Welcome to the first installation of Really Cool People Who Aren’t Me. Today’s post features James Kuhn: artist, drag queen, former nudist, born-again Christian, and–most spectacularly–face painting genius. James says, “I love to paint on anything, including flesh!”

Sick of me writing about books you don’t have access to? Well, this week’s reading, “Sixty Folk-tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources”, is online and free! You lucky dog. There were many things that struck me about the selections I read from this book, but one of the most immediate was the complexity of the stories. Not only is there a quest, but the quest has three parts. And then there’s a secondary quest, and that one is usually even more challenging. I’m not sure why it is that the fairy tales we’re used to aren’t set up this way. Perhaps they’ve been simplified, or there may be a basic difference between the oral traditions of Eastern and Western Europe that affected the development of their folktales.

I draw on everything. Really, everything. And the drawings are usually bizarre. I’ve scanned a few scraps from notebooks and calendars, just for you. Ready? Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.

This week’s reading for my individual study was an anthology of fairy tale retellings. As is generally the case with anthologies, some stories were stronger than others, but the ones that really struck me tended to recontextualize the source material in a wholly unexpected way. We’re used to retellings from the villain’s point of view, excusing his or her actions. We’re also used to feminist reworkings of popular stories like “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” in which the heroine is given a much less passive role. These are not the kind I’m talking about.

Cartoon Art Museum and photo adventure with Topher in Golden Gate Park. Strawberry ice cream in the evening from Ghirardelli.

Okay, so I’m cheating a bit. Today was full of shopping in Japantown, an advance screening of “Watchmen”, and very few photo opportunities. But since I took nearly 300 photos yesterday, I’m going to use those. As always, more on flickr.

A few hours on Alcatraz, then to Chinatown for lunch and Eve of Justice, an anti-propostion 8 rally, in the evening. Much, much more on flickr.

Ate spaghetti for breakfast, then visited the Museum of Modern Art, followed by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Returned to Haight to explore more thrift stores, then ended the day with Fellini’s “Amarcord” at the Castro Theatre.

Second day of San Francisco trip. Started off with food from Boudin at Fisherman’s Wharf, then chocolate from Ghirardelli. Explored the city some more, ending up at Haight-Ashbury, where I purchased a delightful rainbow argyle sweatshirt. More photos on flickr.

First day in San Francisco. Asian Art Museum in the morning, followed by lunch at Orphan Andy’s in The Castro. We wandered towards Haight-Ashbury, but got sidetracked by Buena Vista Park. And then Corona Heights Park, which actually had a better view. Walked down Broadway at night past the strip clubs and aggressive bouncers, who tried to lure us in with promises of illicit underage strippers. Then Pier 39, where we listened to grouchy slumbering sea lions. More photos over at my flickr page.