INTERN-SPECTIVE: SNEAK PEEK AT THE SUMMIT'S PEEK GALLERY

These days everyone needs a third space. It’s the perfect outlet, because telecommuting from home is ideal but often hones distractions that inhibit productivity, much like the 15-watt energy-efficient light bulb that is saving the earth but not so much your eyesight.

So you hit up your third space, a café down the street. You’re equipped with a laptop and every intention to do work. But what’s that I see? You are facebook-stalking the girl you met last week. Although sometimes, when the wifi connection is too slow to successfully cyber stalk and the hot girl sitting at the adjacent table (who, by the way, is also a regular) always fails to notice your excessive glances, you’re relegated to staring at blank walls while working on your fourth free refill.

[caption id="attachment_373" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="the Summit walls. ready for some action."][/caption]

Come September 2010 the Summit’s walls will be dressed to whet your imagination, so that a muse isn’t the only reason you come in for a macchiato. I've got fresh details on the Summit’s Peek Gallery that may pique your interest. Gallery director, Marky Enriquez, has named the first show “33 1/3: Album Art in the 3^rd Space”. The opening will showcase the Bay Area’s renowned record collectors, shop owners, designers, DJ’s and album covers that best represent the “third space” concept. It will be the first of a series of album art shows at the Peek, which will feature futurist and space-age themes.

[caption id="attachment_374" align="aligncenter" width="173" caption="Marky Enriquez, gallery director of Peek Gallery"][/caption]

Among the shows slated to rotate after the first opening are “The Nightlife is the Right Life” and “History of the Mixer”, each focusing on applied arts and emphasizing exceptional graphic, industrial and fashion/textile design work. Ultimately, Marky would like the Peek to emphasize the Summit as the third space in the “third place” and to embody the concept that public gathering spaces are essential parts of the community.

[caption id="attachment_372" align="aligncenter" width="265" caption="your third space"][/caption]

On another high note, we have artwork in the name of coffee. We’ve finished up a week of formal Blue Bottle training at BB’s Oakland headquarters. Lessons included learning to consistently brew the ideal cup of espresso and getting milk to steam and foam just right so that the first drink we pour you might look this delicious:

[caption id="attachment_375" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="who says you can't enjoy your latté with Bruce Lee?"][/caption]

Four days into training, and I’m candidly admitting that it’s not an easy task (is this callous formation on these palms from espresso tamping?). Tip your baristas well; it takes a latté work to produce the perfect latté.

---Miss U