2007-06-01 
 

dapper

Saw a young man wearing a hat this evening. It made him look quite dapper.

I wish I could wear hats.

Rather, I wish I looked better in hats.

Hats just accentuate the fact that I've got a big ol' Charlie Brown head.

*sigh*

Labels: dose of mikey, seen and heard

* posted by me at 12:31 AM

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2006-12-14 
 

money changes everything

Overheard:

Businessman 1:I think that he's lonely.
Businessman 2:What, he can't afford anyone?

Labels: seen and heard

* posted by me at 10:35 PM

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2006-12-01 
 

surreal cell

Seen downtown:

Homeless man who regularly holds up sign reading, "Money for FOOD", talking loudly but quite politely into a shiny silver cell phone.

I told you, I've got a meeting that afternoon, but if you move it to the third Sunday in January, I'll see if I can make it.

Labels: seen and heard

* posted by me at 1:03 AM

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2006-08-29 
 

bird director

Walking through the park this evening, I noticed a homeless man waving his arms around as if he were directing the spiraling flight of the parrots overhead. Upon closer examination, I could see that his movements and those of the birds were remarkably in synch.

Perhaps he was directing them. Who am I to say he wasn't?

Labels: seen and heard

* posted by me at 10:46 PM

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2005-09-20 
 

overheard

I passed by two men in standard-issue business attire last week during a mad dash for Muni. It wasn't until I was on the train that my brain fully processed the snippet of conversation I'd just overheard.

I can't go tonight, I have to get my penis repierced.

Ah life in the big city...so many obligations and so little time!

Labels: san francisco, seen and heard

* posted by me at 2:47 AM

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2005-09-13 
 

true choice

Every once in a while, we're presented with a choice. Sometimes it's an easy one like chicken or steak?, but there are times when the quandary presented becomes much harder to solve.

The other day I overheard a conversation on Muni in which two teens were discussing which sense they'd rather lose, hearing or sight. As is natural in the confines of a Muni car, my mind started to wander and contemplate the question. Which would I rather lose? Instinctively I thought hearing would be missed less. My fear of not being able to see definitely beats out my already not so stellar sense of hearing. I'd miss music and birdsong and all the other things, but I'd miss paintings and books more.

When I stopped and rethought the question, it suddenly occurred to me that I wasn't thinking through it properly. The correct answer is that I'd rather lose neither.

The trick with choices is to always realize that there's a NONE OF THE ABOVE option. (Or, in cases of chicken or steak, an ALL OF THE ABOVE option.)

Labels: seen and heard, spirit

* posted by me at 1:01 AM

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2005-02-07 
 

not to put too fine a point on it

There's something about Birdhouse In Your Soul by They Might be Giants that always puts a smile on my face. (Clicking on the song title should stream the song to your computer. Dialup folks: it's 2MBs, but you can always click the back page button if your connection can't keep up with the stream.)

Listening to it on the walk home tonight, I found myself dalking up Castro street.

Dalking: A combination of dancing and walking that, while fun, results in a rather dorkish appearance. Also see: Wancing

Birdhouse often causes me to dalk. Maybe it's the beat, the lyrics, the memories it inspires, or a combination of them all; but I start humming and my feet start tapping. It might look funny, but it's a mighty nice way to end my commute. Speaking of commute...

Overheard on Muni today:
Today we've secretly replaced his blood with mountain-grown Folgers Crystals, lets see if he notices the difference!

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review, seen and heard

* posted by me at 10:59 PM

(1) comments



2004-11-10 
 

king of nothing

Saw a 20something alterna-boy wearing a brown t-shirt last night. Unadorned except for a smallish circle on the front with faded blue text on the interior. It said 'king of nothing'.

It spoke to me loudly because sometimes i feel like that.

Today G and I again experienced the fact that we are, thanks to our non marital status, not quite as equal as a heterosexual couple.

About a month ago, a very nice man hit our car. Very nice because the car was parked at the time and the damage was minor, yet he still left a note with all the appropriate insurance information. The car is being repaired this week and needed to be in the shop for several days. I'm rather busy at work, so G took it in. Our marital status, or lack thereof, forced me to make a series of phone calls later in the afternoon that would've been unnecessary if we were married. I also wonder how far those same calls would've gotten me if I'd been calling someplace outside of California. (or San Francisco for that matter)

That's all, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but further proof that this society has a long way to go before all people are truly treated equally.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, linkage, rant, seen and heard

* posted by me at 10:21 PM

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2004-10-06 
 

three notes

B Flat: I sometimes wish I could turn off my overly protective social censor in order to say things like, "That's a FABULOUS outfit!" when I pass by a total stranger wearing an electric blue muppet-fur hat with matching scarf.*

E Flat: Dude and Dudette have returned to the lands from whence they came and work has begun again.

A Flat: We watched the Triplets of Belleville tonight. Very odd and very wonderful with a theme song that runs around my head like happy ants on a jelly donut.

I won’t be an old man in Singapore
Playing scrabble and eating petits-fours
I want to be wicked, Utterly wicked,
Wicked like the Triplets from Belleville


*No muppets were harmed in the writing of this entry.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review, seen and heard

* posted by me at 2:46 AM

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2003-12-17 
 

slogging

After a nice dinner with Lena, the Shephard and I hung out talking and now it's late. Totally worth it though, I miss chatting with him since he always posits such interesting questions.

I noticed that I hadn't posted since Saturday and I think that it'll be another week of slow blogging. The family drama back home blindsided me a bit as I went into the weekend and left me thinking too much on it instead of concentrating on the family visit that was happening on Sunday...or relaxing. Ug. Finally responded on Monday, but the whole affair left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth that I haven't been able to quite wash out yet. Usually my San Franciscan status protects me from the slings and arrows, but not this time. Don't know how Dude does it being back there all the time!

In happier news: the visit of G's parents went quite well. I think they enjoyed themselves and feel a bit more comfortable about us living in the big city now that they've seen our neighborhood and found it to be a little less threatening than they may've assumed. (and I'm talking purely about the big city aspect here, not the whole gay thing - I think they were afraid to find the grey buildings and dirt they remember from downtown in the 80's) I mean who wouldn't be charmed by all these Victorians? They also gave us a super gift of a digital camera. Pictures to be posted soon, but all day meetings over the next two days are making me sleepy just thinking about them so I'm off to bed.

Cryptic quote of the day overheard in the elevator: "Even the Pillsbury Doughboy needs some new shoes now and again."

ETA: Tagging this over five years later and I know very well that Lena is Victoria, but can't figure out who the Shephard would be...but his/her name intrigues me. Also, unsure about the drama mentioned. I assume it has to do with the split in our family tree, but I can't remember the particulars. Unfortunately, there's been a few too many incidents over the years for me to esaily nail this particular one down.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, looking eastward, seen and heard

* posted by me at 2:45 AM

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2003-03-28 
 

word on the street

Trying not to harp on it too much, but today I actually heard the following
exchange between two people at the crosswalk on the way to FedEx:

Person 1:
I do feel bad for the people living there. It's gotta be hard to have bombs
going off over your head all day.

Person 2:
Well, what do they expect? They hit us on 9/11, this is what they get!

Myself screaming silently in my head:
HELLOOOO! The people responsible for 9/11 are not why we're in Iraq right
now. Blaming the Iraqi people for that travesty is the equivalent of
blaming US Citizens for a corrupt Mexican police force. (grant you there's
a difference in the heinousity scale there, but the analogy remains valid)

Ugh.

Labels: politics, seen and heard

* posted by me at 1:28 AM

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2002-06-14 
 

hamabilism

I love the Muppets, but there is something deeply disturbing about the fact that Miss Piggy is currently starring in advertisements for Denny's breakfasts. I mean there's BACON in there folks! Ick.

Labels: random review, seen and heard

* posted by me at 11:11 PM

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2002-06-13 
 

inspirational drag queens

It's almost 12:30 and I'm about to go to bed, but I just saw something that reinforces why I love San Francisco. There was a drag queen on San Francisco Public Access cable who was simply lounging on her couch and waxing - quite eloquently - on the state of the world and sharing her life experiences. Love that I can flip through the stations and find someone spouting forth on how important it is to believe in oneself. A message which has even more resonance when spoken by someone who truly knows what it's like to live on the edges of what society likes to term "normal". Another sliver of hope clinging to the bottom of Pandora's box.

Labels: san francisco, seen and heard, spirit

* posted by me at 3:25 AM

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2002-05-19 
 

arrrgh!

Well, isn't that nice. I've been trying to log in for the past three nights to tell all about my exciting time here in New York, but the computer wouldn't let me link through. Tonight it finally works, but I've got m sitting on a couch in the hotel room and really want to spend the time with her. Will have to wait till tomorrow when, with fingers crossed, I'll try to log in again.

Spoken by a 70something woman sitting one table over from us at a diner on the upper west side, "Angela and her husband are in their mid-30's. You know, just starting out." What a nice thing for this slightly frantic 30something to hear.

Labels: blogging, seen and heard, travel

* posted by me at 11:51 PM

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