Me get on plane, me go see pretty things

My flight to DF boards at 7:40 am tomorrow. It's 9:39 pm and, of course, I have yet to pack.

Packing has got to be the most boring things ever. I do this everytime, I resist packing for trips. At least I am well fed and rested. One time I had to pack for a month away in SE Asia having not slept for 3 days. The flight left at 10am. I waited until 2:30 am to begin packing. It wasn't fun, it was no picnic.

We have a very loose itinerary proposed by our professor. Here are some images from the Interweb of some of those things we will visit.

This is our hotel, the Maria Cristina. We are located near the U.S. Embassy. Good thing?

Here is something called Los Torres de Satelite. Translation: The Satelite Towers. Built by Luis Barragan, one of Mexico's most prolific modernist architects.

The floating canal gardens of Xochimilco promise us wide-eyed landscape architects-in-training untold sights and wonders.

The urban "Grasshopper" Chapultepec Park houses the world famous Anthropogy Museum.

We will experience the immense demonstration of power and space at Zocalo Square, the heart of the city.

The trip will culminate with a visit to the past at Teotihuacan's Aztec ruins.

Photos will be posted at earliest convenience, but most likely not until week after next.

Vaya con Dios, amigos!

Raquel

Movie count

The last few days while I have been at home sorting and organizing paperwork has been filled watching some movies and films.

Here is the list:

Cool Hand Luke (1967) Paul Newman
My Architect( 2003)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006) Meryll Streep
Kinsey(2004) Liam Neeson

Cool Hand Luke is an interesting prison genre film and I recognized quite a few faces in it, including a young George Kennedy and Dennis Hopper. I'm rather intrigued with the films of the late 1960s, and hope to see a couple more before the end of the week.

I was a tad disappointed by A Prairie Home Companion. I am an AVID listener of the weekend radio program and I kind of anticipated it to highlight and discuss the comedic genius of the series - but no such luck at all. The movie is essentially a behind the scenes look at the cast of the program who are reminiscing about their last 20 years together. There is a weird sub-story going on about a woman in a white trench coat who happens to be a ghost...I found that kind of silly. I shall stick to the radio series...

My favorite movie of all these is My Architect, the story of the life of architect Louis Kahn as told by his distant son. What a fascinating film. In my landscape architecture history course, we learned a little a teeny bit about Kahn in his work on the Salk Institute. The son tells the story through a carefully chosen melange of mixed recovered video of Kahn at work, pictures, drawings, and by methodically visiting each of Kahn's commissioned structures and interviews with family and professional associates. You learn about the very torn man that Kahn was, and at the same time you learn why he was so important to so many people around the world completely outside of his personal sphere.

Purchase

At midnight, I made this purchase. This item will hopefully resolve the problem I have been having with my testy bicycle tires. Soon enough, I will be on the road whizzing by all you car bound schmucks.

New Year's Even

A few things:

1. I have to have a gum graft on one of my lower central incisors next time I am home. My addiction to brushing my teeth has taken a toll. My mother suggested I do this and also said she would set up an appointment for me.

I wonder if this means she will also volunteer to arrange payment for such a procedure?

2. My auto repair shop still hasn't called me back. I fear that the Fox has been looted during its 12 day and nights stay in the bowels of West Berkeley, and the employees are hesitant to share the sad news with me.

3. There are many errands and chores to run the day after returning from 12 days away from home.

4. Looking back on 2006, I don't have any glaring regrets, but I do wish I would have been a little more bold with the designs I did for school. I think 2007 will be a year of remarkable boldness.

He's gone

Saddam is gone. I don't really know if this is good news or not.

Trip concludes

Tonight is the last night I am in Portland.

My brother Matt is having a show at 7pm at some coffee/bar place. Matt's music is sounding really superb these days. He was upstairs practicing for tonight's performance last night when my friend Alexa came to pick me up. She thought it was the radio or cd player going. Even when rehearsing, Matt is impressing people.

Yesterday's luncheon went very well, a great time. It is nice to have new friends to visit when I visit Stumptown. It is even more convenient when they live near my sister's new place.

My step dad Bruce got a wide screen computer monitor for Christmas. But it isn't one of those cool Apple display units. Rather, it is a Samsung. I have no idea why my step dad needs this thing. I guess it might be useful for him when he has large spreadsheets open in Excel. I am not so impressed with the product. The screen basically stretches your view, so previously rounded features, such as words, come out all pixelated and long. I think the screen is actually supposed to be used for HDTV.

Update from Karmakanix. The Fox is still undriveable. The expansion the shop was doing this week apparently prevented them from squeezing in the repair of my vehicle. I hope it will be ready on Monday. They've had my car since 12/20.

Four things. Wait, five!

1. The smoking allowed in bars law in Portland must be changed. The last two nights I've come home and my hair smells. Normally it smells wonderful, but now it smells rather awful.

2. I used a Foreman Grill today. Do those even sell anymore? I was just cooking vegetables on it.

3. Visiting Pier One Imports the day after Christmas with your mother, who is on a mission for the last of the marked down red glass water goblets in existence, is a recipe for a meltdown on the daughter's end.

4. Lunch on Thursday with some guy I've been trying to meet up with for nearly one year. Persistance pays off? Hrmmm.

5. I forgot probably the BEST of the upcoming musical acts on its way through the Bay Area very, very soon. What a dolt I am. Anyway, it's gonna be a pretty amazing show, I hope.

Who: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
When: January 5, 2007
Where: Bimbo's 365 Club
Whadda it cost me?: $20

Live tunes

Jan. 6, 2007, Sat, The Devil Makes Three, The Independent
Jan. 24, 2007, Wed, Pirate Radio, The Makeout Room
Jan. 30, 2007, Tues, Deerhoof, The Great American Music Hall
Feb. 4, 2007, Sunday, Ray's Vast Basement, The Makeout Room
Mar. 2, 2007, Friday, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, The Great American Music Hall
Mar. 3, 2007, Sat, Clinic, The Independent
Mar. 7-8, 2007, Wed & Thu, The Mountain Goats, The Independent
Mar. 9, 2007, The Mountain Goats, Bottom of the Hill

P.S. Merry Christmas. My family is watching Talledega Nights and I snuck upstairs to see what secrets of music the internet held...

Bob Sagat would make this a little more tolerable

Tonight, Christmas Eve, is the first night I've stayed at my parents' house since I arrived in Portland on Thursday. They live in Murrayhill, a subdivision in Beaverton, Oregon. Murrayhill is a virtual outpost in terms of being located near things, places, people or amenities I like to visit. The place has a nice view, I guess, and enjoys the benefits of existing within a homogenous community (low crime and neat yards).

Tonight I volunteered to make my parents dinner. The materials were already purchased. All that was required of me was to slice and cook the stuff. The dinner was stir fry, and like the neighborhood, the meal was sterile and predictable.

During the meal my parents turned on "AFV", which is a version of the series Bob Sagat used to host in the 1990s, "America's Funniest Home Videos." I thought it was a joke that we were watching it, but I soon realized that my parents actually adore this program. At one point, they were laughing and pointing at the TV monitor when someone sitting down on a bench made it collapse. I wish I was kidding about this.

Anyway, the host of this program isn't half as dynamic as Bob Sagat, who despite his reputation of being "America's Favorite Dad" possesses a certain brand of vulgar humor that makes him admirable.



Finally, after many long minutes of agony, AFV ended. Now my mother is watching Ocean's Eleven. So the cycle of madness and bad TV continues...

Oh, yesterday I saw "For Your Consideration", the newest Christopher Guest feature film. While it's no "Best in Show" it's quite good and worth at least a cost of a matinee ticket.

Flash back

This is my mother in 1972.

Chanteuse

This is the beautiful and talented Joanna Newsom. She played three sold out shows in the city this week. Mon-Tues-Wed shows at that.


Here is another.

And on quite a different note, here is a photo of my chipboard model from studio.

Waiting for my tow

Yesterday I consulted with Nino at Karmakanix about the sorrowful state of my VW Fox. He advised me to arrange for a tow to the shop and they would take car of the problem over the next ten days while they are expanding the shop. I will be out of town after tomorrow, so the idea of having a fixed vehicle upon arrival home is appealing. On the other hand, leaving my car parked on the curb of an industrial and transient neighborhood for such a long period of time, where Karmakanix happens to be, is not so appealing. I suppose I will take all the precautions I can against theft - remove the CD faceplate and stow all my loose cds in the glovebox and activate my crappy alarm system.

I called AAA at 9:00 and customer service rep "Dee" readily handled my tow request. I am covered for 5 miles of tow (lucky me, Karmakanix is about 2-3 miles from here). Perfect! The process to request a tow is altogether too easy. It's pretty awesome. So I am just waiting for him/her to arrive with the truck. Should be here before 9:50.

The Fox shall be reformed!

steeeeeerike!

Yes, torture has ended, I took my last exam today and I also went bowling with some of my classmates and a couple of hopalong architecture ladies from the 9th floor. Our evening took place at Albany Bowl, the most reputable alley in the East Bay. When we arrived, a big party was just finishing up having some kind of wicked bowl buffet. There was containers of bbq pork, 3 picked over bundt cakes, cornbread and baked beans. Not quite the meal I would advise before exercise, but then again, this is bowling.

First game I scored an 83 and the following game was an 84. Highest mph was 15.05. I roll a slow ball I guess. However, I did manage two strikes and a number of spares (some following a gutter ball) during the course of the two games.

I am very sleepy right now. I just feel like I should be up because I don't have any homework to do. It is a strange feeling.

The Fox is still out of commission. The damn heat gauge is unconsolable, even after I added coolant. I suppose it will need to be serviced. I am rather pissed. That car gets treated so well....how dare it double cross me! Blasted radiator.

Tomorrow night I will attend one of the three sold out shows for Joanna Newsom at the Great American Music Hall. I am really quite excited.

Drippy pouring rain, hookers

Yucko, it's raining so much outside. By tomorrow, there will be a huge 4" deep puddle where my car is parked. My shoes always get soaked when I try to get into my car after it rains. I should park on the street more.

Yesterday was my final studio review for school. It went so so. I have a history exam on Monday for which I haven't studied one iota. I have the book open and next to me right now, which makes me feel at least a little better.

This afternoon, around 1:30 pm, I saw a peculiar thing while waiting at the ol' F bus stop. Across the street, in front of the corner store, was a hooker and her pimp. She was hella interesting. Decked out in a mini jean skirt and suede boots, she spared no effort in trying to get the attention of people driving past her. She'd halfway lean out into the street, and kind of motion to people with strange gestures and facial expressions. I found it altogether kind of groddy. I wish that kind of shit didn't happen 100' feet from my house.

I am feeling lonely and reluctant. I think it is the lack of a social life outside my studio that is the problem, but maybe it is just the rain.

4 days, 15 hours

In the past four days, I have gotten less than 15 hours of sleep. We are countdown 36 hours until our final review (Wed at high noon). I will likely not sleep because my list of things to do is enormous.

After the final review is over (12-6pm), I have another final to go to from 6-8pm, just to add insult to injury.

Persistance

Received today at 10:45 a.m. from suspect obsessive girlfriend/fling:

"Arik, did u tell any0ne and u better n0t lie t0 me *wedding d@y 9.20.06*"

The mystery of the bad grammer lady continues - the torrid event referenced in the earlier email was apparently a wedding. Perhaps something scandalous happened before, during or after the wedding between Arik and the crazy lady.

I felt bad having not responded to the message from yesterday. I began to weigh the pros and cons of texting her back to say this isn't Arik's phone. I kind of like being at the receiving end of drama so far removed from my life. It kind of riles me up to get these kinds of messages! But then I thought about pathetic Arik and this crazy lady trying to reach him with these ridiculous messages.

I wrote her back around 3:30 to tell her that this isn't Arik's phone. She didn't write back. Strangely, I hope that she begins to wonder if Arik is just lying to her about it being the wrong number. Maybe she will send even more enraged messages later.

I can only hope.

SMS gone awry

At 9:21 a.m. I heard a familiar "beep" sound from my cell phone during class. A text message had come in. Who would be sending me something? I don't really use text messages much lately.

This is the message I received:

"Did u tell any0ne 4real. and if u did i swear t0 g0d i will never4give u and never speak t0 u again *it began 9.20.06*"

My first reaction was worry. Did I screw anyone over recently? The number did not come up with any name I recogized. Just a 510 number. I couldn't think of anyone I associate with that would use the term "4real". Still, I worried. Then I shrugged it off. I couldn't think of anything that "began" on Sept. 20 anyway.

Everyone reading this, please send a kooky message back to whoever sent me this...and make it very confusing. That would be funny. The number is 510.672.9052

Mwahh hah hhhaahha.....

What happened today

Today in history class we learned about Dumbarton Oaks, designed by founding ASLA member Beatrix Jones Farrand. When I lived in Georgetown from 1997-1999, I jogged by DO nearly 5-6 times a week. It's on "R" Street, NW next to the weird Rock Creek spooky cemetary. Anyway, in my Georgetown days, I was aware of the importance of DO but only because it was the site where dignitaries met to discuss the creation of the United Nations shortly after WW2 ended. I had no idea it was more than a fancy shmancy Georgetown house.

Apparently, DO is also one of the premiere examples of eclectic private garden design from the early 20th century. Go figure.

Anyway, all of this recalling of old times made me think about something rather remarkable. When I was in 7th grade, the rage of fashion was to have collegiate sweatshirts. People would wear Harvard, Penn, and Columbia sweatshirts. It was all very well intentioned, although I bet most of the people ended up at state schools when we graduated high school. Anyway, my sister and I got two such sweatshirts, which we shared. The sweatshirt I got was a Georgetown University sweatshirt - it was navy blue with the school's seal on it (with the eagle, not the Hoya or bulldog). The one my sister had was a Berkeley sweatshirt. It was white with blue and gold lettering and had some scrolls on it or something.

It turns out I went to both of these schools! I never even remembered this coincidence until today. Something about those sweatshirts...

Thinking about DO and that ratty old sweatshirt, I recall how much I like the environs of DC. Not particularly the social atmosphere, but in general the whole weird assortment of people, places, landmarks, diversity, politics and shenanagins. Berkeley is much different, but not worse or better. Just different, and more Asian people.

Frisbee toss

After almost three months hopeful suggestions that it might do us some good to throw a frisbee around, my classmates FINALLY relented. Saturday Dec. 2 marked the inaugural LA 101 frisbee toss. Sunday there was another frisbee event, this one held out in front of Boalt Hall, where there was more room for our athletic maneuverings.

There were several findings from these two activity-laden days:

One, I am bad at throwing frisbee uphill.
Two, my classmates like to dive, even when not necessary.
Three, none of us are that great of frisbee players.
Four, frisbee induces smiles.

I think that as long as the weather permits, we will have somewhat regular frisbee tosses around 4:00pm. So far the frisbee crew has included myself, Nat, Sam, John, Tim, Nicole and Chris. The others will be won over in time, although I don't suspect any of them are really that great at frisbee.

Booking and tow

I returned home around 1:30am. I have been walking home from school lately, but today was different. It being a Sunday, I aimed for convenience and drove to school. Headed down MLK, I spied what appeared to be three police cars in front of my apartment. Terrible thoughts ran through my mind? Robbery? Homicide!? Then I remembered I have very little that would be worth stealing...certainly not a robbery. Maybe a suspect was being chased and he ran into our complex's back parking area and now he's hididng behind all my landlord's shop equipment. Heavens! What is going on this Sunday night anyway? People should be asleep.

Then I saw it: a shoddy late 90s Cadillac Seville was pulled next to the curb and some frightened woman was standing on the sidewalk next to four officers. Apparently, her boyfriend was already in the back of one of the police cars by the time I got home. Soon a fourth police car showed up. He must have done something kind of stupid.

Now I am sitting in bed listening to the tow truck pull that car up onto it's back end...(screech, clunk, clunk, whirrrrrr, beep-beep-beep). On its way to the ol' impound lot, no doubt.

Song

This is a good song:

Peacocks, The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats have planned a tour along the west coast in March. They will be in SF on March 7 and 8. I hope to go on the 8th, but I may be in Portland to celebrate my mom's 60th. Here is a good site with a lot of their mp3s. I don't think Peacocks is a featured track, so you might need to search a little further yourself. It is worth it.

Here is a group photo from Thanksgiving!


From left to right we have: Katherine, Mike, Pedro, Miz E, Jean Paul...we've all been drinking a lot of wine and Maker's Mark by this point.


Yours truly carving the bird. It is actually very easy.

Slightly improved

So as most of you know, Google bought out Blogger a whiles back. Today I upgraded to the new version of Blogger that is supposed to have more bells and whistles. But it looks exactly the same and works exactly the same as far as I can tell. The only difference is that now my gmail address is posted on the banner. Gotta figure out how to remove that...

In other news, I went to see Borat tonight as a break from our studio toils. Sacha B. Cohen put his face into some serious ASS for that movie. He must have nightmares about filming those scenes.

Life at Wurster plods on. Tomorrow there is more serious work to be done at school but I stay optimistic because there are only numbered weeks now until the end of Fall 2006. Rest in peace.

Our Mexico City trip is still in the air due to funding debacles. I am somewhat hopeful Walter will cancel the trip, even though it would be fun to go. Planning a trip like this so last minute just would add to the s-t-r-e-s-s-i-n' levels!

I've been walking home from school the last three nights. It's been nice but I kind of fear for the safety of my valuables as MLK Jr. Way is not the most secure of streets in Berkeley. The journey has been pretty uneventful, except for when I finally get within a half block of my building. The last few nights, a young guy has been hanging out on the corner of Prince and MLK looking like he is up to something. I have no idea what that something is (or was). But, if he insists on doing it on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 2:15 a.m., then my deductive reasoning leads me to think it might have some legal implications. C'est la vie.

Thanksgiving interrupted

Yesterday, with Jean Paul and Pedro in the car on the way to our friend Mike's house, we encountered this scene:



We had to turn the car around on Telegraph Avenue and go around the blocked off area. We had a nice dinner at Mike's and later checked the paper.

This is what we found:

OAKLAND
A family dispute ends with 3 killed, 2 in custody
People dive from windows to escape gunfire after holiday gathering turned violent
- Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, November 23, 2006

Click to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to View

Three people were killed and another wounded when a North Oakland holiday get-together turned deadly Thursday afternoon. Two men were taken into custody in connection with the shooting.

There were nine people, including a child, in the third floor apartment at 5321 Telegraph Ave. when gunfire broke out shortly before 3 p.m. One man and two women were killed and another man shot, while another man suffered a broken back when he leaped from a third-floor window to escape the bullets.

Oakland police described the incident as a family dispute gone horribly wrong.

"There was an ongoing disturbance within the group,'' which had started well before the bloody Thanksgiving shooting, said Officer Roland Holmgren, an Oakland police spokesman. He declined to elaborate on the dispute or say what connections the shooter or shooters had to the victims, whose names have not been released.

While two men were arrested, Holmgren would not say whether both men had been directly involved in the shooting.

The hail of gunfire and the heavy police response sparked near-panic in the sprawling Keller Plaza apartment complex, which sits in the shadow of Highway 24. Police SWAT teams, searching for the armed suspects, banged on doors and sent residents at home for a holiday feast scurrying out onto Telegraph Avenue with only the clothes on their backs.

About 200 people were evacuated from the apartment complex, according to a Red Cross volunteer. While most were allowed back Thursday evening, the apartments around the site of the shooting remained off-limits as police investigators continued their work.

"The police told us to get out of the building and just handed us a blanket," said one man, wrapped against the evening cold. He declined to give his name.

Helicopters circled the apartment complex as police armed with assault weapons shut down four blocks of Telegraph Avenue and moved people a block away to Shattuck Avenue as they searched for the shooters. SWAT team members, including snipers and a hostage negotiator, finally tracked at least one of the suspects to another apartment in the complex, which he had barricaded against police. But after talking with the negotiator, the man surrendered without incident. At least one of the men was taken out of the complex in handcuffs shortly after 6 p.m.

Red Cross workers were on the scene to assist displaced residents. Buses and cars were rerouted. Onlookers, at least one of whom carried a paper plate filled with Thanksgiving turkey, stood on street corners and watched the police activity.

Police Lt. Kenny Whitman said several handguns were recovered at the scene. "It was a family dispute," Whitman said. "It wasn't a robbery, and it wasn't drugs."

The names and ages of the victims and the suspects had not been made public as of Thursday evening. A spokesman for the Alameda County coroner's office said that the names of the victims were being withheld pending a "police hold" on the information. The wounded man was taken to Highland Hospital with what Whitman said was a "grazing wound.''

E-mail Steve Rubenstein at srubenstein@sfchronicle.com.

Happy Thanksgiving

Toast the cornucopia and pull those yams out of the oven. 'Tis Thanksgiving and entitlement to take the day off!

All of my studio mates have promised NOT to step foot in Wurster Hall tomorrow. That said, I brought as much work as I could home. Hopefully I will be able to work on my clay model while the cranberries are sim sim simmering.

Roommate Pedro and old classmates Jean Paul and possibly Pete are headed to our good friend Mike's house at 37th and MacArthur for a little holiday cheer aroun 5:00pm. It's kind of a potluck, hence the cranberries. The meal will be followed by an episode of heavy drinking (pending how full we are).

What is going on for your Thanksgiving? Hopefully, family and friends.

Pictorials

This is Doyle Drive of the Presidio-Crissy Field area. Imagine if this elevated highway was brought below into a tunnel and earth was filled around it. How would you design the space above this underground freeway? This is our final studio project...


This is the enormous German chocolate cake we ordered for our aptly-themed happy hour earlier this month. Stilgenbashen is a wordplay on our Professor's name. She LOVED the cake. We scored brownie points for that one! Um, I mean "cake" points.

There is a door. Use it.

Apartment life, as opposed to Bateman Street life, has its advantages and disadvantages. Advantage one is that there is less to take care of at our place on MLK Jr. Way. Advantage two is that the rent is less. Advantage three is that my room has its very own external exit making it possible not to ever have to leave the apartment through our front door. Advantage four is that my room's internal door is the closest to the bathroom - I can hear when people slip out of the shower and don't really have to bother to leave my bed to check. I just use my powerful sense of hearing.

That very sense of hearing, usually a blessing, has sporadically caused me great qualms when I find myself actually hanging around the house. Normally, I am at school the entire weekend. This weekend, an odd one, I find myself on my bed writing a little history paper. Anyway, the hearing problem has to do with the fact that my roommates like to use the bathroom faclities without fully closing the door. Twice alone this weekened I've been here in my room, which is less than 8 feet from the bathroom door, and heard the very noticable audible chime of peeing. Yes, loud audible peeing. Something about the way my room sits next to the bathroom makes it like an echo chamber in here. When the bathroom door is closed, this really isn't a problem - although I can hear it a little bit. But as stated, the door is regularly being left more than half the way open when my roommates relieve themselves.

I clearly do not understand. From my earliest memories, I can only recall that proper etiquette dictates we should make effort to reduce exposure to other people of the realities of our biological functioning. For example, most people will ALWAYS flush the toilet when leaving the bathroom. The idea of intentionally exposing someone to the visual of an unflushed toilet bowl is kind of preposterous, don't you think. Another example is that farting or belching loudly in public is considered very uncouthe. Sure, a quiet burp is ok and emitting some kind of silent gas at times is critical for survival. But the point of this is that we take EFFORTS to mask or reduce the impact on others of these trivial facts of life.

I would like to have this problem resolve itself and the only way I can think to do it would be to walk past the bathroom while the noise is happening in order to shock the user into exercising better privacy strategies (i.e. shut the door). I could also ask directly for the door to be shut, but I do not think that would ultimately prove successful and it seems like an awkward kind of conversation to bring up ("Say, that's some LOUD-ass peeing you got going on in there!").

They emerge at dusk and take refuge in our sewers. Beware.

Today at dusk, about 4:45 p.m., I threw on my running gear and headed out the door to get a little ejercicio. I headed up Woolsey Street from Adeline, hung a left on Claremont, then began running due west down Channing. At this point, it was about 5:20, still light out to some degree. I was passing through the area of Berkeley understood to be the fraternity and sorority area. It was rather loud on the street due to the USC/Cal showdown that day. Down the block, I had even passed a fire engine and EMS crew giving aid to some hopelessly drunk member of Delta Tau who'd taken pregaming to new and dangerous levels.

Let me get to the point of this....

On a fraternity porch, sitting like content housecats, are three enormous raccoons. Procyon lotor strikes again! I couldn't believe their audacity to just hang out like that. What I find even more strange is that they could have cared less about being seen or all the ambient noise around them. I think urban raccoons are getting a wee bit too casual and comfortable in Berkeley. They should at least stay in their dens until 9:00 p.m. or so.

A few days earlier, on Thursday night, I ended up walking all the way home from campus at 2:00 a.m. in the drizzle due to a wiley and incompetent shuttle bus driver who never showed up for the 1:15 a.m. pickup route. I was pretty lucky to have gotten home without a slip. I think the rain kept all the downtrodden criminals and such at home that night. I hardly saw anyone the whole walk home. However, I did see some coons. Crossing Adeline Street (an 80' wide street) I saw two large raccoons trotting toward me. I wanted to see what they were doing in the street like that so I veered off the sidewalk onto the road at a brisk pace. At this point, the raccoons suddenly disappeared into a storm drain. I walked by the drain and could see their glowing eyes in the moonlight and their tell-tale chittering noises.

Damn coons. Before we know it they are going to be surfacing in our toilet bowls or something.

To El Distrito Federal

It appears as though my class (well, 12 of the 14 of us) are going to Mexico City over the winter break. I am excited because this is a place I have always wanted to go. There are some fabulous sites to see from both a landscape and a city planning perspective. I even have a friend living there now. However, I am equally as unexcited because of the fact we are doing the trip over the winter break and that it has the slight potential to be a logistical night terror.

We find out about departmental funding for the tickets tomorrow.

In other developments, I am going to a movie this Friday. I can't believe it, it's been many months since I've seen anything. I have a history paper to write by Tuesday and a 30 scale chip board model to build for studio, but somethings must wait. I wanted to go see The Queen (Helen Mirren) but it looks like we'll go to another queen-genre move (Marie Antoinette). While I haven't heard anything spectacular about the performances in the latter, at least there will be some great shots of the Versailles compound to ponder.

I miss you

I really miss you, Dad. I cannot believe it's been almost three years.

In memoriam - Dale William Edmonds, b. Oct. 28, 1946, d. Nov. 14, 2003

The Apples in Stereo

Here is a link to The Apples in Stereo. Good for listening at your laptop unit...

Impressive

This picture is from way back in September, but I just found it again while looking through my old folders. You see the progression of the rebuild of the Bay Bridge, which spans from Oakland to San Francisco. Eight miles of bridge!

It's going to be very interesting when they get to the point of switching traffic from old to sparkly new...



This picture was taken while I rode the F Transbay AC Transit bus.

Oakland revealed

Although Oakland is well-known for its robberies, skuzzy burger drive-ins, Gold Teeth shops and gang-related violence, there are some overlooked gems one shouldn't miss! Let your eyes be amazed at Oakland's Morcom Amphitheater of Roses. Yes, Oakland has a Italianate renaissance rose garden, complete with water chain and grotto element.

This game is fun

Here I am playing shuffleboard. I enjoyed knocking the other team's pucks off the board.

The white junk on the board is salt.

Headlining

I really want to go to these shows but I probably will be lucky to go to one or two of them.

Nov. 5: Eef Barzelay (of Clem Snide), Cafe du Nord
Nov 17, 18: Hot Buttered Rum String Band, The Independent
Dec. 1: The Dears, The Independent
Dec. 2: Gogol Bordello, Berkeley Community Theater*
Dec. 19, 20: Joanna Newsom, GAMH

*This band is probably one of the best acts to see live....ever. Explosive! I saw them at Slim's in March and was pretty much blown away. I have no idea if the BCT knows what it is getting into by inviting this retinue of overzealous Russian-Serbo-Croatian gypsy punk rockers to perform under its roof. There will be mayhem and chaos. I hope I can make it! Go! Go!

Attended, Bought

Attended:
Friday evening at the Doug Fir in the fair city of Portland, Oregon, I went to see The Heartless Bastards with my sister and brother.

Simply awesome. Even more so after three Maker's Marks. Hoo-yeah. They have some music on their site.

Bought
There is one less ticket available for Joanna Newsom's two night appearance in late December at the Great American Music Hall. Get your tickets, people! Joanna rarely tours due to the cumbersome harp...and her new album comes out in two odd weeks.

Product

This is a drawing and watercolor I did in LA 134a last week. The idea is that I (violently) imposed drainage pools onto a building and eucalyptus tree grove in order to see the impact of built structures on the groundplane. The displaced trees are then exploded into the sky.

It's not meant to be realistic. But you probably figured that one out already.

Complaint

So WHY exactly are hedgehogs banned in the State of California?

Those feet are adorable. What's more...the guy is palm-sized.

Dumpies

It's Thursday. Wait, it's Friday. I have to get up in four hours to pack, shower, commute and attend class at 9am where we present our Vectorworks viewport assignments. Ho hum. I am packing because I am going to Portland for the weekend.

Still, despite the favorable change of venues, I am stuck in the dumpies. I don't know what the deal is, but it needs to be fixed soon. There are still 6-7 odd weeks of school left where I need to produce inspired, uplifted final projects. As it stands, such things won't happen very easily in a state like this.

Perhaps I just need mom....

It was a weekend

This coming weekend I am going to Portland, city of roses, to attend a family celebration. No, it isn't a Halloween party. No, I don't have a costume, either. It is my three uncles' birthdays on Saturday...two of them are turning 58 and my uncle David is turning 60. My dad would have also turned 60 with them if he was around today.

Sixty! I can't believe it. How time flies. Seems like just yesterday they were turning 45 and 43. Alas.

It will be a fun two days of family goodness. I hope it doesn't rain. It always frickin' rains when I am in Portland in the fall. Never fails.

This weekend was good because I took an actual day off for once. I slept in until 1, thereby kind of sleeping part of the day away, but it was still quite fab-u.

This entry is boring. I will write more when there is something interesting to share.

Other news: this week I plan to purchase two new albums: Joanna Newsom and the Decemberists just released new work.

Finally. It's over.

Some time ago last summer I told my reader(s) about my journey to Ko Lanta Yai. Well, even though that trip ended in late June, our class project continued. It only ended TONIGHT, nearly five months after our research team arrived in Bangkok.

From 9am yesterday until nearly 1am today, our team of 10 strong (well, more like 6-7) worked like we had guns to our heads to produce 10 final presentation boards of our recommendations. Our professor, Louise, is going to Thailand on Monday to deliver the proposal to the island. I hand it to this lady for staying at our sides until it was all printed and ready to go. She is confident and excited about the proposal we are making towards this island's (sustainable) future.

But while good and everything, I am just glad to have the thing over with. I feel like I know more about Ko Lanta Yai than I do my own neighborhood. Today, I put in about 12 hours and I am not the hardest working person on the team by a long shot. My friends Rusty and Mike are actually still at school finishing a village axonometric drawing we need for the last remaining board to be printed. But we owe our lives to Ms. Sadie.

Alright....Friday 1am. Glad to be home from school. Ko Lanta Yai....you just wait. You are gonna be impressed.

In other news, my sister bought a house in NE Portland and got a job offer the SAME week. She is psyched. I am excited to see it when I go home next weekend for my three uncles' birthdays. I am missing Halloween to do so, but I don't have a costume anyway.

Part of the whole

Can you find my contribution? It's in the front row of the class model.

This is what I spent three hours doing today.

Weekend wrap up

Stork Club: Friday I went to the Stork Club at 23rd and Telegraph to meet up with my friend Woody very briefly. The two "bands" that I was lucky enough to see were pieces of work. And by that, I mean that their program and delivery was altogether vexing and induced bodilly reactions that approached nausea. I came home and did a little research, these two bands are called "The Hospitals" (as in take me to the hospital now before I vomit) and "The Skates" (the first band that played, "Bobby Blood" was good apparently). Anyway, the Skates were two dudes kneeling on the floor making noise into a looping device. It was very loud and disturbing. Their one song lasted about 14 minutes. The Hospitals took about 30 minutes to set up their drum set. When they finally began, the drummer began screaming into the mike and managed to knock over his snare drum. After the snare was set back into place, the drummer yet again became wiley. At one point, he ran off stage with the mic and disconnected several cables along the way. He then proceeded to tell us he was sorry a few times and insisted on starting the song over. I left at that point because the music was so thrashing my insides became distressed.

Axons: My school project this week is an axonometric drawing of some buildings on campus with some proposed drainage basins to be installed in the glade. My rough is finally complete and I shall put it onto vellum tomorrow if all goes well. Then I have to cut some chip board and fold some paper for my topo models that are *also* due on Wednesday.

Haircut: I got my hair cut on Saturday. I normally hate going to the salon on Saturday because all the picky people show up then. I usually have my appts. for Thursday evenings, but this week it was cancelled because Christine injured her back. I was squeezed in on Saturday. End result is ok, although it looks kind of Carole Brady right now. It needs a few weeks...

Kickball: Sunday at 1:00 Adam scheduled a co-ed kickball game at Rossi field in San Francisco at Arguello and Anza. By 1:30, our group was 12 kickers strong, splitting up into two teams of 5 and 7 in order to account for equal skill level. By 2:45, two more people had arrived and we had a fine core of 14 people playing kickball. Don't remember who won, but it probably wasn't us...

I have touched a Nobel

On Wednesday, Orhan Pamuk was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

In 2002, the guy was in DC and he was a guest on the television program I used to produce. As the only woman in a production crew of 5 people, I also had the job of doing makeup on the show. I don't remember the exact details, but I think Mr. Pamuk had some pore issues and suffered from an unruly moppish haircut...which he appears to still have.

Blast outta the past

This photo is circa 1986...yeah, people. I was in the fourth frickin' grade. Eat it up. We were in Loreto, Mexico (Baja) with my father for a vacation in July. The setting is the La Pinta Hotel (I do realize I just typed "The The Pinta Hotel"). Yes, we went to Baja in July. And it was hot as you could ever guess.



My sister was in the sixth grade and was practicing being difficult.

Plant life

Here are some favorite plants encountered and photographed at Blake Garden over the last week.


I call these leafy cabbages.


I call these muppet plants.




I call these puffy cabbages.




I call this one "Rachel's shoe on path."

Someone stole my tarp. Well, Jackie's tarp.

Last night and this morning was the first time it has *rained* in the East Bay since perhaps late April or early May. This is not a lie. It may have gotten dewey in between that time, but basically we've been in the dry season for 5 months.

Last night I got home around, er, 2am ish and it was pouring. I walked up my little balcony and saw my two bicycles, fully exposed, drenched and looking pretty sad. I got a camping tarp out of the back of my car and draped it over the bicycles. It was a perfect fit, actually. This morning, it was still raining and the tarp was keeping the bikes safe and dry.

I get home tonight around 1am. The tarp is gone. I may be jumping to conclusions, but I think some damn Berkeley hoodlum stole my tarp. Ugh. That means homeless dudes or ladies are rummaging up my steps. That is so annoying. I hope Jackie never asks for the tarp back. I've had it close to a year now after we used it for a field trip we held last fall. Anyway, what gives? I was excited thinking that I had an answer to my bike weathering dilemma...but now the tarp is gone. I hope the rain stays away so I can figure out a new weatherproofing plan.

Bay Area Derby Girls Night

On Saturday I am going to see the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls showdown near the Oakland Airport. This should be pretty fun and a nice change of pace to what my life is about on a day to day basis. I look forward to cups of MGD and seeing some body checking.

Tonight I took a nap from 7-1030pm, so now I am up and on the Internet. I should go to sleep but I am kind of wired. This week has been hard at the start, but midweek things trickled down. I am trying to enjoy it rather than work to get ahead for next week. If anything I have learned these past few weeks is that I will never likely "get ahead". It is better to use that down time to nap and try to exercise and see Roller Derbys in Oakland.

I just heard the door open, so that means Pedro is home or someone with a key to our place just broke in. I am hearing the stove flame light up under the tea kettle, so I am assuming it is Pedro and not some burglar.

Sunday morning pet peeve rant

I just got home from nearly an all nighter in studio. Typical story, but anyway, I just need to vent an annoyance before I get a few hours of shut eye (gotta be back at school in 8 hours!).

My irritation stems from the uncouthe practice that young people my age have for using Mason jars as regular drinking vessels. Do you know what I am talking about? These jars are ridiculously oversized and inappropriate for using as a water glass. They are clumsy, dangerous (glass breaks) and garrish looking. I am not referring to those little jam and jelly jars that some folks use to serve orange juice in. No, sir. These jars run anywhere from 28-32 ounces, maybe more!


This is *NOT* a glass. It is a jar for pickling and preserving food!

Imagine having to watch someone quench their thirst with a large emptied Best Foods/Hellman's mayonaisse jar? This is what I am talking about! It's vulgarity and unrefinement to the tenth power. The most inane thing about this whole situation is the fact that most of these jar abusers have two or more personal Nalgene or Nalgene-esque bottles at their disposal to use. Yet they still reach for the jar! Society's underlings have found a way to mock the upright and steadfast practices of the proper glass and cup-using cultures. And to my estimation, it won't be the last time, either.

Say no to drinking out of scuzzy old jars. Reach for a clean, 12 ounce glass and join the normal people.

A coup as "smooth as silk"

This morning, Thailand's military successfully overthrew the government headed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Read article here if you haven't heard anything about this yet.

I wrote one of my friends I saw recently in Bangkok this past summer saying I hoped that things were alright and that what ultimately comes out of this is a better situation for the Thai people. This is what she wrote back:

Dear (Miz E),

Thanks for your kind concern. I think this coup is not that bad, you know Thai coup smooth as silk :P There are many army tanks rolling around the city last night but there's no threatenning or fighting happened, only an order from the coup leader that today is a public holiday, but I still want to go to work....cos no transportation system is disrupted. The only thing I hate is all the TV channels have been re-showing similar programs and annoucement again and again. CNN and BBC here is unable to access.

Thanks again for your email, I am still fine, no injury and a bit excited to involve in this situation- as living in the heart of the city. that's all.

Best,

Yui

Party recap and other great music shows

Friday evening on MLK Jr. Way provided nearly 5 hours of intense partying fun. Attendence was off the charts, beer and spirits consumption also reaching record levels. Only one glass of wine was spilled in the course of the evening.

At one point, I noticed about 6-7 thug-clad white people in my apartment, holding paper bags and drinking Colt 45s. I had no idea who these people were, where they came from, or why they decided to stop by. Because they appeared to be behaving themselves and causing no difficulties, I didn't interrogate them and moved along to go chat with Jackie. It was only this morning that I found out they were the butt of some practical joke. My roommate Pedro had emailed a handful of people saying that the party had a gangster theme. They arrived and were pretty much the only people wearing heavy oversized winter coats, rhinestone jewelry, and baseball caps worn askew. I noticed they actually finished that malt liquor, all 280 or so ounces of it between the group. All I have to say about that is *impressive*.

Here are some shows to take notice of...

September 26, Medeski Martin & Wood, The Fillmore
October 7, Magnolia Electric Co., Great American Music Hall
October 11-12, Sufjan Stevens, Zellerbach Auditorium
October 14, The Elected & Margot & the Nuclear So and Sos, Cafe du Nord
October 16, Bettie Serveert, Cafe du Nord
October 21, Two Gallants, Bottom of the Hill
October 25, Lucinda Williams, The Fillmore
October 30, Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, The Fillmore
November 9, Islands, Great American Music Hall
November 17-18, Hot Buttered Rum String Band, The Independent

Can't sleep

So I got home at 2:53 am from studio (assignment complete!!!! woo-hoo-yah!) and I really can't sleep. I am kind of wound up. I am not totally doped up on coffee (I had a coffee about 12 hours ago) but working so fast and furious kind of makes one a little stir crazy. This is what I've done since I got home:

1. watered the plants on my deck
2. swept the kitchen floor
3. ditto bathroom floor
4. clipped and filed my fingernails
5. got on computer
6. cleaned out my school bag becauce an After Eight dinner mint got smashed into a crevice of the interior

I have to get up at 7:00 am and I havent slept for neary two days. I got about 4 hours of sleep on Friday and 3 hours of sleep last night. Tonight I will get about 3, too. This gravy train ain't stoppin' at the depot anytime soon, either. There is another drawing assignment due at midnight tomorrow. Er, I mean, midnight today.

In other news, Adam is leaving for home this week and will be gone until the end of next week. He also got a new kitten which he is very excited about.

Hm, my eyelids suddenly got super tired...zz..zzz.........zzz..z

13 days into a journey of neary 1000

Today was day 13 of being back in school. So far we've already turned in about 5 or 6 assignments. We have an enormous piece of work due at 9am this Monday morning, which I am about 40% done with, so I will likely be only ONE place this weekend. Such is the life of a planner-landscape architect in training. It's very much like design bootcamp. Oh, did I mention I just got home and it's nearing 1 am...and that I have to be back on campus in less than 8 hours?

Still, I write to my loyal reader(s)! Now that is dedication worthy of reward.

Tonight was the inaugural College of Environmental Design happy hour down in the landscape courtyard. New to happy hour this year is the required presence of a staff member chaperone. Although most of us in this college are over 25 years old (and some older than 35) we apparently still need someone to check IDs to get through the liability issue of serving alcohol on campus. Even so, tonight's happy hour was a nice break and people seemed to enjoy themselves. There were two grills going, a bowl full of Cheez-It's, peanut M&Ms, and a flowing river of Charles Shaw. Can't ask for much more than that.

Tomorrow is another long day but I remain content. The work in this program is so different than anything I've ever done so it's a rather invigorating experience. Still, I really need to learn to stop what I am doing, look around, and appreciate where my two feet have landed me this time around.

There is word of a party celebration to hit Martin Luther King Jr. Way next Friday. The plan is now being hatched and I will return with more details when they become available. This party will commemorate the 28th birthday of a good friend, Jean Paul Velez, Colombiano and fellow city planner.



I have been told I shall make a chocolate devil's food cake. I'll see what I can do...

Take me to the ferry!

On Saturday, Adam, Maria, Mike, me, and some of Maria's relatives went to the Ferry Building for the S.F. Farmer's Market extravaganza. Taking the 38L Geary from The Richmond District, Adam and I arrived in style. In less than two hours we spent $12 on three yogurt vessels, $15 on some delicious Mexican food, many dollars on organic beef (I was not in charge of this item), and I also took a lot of photos (for a school homework assignment).

Here are a few from Saturday.


Ferry Building, North side


Tasty food from the Primavera food cart (ceviche tostada and a white corn tamale with black beans)


I love red bells...


Ghandi is at the back entrance of the Ferry Building. Go figure.

First day of class

Today was the first day of class. Since someone *might* be curious what I will spend all semester doing, here is a breakdown:

1. Monday/Wednesday, 9am-1pm, LA 101: Fundamentals of Landscape Design
This is a design studio. It has 4 undergrads in it and you can probably guess that we are doing basic stuff. Today, we measured our bodies and have to draw them smaller to scale, and in 3/4 of an inch = one foot. This first exercise gets us ready to draw things later on in the studio that *actually* have to do with landscape design. I learned that I have a 2 1/2 foot walking pace and my armspan is only one inch taller than my overall height.

2. Monday, 6-8pm, LA 301: Methods of Teaching in Landscape, Environmental Design and Architecture
This is a workshop seminar for grad students that are or want to assist the teaching of classes in the department. GSI's (Graduate Student Instructors) are required to take this course at least once during their time at CED (The College of Environmental Design).

3. Tuesday/Thursday, 12:30-2pm: LA 170: History and Literature of Landscape Architecture
This is a basic history class all 3-year students have to take. My academic adviser is the professor. If I am lucky, I may be able to TA this course next year and get my fees paid for.

4. Wednesday, 6:30-9:30pm, LA 134A: Drawing Workshop
This is a fundamental drawing workshop that is taught by Walter Hood. I've heard it is very hard.

5. Friday, 8:30-11:30am, LA 134B: Computer Drawing Workshop
Here we learn the fundamentals of the Adobe Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop), SketchUp, and AutoCad. I am a little frightened about AutoCad. It looks like a rudimentary video game when you first open it. It's interface looks far from user friendly.

6. Day TBD, 3 hours per week, Thailand Studio Workshop
This course will meet through Sept and part of Oct. In this course, the people who went to Thailand over the summer to do field work will write up our final report.

7. Try to fit time in for fun, exercise, socializing, and doing errands.

Saddle Rocks!

Saturday night's festivities at the Saddle Rack in the belly of suburban Fremont, CA were an overwhelming success. The night almost got off on the wrong foot, however, when we were momentarilly lost in the large office park where the establishment happens to be located. We took a wrong turn at the Sysco compound and ended up going a half a mile or so out of our way, but no great error. We were hardly fatigued by the time we arrived at the door.

The large warehouse that IS the Saddle Rack offers a multitude of sensory offerings to please a variety of club-goers. As you walk in, you are greeted by the Beer Goddess. She has a large tub full of ice and domestic beers available for $4-$5 right away. You don't even have to stand in line at the bar.

The enormous dancefloor is framed by a central stage area (where the 80s cover band plays), a dance cage to the left, and a large video screen on the right. The video screen happens to play live footage of the people featured inside the dancing cage, by the way. Anywhere you happen to be inside the Saddle Rack complex you get a great view of women shaking their butts inside a steel cage. It's brilliant indeed.

In the back left of the warehouse is the mechanical bull and ring area. People sign up and pay a paltry $3 for a go on the bull. Watching a few rounds you learn the gist of how one is supposed to conduct themselves once mounted on the rigid beast. You can only use one hand to hold yourself up and you are supposed to wave around the other arm in wide, erratic circles to counterweight yourself as the bull jostles around beneath you. It's hard to believe that women in miniskirts are allowed to take on the bull, although they end up giving everyone a free peep show getting on and off (or getting thrown). One woman even thought she'd be able to ride the thing sidesaddle. It was ridiculous and she was promptly disqualified. Men on the bull tend to leave the ring cluthing themselves between the legs with a painful grimmace on their faces. Apparently, the ride tends to bruise those regions of the body quite easilly.

In the other wing of the warehouse is something called a "game room." I think there are some pool and fooseball tables there and people selling things like Club Nachos and Saddle Dogs for those with a latent hunger brewing.

The best part about the Saddle Rack is clearly the spectacular opportunity to people watch and people gawk. I declare, these people KNOW how to have some fun in the least likely of FUN places (Fremont). People come to dance, shake their butts, simulate sex on mechanical animals, drink terrible booze, and boogie until they can boo-gie no more. I guess Fremonters don't live those sleepy little existences that I assumed they did. Why would they when they have the diversions of the legendary Saddle Rack in their backyard?

The end of the night was wrapped up at the Hawthorn Suites where 14 of us slept in two hotel rooms. It was quaint indeed, and only $17 a head which included a continental breakfast in the lobby.

Observed today

The following I saw on the dry erase board of the real estate office I am working for this summer (and beyond I suppose, since I am only done with one of three phases of the project).

Oh, I should note that the company is owned by a Persian woman with 4-5 agents working for her.

*******************

Needs and wants:
1. Hours of operation
2. Phone #s
3. Mass mailer to all Persians in S.F.!
4. Easter promotion for next year, include hunt, eggs, prizes, clues, etc.

*******************

Is it me, or do #3 and #4 seem a little strange next to each other? Hmmm...

Wound status

Getting "oriented"

Tomorrow is orientation at Wurster Hall. In my two year history at UCB, I have been to one previous orientation (Fall '04). Last year I skipped it because I didn't really care about meeting the new first years in our program.

But now the tables are turned a bit. Because I am entering a new program, I am again a pathetic "first year". Lucky for me I won't be confused about how to do things, but unfortunately that doesn't get me out of attending the mandatory orientation. I don't really feel "un"oriented per se - I know the faculty, the gist of the curriculum, I know how to use the library, I even have the computer lab manager's phone number programmed into my cell already, etc. - but despite that I will be forced to become more oriented. Is it even possible?

Peer pressure and the risk of not making those critical connections with my future 14 or 15 classmates is the main reason I am going. And the class photo. We can't forget the class photo. Next year I will probably find myself going again, to help out or something. It's the same over and over. Now I know why the faculty all grimmace a bit about these functions. It really takes an immense amount of time and creativity to make these events seem at all different from the previous year's. Alas.

That said, things will become a tad more exciting on Saturday. A plan has been hatched to reunite a core group of city planning compatriots. Of all places in the Bay Area (out of our FREE choice) we have decided that THIS is where we shall descend. We are even organizing some slapdash hotel reservations so none of us have to drive home. So far, we have Mike, Julie, Tom, Eliza, Katherine, and Maureen enlisted to go. I hope more people jump on the party train.

I talked to Mr. Gougherty today and he confirmed that, yes, he will be riding the bull on Saturday evening.

Wound

Today, I did this in a foolish, clumsy tripping incident:



While jogging around a man on the sidewalk, I sidestepped right into an area of the sidewalk where plants are supposed to grow. Basically, in front of a stranger, I tumbled on the sidewalk at least twice and landed on my hands and knees.

I was surprised this was my only wound because essentially i used my palms to stop the trajectory of my body down the sidewalk. Would have expected more gravelly skin scrapes.

The annoying this about this wound is that it occured in exactly the spot where my wrist rests on my keyboard. Therefore, I am leaving little bloody patches on the side of my laptop near the little 'Intel Inside Centrino' foil sticker most of us find on the lower right side of our keyboard area. That is, unless you own a Mac. You wouldn't find those stickers then. Although things are changing....

I've come full circle

It's week three in my new apartment set up on good ol' Martin Luther King Jr. Way. As I said earlier in a previous post, it is certainly a different kind of neighborhood. No more street parties for the kids on Hillegass Avenue. No more visits at my front door from 'Crazy Mike' with his radiation reader. No more views of Lew and Amy with their enormous earphones on. It's good in a way to be in such a different environment.

There is, however, one thing that remains constant in the short relocation to MLK Jr. Way. That constant, of course, is the presence of the infamous procyon lotor, otherwise known as the urban raccoon.

My encounters with the coons are to be different now. In my second floor apartment (I live in a small 3-unit building - two one-bedrooms on the ground floor, and our three-bedroom unit on the second floor) I do not hear their scrambling and carrying on in the crawl space. As well, since we have no pets or outside feeding dishes, I do not hear them pilfering Emily's cat food anymore around 1:45 a.m. Apartment life is good in that way...fewer foraging beasts to irritate you. However, my neighbors with free standing (and for a good part, disheveled) homes still face the same challenges to their management and abatement as I knew on Bateman Street.

Today, for instance, I was walking north on Ellis Street after a casual 3 mile run through Berkeley. Despite the overwhelming volume of my ipod device, I heard a familiar noise which caused me to take a pause and check my surroundings. The noise I heard was coming from two raccoons, recently trapped, sitting outside 3143 Ellis, a drabby beige Victorian with purple trim. They looked and sounded awfully dismayed. They were even using their tiny raccoon thumbs and hands to try and manipulate the door on the traps that caught them.

I decided that I would do the only thing a citizen of Berkeley, CA should do at that moment: call animal control and involve myself needlessly in a situation that appeared pretty much under control. I felt bad for those critters, and I was hoping I could find a way to assist their lawful release. Hell, now that I am on the second floor (safe from their wrath) I can now help my former enemy escape. Karma, people.

I called "Animal Services" and the dispatcher assured me an officer was going there right away. I asked if trapped raccoons are by default the responsibility of the City. She replied "No, not all the time." Therefore, the coons would likely not find freedom today.

An hour later I got a call back from the officer who did the site visit. Apparently, the coons were caught in humane traps by a licensed animal control company and they were awaiting pick up and release. She was kind of annoyed they were trapped and she told me she wanted to release them there but the tenant refused.

Why would anyone *so* pretend to be Annie Lennox?

Tonight, I was in the city having dinner at a very trendy spot to celebrate the late birthday of my ex-roommate Christina. At the close of dinner, two women entered the bustling restaurant and began attracting a great deal of attention (admittedly, mostly from me).

One of the women very much resembled Annie Lennox. So much that she was even wearing clothes that Annie Lennox probably has been photographed in before. She has the same haircut and facial features that Annie Lennox has. Mannerisms and gestures, slightly Lennox-esque.

However, it probably wasn't her because closer inspection of photos on the internet show that the *real* Annie has more wrinkles and is a little thinner than the *Annie* I spied at said establishment. It really made me wonder why a person would ever go to so much trouble to repeatedly and continually be mistaken in public for this singer.

It is very strange indeed. I think even the waitstaff at the restaurant thought it was Annie.

Anyway, I am still a bit miffed.

Such is the ending of my first SF-pseudo celebrity sighting.

Last few days of freedom

Shit. School starts in about 13 days. Holy mother of .... I bester make these last ones count! I am filling in the calendar with things as they come to mind.

Tuesday, Aug 15: Lunch with Brooke Ray
Wednesday, Aug 16:
Thursday, Aug 17: Haircut at Barbarella, car appt at Karmakanix, dinner with Christina at NOPA
Friday, Aug 18: Snakes on a Plane premiere with 456 House
Saturday, Aug 19:
Sunday, Aug 20:
Monday, Aug 21: Dinner with Karen Mauney-Brodek in Hayes Valley
Tuesday, Aug 22: The Clientele
Wednesday, Aug 23:
Thursday, Aug 24: Wolf Parade
Friday, Aug 25:
Saturday, Aug 26:
Sunday, Aug 27:

Trail riding, daith procurement & parking lot checking

Activity: Horseback trail riding
Location: Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe
Date: August 11 (11am-1pm)
Horse: "Mustang"
Cost: $58 for a two hour ride
Grade: C-/D+
Summary: Trail riding is boring to me, and I never remember that until just *after* I've mounted and rode 15 minutes away from the stables. The ride was made challenging due to an exceptionally slow steed, immense amounts of dust particulates in the air, and the glare of the overhead sunlight. Also, the view you get during the entire ride is of the Squaw Valley Resort and Golf Club.

Activity: Ear piecing
Location: Braindrops, Hayes Street and Masonic Street, San Francisco
Date: August 13 (2pm)
Cost: $41 + $9 tip (includes cost of special cleansing soap for post-op care)
Grade: A/A+
Summary: I've been wanting a new kind of ear piercing for a while and I finally got it yesterday at Braindrops. Braindrops is not your average piercing/tattoo shop. It's appearance from inside looks more like a jewelry shop and spa treatment place - very inviting. There wasn't a wait at all, I got pierced within 15 minutes of arrival and signing my waiver. The person performing the piercing took great care with me and I *swear* it didn't hurt very much at all. My original request, for a rook piercing, was denied - my ears aren't the right shape for a rook. Therefore, I settled for the next closest thing to that, a daith piercing. I guess the shop has a pretty loyal customer base in the city. I can see why..I am glad I waited to come here.
So far, things are dandy in daith-land, except for the fact I have to stick my ear in a coffee mug of heated saline water for 10 minutes 2 times a day. I guess it's better than getting an infection...

Activity: Ground truthing the base map I have created for South Beach
Location: Area of San Francisco bounded by Market Street, The Embarcadero, King Street, and 4th Street (it's BIG!!)
Date: August 12 (4-6pm)
Cost: $6.30 (BART fare, roundtrip, from Ashby to Embarcadero)
Grade: B
Summary: Over the summer, I have created a base map for a large area in San Francisco using aerial photographs from 2004. This part of town has changed a lot since 2004, so after I created the first draft of the map on Illustrator, I needed to print it out and go check places I thought might have new buildings. Basically, in a nutshell, I spent a couple hours riding around and checking on the status of South Beach's many parking lots. Since 2004, many of these parking lots have been sold to developers who then build highrise condominium and apartment buildings and these buildings must show up on the final map. This activity was accomplished on my road bike on a lazy Sunday afternoon, in good conditions with hardly any street or foot traffic to irritate me.

It's definitely a new neighborhood

Day four has passed on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. (Wow, that's a mouthful after using "Bateman Street" for the past two years!)

Today after returning from my brief jog around the neighborhood, for 90 minutes I observed (listened to) one of my neighbors beat the shit out of a punching bag from his yard. Let me explain some logistics: I have a second floor balcony that allows me to observe the activities of my neighbors around me. I can basically see for three parcels in every direction what my neighbors are up to. It's very interesting and I hope that my perspective allows me to learn a great deal from this lot of folks.

Another thing I learned is that our neighbors to the south have their computer station and a digital camera positioned directly in front of both our kitchen and our bathroom. Their computer area, upon closer inspection, appears to have a digital camera pointed toward our bathroom window area as well. This I discovered today as I was towelling off in what I THOUGHT was the privacy of my bathroom. Word of caution: never assume your bathroom privacy is sacred. Always assume someone is peeping. Most likely, this is the case. Do what you have to to safeguard your alone-time in the john.

Another slight disappointment to the move this week is that already I have lost some items. The woman moving out of my room, in the chaos of her own relocation, packed up some of my belongings with her kitchen stuff. Essentially, she swiped three dessert wine glasses. I got them at a yard sale, but I don't think that is adequate reasoning for her to swipe them so callously! I shall inform her of the crime and hopefully they will be fully restored to MLK JR WAY by the end of the week. I have some nice late harvest wine from DeLoache that really NEED those glasses, afterall.

Moving blows

Well, I've up and moved. I am still at my old house tonight, but 95% of my belongings are NOT here. It's lonely and strange to stay in a house you are very familiar and fond of without much of any of your belongings. There are a few remnants to make me feel at home, though.

The things that I've kept behind for tonight's stay are: TV, ipod, camera, computer, Brita water pitcher, curtains & blinds, a suitcase of clothes, flyswatter, two 8 lb weights, Brother printer and cables, carved wooden lizard from Oaxaca, several power strips, my Miyata bicycle.

Yesterday, I moved my roommate C. to her new place at Larkin and Filbert (Russian Hill). After the move was complete, I got picked up by Sripal and Adam and we had lunch at Boulangerie de Polk. It was very crowded and trendy, but the food and service were adequate. Later, we shopped for bicycles on Stanyan Street. At 3:00 PM I took the 71 bus back to Market and 2nd, where C. picked me up to head back to Berkeley. We had to return her U-Haul van by COB.



On a side note, U-Haul offices shall be rightly understood as the closest thing to purgatory as can be experienced here on Earth. Three times during the 40 minutes I was waiting to get my vehicle, customers in line verbally challenged the management practices of the staff. ("I have to wait in this line for 45 minutes to return a dolly? This is bullshit!....etc.") And each time this happened, the U-Haul employees openly heckled the challenger in front of all the other customers. So much for respecting the customer. While in line, many people were talking about the simple changes that could be made to make the process of truck pick up, drop off, and equipment return more streamlined. Some pretty good ideas were thrown around. Unfortunately, the monopoly that U-Haul has on local moves in most U.S. cities precludes the company from ever having to enact any changes that may improve customer service.

I can think of no other worse pain than to having to report to work everyday to a U-Haul office.

Up chest high

I am up chest high in boxes containing all my paltry and frivolous belongings. Out of the approximate 40 boxes I have personally packed, I estimate that the things I actually use on a semi-regular basis is found in fewer than 10 of them. Many of the boxes were never unpacked from the move to CA in 2004. However, I am still holding onto them for some crazy reason.

Here is a sample of the contents of some random boxes:

1. Holiday ornaments, string lights
2. Camera boxes, lamps, hair dryer, GSM phone
3. Special magazines/newspapers, medical device literature, resume paper, framed pictures
4. Cube lamps, planter pots, fish bowl
5. Design supplies (watercolor kit, chart pak markers, colored pencils, triangle, two engineering scales, filled drawing tablets, some blank ones, drafting dots, exacto knife)
6. Bedding, pillows, coffee maker

I could easily continue this litany into the evening but I will spare my reader(s). But there are a couple gems within:



I was going through box #3 a couple days ago and found I have nice, clean copies of the Washington Post and the New York Times from September 12, 2001. I didn't read them over...I'll save those for a rainy day or something. There is also a copy of the Times from January 1, 2000. I also have a copy of Time magazine commemorating the death of JFK Jr. in July of 1999. I think there was also a Vogue magazine with Hilary Clinton on the cover. I'll save that one in case she ever hits the big time....could be a nice little keepsake, but most likely it will end up in the trash come November '08.

I just need two hours...

I am on day two of my most recent lifestyle change decision. Well, to be reasonable, it will likely only last for the next few weeks considering school will begin very soon. What I am doing is trying to walk/run for about two hours each day to achieve a higher state of physical wellness. In other words, my thighs need a little whipping into shape. Grad school is a known source of distress on otherwise healthy and toned thighs and hips.

For most employed or otherwise engaged people, two hours of exercise per day may seem extreme. However, for a person who really isn't working this summer, it is not very difficult to stay on top of. Why yesterday I walked/ran from Berkeley to El Cerrito with hardly much difficulty. It took me about 1:35. Today I walked/ran from Berkeley to downtown Oakland and circumnavigated Lake Merritt, a solid two hour endeavor. I took BART home from 19th Street.

Tomorrow I have no idea where I will go. Perhaps I will do the fire trail which runs for three miles behind the Berkeley science laboratories in the hills. Ususally I drive to the entrance of the trail, but I suppose I can walk this time. I DO have two hours to burn, right?

What will you do with two hours today?

Civic duty

Several weeks ago in the mail I received a summons from the Hayward Hall of Justice, a.k.a. the Superior Court of CA, Alameda County. The paper informed me that I had been selected for jury duty. Having lived here in Berkeley just shy of two years, I suppose I was due for my day on the bench. However, that does not stop me from moaning about it.

I called up the jury hotline last night hoping my group would not be called to court. Sadly, my group, G-2000, was selected. I then had the option of pressing "3" on my touchtone phone for directions to the courthouse. I pressed "3" and was informed I was not to report to the Hayward Courthouse (as described on the summons), but I was to go to Pleasanton's Gale-Schenone Courthouse located on Stoneridge Drive. Stoneridge Drive is otherwise known as a street within a maze of a business and office parks. It is a very unlikely place for a courthouse, I will tell you that.

I decided to take my bicycle on BART because the thought of a 30 odd mile drive on I-680 in the middle of rush hour, not knowing where I am going, seemed like a pretty bad idea. I left Berkeley at 6:50 a.m. in order to make the 7:04 train from Ashby. I managed to make it to the courthouse without much delay by following the Sherrif's paddywagon that was making a left onto Stoneridge Drive assured myself I was not as lost as I felt. In general, lost is a good description for what one feels upon arrival in Dublin-Pleasanton.

Next thing was to check in with the jury clerk and then sit down and wait. Soon enough, the room was filled with about 40 other people just as lucky as I was. Once we were all sitting, the clerk began an instructional video about how to be a juror. In this video, a variety of ethnic minorities who have participated in jury service provide perspectives on their experiences. As a feel-good device, the video seemed to keep people's attention. After the video was over, I put my head down on the table and drifted into a nice slumber, almost forgetting where I was for a little bit.

At 10:30, after nearly two hours of sitting in the jury lounge, we went into court where we were greeted by the slimy counsel. Judge enters, sits, and proclaims that we can all go home because the defendant failed to appear in court.

What I surmise is that the judge had us wait for two hours hoping this dude/dudette would arrive, late as he/she was. However, I guess you only get a two hour forgiveness window for being late. I wonder what the hold up was. She seemed annoyed.

At this point, the jury audibly burst out in relief - apparently we'd forgotten the enthusiasm for jury service we promised after the video had ended. People streamed out of the courthouse, into the blistering Dublin heat, and got on with their lives.

Flunk Craig

It is now Thursday. The biodiesel is still at Bateman Street.

What is the world coming to?

Biodiesel status

It is 11:15 p.m. on Monday. Five gallons of once-used peanut oil are STILL on my stoop. I would have guessed that even homeless people would have swiped it by now. It remains undisturbed and untouched on Bateman Street.

For the first time in what seems like forever, I have doubt that Craigslist can deliver. Could it be? Was my wording of the post too vague? It must be something.

I really wonder because a couple years ago I put a free ad out there for someone to haul away 100 odd pounds of trimmed aloe plant from my driveway. Said aloe was gone in less than 10 hours and I really thought I was gonna have to haul that crap to the dump myself. I would have guessed in these times where gas prices are nearing $3.50 that people would be pouncing on an offer of five free gallons of pure aceite de cacahuate. Especially here, in CA, where everyone seems to be refitting their cars with the biofuel engines.

Guess my expectations are askew.

Craigslist activity

This being near the end of July, there is a wave of relocation activity in many of America's college towns and adjacent urban centers. Year-long leases generally come due in August, so you must decide whether to renew or get-out. Obviously, many people choose the latter, therefore creating the conditions for new tenants to take their places.

Sadly, this flux of activity for movers, U-Haul franchises, tape purveyors, dolly-lenders, painters, carpeters, etc. is a signal that summer's end is approaching. Bummer!

While some move to prepare for the upcoming academic year, others, recently graduated, move to celebrate the end of their period of student serfdom. My roommate, C., is part of the recently-graduated contingent. She is moving into San Francisco to share a new apartment with someone named Carrie in a neighborhood near Polk Street.

I am moving in-town within Berkeley in order to reduce my housing expenses. While I have also recently graduated from my master's program, I am also newly matriculated into a new program. Therefore, my serfdom continues for a matter of three more years. Yes, three more years, people! Feel my pain. Or, rather, anticipate the string of blog entries over the next few years from yours truly complaining about the lack of sleep, funds, and spare time. Either way, you win and I lose.

I will return to the POINT of this entry, which is that ALL THIS MOVING MUMBO JUMBO MAKES US ALL THANKFUL FOR CRAIGSLIST AND THE CONVENIENCE IT PROVIDES US IN OBTAINING MOVING BOXES AND GETTING RID OF RUBBISH AT THE LAST MINUTE.


Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. What a dude!

Yesterday, Craig helped me requisition no less than 40 boxes. I also posted a "free" ad myself this evening. It appears as follows:

Free biodiesel (berkeley)
Reply to: sale-182778852@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-07-16, 6:46PM PDT

Five gallons of strained peanut oil, used once to fry a turkey, available immediately to the first person that wants it.

It is on our stoop for the taking.

3027 Bateman Street. Cross street is Woolsey.

The ad was posted around 7 PM and now it is 10:38 PM. The oil remains on our stoop. I wonder for how long. Biodiesel is a hot item here in Berkeley.

Ten years after writing those geeks off....

Think back a decade plus readers. We were still in good old high school, conforming to our respective clique, and getting drunk at football games on Friday nights. My life revolved around these mind numbing activities, I admit, and I was kind of close minded and snobby. I wasn't ever so popular to have any real impact on the social milleau that WAS Beaverton High School, but I certainly did not make an effort to make friends with members or perceived members of groups far outside my comfort zone.

Let us review some of the main high school social clicks:

Sports people
Stoners
Drinkers
Theater geeks
Goths
Band people
Cheerleaders
Straight-arrows (non-religious)
Nerds
Rich kids with new cars and zero personality
Trench coat clad
Mormons
Asians
Shut-ins
Drop-outs
People who accelled in what most considered weird things, like archery or 4-H

These labels, while certainly limiting, do function to organize the ratty teenagers that attend our public schools in the past and even today. Labels in high school are de facto realities of life. We all know it, so why fight it?

I will fast forward to the POINT of this article, being that labels can be overcome once we leave high school and anyone is capable of achieving their dreams.

I sound like I could give some kind of bad, shoddy graduation speech right now...

Last night I attended a music performance of the Everyone Orchestra at the Independent in the grand city of San Francisco. I don't normally go to these kinds of shows, but my roommate C. happens to be a devoted fan of the lead musician, Steve Kimock (formerly of the Grateful Dead). The Everyone Orchestra is a unique concept in that it features a gaggle of established and up and coming musicians that agree to work together for a short period of time and play gigs that feature their wide and impressive improvisational talents.

So the show last night featured Steve, other musicians and one Asher Fulero.

Asher Fulero went to my high school. I think he graduated with us. A few weeks ago when looking at the lineup, I immediately recognized his name. Anyway, from my shady recollection, in high school Asher used to belong to the trench coat and band contingent. He was kind of not involved in mainstream high school activities, and was therefore snubbed by most of us middle-ground schmucks.

As it happens, Asher is now some kind of pimped out and rocking keyboardist these days, and last night he was playing with the legendary guitarist Steve Kimock and the Everyone Orchestra! We showed up to the show and there he was, getting funky on his Nord keyboard/synthesizer unit, impressing the crowd with his melodies and even singing a bit.

I am excited about my little tally of strange people from high school going gold. So far we have:

1. Ari Shapiro, high school theater nerd, currently a correspondent for NPR
2. Asher Fulero, high school band and trench coat kid, current a keyboard pimp

This list is to be continued...

Footballed

It's a beautiful afternoon in Portland, Oregon. I am sitting at home, fighting the sleepies, and wishing that the Comcast high speed internet installer guy would hurry the fuck up and get out of the guest room so I can take a nap. I had no idea up until NOW that Comcast even scheduled appointments on Sunday. I think that practice should stop immediately - if not for the sake of the poor Comcast guy, whose weekends are now nonexistent, but for the sake of poor souls like *me*, who are hung over on a Sunday and cannot nap in the guest room because someone is drilling a hole into the side of the wall.

I am weary and tired after nearly 3 days of wedding activities in which I played a bridesmaid.

I also just got scolded by my step dad because I announced that Italy and France were in a shoot out period for the World Cup title game. (I guess they "were" in a shoot out...Italy just won a few seconds ago). While we were out at the post-wedding brunch, the final game was on and I assumed he had watched the game like all other NORMAL people. This wasn't the case, apparently. He was taping the game, to be watched later on sometime.

This man would probably find it completely within reason to wait 2-3 days to watch the final game at his convenience but would yell at anyone for talking about it in public where he can overhear who won or who scored the goals. This includes hearing the game's winner being announced on the radio. I've heard him scold the radio announcer before and seriously get mad for the simple act of listening.

In this wired and media-centered day and age we live in, it is quite ridiculous and silly to assume you can *avoid* hearing news. I think it is even more ridiculous to get mad at people when they casually and without harm in mind announce that teams are in a shoot out, too. I understand that it IS the world cup, and this is important, but he is not a soccer or football fan in the first place anyway. It's just the hype of the media and the fact that David Beckham might flash us his abs in the course of a match that Americans are readily watching soccer this summer.



Plus, everyone likes to watch the French get beat on international television.

Mall rats

Weekday trips to the mall reveal a certain detestable segment of suburban society. These people should be avoided and/or one should avoid trips to the mall on a Thursday afternoon.

I am no snob but I must draw the line somewhere. This afternoon, on an errand to find something to wear to a simple event tomorrow, I encountered WAY too many career professional mallists at Washington Square. Yes, mallists. Mallists are also known in San Francisco and Marina chicks. Or anyone living in Walnut Creek. The definition is flexible and generally refers to the kinds of people you would sidestep to avoid and hope to Jesus you never have the bad luck of standing in line next to. Especially if they are making a return.

The first mallists were in the TBD department of Nordstrom. TBD, for most people, means "To Be Determined." The acronym is in the same family as TBA (To Be Announced), etc. Very simple. The TBD department is located in a very conspicuous part of the ground floor. There is a reason for this. It is the section where the younger, financially-endowed people shop in. The clothes are cute and it is also where the expensive jeans are. I surmise the reason it is located in this part of the store is because it looks GOOD for the store to have all its other shoppers be able to see these attractive people buying somewhat expensive and very trendy clothing. It makes the store look hip and that is what is important in retail.

I shop there because they sometimes have cute tops and jacket thingies. I can't really fit in the jeans because my body works hard to retain its Russian roots and I tend to have difficulty finding things that fit my lower half. I dont really have the money to shop there, but on occaision it is okay and doable.

I encountered a mallist there being helped by a TBD worker. They were in a very serious discussion and it went something like this (forgive me if I get the brand names wrong, I don't pay too close attention to that but I need to include them here):

Mallist: "So I definitely wouldn't describe myself as a Citizens person - which make their clothes for very tall people. I guess I have been known for my AG's, Seven's and sometimes I will even wear Paige. It is just so hard, you know, to choose between all of them for once. I am just sick of being in between all these brands. I just don't know."

TBD Saleswoman: "Yes, it is very difficult. Why, these Citizens I have been wearing just don't feel right. I mean, they look damn good, but I don't feel like a Citizen girl. You know?"

Mallist: "Completely!. Oh, it is nice to know I am not the only person feeling this way."

TBD Saleswoman: "Indeed. Well, what do you think about the colors of these? They are so reminding me of that run of Sevens that came out in Spring '05. Wow, that was a hot season!"

Mallist: "Oh, right. But I wouldn't want anyone to think they are from '05. What else have you got?"

It went on an on ad nauseum. All I could think about was escaping, but not before I tried on a cute Ben Sherman top. Which, of course, I ended up not getting. Instead, I went to boring JCrew and found some things on sale.

Success of this outfit? TBD, of course.

It all happens at the fair!

This Sunday I attended the Marin County Fair in San Rafael, CA. I haven't gone to a county fair in some time (10-12 years?), a period of time that clouds the fact that most of my childhood summers featured a journey to the Washington County Fair in Hillsboro, Oregon. It turns out things have not changed too much in terms of fairgoing over the last decade. There is still a long annoying line to get your tickets. There are still senior citizens at the gates who tear your entrance ticket in half and tell you something about having a great time today. There still are a lot of creepy carnival employees and trashy bean stuffed animals. The funnel cake still reigns supreme, although now I guess there are more options in terms of toppings (soft serve, caramel sauce, and apple pie filling). They also serve cappuccino at some of the food trailers. That astounded me almost as much as the price tags for these food items - $8.75 for a smoked turkey leg; $3.75 for a roasted ear of corn, corn dog, or french fries. Burgers start at $4.75. Funnel cakes are $5 and your choice of fillings are $1 a pop. Surprisingly, 16oz. of microbrew served to you by a senior was just $5.

During our visit to the fair today, my companions Adam and Christon and I wanted to accomplish a few things. First, we would kill some time visiting the petting zoo. Second, we would attend the sheepdog trials at the main pasture area from noon to one. Next, we would go eat some fair fare. After lunch, we planned to go to the exhibition hall and perhaps attend the guacamole preparation contest. In between all these events we anticipated on making light of the carnival and county fair culture.

No, we didn't forget the rides portion of the fair - we walked through there for about 30 minutes after lunch observing the activities of the booth jockeys and dads that readilly won their sons and daughters inflatable AK-47s decorated by the pattern of our Stars and Stripes and donning a proud "USA" label.



The rides looked prety tempting: They had the Zipper, the Fun House, something that functioned like the Viking Ship, and much more. Sadly, my campaign to get us all to ride on the Gravitron was voted down by our stomachs which had just moments earlier consumed a rather greasy and gut-busting funnel cake.


Here is a picture of two of the entrants of the Marin Co. Fair Guacamole Contest. We were rooting for the neat gentleman to the right, who we surmised may have been ex-military. We called him the Admiral.


Here is Adam and Christon at the petting zoo making friends with a brown goat. This petting zoo was awesome - it had potbelly pigs, llamas, a kangaroo, fawns, goats, sheep, chickens, and some other beasts I can't remember. It did not have a hedgehog, which kind of disappointed me.


This was a snoozing potbelly pig.