Summer and the suburb

I am home sweet home in Roseville, California, land of a thousand malls. Here are a few interesting anecdotes about Roseville pulled from its Wikipedia page:

• Roseville has the ninth highest retail sales of all California cities; Roseville is also the smallest of the fifteen top ranked cities in retail sales.
• Roseville has one of the largest Auto Malls in the country.
• Roseville was ranked the skinniest city in the country, with an average body mass index of 24.5.

Other than my upcoming trip to Israel (in like three weeks!!!), my summer remains a blank slate. We shall see what develops.

I love California

I love my state.

Court Affirms Marriage Equality in California

I love how the courts acknowledged that the word "marriage" was of actual importance, and no matter how similar the rights afforded in "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships" or what have you were, it was still not equal, the same way forcing African American children to attend separate schools was not actually equal.

Now can we get a democratic presidential candidate who will step up and support gay marriage?

On second thought, maybe he/she ought to wait until he/she is elected, and then hit them with the news.

Now, a funny cartoon:

We've been busy

Final class of digital journalism was today. We worked on our map, ate pizza, reflected on our blogs, cried a little on the inside that the class was over... haha, only half-serious about that last part. Okay, mostly I am serious.

Well, anyway, here is all we have to show for our semester of hard work: We hit the pavement, exploring the school, the park, and the city til our feet blistered; we snapped pictures til our eyes hurt; we blogged our fingers to the bone; and finally, we sat down and mapped it all.

Click on a pin. See what happens. Explore USF, Golden Gate Park, and the city of San Francisco all from your computer screen. Enjoy!

CommunityWalk Map - USF, the Park, and San Francisco

breakfast of champions during finals after about 2.5 hours of sleep:

What I've been up to...

It's been a busy semester in my digital journalism class.

First we started blogging the campus of USF, and created a campus map.

Then we started blogging our nearby Golden Gate Park, and put that on a map too.

Finally we decided to jump in and start blogging the city of San Francisco.

Our final task in these last few days before summer (!) is to compile all of our blog posts and flickr sets and youtube videos into a glorious San Francisco/Golden Gate Park/USF map. Stay tuned for that...










Valentines Day Pillow Fight
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/02/pillowpalooza.html










Freshman Female Farmers
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/03/freshmen-female-farmers.html










Tai Chi in the de Young Plaza
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/have-you-ever-tried-throwing-every-bone.html


Japanese Tea Garden
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/serene-garden-with-sordid-past.html










Ocean Beach
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/mare-pacificum-peaceful-sea.html










Thrift Town
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/thrift-town.html










Heart of the City Farmers Market
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/heart-of-city.html










The San Francisco Chronicle
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/04/san-francisco-chronicle.html










The Rickshaw Stop
http://school-and-the-city.blogspot.com/2008/05/night-at-rickshaw-stop.html


Flickr Sets:









Knitting for Neighbors
http://flickr.com/photos/lauraplantholt/sets/72157603859577042/










The Cafeteria at USF
http://flickr.com/photos/lauraplantholt/sets/72157604105328282/

A Foghorn First

Check Out My Interview Podcast With Father Privett ! ! !

Special thanks to our super web designer Jim Cortez.

A night at the Rickshaw Stop

Between living on campus, going to classes, doing homework, working on the Foghorn and working at an on-campus job, I spend more time at "school" than in the "city" than my blog title would suggest. Still, I try to get off campus as much as possible. Over the weekend is always the best time.

Last weekend, three friends and I saw a show at the Rickshaw Stop on Fell and Van Ness. From campus, all we had to do was walk to Hayes and take the 21 to Van Ness.

I had never been to the Rickshaw Stop before, but I had heard it was one of the few cool 18 and over spots to hang out, and they have something going on almost every night of the week.

There was a minimal line at the door when we got there. The people there were definitely very "hip." I observed some cutting edge fashions that I had never seen before -- from a guy in (very) short shorts to a girl wearing a bikini top with a baggy, very low cut tee-shirt over it. My friends and I are stylish, but not to this extent. A lot of them looked a little silly to me.

We walked in, and the place was pretty dark. There is a bar near the door, a big dance floor, and a stage in front. A DJ was spinning tunes while the crowd warmed up and danced. Everyone was taking pictures and dancing. Upstairs, a more laid back vibe prevailed, with couches and places to talk.

The band that was performing tonight was called the Plastiscines. They were very rad.. check out the audio slideshow I put together from my pictures from the show.



I had a good night at the Rickshaw Stop, but the crowd was probably not my favorite... Everyone was a little too hip and image-concerned for my taste. I did love the music, though, so I may go back if a good band is playing; til then, I'll be on the look out for someplace better.