A couple nights ago a lot of rampant Google searching led me to Noisebridge, a hacker space in the Mission in San Francisco. This place IS AMAZING. AMAZING. A really sweet guy name Mitch (inventor of these) founded a 5200 square foot studio where l33t hackers, alt crafty girls with cool hair, nerdy boys who are into space exploration, and Burners coexist peacefully.

I went for a “Learn to Solder” workshop (more on that later). Mitch taught us how to put together all sorts of blinking, beeping little devices. I sought help on my project which involves breaking down an existing circuit board and moving all the parts around so they fit inside a narrow tube (mysterious, I know, but eventually I’ll post about this.) Mitch informed me that this project was “challenging for a beginner” and then showed me how to use his expensive and powerful piece of machinery which made it way, waaaay easier. So, basically Mitch is the best.

Noisebridge is donation-based, you can park your bike inside (which is key, because it’s on a sketchball part of Mission street), open ALL NIGHT LONG, and basically completely rad. They have industrial sewing machines, soldering equipment, 3D printers, etc. If you’re in SF and need space to craft, or even if you’re visiting and into this kind of stuff, go there.