7:59p

did i tell you
...that i had a great time this weekend
and forgot to blog about it?

Saturday was photography day for me and the bf.
Went to Fort Mason in the city for a morning panel of photographers.
At first, I thought it was just gonna be some workshop, but it
turned out to be this awesome presentation by some
of the most welll-respected photographers of our time.
I got so much out of their explanations of their work.
It made me understand what it means to have and live with integrity.

Their answers during the panel discussion were so down-right honest
...not pretentious or made-up at all.
It was soooo refreshing to hear their words and understand
their love for their art.
It's amazing what can happen to a person when they are open
to living out their truths despite the fear of the unknown.
All of them really inspired me.

My two favorites, though, were Martha Casanave and Michael Kenna.
I had heard of Michael before because one of
my bf's colleagues worked for Michael.
I admired his humility and respect for nature (the subject that dominates his work).
I never heard of Martha before, but she was just down-right hilarious!
Very sassy and confident in her views without being condescending or imposing.
I liked her a lot. She reminds me of some of the friends I hang out with.

na-duling ako talaga!
After the panel presentation, we headed to the other end of
Fort Mason to check out the exhibit.
WOW! I had never been to one of these before!
It was quite overwhelming because there were LITERALLY
30 + galleries displaying their works. I thought I was gonna
go duling from all the photographs.
It was an annual event sponsored by Photo San Francisco
and this was by far the biggest exhibit I've ever been to.

Believe it or not, I went through each and every booth.
And I even saw this old MTV VeeJay man-ing one of the booths.
My bf and I kept looking at her and looking at her.
Then finally I had enough nerve to ask her if she was who I thought she was.
She was nice and all, but i didn't quite like the tone in her voice when she answered me.
She was SOOOOO unwelcoming! And it wasn't like she was being
flocked by swarms of people either.
ew!

keeping the vampires away
as it happens every year, I always hear about the Gilroy Garlic Festival
the very weekend that it is happening.
This time around I was determined NOT to miss it.
I've never gone before and I just didn't want to pass up another year to
"get a taste" of one of my favorite vegetables.

knowing that my bf wouldn't be able to join me,
i decided to call a few friends to see who might want to come along.
as expected with the last minute invitation, no one could make it.
but no worries....I simply spent some quality time with me.

Thank goodness my friend, A, schooled me on the festival.
She's gone every year except for this one.
And if it wasn't for her, I would've completely missed the popular
"Gourmet Alley" and bought food at some of the regular stands.
Thank goodness she also instructed me to try the "Combo" plate
cause for $10 I got a little taste of everything at the Gourmet Alley:
* shrimp scampi
* sauteed calamari
* pesto pasta
* pepper steak sandwhich

I also would've missed the FREE GARLIC ICE CREAM if my friend hadn't told me.
This was actually the one thing I had been the most curious about.
It tasted ok. 'definitely garlicky and 'definitely ice cream...it wasn't gross,
but I don't think I would go out of my way to purchase the stuff.
I dunno...I think it's just sacrilege to combine the two....let's just leave it at that.

Otherwise, everything else was delicious!
And as expected I'm exhaling, sweating,
(and other excretory functions), GARLIC!
Hope this doesn't last too long, cause I've been
known to smell like garlic for days at a time.
...my poor bf. :(