered by it. And the Samba was powerful!

It’s been a while since I’ve had my alone time. Ironically it was something I was most nervous about when planning the trip, and something I was craving this am. I sure did enjoy the comfortable company of a dear friend while Kendra was with me, but am ready for the self I must face now that I am making my decisions on my own. Luckily, the world is still opening to me, and I am finding exactly what I desire, imagine, and need.

My goals have been transformed, and it looks like I will be experiencing the Oregon Country fair to the best of my ability, swimming in a river with my buddy in Portland, supporting my friends doing the STP (Seattle to Portland) bicycle ride, and venturing to Seattle to meet up with old friends, new friends, and traveling friends! Then, I swear, I will leave this coast and find my self in the woods, in the parks, and in the car, so I can kick it with Cassidy and Ben in Minnesota, and dance to MJ with Lea, nugget, and family! Wooohoooo. Onward, Talley hoe. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and am grateful to have your support along the way.

Best,
Rose

Adventures with Capes

2009-07-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

Hellllo Wonderfuls,

I am writing this posting still stuffed into my sleeping bag, lounging on a double stuffed air mattress. After 5 nights of “tenting it” by rivers and trees, this is a nice treat! I’ve been gone for less than a week and already there is so much to share, reflect and process.

My city slicker friend has been my partner in crime since city departure on July 2nd. We supported each other through the pealing away from cell phones and dance parties, and the introduction of bug bites and car life. I dropped her off at the airport in Eugene, OR this morning, and now I will attempt to verbally sum up our adventure…

Kendra and I had two main goals on our journey, three if you count “getting along” as the third. The first (and successful) goal was daily FBS (full body submergence) into rivers or other fun bodies of water. The second, less successful, yet fun, goal was to consume ice cream each day. I will describe our story based around these experiences.

We arrived on Laguna Farms on Thursday evening to find our wonderful farm friends hanging out in the Yurt, after a tasty dinner, some good conversation and a fun visit to the free box (pictures to come of course) we enjoyed a comfy futon, knowing tent life was on its way. The next morning we had breakfast with a bundle of beautiful women, some of my heart family from Ohio who has also migrated to the west coast. We grazed my friend Graham’s farm for fresh veggies for our journey, and visited with some kids on farm camp. From there we made our way north, enjoying the sights, the towns, and the people of the west coast. We stopped at few places along the way, once of which being Ukiah. It was super hot as we walked by a desolate Economy Inn with a pool. I thought our luck was better to ask, so we asked the check in guy if we could swim. He said sure. Our first mission of the day was complete, now on to ice cream. We picked up some delicious coconut bliss ice cream and continued north to the campground of Standish Hicky. Where Kendra conveniently ran into some friends who were bike touring the coast. They serendipitously had made reservations for a car camping spot that evening, but their friend with a car was unable to attend. We lucked out hard core.

After camping with some friends, having pancakes with the neighbors and a photo shoot with our new costume from the free box, we headed to Eel River where we would check off our FBS goal of the day. It was pristine and magical, and gave us energy for the drive a head. Our next destination was a beautiful farm a few minutes south of Arcata. A friend was hosting a large house warming party on his new property (conveniently on a river!). We enjoyed friends, played camp games, and ate delicious, local delicacies. The potluck was amazing, and we accomplished our second goal by indulging in goat milk ice cream made with duck eggs. Of man I wanted to melt right there.

The next day we swam and ate more deliciousness, including the goat milk ice cream, just to keep things rolling, and continued north through the red woods.

We drove through beautiful landscapes and found an amazing camp spot, in the national forest, so it was free and secluded, on the Smith River! We set up shop, cooked dinner, had a nice fire, and played music. The next morning we enjoyed a dip and headed north and east to Crater Lake. Still acclimating to life in the “wild,” the bugs were pretty bad there, I was still nursing itchies from Standish Hicky, and now am double scratching, but it was worth it. The lake is beautiful, pristine, and massive!

We contemplated a swim, but it was pretty cold outside, so we committed to finding a swimming hole along the way to Eugene. We found a random lake along our drive, jumped in and carried on our way. We arrived in Eugene, showered, hung out with some friends we would be staying with for the night, and then hit the town by bike. Oh it felt good to be back on my bike! We enjoyed a tasty dinner and explored the beautiful streets lined with cute bungalows and trees and day dreamed about what its like to live with space around you.

As I said earlier I dropped Kendra off this morning. It’s not clear where I will be going from here. Many things are calling my name. At first I said I was going to skip Seattle and headed east immediately, but now that I have gotten this far, I’m getting pretty curious about what I might find up there, but am not sure how to manage my time. I am committed to arrive in Minnesota on the 24th, so that leaves me with 16 days and a lot of dreams: Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Rushmore, and Badlands, Ashland, Oregon Country Fair, Seattle, Bozeman, Missoula, bike trips in Iowa. I just don’t know how to do it all, and I am becoming unattached to my original goal for a relaxed trip across the country.

2009-07-02T14:55:00.001-07:00

ps does anyone know anyone is Boise?

2009-07-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

I have been really excited about this Blogging adventure combined with my access to a working computer and internet! This is new for me, most adventures in the past were with slow computer, lack of organization, or nothing electronic! Well I have had this past week “free” to prepare. As I mentioned in my last post I have been scrambling to find sublet, fix bike, take care of tasks around house, etc. What I haven’t mentioned is all the internal stuff I have had to deal with. Ironically, all of the stress I have experience from the last minute uncertainty, has actually served to “distract” me from my deepest of fears and stresses. Now that I am completing things on my To Do list, I am facing them. Once Kendra leaves on Wednesday, July 8th, I will be traveling “alone” until the 24th. Now no one is ever really alone, if there aren’t people, there are trees and squires, and the inner dialog. And that’s why I am doing this, I want to spend time with my inner dialog. My fear for this journey is being much louder than my internal voice. I hear so many horror stories about travelers who are taken advantage of, abused, stolen from, and I am so afraid that that will happen to me. Part of me fears being a woman who sticks out, gender queer, independent, coming from San Francisco, etc. I fear that people do no like that in different parts of this country. I am terribly afraid I will be that story no one, but everyone, wants to hear. I’m kind of afraid my fear will become reality if I don’t release it, deal with it (love it) and walk with confidence. I aim to project more positive intention without building heavy expectations. As I am processing this fear, its roots, its meaning, and trying to break it down with my experience of good, abundance and communal support, I am finding more layers of fear that I associate with independence. The next fear that comes up is the idea that each decision I make on this trip is my own. In my last big America trip each decision was shared with my tribe. For two months, Eric and I were a team, then Wormz, Eric, and I were the deciding team for 2.5 more months. If some thing went wrong, we were all in it together. Now if some thing goes wrong, it’s on me. I’m the deciding factor. Man that’s a lot of responsibility. It’s ironic really. I am leaving the city because the responsibility of job day in and day out, rent, social functions, all of that, has been feeling heavy. But I am leaving it for what currently feels like a much heavier decision making experience.

Thankfully my roommate has reminded me that i am A. capable and good and B. those stories i am afraid of are a very small percentage of the actual experiences people have.

yeeaaaaayuuuh

2009-07-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

It's back to all good. I found a sub-leaser, I fixed my bike, it fits in my car, I organized some stuff, and I have another day to finish the last bit of work, packing, organizing, and randomness that I would like to complete for the next two months! Here I come world. thanks to ALL of you who have helped me get here!

Tomorrow evening my friend Kendra and I will hit the road and hopefully make it to Sebastopol by sunset to visit with old and new friends!

Best,
Rose

whats up universe

2009-06-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

So I have to keep reminding myself that the universe always sends me a little challenge before I head off, or right at the beginning on my trip, to make sure I really want to go. Well, this one sure is a big one. I am having trouble finding a Sublette for my apt, leaving me responsible for $ 1000 of rent, my bike needs $200+ of work (and $200+ of work that I am ignoring until I return or desperately need it) and some of the camping/bike touring equipment I need for this trip is HELLA expensive. But I guess this is why I saved my money all year. I am waiting for the universe to remind me that everything is connected and its all goooood.

I am leaving this city on Thursday whether I am ready to go or not, but I would sure like to get a few more things done!

Anyway, in between running all over town to find specific (and expensive) bike parts, doing a million internet things and sublette things, I have been doodling around with map quest, here is my intended route. I don’t have Missoula on there, but I have friends there I would like to see, so I am gunna see how things go.

The First Intention

2009-06-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

The First Intention

Many experiences in this world can be seen as journeys. Often sitting still for 5 minutes is a journey, a trip to the super market, especially in this city, can be a journey of its own, a story we hear is often a journey-like experience, and the most common journey is the one we set out on with great intention, physical separation from the regular, and as opportunity for exploration, experimentation, and the culmination of everything that is everything.

I am about to set out on a journey that transforms location, responsibility, and experience. Far too often in this city, I compromise my wants, needs, and experiences in order to flow with the breaths of a landscape of beautiful, fun, busy people. In that I ignore the low murmur of a tired body, a sad soul, or a frightened child wanting to be held and nurtured. As I do my best to visit with all of those things, I am still distracted by those that look like me, the temptations of abundance and indulgence.

As I depart this concrete jungle, laced with trees and parks, filled with eyes and souls, I aim for nature, natural, loud murmurs usually un heard. In the past when I have left (or gone) with this intention, I have often met negativity, pain, loneliness, the desire to run. This time, as is true with each new time, I hope to be more accustomed to my own needs, fears, and habits, so that I can greet each feeling of struggle with the nurturing I need in the city. To develop that self care that seems only possible when I view myself as myself, instead of an entity of one community.

I set this intention 2 weeks before departure. Without any idea of what I am about to face. This time, unlike all other times (maybe?) I have set up comforts for myself that I have not previously allowed myself. Often I would do things that made me feel comfortable but would do them with guilt and rush. This time, I will do them with acceptance. Hotels, internet, resting time, yoga, self-love, relaxation when necessary. I will do these things with love and acceptance. Instead of just rushing to the part that is different from my life right now.

In my recent past I have been laced with sadness and loneliness in places full of friends, literally full of my friends, people I have been able to connect with, remember and greet on the street. So why this continual loneliness, what am I missing? What is not calling to me? What am I not calling to? On this quest I hope to spend more time with the inner voice, to discover what I need in order to develop myself into happiness and strength. So, my goal, amongst other things is to fulfill my curiosities, my relationships, and my SELF with wholeness.

The First Request

2009-06-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

To those of you who never got the ALC update, I apologize, to those of you whom have already heard it, keep on scrolling to the next paragraph. The fundraiser at El Rio was a huge success, and I couldn’t have done it without you, the folks who came out, the wonderful friends who donated so much of their time and resources, and the performers, Thank you. The money raised went to a great cause, and the ride was a phenomenal experience. I have continued to find my passion for cycling, and it only gets better to do with a huge community working for a great cause!

I am headed out of SF for an adventure across country for the next two months. Unfortunately my sublet that I had lined up for the next two months bailed on me on Saturday and I am trying to leave town on Thursday, July 2nd. I’m scrambling to get a ton of things done before my adventure so this is a call to all of you, my family, friends, and community to see if you can help me with any of these things. If you cant, not a single worry, it just seems to make since to ask before I go, here's what I am looking for in life over the next week:

A Sublette (or collection of Sublette’s, I have one person who needs it just for the month of July, and someone else who just needs it for July 15-Aug15, so filling in some of the gaps) to cover my rent of 1030 from July 2-aug 31st.

A camping stove (either car or back packing or both), or any other kitchen camping supplies

Bike touring stuff, panniers, racks, tools, and a tune up. (I am planning on bike touring the big national parks in between here and Virginia!)

Info: anything, any free camping(blm land), any one, any adventure you know about anywhere between here and Virginia (via the northern route). During my journey I will be studying bike touring, health, communication, music, culture, rivers, and solitude. I can’t wait, but also have lots of nerves too:) check out my blog for more details on where I am headed!

Smiles, safe travel wishes, and random phone calls while I am away to remember how awesome my community is:)

I know I am embarking on a journey of great privilege, and so I'm grateful for these challenges that remind me that if my biggest worries are finding a sub-letter and a camping stove so I can tour the country, I'm doing ok. I also fully believe that everything will work out fine, but gotta ask for help when I need it.

I will attempt to keep a blog while I journey, a personal collection of thoughts and experiences often painted with words of feelings and emotions. In the past I have sent out regular e mail that includes my blog like updates, I’m hesitant to use the same e mail list from years ago, so I will gladly create a new one, or just direct you to my most recent blog, http://apothocurious.blogspot.com/. my postings are never simply a statement, always a conversation or question. I hope you all enjoy. I go with the intention of self-discovery, facing the demons inside of myself, and proving a personal philosophy that "it can be done."

this

2009-04-07T12:08:00.001-07:00

this is just the beginning