Letter from the Editor It starts at the coccyx, where the surrounding muscles contract and pull. The sensation travels bone by bone up the spine, the delicate layer of skin protecting it, alive with fine hairs standing on end. It will reach the edge...

The Art of Movement Parkour—which derives from the French word parcour, meaning journey, route, or course—is the art, disciple, and philosophy of using the body’s strength and facilities to overcome obstacles. Its core ideal is getting from Point-A to Point-B in the most efficient way possible. Traceurs, who are practitioners of parkour, always leap, climb, roll, and crawl through obstacles—they never go around them.

Family Matters This is the life of firefighters at the station that rests behind the Stonestown Galleria mall near the southern tip of San Francisco. It is a place where camaraderie shines because firefighters are required to eat, sleep, and live at the station; many have made it their second home. Like any good dwelling, the house is full of unique personalities that consider one another family.

Taking the Plunge The sliding door of the airplane opens. Icy wind rushes in, blasting against Ron Selvey’s face. He looks down, carefully surveying the land below, anticipating a push from behind. In a split second, both Selvey and the stranger strapped to...

Different Strokes Even with a wetsuit, it feels like suicide. With each stroke away from the secluded beach, the swimmer becomes more aware that if he stops moving his limbs, the cold of the fifty-degree water will consume them. Within about ten...

The Amazing Spider Dan Dan Goodwin calls skyscrapers human death traps and envisions a number of drastic changes in the way people are rescued. He details the proposed changes in the “Sky Scraper Defense Act” and wants to begin pushing it through city governments later this year. He plans to start in San Francisco. NOT EXCERPT: may want to add a box or something in the article about Goodwin's website (skyscraperdefense.com). You can view the Skyscraper Defense Act here and also the foreword to his book by Stan Lee (creator of Spiderman)

This Land(fill) is Our Land Upon first sight, there is little to be desired. Chunks of concrete protrude from the dirt-caked pathways and the greenery is little more than weeds and scratchy bushes. It’s either too cold and windy or too hot and humid. In...

Less Concrete, More Jungle In San Francisco, street runoff and sanitary sewers are combined systems, and during heavy rains both street runoff and raw sewage end up being dumped into the ocean without being treated. However, green roofs can retain as much as seventy-five percent of that water and release it back into the air through condensation, reducing the amount of runoff and taking strain off of the treatment plants and the city’s aging sewer systems.