Dr. Makwa Speaks

Scenes and characters from an unpublished book. Dr. Makwa Speaks does not exist. Refer all inquiries @jvhickey.

More wires. Inner Sunset. I caught this one walking down to the produce stand on 22nd and Irving. I had an umbrella but everything below my knees was soaked by that sideways San Francisco rain. It’s been a dreary few days here in the Sunset.

More wires. Inner Sunset.

I caught this one walking down to the produce stand on 22nd and Irving. I had an umbrella but everything below my knees was soaked by that sideways San Francisco rain. It’s been a dreary few days here in the Sunset.
The roiling sea at Sutro Baths.

The roiling sea at Sutro Baths.
Legion of Honor. San Francisco. Helga Viking Lens, Blanko Film, Jolly Rainbo 2X Flash, Taken with Hipstamatic She slipped out of work early today, and we went to brunch in Cole Valley. We parked the car, and on the street she pointed to a fixed-gear bike with a basket U-locked to a no-parking sign. “That’s how you know brunch is near.” We ate gingerbread pancakes. At the table next to us, a drug rep in a mismatched suit was getting all chummy with a pediatric nurse that M knew from her old rotation. Cloudy or sunny—the day couldn’t decide. But I was happy to be out in the afternoon. M took me to her favorite museum in the city, the Legion of Honor. She spent a lot of time there when she was in high school, and she said all the old painting by the Dutch masters, and the Rodins, and the Monets were like old family friends. We went through the entire museum and we left exhausted. Funny how the museum always takes so much out of you. All you’re doing is walking around looking at things. But that’s the way it always seems to go.

Legion of Honor. San Francisco.

Helga Viking Lens, Blanko Film, Jolly Rainbo 2X Flash, Taken with Hipstamatic

She slipped out of work early today, and we went to brunch in Cole Valley. We parked the car, and on the street she pointed to a fixed-gear bike with a basket U-locked to a no-parking sign. “That’s how you know brunch is near.” We ate gingerbread pancakes. At the table next to us, a drug rep in a mismatched suit was getting all chummy with a pediatric nurse that M knew from her old rotation. Cloudy or sunny—the day couldn’t decide.

But I was happy to be out in the afternoon. M took me to her favorite museum in the city, the Legion of Honor. She spent a lot of time there when she was in high school, and she said all the old painting by the Dutch masters, and the Rodins, and the Monets were like old family friends. We went through the entire museum and we left exhausted. Funny how the museum always takes so much out of you. All you’re doing is walking around looking at things. But that’s the way it always seems to go.

Officer’s Quarters. Fort Point. San Francisco.

Officer’s Quarters. Fort Point. San Francisco.
Bicyclists on the Golden Gate

Bicyclists on the Golden Gate
Man with sword on the MUNI. Duboce Triangle, San Francisco. Helga Viking Lens, Kodot XGrizzled Film, No Flash, Taken with Hipstamatic If you bring a sword on the Muni, it’s going to get attention. The fare inspectors got on at the next stop, and so did a guy with a deck, big earrings, and horn-rimmed glasses. The sword-carrying gentlemen noticed the other guy didn’t tag on, and kindly informed him that the fare inspectors were on board checking Clippers. The man with the skateboard said he wasn’t worried. “Nice sword,” he said. When the fare inspectors finally got to the skateboarding man, he protested loudly and said they—two random fare inspectors on a random Muni—should know him better. At Cole Valley, one fare inspector said to the other (and to the rest of the N), “I got to get off this train right now, ‘cause I’m about to knock this motherfucker out.” Happy Thursday!

Man with sword on the MUNI. Duboce Triangle, San Francisco.

Helga Viking Lens, Kodot XGrizzled Film, No Flash, Taken with Hipstamatic

If you bring a sword on the Muni, it’s going to get attention. The fare inspectors got on at the next stop, and so did a guy with a deck, big earrings, and horn-rimmed glasses. The sword-carrying gentlemen noticed the other guy didn’t tag on, and kindly informed him that the fare inspectors were on board checking Clippers. The man with the skateboard said he wasn’t worried. “Nice sword,” he said.

When the fare inspectors finally got to the skateboarding man, he protested loudly and said they—two random fare inspectors on a random Muni—should know him better. At Cole Valley, one fare inspector said to the other (and to the rest of the N), “I got to get off this train right now, ‘cause I’m about to knock this motherfucker out.”

Happy Thursday!

Polk and o’Farrell, San Francisco.

Polk and o’Farrell, San Francisco.
Muni at Civic Center Station, San Francisco.

Muni at Civic Center Station, San Francisco.
Ocean Beach, San Francisco. Hornbecker Lens, Kodot XGrizzled Film, Dreampop Flash, Taken with Hipstamatic

Ocean Beach, San Francisco.

Hornbecker Lens, Kodot XGrizzled Film, Dreampop Flash, Taken with Hipstamatic

Tule Elk Preserve, Point Reyes, California.

Tule Elk Preserve, Point Reyes, California.
ZIM San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge.

ZIM San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge.
F Line MUNI. San Francisco.

F Line MUNI. San Francisco.

Wandering

I’m in between jobs, so I’ve been using my days to take photos while wandering the city. I suppose I’ve been making up for lost time in San Francisco. I moved here in 2009 on a fellowship to write fiction. In the cocoon of my apartment, I typed away at a novel that looks a little hopeless at this moment, obsessing about the lives of fictional people and subsisting on nicotine tabs and Blue Bottle coffee. That’s the logic of a fiction writer: move to one of the most beautiful international cities in the world just to become more of a socially awkward hermit than ever before. Set the clocks and name the streets in a contrived fictional world, yet ignore the streets outside, the ones with very real people. 

Muni Station Escalator.

Muni Station Escalator.
Crowded MUNI.

Crowded MUNI.