Journaling on estrip is free and easy. get started today

Last Visit 2023-10-24 10:24:29 |Start Date 2004-10-05 20:47:01 |Comments 383 |Entries 482 |Images 556 |Sounds 11 |Videos 14 |Mobl 14 |Theme |

Category: holiday

11/23/06 11:25 - ID#36787

The Second Deadly Sin...

... is definitely my favorite. Today at least, haha.

What a week. Good thing Thanksgiving wasn't at my house, since as of yesterday my kitchen looks like this:

image
Demolition day

image
The sink (cue foreboding music)

image
Debris piled up in what will some day be my bedroom. cozy, eh?

Arguably, it's already an [inlink]twisted,424[/inlink]improvement. Still, this alleged kitchen remodel is so daunting, and no one else seems to be stepping up to the plate to make decisions about it (I guess that's the problem with not having anybody else), that I honestly started to think maybe it would never happen. So I did what I always do in that situation and tricked myself into dealing with it by signing a contract with a general contractor to do the work. He decided to start yesterday.

Which is great, except now he's going to start asking me questions about appliances, lighting, cabinets, countertops, backsplashes, flooring, faucets, etc., that I really don't know the answers to. Oh yeah, and the part where water started pouring out of my downstairs ceiling light in the middle of the night because the partially demolished kitchen sink upstairs started leaking wasn't so great either. But he fixed that this morning, and I only had to empty my 13 gallon trash can filled with water three times last night.

Anyway, maybe it's the tryptophan, but I don't feel like going into all that. So you get off easy this time.

p.s. - Have I mentioned lately? You guys rock! Thanks (e:peeps)! Happy Thanksgiving!

print addComment

Permalink: The_Second_Deadly_Sin_.html
Words: 261
Location: San Francisco, CA


11/19/06 02:13 - 35ºF - ID#36786

Lombard Street

One more media clip from the half-day whirlwind tourist trap tour. This was on Saturday, so there were a lot of tourists around, but unfortunately I still didn't hit any, haha.

::Download Flash Video::



Driving in SF is fun. Thanks to (e:Iriesara) for the video.

p.s. - (e:enknot) I keep expecting to see my Dad & Jean show up in the background of one of your videos. They've been in Chicago since last Thursday visiting my brother & sister-in-law. I'll tell them to keep an eye out for you.

print add/read comments

Permalink: Lombard_Street.html
Words: 91
Location: San Francisco, CA


Category: green

11/17/06 04:00 - 41ºF - ID#36785

Grass is greener...

(New usersound in honor of the English Beat show last night.)

I saw this on laughing squid and had to check it out: One-Day Interactive Installations of Grass Couches Across San Francisco

image

I walked up to the one in Alamo Square park and even let them take my picture. I should have brought Pookie along. He's so photogenic!

In case you're wondering, they used Ikea couches for the base and covered them in sod. Although they include instructions for sprouting your own from scratch on the photo frame. I remember that article from readymade magazine. Although I think I'd wait until the installation is over to see if I could get a display model cheap, haha.

p.s. -- English Beat were great last night! I can't believe I couldn't get anyone to come with me. Ok, maybe I should have asked more than one person, but still. Oh well, it's fun to go stag every once in a while.

p.p.s. -- speaking of grass, (omg, I can't believe I just said that), the opening band (local reggae favorite Native Elements) had the crowd singing along with their tribute to proposition 215. How can you not love this town? Come to think of it, maybe the letsgreenthiscity.com folks should consider some cross-pollination for their couches, haha.

UPDATE:

Ha! Josiah (Mr. Coffee) just sent me this pic of him on the grass couch at Civic Center. Small world!

image

Does anybody in SF actually have a day job?

print add/read comments

Permalink: Grass_is_greener_.html
Words: 277
Location: San Francisco, CA


Category: tech support

11/14/06 08:33 - 45ºF - ID#36784

Apple Care Case #70878684

It's funny how one Apple Care Case can ruin your whole day. Ok, just my afternoon. But now I feel like I'm a whole day behind on things I didn't even know about until an hour ago. All because my freakin' MAIL client stopped retrieving mail for my main account starting around 9:44 pm PST Sunday November 12. And here I just thought nobody loved me any more!

The funny thing is, it kept retrieving mail for my lwist account on the same server, so I didn't realize anything was wrong at first. If my junk mail had come to a grinding halt, I would have known something was wrong, haha.

Maybe I'm masochistic, but I like to ask why, Why, WHY did this happen, and why now? This was a particularly bad time for a setback because I have to get my kitchen and bathroom plans finalized to submit to the city tomorrow. I felt kind of on top of things this morning, but I really wanted to run all the options I've been thinking about by Mark. Yeah, it's great not to have to answer to anybody else about your decisions, but it's also scary as hell not to have a second opinion you trust and some sense of consensus on that final plan.

Anyway, after talking to Mark, and realizing the links he was sending were not coming through, and discovering I had a day and half worth of email on my server I didn't even know about, I got off the phone with him post haste, did some debugging, and decided to put my Apple Care service to use.

I guess all's well that ends well, but I so do not have time for this now. I'm going to see the Damned tonight, and little did I know all kinds of dinner plans have been made beforehand, so now I really have to get going. Plus, the Adored are opening, so I have to catch that! Thanks for the tip, (e:Leetee,201) .

p.s. -- I wish I could go see NY Dolls [inlink]mrmike,199[/inlink] with y'all! I was supposed to see them last Thursday at the Independent, but they sold out before Larry could get tickets.
print add/read comments

Permalink: Apple_Care_Case_70878684.html
Words: 368
Location: San Francisco, CA


Category: seasonal

11/13/06 12:45 - 38ºF - ID#36783

to Everything There Is a Season...

It's that time once again when my thoughts inexorably turn to...

Kinkos.

I started with high hopes for this Family Calendar Season. I even got a 20% off coupon from Kinkos good through December 15. Too bad their calendar maker interface sucks so bad. I had the fleeting thought maybe this year everybody could collaborate by picking a month or two and uploading and laying out their own photos. So I went to start a new calendar under my account so I could tell them how to get there. Sounds simple so far.

Some things never change. But why does it always seem to be the bad things?

First off, Kinkos' online calendar creator still doesn't support the Mac. But luckily, my PC was already on since Ikea's kitchen planner also only runs on Windows. (Argh!) So I pop over to my PC, which naturally is running Firefox. Strike two!

image

Ok, fine. I launch IE and start to remember all the other things about Kinkos I learned the hard way. Like, there's no obvious way to sign-in, and they don't force you to until it's time to pay. So if you want to come back to your project later (or let other people work on it), you have to be on the same computer.

So I figure out how to log in (seriously, the interface still really sucks -- I have complained to them about this at least two years in a row) and find there is nothing saved in my account. Fine, who cares. Just because Kodak still has the calendar I created there back when they were Ofoto doesn't mean I actually need it, but somehow it does give you a warm fuzzy feeling I could really use about now. I mean, do I really have to add everybody's birthday year after year? And am I really signed in? It's so hard to tell. I click on Update My Account and get this confidence-building message:

image

Yeah. Merry fucking Christmas.

Anyway, I also have a 20% off coupon for Kodak. Their interface is WAY better, but their coupon expires November 20. If anybody wants to make a personalized 12 month photo calendar, I can give you the coupon codes.

Speaking of print jobs, the guy who's doing my kitchen and bathroom put together this nifty folder of information for me. Although I admit I might have been even more impressed if he spelled my name right. And the name of my street. Oh well, what the hell does that matter anyway? Although it did throw me to read one of the items I'm supposed to furnish is any and all "wayne's scott." Who? What? Luckily he mentioned it before I had to ask. As soon as I heard him pronounce it I knew what he meant. Ha! That's cute.

image

p.s. - I'm still looking for a handyman boyfriend. Good spelling not required, haha.


print add/read comments

Permalink: to_Everything_There_Is_a_Season_.html
Words: 486
Location: San Francisco, CA


Category: nostalgia

11/12/06 09:16 - 38ºF - ID#36781

Flying Toasters

Mark tipped me off about these earrings. I can't wait until they arrive!

Paypal, you are a pal indeed.

image

print add/read comments

Permalink: Flying_Toasters.html
Words: 21
Location: San Francisco, CA


Category: housing

11/12/06 07:06 - 38ºF - ID#36780

kitchen?

image
Potential kitchen layout plus/minus some details the Ikea Kitchen Planner couldn't deal with. Still a pretty impressive layout program. It even calculates how much this layout would cost in my choice of Ikea cabinets.

image
Potential kitchen materials if I went with a cabinet dealer I can't afford. Oh well.

image
I'm tempted to get one of these antique Asian kitchen chests for the pantry. Not as practical as built-in cabinets, but looks cool. We'll see.

image
I'm pretty sure about this engineered glass tile for my bathroom floor.

image
And this crazed blue tile is on a massive close-out sale, so I think my shower enclosure could look a lot like this. Except white on the top (not that peachy color). And probably not all those transitional pieces. They look expensive.

But I still want to use the water-blue mosaic tiles for the border, and shower floor.

Ok, I've got to get back to it. Just wanted to see how it looks.

p.s. - I miss my [inlink]twisted,134[/inlink] fire chicken kitchen, even though I had it for less than a year, and I've basically been w/o a kitchen ever since. Is there something about me that refuses to enjoy something I've worked hard to get? Don't answer that.

p.p.s. - I've recently come to the same conclusion my friends have been pounding into me for a few years now. I need a handyman boyfriend. Anyone? I am totally serious. Handywoman girlfriends also considered.

print add/read comments

Permalink: kitchen_.html
Words: 255
Location: San Francisco, CA


Category: dream

11/11/06 12:48 - 47ºF - ID#36779

Mixology

I had a dream last night that PMT were visiting me, but my house was falling apart so I had moved into a tree house above it. I felt pretty lucky to have the treehouse, but it turned out all my friends picked this inopportune time to come visit me. It was like I was throwing a huge party for everyone I've ever known, except they all showed up uninvited.

I was happy to see they all managed to get drinks from the rubble below before climbing up, but the more of them that showed up, the more trapped I was at the far end of the tree house. I kept wondering what they were all doing there, then it hit me. You came here to meet Paul, didn't you? That must be it. I decided I needed to get out of there and get a drink myself, so I pushed my way through the crowd and climbed down. That's when I discovered Terry had been stuck downstairs the entire time being bartender. People were still asking him for these crazy drinks and he was doing his best to accommodate with the meager resources left in the hollow shell of my house.

I knew I had to buy more drink fixings quick and asked him what I should get. He rattled off some mixers, ending with "white coke." I wasn't sure if I heard him right even after he repeated it a few times, but figured it would make sense once I got to the store.

I think I know what he meant now. Unfortunately, they were all out.

Ok, enough with the freak-out rug userpic, I'm switching to something more soothing!

print add/read comments

Permalink: Mixology.html
Words: 282
Location: San Francisco, CA


11/07/06 08:02 - 55ºF - ID#36778

Voting for dummies

I had a weird voting experience today. I didn't get all the pre-election crap you usually get in the mail the last time I registered, so I registered again. They convinced me to sign up for an absentee ballot, even though that seems like a waste of paper to me and I'm not really keen on killing more trees.

Anyway, my boat-load of election materials arrives on cue and I fill out my cheat sheet and head for my polling place at the playground next door. I also had the brilliant idea to unload my Halloween candy by dropping it off there in a bag labeled "Thanks for Voting!"

Maybe my 5.6 pound all chocolate variety pack threw them, but the volunteers seemed to think I needed my absentee ballot to vote. So I go back to the house, transfer my cheat sheet answers to my absentee ballot, then go back. They fuss around a bit and decide they have to write "Surrender" on the envelope and put it in this special bin. That seems odd to me, but I sign my name to say I voted and go on my way.

Five minutes later, one of the volunteers tracks me down. Turns out writing "Surrender" on the absentee ballot makes it void, so now I have to go back to the polling place to fill out another one. I'm thinking, the only thing that made sense about the situation up until then was saving paper by using the ballot mailed to me. But now that one is "void" and I have to fill out another one. That is so fucked up.

Anyway, there was a time [inlink]twisted,5[/inlink] when I enjoyed throwing curve balls at election booth volunteers, but I am so over that now. Those guys have enough to worry about without me throwing a wrench into the works.

p.s. - some guy named Adam, identifying himself as being from the Democratic party, just stopped by to make sure I voted. Hell ya! Twice!


print addComment

Permalink: Voting_for_dummies.html
Words: 335
Location: San Francisco, CA


11/06/06 08:29 - 55ºF - ID#36777

Retrospect

"A review, survey, or contemplation of things in the past."

I spend way too much time in retrospection already. And the rest in anticipation. Which doesn't leave much time for whatever the hell is supposed to come in between. Wow, that sucks.

But I'll indulge one more time.

Halloween in the Castro:

Hard to describe - kind of like SF itself. Better to experience in person.

I wish I'd been more prepared. You'd think the anticipation stage would have taken care of that, but unfortunately I'm also a consummate procrastinator, so all that planning is mostly putting off grandiose plans until the last minute. Maybe I shouldn't have spent Halloween day poking around San Jose until Paul was done with the conference that day. Makes a good excuse, but I know damn well it wouldn't have made any difference!

I can't believe I didn't get a single trick-or-treater. What's up with that? And who's going to eat all this candy?

Hotel TV:

If you tend to overdose on retrospection and anticipation, just spend 10 hours in a hotel bed watching TV. That'll cure you! And if that doesn't work, try Salvia (see below).

Salvia:

No comment. BTW, who the hell is going to eat all this Halloween candy? I am in big trouble.

(e:Iriesara) :

I'm so glad you came up! I hope it was worth changing your flight for our 15 minutes at the Monterey Aquarium. OMG, I still can't believe that.

p.s. - There is so much more to say, but this damn Halloween candy is calling out to me...

(p.p.s. - new user sound.)
print add/read comments

Permalink: Retrospect.html
Words: 268
Location: San Francisco, CA


Search

Chatter

New Site Wide Comments

sina said to sina
yes thank you!
Well, since 2018 I am living in France, I have finished my second master of science,...

paul said to sina
Nice to hear from you!! Hope everything is going great....

paul said to twisted
Hello from the east coast! It took me so long to see this, it might as well have arrived in a lette...

joe said to Ronqualityglas
I really don't think people should worry about how their eyelids work. Don't you?...