Walking through your hood is an extremely valuable way to really connect with your hood. Along San Francisco’s Valencia Street, I touched:
Dosa, a small eclectic bar
Aquarius Records, the place with lots of green foliage and old hardwood floors
Beadissimo for beads
Valencia Whole Foods Coop
Spanish in the air – El Santode Israel between 21 and 22, which has a sign that says Jesus Christ is Lord, One Nation Under God
Firecracker Indian food, young young young, the ambience still feels grand
El Majahual Restaurant for great Salvadorian and Columbian Food
Youth says – “grab me, taste me, teach me, indulge me, on every corner.”
Some of the things that make me crazy about the Mission — the noise, the clutter, the traffic, made me happy tonight. It’s always so much better by food.
A woman named Josie from Columbia, was standing in front of the El Valencian. She sees me meander past with an inquisitive, not yet quite local look on my face. She starts talking to me so I peer in to the lounge where she and three other girlfriends hang for the evening, a mere few blocks from one of my locals.
I accidentally bump into a waiter as I make my way back out, who says, “Excuse me, perdissimo??” Another guy passes me with a dozen white roses, who appears to be in a rush.
Remember those days in your early to mid-twenties where every turn was ‘but a dream,’ a vision of tomorrow, all that was possible because life was nothing but possibilities.
Valencia was great tonight because I WALKED it…..(refer to walk the streets posts: SWSX And NYC).
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
