sanfrancisco — Blog — Velvet Mixtape

(Listen to the playlist for the full experience)

I'm not sure how many more years I can do it before I'm officially too old, but I just had yet another great weekend at Outside Lands. Once again, along with the amazing music lineup with legendary headliners like D'Angelo, Sam Smith, Kendrick Lamar, the Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, and Elton John, there was also an awesome lineup of local food vendors, wineries, and breweries - making the festival really one of a kind. Outside Lands, over the recent years, has transformed from trend to tradition, and though the growing popularity has brought some frustrating side effects like the impossible parking situation, I take great pride in the festival as a Bay Arean.

Bags of chicharrones for sale @ 4505 Meats' booth

Cheeseburger and garlic chimichurri fries @ 4505 Meats' booth

Donut cheeseburger (yes, I said it) @ Straw's booth

As for me personally, the best act of the weekend was D'Angelo. And the most underwhelming act? Probably Chet Faker. But all in all it was a magical experience that I will be revisiting year after year.

The playlist is based on my favorite performers from this year. Hope you enjoy!

(Listen to the playlist for the full experience)

It feels a bit ironic to share this now (I'd kind of lost the timing), but I thought it might be a refreshing post in the midst of the heatwave.. so here we go.

Sometimes, life calls for an adventure. Adventure is different from disaster, because most of the time, it's somewhat voluntary, and it usually comes with a reward. And this post is about a short adventure I had.

I arrived at Mount Davidson early evening on an extremely foggy day, with two people I had just met (long story). We had met in a semi-professional setting (we were out there to shoot together, since they're professional photographers), but when I got to the closed-off entrance to the dark hazy trail, I have to admit I was a little scared.

They both looked at me, slightly concerned. "Sorry, we didn't expect it to be this foggy. If you feel uncomfortable, you can stay out. But we're going in anyway..." Clearly there was no one on that trail. Perhaps there were wild animals, perhaps dead bodies. What if these people were murderers?! I heard the creepy music from the podcast "Serial" in my head. I pondered the offer for a few seconds, then eventually agreed to join their journey.

This is unusual, because I'm usually terrified: not over certain things, but just terrified in general. I have multiple phobias. I have all kinds of anxieties. But for some reason, my heart was in. So in we went.

Obviously nothing happened to me, and that evening ended up being one hell of a memory. The eerie silence, the blurred images through the fog, the weird combination of fear and excitement.. It was surreal.

Fog can be scary. You can't see what's inches in front of you. But once you step into the fog, you realize it's not so bad. If anything, it's calm, soft, and quiet inside the fog. This particular experience made me wonder how much I've been missing out because of my fear. How many times did I step away from something because I was scared? What is there to fear so much about uncertainty?

If you're ever in San Francisco on a foggy day (which is NOT hard to come across), go for a walk to Mount Davidson. It'll bring you the kind of peace and quiet that you don't get to experience often. I saw later that there was even an iconic cross at the top of the hill - an area to be explored on a less foggy (and slippery) day.