San Francisco

Another successful business trip to San Francisco. I love it! A couple of weeks ago I went to a green conference and I found some time (not enough) to explore the long beaches, serene lagoons and idyllic towns in the area. I like cities that have lots of green space around them, just like Vienna and the Wienerwald. Here in San Francisco, you can escape the busy-ness of the city by heading North - crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. September is a good time to visit San Francisco: the fog that hangs over the city in the summer has lifted. "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" Mark Twain allegedly said (others claim it to be of unknown origin). Whoever it was, Mark Twain or Anon, he definitely has not visited Canada or Scandinavia in the winter.

swiftly melting

Pragmatic Dreamer

"Maned Cloud"

One of my highlights of my recent trip to Michigan was to see a presentation by Jean Marie Massaud, a French designer, whose work is influenced by natural, organic forms. Like his whale shaped air cruise ship "Maned Cloud": Our desire to explore untouched natural places, often destroys exactly the places that we want to experience (think Cancun). Traveling by Massaud's air cruise ship avoids the need for hotels in such places and adds another dimension to the vacation. Not sure, if I will be able to afford to travel on the luxury cruiser, if it ever gets built, but maybe I will see the whale float by one day. Even that would be a surreal experience.

Truffle
Chairs inspired by the sought-after mushroom

Habitat for Humanity

Virgo Goddess

Happy Birthday - Malynne :)

On the way home

Ben's Kitchen

One of the highlights of the week was Ben's organic kitchen. It was a treat to have fresh organic food every day and I learned some new stuff, such as that Cilantro helps to get rid of mercury and the origin of the name sushi is not "dish made from raw fish", but su = vinegar and shi = rice in Japanese. I will also need to get a blender so that I can make Ben's Macademia nut drink or shitake mushroom cashew sauce. Divine!

Compost

The Tower at Night

Art Car

Lemuria

The Temple of Forgiveness

trees

Tree

tree with man in the back

Girl

Princess in her Castle

People II

People

Monkey Art

Metal Carriage

Crude Awakening

Probably my favourite art installation of the entire event. The sculptures by Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito weigh 7 tons each. In spite of their mass, the detailing of the sculptures is intricate and their postures express worship, surrender and faith. On Saturday, the tower exploded, and wow, was it ever an explosion!

Sculptures