Feeling the power: Solar Power now in an easy and attractive package

Virginia Bacon had some time to kill before her Photoshop user’s group meeting, so she ducked into a solar energy faire to see what all the fuss was about. As her interest in energy conservation peaked, she began shopping around the various solar companies in her area, but the little real estate agent on her shoulder was worried about the appearance of the panels on her roof.
“It’s not attractive. Solar panels on a roof are just like any other improvement in a home: unless its visually attractive, it doesn’t add any value at all,” said that nagging voice inside of her.

“When I looked around, Ready Solar had the only solution that met my needs to make it relatively attractive,” says Bacon. “I am also interested in supporting women’s businesses; I didn’t meet any other women in the business outside of them.”

A revolutionary in the solar power industry, Ready Solar has ideas so intuitive it’s not surprising the company is comprised of 80 percent women. Founder Meredith McClintock understands that such a technical system can be daunting to the average consumer, and strives to make this renewable energy source as accessible as possible. And for those concerned about house value, she designed Ready Solar’s patented framing system to make the traditionally bulky panels appear less noticeable.

“Solar is very equipment intensive. You see all this hardware in traditional panels and it’s so obviously tacked on. TV antennas stuck on top of a house just look ugly, that’s why satellite dishes have been getting smaller and smaller,” she says. “We took the same approach with solar panels. Our product looks more like a skylight, a more deliberate part of the home. It’s the best camouflage the industry has been able to come up with.”

“It’s the curb appeal, it doesn’t catch your eye from the road,” says Ready Solar’s Business Development Rep Janey Ward. “It’s really hard to take a picture of the product to show that you can’t see it. But that is the main selling point to a home owner.”

But it’s not just about aesthetics. Traditional solar systems are highly customized for the roof of each home. Ready Solar offers the standardized “Solar in a Box” system, which makes installations both easier and cheaper.

“When I was a solar customer, I found that the strategy for a lot of people in the business, was presenting it as ‘It’s really complicated…and we’re the only ones who understand it so you need to go with us,’” says McClintock sitting with Ward and Bacon at headquarters in sunny Portola Valley. “It’s solar in a box…you don’t need this black magic voodoo.”

Bacon shopped around to several companies before settling on McClintock and crew. She tells tales of companies asking to tear up her roof for installation, some wanted to cover the entire thing in bulky blue panels, and others simply said they couldn’t work with her particular style of roof.

“We’re finding the solar industry is a lot like how the personal computer industry was 25 years ago. Today you can buy a relatively inexpensive PC, whereas 25 years ago they were incredibly expensive and inefficient. You had to either be an expert or pay an expert to do it for you,” explains McClintock. “Then some companies emerged who really focused on standardizing the industry so every PC wasn’t custom made. People could just take it home and use it.”

According to the Energy Information Administration, 51,265 solar systems operated in the U.S. as of the latest study in 2005. But the Ready Solar team thinks the tides are changing and one day solar will be as prevalent as recycling.

“I think the shift is coming where people are finally accepting solar and embracing it as a really cool thing to have,” says Ward. “You already have your countertops of granite, organized closet and organized garage…you can spend that money on getting a beautiful solar system with a frame around it and continue to save money.”

According to Ready Solar, the installations of a 2kW Ready Solar system could save approximately $13,000 per year in utility bills over the lifetime of the system.

McClintock is now met with enthusiasm when she divulges the nature of her business, rather than the strange looks and confusion of just a few years ago. “If everyone just got a few units like that think of what a huge difference that would make on our energy dependence, our electricity grid, and the possibility for brown outs, and our whole carbon footprint,” she says.

McClintock doesn’t feel out of place as a primarily female office in such a male dominated industry. Her resume includes marketing and sales executive at General Electrics and a stint at an aerospace start-up. She also volunteered for a time at a girl’s middle school in Mountain View, teaching an entrepreneurship class.

“I was very surprised as I got into the solar industry how few women there are. I figured it’s green and progressive, why would it be all men? But I think because it’s very engineering-oriented it’s intimidating for women. Hopefully as the industry grows and mainstreams that will change, we’re definitely looking for more women in solar power.”

And although she has the impressive work history and education, McClintock sometimes feels as if people are wondering whether they can take the bubbly female CEO seriously. But future projects should quiet any doubt: Ready Solar’s systems will be featured in homes in both Sunset and Dwell magazines coming this fall. Between the publicity and a drastically more user friendly concept than competitors, Ready Solar is poised to lead the country into the green future.

That is, if they can convince investors of the importance of appearances. “People in this industry just don’t get it. I had a meeting with a venture capitalist today who was unimpressed. He doesn’t get why the aesthetic is so important. He might not care, but there are a lot of people who do,” says McClintock.

“Talk to his wife,” suggests Ward. “She’ll understand.”

*originally published in Bay Area BusinessWoman News September 2007

Women Radio Hosts Talk Basic Business

In the office of local San Francisco radio station KPOO 89.5 FM, Helen Branham prepares for the third installment of her new radio talk show, "Business Basics." It's just 10 minutes to show time and co-host Rachel Mays is nowhere to be found. Branham chats with her guests, briefs them on the questions she'll be asking on air and fiddles with her headphones, all the while her eyes darting back and forth between the insistently ticking clock and the door.

"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel where are you," she mutters under her breath, checking her phone one last time before shutting it off. Music suddenly fills the room signaling one minute to air. The music fades and Branham launches into her introduction, she didn't plan on going solo tonight, but everything about her demeanor indicates she can handle it.

"Business Basics" is sponsored by Urban Solutions, a nonprofit committed to helping entrepreneurs start and finance small businesses, specifically in the Western Addition and Bayview neighborhoods of San Francisco.

The monthly show originally aired in February of 2007 on the community owned and operated KPOO as a means to reach out to the community and provide a forum where entrepreneurs can get immediate advice from experts. Co-host Branham is the Director of Small Business Services for Urban Solutions, and has high hopes for the impact the program.

"Urban Solutions is about getting involved with the community, revitalizing the community with economic programs to enhance living," she says. "The best thing about the show is impacting someone's life in a positive way who would otherwise never have access to this information, people who have a dream but don't know where to go for help. Everybody has a radio. It's free, it's informative and educational."

Branham has a lot of information to share; she's been working with small business owners for more than 10 years, but this is her first stab at broadcasting. Co-host Mays has the broadcasting experience, but lacks business savvy. Mays' warm on-air confidence and honesty about her limited knowledge provides someone listeners can identify with and a good compliment to Bran-ham's technical expertise.

"I think the show will do great things in the way of making people more comfortable with talking about money, people who would normally shy away from the subject thinking 'I don't know anything, I'm not good enough to talk about money.' I look to Helen for pointers. I can come in as the layperson and ask those questions. Helen does the research, I'm there for moral support," Mays laughs.

Branham is quick to jump to her co-host's defense, praising her aptitude and ability to keep the show accessible. Both are obviously excited by the project and the impact they hope to make, especially as women discussing a subject matter traditionally viewed as "man's" territory.

"I think having two women host a business show offers an opportunity for single mothers and women who never thought they could make it in the business world," says Branham. "Hearing another woman they can identify with talking about business and sharing her own experiences gives them hope. It allows other women to feel comfortable in the business arena."

Mays agrees. "I don't have a business background, I've never sat behind a desk, the idea of business and finances have always felt overwhelming. But I realize it's really not. Society in general has raised us to believe it's not our place; it's not something we have to be concerned about. It's really enlightening to be around women who excel in business and have that frame of mind. I hope my own daughter doesn't look at the business world as something intimidating and foreign."

So far "Business Basics" has focused on local minority entrepreneurs, taxes, credit, and credit scores. Future topics will include insurance, marketing, legal issues, general bookkeeping, sales and leasing. And listeners are always encouraged to call in and receive immediate answers to their business questions.

Mays rush into the station roughly 28 minutes into the broadcast — just in time for the halfway-mark break. Obviously flustered she apologizes profusely and suggests that Branham continue hosting by herself. Branham will have none of it, and an anxious Mays has just enough time to sit down and get her headphones on before they are back on the air and she is introduced to the listeners.

As they answer caller's questions, their passion for community outreach is apparent. "We hope the show will give help people who don«t know what resources are out there," says Branham. "We want to provide for people who have that dream, be the vital link between the idea and reality

*originally posted May 2007 Bay Area BusinessWoman News

Hoisting Her Artistic Sails

Gale McKee's tiny art studio is hardly large enough to contain her high energy and infectious enthusiasm, let alone her abstract installations created from full-sized sails. Vibrantly bright canvases are littered throughout the room, hanging on walls and propped up precariously as if she continually changes her mind about which piece to work on, and she probably does.

"I get bored easily if I'm not busy, always busy," she says.

McKee is very busy these days. She has just a few weeks until her NAUTICA//ABSTRACT exhibit at The North Sails Loft in San Rafael on April 27. The exhibit will feature roughly seven pieces from her nautical-themed collection — a series inspired by the intricacies found on common sails. The sails are stitched together and painted with acrylics in intense contrasting colors with special attention paid to the metal hardware details.

Her largest piece, entitled Open the Bay, is designed to give the illusion of actually being inside the boat looking out. The perception is heightened by the unexpected use of ropes actually threading down from the pieces on the wall to two authentic metal cleats on the floor.

"Abstract is much more conceptual, so you really have to think," says McKee. "I mean, doing a landscape is very straightforward. There's the landscape and that's it. Abstract is very subjective." She notes that, for her, it's all about the sail's design, color, shape and line.

Abstract expressionism is somewhat new for McKee, her background consists of mainly commercial art. Having worked as an illustrator for the Yellow Pages, a graphic designer and an art director, she currently, and has for the last six years, served as a product designer and illustrator for Pottery Barn Kids.

It was while working at Pottery Barn Kids she was inspired to turn sails into works of art. During a summer presentation someone hung a sail for ambiance, and McKee was instantly transfixed.

"I was looking at it and thought, 'Whoa! Look at these neat things.' There's all the hardware and stitching — it was really fascinating to me and I kind of got really into it," she says.

Working in the Pottery Barn Kids environment gave her not only the nautical inspiration; it also gave her the confidence to really delve into her creativity. McKee spent years working for "the man" to make a living, and at times it took its toll.

"I was the first of the women's libbies. I was programmed to go to college, get married and have kids. Back then our only job choices were teacher, nurse, or secretary. Then Gloria Steinem came along and told us we didn't have to do that."

But even with the changing social values, the working world wasn't completely accessible. She describes the advertisement industry at that time as very much an old-fashioned boys club.

"When I was looking for jobs and working my way up through the ad arena, it was really male dominated. It was the 70s, and men were still in charge. They would say things like 'Oh, we don't want to hire you because you'll just get married and quit.'"

As a single mother she sold pastel landscapes — generic crowd-pleasers with the best chances of selling. To make ends meet she worked as a waitress and a dog walker. McKee took an evening textile class once a week for two years, which eventually led her to Pottery Barn Kids.

"I was recommended for Pottery Barn, so I called them up to freelance and I thought they were really boring. They just had no humor and were really serious. So I thought, 'How about Pottery Barn Kids?'"

The combination of McKee's creativity and child-like energy thrived in the nurturing environment of Pottery Barn Kids. It was here that she developed the confidence to stray away from the commercial world and explore the freedom of expressionism.

"There were a lot more women at pottery barn, very smart and incredibly talented businesswomen," she says. "I had always been very shy and quiet, but at pottery barn I was given a lot of opportunities I had never been given before. It was great to have women supporting women. It was really a turning point in my life."

Last December, she semi-retired from the corporate world to focus her energies on her latest passion. With the entire collection centered on the nautical theme, it's natural to assume McKee is an avid sailor, but she's really only a dabbler. Maybe the sea is in her blood — she recently made a discovery while conducting some genealogical research: the entire family on her father's side were all boat builders and sea captains in Maine.

After the NAUTICA//ABSTRACT show is over, McKee will be just as busy as ever. She recently won the Marin Magazine cover contest — her and two other artists will be featured on the cover of an upcoming issue and another show will commemorate the achievement. As for future artwork, she plans to continue using sails as inspiration, but in different ways.

"I'm loving doing this. Abstract art is not for everybody. I don't have any one style; I have many styles and directions. I get to the point where I'm like 'OK, I've done this. Move on.'"

*originally published April 2007 Bay Area BusinessWoman News

Haight Street Habitat

photos by Brian Frank

Once the thriving center for free love and all things groovy, San Francisco’s famous Haight Street today feels more hipster than hippie. Amidst the overpriced thrift stores and numerous free-trade coffee options, trendy tourists will be thrilled to find there are roughly a half dozen tattoo shops on the street if they want to commemorate their trip with something a little sharper than a Golden Gate snow globe.

For the true ink connoisseurs Mom’s Body Shop is the only tattoo artist owned and operated shop on the street, and probably the most expensive.

Originally intended as a response to the egocentric custom shops and private studios popular in the late 90’s, proprietor Barnaby Williams envisioned Mom’s as an old-school street shop where anyone could walk in and get inked the same day. Today the shop caters to clients wanting custom work as well as designs picked from the wall.

Williams doesn’t remember who first thought of the name, but he knows plenty who would be willing to take the credit.

“Several people I know say they came up with the name in conversations with me and I’m not going to argue,” he says. “A bunch of us were talking about different ideas and the name Mom’s stuck in my head as a good one. You can’t fuck with mom.”

Mom’s Tattoo Shop was the culmination of one man’s quest for a place to call home, and a bunch of maxed out credit cards. In the process of opening his own shop, Williams left the neighboring shop he was working at to open his own because he wanted to do things differently. Evidently the staff felt the same way, as all of his co-workers jumped ship to follow him.

“We’re the only true tattoo shop on Haight,” Williams says. “There are other shops that have tattooers, but they are not a tattoo shop. We only do tattoos- we don’t sell bongs, we don’t have leather goods and we don’t have sunglasses. I don’t trust a gynecologist who sells tires. It doesn’t bode well when the driving force behind the shop is not tattooing, but making someone who’s not a tattooer money.”

“As an artist most of what I do is custom even if it is derivative.”

Williams has been working as a tattoo artist for about 15 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in fine art from San Francisco Art Institute. He says owning the shop is not so different than working in it, except when he needs to discipline the staff, which he prefers not to do.

“I am not a confrontational person when it comes down to stuff and I hate having to be the boss,” Williams says. “That’s one of the reasons why I only hire people with ten years experience. Having a mature crowd, even though sometimes older people can be just as idiotic as young people, has made it easier. I own a shop so I can have a place I want to work in, and I also only work with people I like”

The full time staff has a combination of experience that adds up to over 60 years. Other than the shop Williams formerly managed and mutinied, he says Mom’s has been at the Haight Street location in San Francisco longer than any of the other contenders.

“We opened in ’98 and it was a really good season to open up, really good economy. We were doing really well from the beginning,” Williams says. “Of course there weren’t six other tattoo shops on Haight Street back then. Now there are six other shops and they all suck. But I say that because I’m bitter. It’s my street I feel. I’ve been here longer than anyone else.”

After eight years on a street popular with tourists, partiers and gutter punks, Williams and the rest of the staff all have their stories.

Vaughn has been a resident piercer at Mom’s for three years. Even as a kid he was interested in body modification and would often read National Geographic, and not just for the boobs.

“Sometimes shock will cause you to get nauseous, and this girl didn’t exactly make it to the bathroom,” Vaughn says. “Well her vomit made it, but from five feet away. I’ve had people pass out and hit the floor and I wasn’t even piercing them, they were just watching me pierce their friend.”

“I had a girl try to convince me she was over the age of 18 because she could put her entire hand in her mouth,” Williams recalls with a laugh. “That was her validation, that only a girl over 18 could do that. And once I tattooed a girl’s butt and she was so turned on that she wanted to have sex with me right then. I said no and she basically got crazy in the middle of the shop”

The normal crazies like a guy in a pink unitard riding a unicycle into the shop aren’t the only benefits to working as a tattoo artist in San Francisco.

“San Francisco is Mecca, in the world of tattooing,” Williams says. “It goes through waves, but San Francisco has classically been known as the center of the universe. The availability to watch and learn from people just rocks my world. I’m satisfied that I do a good job and I do good work in a really competitive market, and that makes me a better tattooer on a regular basis.”



*originally published September 2006 RankMyTattoos.com

Straight From the Streets 3

Living in San Francisco has some definite advantages. Fantastic scenery, a community of Bohemian ideals, semi-reliable transportation and kickass Chinese food pretty much any time day or night. Unfortunately we also have to deal with being the fourth most expensive city in America, according to a 2005 study (though seriously who are they kidding, there is no way LA is more expensive.) But nevertheless, we are a city of creative movers and shakers, and an increase in rent only means we get to come up with some zany new ways to supplement our income. So c'mon, what's the craziest thing you've ever done to make a few extra bucks?

Sarah Levine: "My roommate and I were so desperate for money. So we had a keg part and promised everybody at the party that if we got $100 in the jar her and I would strip and run around the house. We went in the middle of the yard and stripped our clothes off. I ran halfway around the house and ran into a cop and ran back the other way and put my clothes back on and answered the door to the police officers fully clothed."

Tank: "I was a pimp. For further reference I don't recommend it to nobody, especially young women. If some mans talking about how he's going to give you big money and yada yada yada get away from that, it's not the way to go...I'm a changed pimp."

Eric Garrett: "I got paid $30 just to walk a broad back to her hotel room in Vegas, just to walk her back. I would've done it for free, but if you're going to give me $30 also, why the hell not?"

Douglas King: "A guy once paid me $40 to show him how to use an ATM, that's pretty cool."

Katherine Hill: "I'm a teacher and I know of a student who ate his own feces for $20, but he only got $10 out of the whole deal. He's 14, I heard it through the rumor mill at school but it is true. Isn't that like the worst thing you've ever heard in your life?"

Chris Allen: "I hooked up with a chick on a bet one time. I only made $20 and I was a little bit disappointed after it all because like, I sold myself for so little. But you know what, $20 to hook up with a chick? I come out on top."

Erika Oblak & Melissa Buitiago: "I didn't make any money but on my friend's 21st birthday, her car got towed and we showed our boobs to get the car back."

Aaron Munar: "I sold my porn collection to a magazine shop for $12."

Erica McVride: "I used to take random stuff from my grandma's house when I was a kid, like buttons and shoelaces. [I] put them in Dixie cups and people would buy them from me. I think people felt sorry for me."

*originally published May 2006 [X]press Magazine

She Works Hard For Her Money

It's 9:30 on Saturday night and Castro's Metro Bar isn't busy yet. The tables along the wall are all full, but there is still plenty of room to walk through the bar. In an hour or so the place will be packed and patrons will have to force their way through sweaty strangers to make it across the room. A corner table is occupied by a large group of friends, laughing heavily and leaning in close to hear each other over the steady beat of 1980s dance music. Their dark corner is suddenly illuminated by flashing lights as the group looks around startled, trying to find the source of the violation.

Standing in their midst is Sadaisha Shimmers, a vision of gaudy fabulousness. The lights adorning her neck, fingers and head are bouncing off dozens of blue and white rhinestones attached to her face. Clad in fishnets and a black and white one-piece bathing suit, Shimmers disrupts the intimate conversation before she even reaches the table.

"Hi, I'm Sadaisha, Peachy's Puffs' first drag queen. I"ve got something to suck, something to blow, something to chew and not just on me but on my lovely tray. Candy, cigars, cigarettes, vibrating cock rings...all the necessities."

Peachy's Puffs Cigarette & Candy Girls are known on sight by anyone accustomed to frequenting San Francisco's clubs and bars. Started in the 1980s by the original Puff Peachy D'Ambrogio, Puffs provide a uniquely San Francisco service. They're the ones dressed like flight attendants and bellboys trying to convince you to buy a candy bar or pack of cigarettes from their tray for a whole lot more than you would pay at the corner liquor store.

The sky is just beginning to fade from inky black to early morning gray, but there is already a crowd gathered and lined up eager to enter their favorite house of worship, the Endup's Sunday morning "church." Emily Fihn, 25, saunters to the front. She manages to gracefully hug the doorman despite the 20-pound tray hanging around her neck and is immediately waved past the velvet rope. Though it's 7:30 a.m. the club is bumping as if it were still Saturday night, and for most of the crowd it still is.

Fihn works every Sunday morning from 6 a.m. to noon at the Endup. This is usually preceded by a Saturday night stint lasting sometimes until 4 in the morning.

"There are days when I'm just dead on my feet," she says. "But I love my End-Up shift. It's mostly regulars that I see every week, who will only buy from me, even though the bar sells cigarettes cheaper."

That kind of customer loyalty is key when every product is ridiculously overpriced.

Novelty items such as vibrating penis lighters and flashing pendant necklaces sell for around $15. But it's the prices of everyday essentials like candy and cigarettes that make customers gasp.

A candy bar off the tray will cost you $4, while cigarettes total in at a whopping $8 per pack. But before you attack the poor Puff carrying the tray all night, consider the source of this inflation.

The company sells the goods to them at a marked-up price; they in turn need to sell it on the streets for even more to turn a profit. On an average night a Puff can expect to bring in $250 for the company and $100 for herself, and that's after five hours of walking through the city in heels.

Shimmers considers the lofty price tag on items a part of the Peachy experience.

"People are not going to pay $4 if they're just buying the candy bar. They're paying for you and for the entertainment. Because we're selling ourselves, we're selling our charisma and our talent."

Puffs are encouraged to chat and flirt with every person in the bar, whatever it takes to make that dollar. Legend has it that Peachy herself would walk up to people, stick an unwrapped lollipop in their mouths and demand a full payment.

In fact the training video each newbie must watch includes lessons in makeup and mingling, among other things. Peachy's wants the Puffs to be seen as an image, a cartoon character.


"I usually hire girls who have some sort of acting experience, or have been on stage," says Peachy's Puffs manager Stephanie Simon. Once a Puff herself, Simon is now in charge of the office. Her duties now include networking with club owners and overseeing the employees. "It's not necessarily about looks, you have to have a certain personality to be able to do this kind of job."

It's Lizzey Solomon's first time. The office of Peachy's Puffs feels like the backstage of a hot play or even a strip club. Giddy laughter and banter clash loudly with the Madonna CD playing on the stereo. The Puffs stand along mirror lined walls fixing their hair and makeup while some sample new flashy outfits for everyone?s approval. The virgin Puff tries on costume after costume before deciding on a red, marching band inspired ensemble, complete with gold braiding and hat. She nervously counts the items in her tray, pausing every few minutes to watch the others or refresh her lipstick for the umpteenth time.

"I've only been in the city for four months so I had never heard of this before. I just found the ad on Craigslist," she says looking at her inventory list with a frown.

Before the shift starts exact inventory must be taken of every tray, and then again at the end of the night. The money each Puff brings in is tallied up against how many items they sold, then they receive their cut. Bonuses can be reached by selling a certain amount of one particular item such as 50 lollipops or 15 lighters. But on Solomon's maiden run she has more pressing concerns than pricing.

"I don't know how to go to the bathroom if I need to, I mean with this giant tray what do I do?"

While every Puff claims to love the job and gushes about how amazing it is that they get paid to go to clubs, the majority have only been working there for a few months. According to former Puff Yuen Chiang, not many can stick it out for long.

"It's a tough job. There are three types of girls that work there: the ones who anticipated a romanticized version of it, which is wearing cute outfits, meeting boys and being the center of attention, girly girls. Then there are the hard-core hipsters and rockers. I've seen only the more tough girls make it long here and they usually bitch and complain about life and Peachy's. Then there are the ones going through transitional phases and are desperate for work, like me."

Very few use Peachy's as a means of supporting themselves. Most have other jobs, student loans or parents willing to let them stay at home a few years longer. As one put it, "Puffing to pay the rent is very hard."

Most Puffs have a story of some harassment they have dealt with while on the job, whether it's people stealing from the trays, inappropriate drunken groping or just plain nastiness.

"This woman was buying a necklace and her brother kept telling her not to spend the $30," says Shimmers recalling the night of her worst incident to date. "When she gave me the money I put it in my cleavage, where I always keep the money. He snatched the necklace from her hands, threw it on my tray, reached in my shirt and pulled out the money. Then he spit in my face."

So why would anyone put herself through all this when she could easily make better money waiting tables or even stripping?

"With waitressing you're always getting drink orders and running back and forth. Here I get to drink and flirt and dance with boys all night and have fun," Shimmers explains. "I'll sit down with someone and have a drink with them, and chit chat with them for 20 minutes. But they're going to buy something when I walk away. You gotta have fun and have a personality, but in the back of your mind you always have to remember, "I'm here to sell something."

*originally published May 2006 [X]press Magazine

Straight From the Streets 2

Everyone gets a precious few years here on earth and then poof, we're gone forever. And while the debate continues to rage about what happens after we die, not many people are looking forward to finding out. Nobody likes to contemplate their own mortality, except maybe during those melodramatic teenage years full of "that would show 'em" suicide fantasies. But what if we took the whole subject just a little bit less seriously, and found humor in this depressing topic? We asked people on the streets of San Francisco how they thought they were going to bite the big one, and if there was a way to go laughing.

Julia Levya, 23: "The way I think I'm going to die is I'm going to be 90 and sky diving. The parachute (will) break and I'll smash into a million pieces with hip bones flying everywhere."

Michael Luong, 21: "Hopefully I see myself dying in my sleep; I don't want to be up for it. But if I died in a roller coaster crash that would be pretty funny."

Kristin Amber, 19: "I'll be pregnant and I'll crash in a car. All my life I've thought that would happen when I was 19...and I'm 19 now so I have the remainder of the year to fulfill that."

Glen Wilson, 32: "I see myself dying when I'm old and gray of natural causes. I hope not in a hail of bullets out here one day"

Vince Gaither, 43: "A friend of mine's brother had a car accident while he was getting head from his girlfriend. At that, uh...moment, he gunned the engine and ran into the back of a semi truck and chopped the top of his head off. But the girl lived. Her head was protected."

Charles Wagner, 30: "I think I'll die getting hit by a car, on my skateboard. But I'll be 50, bombing a hill in the Sunset and I'll just forget to time a light or something. Or my dreds will get caught (in the skateboard), That could happen."

Zeina Barkawi, 28: "I think I might die in a plane crash. I travel a lot and I think about that. Two psychics have told me I?m going to die when I'm 99. Hopefully it will be while I'm having sex, that would be pretty funny."

*originally published April 2006 [X]press Magazine