Solar Panels in Foggy Sunset District
I live near the ocean in San Francisco. Foggy summers might make solar panels seem like a bad idea. But ours have worked great. Installed in 2008, and we haven’t …
The Amazing Imaginative Art of David Beck
One of the best things about having your own art show or residency? The recommendations. Other artists see your work and say, Hey, have you heard of…? That’s how I …
Catching Eel the Old-Fashioned Way – With A Clod of Worms
Back in the 1970s, I visited my Opa in Germany. We fished on the Wümme in Bremen for European eel. He had a clever way to catch them. No hooks. …
Metson Lake and mono no aware (物の哀れ)
Metson Lake in Golden Gate Park was my spot. On a calm day, the water turned into a perfect mirror, reflecting the trees like a William Wendt painting. One tree …
Sunset In Motion – Artist Residency – Part Two
(Continued from Part One) Did I finish everything I set out to make? Almost. As always, new ideas popped up. I needed to fill a whole shipping container, my makeshift …
Sunset In Motion – Artist Residency – Part One
Five years ago, my artist residency began… but I didn’t realize the anniversary had passed until today. I still can’t believe it happened. Six years ago, I wasn’t even calling …
Presence. Process. Pleasure.
You sit down at your studio table to create. But first, you have to be here. Fully. Distractions pull at you—notifications, obligations, self-doubt. Ignore them! Creativity needs presence. It’s in …
Senior Moment
I rented a boat recently at a local lake. One of the perks of getting older? Senior discounts. In this case, $12.50 off. When I checked in, I told the …
A Computer In My House. Imagine That!
In 1977, personal computers weren’t a thing yet. But I had Fred Stark. He was my high school teacher. Physics, electronics, and as it turned out, computers. His classroom (room …
Hardshell Scenery for the Great Canyon
When I built the floor-to-ceiling canyon on the HO-scale Redwoods and Railroad in 1997, I had some friends come over and help apply the plaster. To make the canyon, I …
Datatables in a Colorbox iframe with Selected Row Returned to Parent Window
A few years ago I created a form where one of the questions was asking for a specific code (specifically, a NAICS code). The problem was that there were almost …
Army Hospital Trains at Crissy Field
In the summer I go fishing at Crissy Field at least once a week and I often think about some of the fascinating history of the field. During WWII the …
3D Printed Balcony
I had mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to create a balcony for one of my small buildings. I’m happy to report I’m almost all the way there. …
The Best Lure for Crissy Field Beach
Spring and summer mornings at Crissy Field are my favorite. I fish at least once a week, and one lure consistently delivers: the Storm Searchbait Minnow. It’s got the right …
On Doug Gorney’s Passing
It’s been about two months since Doug passed away suddenly. He was only 63, just a few months younger than me. His passing has hit me hard. He was over …
How To Subscribe To My RSS Feed
Did you know that you can subscribe to my blog, as well as almost all other blogs that exist on the internet? All you need is a Feedreader app on …
31st Avenue: A Walk On The Wild Side of Typography
How many ways can you say 31st Avenue? Apparently a lot. On a short walk through the heart of the Sunset, you’ll find 31 ST, 31ST AVE, 31 ST AVE, …
Watching The Dick Van Dyke Show as a Six Year Old
As a kid, I watched The Dick Van Dyke Show. I was six or seven. At that age, my idea of career and work came from what I saw in …
Legos and Love
Lego kits are made for specific models. Follow the instructions, and you get the exact design on the box. But the genius of Lego is in the parts. Interchangeable. Adaptable. …
Ducks at Safeway
We went shopping at Safeway yesterday for the weekend and saw something unusual. Two mallard ducks, a male and a female sitting on the asphalt on in a parking spot. …
Troutmobile Sparks Fowl Frenzy
We went fishing at Lafayette Reservoir yesterday. No bites. Not even a nibble. But we weren’t bored. Lafayette Reservoir is small but it packs in a lot of wildlife. Turkeys …
A City We Can’t Leave
One Christmas, a friend gave us a gift. It was large and heavy. We couldn’t guess what it might be. We opened it. A coffee table book about San Francisco. …
Cabin Fever
January hits, and I start thinking about fishing. Happens every year. Sure, there’s winter fishing in the Bay Area. Stocked trout are a thing. But I’m a spring-and-summer kind of …
Wet-on-Wet Oil Paintings for Model Railroad Backdrops
In the late ’80s, I painted a series of large backdrops using Bill Alexander’s wet-on-wet oil painting technique. I’d watched his PBS show in the late ’70s and still had …
Why Do iPhones Never Work Right in Dreams?
Do you ever try to use your iPhone in a dream? Ever notice how it never works? No internet. No signal. Just a useless glass and aluminum rectangle mocking you. …