Before I began the SpellWalk SF project, I solicited ideas of things to spell from some coworkers. One of them immediately suggested, “Bye Felicia”. And so here is the realization of this suggestion, complete with a flourish across the bottom through Golden Gate Park. At 9.4 miles, this was my longest SpellWalk to date (and…
Bernal Heights is a complicated neighborhood to try to map a SpellWalk in. It is a relatively small neighborhood with multiple grids, dead-ends, and infrequent intersections. I wasn’t convinced I could do it at first, but here it is. This walk was quite an ordeal. Although a birds-eye view shows a relatively orderly and regular…
This walk produced some of the cleanest, most crisp letters of any SpellWalks thus far (accounting for the GPS signal variation). Too bad there wasn’t enough space to spell out “Ashbury” as well!
This was a very easy walk in a quiet neighborhood. All flat, no hills. Truth be told, this was the third attempt at this route. On my first take, the GPS signal crapped out on one leg of the second “A”. The second time, the GPS signal didn’t even record anything (which was exceedingly frustrating,…
I took this walk around 10:30 AM on a Saturday when the sun couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be out or not. It was too hot for a light jacket, but a bit too cool not to wear one. Consequently, I ended up sweating more than I would have liked, which made me cranky.…
Before I started spelling neighborhood names, I SpellWalked a couple routes as proofs of concept. Specifically, I sought to test the following: Could easily identifiable letters be spelled given the variability in the Apple Watch’s recorded GPS location? Would a casual observer who doesn’t know what the route is supposed to say be able to…
On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the shelter-in-place order intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 went into effect in the city of San Francisco. I knew that if I stayed indoors indefinitely, then I would get–God, I have gotten so sick of hearing this phrase–stir crazy. So I began going on near-daily walks. Using my…
