One of Hearts

“Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi

I recently stumbled upon a website called SF Connect that I feel will help me quite a bit in my newly solidified life goal of “being the change” here in San Francisco.

“The mission of SF Connect is to mobilize residents and sectors for a stronger San Francisco. SF Connect is about engaged residents volunteering their talent and time for the City as well as innovative partnerships between the private, public and social (nonprofit) sectors.”

There are four areas of SF Connect a person can volunteer with; Project Homeless Connect, Project Green Connect, Project Youth and Families Connect, and Project Tech Connect. I signed up last week for a clean up that’s going to be happening this coming Saturday morning with Project Green Connect and I’m super excited about it! I not only get to do something to help my beautiful city and the planet, I get to work on my social skills, meet other caring San Franciscans and have good time.

If you’re interested in doing something in your community, I strongly suggest just jumping into it! Sitting around waiting for the perfect time to come along is time wasted. I’ve volunteered for outdoorsy things before, and it’s such and awesome feeling knowing you’re actively participating in making things better versus just thinking you should be doing something and that you’ll “get around to it when you have the time is right.” The only way change will occur and things will get better (with the environment, the economy, relations between people, your personal self, and everything) is if people actively change their mindset and try to better themselves and the world around them. Small steps now, will lead to bigger steps down the line. We have to work together, and we have to do it now. Let’s all be the change!

*update* – June 6, 2009 – Recently while doing some research for work I found out that there is only Project Homeless Connect now. Don’t know what happened to the others, but I will leave the links in case they mysteriously reappear.

photograph taken by Dbking and used under creative commons.

A couple weeks ago I started in on my goal to learn about Communism and Socialism. To kick things off I began reading Marxism and Communism: Essential Readings, a book I picked up from an awesome place in Berkeley called Urban Ore for 25 cents!

If you live in the bay area and haven’t been to Urban Ore, it’s a place you really should visit. I think it’s the first place the dreamboat took me when we moved here (he knew about it from living in Berkeley the previous summer for an internship). He was so excited about it. It is a creative/artist/pack rat/tech geek/eco-conscious/thifters dream.

This salvage yard is full of all kinds of things; clothing, records, dishes, old Macs, techie geek parts, abandoned art, books, all the National Geographics you could possibly want, old tools, beakers, dentist moulds of teeth, bath tubs, doors galore, toilets, big vintage things like ovens and pianos, lovely old suitcases, sports equipment, door knobs, awesome file cabinets, picture frames and bike racks just to name a few.

You can’t just walk into Urban Ore and go through the motions either. You have to get into full on pirate mode and plunder others and hunt for your treasures. Find the booty! Some things in our abode that we have found at Urban Ore include…

Crazy hipsteresque Pegasus Art. *There was a Cancer/Crab piece done in the same style, did you pick it up? Let me know if you did!*

Various picture frames

A child’s introduction to French record

and

Some of the speakers that make up our Entertainment area.

Thrifting/2nd hand hunting is truly a fun, cheap, and great way to furnish ones abode. What awesomeness have you picked up lately?

I hope everyone is prepared to have an amazing weekend!

If you’re going to be in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend here are a few things that are going on, just in case you just have no idea what you want to get up to.

1. As usual the wonderful Alemany Farmers Market, and the Almaney Flea Market happen on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

2. On Saturday UC Berkeley is having its annual open house chocked full of music, lecture and workshop events, open for anyone who wants to check it out. See more info at funcheapSF.

3. Are you new to biking in SF? If so, this might be good for you. REI in the Soma is having a little 90 minute workshop about biking anywhere quickly and safely in San Francisco on Sunday morning. See more info at funcheapSF.

4. There will be a Wo Man Erotic Art show with music and djs at Bollyhood Café in the Mission District. I’ve never been to the Café, but it could be interesting. Anything involving Bollywood can’t be all bad! More info at funcheapSF.

5. The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off its first day of festivities on Saturday in Japan Town. The festival runs all weekend and events include a tea ceremony, arts and crafts, and a parade amongst other things. More information available at NCCBF.org.

Whatever you choose to do this weekend relax, have fun and enjoy it!

photograph taken by Ozchin and used under creative commons.

Image borrowed from dollhousebettie.com

A few months ago I went on a hunt around the bay area to find the perfect vintage inspired corset, and to my sadness then, I couldn’t find what I was looking for. So you can imagine how super excited was I when a shop I was looking for called Dollhouse Bettie turned out to be a cute little lingerie shop!

I had no idea they were a vintage/ pinup inspired lingerie shop. I originally sought out Dollhouse Bettie because they are the only store in the Bay Area that sells Besame Cosmetics. The makeup turned out to be too light for me, of course, but surrounded by beautiful over and under bust corsets in amazing colors, and fabrics, sexy undies, and beautiful bras; that didn’t get me down one bit.

The lady and gent who were manning the fort were super sweet, and so helpful. As a first time corset buyer who didn’t really know what she was doing (does it go here or here? Ahh I’m bulgy!), I was more than grateful they were there to help me. The lady assisting me, whose name I didn’t get, I apologize, took my measurements, asked me what I was looking for and helped me find the perfect fit and color.

I walked out of this lovely shop with a black lacy number that enhances all the right curves and hides all the not so glam ones. There’s not a dame or outfit in the world that can’t be improved by functional, yet sexy, underpinnings. I guarantee it.

Image borrowed from the Dollhouse Bettie website.