We now begin the Parlour to Parlour journey in earnest, starting very close to home. Meredith Axelrod was living just a short block away from my Lower Haight apartment in San Francisco when I was introduced to her. This 24-year-old Chicago native was drawn to San Francisco by “the legend that the freaks and quirky people gather here,” she told me. “I wanted to meet them.”

In my old apartment building in San Francisco’s Lower Haight neighborhood, there was a couple living in the unit above me whose company I always enjoyed. Gal and Michelle were quiet, for one. On top of that, they were always a pleasure to bump into when switching off loads of laundry at the washing machine, or just passing in and out of the front door. Best of all, they were usually up for some live music, and I was more than happy to keep them in the loop whenever I was planning on venturing out to local rock venues like the Independent or the Hotel Utah. (more…)