Xmas eve for sixty three!

Rounding out my shopping for the day, I stopped into our local wine shop to pick up some goodies for our Christmas party.  Not two seconds later, Evan here had talked me into a bubbly tasting.  Swirl has got this great little tiled counter at the back of the store where you'll always find friends kicking back and sipping on the latest selection of yummy liquids.  If you didn't know better, you'd have a hard time figuring out who was a patron and who was staff.  They are wonderful here, very laid back and never stuffy.  It's like having a glass of wine in your best friend's living room before you head off to a show.  I loved how Matt's shirt practically blended in with the countertop with its galactic flair.  He got shy about three frames later, and I turned to the two guys next to me for a chat as we all finished our Xmas eve cheer and wandered home to prepare for our feasts.

Evan.

Portrait Project Day62! Bridget

You know those friends you can always call day or night, happy or sad, lovely or bitchy, no matter what?  Bridget is one of those.  She's my gal pal, my partner in crime, my wingman.  She'll tell it like it is, and never sugar coats, so you know you can trust her when she gives her two cents. This girl has true soul oozing out of her gorgeous tall frame and long auburn hair, her smile lights up the city when she's happy.  We know we can count on each other, and that's hard to find in a girlfriend, especially with our hectic lives. I love this girl to death! Now, for all you men out there, on the count of three..... 

Bridget.

Scotty and Duca: PP#61 in NYC

Scotty deserves an entire six volume mini series instead of just a blog entry.  How do I even begin to describe what he means to me?  Fourteen years ago, he met me at my layover hotel in Philly where he was living, and took me to a place called The Plough and Stars where I introduced him to Irish coffee.  It was a cold December day, we found a spot by the fire as we ordered round after round of Scotty's new favorite beverage and became fast friends while listening to the fiddler play.  

Since that night, we have moved across the country several times over, had scores of relationships, half a dozen pets, a million and one cocktails, shared hundreds of hotel rooms, lived together for three months, laughed and cried over too many phone calls to count, and have grown closer and closer as the years pass.  He is now my "air huzzy", and  we have fun planning grand adventures together in Columbia, Iceland, and St. Maarten...although we have yet to jet set off into the blue with each other.  He is the best husband a girl could ask for, and when I find my other husband, I will officially be the luckiest girl on the planet.  

Scotty & Duca. 

60 by the water with Paul

Ok, so I know I have two Pauls in two posts, but I just couldn't help myself.  I just love the backdrop of the San Pedro harbor, I love all the blue from the sky & water, I love the palm trees stretching up in the distance... and most of all, I love the smile on Paul's face as he combs his beard by the docks with a little orange comb.  

Paul.

Rounding out #59 with a double selfie!

Sometimes this project's beauty is in the fact that it just makes me get out my camera when I wouldn't have otherwise, and in these moments, there is magic created between friends.  Paul and I met two years ago when he walked into our camp with a megaphone and clown shoes and made an entrance no one could miss.  A few nights later, we found ourselves racing bikes to the edge of the desert together, getting to know each other through stories told under the full moon as it peeked in and out of the clouds.  We sat there in our dusty, open air theater for hours, watching the millions of scurrying blinky lights on the horizon.  Then we were drawn back in to the heart of it by the lure of music, and the rain drops started to fall as we danced madly to the night.  It was an unforgettable evening that created an enchanting connection, and fills us with smiles to our core. This photo reminds me of that night, it just makes me happy... and it wouldn't have existed if not for the PP and the desire to get to 73!

Me & Paul.

PP#58@Blackbird

This is probably one of the only times that Justin has let me take his photo without wincing or turning away.  He is terribly camera shy, which is why I love this image of him even more.  It was just the two of us at a corner high top, talking about travel, the coming new year, and a myriad of other tidbits.  He and I can (and do) sit for hours on end discussing the depths of any chosen topic, I love how our conversations are filled with intertwining candor, digging below the surface.  I tell him all the time that he is too smart for his own good.  His brain is constantly going a mile a minute, grasping onto a million bits of information at any given time and trying to figure them all out at once.  He has a restless soul, yet it is precious and rare.  We are kindred spirits of sorts, living in both a daydream and reality, in a constant quest for the alchemy of transforming the two into gold. 

Justin.

56 & 57 lost! :((

Okay, so the one time I decide to format my memory card withOUT double checking first... Darn.  I lost two days of portraits.  I have them in my mind's eye... and I will make up for them in a future post.  Remember, kids, always double check yourself before you wreck yourself! 

I can't run 55! (in skivves)

Another great SF tradition is the annual Santa Skivees Run in the Castro which benefits the AIDS foundation.  Basically, it's a jog around the block, but you get to do it in your underwear!   And, oh my, some underwear is smaller than others, let me tell you... Aaron and I went out for brunch just in time to catch the half deflated blow-up Santa at the finish line being sacrificed for raunchy photos by passers by.  We went across the street to the iconic local hot spot The LookOut, where we met up with friends who had "run" that morning.  It was packed shoulder to shoulder (or shall I say, butt to butt), and my feet stuck to the floor with each step.  We found Brandon in the corner alcove in his Christmas jammies and a margarita, and joined in on the last of the Santa celebrations of the year.  I think where I live is the true essence of the word "bubble".  There are few places on earth where you can find people coming up with so many excuses to dress up, be weird, and celebrate anything and everything in such fantastic ways.  One thing about living in SF...you have to have a good stock of undies!  

Brandon.

SantaCon 2013.54

Christmas holds a very special meaning for us here in San Francisco... Every year, there is a tradition that brings us all together, lets us share our holiday joy with friends, and encourages our true expression of Christmas spirit...

Yes, folks, I am talking about SantaCon.

But, this is not just your typical 1,000 Santas in a bar crawl kind of SantaCon, this is an exclusive SantaCon party on a magical bus put on by the one and only Bernard-Claus. For the "millionth year in a row", Bernard has organized only the best of the best to celebrate this glorious day riding around the city's highlights on a pair of busses with neon lights and stripper poles.  I mean, isn't that how we are supposed to celebrate the spirit of the jolly old guy in a red suit? ...oh yeah, and that guy with the long hair and a loin cloth?  Annette here is the lucky one who happened to have her birthday on this celebration of holy fun, so she got a private party stop at her own Mission hipster bar filled with cupcakes and balloons.  To say the least, we all had an unforgettable day, dancing till dawn with our Santa cohorts, rounding out 2013 with love, laughter, and red sparkly mayhem.   

Annette.

PP52 with my class of Virgins

I couldn't have dreamed two years ago that I would fall in love so hard with the people I was about to spend five weeks with.  It was the November training class for Inflight Team Members of Virgin America, and we were the largest class they had ever had; there were over eighty of us.  For 5 weeks, we sat in class together, played games together, took breaks in Mt. Whitney together, stressed out with each other, laughed and cried with each other, and created bonds that will last a lifetime.  Each year in December, we go to recurrent training, and even though we dread the two boring class days, we secretly (and not so secretly) get really excited to have our mini reunion with a handful of Novemberites, aka "the best class ever".  This year was so much fun, I forgot the government required us to be there.  All we did was laugh.  Our instructor Sam was part of the reason we had so much fun too, he's an absolute gem, and we all swear it would be suicidal if he wasn't the one spending these 2 days with us.  Paulina here is one of my very favorite people at Virgin because of her wildly true spirit, and her realness.  She's someone you can have a deep conversation with about life & love, and in the next moment spit your drink out your nose because of her dry wit and priceless expressions. Our 'office' life is different every day, but at the end of it all we know that it is more than just our own metal tube hurling through the sky:  We have each other out there, supporting one another and laughing with each other across the world, and knowing that there are 80+ people who are our extended family, even if we only get to hug them once a year in the jet bridge!  

Paulina.

53 Portrait of my own mind

Sometimes, life throws you pancakes & beer, sometimes it throws you cat pee in your suitcase.  Today was a cat pee kind of day.  It was a curve ball I did not expect, and I was surprised how much it affected me.  I desperately wanted to take a portrait of someone today... Maybe this would be my somber portrait, maybe I would learn something amazing in the pushing through the vomit that was smearing my 'happy'.  It was one of the coldest nights of the year, and I threw on my scarf and gloves and walked down the street to wander and find some dinner.  Everyone was scurrying around, ditching out of the cold, walking briskly to their destination.  I thought I should stop at a street corner and just wait for someone to arrive who looked as if they wouldn't mind a stranger asking for their photo.  Then my monkey brain set in... "What is my purpose in this anyway?"  "Is it about a picture, or a connection?"  "Maybe this is stupid."  " There's no way to get a decent shot like this, just go home."  As I sat down, "table for one, please", at Mama Ji's, I eaves dropped on the tables around me and felt mildly entertained as I ate my bowl of chow mein.  Should I ask the waitress?  Or, maybe the guys sitting next to me...  I decided I was sad that I was stressed about this, I didn't like the feeling of "having" to take a photo tonight, was this part of my deal?  I knew it was, I knew that it's not all supposed to be fun & games, and that I would have to push myself through times like this, and I liked that fact.  But why couldn't I do it tonight?  I was resenting the person who made me feel so bad, but I also knew it was up to me to make my reality and not someone else.  I paid my check, thanked the beautiful server who I wished I could have asked for a photo, and threw my scarf back around my neck to walk the three blocks home.  I knew as I walked out the door that I had given up.  It was defeating, but I think it was a good lesson now that I look back on it.  I was forced to ask myself a lot of questions and go through my fears and contemplate my thoughts.  I did not get a portrait today.  Yet, I have a portrait in my mind of my own mind, and the swirls and dips it goes into when it's in distress, and I guess that's a portrait only I will get to see.   

Kenny's got crabs. #51

Every year, Kenny has a holiday party where he prepares massive amounts of magnificent crab & string french fries, throws down the brown parchment paper & crab crackers, and let's everyone act like savages and gorge themselves with buttery fingers! The house is filled to the brim with merry souls, drinking and sharing stories from their day, week, and year. It's one of my favorite nights of the year, going to the wee hours with a secret santa gift exchange that always ends with tears, mostly from laughter, but sometimes the from sweet sentiment between friends.  

This year, Kenny's crabs were shared in a more intimate setting.  There were just six of us, plus Elliot makes seven.  Kenny and Joe's beautiful son made the rounds with all of us, showing off his cuter than sin smile, running around with his Santa hat to greet guests, and making sure we knew he loves attention in whatever way, shape, or form we could give.  This sweet moment on the couch with Tall Paul was taken just before we carried him up to sleep, and then sat down for our own sweet moments looking at the people we love across the table and toasting to the new year ahead.  

Tall Paul & Elliot. 

Portrait day #50 in Portland!

Another favorite part of my stewie life?  Flying for free.  Or, more aptly put, the freedom to roam on a whim.  

My photographer obsession of the moment is a guy named Phil Chester.  I found him because someone posted a blog of his that caught my eye, and I spent the next five hours combing through every photo he's ever taken.  To my delight, I noticed that he was based in Portland, a Virgin city, so I took the chance and wrote him a personal email asking if he'd like to meet for coffee on my next layover.  Turns out, we arranged something much better.  I treated him to a flight to New York, and he treated me to a one-on-one mentoring day with him in Portland.  I got to soak up his wisdom and talent, and find inspiration in someone who is making his passions into reality.  I remember sitting there with him and thinking to myself, "I can't believe I made this happen!"  Last month, this person was an enigma, and right now, we are sharing conversation like old friends.  The saying crossed my mind about 'life begins at the end of your comfort zone'. I could have just admired him from afar, but I held my breath and stepped across my comfort line, and, wow! That was fantastic!  

The photo below is not, as you may expect, of Phil Chester.  This is Flannegan.  He was mattress-surfing at the same place where I was couch-surfing for the night.  $10, and I had the key to a stark little apartment on the edge of a great neighborhood to lie my head for the night.  Funny, from the minute I walked in to the time I left, Flannegan never left his bed.   I just saw this head sticking out of the blanket, a hello and a brief, friendly chat for a few moments before I walked down the street for dinner.  In the morning, he was still tucked in like a cocoon, but he peeped out a 'goodbye and safe travels' to me as I departed, and I smiled as I opened the door to a frosty cold morning outside.   

Flannigan. 

49, high in the sky

One of my favorite parts of working as a stew is when I get to go in the cockpit and take in the full panorama of the world below.  There are winding rivers and golden valleys of monuments, snowy peaks and speckled patches of a million lakes, colorful circles that span as far as the eye can see, and volcano peaks lined up so eloquently in a row.  The night time vistas are just as beautiful.  The Gods poked a thousand holes in a black canvass and let the light glimmer through in patterns that define a city.  Sometimes, when it's cloudy, you get to peek through for just a moment and catch a glimpse of life, and then you look up and see the planets shimmer for you out there in the blackness.  It's the most beautiful office in the world, and I envy the pilots who get the front row seats at this most spectacular and ever-changing show.  The time I have in the cockpit is precious, sharing quiet space with another person just observing the wonder of it all. Clem here is one of the good ones, his eyes still shine after a whole life up in the air.  He hasn't lost the magic, and it makes my day to share the awe with him, even for just a moment.   

Clem.

Portrait Day number 48: Adam

All I am really going to say is that people like Adam are why I love my job so much!  As are people like Bethany, and Matt, and Steve, and Jaime, and Mikey, and Cliff, and Ting Ting, and Joshua, and the other Joshua, and Marche, and Kimber, and Monica, and Jeff, and Sara, and Heidi, and the Carries, and Paulina, and Samantha, and Marissa, and Tina, and Perry, and Clem, and Twee, and Louis, and Mark...and about fifty other fun-loving people who have filled my world with laughs and good times these past two years.  If I explained this particular evening I had with Adam and Bethany with you, you might be tempted to shake your head and throw your hands up in the air with amused confusion.  Not every trip is this much fun, but I hold on to them to get me through the rough ones.  Thanks, guys!  

Adam.

Portrait of a sweet love: #47

The last time I saw these two, we were gathered together with a dozen others around the fire pit at our layover hotel in Boston.  I didn't know they were together...maybe they weren't at that point, maybe that was the night everything started.  All I know is that I already adored the daylights out of Tina, and Perry was fast becoming one of my new favorite pilots.  A month or so later, I saw Perry getting off the plane in Florida when we were getting on and gave him a huge hug.  "Oh wow, I just saw Tina here & thought of you!", remembering that last time I saw her.  Little did I know they knew the other was there.  It took one or two more run-ins like that to realize that two of my favorite people had become a couple.  In the airlines, it's a tricky thing, dating co-workers.  Everyone warns you against it, yet everyone seems to try it at least once.  I, personally, have never attempted the flight attendant/pilot mambo, but if I did, I would only hope that my match would be as good as these two.  Love and laughter, they've got the right combo.  

Tina & Perry

Rickshaw Umbrella: Portrait # 46

Waiting in line for a little dance venue called Rickshaw, we met this cool couple Joel & Amanda.  As San Franciscan's do, we chatted it up and became friends before even reaching the door.  It was spitting rain, so Rob pulled out his enormous red umbrella and I just had to swoop in for the photo op!  We planned on staying for only an hour, but ended up dancing all night long with old and new friends as well as strangers, and again came up with one more reason why it sucks to live in San Francisco!  

Joel & Amanda. 

Portrait Project, day 45: A push up in the park

Anybody who truly knows me knows my odd obsession with running hills.  Maybe it's because I've lived at the top of hills most of my life.  The street I grew up on, Chamberlain Rd., was the steepest hill in Pasadena.  We lived at the very top.  When I would beg my dad to pick me up from school so that I didn't have to walk up our hill he would say, "You've got two Cadillacs on the ends of those legs!".  So, maybe it wasn't something I was born with, but I grew to love any spot that was high above... Ironically, I have worked as a flight attendant soaring 39,000 feet above the earth for nine years.  

Buena Vista park is just a hop skip from my apartment in the Castro, and it's filled with dozens of pathways that all include hills or stairs.  Normally when I run through BV I see loads of amazing photo ops, and I always wish I had remembered my camera.  Today, I grabbed my little green Fuji and held it in my hand, hoping to cross paths with someone interesting.  Two times around the hill and it was like the Twilight Zone episode where everyone vanished and the guy was trying to figure out what happened.  I decided that I would not give up though, and made a pact that I would keep running until I got my portrait.  It was looking like I would be on a very long run... I decided to turn up the stairs instead of continue on the paved path, and half way up I see a man in red pants dart out in front of me and shout out "Come on! You can do it!"  I said back "aww, I'm just gunna walk these today."   He kept running up and egged me on to follow him, so I kicked it into full gear and ran after him.  At the top, I saw his client on the grass doing push ups, and he called out "10!  9!  8!...."  He looked at me as if to say "You. Get down too!"  So I fell to the ground and joined in for the last count... "7!  6! 5!..."  I got this shot of Shua just before he leapt away with his client for more drills, and I thanked him for the kick in the butt.  He made me promise I'd keep doing the push ups for the rest of my run.  Now, how could I say no to a face like that?  

Jason just wanted to enjoy a day off of work free from lines and crowds. Unfortunately, he lives in San Francisco. 

Reflection day...

There is so much about this project that I adore.  It has challenged my bravery, made me practice discipline, and has given me something to fear & look forward to each day.  That being said, I have to admit that my favorite thing is this:  I have been documenting a storyboard of my life, and I have a special memory for every single day.  That special memory is captured visually, but it also resonates viscerally.  I read once that what makes us remember some things and not others is the combination of focus + emotion. So much of our lives float by without mention, we just scurry from one thing to another. Sure, we laugh, we drink, we share, we are constantly creating memories... but which ones stick with us beyond a few months or a few years?  Think back to ten years ago... What were you doing?  Who were your friends?  How many details do you remember from that year?  Most likely, the times you remember are the ones filled with a focused emotion.  Joy, anger, fear, laughter, aloneness, desperation, falling in love, heart break, or maybe it is even more simple, like a hello from a stranger that touched your soul, or an animal that stole a glance and stole your heart, or the warmth of the sunshine on your back while you enjoyed a precious view.  During all of these, our minds and hearts are hyper focused and we don't even realize it.  We are living in the moment, letting time stop in order to appreciate.  "They" also say that if you step out of your comfort zone, change up your routine, step into your fears, that it keeps you sharp, releases endorphins, and creates stronger memory.  So, the way I see it, bythe end of this year, I should be an elephant!

Fun with Forty Three! Robin & Bailey

I hate Face Time.  Why on earth would you want to chat with someone you care about live, over a crappy phone camera that makes you look terrible?!  And then there's that little window on top where you can see yourself!  Gawd, you just want to stick your head in the nearest hole in the ground and scream, or cry, or both!  If anyone asks to Face Time me, I always say no.  "Not on your life, I hate Face Time." 

I was sitting by myself in the hotel bar in Newark having dinner when my phone rang... it was an unusual ring, not the normal doorbell that I am used to hearing.  I looked down, "Shit,  Face Time."  But it was Robin... how could I not answer a call from my wife? (Robin was my airline wife the first year I worked at Virgin, and even though I have a new airline husband now, she will forever be wife to me!)  I swiped to answer, held the phone out in front of me, and after a few minutes, to my surprise, all of the sudden I had a dinner date! We ended up chatting like that for almost an hour.  I kept my arm stretched out in front, and munched on my burger & fries with the other hand.  Soon I couldn't tell the difference between her being on the phone or being in front of me for real, we were just laughing it up and having the best time sharing stories about our week.  I realized that I may have looked strange to the other people around me that filled the bar, but I didn't care, it was so much fun to have Robin there in Newark at dinner with me.  Then it hit me;  If we could have this much fun on Face Time, why couldn't I take a portrait of her through the phone as well?  She agreed to my plan, and I went upstairs to my room and set the phone on the edge of the bed and grabbed my camera.  "What do you want me to do?"  she asked.  "I don't know!"  I said.  Then she grabbed her kitty Bailey and it was a done deal.  I snapped away as she laughed her butt off playing with her animated black cat, and even though this was more like a snap shot than a portrait, Robin's true self shone through, her laugh that is so captivating and contagious filling the screen and reminding me why I love her so much!   (And, btw, she happens to look fabulous on Face Time!) 

Robin & Bailey.