One of my favorite new developments in the neighborhood is this one. What I really like is that the developer of the lofts at 200 Second Street had the stones to use colors other than the four or five “standard” exterior colors for new developments in the Bay Area. That along with some nice architectural…
Category: Loft Life
Fun (But Dangerous) New Neighbors
Today we discovered that we have not one, but TWO wineries within stumbling distance of our loft. Both JC Cellars and Dashe Cellars recently opened tasting rooms less than three blocks away. What a great addition to our neighborhood. This is the kind of urban development we can support! Tasting is free, and the rich,…
A Small Gathering
At the last minute, we decided to host a small party this new year’s eve. The party was interesting. The power went out at 11:42 PM and stayed out for almost three hours – the longest power outage we’ve seen in the 11 years we’ve been in the loft! The party became much quieter and…
Housing Explosion!
Coming to your neigborhood soon. At least if you live in Oakland! Buildings like this are springing up everywhere. I’m very happy to see some of the new structures feature fun, creative color schemes. The blaze orange and powder blue looks great! I wonder if all this construction will lead to a housing glut in…
Magic Light
Kelly will undoubtedly be upset that I posted this, because as anyone can clearly see, the loft is a “total mess!” Sorry Kelly, but I just wanted to share with my friends and family the light that came into our home at 4:01 PM today. Our loft lighting has been different every day of the…
Everything in a Single File!
Just a quick note to ask you all to take a look at Tiddlywiki. I’m busy working on images for two other blog entries, but I just could not wait to tell you about this. When you view the TiddlyWiki site, bear in mind that you are viewing a single file. A rather small file,…
Kids Say the Darndest Things
While driving home from dinner tonight at Luka’s Tap Room, I discovered that there’s a punk club one block from our loft. So, naturally, I grabbed my camera and went after some images. Tonight’s alcohol-free event looks like so much fun I might have to go back after dark to shoot the dingy club in…
Olive, Ice Cream
We were lucky to have a few hours with our most excellent friend Olive. It was a lovely evening, so we took a short walk with Olive and her somewhat spastic dog, Frisco, to Ben and Jerry’s in beautiful Jack London Square. Yes, she ate the whole thing.
Post New Year’s Party with the A-Team
What kind of a party can this group of party pros pull together with one day’s notice? A most excellent one! Thanks so much for coming, Tres, Jack, Dave, Leslie, Steve, Terra, Linda, Larry, Eric, John, Andrew, Christina, Ben, Vince, Scott, Justyna, Itzik, and Ellen. Happy New Year with love from thedude and Kellster.
Printing REALLY Large
The hallway panorama is in! It looks pretty impressive, if I must say so myself. A major improvement. The nine foot wide print was made from a 10,000 pixel wide image consisting of four time exposures – approximately 30 seconds each – shot with a Nikon D2X. I used PhotoVista to do the stitching; Pictopia…
We Love Our Neighbors
Really – we do. Tres, Jim, Kelly and Jack suck down a few mai tais at Conga Lounge. (Shot with the Canon G3 – still the best point-and-shoot digital camera that we know of.)
The Blinds are Up!
After three failed attempts to get them up, we finally did it. It wasn’t easy. We had to glue and screw a piece of wood to the crumbly concrete above the 12 foot window, then attach the mounting hardware to it. Thanks very much to our friend Dave for the expert help! We could not…
You Just Have to FEEL It!
Andrew has finished his magic – for now – and the result is this spectacular piece of work on our pillars! We are soooo happy with the beautiful venetian plaster applied by the master. What you don’t see here is the wonderful sensual texture of the polished plaster. It feels like cold marble. YUM! Thank…
Hip-Hip Hoo-Ray!
One of our favorite neighbors celebrated the big four-oh this evening with 60 or so of his closest friends and family members. Thanks for the great party, Ray, and thanks to your mother for the wonderful food!
Strike a Pose
Kelly, Olive and Ursula ham it up at Jack and Tres’ last night. We’ll be seeing these beautiful kids again later this evening at the Second Official Friday Movie Night in Loft 105! Tonight we’ll be projecting Master and Commander on the big white wall. Popcorn and wine await us!
Two Tough Acts to Follow
Last night our excellent neighbors Steve and Diane hosted their second event designed to showcase the many talents of our wonderful neighbors. The first featured violinist Julia Ogrydziak, and was a great success. Last night’s venue included Tara Forth, her piano and her surprisingly lovely voice. I’ve known Tara for a couple years now, but…
Loft Living Rocks!
One of the very best things about loft life is that we get to live among so many interesting neighbors. Kelly and I are surrounded by artists, scientists, writers, musicians, lawyers, architects and at least one very lovely and talented singer. Fellow Wisconsinite Tara Forth will be treating us to an evening of wine and…
Happy Birthday, Dude!!
Thanks so much to all who came to thedude’s party. Jim and Kelly are blessed to have the best friends (and neighbors!) in the world. We love you all!
First Batch + Birthday Bash
How exciting! We baked our first batch of cookies in our new convection oven. They turned out awesome! Naturally, I had to eat about 10 of Kelly’s delicious chocolate chip cookies just to be sure. Mmmmm yes – perfect! Later we strolled to the nearby Portico Lofts to help Tony and friends celebrate his birthday….
Fourth of July
Another July Fourth is history. The day was lovely, and featured gorgeous weather, meat on a stick, wine, beer, family, friends and fireworks – a splendid day. Thanks to all our teriffic neighbors for opening their doors last night.
No Triple Crown for Funny Cide
Despite plenty of positive vibes from Kelly and Orion, there was to be no triple crown winner today. Even I was a bit disappointed…
Maria’s Here!
One of my most-est favorite-est people in the world is visiting. She left her partner William at home in Glen Ellen to come and spend a few days with her old pals at Fourth Street Lofts. Maria is one of the reasons I love living here as much as I do. She lived in the…
Total Lunar Eclipse
The skyline, some friends and the wonders of our Solar System.
Robbie Returns!
Our dear friend and neighbor Robbie is back from more than a month in Bali. She had such a wonderful time that claims she’s ready to move there. (Make sure you have a guest bedroom for Jim and Kelly!) She took an Esalen massage class at the Melati Cottages in Ubud, Bali. Now, in order…
It’s Derby Day!
One of Kelly’s favorite days of the year. Here she is – margarita in hand cheering on Buddy Gil. Does he have a chance? We’ll see… She also mentioned Peace Rules. Of course, neither of us ever picks a winner.
Virtual Tours
If you have never clicked on my Virtual Tours link – do it now. If you’re interested, I used four different cameras in the making of these, but just one piece of software – PhotoVista – dataing back to the days when it was part of John Scully’s Live Picture. (Later it was owned by…
A Bird in the Han
Sorry, I just could not resist… It was just too obvious. You see, I just met my new neighbor Han, and Han just met Orion. Han and his charming girlfriend came over after work tonight. They seem like a teriffic addition to our building. He keeps the streets of Santa Clara safe at night and…