It's funny how the mind works. I was recently reminded how I played a part in determining the "first dance" song when my youngest brother got married a year and a half ago. Now, I would never presume influence like that on such a personal decision. In fact, the thought terrifies me. Maybe it's because through another fluke of happenstance, I'm almost certainly responsible for the first dance song my sister used at her wedding. (I don't want to go into it right now. I know there are Barbra Streisand fans in the audience - let's just leave it at that.) Anyway, if you TELL me, at the tender age of 14, what you want your first dance song to be, you have to EXPECT me to remember that 13 years later.

So anyway, being a bit gun-shy on the subject, I found myself in a dilemma 6 months before my brother's wedding when I was shopping at IKEA (I swear this is a true story) and a song I'd never heard before comes over the store sound system. I'm really not paying much if any attention to what's playing, but like that feeling of inevitability when you feel yourself surrendering to sleep, this song tacitly penetrated my consciousness until I was standing stock still wondering what IS this song? and trying to memorize key lyrics so I could look it up when I got home. At the same time thinking, oh crap! This would be the perfect first dance song for Erik and Alisha.

Well, I knew I had to look it up, but I held firm on not intervening in the decision process for a long time. The song was from the soundtrack for the animated version of Tarzan, and I had visions of it being about Tarzan's eternal love for Cheetah, or some other innuendo fatal to my relationship with my future sister-in-law if my brother did use it at my suggestion and they later watched the movie, which I had never seen.

Anyway, I did eventually propose the song to them as nonchalantly as possible, posting the MP3 on the family website for them to preview. To my relief, they thanked me but said they had a short list of songs already under consideration. In true contrarian form, I almost immediately started thinking they were making a big mistake dismissing this song so quickly. But my fear of inadvertantly impacting any portion of their wedded life negatively far outweighed any ego I may have had about it.

Fast forward to a month before the wedding. Somehow I end up in charge of producing a multimedia presentation for the rehearsal dinner. Two weeks, 130+ scans, inestimable miles of video footage watched and imported, one 120G firewire drive purchased, one bum digital video camera and another begged/borrowed one later, my 23 minute epic was done. The grand finale cut to the song in question.

Suffice to say, after seeing the video for the first time in the intimate company of their closest friends and family on the eve of their wedding, my sister-in-law decided that's the song they should use for their first dance. I don't think my brother will ever forgive me. ;-)

Phil Collins - You'll Be In My Heart from the Tarzan soundtrack.

p.s. - I'll have to save my Peter Gabriel vs. Phil Collins story for another post, since this one is already way too freakin' long. Or just read my Cure vs. the Smiths[inlink]twisted,90[/inlink]post. Ok, that's not really the same (in my book) but you get the idea.

From the SF Chronicle's Pink section today:

NAUGHTY SANTA'S BLACK MARKET

This most irreverent crafts fair of the season has established a two-hour "family period" that is stroller- and young adult-friendly (4-6 p.m.). Along with more than 60 Bay Area artisans selling offbeat handmade gifts (porn decoupage, anyone?), the Black Marketeers are also promising a dozen Santas on stilts and other entertainments. $6 admission. 4 p.m.-midnight at SomArts Gallery, 934 Brannan St., San Francisco; (415) 695-9100, www.naughtysantas.org.

Anybody need me to pick up a little something for that certain someone?

(Reprinted with permission from estrip:west )

...coastal, that is.

I still go to elmwoodstrip.com first thing in the morning - home for the past 67 days. But what a thrill when estripwest.com comes up. Thank God it wasn't just a dream!

So now it's time to promote the site. Guess we'll see soon enough how my Peep Mystique fairs in real life. I've sure never sought out the limelight, but I'm so freakin' excited about the site. This might be just the thing to pry me out of my shell, even as boring ol' (Lisa) (in estrip:west-land that is - no relation to (e:Lisa) of estrip:east, who I'm sure is not the least bit boring).

Hey, maybe there's a Wizard of Oz thing going on here too. Ok, now I'm definitely reading too much into this.

p.s. - I got a 'new' hand-me-down digital camera for my birthday, which will come in very handy while I attempt to localize estrip:west without compromising the incredible look and feel of the original. The new cam has 2.1 megapixels. I'm swapping back my old 1.3 megapixel cam (which has served me well for the past 5 years) in an elaborate hand-me-down chain. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

p.p.s. - Seriously, if anybody ever wants to pop over to estrip:west either virtually or in person, all support/ideas/feedback always welcome. Don't all 167 of you come out at once though. Oh what the hell, we'd figure something out.

OMGosh! This was my best birthday ever. I still can't believe it.

Have you guys checked out the west coast version of estrip? It's for real. If any of you have the inclination, come on out here and chalk the walk, meet the peeps, press the... ok, you get the idea. Seriously, it would be so fun to round up a posse to spread the word estrip-style. I've got a guest room, a pull-out couch, and even a tent I can pitch in the back yard. I'll take the tent, just get your butts out here.

Luckily, Brenda and Kathy are onboard. Sure, we're no (e:PMT), (although we do have a sea lion[inlink]twisted,11[/inlink]named after us). Still, seems there's an uncanny east/west yin/yang thing going on. To me anyway. Am I reading too much into this again?

(e:Paul), the site redesign (less than 24 hours after launch) is absolutely gorgeous. Somehow you have internalized and embodied the west coast heart and soul. Happenstance, fate, probability? I don't know. Just glad it happened.

So Brenda and Kathy invited me over to help decorate their tree this morning. I knew something was up when Kathy said "why don't you arrive around 9:45am?" Since when are we scheduling in 15 minute increments? Sure enough, my birthday was announced on my favorite (broadcast) radio program, KFOG's 10@10 - 10 great songs from one great year. 1969 today. Last song was "Someday, We'll be Together." I hope so.

Even though decorating was largely a pretense, I ended up spending the whole morning (breakfast AND lunch included) with them because we had to return their Christmas tree. Pix tell the story below.


The unfurling of tree #1


Uh oh


Back to the tree farm


Pine needle evidence from the crime scene


Voila! Tree #2.

The good news from all this was I got to demonstrate how cool estrip is - both east and west - since I posted this (pic taken on my cellphone enroute to Santa's Oakland Coliseum Tree Farm) to elmwoodstrip.com.


Pine needles in hand and offending tree visible through the sunroof

You can read the rest of my birthday story on

e:west

Looks like I'm on my own for dinner. Time to buy the fondue fixings. Grinch at 8!