The Juice Box

Who is the Juice – Juicy Fruit Jim?

How does one begin to describe who they are? So many things need to be answered when this question is asked. Besides being the founder of this blog site, I am a 40 something San Francisco resident, happily partnered to a man I lovingly call my soul-mate, John. We have been together since March of 2004, and I continue to be in love with this man, more and more each day, after all he has to put up with me, and that is certainly a lot of work. I was born in the year of the horse, 1966, a fire horse to be specific, and a Leo. Although many people think astrology is a bunch of madness, I do believe there are significant factors of this information that play into my daily living. It could merely be that as you learn about yourself, these things form a basis for understanding, or perhaps that these things have an impact on your being.

Interests

Many things peek my interests, and some actually become rooted in what I like to do. Recently I have become more involved in the promotion and production of events in San Francisco, specifically dance events in the Gay community. This interest grew over the past few years as I started to attend more dance events, first as a member of the dance crowd. Eventually, drawn to the bright shiny things in a dark room, the work on the stage caught my attention and I started learning flow arts such as flagging, poi and fan dancing, and ultimately the creation of such tools and “toys”. Flow arts combine performance art, creativity, spirituality, energy flow, and an amazing upper-body workout. Flow arts have opened up new opportunities for me as a performer and producer, while also introducing me to some wonderful new friends all around the country and the world. More information can be discovered about the flow art of flagging by checking out the website at Flagger Central. My buddy, and my “flag daddy” (as the community calls them) Daniel has been my biggest inspiration in the flow arts. He is a creative influence, teaching me how to make my own flags, and encouraging me from the first time he saw me, to get up on stage and just go with it. I bet he never figured his flag puppy would go this far.

My interests have changed much over the past years, and a significant area that helped me grown and understand myself was in attending Burning Man. My first attendance at this event of survival and radical expression was in 2004, shortly after meeting John. I had toyed with the idea of attending when a co-worker first shared her stories of the event in 1995, however it never came into being. Perhaps she saw something in me at that time that I had not yet learned about myself. Being part of an amazing group called the Playa Fairies, I learned so much about production, creativity and working against the odds in many cases to make things come together. Working on this camp, learning flow arts, and a strong interest in improving myself and the things around me, drew me towards the inner workings of event planning and to foundations of producing and promoting club events in San Francisco, where I was introduced to several other friends who got me more involved.

I was lucky enough to get involved with REAL BAD, a GRGR/West Production, as part of the working group with my friends Leif and Steve. This group has taught me so much about production, team work, consensus building, and the partnership of working with people you really care about. Shortly after all of this activity the Juice Box was born following some review writing on a Yahoo Group called the Dancing Bears. The web site started out simple, publishing events that were flagger friendly and ones I planned to attend, and soon it started to develop into a full calendar compilation with reviews of the events attended. Over the past year a collection of dedicated and seasoned dance floor professionals started adding content, making the site a rich tapestry of experiences in the dance community. 2009 marked the first Juice Box event with a coordinated bus trip to Sundance at the Russian River, with 45 party goers boarding a limousine style bus in San Francisco for a day of fun and dancing at the return of this famous party. The blog site continues to evolve, with extended coverage of events and a growing calendar of events to participate in. The tag line has been established and sets the stage for “The Juice Box – Juicing up your night life in San Francisco and beyond”.

Outside all of this fun and frivolity I also hold down a real, paying job, at a major clothing retailer, Gap Inc. I have been with the company for quite some time, starting just before the Y2K crunch. I love my job and working with the very intelligent, highly motivated, and extremely talented people in my team. They are often an inspiration for me to continue forward, building, growing and learning as well.

All of this has been a wonderful experience building the foundation of who I am, so there you have it – this is me, Juicy Fruit Jim.