julie lives here.

I am normally a hater of these kind of feet photos (“look how cuuuuute my shoes are!”) but in this case I’m making an exception. It’s not the feet, it’s the floor.

This is part of the floor inside City Lights, right before you ascend the stairway to the Poetry Room. For someone who really hasn’t spent much time at all thinking about poetry, it’s certainly become more a part of my life all of a sudden, of course in large part to Silvi. I love this floor and I’m assuming from the text that part of what is now City Lights was once a photography store or studio. Because it’s in North Beach—well, that explains the Italian. I am grateful for places like City Lights just to be here. Which is funny because I rarely buy books there but I love to sit up in the Poetry Room and look at them. Last time I was there, I must have read almost half of William Burrough’s Junky, before guiltily realizing what I had done and stealthily reshelving the book because I didn’t have $14 to buy the book. (I confided this story to Mark when we were at City Lights, and he reassured me that I’m not the only one, that people go to City Lights to read books, not to buy them.)

I still have this little notion that I will go back there and finish reading the book. And then buy it.

Tonight, I’m going back to City Lights because one of my newest i live here:SF subjects, Tony, is giving a reading there. That’s a really big deal, to have a reading, but even more so because City Lights is City Lights. It’s THE San Francisco Bookstore (although I’ve left my heart and my wallet at Green Apple Books many many times, often in the photography section. Ditto for the bookstore at SF MOMA.) Tony has written his first novel, loosely based on his childhood growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness. Although I really haven’t known him long, I couldn’t help being touched and inspired by his personal story, and the fact that his book is fairly new and already getting great reviews and this reading is a big deal. It sounds funny to be proud of someone that you barely know, but I am proud of him.

So I’ll traverse this floor again tonight to support Tony while he reads from his new book.

The past few weeks have held many tiny lessons of how a support network works. I see it like a glisten-y spiderweb, full of translucent filaments, dotted with sparkly drops of dew. Lately I’ve been getting new and wonderful support, more interest in shows and prints and photo shoots. And I’m even starting my own networking group based on some of the ideas I’ve had.

Based on my little spiderwebby network, I got to speak at San Francisco State University last night to a class of journalism students. I was invited by my friend Justin, who’s teaching a class about online journalism, to talk about photographing people, developing rapport with them, and creating stories about the subjects I encounter. It was such a privilege to be asked, and the hours seemed to float by. I really have no recollection of particular things I said, but I gather that I touched on the right topics and I’m glad I could fill the time with stories and advice.

I enjoyed being on a campus, with Young People (I can’t help noticing my age but not in a bad way). Back in places that are both new and old, fresh and familiar, all at the same time.

*if you’re near North Beach this evening, join me to hear Tony’s reading.