Eureka!

the plan was to drive up the west coast, armed with resumes, and plant ourselves wherever we could find jobs. this plan was the end result of our nine month jaunt about the country/globe that has been chronicled here, on the jammer. our foolhardy plan was called to attention, as reality revealed its head and responsibilities could be ignored no longer. we could, though, shirk them for a little while longer and thus, the west coast trip survived, although in a different form and with adjusted intentions. here follows part one of an account of our month criddling about the west coast, a good month and a half after the fact.

part one of this jaunt concerned itself with california, the part we are both somewhat unaccustomed with. the part that could very well (and perhaps should) be a completely different state; the north. norcal, if you will. first stop, oakland, where poster tour buddy anthony and kelsey welcomed us to in fine style and loving bosoms. radiant, loving bosoms, and the finest culinary delights. the first full day in the bay held atlas obscura day, which was a celebration of the "wonders, curiosities and esoterica" of the world (with excursions happening in all of the obscure corners of the globe). we explored the musee mecanique in san francisco...

(a ferris wheel made out of tooth picks, constructed by inmates of san quentin penitentiary)

(had to use both m'baby arms against this man)


(laughing sal, when fed coins, would laugh hysterically (terrifyingly), and rock back and forth)


(anthony!)

(segways!)

(melissa explains why we were walking over tombstones along the water front of aquatic park in SF to kelsey and anthony who missed that part of the obscura tour. we were making our way to the maritime museum).

(the museum is closed to the public for much needed renovations, but the power of the obscura (look at the smallish picture on the link and see if you can find us among the atlas obscura day goers) gained us access to the many beautiful murals of the building).





(for the majority of the time that people worked on this building, they worked under the impression that it was going to be a community center of sorts. when the building drew near completion, the word got out that it was going to serve, instead, as a very exclusive and expensive restaurant for the san francisco elites. this, then, prompted many of the craftsmen to abandon the job out of solidarity for the common man, this artist even left his mosaic unfinished, which has remained thus for the life of the building and will remain so).

(the ceiling of one of the rooms inside the museum).

(we remained on the peninsula while anthony and co returned eastbay. continuing our exploration of the northern tip of the peninsula, we came across this, the house of days. a camera mounted in this metal contraption shoots one photo an hour of the same scene, day and night. you could scroll back quite a few months and see the seasons and days go by. quite an effecting little surprise).

(more surprises)

(and even more. this ampatheatre is made out of all recplaimed materials).

(computer waste)

(melissa emerging from yet another small space)

(honey comb rear-view)

(and then we found the wave organ. pipes extend out into the bay and transmit sounds into the little enclave at the end of a peninsula. farty/slappy goodness straight to m'earballs)

(and melissa's)

(got me pumped for pole jumpin)

(as per anthony's recommendation, we attended a performance at the audium that night...the result of one man's (stan shaff) passion/obsession with sound/movement/space, the audium is a truly profound and utterly unique experience, highly recommended to anyone going to san francisco or thinking about going. this is as far as i will go in explaining it, so hopefully curiosity will be strong enough to pull you there).

(stan y yo)

(back at the east bay homestead, baloons were attacking inga)

(she held her ground, though).

(the next day we traversed the albany bulb. so incredible. doods built themselves hot tubs at the end of the bulb with million dollar views of the bay...living FREE).

(big remote or little melissa)

(chillin with members of th' wisard)


(and mr. seinfeld)

(inga inspected the bulb and found it satisfactory)

(after a MEGA pizza party (at least twelve slices) with the wisards and other friendly folk that eve, we slept comatose and spent the better part of the next day by the bay, at the sutro baths).




(stopped by to pay homage to st. john coltrane)


(the wild parrots of telegraph hill were not into being photographed. if you click on the photo below to make it big, you can make out the parrot in the middle of the photo. it was incredible watching them swoop and screetch and play).

(coit tower in the heart of parrot country, in all of its art deco glory)

(and just like that, we said goodbye to our east bay beneficiaries. we navigated the epic curves of the freeway north to mendocino to visit m'auntie/uncle in their beautiful homestead among the cellphonewave-phobic masses. truly, could not get any reception anywhere due to the blockage of any towers built up there. to set a precedent for the rest of the trip, we neglected to take any pictures of our hosts, and instead turned the camera on ourselves (sometimes) and inanimate objects (most times). this in no way shows ingratitude to our hosts. julie and jerry spoiled us with food and conversation and relaxation and jeopardy. anyhow, heres melissa among some nohl-ish figures).

(little house or big melissa)

(machinery!)

(boo!)

(ahh, the northern california coast...)



(watching meth)

(tried to watch whales near this light house, but failed miserably)

(so, we opted for this raw lemon poppy cake thing that was fluffy even though it was raw. i wish raw sweets werent so expensive. and im glad we dont live near here (where we purchased said sweet)for i would be even more broke than now)

(pee pee dance near the pacific)

(followed by feats of strength)

(concluding with fem pee pee dance)


thus ends part one of this last bastion of th'jams. stay tuned for tales of the further north west.