My little trip on San Francisco’s J-Church Muni train this afternoon sent me down memory lane. It summed goes like this, high school, black leather motorcycle jacket covered with punk rock stickers, bleached hair/ bangs hanging in face, and converse high-tops covered in art work via my hand and a sharpie, duck tape holding them together, in denial that it was time for them to go. These orange converse pictured was my ticket to this flash back journey.
We Still Have Work to Do; 30 Years of the AIDS Epidemic
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, with the help of about 100 volunteers, installed a giant red ribbon on the hillside of Twin Peaks Sunday, May 22 to commemorate 30 years of the AIDS epidemic. The foundation worked with organizers of the pink triangle installation in conceiving of the idea and the ribbon will remain on display until June 19. SFAF pointed out that every day in San Francisco, two more people are newly infected with HIV, and more than 56,000 are infected nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first cases of the virus that causes AIDS on June 5, 1981. Next week’s Bay Area Reporter will mark that somber anniversary.
7 examples of living furniture, Solid as a Rock
Growing up I dreamt of living inside a tree and my love of camping made living out my golden age in a tent on the beach. Now that I am aged like a fine piece of cheese, I choose a cozy bed indoors. I do still love the feel of dirt and the calmness that happens when I surround myself with plants. Here some great ideas if you have the space and the will. The 2 below are my favorite out of the bunch. AB
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via www.mnn.com
Pooktre
Peter Cook got the idea for growing his own furniture in 1986. Nowadays he’s a regular master at the refined art of tree shaping — guiding trees into desirable designs as they grow. Perhaps his most notable piece is the Pooktre chair, an ideal resting place for a gardener. Each chair requires painstaking attention for seven to eight years while it forms, but the effort is part of what makes relaxing in one so rewarding. Check out Cook’s Pooktre website to learn more about these beautiful living chairs, and to see what other wonderful living inventions the Pooktre artists have created.
Chaise-lawn chair
Invented by designer Deger Cengiz, the Chaise-lawn chair doubles as a lawn and a chair, not to mention a wheelbarrow for hauling around any human who finds it too comfortable. The chair might appeal to people who live in apartments and miss the simple pleasures of having a grassy yard — though you might want to check with your landlord first.
Check Your Testicles; How to Chart & Video (Testicular Cancer Prevention)
Next time you naturally (that’s what men do) adjust your boys in public, tell them you’re just checking yourself for testicular cancer! I attached a How To video below, I thought you pervs might like some visuals. Whatever it takes, that gets you to know this vital information and get you interested, I will do, because I love you, you and (points finger at you) you.
via iheartguts.com
Grab Your Gonads Testicle Self-Exam Card
$10.00
Next time you happen to grab your gonads, tell ’em you’re just checking yourself for testicular cancer! This handy laminated 11.5″ x 9″ card is just the thing to keep around to check yourself monthly. The artwork is also available as a free download here.
Sit-Lie Ordinance Useless, Says SF Police; I Don’t Like Looking at Ugly Things, Says Accidental Bear
As much as I don’t like having to step over people sitting or lying on the sidewalk while being hit on for my spare change, the sit-lie ordinance isn’t making a damn difference, says SF Police. This is just a band-aid on the bloody wound. Like when it is tourist season and the SF politicians sweep the streets of the homeless. The fundamental problem is, homeless defined means no home, they have no where else to go. In order to make this sit-lie ordinance work, we need to fix the homeless problem. On a side note neighborhoods lack outdoor seating and benches for use when Sir Sun decided to make an appearance. Sit-lie is slammed by homeless advocates who see the ordinance as “a loss of civil liberties and an attack on all homeless people.~AB
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CBS 5 reports:
After months of training, officers began enforcing the law in March, but at a bimonthly CompStat meeting involving some of the Police Department’s top brass Wednesday, police Lt. Belinda Kerr from the Park Station acknowledged that the law has not done much to change behavior in the area.
There has been “a prolific amount of arrests, citations and warnings … but I haven’t seen that it’s done a whole lot,” Kerr said.
She said the transients will often get up when they see officers drive by in their patrol cars, but “unfortunately are getting up and going around the block and then sitting down again.”