I had a really hard time raising money the first time I did I hike with this organization, I…read moredidn't give up. I'm so glad that I didn't give up. When I went to the Grand Canyon with LLS in 2006, it was truly an incredible experience. It's really hard to put an experience like this, and other experiences I've had with this organization into words. You should go out there yourself and do it.... I've done the LTN walk about five times, and three hikes, all while bonding and meeting great people along the way. Sadly I know someone that passed away of this horrible disease(cancer), but the LLS is doing so much, a great organization all around.

6 friends and I started a fundraiser campaign called the Plaid Lads because are school was the…read moreTartans. We talked with Emily and had goals and we were really excited to start raising money for this campaign. The year goes by and we ended are campaign with a total of $11,000 that went straight to this "Charity". Today was the first day of school and my advisor tells us that LLS doesn't want us to raise money for them anymore and that we could do it individual but not as a group. Really sucks that this "Charity" let all of us down. I start to think that are $11,000 went straight into their pockets for all I know. I wish we could continue with this program but they really let us all down.

I heard about Yellow Rose and that it would be shown at CAAMFest, which was originally known as the…read moreSan Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. It is the world's largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian film, food and music programs that occurs annually in May. This year is the 37th annual CAAMFest, which is hosted by CAAM, the Center for Asian American Media, with its mission to present stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. Yellow Rose was making its Bay Area debut at CAAMFest in the Kabuki Theater. The movie follows the story of Rose, played by Eva Noblezada, a 17 year old Filipina who dreams of becoming a country music singer. Her world is upended when her mom is arrested by ICE and deported. Rose must face life on her own and embarks on a journey that leads her to her aunt, played by Lea Salonga, and following her dreams. Director and Writer, Diane Paragas, was presented to the audience a background on the film. Lea and Eva taped an intro on the movie. When the movie ended Diane and the production team had a Q&A session. Thanks CAAM for hosting CAAMFest and showcasing fine works, such as Yellow Rose, and providing a launching point for Asian independent filmmakers and an outlet for Asian films.

Volunteering at CAAMFest was actually pretty awesome. Not a whole lot of work, flexible start/end…read moretimes, you get a voucher for any movie you'd like to see, and you also get to see the movie you are currently volunteering for (e.g. if you are at the box office, you get to go into the theatre and watch the entire movie after you take care of the ticket rush, AND you get a voucher for any other future movie you want to see!). Plus you get more exposure to how the festival is run etc. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys films.

Second year coming to tour de Fat. Last year 2014, we rode around Golden gate park, listened to…read moremusic, enjoyed the atmosphere and vibe of people's crazy costumes! There is also a traditional costume contest for all bikers :) After the bike parade, there is a great little festival to enjoy food, brew, music, activities, games, bike shopping, shows, contests and more! This is the perfect place to enjoy a great weekend at the park with friends, family, and bikes Excited to see what 2015 has to offer :)

Get ready for a wild, wonky day of bike philanthropy, beer, bikes, art, music, magic, and yoyo…read moreperformances in what may be the best free annual event in SF. My parents like to come up from Sunnyvale every year for this event and volunteer in the water booth. I think this past event in 2015 may have been their 7th year. Also- just because it's sponsored by Belgium Beer, doesn't mean it's not kid friendly. There were plenty of families and kids running around everywhere. I think 1 of the 2 stages was the designated kid stage- the beer booths were all near the further, larger stage. There is plenty of bike parking set up, so bike out to golden gate park for this one and have yourself a good time! PS through Fun, Free, Cheap SF, you can rsvp ahead of time and receive a free beer token sponsored by the SF bike coalition!

Though I wasn't able to attend many of the festival events, I just wanted to make sure that this…read morefestival is on the yelp map for future game enthusiasts! As described on their website, Come Out and Play is "a festival of street games that turns NYC and SF into a giant playground." This year's festival, running from Oct 29th to Nov 6th, featured a large and complex version of late night tag, undercover capture the flag, a spy game featuring Nerf guns, and then a weekend medley of shorter, but still exciting games. Most weekday games took place in downtown SF and weekend games took place in the mission district. I was only able to attend the Saturday events, which featured Field Frogger, a life sized version of the old arcade game Frogger, Escort Quest, a blind-folded hunt for goods led by your unblind-folded teammate, Hantis, a game that mixes four square and ping pong, Charge of the Rubber Ball Brigade, a dodge-only version of dodge ball, and many more. Amongst those games, dodge ball was my favorite. The Saturday events were a great way to reconnect with the days of recess, and everyone at the event was very positive and friendly (haha recess minus the bullies). I wish I was able to attend the weekday events, because I only heard great things about them from other players. Either way, I had a wonderful time Saturday and can't wait until next year's festival!

Came here for the 2014 Holi Festival of Colors…read more Parking: Free small lot on campus. They have tons of free parking across the street. http://www.yelp.com/events/norwalk-holi-festival-of-colors-2014 Lists more parking options. Cost: 5 dollars to enter. They have a pre-paid line with a list or you can just pay at the entrance. Colors: Bags of Colors $ 3.00 or 5 for $ 12.00. 5 colors are plenty. We had a group of 5 and brought only two packs. We each had two colors. 3 surgical type face masks for $1.50? They sold bandanas and shirts. Not sure of prices. Clothing: Wear something that you don't mind throwing away. Or, willing to let turn pink or some other color after a wash. They recommend to shake excess color. But, I ended up with a pink shirt. Photo booth: India.com provided complimentary pictures. I would recommend take a picture prior to getting any color thrown at you. Well, if you can avoid it. They also gave away white t-shirts. Not sure if you can avoid it getting color on it. Some people just put it on. They had portable restroom. I did not use. They had some food trucks. Long lines. Glad we ate before coming. They had hourly tossing of colors. So, it was pretty flexible. On, the way out, we got into the yoga line/circle. It was pretty fun. Overall, it was pretty fun. I would recommend.

I got an invite from Jason L. to attend this -- I'm a book coveter (I'm the guy who leaves the wire…read morehangers and expired meds but takes all the books you left on the corner), and if it weren't for events like this one, my apartment would drown in books. I can't throw them out -- I need to believe someone else might get some use out of them. So it was with pleasure and relief that I toted my bag of trash & treasure down to the book swap. I brought my NASA coffee cup too - the Meth Coffee sounded decadent and potentially dangerous. Rocket fuel clearly might require a specially engineered containment vessel. I doodled into the foyer of CELLspace, and promptly disrupted a bookbinding workshop because I thought it was the reception desk. Once properly redirected, I paid my fee, had a few questions answered by an impressive and helpful transvestite, and wandered into the mix. I saw a carafe and poured myself some coffee. If you haven't been there, CELLspace is pretty open-feeling, so it was easy to move between book tables, each marked with signage indicating subject matter. DJ Poolboy was laying a nice mix of House, Afropop, and some better R&B from the late 70's and early to mid-80's in the background. I had some nice chats to some of the oth- HOLY SHIT -- WHAT THE FUCK IS IN THIS COFFEE!?!?!!! g-g-g-g-g-GAGAGAGAGGUghghGAGNGNGNGNG . . .Trans-forming . . . clothes . . . SHREDDING . . .Oh-god-oh-god-oh-wow-can't-form-sentences-must-work-in-hour-potentially-most-productive-day-ever-vibrating-sweet-JESUS THIS SHIT IS STRONG!! I don't remember much beyond that; just flashy, tweaky fragments. I had had enough after a half-cup, but I kept the rest anyway and drank it greedily in the car enroute to work, and mourned its loss after I shook the last drop onto my tongue. I screamed down 101 like a crazed junky fighter pilot, snapping my head left and right, scanning for The Man, or bogies on my six, or space bats -- not sure which. Five hours in now and the jitters are substantially reduced. Wow. Meth Coffee. Good thing I brought my NASA coffee mug. Got some cool books, too.

5 Stars for Jason and Monica and all the great work they do organizing this stuff…read more They came by and picked up my 2 large bags o' books I had to donate because I would be traveling to Cellspace via Muni and while I do have calves of steel, I did not want to break any major bones carrying the many tomes I had to give away. The swap itself was fun, $1 beer, better then any bar and books books books!! Music and fun and books! You need to be agressive though! The most heavily stalked Fiction and Sci-Fi tables are surrounded by vultures who are not beyond pushing the crippled to grab the new stash added to the table by a volunteer. Just kidding. No I'm not. Be Agressive! B-E Agressive!

The International Black Women's Film Festival is amazing. Films screen throughout the year, and…read moreevery December, there's a festival with online Video on Demand as well as a fabulous opening night with FREE screenings in local theaters throughout the week. The San Francisco Bay Area is lucky lucky lucky, and the curator of the Festival, Adrienne Anderson, is tops!!!

The single star above is for the neat clothing and creativity that flowed through this event. The…read morelack of any other stars are solely based on the absolutely atrocious organizational skills of the folks who tried (in vain and not well) to lead the volunteer efforts. The way I saw this go wrong can be summed up below: Showed up, people didn't even know where to go to wait for the event. There were about 5 bags of tortilla chips and a couple of bottles of water and soda stacked in the corner of the volunteer "room". The night began with no less than about 60 volunteers all save about 6 who clearly caught on that no one was monitoring them, leaving myself and some friends to man the ENTIRE operation at the end of the night (when the real work began). I came with a group of friends, we were NEVER offered anything more than some weak finger food during the silent auction. That's supposed to keep us sane for 5 hours? Yup, that's right. We were there for 5 hours and were never given food and barely water. Someone in my group brought some almonds from home and that kind of held us for the night. Forget the food for the moment - there just seemed to be absolutely no plan as to how to even manage the event and then the volunteers. You'd expect an event like this that has lots of street cred would be run like a well oiled machine. I think it was just slapped together by a few people who know a few people and have some awesome last name. I think it is a real shame - this is a great event put on by a seemingly great organization benefitting an awesome cause. And I'm not saying I needed the goodie bag all the other guests got (I get it, volunteers aren't actually equal), but COME ON! Order some pizza or something! It's the least you can do. They just need to get their shit together. I just got an email about volunteering this year. Unless I get promised at least some astronaut ice cream, my answer is HELL NO. Maybe this crap review should be for St. Vincent de Paul and not for D to D. Eh, whatever. The highlight of the night was this super cute high schooler who was shopping for a dress for prom. I thought that was neat, and I think she ended up getting something in the silent auction. I guess that shares the star with the clothes.

A kickass event put on for a kickass cause by kickass designers…read more Now if only I could afford anything other than the entrance fee. . . A link to some of the designs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/discardedtodivine/ Based on photos from previous years, this was clearly the first BIG year of the event - with an actual runway and everything. Very nicely done.