Kai Hirota

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：21　Years in San Francisco：1
Kai was introduced to me by Madoka, one of the band member's girlfriend that I was close with (and still am) when I was running my recording studio. Kai actually met me on the 2nd of January, a day after I arrived, so that was really nice of him. His story is very interesting--being of Taiwanese descent, not graduating from high school in Japan, and trying to get into a great university in the US. Through his words, I realized an interesting perspective on Japanese society too. You can tell he has experienced a lot, and he's only 21!! I wish Kai the best, and can tell he will become successful at whatever he decides on pursuing.

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Place for shooting and reason
This place is called Billy Goat Hill, and why I chose it? Do I have to explain? Haha

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
I would go to Spain and...um, I would just live...I guess do a little sightseeing and hopefully learn Spanish, because Spanish is one of the languages I want to learn the most right now. And definitely check out Spanish girls haha...wait don’t put that in the text...wait, no I don’t mind haha

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
What if I said I don’t feel close to any countries?

>>>That’s a great answer.

I don’t feel close to any countries because I moved around all my life, and even though my parents are from Taiwan, I spent most of my life in Japan. The school I attended was an international school so all my classes were in English, and...after I dropped out I worked full time doing random things, switching between jobs in Japan. Being in a professional environment in Japan, though, made me realize Japan wasn’t the place for me… Yeah, I don’t think Japan is… I don’t really consider any place home. Wherever I am is my home.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
I think one thing that represents the city, or one word that best describes San Francisco is “diversity.” There’s a place for everyone. There’s gay people, lesbians, bisesxuals, there’s a place for everyone and that’s why I like this place. I’m straight, but I have a lot of gay friends, even in Japan too but, yeah the diversity is what best describes San Francisco.

>>>What about a place?

For me, I think its the Mission district. Its where all the people who like fashion hang out. I think the people in San Francisco are really sensitive to fashion, and the Mission is the district that best represents that.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Um...hmm...I don’t know. I’m sorry. I don’t have an opinion on the American flag. I’m not American!

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
>>>The Ocean
Um...when I think of the word ocean, it reminds me of a quote by...who was it...Shakespeare! It goes “To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores.” It’s one of my favorie quotes. That’s what I think of when I hear the word ocean.

>>>The Sun
The sun...rising sun...Japan??

>>>Death
Death...hmmm...its something Steve Jobs said, “Death is the best invetion.” Should I go into details? Ok, so Steve Jobs said this because, knowing that you’re going to die will strip you away from the fear of failure, embarrassment, and all those negative things, and will help you realize what you want to do in your life. Because you know you’ll die eventually anyway.

>>>Great! A Steve Jobs quote in San Francisco!! haha

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
For me, I’m excited about the future, because right now I’m in a big transition phase. Until last year, I was a high school dropout, by next year I’ll be going to a really good school, hopefully, so I have really good feelings toward the future.
For people in general, I have really good faith and hope, because right now, everything, especially technology, is advancing in exponential speed. All these useful inventions are being taken place. Up until a number of years ago, no one was using Facebook or Instagram, not everyone was so connected. Its drastically changing the way we live our lives. I have no idea what it will be like in the future, but I’m excited.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
The most important thing for me is...I guess, “influences.” The influences are what made me the way I am right now. When I was in middle and high school I got straight Fs and I was like, well I wasn’t involved in school. I skipped school and went drinking, but I was influenced by many people who changed the way I was. If my classmates saw me right now, they’d be amazed at how much I’ve changed. So I guess influences are the most important thing for me. That’s also what I hope to provide people when I’m older.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
Um...intelligence and ambition. Because I think...I like girls who have a dream, and are doing something to chase that dream. So, yeah ambitious girls are attractive...and I believe that’s one of the most important things.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Marriage:Yeah Kids: Yeah!

I want them to be successfull, and whatever that they choose to do, I want them to take it seriously. I want them to put 120% into whatever their passion is going to be. Because that’s something that I lacked when I was a kid. My parents didn’t support me on anything I did. So that’s what I hope to provide my kids, and I hope they can find passion in something.

>>>What do you want to do with them?

I want to spend a lot of time with them, I guess. Because my Dad never really spent time with me. It’s something… well I have no clue what it would be like to have kids but I’d like to spend time with them.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
The beach!

>>>Any specific beach??

Santa Monica!

>>>And before you go to bed?

Hmmm...what’s the last thing I want to see….hmm nothing really. Yeah I don’t know.

>>>What’s the last thing you see before you go to sleep now? Your phone??

Yeah, my phone.

>>>Is that ideal?

I actually organize my schedule for the next day on my phone before I go to sleep so…

>>>Oh so it’s necessary huh haha

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
The happiest moment is...now? Not just now but ever since I moved here I guess. Actually, the answer to the happiest moment and most frightening moment would both be now. Because I’m taking a big step in my life, trying to turn my life around, going from a high school dropout to going to a four year university. And even though I still haven’t achieved it, working towards it makes me happy, to see the progress I made. At the same time its frightening because I never know what’s going to happen in the next moment, or tomorrow, or next week. So, yeah.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
My childhood dream was to become an astronaut, and if I could tell him something now...hmm...I would probabaly tell him...no don’t become an astronaut! haha. No, I probably wouldn’t tell him anything, to be honest. Because if I don’t tell him anything, he will live the life I’ve lived right now, and I wouldn’t change a thing about my childhood. I didn’t have the best childhood, but I wouldn’t change anything because its what made me the way I am right now.

>>>What is your dream now?

My dream now...is to finish college and start working, I guess. I can’t wait to start working and maybe get my own apartment? Or my first non-used car!

Stephanie Tong

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：25　Years in San Francisco：2 (23 in the Bay Area)
Stephanie was introduced to me through Nana, who was a college friend of Stephanie's while they were both abroad in Jakarta. Stephanie really REALLY helped me out from the biginning, introducing me to people, places, and the culture of San Francisco when I first got here. I can't thank her enough. Her answers to the questions are very interesting, as in that I think they truly reflect a person in her mid-twenties, in SF, living in 2015, if that makes any sense. Her ideas on her career, partner, future, and even happy and frightening times are so true and relatable, it makes you think, wait, is she me? Haha. Again thanks Stephanie, I hope we can meet again, and I'll probably be bothering you with more questions in the future!! :)

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Place for shooting and reason
So this place is called the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, and it’s a location that is just a couple miles away from my apartment. I find myself here often when I need a peace of mind and a breath of fresh air.

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
To be honest I’d do a lot of nothing! Um…work is stressful, and sometimes you just need to unplug. So if I had that money to spend I’d go to somewhere that is secluded and beautiful, maybe a warm beach, be one with nature, and literally just unplug from all the things that keep you hyped up all the time.

>>>Would you say…read? Or really just do nothing??

Yeah I’d read. I’d probably also do some hiking, people watching, or…just being in nature haha That’s what I do now too when I find that I have some free time. So I don`t think it would be too different, just a change in scenery.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
My family is from Hong Kong, so that’s probably what I relate to in terms of ethnicity. I was born and raised in the United States, but I feel very close ties with Hong Kong still. Most of my extended family still lives over there and I visit once every one or two years.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
One thing…”The Cloud.” Or the new San Francisco, “Tech 2.0.” Yeah that’s kind of the new face of San Francisco in the last 5 years…technology, but nothing that you can really touch.

>>>What one place??

Hmm…Golden Gate Bridge. I mean, its iconic, its prevalent almost everywhere you go. You can usually see it peaking somewhere. Also the fog. It’s impermeable. And it’s usually everywhere, especially in this neighborhood.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Haha…I’d probably choose different colors! I feel that red white blue is overused. I don’t really mind the stars and stripes iconology…just a little more creative with the color palette.

>>>Are there any colors you’d like off the top your head?

No, not at all haha

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
——The Ocean
Peace…there’s just something about staring out at the ocean that just brings peace of mind. Um…it’s one of my favourite places to go actually, when I want to see something beautiful. And it’s so easy when you’re here. Just two miles to the west.

>>>And the north too huh.

Yeah, you’re surrounded by the ocean.

—-The Sun
Warmth…do you want me to elaborate? Yeah [San Francisco is] a cold place so when the sun comes out, I’m always outside.

>>>Yeah, those are the answers I’m looking for haha

Yeah, its like, right now its the middle of winter, but honestly it feels like this year round. It doesn’t really get much warmer or colder than this.

>>>Which is interesting, because I’d think this for winter is really warm for most people in the world.

Yeah but when you feel this in July, you get a little confused haha

——Death
Loneliness…just pitch black.

>>>Just the image of blackness?

Yeah…I don’t really believe any form of after life so, the idea of death just seems like such a lonely place, with nothing there.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
Optimistic, with an asterisk. Everything is so global now, it’s so easy to learn, or communicate across borders, but at the same time everyone’s kind of retreating into their smartphones and tablets. Like, whenever you go out to dinner, there’s a chance at one point you’ll be surrounded by 4 people all looking at their smartphones at the same time. So I’m excited that humanity is becoming so close, and within reach, but at the same time I don’t want people to lose sight of actual, tangible contact. I don’t want it to become…what’s that? Wall-E movie? I don’t want it to look like that in the future.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
What do you mean?

>>>Well, people don’t usually answer actual objects here haha

Haha I see…Happiness. And I think that this is pretty common with the people in my generation. It’s to find a way of life that makes you happy, regardless of whether that’s wealth or romance or whatever, it has a lot of different meanings to different people. I’m not sure what true happiness feels like for me yet… it’s a longer life goal. But…I hope I’m happy someday!!

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
Um, people with similar interests, people with long-term similar aspirations. Physical attraction is very important. I’m not looking for a carbon copy of myself, but someone that can respect the way I think, and can kind of emphasize the best in me.

>>>what do you mean by “long term aspirations”?

Hmmm, whether its career wise or, you know, where you want to live in the future. Um, I guess similar family goals…? Stuff like that.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
I think so….I mean, its just something that people are born to expect, right? Haha You’re supposed to get married!!

>>>We’ll find out as I conduct this project huh haha

Yeah haha.

>>>Children?

Unclear. I can’t even take care of myself properly yet…I can’t thing of taking care of anything living, other than myself haha. So, maybe in the future, when I feel more mature about it. Maybe.

>>>So lets say in the future you do have children. Is there anything you want to do with them?

Um, growing up I was given every opportunity to experience as much as possible, from an early age, whether that was travelling, extra-curriculars. My parents always allowed me to try something once, and figure out for myself if I enjoyed it or not. So if I have my own children I’d like to pass it on, the same way. I don’t want to push my own wants and needs onto my own child, I’d want them to figure that out on their own. So giving them opportunities to try out anything is important.

>>>How do you want them to grow up??

Show them the world. I think its important to remember that America is a melting pot of culture. Everyone is an immigrant from somewhere else, so understanding that and removing that mask of isolationism that America has built over the years is very important.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
…(Laughs)…just like a comfortable place that I can call my own, um, would be the ideal thing for either the morning or the day. I’m kind of a nomad right now, and I haven’t been in the same apartment for more than 6 months in the last two years…. Moving sucks, I hate moving more than anything else, and I’ve lived in places where I wouldn’t call, well, great places. Currently I feel very grateful for what I have. I think that shelter is a necessity, just a basic need, its so important. Whenever I wake up in my current bedroom and I see a comfortable space, I’m just grateful.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
Hmm…I can’t really pin point anything in particular, but I…these last couple of years I’ve become more grateful when I have more full family time. My family is kind of sprawled across the country right now. Both of my siblings are on the east coast, my parents are a little farther away, in the south bay, and I used to live in Los Angeles. So whenever we got together on a holiday or something, I really enjoyed having those meal times, so...those are happy moments for me.

Most frightening? …It’s not like an actual one-time moment but, probably the couple lapses into depression that I’ve faced in the last 5 years. And depression is scary because there is no trigger—there’s nothing that sets it off. And for some reason you feel like…incredibly hopeless, and there’s usually no reason for it. And that’s more frightening than anything. Something that can make you feel so upset with yourself can happen at any given moment.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
Childhood dream…? I think growing up in the ‘burbs it was moving into a city which was so big that I could easily lose myself. I could be one of millions. I’ve lived in a number of cities in the recent past, and it’s really what I prefer. I think…goals for now is to find a neighbourhood or city that really fits what I want, and I’m not sure that San Francisco is really that yet. San Francisco is a great place but there are so many other places that I haven’t visited before, that might be a better fit… Who knows. So just trying to figure that out, and also finding a career path that’s going to satisfy both my financial needs and my career goals is very important. So I think, 3-4 years out of college, it’s not about just finding your first job anymore, but the best fit for you. And that’s where I am right now.

>>>What would you tell your childhood you? That you have moved to big city??

Yeah, I’ve moved to big city…and its alright!! haha

Geoff Taylor

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：26　Years in San Francisco：7 1/2
Geoff was introduced to me through my childhood friend Shaun. Geoff, a cinematographer, told me to come to the Tenderloin, the one area all the other people I met told me I should avoid. "I used to live here" he told me after I met him. "This is where you see reality." And real Geoff was, asking random guys on the street for a lighter. ("Guys" is putting it modestly haha) Geoff was absolutely aweseome, and you can see his personality through his 12 answers, how film and family has deeply affected him. Please read Q.11 and Q.12. Epic. I have to get this man over to Tokyo and create something incredible. A man I hope to work with in the future!!
And do check out his film: gtmtfilms.squarespace.com

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Place for shooting and reason
We’re in Edinburgh’s Castle, a bar I frequent a lot, I know many of the people here, and has been the first stop of many nights that I went out. We’ll have meetings here, or I’ll just meet up with friends, get really drunk, and think of crazy ideas for films!

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
Oh man, I’d go to Thailand. The reason why is…Thailand’s culture is just so crazy for me. I’ve seen it through all those National Geographics and pictures, and it just looks like a fun place to be. If I were to go I’d immediately try to find a subject to start filming and start a documentary, showcasing Thailand’s inner lifestyle. Not the beauty that the city holds but—when you’re a tourist you want to see all the pretty things of the city, but for me, I like getting down into the grittiness, wherever I am on the map. If I go to New York, I won’t go to the Statue of Liberty, but will try to get to Brooklyn and go to where Biggie lived and try get to know the local people in those parts.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Man, I’d say Japan. The reason for that is I’ve housed Japanese exchange students since the 5th grade, almost every year. When I was living in Portland OR, I had 8 or 9 Japanese exchange students live with me, at a years time. I studied Japanese in High School. I just love the culture there, the bright lights, the fast pace of it. Its always a place I’ve wanted to travel to.

>>>We need to get you there!!

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
One thing? Hmmm…I think the city is so diverse that the city itself represents a melting pot of different communities. You go to Chinatown, and you really feel like you’re a part of China. There are people there that don’t even speak English, its just crazy to me. Then you travel two miles out of the city and there’s the beach and you’re in the Sunset, a suburban neighbourhood. The city is so vivacious, looking at the number of people who live here and all the different lifestyles. Its becoming a tech city, but I still think its got its pizzazz as a melting pot. And I really like that about it.

>>>So the melting pot for the thing…what about a place?

You know its such a small city, I’d just say the city as a whole. It’s just 7 x 7 miles, it becomes really hard to pinpoint one spot. I could say Golden Gate Park, Bridge, the beach, places like Fisherman’s Wharf for the tourists, but they’re all so iconic you can’t really choose one place.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
The American flag??? Oh man…I don’t think I could redesign it at all!! I think it holds so much iconic value in what it is that…there’s so much behind it, and we as Americans we stand so close to it, I don’t think it needs redesigning. The stripes—you know you hear so many Americans say “I bleed these colors” and its true, a lot of us, we’re all about our freedoms and, maybe we’re not the top in the world but dammit, if we’re not proud for what we are!! haha

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
I see underwater photography…um, the life that is undiscovered. If it were one word for the ocean, it would be “the unknown.”

—The Sun
Power.

—Death
Images…for death…as an artist, for death, you know, its such a morbid thing, but in the world of art, brings so much. For me, it would be life. We as artists, we can create so much around death and so much to it we’re almost creating another life from something passing away.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
You know for my self, I hope that I’ll be around to see it but, we’re headed towards such a tech savvy place…you know everyone is so into their phones. We’ve gone from a place where the cellphone was a means of communication to now its a calculator, I’ve got the internet, I’ve literally got everything that I never knew in my pocket, accessible anywhere, anytime. And from this on, we’re going to get to the point where we’re going to be stupider than the technology we’re creating or we’re going to advance as a human race to where we will create great things that will work with us, and not for us. And that’s the scary thing, that we’re creating a world where technology is doing things for us, an apathetic culture where we think, oh don’t worry the robot will do it, or don’t worry my phone will take care that. So I hope the future will be a place where we are working with the technology we create.

>>>Gut feeling: which future seems more realistic??

Sadly, looking at the state of humans today, the apathetic society…

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
For life itself…? For me it would be “family”. I feel like its cliche to say, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without my family. The support I got from them, I’ve gotten from nowhere else. When I’m down on my luck, my family is always there to pick me up. Its that and…you know, the industry that I’m in, the film industry, without that I’d be nothing.

>>> So the film industry is also your family.

Yeah, oh yeah, the film industry is a huge part of my family.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
Someone that is down to earth. You know, I, its bad to say but, I look at life as such a joke. I try to not take things too seriously…the way I look at the world, most people would get stressed out about it. I try to take everything with a grain of salt, and brush it off, and you have to continue to pick yourself back up. Yeah…wait what was the question again?? Haha oh yeah, what I look for in a partner! So yeah, someone that sees the world as something that they can laugh at. Someone that doesn’t take the world too seriously. So yeah, we can sit in bed for 8 hours in watch Netflix, or we can travel the world. Its up in the air, you know, someone that is down for anything. Also someone that won’t drag me down, but bring me up a few levels. Someone that will build you up.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Oh yeah, I grew up in a house where a lot of my friends had divorced parents or had single parents but my parents stuck together and…you know, they bicker like no ones business. Probably the best way to describe my parents is “That 70s show.“ My Mom’s name is actually Kitty, and my dad is a hard-ass, but I love them both to death. And I view that as what I want. I want kids, I want a family.

>>>how do you want them to grow up??

You know you see a lot of kids these days with their iPads and always indoors, but for me when I was a kid I was always outdoors and thats where I found half my toys. My parents…I didn’t grow up poor or wealthy, but I grew up in a good means of a family where my dad made me work for anything that I wanted. If I wanted an allowance, I had to fucking work for it, I didn’t just get money by being a seed of his, I had to earn respect in that forefront. And thats what I want to have for my kids too…where whatever wealth that I hopefully will bring to my family, I still want them to know the value of a dollar, and understand that nothing in life comes for free. Even if you’re a gorgeous girl…shit fades, and either you have brains behind it or you’re going to be the one behind.

>>>What do you want to do with them??

You know… I really would love my son to become an athlete haha. My dad really pushed me into athletics.

>>>Interesting coming from a guy in film!

Yeah but even before I found film, and even during film I was into athletics. In school I was a wrestler for 8 years. It was a very strict sport, with strict rules where you had to cut weight—I had to once cut 20 pounds in a day—and it taught me a lot about discipline, even in life in general. And I want to teach that to my kids. I don’t want them to kinda limp by, be pathetic, not have heart, you know. I want to toughen up my kids a little bit, and I think sports does that.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
Like for the rest of my life?

>>>Yeah…so it could be your ideal life.

My beautiful wife next to me.

>>>For both?

Yeah absolutely. I mean, if I found the right girl, I’d love to marry her up and…I, I’m such a hopeless romantic in terms of that haha. I would love to grow up, grow old with a woman, wake up next to her morning and smile, go to bed knowing that she will be there when I wake up and be happy about that!

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
I think…we’ll start with the good, I think the happiest moment of my life was…man…one of the happiest moments of my life was when my nephew was born. Yeah, when I was able to hold him in my arms for the first time…I was like bawling. And it was really rad! You know… he was born when I was 22, so he’s 4 years old now, and I look at him, this is a kid that I can sort of look after, and teach things to….it sort of made me grow up in a sense, It made me realise, there is life beyond mine. And that’s another thing I like doing is teaching things. I like nerding out. In my field, as a film maker, if there’s a new kid on the set, I love teaching them stuff. Nerding out with them. I always go up to them and say, if there’s anything you need, you have any questions, just let me know. And that’s what I do with my nephew too. Its so much fun. He’s so curious about the world, wanting to know everything as a 4 year old, asking me questions. And I try to dumb them down so he can understand, the world is so hard for him haha.

Scariest moment of my life…man…scariest moment…there’s so many (laughs) You know for me, fear…fear is a builder of confidence. Once you get past that hump of fear, it makes you into something. You know, probably the scariest moment of my life was when I did horrible on my first big project. Basically dropped the ball completely. I was a super young kid in college and was given an opportunity to shoot on film. I was given a 35mm and I hadn’t done it before other than tests in school. I was I think 19 at the time, the youngest guy on set…every one else was 25, 26, and they were looking at me for answers, and a lot of the times I wouldn’t have them. I’d be sweating bullets everyday. When the film came back—we were shooting in Tahoe, which was super cold and we couldn’t acclimate the lenses, which means… when you leave the lenses inside where it warms it fogs up because of the difference in temperature, and we didn’t know that. Actually I think my assistant camera person told me but I didn’t listen to her because I didn’t know what she was talking about, but when the film came back, everything was blurry. And at that point I realised I just wasted $15,000 worth of someones’ money, and I thought that my career, even before getting out of college, was over. And it did set me back…people heard about it, its a small community out here, and people talk. It cost me a little bit. And at that moment I almost gave up on my goal as a cinematographer. I almost went back home. I’d call my mom crying and be like “I, I fucked up. Everyone hates me. No one trusts me anymore” and she was like, (laughs) “If I were right next you right now I’d slap you in the face and tell you to get back up on that fucking horse! Keep doing it!!” (everyone laughs) Thats really the only thing you can do. Fail, and get back up. I’ve learned more from my failures than my successes, so after that I always looked at moments of fear, moments where I’m scared out of my fucking mind, and looked at it as something I can grow from. I can learn from. That I can take criticism. And it made me the person I am today.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
So my childhood dream…see my father was a photographer in the Air Force. He was a fighter pilot, but after his vision started going bad, they sent him to do the newspaper photography. So he picked up a camera, and loved it, and never put it down. And it was only after he came back from the military and met my mom, and they started getting serious, that he thought, “I need a real job.” Especially in the 60’s and the 70’s, film photography really wasn’t a huge thing. There was only a handful of people who could make it their profession, and he realised that he needed to belt up, be man, get a 9 to 5, and support his family.
　　For me…so when I was a kid I found his cameras in our basement, I think I was 12 or 13 at the time. I’d ask him about them, and he gave me one of his Canon cameras. A really old F1. And I would just start taking random photos. Half of them would never turn out, but my dad would keep on giving me film. He’d teach me, this is how you load a camera, this is how you do it, just keep shooting. Yeah… I just loved framing things. I saw the world in a different light after that. For a while I wanted to be a paparazzi haha, but then Princess Diana died because of them and I was like “I don’t want to do that! I don’t want to kill people!!” And from there, I moved on to film. I did a lot of studying on my own, during school…I didn’t do much in school, I hated school, I hated math, science, all that, and I’d skip class, go smoke weed with my friends, ditch everything.
　　But then I found film in my high school. Mr. Bennett, who was the film teacher at my school, was the first teacher ever to tell me I was doing good. Keep doing this, you have an eye for this, this is something you could be good at. And hearing positive reinforcement from a teacher…that just blew me away. I had a Language Arts teacher who told me, based on my sister’s reputation in high school, that I would amount to nothing. She negated me from the start, treated me like shit, so I was like “Fuck you! I’m not going to do anything for you then!” So I’d skip her class and go to Mr. Bennett’s class, and watch kids make film, and talk to him about film. He was such a beaming light of hope in my academic life that, if he wasn’t around, if my school didn’t offer that program, I wouldn’t know where I’d be. Then senior year came and I became the head of the school news cast, and we basically changed the format from a regular news report to a sort of SNL skit kind of deal. We would write skits to deliver news to people, in a fun way.
　　It was sort of like that psychology where we would trick kids into learning things, in a fun way, not just feeding them facts. After the teacher would leave class, and homeroom would go insane—we’d sneak in and write on the chalk board “Assembly at this time” and kids would all show up and we’d do skits and everybody loved it!! It was really fun. It taught me a lot of discipline, and a lot of leadership skills which leads me to where I am now.

　　If I were to see my past self now…wow, I would probably punch him in the face, and tell him to stop being such a dick (everyone laughs). Yeah its like…yeah I would tell him, listen, you love this. DO IT. Be passionate about it. Pursue it harder than you ever think you can. Like sweat over it. BLEED over it. Let this be your life. If I could tell my self that, and grow up to be that guy, damn man, I don’t know where I’d be right now. I’d probably be shooting Spielberg’s movies right now haha. Its like what I’d like to do to my kids. I want to find what they love, support them, and push them to the brink. I obviously won’t punch them in the face though haha, but I’ll do everything in my power so they can be successful at what they are passionate about.

>>>And your dream now??

My dream now is, I want to shoot feature films. I want to work with the big shots. I want to have Martin Scorsese call me up and say, “Geoff, I love your stuff. Shoot for me” My goal in life is to win an Oscar. I want to be the youngest cinematographer to win an Oscar. I want to show the world that, its not age that determines talent, because in my field, its such an age heavy thing where people look at you as a 26 year old shooting and say “you don’t have the experience.” But no, I do, and I’ve got the heart, I’ve got the heart and the vision. The technical side will come as I grow older, and I know that, I’m ready for that, I’m excited for that, but the vision. That’s what will forever be there. You could be a 16 year old kid, and you could have a better vision than a 50 year old guy shooting commercials for a car company. So I hope eventually people will look at me not for my age, but my ability and vision as an artist.

Aspen Jordan

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：25　Years in San Francisco：2 1/2

Aspen was introduced to me through my childhood friend Jennifer. During my stay in San Francisco, Aspen a jazz vocalist, introduced me to a number of things: nice jazz bars, tasty shrimp burritos, and even my first cigar experience! We also had various fun conversations regarding everything from how to live as a 20 something to dating in San Francisco. She also had a variety of interesting, original answers, from her experiences building labs in Tanzania and shcking oysters in New York, to her ideas and images on the siginificant people in her life. Thanks Aspen for everything, and next time I'll definitely go see you sing!!
→Check out her music at: www.aspenjordan.com/

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: This is my wonderful apartment, and I wanted do it here because the moment I got this place is the moment I really felt like I was established in SF. Before I had a job, and I had been in the Bay area, but I didn’t feel like I had a place of my own. But now I have this!! And its hard to get a place thats your own in San Francisco!! haha

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
Does it have to be a city??

>>No its a free month where you could do anything!

Ok. I think I’d like to go…hmm…somewhere a little rural, by the water, maybe somewhere in South East Asia? I want to be somewhere that is slower…where being outside is part of everyday life. Somewhere things are simpler. I like the idea of that. So I don’t know if I have anything specific, but I’ll say…Sri Lanka! haha So yeah, somewhere where its easy to be outside.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Other than my own…this is going to sound kind of trite, but I spent two and a half weeks in Tanzania when I was 16 or 17, and I was installing computer labs in schools there. Well, “a” computer lab, in “a” school to be honest haha. I had been to Ghana before, doing the same thing. But there was something about Tanzania, it was the people I met and the circumstances, that made me feel really at home, and welcomed, even though I didn’t feel like they were my people, and this was my place. It was a really nice and easy place to be with a lot of mutual interest and, um, yeah there’s always something cool about being back in the motherland too haha. I can’t ignore that! But its like as you said Leo, when you’re in Japan, you’re half white, half American. When I’m in Africa, I’m white! They’re not like “welcome home sister!”, they’re like “You’re a white girl” but that’s ok haha.

>>>Wow that’s really interesting.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
Thing that represents my life in SF?? Oh San Francisco in general…hmm…right now at this moment, I would say “change” best represents San Francisco. All this conflict between people who have been here forever, and people who just got here. You know, as a person who is just coming in as part of this millennial flood, I want to be respectful to the people who’ve had generations and generations of family here. But I also want to enjoy the things that millennials are bringing in, like great restaurants and beautiful apartments. This flux is something I’m really feeling strongly right now.

And for place…I’ve got to say the Castro. Its so known for the freedom and ability to be openly gay here, and that part of the city is a wonderful representation of that. Even Seattle (Aspen’s hometown) is a liberal city, but you wouldn’t see a gay couple at a cafe just embracing like you’d see a straight couple there, but here, its just so normal, and that’s so cool. Its also just really fun. No one hits on you when you’re a girl when you’re out there haha (Leo explodes with laughter). You can just dance! Sometimes its nice to feel like you’re invisible.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Gosh…I don’t know if I would. Hmm…I get the stripes, I get what they represent, but I think I would ditch them and just keep the stars. Stars are beautiful and there’s one for each state…but I don’t know though. Its just such a big…its so hard to imagine anything different! Its just is what it is.

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
I see Orca whales in the San Juan islands. That’s what I see, even though the San Juan islands aren’t actually open ocean.

—The Sun
Hmmm….sunrise. Sunrise over a hill. I don’t know why. Although I’m from Seattle so I don’t have much association with the sun haha.

>>> Haha. I fully concur, being from Portland.

—Death
Um, so recently I got super spiritual in like a fruit loopy way, and someone recently described death to me, or at least their concept of death. It was described as “slipping into a warm bath”, so that’s what I see. Instead of being this immediate cut off, immediate change, I see it as something that is soothing, comfortable, relief.

>>> Is this the moment you’re about to die, or just death in general?

Yeah, the moment you’re about to die. This wasn’t from someone who had actually had a near death experience so I don’t know where it came from, but I though it was nice.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
I feel like the future is something that…hmm…I don’t feel it as something that really exists. I feel that its something we create as we go along…they say that humans are the only animals that can imagine situations that they aren’t actually in. And the mind has this incredible ability to create alternate realities, so the future is just one of the alternate realities that you can imagine yourself in. Its not a real thing. So…I don’t know. I guess I’m always trying to imagine the best future for me, so things work out, and my alternate reality is something that I really want it to be.
And for mankind and the world…um…I feel like…well I feel like this is really presumptuous but I feel like we will all end up where we want to go. And I don’t really mean that on a individual level, but more in a grand scheme…I think we’ll get where we want to be.

>>>which is…???

Well people talk a lot about…you know, more harmony and peace, which is such a trite word but, more understanding and more compassion, not just towards other people but the planet. So yeah, I don’t think we’re doomed towards this world of wars and hatred or anything.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
My family, that counts right? (Leo: of course!) Yeah, that’s definitely it. Especially now that I have a niece and a nephew. And I remember as a kid my aunts and uncles would come over and act so stoked about me, and I was like “who are you? you’re not even mom or dad, why are you so in to me? Its weird!“ haha. You know what I mean? “You’re not around all the time, I don’t know you that well” haha. But now that I’m an aunt, I go up to my niece and I’m like “kiss me on the lips!!” and she’s like “Why? That’s so dumb!” haha. And that has given me…well I’m sure that having your own children thing gives you a bigger feeling of that, but just watching these nuggets grow up, and change, and slowly becoming the people they’re becoming is really cool and important to me.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
Romantic partner? (Leo: Yes) I look for…um, what’s the word I’m looking for…I guess its “self reflection”. I think the only way you can really be close to anyone else is if you know yourself really well, and you can identify where you’re holding back, where you’re uncomfortable, and where you are comfortable…where you can give, where you can work on that and change it if you want to, or accept it if you want to. Um, I think that’s really the only way you can be emotionally intimate with someone else, and its hard. Its a hard thing to do, and to be, and to find. That’s the most important thing for me.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Married: I do!! I DO…but its this horrible…I don’t know. To be a woman in this country, and maybe in any country, there is so much pressure to get married…to not be a cat lady. (haha) And i come from a family where marriages don’t last, so I know for a fact that you could get married and still be a cat lady but, I do want to get married.

Children: Yes

Original Question:
Hmm… what do you mean by “do with them”?

>>>Well once they’ve grown a little older or even when they’re adults, is there something you’d like to do with them because they are your children??

I think I want to…I want to do right by them, even though I know that’s hard. That’s something I’ve seen parents do, and not do. So what I want to do with them is challenge them, even though thats hard for me. (Silence) And I want to take them to the pool too haha. And give them ice cream!!

>>>(Laughs) So when they challenge you back you give them in the ice cream,

And when they’re being jerks, I throw them in the pool! Haha

>>>So how do you want them to grow up??

I want to….I want them to grow up well exposed. I want them to see different things and meet different people, and I want them to be able to self modulate. I don’t want them to rely on external circumstances to feel ok.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
The first thing I want to see is a dog licking my face! That would be the best thing ever. I love that!

>>>Is there a type of dog?

Well so this dream of mine is to have this really tiny white fluffy Maltypoo (Maltese/Poodle) or something and name him Greg, so I’d have him wake me up. Everyday in high school my mom would let our Yorkie in my room two minutes before my alarm would go off, and I that was my favourite way to wake up.
And the last thing before I go to sleep? Candle light. Which is why I have all these candles.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
So ok. I remember the happiest moment very clearly. I was in the back of this gypsy cab in NYC, and I was coming home from my job as an oyster shucker at a dive bar on the lower east side. It was 4:45 in the morning, and the gypsy cab driver had stopped to get some tea. He asked me if I wanted some tea, and I said “yes”, he asked me if I wanted some cookies and I said “Yes”, and he asked me if I wanted some sticky rice and I was like “YEAH”. So he parked his cab, which was just a van without windows, an unmarked van, and his name was David, but he was fully Chinese so I don’t think it was his real name. Anyway, he came back with Lipton tea and cream, cookies, and a thing of sticky rice, and drove me back home. And, I had come from this job that I loved, which was just so weird, and the people…well it was just the weirdest circumstance and I just remember myself feeling, “This is the happiest I have ever been“.

And the most terrifying moment was…well my dad had cancer, and I went home to stay with him through his first course of chemotherapy. And he’s SUPER macho so he would never let me drive home, so we’re in the car, him driving, when he started throwing up. And we weren’t on the freeway or anything so it wasn’t like our lives were in danger, but it was the first time I had seen him really vulnerable, really sick. And um…well I started yelling at him, because I was really mad. That was my initial reaction, that he wouldn’t let me drive home. But underneath everything, I was really scared.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
Ok. So my childhood dream was to go to Harvard and play soccer. Then go to Harvard law and become a lawyer. And what would I say to her now? I’d say “You’re dumb” (laughs) “That’s not what you want! That’s what you’re dad says you want!” And my dream now is, well it probably should have been my childhood dream but, I want to be singer.

>>>That’s interesting. Its usually the opposite!

Yeah, I flipped it! Haha

>>>Most people want to become a singer but then become a lawyer haha

Yeah. I went from “I want to be a lawyer!!” to “I want to be a jazz singer!!” Haha.

Denisha Brekke

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：25　Years in San Francisco：Originally from the Bay area, been on/off

Denisha was introduced to me through Nana, who she was with at USC and their stay in Jakarta. A world traveller, it seems Denisha has been to a bunch of amazing places...and frankly, I'm jealous. We met up a couple times during my stay in San Francisco, and she even showed me around her company, which was really cool. She is lone standing when it comes to answering the questions with humor, and the whole experience was a so much fun, especially next to the ocean, with the sun setting. Check out her views on death (Q.4), a good partner (Q.8) and if you're into deep answers, well her most terrifying and happiest moment (Q.11) was shocking. Thanks for everything Denisha, and I'd love to meet you in Japan, or even during one of your adventures elsewhere!!

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: So this is the cupid’s bow and arrow right here, and I live about 10 minutes away walking distance I would say. I always jog up and down the Embarcadero…I don’t know, its a nice view of the city, its outdoors, its not in my office haha

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
Does it have to be one place?

>>>No it could be many places, as long as its in a month.

Oh ok, I would go through South America. I would go to Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil…I haven’t been to those places. I love the culture of South America, the pace of life, and I think that’s enough money to have a good time. As opposed to some place like Europe where I’d blow it all the first week haha.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
(Silence) That’s a tough question. Ok…probably…there are two countries that come to mind first. One is Chile, which I lived in for half a year, and the other, as out there as its sounds, would be Indonesia. I lived there only two months but something about the spirit there just really stood out, and as different as the culture is, I still felt very welcome. I don’t know, I’ve never felt that welcome even in a place such as Canada, or even any city in the United States. Something…it just has a spirit to it that like.

>>>Can you define the spirit?

Everyone’s happy, everyone is willing to help you, everyone is smiling all the time. I don’t know if its the creepy smiles, or like something else, maybe they’re making fun of me being a white girl, but its just a place where I constantly felt a strong level of happiness.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
Like a place In the city? And a thing? Hmmm…maybe kale?? Haha

>>>Haha I like it!!

No, I mean food is huge, so the first things that are coming to my mind are Bi Rite, which is an ice cream parlor and, um, probably Dolores Park. That’s a good one. There’s a lot of good restaurants around there, and that’s where the whole park culture—where people just go to parks and hang out all day—that’s the go to, for people here. A lot of hippies and…yeah, its fun!!

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
(Laughs) Um, I don’t know, something about stripes too much like a border? If you know what I mean. Everything just looks divided…and each state has its own little star. I mean, they all have their own personality right? But…this is a tough question! I don’t know, maybe I’d just make it all tie-dye or something haha.

>>>Haha. So it fits in with Dolores Park!! That’s really cool.

Yeah, maybe tie-dye red white and blue!! More mixed!!

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean (which we’re right next to)
An image? Like, the first thing that pops into my head?? Ok…surfing! haha Its the first thing I thought of.

—The Sun
…the beach. Yeah.

>>>San Francisco beach?

No, I’m imagining Hawaii beach. Palm trees…yeah. Sand…big green mountains in the background. And the water is blue.

—Death
Oh, Ok haha. Oh man…I don’t know…part of me wants to say cubicle haha

>>>Hahahaha OH NO!!!!!

Just turn the camera around! All this!! No I’m just kidding…I mean, you gotta do it right? The grind, the daily grind, the 9 to 5, whatever. Um, yeah, anything confining…cubicle. Jail.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
I don’t look forward to getting older, but I’m not intimidated by the future anymore. I used to be, when I was little, but…its like…people…I don’t know, I just feel good about it, because I just feel so much better about the world and myself now then I did last year or the before. You get older, and you learn how to control yourself and your approach, feelings, and other stuff, optimism.
And for the world…I don’t…I mean, there is nothing in life that I take to heart that is too threatening. Everyone talks about Apocalypse, this and that, you know, global warming, the plant that exploded in Japan. So there’s all those things, but those kind of things have been happening since the last, I don’t know, throughout man kind. This…is a very philosophical question haha. (Pause) Mankind has been creating problems and what does that do? It gives another group an opportunity to solve them. Its a cycle.
I have those days where I think everything sucks, and there is no point in doing anything, but that’s the good thing about getting older. Its that you start to figure out how to overcome those doubtful days.

>>>We’re all growing up huh

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
Friends. I think its friends, community, and a sense of purpose. And you can intertwine love and all that stuff but um, I think everything…I mean, what are you going to enjoy in life if you have no one to enjoy it with? What are you going to enjoy…(phone rings)…hold a minute…silence that!!! haha
And sense of purpose…if you don’t have a structure or sense of something that tells you what to fulfil, you’re just going to be doing stuff, but what is that fulfilling? Its nice to feel like you accomplished something for a reason, not just you accomplished something…blank. And I feel that community helps build that structure.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
Um…six pack abs…haha I’m just kidding! No, lets see…someone…someone that can push me…someone that can inspire me, and is willing to push me in certain directions, which is better for myself? I don’t know…that sounds so cliche.

>>>Hey if its true.

I should just say a trust fund haha. But…that’d be nice. No but someone who is better than me, has a higher level of intellect. In particular, that’s something that I look for. Specifically that.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Marry: Yes. Children: YES!!
I want them to see the world, and I want them to…I want them to discover their purpose, and…I don’t want them to be lost. And if their purpose is to play piano, or their purpose is to, like, be a chef or something, that’s great! You know, I just want them to be fulfilled and on a path where they can find that for themselves.

>>>Is there anything you want to do with them, other than show them the world??

What do you mean??

>>>Like…bake cookies??

Of course!! I’d like to cook with them all the time!! Play sports…wait, this foot is asleep haha. Anyway, yeah, the usual stuff.

Q10
Uuummmm, someone I’m in love with, to answer both of those. 

>>>Lets just leave it at that…we don’t need an explanation. 

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
(Thinking) Um…the happiest moment of my life?? …(Silence)…this is tough…so you know, that changes over time yeah? 

>>>Of course. 

So…this is going to get really deep, really quick. Is that ok? 

>>>Yeah, I’ve had a few deep answers…

So I was in Thailand over my 23rd birthday. And I went out that night. Ended up…well, I had an encounter…basically I was almost killed by this guy. I walked on the beach with him, we met at a bar, the night of my birthday, and he…he raped me and beat the shit out or me. And I ended up in a hospital in southern Thailand for the next three days…I was with two of my friends, Nana was one of them, and um, I mean I was in a hospital. I had a concussion, I had needles stuck in me. Nurses who didn’t speak English coming in and giving me medicine. I just had no idea…I mean, I’m in a foreign country. I’m in a public hospital in a third world country. We had no idea what to do, what was going on. So…to confine the worst and best times of my life, well that whole experience was the worst time of my life. But overcoming that, and getting test results back―because I was tested for all these diseases, all different kinds of stuff―and just getting out of the hospital ok, learning that it was all…that I made it fine…(deep breath)…once that it was all over, that was the happiest time. Which was a few different steps, but…yeah, when that kind of thing happens to you, and you’re waiting for HIV and AIDS test results to come back for a week, that’s the worst week of your life. And when it finally comes back, you’re fine, and you’re like, “Holy shit, I’m ok”/

>>>Wow…that probably was the deepest one so far…

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
My childhood dream? I had so many of them…some of them were to become really rich, and some of them were to be able to travel as much as I wanted. One specific one was to become a professional basketball player, but that didn’t happen. But, the one thing that I would tell my self is…well…just to be confident. Like, always. Be a good person, be grateful for what you have, but be confident, there’s no reason to beat yourself up for not meeting a random expectation, for example. I don’t know, you learn that you are your hardest judge, so give compliments, if you really want something, its totally possible. I really believe that.

>>>And what is your dream now??

(Laughs)…Its…its kind of still the same! I want to travel, its kind of want to…its hard to really give it a specific structure but, I want to be some sort of public figure that travels and teaches people about whatever…but I don’t want to be one of those wishy-washy speakers, you know what I’m talking about?

>>>I can think of a word but I don’t want to say it haha. Who knows who’s reading this?

Haha, oh yeah, ok, so maybe my dream is to travel the world and review breakfast buffets, how about that!?

>>>Hahahaha that’s great!! Let’s leave it at that!!

Willow Hill

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：25　Years in San Francisco：2 years

Willow was one of my childhood friend Shaun's best friends from High School and college. Such a good friend that, Willow actually spent a few nights at my place in Tokyo when she was visiting because Shaun's dorm wasn't fit for having people over (and thats's putting it nicely haha). Willow is proof that brains and beauty can coexist: her smile dazzling, her ideas inspiring. For the shoot she took me around on her shopping routine in the Filmore area of Pac-Heights, and we had great conversations ranging from new life-hack techiniques she's invented to living the life as a 20 something in this era. Willow is truly has a talnet with words, and her answers were all simply, beautifully, and eloquenty contrived (which made for easier transcribing! Thanks Willow haha) Check out her images (Q.5 & 6) and experiences (Q.11)--all very cool stuff. Will see you soon Willow, lets got meet Papa Shaun!!
→Check out her site at: loveandtheory.com

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: Right now we’re in Pacific Heights, one of the many amazing neighbourhoods of San Francisco that I call home.

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
If I had that money I’d probably go to Southeast Asia for a while…just explore, spend time in nature, and if I had a lot of time on my hands, I’d spend it on learning things I’m passionate about, but usually don’t have the time to dive into.

>>>Can you give one example of something you’re interested in??

Yeah, so recently I’m learning design, so I think it would be really cool to be in a place where I could work on that.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Hmmm, I don’t think I can answer that question, because e very single place that I go, I find a new part of myself that relates with other cultures. I think that’s the most incredible thing about travel, and that’s why I’m so passionate about it, because I’m able to feel at home pretty much anywhere in the world. So yeah, that’s a tough one for me.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
One thing…San Francisco…I would say parks, or maybe Dolores park would be a good example. The weather is always changing but always temperate and amazing, so it’s place where everyone always wants to be outside, picnic, and to be together. Its really nice.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Hmmm…I actually love the American flag. I think its beautiful, its really well designed…I think what it stands for, and what it represents is changing, and maybe not for the best, but that’s just a reflection of our culture. The design itself is really, really beautiful, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
…Sand. Just sand.

—The Sun
…Air.

—Death
…is it an image??

>>>It can be anything, the first thing that pops in your mind.

…Newness.

>>>…Newness??

(Laughs) One word answers right?? I can explain!

>>>Haha no, they’re great. But I do want to hear more about “newness”.

So I think of death as something that is still a mystery to us, and there is so much about it that we still don’t know that when you finally get there, its essentially something new. I mean, its the end of what we know right now, but its the beginning of something else.

>>>So why “air” for the sun??

Whenever I think about the sun, I think about the air that’s around us.

>>>And why “sand”??

I’ve never been to an ocean without the experience of putting my feet in the sand.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
I think about the future a lot. I think that we all have different ideas about what the future will be for ourselves, personally, but as mankind we don’t really have a unified view of what it will be. I think technology will have a big effect on how the future will unfold and I think the reality is that technology is just a tool that will allow us to go where we’re trying to go, but that we need to grow internally as species, to use those tools the right way—to be able to create something that we believe will be a better future. Because right now, the images we have the future are very dystopian. Everything that you see is about technology taking over. Its not about us using technology to reconnect people, to make things better, which is something I’m really passionate about.

>>Yeah, especially with the work you’re doing right now.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
So…I think…saying what’s the best, or my favourite, or most important thing is very tough question, because I don’t think there is only one answer. I kind of like a lot of things in my life. People would be number one, as it should be (laughs)…the people that I love, my family, my friends, at the end of the day are the most important thing to me. But…yeah, I don’t think this question is one that can be answered so easily.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
Um, in a partner…I guess I look for quite a lot of things! (laughs) The first thing is that they’re intelligent and smart…which is the same thing haha. That’s a great answer haha. Very intelligent answer :) No I was going to say intelligent and funny. Someone that can make me laugh, that is really important for me. Someone that can get through the hard times in life, be positive, thats really important if you’re going to be with someone for a long time.

>>You said there were a lot of things!

Haha, yeah I could go on and on, but I won’t (laughs) I’ll spare you!

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Married Yes, Children Yes,

Yeah I think…I want to be able to instil a sense of wonder in my kids when I have them. I want to create little people that can see the world as it could be, I guess, and not as what it is. They have the power to change their surroundings, and not have their surroundings change them. That’s definitely what I’d like for my kids.

>>>Is there anything you want to do with them??

There’s a million things I’d like to do with them!! I’d like to show them the world, I suppose, and teach them about the world. I want to travel with my kids, show them other cultures, other ways of life. I want them to understand that people and things aren’t necessarily as you’re taught, that you can create the world that you live in.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
I think its the same thing. I think its just the person you love. I don’t think there is anything better than waking up next to, and falling asleep next to someone you love. It makes getting out of bed harder (laughs), but it makes the day easier!!

>>>It makes snuggling in bed a lot longer haha

It does, it makes snuggling in bed A LOT longer haha, but other than that I just like waking up in my room, when the sun is just coming in. Also, I don’t think it really is about what you look at, but how you feel when you wake up. If you wake up feeling excited for the upcoming day, about what you’re going to do, that’s the best feeling you can ever feel.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
Um…(thinks)…I keep coming back to this but, I don’t think I have one happiest moment. I have a lot of incredible moments. When I look back at my life, I don’t look at days, I look at moments. Because you can’t really remember a whole day, you only remember how you felt in particular moments…

>>>Could you give us one of those moments??

Yeah…so I took a 20 day trip around the Caribbean, last winter with my friends, and there was this one time when we were on the beach and it was pouring rain, so we just ran and jumped into the ocean. We just swam and played in the water, and the whole experience just felt so surreal, so incredible, and so free.

>>>Terrifying moment??

…um, there was a moment last summer when a guy with a gun came into our office, and shot a few people on the bottom floor. Kind of a crazy experience where, you never really think that something like that can come to your neighbourhood or your door. We were all kind of paralyzed with this fear. It was just this eye-opening and real moment. We did lose a few people that day, not in my office, but a few people that worked in another office. It was definitely terrifying but it was also…interesting to learn that all those things you see in the news, that happen in the world happen to people just like you. And I think a lot of times when you’re living such a beautiful life, you feel a little bit removed from the things you see on the news, tv, and the people that experience those things are really…well, humanized by that moment when facing adversity.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
(Takes a deep breath)…So my childhood dream was to become an astronaut. Um, I still think I have the same dream, I’m still holding on…just kidding, no I’m not haha. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be an astronaut. I wish. Wait, what was the next part?

>>>What would you tell the childhood you now?

I would tell her…there’s more to explore than just space. And that you don’t have to…you don’t have to go that far away to make discoveries. That you can still do that. I think that’s what I’d tell her. Because I think the little me would be a little disappointed that I hadn’t made it up there yet haha. Yeah so there are other ways…I think what’s at the core of wanting to become an astronaut is this sense of exploration and discovery, thirst for knowledge about who we are, what we do, and why we do it. I still think I have that, its just I’m doing it in different ways. So that’s what I would tell myself. Keep that.

>>>And your dream now?

My dream now…my dream is ever evolving which I think is the exciting part. I’m constantly finding new things that I’m excited about, wanting learn about. So my dream is really to…(thinks)…figure out what I’m best at, and in a way that I can help out the world. Bye Bye!!

Lance Skundrich

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：28　Years in San Francisco：Bay Area Entire Life, SF 6 1/2

Lance was introduced to me through Geoff, when he joined us for drinks after Geoff's shoot. Lance is basically the definition of chill--from the photographs he takes, to his attitude towards life. For his 12 Questions, I got to join him in his backyard for his own shoot, with the lovely designer Gabriella (who will be coming later!). It was an incredible experience: the weather, the scene, the light, everything was perfect. And his basement (which you'll see in the video version at the end of the year) was the coolest thing ever. I wish I had his basement. Now! Lance's views on life are splattered throughout his answers, but if I had to choose a few, I would say his SF one thing (Q.3) imagery (Q.5) most important thing (Q.7) and dream (Q.12) truly showed his personality. Thanks Lance, and we need to get you pretty girls on this side of the pacific for pictures!! haha
→Check out his work on Instagram: @shuttrskunk Or where he is photographer/editor: NAKID Magazine

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: I chose this place because I end up doing a lot of shoots here, a lot of test shoots, I do a lot of my brain storming, and a lot of my ideas end up coming together in this location, my backyard, and right now here, which is my basement.

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
Anywhere in the world…hmm…does the 2500 dollars include travel expenses? No? So just spending money…oh man. I think I’d probably…I have two different places, either India of Alaska. Alaska is a place I really wanted to go to for a long time. It’s part of the United States, but its outside the lower 48, and its…well I love snowboarding, I love cold weather, and I feel like its just a place in the US and the world that has so much uncharted territory. A lot of new things, and incredible landscapes, weather, and just a lot of extremes. Yeah so that’s a place I want to go…I’d probably spend part of that money on a helicopter snowboarding trip, so I could get photos of all the mountain ranges as well as enjoying myself.
And India, just because the vibrance, life, and color, and how culturally different it is from where I am now. And when I think of India, I imagine―I can’t say for sure yet―but I feel like it has a spirit to it. Its very different and unique. Its something that I’d feel would be very valuable to experience.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Other than the United States…hmm, I don’t know. I haven’t really travelled out of the Unites States. Just last year I travelled to London, and I felt pretty close there. But I think that primarily because, well, culturally there are similarities, and then there’s the fashion aspect, the creative aspect of the people and the city itself. And I think I feel closest to it because of the history, the buildings, the juxtaposition between the old and the new. There could be new buildings, a high riser being built, but two blocks down there’s a thousand year old church, right there. So I feel the closest to that in a sense because I could see myself living there, but also the closest because its a lot of what I enjoy was there.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
I would say, for me, is Golden Gate Park. A lot of people imagine the downtown scene, and the high-rises out there, but as an icon, Golden Gate Park has something to offer that has been portrayed in a lot of movies, its in a lot of different things. And when I’m in Golden Gate Park I feel like I’m in the heart of San Francisco. Its got an area that still has buffalo, or bison, and yeah, its the one area that is still untouched―I don’t want to say completely untouched because its been changed from its original landscape into a park―but in terms for geography, and the plants that grow there, its still the same landscape as before, and I believe that represents San Francisco.

>>>Do you have a “thing”?

A thing? That represents San Francisco?? Well there’s obviously the Golden Gate Bridge which is an iconic thing, if you can call it a thing, but I don’t know. I think one thing that represents San Francisco is the combination of laid-back and adventurous attitude that the people here have. Just very much so…the thing would be the acceptance that people have. There aren’t many people here that will be like “No, you shouldn’t do that” or “No that’s stupid”. People will always tell you “Yeah, go ahead and do that”, whatever, whether its different, people are always accepting of whatever you want to do. That would sort of be my thing.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Um, yeah, I don’t think…(laughs)…yeah I don’t think I could. I could but it would be too much of an undertaking…. And I don’t know how else we could represent our nation with the knowledge and everything I have. There’s so much history, within our design, and the meanings behind it, that I don’t think I could do any justice to it at all. I could redesign it but it would probably be total crap haha.

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
―The Ocean
The ocean…well obviously the sand, the waves, but when I think about the ocean here in San Francisco, I think about the fact that its cold haha. Both the water, and generally the temperature within the city, and even the beach because you have more wind. What I think of particularly of the ocean here is the waves crashing against the rocks, and different jetties and piers and stuff like that we have out here.

―The Sun
The sun is warmth and growth and sweat,

>>>Sweat??

Haha yeah, growing up in Livermore, its like the valley compared to the bay. So the summers are upwards of a 110 degrees F sometimes, and it gets quite a bit colder in the winter. I don’t ever recall it snowing but it gets a bit colder. And I was very active as a kid, especially in the summertime because I wasn’t in school, skateboarding and all that, I definitely remember myself being hot and sweaty. And I personally prefer cold weather, and the sun has a lot to do with that.
But other than that, yeah, warmth, growth and energy. You could be having a shitty morning and be stuck in your own little groove, not feeling so great, and all it takes is stepping out in the sun for a few minutes and feel reenergized and new.

―-Death
Death? Um, when I think of death, I don’t know. I almost think of death as not necessarily as a permanent thing…? Nor necessarily in a negative connotation. There is a pretty common quote where people explain death as the only thing you’re guaranteed in life, which I don’t necessarily agree with, but to an extent. I guess when I consider death I think about the decaying of what’s old and how it ends up feeding what’s new. So I would think of death as…when I think of death I also think of, you know, giving opportunity, or giving way to something new. And of course death is always going to be a new experience…I haven’t experienced it yet, and when I do, I won’t be here to tell you about it!

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
Um, I think right now, my outlook of the future is…I think its promising, I think right now, the state of mankind, there is a lot of controversy and uncertainty over what the future can hold. Both what we’re dealing with culturally, or climate wise, with all the wars and everything that’s being fought and you know, what is it…all the combativeness, the corruption… But with all that said we have a lot of opportunity to improve, to change in a positive way. Mankind as a whole is technically considered an infective species…um, we are like rats in a sense. We move into that environment and we overgrow that environment and then we move on. But we’re not in a position to move on from earth just yet, and I don’t think colonizing Mars or anything is necessarily a good idea. I think we should be able to live sustainably on this planet before we go infesting other planets. So I think there is a lot open for change and progression, and I just hope mankind as a whole can handle that.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
I would say…um, yeah, I would say I have two things. The first thing is fun and enjoyment. What’s life if you’re not going to be having fun with it? I’m not a hopeless romantic, per se, where you know, to the extent of where I’m always sad because I’m not achieving something I can’t reach. But yeah, fun. I have a tattoo across my chest that says “Have More Fun” because I don’t see there being any reason to argue with that.
The other thing would be to leave…the reason I’m a photographer is so I want to be able to leave behind images and things that are larger than me, and create something that wasn’t there before. Something greater than myself.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
A partner? Someone that both supports me and challenges me. Someone that is different than me. Someone that I can teach my perspective and my way of things, and also someone that can do the same for me. Challenge me to look at things differently. And someone that can share the companionship and compassion to the extent that we put up with each other and love each other nonetheless.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Um, yes, not necessarily in the traditional sense…you know, I don’t consider…if and when I get married it won’t be a traditional wedding, in a church with all the religious sides to it and all of that. I do believe the…joining of two things and becoming one, and that meaning and value…so yeah, in the future I would like to get married, one day.

>>>Do you want children?

Right now…well yeah, in the future, with said person, yeah. Yeah I would like to have children. Right now no, but in the future, I do believe its and important thing to continue on my name, and also the things I believe in, my values…I want to have someone that can carry on what I have made in my life and make it their own. Take what I have taught them and create something beautiful and unique that’s their own as well. That sort of goes back to the whole “creating something that is larger than me”.

>>>So you sort of answered the second part of the question, but do you have anything else to add??

Yeah (laughs) so I just want them to grow up feeling like…well you know, obviously I’m going to try and influence them and show them things that I do, but I don’t want to put them in any means where they feel like they’re forced to do a certain thing. I just want them to feel supported and do…and feel like they can do the things they like. I want to teach them that taking risks and failing is avery important part of growing. So giving them the opportunity to take risks, and to fail. I don’t want to shelter my child to the point where they’re not capable of dealing with hardship, but I don’t want leave them in the dust and force them to struggle. I just want them to understand the values of both sides.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
Yeah, I think that is a two part question with one answer, which would be my significant other. Definitely. I feel like its…well, creatively, I feel like its important to collaborate with other artists and everything because, I forgot the saying but…what is it, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? Yeah, so I think waking up next to my partner, my soulmate, my companion, that is what I want to see in both cases.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
Happiest moment…I actually think it pertains with what happened on my 24th birthday…? I drove up to Tahoe, and it was snowing, and I just wanted to go snowboarding. I met up with one friend, and it was probably the best day of snowboarding that I ever had. I don’t think I fell one time the entire day. It was kind of like a, well some sort of birthday gift from the universe. But there was one point where I…so the happiest moment was when I saw this cliff ahead of me, and my buddy just stopped right before it, and I just charged through. When I came off the end of it, I didn’t really quite know what was underneath…so when I came off of it was probably the most terrifying moment of my life, and when I landed it was the happiest moment of my life. The feeling of letting go, of essentially just leaving things up to fate. And when I landed, it just felt so good! This feeling, it was a moment where I couldn’t help but just yell. Just excitement, and satisfaction.

>>>That is so cool haha

Yeah, it was a quick turn of events haha

>>>So you really had no idea what was below you?

Well, yeah I knew the resort we were at, and I knew the area we were riding in, but…more or less, I have to say I was careless. My buddy stopped to look, to see what was below, but I was just like “I’m going for it”. So that feeling of letting go, was both terrifying and amazing, and when I landed and rode away, that was the best feeling of all.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
My dream now…well lets start with the first part. As a child, I think my dream was to be…well I went to space academy, kind of thinking I wanted to be an astronaut…I think I had all the general childhood dreams haha. I wanted to be a firefighter, some kind of hero, in a sense, astronaut. And as I grew up I realised, well you know, life’s limitations within itself, and actually started to realise what being shot into space actually entails? From there my dreams sort of became more realistic, and more…vague? Because as I grew they went from something less specific of what to do, to more of a “I just want to be happy. I want to have fun!”, whatever it is I’m doing. That’s why I think I’ve had so many different jobs, take so many different paths. I’ve done everything from property management, to graphic design, to photography, to working at a large scale mechanical union repairing steam turbines in power plants and refineries.

What I’d tell my childhood self is, well, you know, its OK to not be sure of what you want to be doing in your life. That thing will eventually find you. Leave yourself open to try new things, and to be…to explore, and to fail, and to succeed. And I think my ultimate goal now is to keep creating, to keep building on my own body of work, and also my own happiness and the happiness of those around me. My friends and my family…and to have a wealth of not just money, but friendship, and people, companions, associates, that I can work with, who are like minded, and would like to work towards the same goal of making something larger than the parts involved.

Claire George

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：Although a woman never reveals her age…25　Years in San Francisco： 3 1/2

Claire Prof
So Claire was one of those rare cases where I saw her on stage performing with The Tropics before I acutally met her in person. As I wrote in the Artists section for San Francisco, it was one of those moments I'll remember for the rest of my life, and holy shit, Claire was a superstar on stage. You could just feel it. There was a special aura to her. So it was kind of funny when I introduced myself after the show and she took me behind the merchandise desk with other members of the band, and I was just standing there haha. We did the questions on a later day, and the alcohol flowed, which I think helped with a lot of the answers :) She writes lyrics, so words are her weapons, and she combines her unique ideas with them to create a one of a kind persona. A true artist, check out her images for the three words (Q.5), marriage and children (Q.9), her moments (Q.11), and her dreams (Q.12). All great answers. Ah I really wish I could get her (and maybe even the tropics?) to perform in Japan somehow.
→Check out The Tropics: www.thetropicsmusic.com
and some of her other work!: Chiara Sucra

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Place for shooting and reason
Place: This is El Techo, the only roof top bar on the south side of the city and it has this really beautiful view of, well most of the city which is all north from here. Um, and I really like coming here on a sunny day. Its kind of expensive but its like…the most beautiful view and its really exciting being here!

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
So…I’ve always wanted to go to Berlin, they have a really incredible music scene there, and I think I’d go there and open some sort of my open project, I guess, and…do like an artist’s collective??? And have people come who are really just original, who don’t really have so many expectations in their lives, who just want to create their own music. So Berlin has this incredible music scene, thats what I hear, but I’ve never been there and I’ve always wanted to go. And maybe have people come from around the world and we can collaborate, and do a big project, that we can really promote, and have lots of media surrounding that.

But it also depends. I could do that in almost any big city, where its like…well my parents, my dad is from Canada and I’ve thought of doing it there too. Its just cheap to live there. So if I had like a budget I’d probably do it somewhere cheap, but if I had a choice it would be Berlin.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
Um, I would say…there is two. As I said my Dad is from Canada, which makes me half Canadian, so I have a closeness to Canada, but I majored in Italian in college, it was one of my majors so I have a really close connection to Italy too. Italy is sort of what I would call a second-world country, there is a lot of…well, problems (laughs) with government and…actually one of my main focuses was mafia studies. So there is a big problem with corruption in the government, and for my first two years before I did music I was in anti-bribery, anti-corruption work. So I’ve always had this passion in trying to make places feel more…just. I’m like interested in justice, I guess?? (laughs) So I feel closest to Italy, and I love Italy for its culture, for all the fucking reasons everyone loves Italy!! Its a beautiful and wonderful place, with all the history and culture and everything.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
I would say Dolores Park actually, which is where we were before this. It is just the essence of the San Francisco community, people always go there on beautiful days, like today. I think people go there to remember how amazing it is to live here, and you go there, people are just happy, just very San Francisco. Whenever someone comes to the city, I always tell them to go to Dolores Park, because everyone goes there, and San Francisco is known for its hippie community and yeah, you know, just being an accepting, open person. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, whether you work in a startup, or are a hippie, or are doing music like me. It just feels like a very communal place.

And one thing…(thinks)…thats hard, thats a tough one…um…I don’t know. Its really hard to find an object, because San Francisco is changing a lot. So…I guess the idea of…having a startup. You know, there is this big rivalry right now between the startup community and the artists, the musician, the people doing something different. But I would say, I actually disagree. It sort of reminds me of the dialogue between Science and Religion, the dialogue between the startup and arts community. You’re vying for the same thing. The same purpose, sense of being. I talked with my friend who has completely different ideas of what to do with her life, and she works for a startup and I do music, we’re super different, but at the same time there are a lot of parallels between us. And the startup is also very emblematic of the changes that are going on in San Francisco, but it is also the essence of the city, it is, you know…even going back to the 1960s, San Francisco was all about doing something new, doing your own thing. Although it was rock and roll back then, its still the same idea. Its still happening here.

Q4
Oh! I think it would be a quilt!! (Haha) Like Olivia (Claire’s friend who joined us!)

Olivia: Will it have a flower on it?

Claire: (Laughs) Yeah, so you know, I talk about…well I talk to people about how there are a lot of unique issues going on in the US in different places, but that just proves its so big and so diverse. And I hear people say things like, “Why can’t we be more peaceful, like Sweden? Or New Zealand?” and I say well in my experience sometimes smaller countries have a more shared cultural background, but here, its so diverse, and that’s what makes it so unique and interesting. But that’s what I think our flag should represent, that people are coming from all over to be and live here, to die here. So I’d try to make it a quilt of some sort!

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
The Ocean?? My mother, just floating around the ocean haha. I don’t know its just a really personal thing. I actually have a very deep connection with the ocean, and its actually not because of me. Its because of my mother. My mother has always wanted to live by the ocean, and she has always had a deep connection with it. And I do too. I write about the ocean a lot, and about water and salt a lot…its a weird thing, the ocean feels very maternal to me. But I think its just not for me, but for a lot of people. I don’t know, I guess its just something about how we need both water and salt to live , but you can’t have it at the same time—like, you can’t survive off of salt water. Which is so bizarre, because you need both, right!? Isn’t that weird??
My mom used to put me on the dryer to put me to sleep, because its similar to the sound of the ocean. That’s why now when I go to the ocean and hear the waves I immediately fall asleep.

>>>Wow, I never expected so many images from one word!!

—The Sun
…what does it bring to mind?? Hmm, its going to sound very trite, but happiness. (Looking at Olivia) You just gave me the funniest face haha. So growing up in Seattle, and I know you understand being from Portland, moving to California…I was super depressed living in Seattle. I mean I love it there, but there definitely is a physiological reaction to living in place that is that dark for that long…and I just remember moving to California for the first time and feeling that my life was a different life, and that I was living this crazy life where I was in summer camp the whole time because, well just because I saw daylight. It wasn’t something I was used to, and I just remembering feeling so happy. It was bizarre! haha

>>>Yeah, I understand fully haha. The weather…its incredible!!

Portland, I’m sure. And people always say, because I lived in LA for 4 years, which is so funny, because when I came up to San Francisco, they were like “Don’t go to San Francisco. The weather is terrible” to which I was like “You don’t KNOW what terrible weather is like” haha. And here, this the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Thats why I started doing music, I never did music before because I was like, “I’ll never do that.”

—Death
….(thinks)…death is like the convergence of the ocean and sun. (Laughs) Death is like when the sun goes into the ocean. I don’t know. I think of death as like drowning. Drowning is like…you’re in this completely different world…and I guess it has to do with my very first, young, death experience being that my brother’s best friend drowned in High School. And drowning is the most terrifying thing I could think of, and the only real experience close to death that I can remember. I just remember the time so vividly, and for the first time realising that we take breathing for granted…yeah its morbid, and the image of just being underwater, not being able to live…darkness…

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
I don’t know…I guess that my whole life perspective is to try… I believe in having future goals and when I envision my goals for the upcoming year, say 2015, I don’t imagine the chaos. I don’t envision the running out of resources, although I do think its a real issue. I try to live too much in the present, and put too much effort into that, trying to be in the present with people, because the future is so unpredictable, so barren that, part of me feels like its futile to try to manage it. But in terms of my personal life, I’m…I’m trying to do the things that will make me happy now because I feel so uncertain about the future of the world, so uncertain of the fact that resources will be plentiful for the upcoming 20 years. I don’t think things are going to be as wonderful as they are now.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
For me personally, maybe its kind of apparent, maybe its NOT apparent, there’s…well there’s two things that are important in my life. One is, first and foremost, I am an extreme extrovert. So I quit my job, two…or actually a year and a half ago, and I spent a year by myself basically on music production, learning music from the ground up because I had never done music before. I think the most important thing I realised in that year was how much of an extrovert I am. Which means, how much other people are important in my life. So that is the number one thing, having the people that are important to me around me. And honestly, its not a one on one kind of thing; I’ve never been a one on one relationship kind of person. I mean, I, I do like having one on one relationships but I’ve never been a “lets get married and settle down” kind of person. But just having people in my life that I can trust, and care for…there’s just something rewarding about caring about someone and having them appreciate that.

And two is creating, which for me is music. Creating something that I’m proud of. And this is actually something that happened to me this week, where I was working on something of my own…so I took a year off to learn music and music theory and everything, making music of my own, which I hadn’t done in a while because I was getting many offers to work with other people, singing over various tracks. But this week I realised I really miss doing my own stuff, starting from the ground up on my own. Another thing is, all these projects I’ve been working on in the past I’ve been like “I hope it works out, that people like this”, where this one song I’ve been working on this week, I fully believe is something I wanted to do for myself. And being able to create something for myself was truly fulfilling.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
Um…(thinking)…

Olivia: A nice butt??

(Haha) A nice butt!! No, I don’t know…honestly, I still don’t know. I know what I don’t want. I don’t want someone who is like… I guess I’ve always been a really independent person, and I don’t…want someone imposing… I have a hard time with relationships, its not that I don’t like being close or intimate with people, but more so I don’t want people imposing their beliefs on my life? I feel like I have a pretty strong sense of self, sense of what I believe in, and yes, a strong partner would be someone that aligns with those ideals. But for me, independence is an important thing so someone that appreciates my independence, and can be independent as well? Also its important to have a sense of humour, and be open to me, of course.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Marriage: Yeah, ok so I always say this to…so both my brothers got married last year within three or four months of each other

>>>Wow. Older?

Yeah older, and I have always been a little rebellious, I’ve been like “I’m never getting married”, but I do love the idea of having a person that is your partner for the rest of your life. And having someone that is “in it” with you, sharing so much experience with you, dealing with life’s hurdles with you. But I don’t particularly…well, my life goal isn’t to go out and find a husband.

>>>Do you want children though?

Its like the same thing. I think that having a baby growing inside of your stomach is the craziest shit of all time!!! (Laughs) Like that’s CRAZY!! Like, its not innovation, its not new at all, but its still so cool!!! Its a cooler thing than anyone has ever done. I mean, like what? You can just, like, grow a baby!? And they’re like a complete individual!! They’re part of you…and the idea that you found the person that you love the most, in your entire life…ok, so this is the idea of it. This is my vision. You’re like “I’ve met a lot of people in my life” but then here comes one person and you’re like “HOLY SHIT!!! This person is the person I like out of ALL the people I met!!!” and then you’re like “Let’s smush ourselves together, and make something that’s half you, and half me!!”—isn’t that the coolest thing in the world??? How can you NOT want to do that?? haha. But at the same time I’m soooo not ready for that!! Haha.

>>>So true!! Haha

Right? But its a lot to handle. So I guess my point is I’d love to do it, only when I know its really right.

>>>Is there anything you want to do with your children??

Like throw them around?? Haha. See I think every generation has its “I want to do to my children what my parents didn’t do for me” but I’ve been really thankful for everything my parents did. My parents are amazing people, and they…well as far as parenting goes, they did an amazing job of parenting. But that being said, based on who they are, I would do a few things differently. Basically my parents are very conservative, and there are a lot of good things I got out of that, but I’m not a very conservative person. I’m very open!! I see the purpose what my parents did for me, but I think I would loosen the reigns a little, you know, I want them to work really hard and be the best person they can be, but they can also be more free to explore who that they are. Yeah, I was a little afraid to go out of the box that I was put in. To explore things. I’ve always been the person who was a “good kid”, and that’s why I was afraid to do music. Because I thought I could never make the top.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
Oh, the sun!! And a giant moon!! Obviously!!

>>>So you want to be sleeping outside?

Pretty much!! The stars, the moon…

>>>Glass ceiling huh??

I think so…I can’t think of anything better…that’s so unoriginal!! But its true.

>>>You don’t have to be original for every answer haha

Yeah…have you ever been to a place that is so dark, and so remote, that you can just see all the stars?? I haven’t, I don’t think, since I was 14 and we went to Lake Shasta. There were just so many stars, so close, and yet unaccessible…(goes into lengthy conversation with Olivia about stars)…yeah, such a simple answer!!

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
(Thinks)…the happiest moment of my life?? My brothers’ weddings were pretty great. BUT, I’m going to selfish about this one…I think, the happiest moments of my life have been in the last year. Some of the moments that my band and I have gone on stage. There is literally nothing in my life that makes me happier than going on stage. I’m…I’m such a little diva! Haha. I fucking LOVE performing!!

Olivia: You look so happy when you’re on stage!!

I AM!! Its truly my happy place. Being on stage, being able to…well I did a little bit of drama in high school and its…well its like I’ve been faking my self my entire life, and I finally, FINALLY know what makes me happy, what I’m actually kind of good at, which is being with people, and being on stage!! And that’s all that I want to do, and the moments that I have been able to do that in front of a decent amount of people, those are the happiest moments I’ve been in my entire life. Its been a round-a-bout road, but I’ve finally gotten here.

And my most frightening moments are when I’m home alone, and I’m home alone a lot, and I do live in a nice neighbourhood, but my living situation is kind of sketchy, and I always think there are people breaking into my house, because my windows don’t fit in their frames. So it always sounds like the people outside are in my apartment, and that’s the most terrified I’ve been haha.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
This is a really satisfying last question for me because when I was little…ok, so this is a personal story. When I was little, maybe six, I was still living in Atlanta GA, where I lived until I was eight, when we moved to Seattle. And for all of my life, I…well I’m a Leo, and I truly believe I am like my astrological side, but anyway, when I was little I would always listen to Mariah Carey, Amy Grant, and all these 90s and 80s pop stars, Madonna, and I was obsessed. And so when I turned seven, I thought, from there on…well first of all I thought I could control the weather, and second of all I thought I was the biggest pop star of all time. (laughs) And so my mom…well I would sing all the time, and obviously I was terrible, I was like six, and my mom bought me this shitty tape recorder. I remember tape recording my self when I was seven years old, Mariah Carey, I played it back, and I didn’t sound like what I thought I sounded like in my head. I locked myself in my room—I remember this so specifically; I remember the script on the wall paper in my room, every moment of it—and I wouldn’t come out because I was just bawling. Because I didn’t sound like how I thought I sounded. I thought I sounded like Mariah Carey. But as I got older the gap kind of closed…so when I was little I knew I was going to be a pop star, I was going to grow up and do that. And the funny thing is, I experienced a whole different part of life. I moved to a different part of the country, did sports, did all this business stuff, moved to San Francisco and did accounting for 2 1/2 years, and I ended up doing music. So I went through all of this and ended up here, thinking “Hey, six year old me is STOKED!!!” haha. Because I’m singing in front of all these people, and they are actually listening to me!!

>>>So you’ve come full circle!!

I have!! And its so incredible because I don’t think I would have ever done that if I hadn’t moved to this city. Its a special city. I don’t know, there was always something so open about it, but I was afraid to tap in in LA, and I would still be afraid to tap in if I had moved to New York. I think full-circle me is staring at this stoked six year old me who is like “Fuck Yeah!! You did it! You’re doing what you said you were going to do!!” And here I am.

>>>And your dream now??

Keep doing this. Keep doing music. I want to keep doing this until I’m wrinkly and they don’t want to see me anymore!!

Gabriella Daher

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：Fresh 28　Years in San Francisco：20

Gabriella was introduced to me when I was with Lance, doing his 12 Questions. Gabriella, a fashion designer, brought some of her work for a shoot. When I got to meet Gabriella for her own 12 Questions, she invited me to her home/atelier. Her flat was one of the coolest and conziest homes I've ever been to (I wish I could put up more pictures...maybe later on pinterest or something), and Gabriella herself is one of the most charming, fun, and electrifying people I've met. I mean, just look at her on top of her rooftop!! That one pic basically explains everything. Her answers to the questions truly reflect her personality and ideas too. For the quick read, I recommend her images (Q.5), her thing (Q.7), wake up/go to sleep (Q.10) and her moments (Q.11). I am so looking forward to doing stuff with Gabriella in the future. Heaven on earth!!
→Check out Gabriella's site to see her creations: www.gabrielladaher.com/

***

Place for shooting and reason
Place: This is my studio. I call it my atelier. It is my fashion studio with my art studio. It's just my little nook like you'd call a man cave for a guy, this is my girl cave and it's ever-changing and going through transformations all the time. Right now it's mainly black furniture and used to be white so this is kind of left over but I still kind of really like these pieces.

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
I would go to Australia. That's been on my plate - on my mind - for a long time and I'd love to go work there and live there for a while but if I could go on vacation for a month, that would make me happy. I love the fashion industry out there right now. Most of my favorite fashion designers are there and I'm talking my top 20 favorites—they're all Australian.

>>>Really?

Yeah. They're just … I don't know what's going on over there but something right is happening and something really cool is going on. The music industry out there is great too. Oh and the weather.

>>>Is there a specific city?

I don't really know Australia so I haven't picked exactly where I would go. Maybe Sydney, I think that's where all the designers are from. But I think I would rather go somewhere smaller where it's not so popular, like a less popular city where there's not that many tourists; where I can just go explore and … do my thing.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
>>>This is kind of a difficult question for you because if I understand, you are originally from Brazil.

Yes.

>>>And then you live in the U.S. So I'd say other than Brazil and the U.S.

It's funny because I don't feel close to Brazil at all.

>>>Okay, so that narrows it down haha

Haha and I feel very close to America. I've tried to live in Brazil several times since I've been here and I can't do it. This last time I was there for 4 months and I went completely crazy. I have nothing in common with the people, the culture, the country in general. I am totally American. I'm actually an American citizen like 100%. Maybe 99% American. (Laughs)

>>>Alright great! Actually I don't know if I'll use this but just in case, other than the U.S. is there any country you feel close to?

Right. I loved Italy. I went to Italy a couple years ago and I loved everyone there. I loved the buildings, the architecture, the food…just life. Everyone is so happy. It's such a nice, simple life even though it's expensive. Italy better than France for sure so…I really loved Italy.

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
Hmm…Golden Gate.

>>>For the thing.

Thing.

>>>The bridge are you saying?

Yeah the Golden Gate… bridge. (Laughs) The Golden Gate bridge!! Yeah, there's something about it. It's the one thing - like I've recently started to fall out of love with San Francisco and I think just because I've been here for so long and I'm just yearning to discover other places. But I'm very grateful for San Francisco and everything it's provided me from inspiration to friends to homes and all that. So I've had a great time here…but every time I see the Golden Gate, something in my heart beats a little faster. There's a little spark there when I see the Golden Gate, every time. We just went up on my roof and…I just love that thing! Just something about it. (Laughs)

>>>So I guess it's both the thing and the place.

And the place!

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
I'd make it black and white…(thinks)…just because colors are too, I don't know, red white and blue? It's funny because it doesn't really ring America to me? I mean, I know that's like the saying, red white and blue, American flag, whatever. But I would make it black and white. I don't know why. (Laughs)

>>>Same stars and stripes?

Same! Yeah I like the flag.

>>>Just black and white.

Black and white.

>>>Great. That's pretty cool. I don't think there's a single flag that's black and white. It would stand out.

It would be cool. Black and white stripes.

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
—The Ocean
The ocean…I love… I admire, I respect, I fear… I crave…

—The Sun
I…um…Cancer? (Laughs)

>>>Cancer!! (Laughs)

Wrinkles…hahaha… tan lines. I used to love the sun. I'm not a sun girl anymore so I like the shade.

>>>You like the shade. I like that. Although the shade wouldn't exist unless there was a sun.

Unless there was a sun, yes. So I'm happy for people when they're in the sun and they love the sun. Like, cool you have fun over there. I'll be right here very comfortably. No fomo.

—Death
Um…I’ve been reading a lot about heaven on earth.

>>>Is that a book?

No, it's just a theory that heaven is on earth and you can make your heaven here. I mean… I was raised Catholic and you work your whole life here on earth to go to heaven later, but…just in case there isn't anything later, I'd like to make my heaven here now and then if there is something later then great. I'll enjoy that too but I really believe in being a good human and helping animals and ecology and other people and the world as much as you can. Do your part and do your best and be good and kind and… live to the fullest, be positive, be present. All those I really try to live by because I don't want to just waste away and…end up dying and not having anything. And if you live that way, and if there is a heaven after then you will go to heaven because you lived correctly.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
The future…I’m not so sure it's going to be a great thing. Slowly people are becoming more conscious and aware of we have to change ourselves in order to have a better future so, like I said, I try to be positive and I want to think that everyone will come together and change our ways but there's been a lot of damage done already. I mean…war is imminent and it’s, ugh, a little bit dark for me but I try and stay present and be positive.

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
(Thinking)… Independence is really important to me and I've been struggling with that because I have a great family who's really supportive so if ever I need them they're always there for me and friends.

>>>And one excited dog haha (As she runs up to the camera)

(Laughs) And pets that love me! It's like, if ever I wore down or in need I would have a ton of people to call on. But I still want to get…there, to 100% independent from anyone…I don't know why.

>>>This is interesting because you're living with your boyfriend.

Yeah. We are very independent though. Like we support each other and obviously we're there for each other but he has his music career that he works really hard at. I have my fashion career that I've working hard at. So we both have really independent lives. Together. I call him my other whole, not my other half.

>>>I like that…I like that one. I'll use that from now on.

(Laughs) Right? Good, I love it!

>>>Copyright it for you haha

Good, pass that one on!! It's really important… Yeah my favorite poet, Khalil Gibran, do you know him? He says "drink from the same bottle of wine but drink from separate cups." So you can share…you don't have to share a cup with each other but you have the same kind of wine…I don’t know, I really believe in that.

>>>That's actually a cool quote too. I'll look into that.

I can give you a small book of his!! It's a "to-go" Khalil Gibran. That's how much I love him.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
I look for.. hmmm…(Thinking)…That's a tough question…Yeah it's kind of very specific. Obviously I look for that initial…connection? that you can't really explain with words. Where you're just connected to someone and that could be with friends or animals. Sometimes you just can't help the connection that happens. There's just literally an unspoken thing there…so that's the most important to me. There's like a deeper—I don't know what to call it! Because everything else in life you can kind of work through and you can kind of figure out. I've been with Chris for 4 years and we're still working through things and figuring things out and how to live in a balanced relationship and what to tweak to make it better. So that stuff I feel you can figure out with anyone. But if that deeper connection is not there, that thing you just can't explain? (Laughs)...That's what I'm drawn to.

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
Marriage: No. I wouldn't need it. If I did, I think that would be fun but for the ceremony part, the party part. I think it'd be fun. I think it's great to celebrate love, but I don't think it's a great idea to…legally connect yourself with someone.

Children: No. I think the world is overpopulated. I think I have too much on my plate and a lot of what's on my plate…is geared towards helping the world and changing the world and helping people and providing jobs and education for the world's future. So I do think I'm going to do my part in helping children at some point. That's my goal…so instead of having my own I just want to help the ones that are already here.

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
Smells are great. Coffee! (Laughs)

>>>Haha Do you want to see coffee, or someone making coffee for you??

Well…I just grew up, like my grandma would make coffee every morning so I woke up every day of my life to the smell of strong Brazilian coffee so that makes me happy. But I think maybe you should put a little plaque next to your bed that says like "Today is going to be awesome" or like "You're amazing" or something like cheesy but really cute to where you can wake up. (Laughs) And maybe if you're moody you can be like, “yeah you're right, Today is going to be amazing. You, plaque, you're right.” (Laughs)

>>>You could do that now though.

I try to do that in my own head but I think if you wake up and see something it would be way faster… because sometimes I wake up in a funk and it takes me a while to get out of it. So I think if I just woke up and saw that it would put me in a good mood immediately.

>>>And before you go to bed?

Before I go to bed…(Thinking)… Maybe just something peaceful like the stars. I love the stars…What if you had like a see-through roof that was cleaned everyday by someone.

>>>Yeah you're right. Because you'll be looking at dust, not stars if you don't. Haha

True! Hahaha

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
I've had so many happy momenst…Happiest moment of my life… (Laughs) It's so hard. Happiest moment of my life…(Thinking)… I don't know, this is tough. I guess recently one of the happiest moments was…when I came back from Brazil this last time from living there and just realizing when I got here that I was in the right place. I've felt disconnected and like, I didn't belong in any specific place my entire life, which is why I've gone back and forth so many times. And this last time I came back to the United States, I felt like finally, I was doing the right thing. Like finally, I was in the right place. I felt like I didn't have to think about it anymore because I've been like "Am I Brazilian? Am I American?" my whole life I've had that struggle. And I thought I was Brazilian until I moved back 4 years ago, and then I got there and I was like "Oh shit, I'm not." So when I got here it was the first time I felt I was really at peace with my decision. That was a huge happy step….And I've been so happy every since. I've been so much happier. I've been a completely different person even.

>>>Terrifying Moment?

Well I had a couple car accidents and a scooter accident that was really weird. (Laughs) I crushed my scooter the first time I took it out. It was really bad. I crashed it head on into an SUV. (Laughs)

>>>An SUV of all vehicles…

Oh my god. And I rolled over the hood and then landed on my feet. (Leo laughs in amazement) I'm good, I'm good…but yeah. It was scary. I didn't know what I was doing, obviously it was my first time taking it out and…I had ridden scooters in Brazil since I was 12 but they're like little wimpy cheap scooters. This was like a nice, American, scooter. Not American, it was Italian but whatever. It was an Aprilia. So we took it out, Chris was on his motorcycle behind me and I'm just like "do-do-do" on my scooter and then I went to make a turn and I didn't know you had to like, throw your body along with it. To me it was like a bicycle, you turn the wheel and it turns. I went straight into the other lane and I whiskey throttled instead of braking because that's what you do when you don't know what you're doing. Whiskey throttle!! (Bursts into laughter) Just, right into the middle of the car. And it was bad. I broke my wrist and messed up my knee…And yeah. I was in a car accident in Brazil too that was horrible. So both of those traumatized me.

>>>The one in Brazil sounds pretty bad.

It was crazy. Can't go into that one, it's too bad. The scooter one is funny at least.

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
My childhood dream was to become a chemist. I wanted to be a scientist of any kind. I loved science…I still love science, and math…so its funny because I would tell my self, keep going for what you’re going for. Because what I ended up with was fashion design which was a lot of…math and science (laughs). And you know, like materials, you have to understand them, its kind of a science. Machines are kind of a science. So I did end up doing that in a way.

My dream now…(thinking)…is to still be a fashion designer. To have my own company and…really what I want to do with my company is have my own manufacturing facilities in every country, where you can bring your kids, there will be a school so you can drop your kids off at the school. You can also go there to get educated on what you’re doing, on whatever you want. I just want it to be safe place where you can bring your family. Where you and your husband and your kids come to this compound, and you get educated, you get fed, and you work. You’re happy, you feel like you’re contributing to something, and you’re getting something back. I don’t want it to be some sweatshop where people are miserable…because even if its not sweatshop conditions, you’re still just sitting and sewing in this loud dirty place…

>>>That sounds like sweatshop conditions…

Yeah, if you’ve ever been to a factory, its like hell. Even if you’re getting paid enough, the conditions are not fun…I want people who work for me to be…to feel like they’re not working for the man, that they are contributing to something good, that they are getting something back. So…that will be my gift to humanity instead of having kids (laughs).

>>>Awesome!! Heaven on earth!!

Yeah!!

Catlin Anne Seavey

Profile and Leo's Take
Age：27　Years in San Francisco：20 (Including Bay Area)

Catlin was introduced to me through Professor Goto at San Francisco State University. Catlin is one of those types that have "charismatic" written all over them. Catlin is an actor, dancer, and world traveller, having done her acting and dancing (and just plain living her awesome life) in various Asian countries. Catiln was so nice in that, not only did she show me around San Francisco by visiting art schools and hole-in-the-wall doughnut shops, on a later day, she fave me a tour or both Berkeley and Oakland too. Her answers to the questions are really unique, and truly depict her one-of-a-kind nature. I recommend her close country (Q.2), her images (Q.5), her "thing" (Q.7), and her moments (Q.11), but really, they are all very, very good answers. So Catlin, I wil see you again, maybe when you do another performance in another exotic country!!

***

Place for shooting and reason
We’re shooting at the Subterranean Art House, what is now called, the Subterranean Art Collective. We’re going through a huge transition here and I’m a big part of that transition. When I left San Francisco six years ago, it was because of the woman who founded the Subterranean Art House and she sent me on a journey with Performance Art in Asia. She kind of started the location; she curated the beginning of my journey. She invited me at that time, to come back and perform in this space, which is so exciting…it’s so exciting that it’s still going that she’s kept it going successfully for six years. And is now opening this space to community organizations, which is a really an exciting thing.

Q1
If you were handed US$2500 and received a one month vacation where you could live in one city, anywhere in the world, where would you choose? What would you do?

A1
(Deep Breath) If I was handed $2500 (thinking) I would… right now, in this time, after coming back from traveling around the world and keeping a focus on performing arts, I would probably go to Bogota. I would go to Bogota and I would go during the time when they have their bi-annual theater festival. They have a street theater festival there. I’ve heard incredible things about Bogota and also the performing arts developing in South America. And it… Bogota came up in a list of cities that had surprisingly high numbers of theater seats per capita, in the world. And I had no idea that Bogota had, well and Columbia had such a thriving performing arts scene, I had no idea. And that’s what attracts me the most because it defied my expectation. It was one of the reasons… it’s been the reason that I stayed in certain cities, it’s that they surprise me. So hearing that fact, I would really want to go experience that.

Q2
What country do you feel “close” to, other than your own?

A2
That’s such a good question… Currently, I would say I feel the closest to… Nepal. I was living in China for a number of years, and before that I was traveling mainly in Southeast Asia after I left San Francisco. When I arrived in Nepal, it was almost like everything unified. All of this work that I had been doing sort of came together and there were some beautiful small, and it, it felt really small and accessible opportunities there because the country is… the country is really quite small. And the people, the culture there is very open to family building, the language is intrinsically familial, so when you try to speak with people it’s always brother and sister and uncle and auntie. When you speak with that language, people respond from… with a really deep appreciation from the heart and that was something that I really enjoyed.

I also loved seeing all of these points of pilgrimage that were not only for Hindu people, not only for Buddhist people, they were for everyone. And people came together from very different, very traditional backgrounds and there was no… no problem. There were absolutely no problems getting along. In fact, a lot of the people accepted the Gods as their own, even if they had a different form. There wasn’t rejection; there was a lot of incorporation and respect, so I thought that was really interesting in Nepal. And I thought that was a beautiful global model, that we can share this space, even if there is not a lot of space, we can share this space, it’s really possible.

>>>Yeah, being it’s right between India and China.

Yes. (laughs)

Q3
What one "thing" and "place" best represents your city?

A3
Hmmm…what one thing represents the Bay area the best? You know, at the moment, and again this is very much in the moment, I would say the Bay Bridge right now. Because we have the remnants of the old Bay Bridge that represented so much for so many people, including the ’89 earthquake where part of it fell down, including the progress and experimentation that a lot of people see in the Bay area incorporating all kinds of new technologies.

We have our suspension bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and then we had this double decker, crazy, terrifying Bay Bridge that a lot of people really needed to commute with every day. And there’s… it, it represents us in so many different ways, the divide between Oakland and Berkeley and San Francisco. Not only with the air… the air quality, the income ratio… there’s so many things that that bridge represents… and commerce, so…

Yeah. So the Bay Bridge, also that the old Bay Bridge is still standing and being slowly taken down and the new Bay Bridge is, half of it is so sparkly and new and half of it tries to maintain some… structural architectural nod to what was there before. Which I think is a really nice thing and it represents what’s really happening here, which is a huge shift There’s so much change happening in the Bay area right now, with all of this new money coming in from technology. And a good half of that is not paying any attention to the…well, what has been in San Francisco before. The bridge is halfway brand new and halfway a nod to what was before, so I think that’s good representation.

>>>OK, great. So I guess that would be both thing and place.

Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.

Q4
If you were to redsign your country's flag, how would you do it?

A4
Right, I don’t have to. How would I do it, it’s if, if I were to redesign the flag... (thinking) That’s a really good question… (thinking)… (laughs) There are so many different things that are represented by the United States.. I do find our flag to be a little bland compared to what our country represents. Maybe I would try to incorporate the geography of the country into the flag’s design… more than just having a bunch of different stars.

Although, I have to say that, in a sense as far as our government structure goes, our flag makes quite a lot of sense, because there’s both geographical representation, but it’s more population based, in an effort to keep us all kind of equal in some sense or other.

But… there’s something kind of holding us together at the seams and I would love to see something that showed the way that we unite more, that there’s some kind of tension, instead of all these tight cookie cutter lines. I’d like to little bit more curve going on in the flag’s design (laughs) And maybe a shape change. Nepal’s got a really great shape of their flag, so I think we should, you know, jump on that train and change the shape of the flag, it doesn’t always have to be a rectangle. (laughs)

Q5
Please tell me the images you have for the following words.

A5
Womb… Mother.

>>>That makes sense.

Yeah and there’s a rhythm in the ocean and a mystery to the ocean that is sort of complex. It’s this sort of darker energy in the planet that we don’t always…we haven’t had the technology to explore, so it’s this kind of darkness, and of course wetness. I always think of the PH balance in the ocean is the same as the mother’s womb. So…

—The Sun
The sun… Confidence. Confidence… and I see something of struggle with the sun in, with, sometimes I think about the sun because I, I’m also a yoga teacher, and we talk about the sun cycles being the most important time of day to practice and it’s also when we go to bed and when we wake up. But cities have changed that so dramatically, but there’s this sort of… struggle with the sun. (laughs)

>>>Interesting.

That’s very different images and words, but there’s a struggle for confidence with the sun. Struggling confidence. (laughs)

—Death
Death… The space between breaths.

>>>…can you elaborate a little?

The space between breaths, what’s happening there… when you’re not breathing in and you’re not breathing out. There’s this transition period that happens. >>> Wow, that’s pretty cool.

Maybe I think of death more as a transition, than a state of being… it’s and a mystery as well.

Q6
How do you feel about the future? Both yourself and mankind.

A6
I think of the future… sometimes I kind of laugh when I think about the future because I realize how unpredictable it really is. But we have to plan for it and that’s the way that people talk to each other is with these future plans, it’s very calming to try and think that there might be something we can control in the future, but somehow within me I’m always laughing about it, because I know that we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, at all. And traveling makes you realize that, I think in a huge way as well, because whatever grand plans you may have, the world has something else to offer you. So I try to leave myself open actually, because I think that… I mean I try to plan a lot of things for my future and I really want to, but I know also that sometimes… you’ll hear something, you’ll hear something in the wind or you’ll hear something from an unexpected place or a disappointment or a closed door might lead you to something you never thought would exist. Which is one of the reasons why I ended up living in China for three years, without ever thinking that I would be there. I could never have imagined that that’s what I would have done, but… that was my reality for a long time, so…future, imagination… projection…

Q7
What's the most important "thing" for you?

A7
Thing. To do stuff, action. I don’t know if that’s a…

>>> That works.

Action, the doing. I’m an… I’m an actress and I think a lot of people maybe who might be in performing arts also or who might consider themselves actors or actresses sometimes forget that to act literally means to do, to be active. And when I see people who are successful on stage both as a director, as an actor, as a dancer; when people are doing something, it doesn’t necessarily matter what the thing is that they’re doing, even if they apply it to a story, how they apply it…

But as long as they’re doing something, they are doing something specific; they have made the choice to do that thing, in the space, at that time, for whatever reason. I think that’s really interesting and it’s important to keep doing things, because as ridiculous as the future might be, in the present if we do things it gives us some meaning… which is really important, I think.

It’s very important to do things and to feel a part of that doing with people. It’s some kind of process, it could be anything, but as long as you’ve made that choice to do it and there’s something in a follow through also that’s very comforting… but doing, action, movement.

Q8
What do you look for in a partner?

A8
A working partner or a romantic partner?

>>> Romantic. It could be whatever your preference… (laughs)

Right. (laughs) I’m pretty hetero, but I’m open to a lot of things. I think when I… what I look for in a partner is someone who… who can see or who holds some similar ideals maybe, and in what they do. Whether it’s a rehearsal that they feel like you should show up on time or you should be doing… you should be doing art that you have some integrity for, you have some passion for with your time. For me, a nine to five job and a regular income has never been important, at all, about someone that I’m interested in. Nor, I do not have a type. I cannot say I have a type. The people that I’ve been with have been very different people from very different backgrounds. Most of them have a deep involvement with the community where they’re from, on some level and have taken a lot of action to make that a part of their life… I think it’s yeah, I think that’s important. (laughs)

Q9
Do you want to get married? Do you want children? What do you want to do with them? How do you want them to grow up?

A9
I don’t see that happening for myself.

Children: Undecided

I don’t see a marriage in my future. Having lived in a lot of different cultures, and actually having dated people from a lot of different countries and in their home country, where cultures are so different from American culture and expectation from a partner is so… strong, actually and very deeply ingrained in a lot of different cultures.

In America we’re trained it’s equal; girls are the same as boys. For a lot of, in a lot of my experience with relationships, I was always… I always had that in my mind, that we are equal, as a matter of fact. But then having lived in some different cultures and different situations, I can recognize and I think we can all recognize as kids, that boys and girls are not exactly the same. That we have a lot of different strengths and weaknesses, and that’s fine. It doesn’t mean that we’re greater or lesser than each other.

But when I see a lot of expectations that I hear people talking about just saying “I need to have a house” for example, “I need to have a car” “I need to be beautiful” “I should be an 8” or “I should be a 9” or “I should be a 10” or all of these kinds of standards that I hear people talking about, it sounds so ridiculous to me. I can’t relate, I don’t relate to that kind of…

>>> Marriage as something that has to be in life, that everybody does. Basically that doesn’t apply.

Yeah, I don’t see that.

>>> But you do want children though?

Right. This is a really good question, do I want children. I think that children, to have children right now, right now, is a selfish thing, would be a selfish thing. I would have a child just to see a little pro-generate of myself. There, the truth of the matter… the truth of the matter is that there’s a huge population thing happening on this planet and we all know it’s over populated.

In the United States, we don’t see it as much, but having lived in China on and off for about five years and also traveling in and out of India for the last two years about… population is so real to me. It’s a little bit suffocating and it’s scary for me to think about bringing yet another person into the picture. That being said, I think life is stronger than my imagination or my philosophy about population on the planet and sometimes it springs forth. (laughs) So, I… I would love to support that and I know that in my life, my child would’ve become the most important thing, that’s why we’re here, sort of.

>>>Interesting…

Yeah, but I can’t imagine bringing another one in. (laughs)

Q10
What would be the ideal thing to see the first moment you wake up? What would be the ideal thing to see the moment before you fall asleep?

A10
(Thinking)…That’s interesting. The ideal thing for me to see when I wake up is sunrise… and some kind of natural scene actually. Having lived in cities and also having grown up in the Monterey Peninsula, which is really beautiful, aesthetically, that’s become a big priority in my life, having nature, I find it very calming. And I like to wake up and do yoga, so… sunrise is a really good time for that.

>>>Alright and before you go to sleep?

Before I go to sleep… It’s funny because it kind of… I would love to see a really happy, smiling face. Maybe I’d love to see a family, oh my gosh. (laughs) Uh-oh, that’s a different idea!! But just generally, maybe friends, even, because I spend a lot of time with them… But people, community, smiles.

>>> Everybody smiling when you go to bed.

Yeah, maybe I think of it almost like meditation. That would be great to just see people… satisfied with their day and…

>>>And then you close your eyes.

Yeah, and then I close my eyes.

Q11
What was the happiest moment in your life? What was the most terrifying moment in your life?

A11
(Thinking) It’s probably also relative to the time that I was in my life. But, when I think about it sitting here right now, probably the happiest moment in my life was… when I was flying from the southwest of China at nine o’clock in the morning over the Himalayan mountain range into Katmandu. It was a big transition for me in my life and… it felt so right, it felt so easy… Everything seemed to line up and then I saw Mount Everest, which was one of my biggest dreams in my life and I flew right over it as an introduction to Nepal. I flew right over the entire range and seeing the mountains and the clouds on the same level, and sometimes a mountain and sometimes a cloud was so inspiring, it was so inspiring, and elating and just, that was a dream and it was happening! Yeah, that was a really happy moment.

>>>Alright and so what was the most frightening or terrifying moment?

Probably one of the more terrifying moments I’ve had in my life was…um… I felt so stifled in a situation I was in, actually in, Bejing, the city area. I don’t want to say anything bad about Bejing, because Bejing is amazing. It has beautiful nature, it has so many things. But, also again, with population, there’s very, there aren’t very many places where you can go and feel like “Oh, I’m alone here” or, somehow feeling that way. I’m used to having nature or I’m used to having a park or a corner where you can sit and… there was one evening in particular in Bejing where I decided to walk to a friend’s home because I just wanted to see my friend. And I realized through this walk, and I was walking underneath a huge bridge that only cars went underneath; because I was thinking directionally “OK my friend’s house is north, I’ll just walk”. I ended up going through a HUGE freeway, walking along… this was my neighborhood, which I hadn’t really thought about walking around for more than a mile in. There were… it was, it was terrifying. I couldn’t get out of it…

>>> Were you surrounded by fast cars?

I was surrounded by cars… it was later at night, so there weren’t so many fast cars, but there were cars coming here and there. There were probably four different huge roads connecting right there, plus a subway system. And just looking around and realizing I… this is not really my place, I’m a little bit overwhelmed, and there is not even dirt anywhere near me. I don’t know where I am and I don’t know what I’m doing here. That was a terrifying, terrifying moment and… there was no way out of it, I mean there was no way out of it. Looking around, unless I was just to walk my way out of it, no one… no one there I really knew that well. Getting lost… getting lost on the freeway in Bejing was really scary. (laughs)

Q12
What was your childhood dream? What would you say to the childhood you, now? And what is your dream now?

A12
I had several childhood dreams; probably the one that I latched onto pretty strongly was the dream of being an Egyptologist. I really wanted to dig around in the pyramids. When I was a kid there was this excavation of the Valley of the Kings and I thought that was just about the coolest thing I’d ever heard of, to dig up all of these ancient Kings, and all of this scary mythology that was coming out about curses that were left on people and the dangers and perils of these adventurers who would go in and see what was happening inside. That was a huge dream of mine as a kid, to be able to study the language and understand all of these different hieroglyphics, and mostly to dig and discover something that had once been.

Big dream… I think I could tell myself to study anthropology in university next time. (laughs) Keep on the anthropology kick, but also in a lot of ways I’m still going for it, sort of. Cultural preservation? In a lot of ways by pursuing performing arts and trying to pursue stories that… or trying to uncover stories that are super relevant that people haven’t necessarily heard before. Something that’s relevant to the audience, that is something I’m searching for, is what is relevant to the audience, where I am… Everyone finds who, a new person interesting.

I was recently reading a book by Ann Bogaurd, who does View Points, a really interesting director, wonderful, strong, tour de force, New York City lady and she said “The thing about theater is that you go somewhere to meet someone”. That’s really what it’s all about. And that is something that’s very interesting. Humans love to meet another one… fascinated in meeting another one, right? That’s exactly what you’re doing now. So in a sense maybe my obsession with Egypt was trying to meet these other people in the world that I have no idea about. And…I’m still doing that, I’m still on that journey.

>>> Alright, and then your dream now?

To facilitate… to facilitate community… to facilitate communication in communities…and I think art is a really wonderful way of doing that because it, art and mythology, are these really interesting tools that we have to communicate and I think it’s really important to try and have a little bit of compassion for all of these people that live in this, on this ball (laughs)… our ball! There’s a lot of interest… having traveled a lot, I find that people know more about America than I do, in a lot of ways because people have access to our media, people have access to our culture, and they think it’s really interesting… but I’m interested in the other!