Ms. Winner's eye

I recommend taking a look at this interview with Cait on the photography blog Eye'em. Her photos are so very very pretty!

Mitten

You should really listen to "Cavalcade" on mynameismitten.com.

Happy St. Patty's

I think I am exempt from any holiday clothing expectations (i.e. wearing green) because I am an Irish citizen.

P.S. They were serving Irish coffee at breakfast here this morning.

Oh, San Francisco

Pies-in-face attack roils anarchist-vegan world

(03-16) 18:30 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- An ex-vegan who was hit with chili pepper-laced pies at an anarchist event in San Francisco said Tuesday that her assailants were cowards who should direct their herbivorous rage at the powerful - not at a fellow radical for writing a book denouncing animal-free diets.

The perfect weekend

How to have the perfect weekend.

First, let's make it 65 to 70 degrees and sunny.

On Friday, attend a 1920's themed murder mystery dinner party. Have your boyfriend's band play their first gig at the party, and have it be awesome. Wear a flapper dress.

On Saturday go to Indian Rock Park in Berkeley for a gorgeous view of the Bay Area. Sit on a rock in the sun.

Drive further up into the hills, to Tilden park. Walk in the woods and around Lake Anza. Giggle at the naked peoples. Head back down to Shattuck just in time to pick up a pizza at Cheeseboard and a box of Thin Mints.

Attend a dinner party at a beautiful Victorian flat hosted by a couple that met while sailing ships around the world. Open a bottle of your homemade beer and find out it's delicious. Drink your hosts' homemade sloe gin. Cuddle with a puppy.

Spend all of Sunday on your bike, cruising up and down the Embarcadero as a volunteer for the bike coalition. Enjoy the sun and the crowds. Eat free tacos.

Head home to brew a batch of IPA and cook a dinner of butternut squash ravioli with sage butter. Watch episodes of The West Wing until you fall asleep.

Cheese celeb

Turns out a Wellesley alum is the Cheesemonger for The Kitchn. I practically almost know a cheese celebrity! And I'm definitely going to make my own buttermilk cheese, man.

I am pro-pizza

The site Floating Sheep tracks geo-coded Internets data and plots them on a map. The maps are pretty much all awesome, but I am particularly fond of the Great American Pizza Map.

"The map reveals that America seems to be largely pro-pizza with the red dots of pizza spreading across the landscape like a rich and robust tomato sauce. Perhaps there is something after all that everyone can agree upon."

Indeed.

Golden Girls as Wu-Tang Clan

Yup, Sophia is totally ODB.

Kerning issues

The typography nerds are ALL OVER the Godine 40th anniversary logo.

Here's the logo:

And here are the comments:

I really miss working there sometimes. (Also, kerning issues guy, your grammar sucks.)

UPDATE: It keeps getting better.

Miner's lettuce

Did you know that this stuff is edible?

Well, it is. It's called miner's lettuce, and it's everywhere in San Francisco. I think I'm going to have me a picking party.

Ezzie

This pretty much sums up my cat.

Redesign

I am not very design-y, but Blogger came out with really cool customizable templates, so I gave it a go. I hope you are not traumatized by the changes.

A note on my banner image: I feel really friendly towards pelicans. I love how they don't really have to flap their wings much. They are like, "We are such cool cats that we just glide along." They shake a wing every once in a while, but that is mostly when they are saying hi to me. And sometimes they dive down into the water and come up with a fish in their beak pouch, which is a skill I admire.

This photo was taken at Land's End when some friends were visiting from New York. We went at sunset and the pelicans came over the bridge and flew out to sea. I think they did it just to help me impress my friends.

Way to go, pelicans.

Do not fear the nettles

Oh my god, St. Pat is my favorite cheese in the whole world and 18 Reasons is having a release party for it today! I am oh so attending.

"Please join us in celebrating the 2010 release of Cowgirl Creamery's St. Pat cheese. In addition to tasting this much-loved local cheese, we'll also sample the amazing fluid milk that is used to make it and enjoy samples of (cooked) nettles from one of the farmers who supplies the Cowgirls with the green leaves needed to wrap up St. Pat."

What is St. Pat, exactly? "St. Pat is Cowgirl's seasonal springtime cheese. The cheese is made with whole organic milk from the Chileno Valley Jersey Dairy and is wrapped with stinging nettle leaves. Do not fear the nettles, since they are frozen to remove the sting before they are wrapped around the cheese. St. Pat, with its distinctive, green rind, commemorates the arrival of spring in Marin County. After three weeks of aging the cheese is mellow, soft, and full of flavor. The nettle leaves impart a smoky, artichoke flavor. St. Pat received a Gold Medal at the 2009 North American Jersey Cheese Competition."

HELL YES IT DID. Cowgirl Creamery is the badassest cheesemaker around, man.

Bottling

This weekend we bottled our beer. It wasn't yet carbonated (that happens in the bottle), but it was a tasty amber ale.

Now we have to wait two weeks, and it will be ready to drink!

Bike directions

Hells yes, Google Maps now has biking directions! This is seriously rad, even though I'm sure they won't always be perfect.

I am bummed I'm missing out on the launch party - a group bike ride at SXSW on the 13th. We don't get to Austin until the 17th. But I can't be too upset because that is only a week away! Next Wednesday I'll be drinking margaritas and listening to live music. I am also going to eat me some breakfast tacos. Yessss.