Yeah. Don't ask me to explain this.



















(e:Paul), don't worry. your jackets are already packed for UPS to avoid possible catamination, haha.

p.s. -- I have an epic craigslist story to tell, which might be interesting on a slow news day. But considering this is a dual-peep birthday weekend, probably not that interesting right now. Happy Birthday (e:Terry) and (e:Mike)!

There are currently 562 [link="http://www.volunteermatch.org"]volunteer opportunities[/link] within 5 miles of my zip code.

Maybe I should start out with something easy like:

"Popcorn maker for movie days at homeless shelter"
or
"Pub Crawl Tour Leader" (?!!!)

Although I was thinking more along the lines of:

"STOP BAY AREA KIDS FROM GOING TO PRISON!"

That sounds like a good use of time. Especially considering a gang of potential lawbreakers is even now whooping it up at the playground next to my building. (No offense, kids.)

Although, some of these other options are just so intriguing, like:

"Shamefree Blogger in San Francisco" (I'm shamefree all right, but not for lack of trying).

"Volunteer Victim for Advanced Medical Life Support Class" (Get felt-up by a stranger for charity).

But mostly I'm leaning towards a rash of postings for the Neighborhood Parks Council's new online Park Kiosk, including:

"Building a Flickr Presence on our New (DRUPAL) Web Site"
"GIS-KML-Google Earth Pro Volunteer"
"Photo-Journalism/Social Documentation"

Maybe I'll do one "fun" thing and one "socially responsible" thing. Since the juvenile delinquents of tomorrow are already at the neighborhood park, that could work out.

notice anything odd about this screen shot?



EXACTLY! Hallelujah! It finally works again! I have no idea why, but who cares.

Just in the nick of time too, since my new online banking site (I decided opening a joint account with my new TIC partner would be a good opportunity to switch my personal accounts too) doesn't like Safari. Their tech support was actually very responsive. But when I told them my text settings were not causing the problem (see gigantic navigation buttons filling the entire screen below), they told me what I knew was coming all along. The problem is I'm using a Beta version of Safari. (Or at least, that's their out.)



They suggested I use Firefox, or revert back to Safari 2. Obviously, I'd rather slit my wrists than revert back to Safari 2. So I gave Firefox another go.

Amazing. I have another lease on life. If only I could find the time to have a life...

At least, she looks like one.
















Snap shot from the Exploratorium Roof Cam. That's my niece in the middle with her (WIKIPEDIA - Webkinz)Webkinz cat, Fluffy, on her head.

p.s. -- next time I'll know where to park my car so my estrip bumper sticker can be in the shot, haha.

I am woefully losing that battle.

In a nutshell. I promised my Grinderman (aka Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) ticket for tonight to a true fan so I could see Eisley. You've never heard of them, but when I saw them the time before last, I was also short on time due to leaving for a 2 week vacation the next day. Seemed like a stupid idea to see a band instead of packing in advance of my 7am flight. BUT that show resounded in my mind for the entire trip. Certainly got my $16 worth.

Tonight I have to bike down to GAMH to pick my my ticket when doors open at 8pm and hand it over to Carolin, then backtrack to the Swedish American Hall for Eisley (show starts at 7:30!!! who the hell starts a show at 7:30? Luckily there's one opening band, but still).

So Tegan and Sara was fucking amazing. They "warned" the audience they would be playing their new album in it's entirety first, and they went straight through all 14 songs. There were a few good ones, but nothing remotely comparable to the second half of their set. Damn, they wrote some great fucking tunes.

I would tell you more about how and why I dyked out for the show, and how they played Kimya Dawson - I Will Never Forget before the show, and about running into Steve #1 [inlink]twisted,36581[/inlink] at the free Virgin in-store show, and the goddamn blood blister I got while contorting myself to chain my bike outside the store because I was in a hurry...



Ouch!

...but I have to get going.

(thank god for flakes.)

Persistence paid off! I found a seller with one Tegan and Sara ticket at face value plus fees. Her original buyer flaked out, so I'm going to see them tonight! Yay!

...or was he?

Sorry kids, I have no tales of alleged depravity to tell. Despite the advance disclosures piquing my (e:twisted,40182) interest, I couldn't bring myself to ask the guy sitting across from me for specifics. At least not at Starbucks over a Tazo tea. Although I'm sure the Market and 10th Street crowd has heard it all.

He did give me a golden opportunity when he asked if there was anything else I'd like to ask him. Since he had wisely ignored the question when I asked it by email, I decided to do the same and instead referred back to the only other question I had asked. Yes, he does have a grill. But it's inconveniently located in Oakland, NOT Hayes Valley as one would assume from the location indicated by his post. (I really hate that. But at least he works near Hayes Valley, so I let him get away with it.)

Anyway -- long story short -- I don't see myself traipsing over to Oakland for an impromptu BBQ. (Or taking him up on his offer to bring his grill to me. If I had a place to grill, I'd get my old grill back. But right now, the only feasible grilling spot would almost certainly set the house on fire. And I didn't go through hell to get the place the way I want it to burn it down.)

I also don't see myself exploring whatever his perception of "strange ways" might be. There's just no attraction there. And he didn't strike me as someone who would have much to elaborate on the topic. (Although as he put it in his email this morning, "do psychopaths ever look like one?" True enough! Whatever that means.)

Now, I know what you're thinking (or would be thinking if you had read his whole post). How did I distill his heart-wrenchingly epic self-portrait down to those two questions? I admit it, I'm a woman of simple needs. And right now one of those needs is grilled meat. You have no idea how far that could get you.

I do have my limits though. Ok, maybe I let my imagination run away with me, especially since his post was extremely tame by craigslist standards. But when I got the reply back from "nursemalenurse@somewhere.non," my first thought was naturally, "oh, he's a male nurse." THEN I started thinking, wait a minute. Maybe he just likes to impersonate a male nurse. Or impersonate a male impersonating a female nurse. Or maybe he's a male who likes to nurse. Or maybe male nurse is code for something I never even dreamed of. Yeah, that's probably it.

Well, turns out he is indeed a male nurse (rehab and detox). Don't know about any of the other stuff, but as you can imagine, from there it was a short jump to all kinds of other possible conclusions hidden between the lines. As I've written before, I'm not big on [inlink]twisted,36385[/inlink] labels, so clues like that are likely to go right over my head. I may have overcompensated in this case, though. Still, as much as I love animals, if you're looking for a partner in bestiality, I'm not the girl for you. That much I know for sure. (What you do on your own time with a consenting animal is your own business, though.)

Back to the posting board!

So I go away for two weeks and TOTALLY miss out on a couple great bands because the tickets went on sale sold out before I got back! That is so wrong! I can usually count on my music buds to cover for me, but apparently nobody else cared about seeing Shout Out Louds or Tegan and Sara. How is that possible? I literally found out about SOL the day of the show, and tried to get same day tickets at the Rickshaw Stop (literally five blocks from my house) Wednesday night, but no luck. Meanwhile, a smattering of Tegan and Sara tickets are going for $90 on CL. Too rich for my blood. Oh well, at least I can catch their free in store set at Virgin on Saturday.

In other news, if a craigslist post mentions "I have some sexual preferences that some people may not be able to handle. I want sex several strange ways. Please be comfortable with such." And ends with "P.S.-- Please be an animal lover. If you are not, then I am not the man for you." That...doesn't....mean.......??? Nah!

Well, I'll find out soon enough. Wish me luck!