My sister is flying out here for our traditional pre-xmas shopping expedition. We started that ritual years ago so my grandmother would know she had dedicated shopping time with us marked on her calendar. As long as Grandma got all her shopping done that weekend (which she always did, and wrapped by the next day) the trip was a success. Otherwise she would have worried about it all season.

Usually my sister, Mom & Gram would fly up to either Boston or NY, and my sister-in-law or I would drive to the designated point of operations that year. It was hard to keep doing it after Mom died, but we wanted to make sure more than ever that my grandmother had that chance to be with us. She and Mom were so close.

I feel lucky to have been so close to my grandmother too. She was truly amazing. We had a family reunion on Fire Island for her 90th birthday in 2001. Her special request was to go shopping at Sak's while we were in NY. So the "girls" took the ferry/subway to NYC and tried to get on the Today show (no luck - got there too late), went shopping and saw 42nd Street on B'way. That was fun.


Hanging with the great-grandkids on Fire Island.


My sister and me holding the sign over Gram with my two sisters-in law.
Should have been on TV!


Visiting me in SF, August 2002


Family sailing trip in Grenada, 1994

I guess my whole freakin' family is pretty close.

This'll be the first xmas shopping expedition since my grandmother died. I wasn't sure if we'd still try to do it, but I guess it was as much for us all along. I actually hate Christmas shopping. (Darn! I was staying so positive up until now!) But I can't wait to hang out with my sister.

This pic showed up on the November page of the family calendar. It cracks me up. My niece loves to dress up. She's also got a thing for shoes and bags.

It's hard to describe the little island I live on. One of the local bartenders wrote this song. It's at least 1/2 a stanza too long to listen to if you don't live here.

Alameda, Alameda, you're the jewel by the bay.
Full of life, full of spark, from Webster Street to Park,
From Crab Cove out to Harbor Bay.

Island City, oh, so pretty, surrounded by the sea.
You're the best in the west, Alameda
You're the grandest place to be.

The sun smiles down on Neptune Beach and Crown.
Children play by the shore.
Trees so green can everywhere be seen.
Who could ask for anything more?

Alameda, Alameda, it's a fact that's plain to see.
You're the toast of the coast, little city with the most.
You're the only place for me.

So pure and clear the atmosphere.
Blue skies stretch out for miles.
People ride from far and wide, to see our beautiful isle.

Alameda, Alameda, our jewel by the bay.
Over bridge or the by ferry, I will cross the estuary.
And in your arms I'll stay!

Listen

So, between the mini-vacations to [c]secondlife[/c] and [c]there[/c] plus my usual loitering around the 'strip, I've been spending a fair amount of time directly or indirectly with (e:paul) lately. Now he's actually crossed over to my dream state in kind of a weird way. Maybe I shouldn't admit this but I've had (e:strip) dreams before, and that didn't alarm me. But this is different. Apologies to all the dream diarists out there that I can't remember details of the dreams themselves, but the thing that was weird is the formatting of the dreams. In the lower right-hand corner of my imaginary field of vision was a fixed, semi-transparent, scaled-down userpic, kind of like the station ID logos you now see watermarked on all the TV stations. Except this was (e:paul) 's blinking eye userpic. I can honestly say I don't remember ever having a dream formatting issue like this before. It was freaky and comforting all at the same time. I have no idea what it means.

Not surprisingly, quite a few people biked to the Green Festival. Between 9AM-1PM we valet parked over 200 bikes.




(low-res cell phone pix)

The SF Bike Coalition organized the valet parking. I didn't realize this before, but all major outdoor public events in San Francisco are required to provide attended bicycle parking. Cool!

There were seven guys and me on the morning shift. These guys were serious bikers. One guy works for the Santa Cruz Hub for Sustainable Transportation and travels all over the place with his Brompton folding bike. I have to get me one of those.

I bike mostly just to get somewhere, and to get the hell outside. I haven't changed my biking style much since I was a kid except now I'm allowed to ride in traffic. It's a wonder I haven't gotten myself killed, come to think of it.

The Green Festival was super crunchy. I think my favorite exhibitor was the guy who makes stuff out of recycled chopsticks.