Natural Discourse

EVENT Symposium on Natural Discourse: Culture & Ecology

'Artists, Architects, Scientists, and Poets in the Garden'

February 10, 2012, 9AM-4PM at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley, CA

$30 for students

S P E A K E R S :

Chris Carmichael, Associate Director of Collections and Horticulture at UC Botanical Garden

Hazel White, Poet and author of 'Peril as Architectural Enrichment'

William L. Fox, Director of the Center for Art+Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art

Gail Wright, Associate Professor of Art at Stanford University

Dale Clifford, Assistant Professor of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University

The term 'natural discourse' itself is loaded with open questions - what is nature? who says? Does nature inspire conversation, can human conversation inspire nature, are these more than analogies. This stuff personally and totally fascinates me - the discursive processes of mutuality and adaptation that create human culture and ecology. It's like magic, and the garden is the perfect pretty place to observe it as it unfolds 8D

random photo

Dragon Year

EVENT Chinese Culture Center Spring Festival in SF

恭禧發財!

Sat-Sun, February 11-12, 11AM-3PM

At the Chinese Culture Center in SF Chinatown**

750 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor

This week started off with the new lunar year, marking the end of the rabbit year, *thank god. I hope to celebrate at the Spring Festival in SF: dragon dance, parade, food tasting, local crafts, performances, and more. I'll also be running a booth on Saturday! Selling terrariums and doing a demo on how to make them; trying to become THE crazy terrarium lady by the end of the year. Happy Chinese New Year!

**The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco is a non-profit that works to preserve and promote Chinese art & culture via exhibits, festivals, and workshops in the Bay Area.

*The rabbit year was supposed to be an unlucky year for those born in the year of the rabbit, including me. I would say that this was true, at least in my life as a driver. Coincidence? Maybe.

Last Minute

Peter Walker

LECTURE Peter Walker: Before the World Trade Center Memorial

Monday, January 23rd, 6:30-7:30PM

112 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley

The College of Environmental Design (CED) at UC Berkeley hosts a lecture series every semester featuring visiting scholars and practitioners. (It's very tempting and will likely cause me to drive way too much). This monday, Peter Walker, one of the most influential landscape architects in the world, will be speaking about his work.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

SONG Do you know the way to San Jose

Been in Downtown San Jose for exactly one month, not getting lost so often, and found out that this song exists:

Do you know the way to San Jose (1968)

Wild Kitchen SF

DINNER Wild Kitchen

Got this amazing menu in my inbox today from Forage SF:

Porcini Bisque
with
Housemade Creme Fraiche
$10

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Salad of Wild Greens, Slow Poached egg, Frisee,
Pickled Beets
with
Champagne Vinagrette
$11

---

Saigon Style Fried Sardines:
Chili, Garlic, Vinegar, Fresh Herbs
$12

---

Wild Mushroom and Rabbit Terreine
with
Frisee and Nastertium Capers
$15

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Marin Sun Bavette Steak
with
Wild Bay Butter, Grilled Endive
and
Fingerling Fries
$22

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California Halibut
with
Nettle Shiso Salsa Verde, Seared Polenta
and
Braised Rainbow Chard
$23

---

Nastertium Leaf Pesto:
Fresh Parpadelle
Garlic Fried Broccoli Rabe
$17

---

Ginger Ice Cream
with
Candied Preserved Citrus
and
Bittersweet Chocolate
$9

---

They call it an "underground supper club." It's a traveling kitchen that hosts dinners once in a while in SF, featuring locally foraged foods. Anyone interested in going to this?

710 Florida St @19th
January 20th-21st
6-11pm

Walk-ins welcome
Reservations for parties of 6 or more

Beekeepers Guild

GUILD Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild

Hive frames.

Guilds exist in real life! Last night, I found myself at a gathering of the Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild, held in the basement of a nearby Baptist church. The guild is a group of local beekeepers that share knowledge and resources with one another to promote successful beekeeping. The meeting was sweet: Q&A on hive ailments with "Dr. Bee," introduction of the Guild's new board of directors, demonstration on how to set up a new hive, and raffle/drawing of beekeeping-related prizes. In a world where most people panic at the site bees, it felt neat to be around a group of people totally in love with them.

The next meeting will be held at Willow Glen Baptist Church in San Jose:

February 6, 2012

Dr. Bee: 6:15-6:45 (Q&A)

Tyler Henthorne on Catching a Swarm

Kim Campbell on Preventing Swarms

Some related photos:

First time seeing a swarm, ended up containing this in a big plastic tupperware and using it to initiate a new hive.

Bees about their business. The bigger one with the white dot is the queen.

Langstroth Hives.