The Big To-Do SF: 250 Things to Do Before You Die

A few months back I posted a list of 100 things to eat in San Francisco before you die, courtesy of 7x7 Magazine. 7x7 is at it again, this time with a list of the 250 things to do in SF before you die. The list contains a neighborhood by neighborhood overview of the activities that make San Francisco, well... San Francisco. Below is the top 100 from the list. So far, I've done 19, 20, 39, 40, 44, 51, 56, 59, and 90 (only the de Young - I desperately want to go to the California Academy of Sciences). The full list contains things to do in many other neighborhoods, like Russian Hill, Bernal Heights, NoPa, and others. (Also check out the Google map of the list.)

1. Listen to your friends’ first gig at Hotel Utah. (SoMa)

2. Walk under the waterfall at Yerba Buena Gardens. (SoMa)

3. Shop for urban menswear at Rolo. (SoMa)

4. Be a woman among men and go dancing at theStud. (SoMa)

5. Feather your nest at 411 Vermont Street (Obsolete, Blackman Cruz, Therien & Co.). (SoMa).

6. Have some watermelon wheat beer at 21st Amendment. (SoMa)

7. Rush the sales at Jeremys. (SoMa)

8. Meet your match over a glass of wine atDistrict. (SoMa)

9. Soak in the art and some Blue Bottle on the new SFMOMA rooftop. (SoMa)

10. Have a quiet moment in the Contemporary Jewish Museum plaza. (SoMa)

11.Pick up some Italian roast at Graffeo Coffee. (Northbeach)

12. Remind yourself that Tommaso’s old-school pizzas are still some of the best. (Northbeach)

13. Attend a reading at City Lights. (Northbeach)

14. Grab the perfect gift for your girlfriend atEden & Eden. (Northbeach)

15. Light a candle in memory of someone special at Sts. Peter and Paul Church. (Northbeach)

16. Have pumpkin ravioli at L’Osteria. (Northbeach)

17. Catch a show at Bimbo’s. (Northbeach)

18. Take a seat at the counter for a meatball sandwich at Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store. (Northbeach)

19. Climb the Filbert Street and Greenwich Street steps. (Northbeach)

20. Don’t miss the Coit Tower murals. (Northbeach)

21. Use the general password (“books”) to drop into the library at Bourbon & Branch. (Tenderloin)

22. Do dinner and view a show from the balcony at the Great American Music Hall. (Tenderloin)

23. See what’s on display at the Shooting Gallery. (Tenderloin)

24. Hang out in the smokers’ cage at Rye. (Tenderloin)

25. Grab a Vietnamese sandwich from Saigon Sandwiches. (Tenderloin)

26. Sing and clap on Sunday morning at Glide Memorial. (Tenderloin)

27. Get a lap dance at Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre. (Tenderloin)

28.Shop for cool kicks at Huf Shoes. (Tenderloin)

29. Then cross the street and have dinner at tinyCanteen. (Tenderloin)

30. Watch naan being pulled straight from the tandoor at Shalimar. (Tenderloin)

31. Do dinner at A16 and a movie at the Presidio Theatre. (Marina)

32. Load up a Let’s Be Frank grass-fed dog with devil sauce. (Marina)

33. Fly a kite at Crissy Field. (Marina)

34. Be a lady who lunches at Balboa Café (but get the burger). (Marina)

35. Get hit on at the MatrixFillmore. (Marina)

36. Find a deal at My Rommate’s Closet. (Marina)

37. Make friends with someone that owns a sailboat. (Marina)

38. Conduct an ethereally quiet wee-hours grocery run to Marina Safeway. (Marina)

39. Have a beer on the back patio of the Tipsy Pig. (Marina)

40. Follow up a run through the Presidio with a hearty brunch at Rose’s Café.

41. Reserve a private karaoke room at Doremi Music Studio (and cross your fingers for “Sweet Caroline”). (Pac Heights)

42. Find a drop-dead, Aussie-designed dress atElizabeth Charles. (Pac Heights)

43. Check out the southern view from the top ofAlta Plaza Park. (Pac Heights)

44. Get a taste of the Mission at Pizzeria Delfina. (Pac Heights)

45. Grab a free poster after a show at theFillmore. (Pac Heights)

46. Take your laptop to the Grove and pretend to work. (Pac Heights)

47. Get naked at Kabuki Springs & Spa. (Pac Heights)

48. Indulge in an almond croissant from the original Boulangerie Bay Bread. (Pac Heights)

49. Check out the adorable puppies and kitties up for adoption at Pets Unlimited. (Pac Heights)

50. See how many times you can jog the Lyon Street Steps. (Pac Heights)

51. Choose from the 50 selections on tap at Toronado and pair it with a beer sausage from Rosamunde. (Haight)

52.Time yourself at Kezar Stadium’s track. (Haight)

53. Play fetch with the dog at Buena Vista Park. (Haight)

54. Order an old-fashioned at the Alembic. (Haight)

55. Get a T-shirt designed by local artist Sam Flores at Upper Playground. (Haight)

56. Have barbecue and sake at Memphis Minnie’s. (Haight)

57. Catch an indie flick at the Red Vic. (Haight)

58. Take advantage of happy hour at Uva Enoteca. (Haight)

59. Shop for quality vintage wear at Held Over. (Haight)

60. Be a tourist and snap a pic of yourself at the convergence of Haight and Ashbury streets. (Haight)

61. Find love over fixed gears and coffee atRitual Roasters. (Mission)

62. Drink rosé at Dolores Park. (Mission)

63. Buy a heap of cheap avocados at Casa Lucas. (Mission)

64. Shop for emerging artists on a minigallery hop at Creativity Explored, Needles + Pens,Adobe Books, Michael Rosenthal and Jack Hanley. (Mission)

65. Drink a cheap, 16-ounce margarita at the Latin American Club. (Mission)

66. Wake up to a bowl of bread pudding atTartine Bakery. (Mission)

67. Ogle the midcentury chandeliers at Monument. (Mission)

68. Have a breakfast of huevos rancheros at Los Jarritos. (Mission)

69. Buy something beautiful at the Bell Jar. (Mission)

70. People-watch on a warm afternoon at theRevolution Café. (Mission)

71. Check out a gay-fabulous flick at Castro Theatre. (Castro)

72. Wait in line for a Superman sandwich with dirty sauce at Ike’s Place. Follow with Tums. (Castro)

73. Sit at the piano and sing along with the boys at Martuni’s (yes, this is technically next door in the Mission, but only geographically). (Castro)

74. Spend Sunday trying to keep count of the all-you-can-drink-for-$6 mimosas at Lime. (Castro)

75. Shop for feather boas and tool belts at Cliff’s Variety. (Castro)

76. Strike a pose at Friday’s happy-hour dance party at Badlands. (Castro)

77. Catch a concert at Café Du Nord (or a little acoustic at the adjacent Swedish American Hall). (Castro)

78. Have a 3 a.m. post-clubbing breakfast at Bagdad Café. (Castro)

79. Pick up some social criticism at A Different Light Bookstore. (Castro)

80. Hook up over coffee at Café Flore. (Castro)

81. Watch the surfers at Kelly’s Cove. (Richmond)

82. Browse the art books at Park Life. (Richmond)

83. See a double feature at the 4 Star Theatre. (Richmond)

84. Be thankful for Green Apple Books, the ultimate independent bookstore. (Richmond)

85. Pick out a fish from the tank for dinner at New May Wah market. (Richmond)

86. Have a bowl of ramen and listen to the Shitones at Halu. (Richmond)

87. Jockey for position at Pizzetta 211. (Richmond)

88. Drop in on a seisiún (a kind of Irish open jam session) at the Plough & Stars. (Richmond)

89. Bike the length of Golden Gate Park on Sunday when JFK Drive is closed to cars. (Richmond)

90. Check out the natural wonders at the California Academy of Sciences, or the latest exhibit at the de Young. (Richmond)

91. Rent an obscure European film from Le Video before video stores are extinct. (Sunset)

92. Order a Rotten Robby at The Pizza Place on Noriega. (Sunset)

93. Build a fire at Ocean Beach. (Sunset)

94. Read the Sunday Times and have blueberry pancakes at Park Chow. (Sunset)

95. Go with a big group for dumplings and beer at San Tung. (Sunset)

96. Buy a custom silk-screened T-shirt atMollusk Surf Shop. (Sunset)

97. Snack on Nick’s fried fish tacos atUnderdogs. (Sunset)

98.Get freshly roasted coffee at Henry’s House of Coffee. (Sunset)

99.Pick up some magic tricks at Misdirections. (Sunset)

100. Take a couple of kids to the SF Zoo. (Sunset)

God's view of work

As I sit in the airport in San Francisco about to depart for a week of vacation, I couldn't help but blog about the topic of work. I've been reading a book about prayer which contains a bunch of excerpts from famous books, sayings, and prayers. Two of the ones I read this morning were on the topic of work and how christians should view work. The topic has been on my mind a lot lately and what I read this morning and some insightful comments from a friend have given me some clarity on the subject. Here are the two excerpts:

From Richard Foster's book Prayer:

"The work of our hands and of our minds is acted out prayer, a love offering to the living God. In what is perhaps the finest line in the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Eric Liddell tells his sister, "Jenny, when I run, I feel his pleasure." This is the reality that is to permeate all vocations, whether we are writing a novel or cleaning a latrine.
It is at the latrine cleaning that many have a problem. It is not hard to see how a Michelangelo or a T. S. Eliot is giving glory to God - theirs are creative vocations. But what about the boring jobs, the unimportant jobs, the mundane jobs. How are those prayer?
Here we must understand the order in the kingdom of God. It is precisely in the "slop-bucket job" - the work that we abhor - where we will find God the most. We do not need to have good feelings or a warm glow in order to do work for the glory of God. All good work is pleasing to the Father. Even the jobs that seem meaningless and mindless to us are highly valued in the order of the kingdom of God. God values the ordinary. If, for the glory of God, you are putting an endless supply nuts on a endless line of bolts, your work is rising as a sweet-smelling offering to the throne of God. He is pleased with your labor.
"Aren't you glorifying work a bit too much - you know, Protestant work ethic, and all?" you may be wondering. I think not. Work came before the fall, and the curse of the fall was that work would be "by the sweat of your brow" - that is, the results would not be commensurate with the labor put in. In fact, one of the clearest signs of the grace of God upon us is when the results of our labor are far in excess of the amount of work we do. We glorify God in our labor because we most closely approximate the Creator when we engage in the creative activity of work."

And this one is from Augustine:

"O Father, light up
the small duties of this day's life:
may they shine
with the beauty of your countenance.
May we believe that glory can dwell
in the commonest task of every day."

There are two ideas that came to mind while reading this that that I found thought provoking (the first courtesy of a good friend and the second from me):

1. I like the idea that it is by God's grace that we see fruit from our labor at all. And that we are abundantly blessed when "the results of our labor are far in excess of the amount of work we do." Isn't that exactly what we expect/demand from our jobs every day? That our little input will produce a great reward. We want to put in as little effort as possible to reap great reward. Putting work in that light, where the 'results' are a gift of grace, is humbling.

2. I know it's easier said than done, but what if we were to think of the most mundane tasks as a chance to glorify God. I'm challenged to think about how much more powerful and attitude-changing it would be to be able to think about my work this way. If I were able to think this way, I'd be that much more grateful and that much more able to make my work something that glorifies God and less of something that I may be tempted to use to glorify yourself. And I think more often than not, I'm in the business of working to glorify myself through money or power or success or reputation.

So, I'm excited about going on vacation this week! But I'm also interested in taking some time on vacation to think more about how these ideas could change the way I view and complete my work in a practical way.

What about you?? Leave a comment if you have any thoughts - I'd love to hear them.

It's not you, it's me

I'm kind of blitzing the blog with new posts today, but clearly I hadn't posted in nearly two months. Up until now, I wasn't quite sure why I just couldn't get myself to post more. I have lots of ideas, but for some reason I don't ever actually take the time to post them. And I have been voraciously reading other blogs (I read at least 6 San Francisco food blogs - ridiculous, right?). And I do think there are some people out there who do want to read my blog. So, it doesn't add up, does it?

Today I read this article and helped me realize the reason why I am not a natural blogger. It's no secret that I am a classic introvert and while I have had a general understanding of what this means for me, the article hit home in new ways. I already knew that I'm not inclined to talk about myself very often, and I realized that the same holds true even in the virtual world. When I set up this blog, I thought that it would be easier to write about myself than to talk about myself. As it turns out it is just as exhausting of an activity virtually as it is in person. Anyone have any thoughts on this??

So, I guess this is my excuse to make me feel better for not posting much. I don't plan to end the blog, but I do expect to be ok with not posting as much and all I ask that you be ok with that too. 

And with that, I'm off to go be by myself.

Best pictures from Ben and Sarah's wedding

Matt, Ben, me and Dad just prior to the wedding.

Great picture of my family. The only person missing - Sarah!

Ben and Sarah had such a great time dancing!

I got to dance with the bride!

Classic Ben!

French Toast and fresh peaches

Check out a new post of mine on the Gastrofabulous blog - how to make French Toast with fresh peaches - one of my favorite breakfast dishes to make. 

Mission Street Food

I know I have mentioned this before, but one of the best things about living in San Francisco is the abundant supply of excellent food. But even more exciting than the good food is the truly innovative atmosphere for making, serving, and eating food. On Saturday, I experienced one such innovation that I have a hard time imagining in any other city than San Francisco. 

A few months back, a line cook at Bar Tartine in the Mission decided he wanted to use his one night off to experiment in a new kind of restauranting. He noticed that a food cart was going unused on Thursday nights. So, he set out to rent the cart for the night and serve gourmet food at rock bottom prices to anyone who wanted it. He expected a small group of people, but was surprised to sell out of food long before the customers ran out. This continued to happen every week, until he decided he needed to expand. He found a Chinese restaurant in the Mission willing to let him use the restaurant and part of the kitchen to prepare the food. It is such an interesting story and a unique experience in eating.

I found out about Mission Street Food through the Eater SF blog and immediately wanted to see this for myself. On Saturday I finally got the chance to go and took my visiting Mom and Aunt to experience something only found in San Francisco. To put it simply, it was an amazing experience.

We showed up at 5:40 PM to get in line and there were already about 20-25 people in front of us. We were fortunate to get seated in the first wave of diners, so we ate early, but didn't have to wait long (wait times can be measured in hours if you're not in the first wave, which I recommend you trying to do). 

The food was spectacular. We had a snap pea salad, king trumpet mushrooms, and a ham and cheese sandwich, all spectacular. On came shrimp and grits with homemade sausage, which tasted so good, if I had been standing, my knees would have buckled. Next was a grass fed steak. And finally for dessert, we had butter-fried cornbread with whipped creme fraiche and blackberries and seriously, it was so freakin good that I wanted to lick the plate. I recommend bring a bottle of wine with you (only a $5 corkage fee). All of this was less than $60 for three people - such a deal! And to top it all off, the profits go to charity. 

For more background on Mission Street Food, read this article from the Chronicle. And to check the menu for each Thursday and Saturday night dinner, check out the Mission Street Food blog. And of course, reviews on Yelp.

Best Wedding Ever!

For those of you that don't know my twin brother got married on Saturday! (My apologies to Matt and Becca for this post's title - your wedding was just as good.) It's hard to distill down my thoughts and feelings from the weekend, but suffice it to say that I am humbled by how good God has been in bringing Ben and Sarah together. The weekend was an incredibly joyous celebration and a blatant display of God's love. I couldn't be happier for the newlyweds and I look forward to watching them grow old together. Check out the limited selection of pictures below. Hopefully more to come soon...

Ben putting his game face on

Mr. and Mrs. Niemitz's first dance

Ben and Mom dancing, while...

Sarah and her Dad danced.