2002-08-31 
 

fondue coma

A special shout out to Stargirl and her new beau for the lovely stoneware cookpot. OK, so we used it for roasted garlic which is super yummy, but lo and behold, last night we discovered that it makes a great fondue pot as well. G and I live for cheese so you can imagine our sheer joy at having such a nifty pot to melt it in. Thanks guys!

In more serious news: Sesame Street South Africa came in for a bit of a bashing led by the Culture and Family Institute. (Sounds like a positively Orwellian group, doesn't it?) Seems the aforementioned group became sore afraid that the HIV positive Muppet recently added to the South African version of the show might find his way across the Atlantic and soil our native shores. I say it's about time such a Muppet came along to the U.S. As HIV rates rise amongst both women and straight minorities, it'll be a fact of life that these kids watching the show today as five year olds will be dealing with. I'm hoping they learn that people living with the disease need not be treated as neo-lepers. Which is precisely what the Culture and Family Institute does. (Quite ironic when you consider their supposed religious heritage.)

* posted by me at 8:45 PM

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2002-08-28 
 

giant boxes of fun

Our neighbor is moving away to England and we've been getting some new things thanks to her need to move only the bare necessities. This weekend we gained a matching set of five bookshelves and a television for very reasonable prices. Then tonight, she rang up to ask if we'd like two big boxes of leftover books that she would otherwise just recycle. I said sure, since I can't bear the thought of books being sent to the great big library in the sky, and expected to find one or two interesting reads. BUT when she said big boxes, she really meant BIG boxes. I now have about 25 new books by the side of the bed clamoring for my attention and I've only gone through one of the boxes! Oh joy! Oh rapture!

The others, for the most part, can be turned into credit at Phoenix and get me even more books! (I feel like a speedfreak who's just stumbled onto a briefcase full of cocaine. Must maintain some semblance of control.) Gotta go now and...um...watch TV, yah, I swear that's what I'll be doing.

* posted by me at 2:50 AM

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2002-08-27 
 

Viva Esteban

Wasn't even going to log in tonight, but this link G found last week HAS to be shared.

For everyone who once wore black on the outside because black was how they felt on the inside, this link's for you. The world is a wonderful and strange place!

* posted by me at 12:39 AM

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2002-08-26 
 

disconnected

So the internet connection at the hotel went down on Thursday and stayed out until my departure from St. Barts. After spending last night in Miami, I'm home at last and not eager to spend too much time alone in front of the computer when I could be catching up with G. I'll write a longer debrief about the trip soon, but wanted to jot a note out for all those of you who may have wondered what happened to me. (all three of you) Hee hee!

* posted by me at 12:05 AM

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2002-08-21 
 

hot day

Today was very very hot hot hot. Much sunblock used. Fun new hat was worn. Male model extra flew in today and he was hot hot hot, but I was too hot and tired to care...so instead of typing into frustrating french keyboard, I give you a fun link from Michael upstairs about why San Francisco is such a great city.

* posted by me at 11:11 PM

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2002-08-20 
 

muggy

Such a very looooong day today, but who am I to complain? After all, it was so hot that we got a three hour break from 12-3 and I used the time to go snorkeling. Saw just a few acid trip fish, but there were also some sea turtles and a couple of smallish squid. Came back to the hotel and did a few lengths in the pool...I'd forgotten how much I liked swimming for excersize. Good for me too! Of course now my body feels a bit like the Kentucky Derby ran over it and my back's a bit redder than it ought to be - I'm going to be all about SPF 30 tomorrow and also find myself a hat. Burned backs and foreheads are just no fun.

* posted by me at 10:32 PM

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2002-08-19 
 

five foot lizard

Woke up this morning and found a five foot lizard sunning itself out on my patio area. The geckos are one thing, I've loved them ever since my sisters first came back from Hawaii and told me that the geckos eat spiders. Gotta love that! But this was more like a giant iguana and it gave me a bit of a start to open the shades and find it there. For once the lizard got to be outside and watch a human behind glass instead of the other way around. Good day for nature!

Will keep this pretty short since I'm still struggling with the strange keyboard; though I DO SEEM TO BE (dqmn keys) adapting. Ms, As, Ws, Zs and Q;s are the only letters that played musical chairs; but I finally have some sympathy for my mom who had to learn the qwerty board...the punctuation is a pAIN!! (as is that caps lock key)

Today, after circumnavigating the lizard, I got to enjoy the beach until noon, but tomorrow we're up at five and working through sunset. I know, tough job being in the Carribean for work, but someone's got to do it. (OK, I'll shut up now.)

Happy thought of the day: It is pretty great that I'm in a foreign country where phone calls are astronomical; but this update (and my e-mail to G) is free!

* posted by me at 11:50 PM

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strange keyboards

Well, here I am in St. Barts, typing on the strange French keyboard. Went to a great concert thingy this eve on the beach and am now totally ready for bed; so that is where I GO DQMN THIS KEYBOQRD111 more tomorroz maybe:::im all back to hunt and peck!

Thought for the day:::wish G was here!!! (hed know how to type on this thing)

* posted by me at 1:35 AM

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2002-08-14 
 

into the woods

Every once in a while in life, you have to leave the beaten path and strike off into the woods. As Sondheim wrote:

You go into the woods,
Where nothing's clear,
Where witches, ghosts
And wolves appear.
Into the woods
And through the fear,
You have to take the journey.
Into the woods
And down the dell,
In vain perhaps,
But who can tell?
lyrics courtesy of wonderful webpage here.

I am in an odd mood today!

* posted by me at 2:22 PM

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2002-08-13 
 

the new pooh

Chatted with M this evening and discussed Winnie the Pooh. When did my cuddly childhood friend become so violent? She let me know that the new cartoon version has the characters running into trees or being shot up in the air and falling down again in a little poof of dust ala Wile E. Coyote. What's funny for Bugs Bunny doesn't work for Pooh in my mind. Maybe it's a double standard, but it's my double standard and I'm sticking to it.

Quote for the day: "They're just puppets; not high-tech like Muppets."

* posted by me at 1:27 AM

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2002-08-11 
 

out of sync

Well we ended up on the roof until almost five a.m. Saturday morning looking up at the night sky and talking. Then last night (this morning) we stayed up late again...just because. So today's been about slowly waking up and doing crosswords. What a weekend ought to be about.

waking up slowly
nothing needs to get done now
the weekend at last

I was inspired by this fun page here.

* posted by me at 9:04 PM

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2002-08-10 
 

shooting stars

Tonight G and I went up on the roof and watched for shooting stars. The Perseid meteor showers are happening now, peaking sometime Sunday and Monday night. We actually saw quite a few - starting with some in the southern sky, which would suggest they were just miscellaneous strays and not actually part of the "official" show. The weather's been amazingly hot for SF...it was in the 90's today and only cooled down to about 70 tonight so we were able to be up there in shorts and t-shirts. We brought up a camping mattress to sit on, some bottled Guinness and cider and my well worn copy of 365 Starry Nights. Considering the fact that SF is a pretty big city, the lights don't hinder as much as you'd think. Especially in our neighborhood (as long as you don't want to see anything too low in the east.) We were able to see most of the major constellations and even quite a few of the minor ones. G was a supersleuth and found Delphinus up there looking like a kite. I could see it once I knew which part of the sky to concentrate on, but I do envy his sharp eyes. Earlier on in the evening, he was seeing satellites every few minutes. There were also fireworks over PacBell Stadium. Go Giants! All in all, a great night to be out on the roof.

* posted by me at 5:29 AM

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2002-08-08 
 

moooooving experience

My last post from the old cube. It's just gone 11 and I'm about to pack up the computer and leave this cube behind. I snuck over onto the construction side of the floor where my "swing" location is and was mighty impressed with the new cubes. Instead of being harvest gold and wood (very early 80's), they're sleek and grey. (very mid-late 90's) So happy to be moving forward a whole decade and a half!

* posted by me at 3:04 PM

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2002-08-06 
 

swing location

We're moving at work, which means my desk is now a little fort made out of reusable cardboard boxes. Some of these boxes have been around for so long that there's hundreds of move location stickers on the sides just pasted over one another - like some hobo's suitcase. I'm vaguely excited about the whole move, although the experience is a bit of a pain because they're moving us twice. First to a swing location (which, believe me, isn't going to be as fun as it sounds it could be) and then, after spending a few weeks there, I'll get to move to my new cube which will be right next to a window. Haven't had a spot like that since my first year at the company years ago. Could be dangerous. Daydreaming may ensue.

In other news: Randomly surfing last night and discovered a site from the Netherlands that really shows how computers can help create new art forms. It's like liquid poetry! (It's pretty nifty reading the Dutch version, but I suggest trying English too.)

* posted by me at 2:56 AM

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2002-08-05 
 

linkaphobia

Lately I keep bumping into articles and even whole blogs about linking. I understand that there's copyright snaggles that haven't been worked out yet out he-ah on the wild, wild web, but as long as someone's not making an bundle of money off of me, why shouldn't they link? Mind you, I'm not talking about direct linking, since that would mean stealing someone else's bandwidth and that's just wrong. I'm talking about the old fashioned kind of linking that encourages you to go see something new. Connecting myriad websites in many different ways. Isn't that why it got dubbed "the web"?

In other news: Weezer has teamed up with the Muppets in their new video Gone Fishing. (on the audio-video section of their site) Rock on!

* posted by me at 2:12 AM

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2002-08-03 
 

noosphere

G sent me an interesting article from the Boston Globe the other day. It may sound a bit science fiction, but - not too many years ago -this blog you're reading would have been considered science fiction. Besides, the author of the article is a former professor of mine. How's that for interconnectedness?

Speaking of the future, we watched The Time Machine last night. It was ok, but not one I'd recommend to everybody. If you like sci-fi along the lines of Star Trek, it's probably a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half. The effects are very cool when they do happen, but the movie's trying to be about more than them. I'm not sure how well it succeeded. The DVD features a deleted scene that occurs early on in the movie that should have been left in. (as well as some segments on how the special effects were achieved)

In other news: Brunch today at Jelly's down in China Basin. How can I have lived in SF for so long and never gone there - Yummy! (and a unique atmosphere too - very unglam, but not in a bad way - don't let the cityseach picture fool you)

* posted by me at 9:41 PM

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2002-08-02 
 

little voice

Watched Little Voice last night. A bit intense, but a wonderful film. Jane Horrocks was amazing, singing all of her own songs and I plan on searching out the followup CD soon. Brenda Blethyn's portrayal of the loud and obnoxious Mom manages to walk the fine line between pathos and comedy without stepping out of bounds until the very end when the climax of the film allows her to swan dive over the edge. If I was still in college, I'd watch it over and over until I could quote the whole thing, but I no longer have the luxury of so much extra time. Loooooong hours of work lately. I just keep the island in mind and remember that it's all going to be worth it once we get to the shoot. After all, this is worth a bit of effort to get to.

* posted by me at 2:26 AM

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