During Covid Lockdown our block found a way to still have some socially distanced fun. We blasted music from speakers in a neighbor's house and stayed at least 6 feet away (in our pods) while masked up and dance'd out our frustrations with neighbors. You didn't have to do it in matching onesies, but it helps.

Ever take a photo and think "That could be an album cover"? Well that happened today for me. The locals (Otto, Lars, and Angel) got together and their inner rock stars emerged

The Mullen Ave Block party is undefeated every year. This year it was HOT so we had to bust out the kiddie pools. There were 3 pools all together. Pictured are Lars and Elliot in their birthday suits

Kenan's Band (playing the bass) plays periodically here. Today some neighborhood kids joined it (Lars and Elliot). You can see Jose Najera here too

Mullen ave throws the BEST block party every year since the 70s. Our resident historian Dores Najara collects pictures each year and manages our montages 

Gorgeous golf course with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Golf was a fun past time in my corporate days. I got to play many top rated courses from Maryland to California. This photo (that's me on the right) was taken circa 2001-2002 with my secret weapon... we won!

Also notable for this property are the many schools, one of which is  the ABC preschool:

ABC Preschool is ideally located by Lincoln Park with its green fields and a wonderful view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Sometimes the sound of a foghorn can be heard in the background among the happy voices of children playing under the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard.

In this wonderful environment, we teach the children to appreciate both Japanese and American cultures. 

Our motto is “Healthy mind and Healthy body.”

Home to a Gamer's Content Creator Behemoth 

Blox 1318 is home to Twitch - the streaming platform born out of Justin.tv and now owned by Amazon. At one point Twitch was the fourth largest source of peak internet traffic in the entire United States and led to the shut down of YouTube Gaming in 2015. 

In the Beginning...

Twitch started life as the gaming category of Justin.tv to allow anyone to stream video online. By 2011, it was by far the most popular content leading to the spin off and ultimate sale to Amazon. 

Learn More

Guy Raz did an episode of "How I Built This" about Twitch that is well worth the listen. 

A Brief History 

According to the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, the size of Civic Center Plaza ranges from 4.53 to 5.38 acres. It was originally commissioned after San Francisco for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition. The plaza was reconstructed starting in 1956 to build two underground structures: Brooks Hall and a parking garage and includes two play structures which opened in 1999. 

This area has been at the heart of San Francisco activity since it was created. 

Tons of images can be found at the Open SF History website.

Seeing the City

What could be better than a 40+ mile bike ride through San Francisco in June? That's the question that led us on this all day excursion. 

The Painted Ladies were a must see for my wife, so after a stroll around Haight - Ashbury, including ice cream at Ben and Jerry's we set off on our Trusty Ford GoBikes toward our destination. 

Riding up hills was greatly assisted by the bikes electric motors, but we still had to pedal our way up to Alamo Park. We spent a few minutes sitting in the grass and admiring "The Ladies" before continuing on our tour. 

NOTE: Once Memory Collections are live, I'll group our bike tour stops all together. 

Qinhuai River is a tributary on the right bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. In ancient times, it was called longzangpu. In the Han Dynasty, it was called huaishui. After the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed Qinhuai. The Qinhuai River has two sources: the Jurong River in the North originates from the south foot of Baohua mountain in Jurong City, and the Lishui River in the South originates from Donglu mountain in Lishui District, Nanjing city. The two rivers merge into the main stream of the Qinhuai River in fangshandai northwest village, Jiangning District, Nanjing city. They bypass Fangshan to the northwest to shangfangmen, the gate of the outer city, and flow into Nanjing city from dongshuiguan, crossing the urban area from east to west. The South flows out from xishuiguan and flows into the Yangtze River. Most of the Qinhuai River is located in Nanjing. It is the largest regional river in Nanjing. Historically, its shipping and irrigation functions have bred the ancient civilization of Nanjing. It is known as the mother river of Nanjing and is very famous in history.