Neptune Landing

    For a practice that includes some silly paraphernalia (here's looking at you stretch pants, foam blocks and carry-around mats), yoga is a serious business in Fog City. Citizens devote as much energy and time to yoga as they do to their dietary needs and Halloween. Turn your head and you'll spot a space to stretch. Boston may celebrate a high  Dunkin' Donuts  density but a casual glance on google maps provides 796(!) places to get a yoga fix within the 7 mile by 7 mile county of San Francisco. So if there's so much supply and so much demand, why do I constantly feel like the only kid who forgot to do his homework? Did everyone move here as a previous yogi?     I'll admit it - I'm a dabbler by nature. With ten plus years of casual yoga behind me, however, I feel confident enough to hold about a dozen poses on my living room yoga mat (and to know them well by name). Never had I considered yoga competitive until I moved to San Francisco. More worr...

Any self-respecting, progressive San Franciscan gets a delivery of a CSA box or at least has a good story about one. CSA stands for Community-Supported-Agriculture. Basically, you go online to find a local farm that provides CSA shipments, read the farm's reviews on yelp, sign up with them and every Thursday they deliver a 10 lb. box of fresh, locally grown fruits and veggies to your apartment lobby. It's important to note that you are not a customer but an investor so you must return the shiny cardboard box from the previous week. They also give you a method for composting your egg shells and egg cartons. From the first week I'll be honest though; the first few weeks of delivery, my palms were sweating about using all the vegetables in a timely manner. On top of the spoiling possibility, you are also faced with using exotic items that confuse any white, mama's boy. Parsley, cabbage, braising mix and various types of squashes made my anxiety list. Fear not. Turn t...

     Even though I'm a nature boy, I love the idea of cities as being these stews of tradition, innovation, ethnic heritage/composition, geography and industry. Mix it all up and you get something unique each time. There are however sister cities or metros that seek to learn from one another. Sister cities are more than just cutesy titles. San Francisco, California and Cork, Ireland, for instance, employ a real practice of exchanging business, cultural, technical and educational knowledge over the long-term.   The Rebel Cork Benevolent Association , a group of native Corkers laid the groundwork for a sister city partnership when they started meeting in 1883 to exchange ideas among themselves in this strange city on the western edge of the U.S. The RCBA was also a vehicle of families helping each other in times of need. More and more Corker pilgrims made the westward journey and soon enough an official relationship seemed a foregone conclusion. The sisterhood was offi...