I love going to the hardware store in SF and eavesdropping on conversations. Case in point today -

Hardware guy: "What are you going to use it for?"
Artsy chick: "Well, I'm making a sculpture, and the lightbulb is going to go inside her left nostril..."

and on it continued. I am not making this up.

Seriously, one of these Fridays I'm going to have to hit Discount Builder's local bar at quitting time. I would LOVE to hear these guys tell their stories.

I can totally sympathize with all the new and continuing health club resolutionists. I really just wanted to take my yoga and pilates classes unmolested by a personal trainer, but somehow I ended up with 5 "weight-training" sessions. OMG, don't I know better than this by now?

So at the 4th session she says "we" (and by "we" she means "me") "are going to do three repetitions this time." WTF? If I'd known that I would have skipped the hatha yoga class. Not to mention hand-sawing my freakin' arm off all morning.

Thanks for the BootieSF [inlink]ajay,432[/inlink] link, (e:Ajay). Adrian & the Mysterious D spun the "Somebody Rock Me (The Killers vs. The Clash)" mash-up at the Download Festival at Shoreline last October. (Sorry - got my music festivals mixed up earlier.) It was fun to hear it shortly before the Killers took the stage. They didn't take the opportunity to do a Clash cover however. ;-)

I'll have to check out the monthly mash-up party at the Cherry. (Now Annie's Social Club? When did THAT happen?) I've been to the Cherry a few times to see "E's" friend play. Oh yeah, I reconnected recently with "E" through none other than Myspace. Love it or hate it, if you want to be "listed" on the social circuit, it's almost a requirement. Guess I'm coming out of my semi-reclusion.

I'll be at the Lovemakers show Tuesday at GAMH. They put on a great show, even without the simulated sex onstage since the two leads broke up. It's painful to watch her sing "Set Me Free" now. And this time on Valentine's day. Ouch!

Speaking of which, I'll be going to that show with music buddy Larry and his now ex-girlfriend Britta. They decided to go platonic on New Year's Eve. THAT'S gotta hurt.

Let me just tell you I have no problem being the Valentine's Day consolation prize. I knew from the start Larry and I weren't going to be anything but music buds, and we've been seeing shows together steadily for over a year now. Wouldn't mind finding someone special for me though, and I hope the same for Larry.

Seems like I had a lot more to say but luckily I forgot what it was. Looks like the (e:peepettes) had a fun outing! You go girls.

p.s. - (e:Paul), I LOVE the bonus [prev10] [next10] buttons. Thanks! I hope you recovered enough from the workout and party to go dancing. Good thing coding isn't strenuous. ;-)

Probably my most unconventional V-day was the first one with Mark, because it happened to fall over Presidents' Day weekend so we were at the 24-hour science-fiction movie marathon that night. Might sound a bit premature for a 24-hour public date, but we both had our tickets for the marathon long before our first "regular" date on MLK day. ("Schindler's List" if you must know. Oh yes - it was my choice too. My god, we were doomed from the start.)

Oh, and to top it all off, my ex at the time, Scott, also showed up for the mararthon and decided to sit with us! I had prepared Mark that Scott might be there and he was totally ok with that. Not so ok with him sitting on the other side next to me for 24-fucking hours. I'll never live that one down.

I was thinking about all that recently because it doesn't look like I'll make it for the marathon this year. Oh well.

I'm really not into Valentine's Day at all. Too obligatory. I have a thing against that. At the same time, I do have some very precious memories of V-Day's past, which sadly were documented and almost immediately lost about a year ago. Oh well again. Better to have loved and lost, etc. etc.

My Dad and Jean are off to NZ/Australia today. They thought it would be a good idea to plan their itinerary to include a 6 hour layover in Chicago so my brother could show them around, since he just moved there in August. Then they land in SF for an "equipment change" (not what you're thinking) before continuing on to Sydney. So now my Dad is obsessed with having dinner with me in SF, since he got to have b'fast with my sister before she dropped them off at the airport in Charlotte, a belated birthday lunch with my brother in Chicago, (Dad had the lobster for $17 and my brother had half a lobster stufffed with crabmeat for $10, and naturally couldn't pass up getting the second half for only an additional $4 - my family is obsessed with food bargains), so having dinner the same day with the daughter in SF would be the ultimate hat trick. They even tried to get on an earlier flight to make it happen, but no luck. Sorry Dad! Maybe next time. I'll make sure I'm ready if your equipment change at SFO happens to be delayed though.

Damn, I can't wait to retire. I think my Dad needs a blog.

(e:Decoyisryan) - I've got tix for [inlink]decoyisryan,2[/inlink] Arctic Monkeys next month - I can't wait! Also been listening to Hard-Fi and The Editors. Missed both bands at a small local club [inlink]twisted,59[/inlink] in just the past 2 weeks for very lame reasons. There are so many great small and mid-size venues around here - I've got to get back on the circuit. And a lot of the 80s bands are coming around again too. Just saw Echo & the Bunnymen, and am going to see X again next month. Talk about an interesting musical crossroads...

p.s. - can I just tell you living in the SF rocks? 15 minutes to the Golden Gate bridge, 10 more minutes to the winding coastal curves of Highway 1, and a mere 20 minutes more to [inlink]twisted,8[/inlink] paradise. And the feeling was just as good coming back. I love this place. I feel so much better now.

Peace out all.

Haha. Just kidding. Maybe.

I just want to point out a few things before I go.

I'm all for political cartoons and irreverent humor in general. I like the way it can keep us from taking ourselves too seriously. Sometimes it makes me uncomfortable - but usually on behalf of someone more reverent than I am.

I am NOT for methodically "testing the limits of free expression" by intentionally lampooning one group's religious leader in a 12 cartoon spread just to see if you can get away with it. Do I think that should be outlawed? Of course not. Test the limits all you want. I wish it could be done more responsibly, respectfully, and/or discreetly than the Danish newspaper chose to do it. But I don't want to impose my moral conscience on them or on anyone else.

If you're a vegetarian and come to my house for dinner I'm going to make damn sure there's something for you to eat even if I'm a confirmed carnivore. Maybe hoping "accommodations" like that could be the norm on a global scale or in the media is asking too much. But can't we at least do that for each other on the strip? Is that really asking too much? Just give each other room to be who we are. (Well, who you are. I don't know who died and made me hall monitor, but looks like it's going to be a very short tenure.)

I'm sorry if I made anyone uncomfortable by stepping into this pissing match. Yes, I was stupid enough to think I might be enlightened enough [inlink]uncutsaniflush,152[/inlink] (I could not agree with you more (e:uncutsaniflush) - good post) to diffuse the situation and point out where "logic" was sometimes built on half-truths. No, I'm not the keeper of truth. But I can recognize when a person or group is provoked, then retaliate. No, the retaliation is not justified, and yes, it may very well be a much "worse wrong" than the provocation. But that still doesn't justify the provocation. Hate has come full circle, and for what?

I wish I could keep my mouth shut and just have my little journal here, but I can't. I have more to say, but no time to say it. I hesitate to post something only half thought-out considering how my fully-thought-out posts have been received, but try to hold that thought until I can finish. Then you can strap me to the stake and set me ablaze.

Interim update (not that anybody's waiting with bated breath) -
Just letting you know I'm taking my two smashed fingers (ya, I managed to smash the other one all by myself) to the beach. In my perpetually preoccupied state I managed to sabotage my night out last night, and I'm having no luck scoring a ticket to Violent Femmes tonight. So I'm doing the only sensible thing and heading for the beach. No more "words of wisdom" from me for awhile. So go ahead - string me up in the meantime and put me out of my misery.