Kristina Kearns is the mastermind behind a small book-lined room at the back of a fascinating private-public space in San Francisco’s Mission district. She was recently awarded a $1000 Awesome Foundation grant. I recently toured the space and followed up with some questions for Kristina (and am currently reading the book she recommended for me after a return visit to this fascinating space) Jesse: How do you explain “Ourshelves” to people who have never heard of it before? Kristina: Ourshelves is a space designed to share appreciation for literature. It’s not government-funded like the public library, and it isn’t monetarily focused like a bookshop. It’s about sharing good literature — whether sharing suggestions, long conversations over tea, coffee and sometimes whiskey, lending books to the community, or putting little-known work on the shelf. It’s also about sharing possibilities about what publishing can be. San Francisco is one of the most literary cities in the world, still it doesn’t yet have a space completely dedicated to literature. That’s what Ourshelves strives to be. How did the idea of Ourshelves first come about? The idea of Ourshelves came about when I returned to San Francisco after spending some months living in an idyllic… read more →

With a new surge in the interest of biking as a form of healthy, eco-friendly transportation, Awesome LA was super excited to come across an application focused on reminding our eco-conscious, fit cyclists around the city about helmet safety–in an awesome way of course! Riding bikes is cool, riding bikes and getting in an accident without a helmet is, well, quite possibly deadly which can be compared to the injuries caused in the construction site accidents. A huge portion of bicycle accident fatalities are a result of head injuries. Thankfully, we have Helmet Hero to the rescue!

Wendy MacNaughton is an artist and illustrator living in San Francisco. She was recently awarded a $1,000 Awesome Foundation Grant to help fund Meanwhile: The San Francisco Public Library in it’s own Words— a narrative and illustrative documentary “about the people who work [at libraries], who use them, and how they serve as a community hub for many people, including the aging and homeless.” Wendy’s unique vision and observations pace themselves well in the scrolling narrative to be found online and in a newly published book. She has done a series of Meanwhiles and you can always find them on the Rumpus. I’ve been talking with Wendy a bit about her project— on the phone, over dinner with other Awesome Trustees, and by email: Why the San Francisco Public Library? Wendy: My partner Caroline Paul is a writer and voracious reader who never buys books, only borrows them from the library. I think she suggested it first. And a dear friend of mine, Anne Wintroub, was working at Friends of the [San Francisco Public] Library at the time—she suggested it as well and created the opportunity. Without her introductions to Jill Bourne, the deputy city librarian, and Michelle Jeffers, the… read more →

Are you willing to admit that you remember this thing called ‘aerobics’? It was so hot in the 80s, with instructors like Jane Fonda reaching epic fame. Well Sydney, “are you ready to do the workout?!” because the September AF Sydney recipient, Physique Aerobics, is going to provide the ultimate opportunity. Inspired by Jamie Lee Curtis’s immaculate display in 1985’s aerobics flick ‘Perfect’, Physique intends to capture what they knew back then – mirrors, sweat & spandex accompanied by an appropriately cheesy soundtrack. There will be awards for the best dressed, hot pink workout mats and tasty low-carb drinks to cool off afterwards. If you’re not too embarrassed at the idea of getting physical, then the organisers welcome you to sign up. It’s open to anyone, “but particularly those who like to let loose on the weekend and are keen to get active early in the week, are aware that summer is right round the corner but are turned off or daunted by gyms & zumba. The classes will be cheeky but make you sweat. No-one gets shoved out the door at the end of the class, you actually stick around & have a chat & a laugh.” Note that there will… read more →

AF Sydney August recipient, Aras Vaichas, is creating something teeny, that packs a whole bunch of awesome…the world’s smallest, and cheapest, patch synthesiser. Sounds fandangled and fine, but what exactly is a ‘patch synthesiser’? Aras explains, “it’s one of those audio synths where you can plug in lots of cables between different parts and there are loads of knobs that make crazy sounds!” For the visually inclined, here’s a picture of a regular patch synthesiser… Behold the beautiful but hefty beast! Not so easy to lug around to gigs and galleries is it? Now imagine all of that functionality distilled into something roughly the size of two business cards. With $1000 as extra incentive, Aras is not only making this a reality, he’s also releasing the designs under an open source license. Here’s the work in progress… We love the idea, as well as the spirit of tinkering and sharing, and will be vying for a front row seat at the demo once this little baby learns to sing! https://247apotheek.com